Sunday, November 30, 2008

Some Holiday finishes

Looky, I finished my Christmas tree from Nanette's pattern. It's perfect for the guild challenge to decorate a tree, wreath or snowman for next Friday's meeting :)Plus it's nice to be changing the Halloween ones for Christmas ones. I think the snowman pattern is next so it can stay up for a few months :)



Last fall Jeanne,sent me some gorgous Christmas charms. I started the table runner from Happy Zombie but never finished it in time. But I came across it the other day and decided to get it done for this year's table and it came out lovely. Thanks Jeanne :)


I never got Carolina Crossroads loaded :( I do have bobbins made and everything but I have to load that 30's Kitchen Sink quilt and quilt it. It needs to be in the mail by next Saturday for another Secret Santa swap. DD never picked up backing or batting for Pineapple Blossom so I will do Carolina Crossroads next. I'm getting quite the collection in the back hallway waiting to be quilted.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

No shopping, lots of sewing

Here it is a few days after Thanksgiving and I still have 2 Halloween/fall wall hangings up :(
I have to find the pattern for the one I want to machine applique for one of the doors but lookie lookie, another one of Nanette's great patterns being made. I have pretty buttons for the star and ornaments. So hopefully this one will be finished this weekend and the table runner I started LAST FALL. Almost done hand quilting that one.



And what a blog without my friend Moose? Too many people home for too many days.....


When I finished the Pineapple blossom quilt and started the wall hanging, I packed everything away neatly for the next mess. Look how much was left over, and I found more blacks with white in the garage in a bin-yikes! This doesn't include any white on whites either. Now to pick another color for the corners. DD wants lime green so she and the beau have almost matching quilts * sigh*

Friday, November 28, 2008

Secret Santa mailed

Most boxes went out Tuesday the 25th. We get paid here today so I had gotten permission to mail a few days later. It's on it's merry way across the big pond. Without insurance and just priority to make sure it was there with in 2 weeks it was $40.50 to mail it-WOW!
And lets not even talk about the multi page form-lol. I hope the recipient likes all the giftys. I had a ball making the gift and picking things out. I have so much more I could have shoved in the box but I had to stop somewhere or it might have been $100 to mail for weight alone.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Lots of "stuff"


Silly Moose face

I finished my diamond strings quilt today for a friend. I think Bonnie's going to get tired of seeing her patterns on my blog. LOL I have Carolina Crossroads next in que to quilt this weekend.




I got my toy back a week or so ago. It needed to be rewired. Now I need to get some bobbins and play with it :) Hubby bought it thinking it was a feather weight awhile back. Well it's black-lol.




I managed to stitch out a few more Raggedy Anns :) 2 more designs of dolls to do. Then I have to figure which ones I need more of to make the quilt.



RA#5


RA #6



Packing this baby up with an embroidered denim shirt and it's on it's way to AZ. No sorry Leah - it's going to Tempe.

Monday, November 24, 2008

More HST fun :)



As soon as I finish quilting my secret santa gifty to get ready for it's big trip across the pond, I'm going to quilt this cutie. It's all the hsts from cutting the corners on the pineapple blossom for the bf. Here's the top all laid out last night :)
.
Going to be a regular heatwave today with a high of 47 so I'm off to load another quilt on the frame - gotta quilt while the quilting's good :)

Sunday, November 23, 2008

My New Project.

- making a block day for a love quilt.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Talking Pennsylvanian

Once a Pennsylvanian, ALWAYS a Pennsylvanian!

About Pennsylvanians: You've never referred to Philadelphia as anything but 'Philly' and New Jersey has always been ' Jersey ..'

We don't go to the beach, we go 'down the shore.'

You refer to Pennsylvania as 'PA' (pronounced Pee-Ay).
How many other states do that??

'You guys' (or even 'youze guys', in some places) is a perfectly acceptable reference to a group of men and women.



You know how to respond to the question 'Djeetyet?' ( Did you eat yet ?)

You learned to pronounce Bryn Mawr, Wilkes-Barre , Schuylkill , the Pocono's, Tamaqua, Tunkahannock, Bala Cynwyd, Duquesne and Monongahela.

And we know Lancaster is pronounced Lank-ister, not Lan-kaster.

You know what a 'Mummer' is, and are disappointed if you can't catch at least highlights of the parade.

You know what ' Punxsutawney Phil' is, and what it means if he sees his shadow.

The first day of buck and the first day of doe season are school holidays.

At least five people on your block have electric 'candles' in all or most of their windows all year long.

You know what a 'State Store' is, and your out-of-state friends find it incredulous that you can't purchase liquor at the mini-mart.

Words like 'hoagie,' 'crick,' 'chipped ham,' 'dippy eggs', 'sticky buns,' 'shoo-fly pie,' 'lemon sponge pie', 'pierogies' and 'pocketbook' actually mean something to you. ( By the way, that last one's PA slang for a purse!)

You can eat cold pizza (even for breakfast!) and know others who do the same. Those from NY find this 'barbaric.'

You not only have heard of Birch Beer, but you know it comes in several colors.

You know t he difference between a cheese steak and a pizza steak sandwich, and you know that you also can't get a really good one anywhere outside of the Philly area. (Except maybe in Atlantic City on the boardwalk.)

You live for summer, when street and county fairs signal the beginning of funnel cake season.

You know that Blue Ball, Intercourse, Paradise, Climax, Bird-in-Hand, Beaver, Moon, Virginville, Mars, Bethlehem, Hershey, Indiana, Sinking Spring, Jersey Shore, State College, Washington Crossing, Jim Thorpe, King of Prussia, Wind Gap, and Slippery Rock are all PA towns ... and the first three were consecutive stops on the old Reading RR! (PS - That's pronounced Redd-ing.)

You know what a township, borough, and commonwealth are.

You can identify drivers from New York , New Jersey , Maryland or other neighboring states by their unique and irritating driving habits and their front license plates!

A traffic jam is 10 cars waiting to pass a horse-drawn carriage on the highway in Lancaster County . (And remember ... that's Lank-ister!)

You know several people who have hit deer more than once.

You carry jumper cables in your car and your female passengers know how to use them.

Driving is always better in winter because the potholes are filled with snow.

As a kid you built snow forts and leaf piles that were taller than you were.

You know beer doesn't grow in a garden, but you know where to find a beer garden.

You also know someone who lives 'down the lane'.

You actually understand all this and send it on to other Pennsylvanians or former Pennsylvanians!

YEAH! THAT'S GOOD OL' 'PA' AND WE LOVE IT!

And send it to people that never lived in PA and confuse them, because nice matters.

another flimsy :)

I think I'll give it to my sis in law for here birthday on New Years :). It's about 60" square




Going out to the frigid garage to quilt that damn Halloween quilt for anotehr New Year's baby.And he's a big baby :p.
Then once that's done I'll sew the binding on it and have something to sew while watching movies with DS tonight- It's fright night here or so he says.lol

Friday, November 21, 2008

Almost Done

Some how I sewed one block together wrong :( and need to remake it.



Then as I was putting the top together I was short 2 blocks - so tomorrow I need to make 3 more. It's for DD's boyfriend. I wish I could keep it. But I have enough fabric to make another one after the holidays and those 4 love quilts are delievered

Thursday, November 20, 2008

This Elf is busy, busy

I got a great box from Connecting Threads company this morning. Look at all that stuff! The second Indigo collection is on clearance since a new set has been released. I was so good last year that I decided to splurge on myself and order some. I also want to try their thread on the juki for quilting. I love piecing with it and bought a couple of neutral colored cones to try quilting with. Huge cones $8






This time of year I live in denim shirts and sweaters. I found an unadorned one in the closet that needed something that DS won't wear-lol. I found a 7 Sisters design I bought somewhere online and decided to stitch it out on my shirt.






A few months ago I bought some adorable Raggedy Ann embroidery files. I found out today one of my friends is going to be a grandma to a little girl. Raggedy Ann was always one of my favs. So it was time to order her story book and start stitching these out. I'm thinking 30's red around the centers- possibly stars.



and another one:


Of the designs so far, this one is my fav. :)


Lastly, I started cutting out a pattern for a secret santa gift and one for me too *wink* Nanette's pattern called for 3" squares but I wanted 2 wall hangings and since I have a bagillion 2 " squares and hsts that's the size I went with. I may cheat on the borders - time will tell. This is the last thing I need so I can wrap everything and mail it off to Australia. I might have time to stitch a few Raggedy Anns out and start cleaning this mess up.....

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Got my Mojo Back

This morning I was skimming blogs and saw that Finn was working on a kitchen sink top ala San from Gypsy Quilter. I was wondering what became of the one I started in the leftover 30's prints from the Cathedral Windows. While looking for a quilt book it hit me- it actually hit me. The box jumped off the shelf above the bookcase that it was in. I take omens pretty seriously and decided to finish it. It needs some borders and it will be about 60" square. Do you think that's too small for a lap quilt? Since it's on point It's not like I can add more rows w/o ripping it apart. I haven't even put a dent in the leftover fabric....I need another project




I mixed some of these in to break up the blocks. Cute huh? I have a bunch more I think I'll make a table runner or small wall hanging for a friend. You never know.




Another top that needs borders and a backing :) It feels good to be finishing stuff again. I got the pattern from Bonnie at Quiltville



I have the backing for Carolina Crossroads and it will be done next week so I can bind it and have a nice Christmas quilt.
I need to make 5 more pineapple blossom blocks this week and start putting together that quilt also. That will leave the Ocean Waves to be quilted. I'm waiting for a silk batting from Santa *wink*
Well borders don't get cut and attached playing on the computer...if it weren't so darn cold in the garage I'd think about quilting the quilt on the frame so I can get some of these pretties done.......

**Scratch that making extra blocks :) while cleaning up the fabric on the floor- I found 5 more blocks made. So as soon as these others are finished with quilting and binding, PB will be next. I don't need it till 12/23 for the beau's birthday **

I need to clean more often and again I have a ton of b/w jelly roll strips. Maybe I need to hunt for another Quiltville quilt. Oh I think she has one with bricks and 4 patches....this will be good.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Enjoy

I was checking my old blog on 360 and one of my friends there
had this on her blog :
I about wet myself laughing

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Blog Warning / Award

Kim West of A Peach In Stitches has made a new
Hazard to My Stash Award and I am a proud first round recipient. Thank you Kim.




I guess all the time I play in EQ is enjoyable to all.

So we're supposed to nominate other blogs that are Hazardous to our stashes,

I find Bonnie of Quiltville very hazardous

Nanette is another one-

Then there is San
and lastly there is Finn.
Finn has been having a challenge to get UFO's finished for New Years and I want to make some of the ones that she has sitting around waiting for finishes.
Will we ever all live long enough to make all the quilts/ projects on our lists????
So if you like- you can use the button to nominate your own favorites. Some of mine we nominated by Kim.

Veggie Girl, Niece #1 and Santa



DD and some of the women of the family went Christmas shopping yesterday. I couldn't go :( but my oldest niece and DD had their pic taken with Santa........they lied and said they've been good all year....But isn't he a wonderful Santa? With the real beard and all? There are a couple nice Santas here - not the real scarey looking ones with fake beards. I really think they're pushing Christmas earlier and earlier each year. What ever happened to not seeing Santa till after the Macy's parade on Thanksgiving morning?

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

What to do with HSTS

Since I can't get myself motivated to sew I've been playing with EQ and designing more scrappy quilts :) I have a bagillion hsts and I'm tired of making the same old quilts. I had done this originally in EQ as a 2 color quilt.

But then I wanted to color and decided to play and came up with this.



See the pinwheel you get when you put 4 blocks together....




7 X 9 blocks makes this:



I'm not sure red will be the pinwheel color or if I'll try and make them all different or not but it was fun to play for alittle while.

Saturday, November 08, 2008

I'll Say it again, BREAST CANCER SUCKS!!



I found out this morning that the wonderful woman I made this quilt for died yesterday after a terribly long battle with breast cancer. I've known the family for 11 years, Robin had cancer probably 8 of them . The last few years she was in clinical trials. While I know how proud she was of her daughter that was in my Girl Scout troop, it breaks my heart to know she will miss seeing the younger two graduate high school.
God Speed my friend....

Friday, November 07, 2008

Pumpkin Mousse

This a totally delish recipe that I will be tripling for Thanksgiving. I get a newsletter weekly from Taste of Home magazine and this was in it last week. We did a trial run (it's a new recipe to us) last night. A keeper for sure.






SERVINGS: 4

CATEGORY: Low Fat

METHOD:

TIME: Prep/Total Time: 15 min.

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups cold fat-free milk
1 package (1 ounce) sugar-free instant butterscotch pudding mix
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 cup fat-free whipped topping, divided
Directions:
In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set. Combine the pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger and allspice; fold into pudding. Fold in 1/2 cup whipped topping.
Transfer to individual serving dishes. Refrigerate until serving. Garnish with remaining whipped topping. Yield: 4 servings.

It's been a crazy week here. Kids are out of school Thursday and Friday for teacher's convention. Funny I know alot of teachers and not one of them is going to the convention. :(

I haven't done any sewing or quilting for what seems like weeks here. I don't know if I should start packing things up and just finishing up what I have started.
I found out a couple days ago that hubby is most likely taking the job in Buffalo NY. It's a nice pay raise but.....DS is acting out knowing that he only gets this year to finish here and then we'll be moving after DD graduates in July. I've been applying but with the crash of Wall Street no one is hiring. And I would need a job to stay here after July.....
On a better note, I'm almost completely finished with my Christmas shopping. The kids are done, grandma's is on order. Just the parents are left......

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Trying New Things with Veggie Girl

This is on our must try list for this week, possibly Friday.
I get a daily newsletter from Care2.com and this was in the recipe archives. When we went apple picking the kiddies picked up some acorn squash. Now I know I've eaten them usually mashed like potatoes- they're ok that way. But I wanted to make something different. So we're going to try this:

Adapted from Witch in the Kitchen, by Cait Johnson (Inner Traditions, 2001).

Borrowed from Care2.com

The gorgeous color hints at the rich nutrition in this creamy, satisfying soup.

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons olive oil
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cups vegetable broth (or more)
2 cups filtered apple cider or apple juice
2 cups acorn or butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and diced
1 large potato, peeled and diced (Yukon Golds are nice)
1 firm, tart apple, peeled, cored, and diced
Freshly grated nutmeg and ginger
Sea salt
1/2 cup light cream (optional)
Toppings (optional): chopped walnuts, minced fresh parsley, dollop of sour or whipped cream, grated nutmeg

1. In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil and add the minced garlic and chopped onion. Saute until golden, then add broth, apple cider or juice, squash, potato, and apple. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.

2. Add nutmeg, ginger, and salt to taste.

3. Puree in batches in a blender, return to the pot, and gently reheat. You may add light cream or more broth at this stage, thinning the soup to the desired consistency.

4. Serve warm, with any of all of the toppings on each serving, if desired.

Serves 6.

Wii Fit is finally up and running. I need to get off the computer and give it a whirl. It took more time than I wanted to set it up for me this morning.

Monday, November 03, 2008

If you vote, Starbucks will buy you a coffee



DON"T FORGET TO VOTE TOMORROW- I can't wait for all this to be over already. I'm sick of people calling- that National Do Not Call should include these political calls also IMHO

Saturday, November 01, 2008

It Wasn't even Halloween



This guy is just the sweetest person. He treats DD like a queen. Now if hubby would stop judging books by their covers he would see it too. This is last weekend wasting time before the concert they were going to....he kept finding "stuff" in DD's room ( like the lime green walls????) and adding to his "look"