Older, Wiser, (are you laughing?) and still here!

I've been busy, I had a birthday last week! It was wonderful, the whole family went out to dinner. I had such a great time.  I may be older but I don't know about wiser sometimes!  I do feel the older part!  I wouldn't go back and change a thing.  I love my life, amazing husband, wonderful kids, and terrific grandchildren!  Oh, and my parents and in-law's all great people, too.

I finally made these cute little mug rugs.  I used the tutorial from Jodi Neslon and the machine binding tutorial from Pat Sloan for the binding.  Of course, I couldn't follow the mug rug tutorial exactly how it was written (just like I can never leave a recipe alone) I always have to change something.  I added a brown tree trunk to the tree because I can't stand tree's floating in air (how do they get there?) and my mug rugs are bigger, I have bigger mugs (no laughing)!   And I added gold garland with my free motion quilting set on a tight zig-zag stitch and lots of other free motion quilting.  These were lots of fun.  They aren't perfect but neither am I!

 
I thought I would include a couple pictures of my stained glass. I made these a couple years back.  With the grand kids living with us, I have had to put the stained glass tools and supplies away so that the grand kids don't get hurt.   Stained glass has a lot of dangerous chemicals and of course glass is sharp!  We don't have a good workshop space for it that is secure at this time.  I liked doing 3-D type pieces like these but I also did panels, too. 

 I will put up some pictures of our Christmas tree soon. Here is a picture of my granddaughter singing at her pre-school Christmas performance.  Isn't she cute?

 Here's my grandson at the same performance, I love his hat because it says I believe in Jesus!  Both kids did great!

I hope your projects are all getting done.  Have a wonderful day!
Karen

The UPS Man Came

The UPS man showed up with a wonderful package that I won during the Mistletoe Make and Bake Blog Hop from Lissa of  Moda Lissa.  In it was this wonderful "cookie bag" of Moda Fabrics. 

These positively yummy looking fabrics were inside.  I'm going to have to keep them in a safe place my daughter saw them and loved them, too.  Maybe the two of us can come up with something to make with them.   Thank you, Lissa - I love the fabric and the wonderful card, too!

Today was a migraine day so no sewing took place.  Hope your day was wonderful!
Have a pieceful weekend.
Karen

Just a quick note

Just a quick note to say I really am busy working on projects for Christmas.  Here is a teeny, tiny, sneak peak at one of my projects under construction.

Before Thanksgiving the grandchildren had a program at pre-school and we went to see it. Here are their pictures - they had a wonderful sing-a-long and Thanksgiving Feast.

Have a wonderful evening.
Karen

A package in the mail, Maple Leaf Block success and I am thankful for....

I recently won a giveaway over at Violette's site Hand Quilting and guess what showed up in the mail?  A wonderful Moda Brannock and Patek Remembrance Layer Cake.  The colors are absolutely gorgeous!  She also sent a really neat card showing where she lives with a nice note.  Thank you Violette.   I don't think my camera shows the colors very well but take my word for it the colors really are beautiful.

I  have gotten several inquiry's and suggestions about  my messed up Maple Leaf block well I did finally figure it out.  I tore out a couple of seams and squared up the wonky squares, measured everything again and put it back together.  And TADA!

Eventually it is going in a mug rug but right now I am working on Christmas projects.  I had to fix it because it was driving me nuts!!!


I am thankful for, my husband, my children, my grandchildren, our parents, and that all of them are healthy and happy.  I am thankful that we live in a free country and that there are people that protect us.  I am thankful that God loves us no matter what.  I hope you all have a blessed and wonderful Thanksgiving with your family, friends, and loved ones.


Peace,
Karen

I Tried Soooo Hard to Do a Maple Leaf Block!

Well, I started off last Thursday (and yes I realize that was awhile ago!) having a 'Project Day'.  Well, I washed fabric, pressed fabric, laid out some projects, printed out some ideas.  I decided to start small with a mug rug.  I figured out my measurements and I wanted to have a 5 1/2" Maple Leaf Block on the left side where you put your cookies.  So, I opened my Quilt Wizard program and found the block (figured I would use my resources.   I made all my selections and typed in the size of the block as 5.50.  I was a bit perplexed that the cutting diagram showed all different measurements but  I figured the computer is smarter than I am.  Well, I did everything and it was terribly wonky (a word I had never heard until I started quilting and it fits this circumstance to a 'T')!  So, I tried trimming the sides but to no avail they are just the wrong size all the way around.  Take a close look at the picture and no I haven't sewn the rows together I just laid them close together.  I think I should have re-measured the squares before I sewed them and squared them up.  I never thought one little square could take me so many days.  I guess there is some seam ripping in my future because I love these colors and I am going to figure this out.

I did find a way to fix it, I made these and although eating all of them to make me feel better is a thought it wouldn't be good for me or my waist.  My husband, my daughter, and my grand kids are all happy when I make cookies.  These are gluten free chocolate chip (that way my grand kids and daughter could eat them)!

  I have been participating in the Mistletoe Make & Bake this week. Wednesday is day three. If you go to Sherri Falls site you can find all of the hosting information.  Make sure after you get the hosting information to go to the top of her site and get to the current dates to get all of the great information.  Everyone is giving out great recipes and patterns - also some great giveaways, too.

Also, there is another  Accuquilt Go! Giveaway! just go to Mandy Noble's site and take a look around.  Maybe one of us will be the next one to be making accurate cuts with a Accuquilt GO! Cutter.  Hope it's me but if not me, I hope it is one of you!  Good luck everybody!!

Most of the leaves are down by our house but just a mile away the leaves are still on the trees.  Although, the way the wind is blowing (it's pretty stormy) we won't have much left in the area by tomorrow.  We've been very fortunate to have very mild weather this fall.  Hope it continues!  Here is a picture of a tree about a mile from here.  I took it with my iphone so the quality isn't very good but I love the color.

Hope your Tuesday evening is Terrific.
Karen

Thank you to our Veterans!

Today we honor our Veterans for their willingness to protect, serve, and sacrifice for our country.  In our family we have many veterans, my husband, dad, father-in-law, brother, brother-in-law, uncle, two cousins, a nephew and countless other relatives.  Please remember all of our military past and present today and every day.  Thank you to all of our Veteran's!

Veterans Day

Project Work Day!

Today I am working on multiple projects so, I'm washing, pressing, preparing, and cutting fabric.  Not sure if I will actually complete anything but I'm sure happy to be working in my sewing room.


I  wanted to show you the quilt I picked up at a yard sale last week.  I ended up knowing the person who was having the sale so I was able to get it for a great price ($4).  She got it from her Dad who bought it on Maui, Hawaii.  I lived on Maui for a short time before marrying my husband and living on Oahu, Hawaii for three years when we were first married (our first military duty station together).  So, I just had to have the quilt since it was from Hawaii.  I am going to hang it in my sewing room - it is just so bright and sunny.  Don't you just love it!

Enjoy your freedom and remember our Veterans,
Karen

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy New Software!

I am so excited I got my new embroidery software.  I will be able to do put all sorts of fun things on the grand kids clothes and on other items, too.  Here is a picture of the box.

Later today I will install it and start playing.  I also have a couple of classes to attend to learn how to use some of the new features.  I had the basic Editor Plus embroidery software and this is just so much more advanced - can't wait to play!

I've been practicing my free motion quilting on small pieces.  Here are a couple of my sample runs:

This picture doesn't do the fabric any justice.  It was a fat quarter and I'm sorry I don't know the fabric name but it is a beautiful color and very rich shades of purple.  I know the wavy lines don't match up, mostly I was just trying to move the fabric smoothly and get the stitch length even.

I did get an answer to what I was doing wrong in my previous post - Thank you to Shellie for help with my problem.  I had threaded my machine with my BSR (free motion quilting) foot down so my tension was incorrect which caused that nasty mess - YUCK!  Check out Shellie's site she is taking a Master Seamstress Certification Program - I'm so impressed.  She just created the cutest girl's skirt pattern called Twirly Girl you can see it on her blog.
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Last Thursday was fun time with the grand kids again.  So, here are a couple of pictures.  I had picked up the cutest little paint books.  You dip cotton swabs in water and then brush them against paint colors on paper and paint pictures with them.  Not as messy as regular painting and just as much fun.  I still put paint shirts on the kids and they stayed busy for an hour and a half.  Pretty good for 4 years old and 2 1/2.  We had a great time together.
                        It was hard to get his picture he kept shutting his eyes

                                 She loves to smile, they had so much fun!

May your day be beautiful and filled with joy,
Karen

I got My Machine back Woo Hoo, Yippee, Hooray!

First of all, I got my machine back and I am so happy!  They replaced the gib on the hook assembly.  That is down near where your bobbin goes in.  Anyhow, just a little bit ago I set it all back up to do some free motion quilting.  I am determined to finish this table runner.  Well, take a look at the picture and if you have some ideas on what I did wrong please tell me. 

This is on the back but it is the front thread, I know this because the bobbin thread was dark brown.  I had made diagonal lines and as you can see from my last post when I started the free motion quilting it doesn't look like this on the front.  I did go kind of slow would that cause the problem?  Any help is greatly appreciated.

Have a peaceful evening,
Karen

Today is FRIDAY!

Our granddaughter is having a lung biopsy today.  So, any prayers are greatly appreciated.  I will be picking up our grandson from preschool in a little bit and we will keep busy doing fun things this afternoon.  Hopefully, all is going well with our granddaughter and she will be home this evening.

Yesterday I was doing some free motion quilting on my machine and I had the same problem with my machine again.  The sewing center called and said to come to the shop first thing tomorrow when the service technician shows up so I can show him the problem.

Here is a picture of the little bit of quilting I got done before I had problems with my machine. I was so excited I was finally working on the fall table runner.

Leona has a wonderful giveaway just click on this link Leona's Quilting Adventure to check it out!

I hope everyone has a wonderful, healthy and safe weekend.

Peace,  Karen

A Fall Project with my wonderful Grandchildren!

Last Friday I decided to do a special project with my grandchildren. 

I got out my fabric scraps and I pulled out some paper and pencils.  They love paper and pencils!  But this was only the beginning.  First we talked about pumpkins and how they are big, and small, round and oval.  I have a ceramic pumpkin I used as an example.  Then I asked them to draw a pumpkin and they did!  Keep in mind my grandson is 4 and my granddaughter is 2 1/2 so their skill sets are somewhat limited but really they were wonderful pumpkins!!!

My GS drew and then cut out the pumpkin on the right by using an oval container from one of my cupboards. He is pretty good with scissors.

 
My GD drew the picture on the left.  It took her a little longer to get the pumpkin instead of  "just a bunch of lines".  You can see my little pumpkin in the corner.  Once I drew that one she drew hers.  She is very smart for 2 1/2.  I had to do the cutting for her (her fine motor skills aren't quite their yet- maybe next year.)
 
You will notice in this picture her stem is on the left but she decided to rotate it and flip it for the project to make it look like her brother's.

I let them go through my scraps and pick out any colors they wanted to make their pumpkins, eyes, mouths and noses, and then I let them go through my fat quarters to pick out the background for their wall hanging.  I picked the borders on another day (they were at school that morning).  My GS is just learning letters and wrote Fall for me and then I just enlarged the letters.  This was such a fun project. 

Sooooo........without further adieu here are the final products.  Oh, and their fun display ideas, too!

Didn't these come out cute!

                                    .

You can hang them on the porch railing!  Ta, Da!

Adorable chin hangers!

The ballerina hanger.

The beard hanger.

They chose their type of eyes, noses, and mouths.

I was able to practice lots of machine applique with my Bernina. I need to practice more on my binding though.  I got a little lazy and machine stitched them on - so they don't look as good as they should.  All and all they came out the way the grand kids wanted and they can keep them and use them every year.  I still need to put labels on the back - that way they can remember when they designed them.

So, what have you been up to?

Peace, Karen

A Very Busy Friday

Yesterday I did not get the dog quilt sandwiched.  I decided I wanted to start with something smaller and I have really wanted to finish this 'Pumpkin Table Runner'.  The pattern is from Judi at Green Fairy Quilts from last year.  It is one of my UFO's.  I got the backing ready and sandwiched it with the Fusi-boo.  Hopefully I will get it done in the next week.

On Fridays I get up with the grand children, feed them breakfast and take them to pre-school.  Our daughter (She works and goes to nursing school!) and our two wonderful grand children live with us.)  I dropped them off and then ran some errands about 25 miles away and visited two quilts shops, I had never been to before.  I had such a great time.  I even picked up three of  the 'Zippers are No Big Deal' 14" zippers from Atkinson Designs while I was at Little Quilts.  I have been following the Fall-O-Ween Quilt Designer Blog Hop and Terry Atkinson's 'Sweet Zip' bag was today's project so I was thrilled to find her zippers for the bags.  I bought the fabric at the first quilt shop called Red Hen Fabrics.  Both shops were amazing!  I wish I had had more time (my DH is glad I didn't) but I had to run through Whole Foods and buy some of their wonderful produce and then race to get back towards home to get those wonderful grand children from pre-school.  By the time I got home I was exhausted! 

The Dog Quilt top - ready to sandwich

This project is a dog quilt for the couch.  It will be a wonderful, attractive alternative to the ugly light blue blanket that is currently on the couch to protect it from the dogs.  The funny part is the dogs don't shed or do anything particularly nasty.  It's just that one time one of them got sick on the couch and we don't want that to happen again.  Plus they love laying on blankets, towels, anything.  So, here is a peek at a part of the top.  Since you can only see four panels here - the completed quilt has ten but I couldn't get a good picture of all ten.  I will have to work on my quilt picture taking skills.  I am going to use Fusi-boo in this quilt.  This will be a first for me so I will let you know how it goes.

 

Our Dogs

These are the two of whom I speak and I mean really - aren't they just the sweetest looking little guys.  Their names are Smokey and Bandit.  I'm sure you know exactly where we got their names.  They travel with us in our RV everywhere and are the best little guys when it comes to kids.  Our grand kids (2 and 4, and the best children in the whole world), are all over these two and the dogs just love them. Well, I must get to work on some sewing.

  

A purse I made for Mom

A few months back I made this purse for my Mom.  I designed it just for her - it's one of a kind and she loved it!  It was so much fun to do it just for her.  I will be putting up some pictures over time of my other projects.

Day Two

I posted on another blog (after four tries)!  I think I finally figured it out.

I can't sew anything - my Bernina is in for servicing.  Nothing is wrong it was just time to get everything checked up and cleaned up.  I love my machine and want to keep her in tip-top condition.  She's been there for almost two weeks so they should be calling tomorrow to come get her.  I hope so - I want to do the Fall-O-Ween hop.  Kind of hard to do without a sewing machine and it will be my first hop.  Can't wait! 

Have a wonderful evening!

I have a Blog. Amazing!

Well, I finally did it.  I came up with a name and started my blog.  I've been following all sorts of wonderful blogs for well over a year and just couldn't come up with a name and the nerve to do it.  So....today I finally took a leap of faith and here I am.  I'm going to try and put a picture in here and IF it works it is of the first quilt I made two years ago and my wonderful granddaughter.  It is the Sampler Quilt (from the book Start Quilting with Alex Anderson).  I learned how to make it in a wonderful quilting class in a quilt shop that closed right after I took the class.