It's HERE!!! My RR is HERE!!!

My RR arrived today!!! ........along with several other packages full of FQ's for my FQ Bingo game I am hosting.... so it totally surprised me b/c I was sort of off guard after opening over 100 FQ's today and there it was in the middle of all of those packages. The RR quilt top was in a box but so were a few of the FQ's so I was not really expecting it... and my mouth flew open when I peeked inside adn saw the blue bonnet fabric!!! :c)

Before I show the photo - I need to mention that I have learned that several of my HGTV buddies have discovered me even though I have never included my blog address in my signature on the boards..... so if you are a HGTV member - and are reading my blog....SHHHHHUUUUHHHH~ don't tell MN Grandma! ;P .....b/c we aren't suppose to open our packages until everyone get's theirs.... Here are close ups of the birdhouse and 2 kitty cats in the bottom left corner and the bees:

it's a little hard to see but the boarder just after the birdhouse and cats was made by missmikol and she wrote that she got the idea from visiting Judy L's blog from a quilt she saw on there! It had to have been the Hour-A-Day Project from last November and how that boarder had a ribbon weave look to it :)

I love everyone's work to my RR and am very pleased! My center square was a pattern from Marcia Hohns's site - called Texas Treasures and now I have my very own "Texas Treasures" Quilt top! :c)

Edited to add my comments that I included on my quilt history sheet wehn I mailed it off. Unfortunately it was lost in Hawaii so the other RR participants never got to read it - but here it is:

I was so stumped on what to make for my center square that I asked the LQS owner for help and inspiration for selecting fabrics. She suggested that since I am new to Texas (moved here in may 2005) that I use the Texas State Flower – Bluebonnet Fabric from MODA.

Later after I was home, I did some searching and found this block pattern on the Quilter Cache, it is called Texas Treasures and figured that it would be a good block to use that large scale print of the bluebonnet fabric. Everyone tells us that this spring we “must” travel to Hill Country to see the Bluebonnets in full bloom. So I thought the block was appropriate for the fabric.

This is my first Round Robin to participate in and I can’t wait to see what everyone creates for me.

I am enclosing an envelope with $20.00 to be used to purchase more fabric to go along with my selections. I so badly wanted to pick out a blue fabric to be used but my 19 month dd just wouldn’t cooperate with me the day I was at the LQS. I am sure what ever shades you decide to use will work great. Thanks sew much. –Bonnie

PS – Please feel free to take photos of yourself holding what you have added to my quilt and forward MN Grandma. It will be fun to see these in the end.

Here is a log of just where all my quilt traveled to - to be worked on last year during the RR process:

March 2006 - I mailed my center off to mylifesabeach in Kapaa, Hawaii - although it was most likely at this destination the longest of all the places it would travel to - nothing was done to it and mylifesabeach had to drop out - so it was then mailed to.....

Momma frog - in (I dont' know where) b/c she wasn't "in" our lap group - but was done with her part of her bed size group and accepted the challenge to help out and filled in to help get mine on track from it's long vacation in Hawaii.... (there were no comments from Momma frog)

Then it was sent on to IB1RU12 - who lives in Canada. She wrote on the history sheet that she was "so confused at what to do because my lovely garden seemed to be fenced in. So after much thought and a little searching she foudn the pattern sheet and thought "perfect!" We need butterflies. So she gave my RR a colelction of butterflies to visit my garden." :c) IB1 - I agree it is perfect!

My RR then left Canada and went to sluvs2quilt in Mount Hermon, CA. She wrote that she "tried a few differnt boarders and all of them just seemed to busy. So she started thinking about my garden and what might be missing from it - then worte that she looked out into her garden and there it was - her inspiration!" I guess she saw her birdhouse and two black & white kittys and bees on a sunny day. :) - I think it all worked in beautifuly!!! What a unique idea!

After the RR top's visit to CA - it left and headed to Layton, UT where Missmikol did her addition. She writes, "After the compliment you gave me no my center, I wanted to do something spectacular when I received yours. I had a few different ideas when it arrived, but I had to shut them all down. It still seemed quite buys to me. So I thought thaqt I needed to add something where your eyes could take a rest from all the stimulation. I actually took inspiration from a quilt done on Judy L's blog you shared with us. I hope you like it and are not too disappointed. I thinki t frames everything in nicely and sets a nice canvas for hte next round. it was fun to be able to work on this for you." - missmikol.

Dissapointed??? are you kidding!!>??>@!# It is the perfect thouch! ;c) and I had similar feelings when I did my last RR thinking that mine was too simple and not intresting enough - but it was what that quilt needed at that time. :c)

Then to wrap up my RR missmikol mailed it off to Terri - Terri911 in Hopkins, MI.
Terri wrote, "What a beautiful quilt you have. I just added a boarder with some of the colors and material already used in the quilt just to tie it all together. I hope you like it." - Terri

Yes!!! YES!! I do like it!!! Thanks everyone for working on my RR top! I really do like it and hope that each of you like what I added to yours!

Love from Texas,
Bingo~Bonnie :c)

My day at Hancock's

If you think my posts are long and boreing, you should hear/read some of my comments that I make on other people's blogs! - I know quilters must think I am crazy for leaviing such l-o-n-g posts... but I get started and can't stop! .........and if you think that is bad, just be glad you don't know me in real life or that I don't have your phone number! LOL You know, we Stay-@-Home Mom's have a bad reputation for having "diarrhea of the mouth" most of the time! :c) LOL

For example, tonight as I was hitting the publish button to a comment I made on Judy L's blog - I was thinking - "Hey, this would make a great post on my own blog an dshow photos..." - and then when I saw it posted and how l-o-n-g it was compared to everyone elses 4 liners... where as mine is a 5 paragraphs.... I thought I would be smart, save some time and cut and paste here tonight. :c)

The following is a cut and paste of my comment I left tonight on Judy L's blog. With photos added :c) and my new comments added in Blue

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Well, Judy and everyone else - I am sad to say - but I am dropping out of this one before I ever begin really. :(

I took all of my scrappy 9 patches with me to Hancock's going out of business sale today and spent time on the floor with 5-6 bolts and spread out on the floor arranging my 9 patches on them and NOTHING looked right with my 9Ps.

I did find a pretty color but the print was too contemporary for my country looking 9 patches. :(

I did like it - and it was reduced to $2.09/yd. - 30% off = so I bought 4 yards for a "one day" project = $8.37 . Not bad... some fabrics cost more than that for just one yard.
For the April HAD Project, I think it would be best to use 9P's that were similar to one another like yours - where mine are a little of EVERYTHING and don't even match one another! :(

I did take the November/Gratitude/HAD fabric requirements with me and bought the perfect sashing and boarder fabrics for that one to have in my stash....

...now need to be on the look out for some FQ's to use for the scrappy 25P's. I will shop my stash at home first then look for them at the store.


The Hancock had a brand new display of FQ's that they have never carried before until this "going out of Business Sale" but they were only 20% off - so too soon to shop those and I don't need a "minimum" 2 yard cut of a bunch of different colors to use. That's the only thing I don’t' like about this Going out of business sale - the 2 yard thing! ~Bonnie in SE Texas


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and now for the items purchased that I didn't share about in my comment to Judy L -


I noticed that the Patriotic Fabrics were 50% off and so since I will be making some more string blocks for the Heart-Strigns-Project, I couldn't pass these up!! "Gimmie 2 yards of each Please!" ;c)




I will stay away now for at least two weeks before going back - hopefully by then they will have marked down their notions some more. Today they were all 30% off but that is not a bargin to me when I can use a 40% coupon anytime at JoAnns or wait for it to go 50%off like the current flyers says the rotary blades are....

Can you keep a secret, hehehe... I did something naught in the store today...giggle, giggle.....don't tell anyone but I took 2 of these babies and hid them in the store just incase they are out of them when I go back. (my justification = They only had 4 in stock and I live 25 miles away! I know for a fact that the JoAnn's in Beaumont doesn't carry them and I want to make sure I get 'em!) LOL

Next time, I will take my ruler wish list with me and cross my fingers that they have some left! ~Bonnie

A new month and a new pattern!

L-O-N-G before I ever signed up to have a blog of my own, I followed Judy L's blog and have read it everyday for the past two years. If you dont' know who I am talking about - you have to go check out her blog page called "Sunshine Quilts" and I am sure you will soon bookmark it to your favorites. :c)

Last October she started what she calls her "Hour A Day" patterns. Similar to a mystery quilt where you get a specific set of instructions and you follow along together making the quilt - She adds directions to her blog each day starting at the beginning of the month = only different than a mystery quilt she share's PHOTOS of the finished quilt BEFORE you begin! :c) So it is a WIN-WIN! :) and did I mention - she does this for FREE!!! :c)

I have followed along every month and loved wathing the progress of everyone playing along and making her patterns. That is the great thing about blogs - you can take a peak into their sewing rooms and even leave them a comment ;c)

There is one pattern I did try and play along with last year - I started Judy L's "Leaf Season" last October and only got 1/3 of the way thru with making my leaf blocks before having to set it aside. Some stressful stuf was going on in my life at the time = aka trying to make a baby, which isn't easy for my husband and I.... but enough about that ;) (Photo here of my leaves) It is now set aside in it's own project box with all the fabrics and directions waiting to be picked up again - perhaps this coming fall? I am so happy I did buy the perfect backing fabric for that project when I did b/c as of 2 weeks ago - my Hancock's in Groves is going out of business! :(

So, since they have everything at a 2 yard minimum cut right now during their Liquidation Sale - I will drive over either today or tomorrow and scope out what may be the perfect fabric for Judy's April HAD project for the "Good Luck" blocks. She said where she used her red - that we woudl need 3.5 yards. Not sure how much for the white part of that block but never the less - what ever I buy I will have to get 2 yards of it - b/c that is their new rule at Hancocks. Oh well left overs isn't such a bad thing when it comes to fabric right? ;c)

Now, don't worry - I am not going to let this get me off track of completing my 1930's BOM! I am too close to being done with that one! ... but for Judy's April HAD - I am already ahead-of-the-game b/c she is giving everyone until Wednesday to complete their 9-patch blocks and I already have a stack of 40 to choose from that are just the right size (6.5") My goal is to work on this when and if I get my other dialy stuff done for my BOM quilt.

I do not plan to finish Judy's HAD this month...as my real goal is my 30's BOM - but I do want to play along like everyone else. Maybe I should scroll back thru her other HAD patterns and print them off and take those fabric yardages with me shopping... after all once all the fabric at Hancock's is gone - it's GONE! I am so gonna miss that store as they had a much better selection of fabric than the JoAnn's in Beaumont and at better prices!

two more photos!

Oh I can't resist - we are done with bath time, but I had to come back and make one more quick post before I retire for the night. ;c) I have to show you the two sweetest photos that were taken last month and that I got around to scanning this weekend into the computer.



My OBGYN had me go to a Dr. in Houston for a high defition ultrasound and while scanning he took 4-D photos of each of the twins faces! I have never seen such amazing photos!!! It's too hard to tell yet "who" they look like - to me they just look like babies. Only 10 more weeks until we get to see them for REAL and touch them, and hold them, and smell them, and change them, and feed them, and LOVE THEM FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES :c)

Baby "A" = Olivia Maelee

Baby "B" = Paul ThomasThey are each just over 2 pounds right now and very active! Especially Paul Thomas - he is a super good kicker! As of the last appointment - Olivia is in the breach position and Paul Thomas is sideways with his head located just under my right breast and feet under my left breast.

I have to also show you one of the gifts I received this week in the mail for the twins. One of the FQ Bingo players made these for the babies. They are super soft!

Aren't quilters the most thoughtful and generous people in the world??? It touches my heart so much to think that she would take the time to make these for me - someone whom I have never met.

A Fabric Photo Session!

(warning long - but lots of photos)

Well, last week – Nora FOUND the missing “good” Digital Camera!!!! Yippee! Hooray! It had been missing since January and I had nearly accepted that I would never see it again.

I've used our old camera a handful of times since we lost the good one but it just wasn’t the same. It is our very old Digital camera about 8 years old… and RARELY works when you need it too – 8 out of 10 times when you want to take a photo, it just gives you an “E18” message on screen when you turn it on… and never retracts the lenses part when you shut it off. We took it to the zoo last month but every photo that I was able to take (about 10 all day) was too blury to consider printing. :(

Since January, my husband has been ticked off that I lost the "good one" that he said he would not be buying a new one until Christmas…. I think it was more of a threat than anything. Come on… with twins arriving in June...??...he would have bought a new one… But now he doesn’t have to! :P

Where WAS IT???? you ask? Well last Monday Nora and I were in the sewing room. She was playing as usual - under the bed in that room and I could hear her talking – saying “my camera…. MYYYY camRA! Nora’s click camera!” and I thought to myself could it be??? So rather than ask, “Nora do you have a camera and her say no and leave it under there… (remember I am 27 weeks pregnant with twins and not exactly very bendable to go looking under the bed myself…) so I coaxed her out by saying “Come on Nora, lets go downstairs and get some jellybeans!” and sure enough – she came out from under the bed with the GOOD DIGITAL CAMERA!!!

It still had battery power so I took her photo! OK, so moving on to the real reason I am posting and called it “Fabric Photo Session”. ;P I know I have not posted in a while but it isn’t b/c I have not been busy b/c I have! And I now have PHOTOS to show you!

Last year I joined my first ever LQS BOM and dropped the ball mid way thru. I have already shown you the 1st six months of the quilt all sewn together. My first time to miss a BOM meeting last year was in July – b/c we were in KY the first week - for the 4th celebration – which my hometown hast the LARGEST in the whole state each year – but that is another post, another time. ;) When I returned and picked up the kit it had an 8 pointed star with “Y” seams and I had missed the demo! I have never done a "Y" seam before and so this is what got me behind!!! urgh :P

I went to the August BOM meeting, but didn’t have anything for show-n-tell. Then missed September b/c we were in KY again for David’s 10th high school reunion… and then it didn’t help that in October I got Pink Eye and missed that meeting then I also missed November b/c I FORGOT about it!!! Urgh! I did go to the last meeting in December to get the finishing kit – in hopes that one day I would catch up…

So my new goal that I posted a few weeks ago = is to finish piecing this quilt before the twins arrive. I had 6 more blocks to make so if I make on each week and stay on track and give myself 2 weeks to finish up the border then I should have it completed by the end of April!!! I plan to send it off to be quilted on a longarm as a Birthday gift to myself – part of that expense sponsored by my dad’s generous $100 he gives me each year for my Birthday. :c) So here it is April 1st and I have stayed on target so far – and at this point only have 2 more 24” blocks to go!!! :) I don't have a "design wall" - I just pin everything to the wall inbetween the bedroom door and closet door for now.
So where is the 8 point star with the Y seams in that photo above???? Maybe you looked for it but didn't see it... well that is B/C I just discovered that "DUAH, this is MY quilt and I can chage it if I want to!" - so I subsituted another block instead!!! :P (in the photo above I used the 12" block on the far left in the bottom row instead of a Y seam 8 point star.)
One of the last 3 blocks is laying on the desk infornt of the quilt. Here is a close up of that one already made.

...and here in the photo below is what I worked on today (Sunday) while David and Nora were working in the yard - setting together this 12.5" bear's paw - I think that is what it's called?
Each of the 24" blocks has a 12" block within them and I start with those first. Then for the "finishing kit" it calls for FIVE 6" sawtooth stars and THIRTY-FIVE 2" squares! I will be working on these this week.
and finally another thing I have been working on... - it is the beginning of a new month and you know what that means - NOODLES!!! I host a monthly noodle swap on the HGTV quilter's board and March's theme was 1930's! I am only waiting on 1 more person (((hoping her package arrives tomrorow))) and then this week I will swap them all out and get them returned to the other noodle heads :P
Here is my dining room in total CHAOS - Yesterday, I began spreading out the noodle buffet on the table. This was about 1/2 way thru the process......
there is something special in all those mail crates along the floor and under the table (which you can't see) - over 1300 FQ's for the 2nd Annual FQ Bingo on the HGTV board. That is how I got the nickname "Bingo~Bonnie" :c) but I will post more about that later this week. - Don't let me forget to tell you all about it! ;)
...and here is a better sneak peak of the noodle varitey! I love being the hostess and getting to be the FIRST to see them and pick the ones I want! :c) These are the ones I selected to keep (13 sets of 6) arranged by color family.


Well I have more photos to share - but it is going on 9pm and I MUST get Nora upstairs and to bed. I am so thankful that Blogger let me upload all my photos today! :) Yeah!
Enjoy the Fabric Photo Session - more to come later. ;c) ~Bonnie