DD and BF

Aren't they cute?



Helping out a friend for a kid's bday party- this what they looked like -lol

Pretty Flowers and stuff

Look what we picked yesterday- black caps or some kind of wild berries. I froze a few cups of them for muffins but look what my nieces and I had for a snack....yummy!


Some kind of beetle is eating my flowers :(


Calla Lillies are blooming


and my Ozark red lillies from Kathy:)



some Orange Lillies



Yankees didn't fair well this weekend against the dreaded Mets- but I see Pinella has already been tossed from the Chicago inter league game-lol. Going for Bobby Cox's record???

Sunday stash report-etc

Nothing came in and nothing was actually finished :(
I've been testing a mystery for a friend and am starting to assemble the blocks. I love the color choices for it. It will be a pretty quilt. Hubby likes this quilt but started complaining of the leaning tower of boxes I have here of started not finished quilts/blocks.So I dragged one out at random and started working on a tulip quilt that was a mystery this last spring that another friend did. So today I'll work on that and the love quilt I have started for a friend.
THe heat and humidity have been killer here lately :(
So much so that I barely leave the house, let alone try to quilt in the garage. I want to work on these tulips for a bit more this morning/afternoon and baste a table runner I did with charm blocks from Jeanne. I did a table runner from the Happy Zombie. It's cute, I want to hand quilt it for my mother in law for the holidays.
Friday night was DD's party and I tell you people (teens) rsvp'ed and never showed or they showed up late (9:30) and DD had left to go to her bf's party. I mean if the invite says 5-9 that's when the party is.
We have a ton of food left over and that's with 50 people showing up. We were supposed to go out to dinner tonight but I can't see letting this food go to waste so we're eating leftovers again today.
Yankees are playing the Mets again this afternoon so I'll be chilling in front of the TV stitching away. How knows, maybe I'll have a finish to share this evening.......
Keep cool and happy stitching :)

Rip It Rip It

Been spending the morning - ALL MORNING- in the frog pond ripping out about an hours worth of work from yesterday.

Hopefully, I've fixed the problem and can continue on with the mystery.

OMG How Cool is This???

Statues on Parade

These are going to be all over NYC. The ones for Ellis Island are there- we have scouts looking to see when the rest will come. You know this means a road trip to NYC.Yippee!!

Hey if we can take pics of the cows in Beantown

Testing Mysteries

I'm testing a mystery for one of my online buddies :)
I'm doing another Christmas quilt for an aunt and uncle on hubby's side of the family. Assorted creams and 2 moda marbles deep red and hunter green.

I'm almost done cutting it out and will start sewing this evening. I think I'm the only nut in the group that's doing a queen sized one- figures right???? Even without borders it will be 88" square- a very nice size for a queen.

This is all I can show you till the mystery is revealed sometime over the summer.

Sunday Stash Reports

Not too much on the sewing front this week with all the hoopla of DD graduating Friday night. I have been hand quilting this wall hanging for a couple of weeks. It's all the bonus hsts from a HUGE Pineapple blossom I did earlier in the year for my sil.



Here's some of the hand quilting on it :)




Boy are we lucky that we postponed DD's graduation party and rented a hall for next week. HUGE hail was falling in this awesome lightening storm right about the time the party would have begun. No fabric came in this week and this is about all that went out 40" square front and back so what 2 1/2 yards???

After my orthopedic appointment I hope to piece a top for the love quilt and email some color choices to Ann for her mystery. I'm not sure if I want a Halloween one or a Christmasy one but either way I need one of each for gifts both are very late. But first I need to measure how much Halloween fabrics I have.

Woo Hoo!!!

I swear in the last 18 months, there were days I never thought I'd see this ..Congrats to DD

Paula!!! Look what I got today :)

LOL, it's a gift from my daughter who's graduating tomorrow from HS.
I'm guessing our friend working in the Boston area helped her out since she's a minor and can't buy this stuff. And we couldn't find these in NJ ( Yankee Country)

DD wrote the sweetest card to us ( hubby and I) for believing in her in all her trials. I was crying.

The weather is NOT cooperating for her party- thunderstorms and wind. So we rented a hall for next Friday. Cause there's no way I can deal with 100 people in my tiny house, family parties of 25 is pushing it.

Ocean Waves Revisited

Last year, about this time I started another insane project for piecing. You know about a month after I started doing a king sized Cathedral Windows by hand. *Snicker-Snicker* Any how I was "supposed to be" cleaning up the fabric mess to start getting ready for the party Sunday, anyhow one of my project boxes fell while I was putting something else away and a million hsts came flying out of the open box for Ocean Waves. SO what's a gal to do but finsh making the 12" blocks for the main part of the quilt- right? So I know have 49 blocks pieced, leaving me 29 more 6" blocks to make and I can get this pretty together to quilt. I know originally I said I was going to do 8x 8 on the block layout but then I'd have to send it out to be quilted :( But if I use 6" blocks on the side and bottom it will be 90" which is a size I can quilt myself -YEAH!!!! But I am cleaning up the mess and will finish with the fabric clean up after dinner.......

Containers Continued

I know, I know, I said I was done but Serena at Embroidery Treasures was talking about hand sewing projects on the go and it ties in well with Paula's container posts/contest.
I got this after a class with Linda Franz and Monkey of Quilted Diamonds /Inklingo fame. I love this desk. It gets thrown around my truck by the teens to make room, it fits great in my Hard Rock Cafe tote bag. I got it at the Container Store or I've seen them at Office Depot. It has room for all of my needs when hand sewing . At the moment I have Amish Tumbling blocks as my project for the year. I think I have almost 200 of the needed 650 done YIPPEE!!!

Storage Stuff continued

Probably my last entry for Paula's contest :) It's a gift box I got one Christmas with assorted stuff in it. Hubby is wrapping challenged so he uses pretty boxes and bags whenever possible. It hold patterns etc in it.

I got in on the testing of the summer mystery Ann is doing on a bunch of groups. Yippee!!!

This morning I went to the drs for test results, most were excellent (yeah!!!) I need to see my endocrinologist for a different test as thyroid levels were high - I'm not going to get myself worked up over it unless the thyroglobulin test comes back high...then my friends I will freak out. But first I have a beautiful daughter graduating HS in 4 days and a pary for her for almost 50 people on Sunday- not including her teen friends lets just say 100 and be done with it :(

Last board meeting for the guild till Aug was tonight- snoopy dancing!!! What will I ever do with all this free time away from guild??? With my luck packing ....sigh.

I started a quilted purse this morning and hope to have pics in a day or two. I need to finish dyeing fabric for a love quilt and do the precutting for the mystery....

Sunday stuff

Not too much finished this week- quilt show- teens home early from exams- a memorial service for my best friends brother yesterday.... but I press on whenever I can.
Look I even finished the toddler quilt- I just need to wash it for hubby to give to the dad tomorrow night :) I love this quilt- uses up alot of tiny 2 1/2" squares.





Paula is still running a container question what we store "stuff" in. Here's my yoyos for a future quilt.

More Sewing Containers

Yesterday I posted 2 items in my sewing area....today I'd like to show you 2 other items I use in quilting :
Paula, wants to see all our toys :)


DD bought this cutery carrier from Joann's either for Mother's Day, or my birthday. It keeps small rulers , rotory cutters and that wonderful clip thing for pinning and my scissors that should be in there and they aren't...hmmmmm a mystery. Wonder where they are.....





Another item I use when quilting on the frame in the garage is a tackle box- with all the "junk" in the garage I was losing things I needed and it would make me crazy. So I went to Wally World ( Walmart)and bought this. See where I can store empty bobbins for the juki and more importantly a spare bobbin case. Nothing is worse than dropping a bobbin case and doing "something" so that when you try and continue to quilt you can't until you order another one from EBAY or some other place and it comes it. Believe me, I know these things.




The pullout tray holds screwdrivers, seam rippers, brushes to clean - stuff like that.




The bottom holds the different "parts" for the juki and grace frame.

Sewing Containers

Paula of Coffeetime Quilt Studio asked us to show our unusal containers we use. This was a tin that my Nana would fill with peanut butter pinwheels each year for me. We would ALWAYS give the empty container back to get refills that would randomly come in the mail. When my Nana died I made damn sure I got my tin back- Nana's been dead over 20 years and I miss her like crazy.
I keep small things for sewing in it and think of her often when sewing.

The jar is something I picked up at either the Christmas boutique at my guild or a quilt show. Cool way to store fqs and pretty. I have one somewhere w/o the fabric ontop full of yoyos for a future quilt :D

Does's this crack you up?

I was laughing to myself when I saw this quilt at the NJ Quilt Show. Remembering all the fabrics Mark Lipinski has written about this winter and spring on his blog. Pay close attention to the upper left hand part of the quilt* Snicker -snicker*

So Mark, where were you today?

A little about Me Meme

1.What is your name? Kim

2. What is your favorite food? pretty much anything I don't have to cook :)

3. What high school did you go to? Hawthorne

4. What is your favorite color? Blue

5. Who is your celebrity crush? Bono

6. Favorite drink? margarita

7. Dream Vacation? Champagne Region of France

8. Favorite dessert? margarita

9. What do you want to be when you grow up? who said I wanted to grow up?

10. What do you love most in life? Hubby

11. One word that describes you? spontanious

12.Nick Name: kimba


Consider yourselves all tagged

Oh look, Serena is doing yet another giveaway - wow !!!!

Wicked Storms and Quilting

With all the lightening and high winds last night we had alot of flickering lights. Enough so that DH and I went and pulled the 2 generators out of the shed and made sure both would start if the power failed. My kitty, Nancy was a nervous wreck. DD's kitty, Cyd, came in only after DD and I went out to the covered patio to watch the storm while drinking our iced coffees.And Moose, well not bothers Moose except an empty food bowl.

Hubby was more amused by my antics of unplugging the Viking sewing machine and leaving my pc plugged if I was so afraid of power surges from lightening strikes. My answer, I have a laptop :P as a back up.



So DD asked me to make her friend a quilt for her friend's Sweet 16 next month. Sure sweetie between 7 Girl Scout quilts, 2 baby quilts and your prom and graduation and the guild 25th anniversary luncheon let me jump right on that for you ...grrrrr.And Mark thought teenaged boys were bad. Well I had the black and white jelly rolls and as a background I ordered this lovely batik for the quilt. I think I have 10 done and need another 32. Problem is there's more black than white in the jelly rolls. and I made a bk/w/r quilt or at least the blocks last year and wiped my stash out. But I'm still looking, I did find 2 fabrics last night. I bet there's more somewhre *wink* But where are the blocks???? In the meantime I started another Pineapple Blossom ala Bonnie.It is a striking color combo. Now to find more fabric and the other blocks.





And it bothered me till I went and found the blocks. We did this on Cyber Quilters last year with Marge Gordon of Delaware Quilts so I pieced all the blocks into a top yesterday in case I run out of time with the Pineapple Blossoms, I have a backup. I'm seriously considering loading it on the frame for quilting even before I finish these blocks. It's always nice to have a quilt for an emergency gift. I can think of a half dozen friends who would love to get this quilt.

So remember last week when the man I love told me I needed a quilt for the next day and we "thought" I need it for tomorrow night??? And I said I still loved him? It turns out that quilt was for a party we didn't go to last Sat. and I still need another one by the end of the month. A toddler sized one but I'm debating if I should kill him today or wait until we go to The NJ State Quilt Show tomorrow.

Sunday stash report

Well stash came in- these lovely fairy frost fqs, 25 to be exact. But I didn't buy them and half are going to Katie-the pinks and purples.



I did manage to get this quilt pieced and quilted as a gift I need for THIS Thursday. Oh well at least it's done. So what's this?? 3 or 4 yards altogether? Better than nothing.



I'm playing with some jelly rolls of black and white fabrics, using red batik as the background for yet another pineapple blossom for bday present for a soon to be 16 y/o friend of dd's. Who managed NOT to get sun poisoning at the beach- YIPPEE!!! I'll breath a sigh of relief when she actually walks through the door this evening.

It's Finally Over- our 25th anniversary celebration that is............

Praise the Lord and pass the biscuits!


I was starting to feel like the Easter Bunny last night loading the car of 48 assorted goodies for the tricky tray auction for the guild's 25th anniversary celebration. I won two things that I just love a basket of fairy frost fqs :)and a cute wall hanging!



And my secretary gave me the standing hope frame she won- very cool- Thanks Barb! I can't wait to mark this top for hand quilting and try it out !
Lookie who showed up right at the end of the business part of the meeting! It's Mark Lipinski of Quilter's Home magazine fame or also known as the head of the Pickle Posse! He's as funny as can be. Thank you for coming Mark! You were a highlight of the day- loved your stories on teen boys ( now I know it's not just mine) .....





Ok can you tell it was hotter than hell there with no ac????








We had 7 of the of the 15 past and present president. Here is our founding president cutting the celebration cake.





This was the quilt for the raffle. Not my cup of tea but I sold my 40+ tickets just the same :p




So of course we put darling Mark to work drawing the raffle quilt drawing. Nice to say that a member won the quilt and the second place basket of homespun fabrics that we left over in making the quilt. Not very often that happens.



It's been a long day- Katie and I got there at 9:30ish and I got home at 4PM. But I did get some compliments from the ladies- So it's all good. No guild stuff for a whole 10 days!!! I need a mental break now that the challenge and auction is over!

Isn't she lovely????

It's Sr.prom night here. This is my lovely dd in her dress - and yes hubby let her go out like that :P





and this is my bestest friend since kindergarten's son and DD

He's older and actually someone else's date but I had to get a pic of them together.

After prom they're all driving to the beach for the weekend- I think they took over a whole hotel just from this town-

Added: I just got this one from a friend. It's taken at my cookie mom's house :


I love that train on the dress

New Toy

How cute is this??? And so very tiny. It's the new ipod shuffle
( the little one). Good thing it has a clip on the other side. I'm sure I'd lose it if it didn't When I charged it last night because it was new it took the almost 300 songs from my play list and added them with room to spare. I've had the other kind since they came out but recently it wasn't holding a charge more than an hour :(

Tonight's prom night and tomorrow is the guild's 25th anniversary luncheon. Thank goodness I am so ready for both to be done. Way too much drama for both

We Have a Code Blue

In celebration of finishing a quilt and not killing hubby. Story below -lol




So, yesterday the man I love and married too many years ago asked me if I had finished the baby quilt for a friend I said I'd make one for . ANd I asked which one??? And he informs me he need it for Thursday! OMG!!! Luckily I had these shooting star/ lazy star blocks from an exchange from a bday swap last year. I made a couple extra and pieced the top and threw some borders on. I actually quilted it on the Viking ( first time) as it would probably take that long to load it on the frame anyway.




So I was speaking to the dad of the baby to be and said I'd see him tomorrow ( Thursday) and no hubby dear, it's next week. So I should have been working on making baskets for the auction Saturday but instead pieced and quilted a baby gift. I so love this block and plan to make another one over the summer.

more loot

Just a few more pics from the bday "loot" gotta love these wines. Even if they're only good for cooking they labels are keepers. I have an IOU for Tek's label when my sister gets back from Boston next month. Not pictured are itunes gift card and the very well loaded starbucks card. When I sent DD to starbucks yesterday she got these cards for a free tall ( small in starbucks lingo) iced coffees every Wednesday till 7/23 /08. I'll take it :) I've taken to making iced coffee right before dinner prep and we drink it at night







My sil did the cross stitch for me for my birthday- every time the family gets together and the razzing begins someone will eventually
say "Bite Me" and the magnets are great words of Wisdom from mom. See those ice pop makers??? They make margarita ice pops- now how cool are they??? Needless to say I'm making some tomorrow :D




From Katie- what to make with the fabric??? See the chocolate?? That's what started us on the smores for lunch yesterday -lol.



I managed to sew a few more of the parts for my scrappy bargello together and 3 of 4 rows of a baby quilt together and start sorting the baskets and fillers for the tricky tray for Sat's guild meeting/luncheon. I need to call and order corsages for the past presidents and DD's flowers for prom. No date, a tablefull of girls didn't want to bring their boyfriends from out of town. Too much drama they say so the dad's are buying their corsages. Sweet if you ask me. I got another card from one of my GS's that thanked me for the quilt and said some really nice things of the 10 years I was her leader and an invite for dinner in Princeton this fall.

Searching online for other things in Buffalo I see the Cleavland Indians have a minor league team up there, the Bisons. When I go at the end of the month we'll be going to a game so I can see what exactly I'm giving up in Mets/ Yankees games. I was also trying to make sense of the rail schedules going into NYC from The buffalo/Erie lines...cause you know that's what I'll be doing. I hate to fly!!

June 1 Goodies and no stash report :p

Look at at all the goodies I got from my buddy Mel for my birthday :) I'm so spoiled ( at least hubby says so).Thanks Mel!!!! Don't know how I'm going to spend the day- I know I have to have dinner with my parents :( and siblings. My dad's birthday is Friday and he likes this Italian restaraunt ( it's ok) and he likes to have these big dinners....I might clean up the assorted piles in the sewing area and stitch out some more butterflies- Or I might spend the day in the hammock outside ( at least part of the day will be there )

Nothing to report on the stash front- nothing more brought in and I think I used the 7 quilts last week. I got the sweetest card from one of the girls saysing how she loves her quilt ....