It's DONE!!!! Woot woot, again!!

Ok, the other day, after working on the Zig Zag quilt, I was not happy with it's size. I wrote about adding borders, not adding borders, making more blocks, etc. I could not figure out what to do. As I was replying to a comment, inspiration hit! I was too busy to start that day, but here is what I came up with .....and the top is complete! Now, the quilt finishes at 66x84, which is a great size. Not too big, or too small...





I love the way this turned out. You know, if you've been reading for long, that I LOVE scrappy quilts. And, I've been using Bonnie's Scrap User's System for a while. Here is the result of trying to clear out some drawers. The only problem??? They are still full! I got a quilt out of this drawer and it's still full! (And, so is the one above it....and it's spilling out!!)

Back to inspiration station!!!!

Happy Quilting!!!!!!!!!

Goodies in the mail Day 2!!!!

I know! Imagine that! Two days of having goodies in the mail from Quilty Bloggers.

Yesterday, I received a package from Darlene at Quilting Daze. Be sure and visit her blog....she's finished lots of cute tops recently! Darlene had a "can we talk" drawing. I was one of the FIVE winners, but I'm sure I got the BEST prize!!!! LOL


Darlene sent me TWO charms packs, TWO patterns and was TOO generous!! Don't you think???

Thank you SOOOO much Darlene. I can't wait to get started on this Schnibbles pattern!


Happy Blogging and Quilting!!!!!!

Goodies in the mail!!!!

Quilters are the most
generous people in the universe!

This arrived in the mail yesterday afternoon. It is a quilt called Valentine Hearts made by Kim at Kim's Big Quilting Adventure. I knew it was on it's way and I was so excited to know I was going to have a COMPLETED quilt!!! Whoo hoo! And, I will say, no picture can capture just how wonderful this quilt is. Here is Kim's pic, I think it's much better than mine. Excellent workmanship (or is it workwomanship???).

Kim also included the pattern, so I can make another for someone special....hmmm. I don't know. I would feel so inferior!!! And, she sent along some sweet little Valentine gifts. The pencil I'm sharing with Dear Younger Daughter, but the chocolate is MINE...or more accurately, WAS mine!! Thank you so much Kim!!! I'm in quilt love.

Four Patch Quilt Back Story.....

Since everyone is amazed that this top is hand pieced, I wanted to be sure that you had the entire story.

When I first learned to quilt, my sister in law taught me to hand piece. We started with a simple nine patch and I fell in love with the idea of making a quilt. I didn't know much, but I knew I really wanted to make quilts. Time passed, we had one more child, and several miscarriages. When things settled down after the traumatic two years following the premature birth of child number four, I picked quilting back up. I had just made a few nine patches, but began hand piecing and quilting in earnest.

I started making baby quilts for the young mothers at our church and quickly, my skill grew. I realized within a couple of years that I would never be able to keep up with making all those baby quilts by hand. Hand piecing and hand quilting. So about 3 years ago, or so, I started machine piecing. Even with machine piecing, my increasing responsibilities of caring for my husband caused me to realize that I would not be able to keep up the young women in our church. Those babies came one after another. And I had less and less time to sew.

So, during the time I was hand piecing, I felt badly that I was making all these baby quilts for others and my own children weren't going to have quilts made by their mother. As in the cobbler's children not having any shoes. In 2003, I decided I would make each of my children a graduation quilt.

I got Dear Older Daughter's Quilt top completed and almost finished the quilting by her graduation. Dear Older Son's Quilt was a bit later than that....ok, so it's still not quilted. But the top was completed by graduation.

As Dear Younger Son's graduation time neared, I knew I couldn't machine piece his quilt after making his older siblings hand pieced quilts. Bummer. So, I started on it, but stalled many, many times because hand piecing was just so slow.

Now, Dear Older Daughter has a completed quilt. Dear Older Son and Dear Younger Son have a completed top. I'll start hand quilting Dear Older Son's top first....and then move on to Dear Younger Son's top after that.

Perhaps, I should start now on Dear Younger Daughter's graduation quilt....six years early?? Yeah, maybe I should. LOL

Happy Procrastinating!!!!!

The Top Is DONE...maybe!

I just had to show you what I finished up last night! And, this is a big deal...first, because I started it 2 1/2 years ago, and second, because it's all hand pieced. Ah.....

I finished Dear Younger Son's (Double or Triple???) Four Patch Quilt. Whoo hoo!!! Now that it's done....I'm thinking....again.



It's 80 inches square, so I just might add another row, top and bottom. Then, it would be 80x96, since I'm not doing borders. Why can't I make decisions??? That's another 20 blocks!!! This is why I have so many Works In Progress (WIPS), because I hit a wall and can't make a decision. Maybe I'll just live with it a few days and see what I think.

Happy Topping or Quilting!!!!

Woot woot!!!

Here is a pic of the rows I have together thus far.



There are now 11 rows with 8 blocks each. So, the quilt top measures 48x66 inches, which sounds out of balance but actually looks pretty good. I'm thinking I might make some more blocks and make the quilt measure 56x66.

Any opinions?????

Zig Zagging Along

*Read to the end, I reveal a secret!*

This weekend, I spent some time working on my Zig Zag scrap quilt. I'm enjoying sewing these HSTs after all these years of being afraid of them! That feels pretty good.


I have pieces sewn to make 90 blocks, although only 80 are shown. I need to cut out 10 more and I'll have enough for a pretty big quilt. Let's see....100 blocks set 10x10... 6 inch finished blocks...will make a 60 inch square quilt. I don't know if I'm going to like that. I'm not sure how I feel about square quilts. How about you?? Once I get it together, I'll see what I think. I can always make more...ughh. But I want to be happy with it, right?

I used the fabrics from my 4 inch strip drawer. I like to cut triangles, sew them together, press and then trim. Now, some may think that is an incredible waste of time, but for me it's necessary. I just do not sew or cut consistently. I know it's a horrible admission. But it's true. So, to compensate for my inconsistency, I've decided to do this.

An interesting fact about my strip drawers is that I separated the fabrics by lights and darks. And, I have WAY more darks than lights. So, I decided that in order to have more lights, I would use the backs of some fabrics to make them look light instead of medium. Now, I have more lights!! LOL

Here is an example.

The green print reads as a medium, but the back side reads as a light. So, I used the wrong side of the fabric. Now, I know this is legal, because my sister in law reminds me that I paid for both sides of the fabric and I can use either side.

If you go back and look at the first picture, you'll see this portion of the block on the right bottom block. It's the top point of the zig zag. See, you didn't notice...because value is what matters in this quilt. I've done this in MANY of these blocks, just to get the right values. Once the top is completed, you won't even notice until you do a close inspection and even then, you won't be sure!

Happy Quilting and don't forget
to use both sides of the fabric!!!

A recipe you HAVE to try!

We live in Texas. Texans LOVE Mexican food. Well, most Texans do. I can't speak for all 23,507,783 of them.....but most Texans LOVE Mexican food.

You know how sometimes you get hung up on the same old recipes, or non recipes? Non recipes are where you start throwing things together and it turns out awesome, but you can't replicate it. I get stuck in ruts. So, I've been thumbing through recipes and I came across this one.

Now, the Minestrone recipe I told you about last Sunday was really, really good. But, this week, I found a recipe that is AWESOME. It's not Minestrone....it's Mexican. Well, actually the name of the recipe is Latin, but it's close. (ok....my sister who taught Spanish for 12 years and studied Latin culture would disagree....but it's pretty close.)

Here it is. I never would have thought to put the sweet potatoes in it, but man, it's DELICIOUS. We had one small bowl of leftovers and Dear Hubby ate them for lunch the next day.

Latin Chicken Crock Pot

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 pounds skinless chicken thighs
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves
• 2 large sweet potatoes, cut into chunks
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
• 2 (15.5 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves
• 1 cup hot salsa (I used one small can Rotel tomatoes)
  
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 3 large cloves garlic, chopped
• lime wedges, for garnish

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet; season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Sprinkle 1/4 cup cilantro over the chicken thighs; brown the chicken in the frying pan, 3 to 5 minutes each side.

Arrange the chicken in the bottom of a slow cooker. Place the sweet potatoes, red bell pepper, and black beans on top of the chicken. Mix together the chicken broth, 1/4 cup cilantro leaves, salsa, cumin, allspice, and garlic together in a bowl; pour into the slow cooker. Set slow cooker to LOW and cook for 4 hours. Garnish with lime wedges to serve.

We served this over rice. Yummo, as Rachel Ray would say!

And, seriously, there is nothing "bad for you" in this. It's almost healthy. And will be, if you serve it over brown rice!


And, here is some info. just for education purposes....

What is the difference between Latino, Latin American, Hispanic and Mexican?



They're all different things, but some people are all three.


Latin/Latino: Someone who speaks a romance language as a mother tongue and has a culture heavily influenced by the Spanish, French, Portuguese or Italians


Latin America: A country in North, Central or South America that speaks French, Spanish, or Portuguese as a mother tongue.


Hispanic: Someone who speaks Spanish as a mother tongue


Mexican: Someone from Mexico.


Example: A person from Mexico is Mexican, Hispanic, Latino, and Latin American


A person from Brazil is Latino and Latin American


A Person from France, Italy or Portugal is just Latin

CW pinks....

that are actually more like salmon. I am posting this for fellow Civil War Reproduction lover, Karen at Living Life at LeeHaven. What do you think Karen????



Happy Quilting!!!!

I'm a winner!!!

I commented on a post for a give away with Red Fish Circle, the first of the month. We were asked to share our favorite forest critter meeting.

Here is the one I shared....and I won!

"When my three oldest children were little (5 and under), we went to a park near dusk. As we drove around, it was like a special place opened up right before our eyes. We began to spot night life everywhere we looked. My little children screamed with delight as they saw animals in real life for the first time: raccoons, baby skunks, possums, armadillos, and then as we drove out of the park, shiny eyes caught our attention. A herd of deer, 20 or so, lying in the grass. It was a wonderful night for my little ones, and a memory I will have for always."

Amy Schimler, the designer of the Forest Fun collection with Robert Kaufman, sent me the sweetest little fabric in the world. It's a one yard piece. And, some sweet little pins. The wonderful thing about it, is that is such a reminder of my Granny, who was also a quilter. She LOVED owls. So, I'm going to have to think of something wonderful to make for myself. Thanks Amy!!!



Have any ideas???? Let me know.

HAPPY QUILTING!!!!!!!!!

Double Four Patch Tutorial

Don't look too closely, I threw this block together quickly this morning for those of you who are interested in making a block or 100!! I am not a perfectionist when it comes to sewing, that's why I never participate in swapping blocks. I'll make you a quilt or send you some fabric, but that's it. Anyway, on to the block. LOL



For each block you will need three fabrics.

Two dark fabrics and one light. I chose two blues and a shirting fabric. CW....of course.

From the dark fabric 1, you will need:
(2) 4 1/2 inch squares
(4) 2 1/2 inch squares

From the dark fabric 2, you will need:
(1) 1 1/2 inch strip at least 15 inches long

From the light fabric, you will need:
(1) 1 1/2 inch strip at least 15 inches long


Start by sewing your two 1 1/2 strips, light and dark, together. Press and cut into 1 1/2 inch segments. Use these to make your little four patches. They will be 2 inch finished four patches.








Lay out your block, making sure your light fabrics run diagonally through the block, as shown. I always preview and make sure I like the fabrics I've chosen.









Sew your block together as you would any four patch. Very easy. And so much faster on the machine than by hand!!!



Now, if I were making another 100 blocks, this is how I would do it....

Cut lots of 1 1/2 inch strips. Lights and darks. Sew them together and make lots of little four patches. I like to mix my blocks up so that there are several different fabrics in each block.

Something like this:

There are three different light fabrics in this block. Some will have 4 different lights and the little four patches will have 3 different darks. I love the scrappy look, so, I made mine as scrappy as I was comfortable with.


If you look at this last pic, you will see that some blocks actually have a medium fabric for the light. As long as there is some contrast it will work. I wouldn't do this in a majority of the blocks, because then it would start looking muddy, but here and there it adds something to the overall design.

Example: top row, third from left. This red block has a four patch made from a burgandy and a medium red.

Example: bottom row, first block on the left. This block has a dark red and gold four patch. It looks great adding a few here and there.

I love this block because it really is simple, but makes a real graphic statement. Hope you enjoy making these blocks. Let me know if you do, I'd love to see your work.

Happy Quilting!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday!!

Today is my Dear Older Son's birthday!

Joshua, you were a sweet, kind and gentle little boy who always took care of the family. You were the one whose play resembled work. Digging holes, cutting limbs, mowing the yard....you were such a hard worker! You have become a man with those same qualities. I'm so proud to be your mother. What a blessing you are to our family.

This pic is an engagement pic of Josh and his bride to be. They are two precious people.....the wedding day fast approaches.

Double Four Patch

Ok, here are all the rows sewn together. Now, I'm putting the four sections of the quilt together. One row is missing. Someone turned a block the wrong way. Hmmm, I need to talk to the staff here and make sure they check their work before I get into the sewing room in the mornings. (yeah, it was me)

I may still move a few strips around a bit. I don't like those two blues together there near the center. Of course, if I don't get this together today, I'll have to pack it up for a while tomorrow when Dear MIL comes over. I can't have her tiptoeing around this quilt in the middle of the living room. Now, mom....she lives here, so she's learned to put up with my messes!! LOL This quilt may look completely different when it's assembled. You just never know.

I think I've decided that I am not going to add borders to this quilt. I think I really like it the way it is. It looks more authentic without. What do you think? Of course, and I can change my mind once the quilt is together.

And, our van has been healed of it's transmission issues. It had a transmission transplant. They are costly, but so much better than being stranded on the side of the road! So grateful to have that little business taken care of.

Now, hopefully back to some hand sewing.

Happy Quilting!!!!

Some sewing and some soup....

I'm still working away on those HST's. It's been lots of fun. I once avoided them like the plague because I could never get them just right. Either too big or too small or catty wumpus, also known as wonky, but not nearly as cute when you are trying to get them right!!!! LOL But, I finally feel like I've hit my groove with them. Yeah!! Finally.

I've got a huge stack of them going, and I need to pull out the 4 inch light strip bin and cut some more. I don't count as I cut and somehow I always end up being short in one or the other. Eventually, I'll get enough done to start sewing together some blocks and rows. Fun, fun, fun.....

And, I just have to share a pic of the Minestrone Soup I made last night for dinner. It was SOOOO good. Here is a link to the recipe which is called Copy Cat Olive Garden Minestrone Soup. Now whether it actually tastes like Olive Garden's version or not, I cannot say, since I don't remember the last time I ate it. But, I will say it was good and rather easy. Don't let the long list of ingredients scare you away. It is easy.

The only change I made to the recipe was I used Chicken broth even though the strongly said not to. Hmmm, I wonder what that says about me?? LOL. I did look for some vegetable broth and didn't find it, so that was why I substituted. Sure, I could have made my own, but nah.....the chicken broth was perfect. Oh, and I did not drain the tomatoes either....and I might have added a bit more pasta than the recipe called for. Oh, my....I don't follow recipes very well, do I??? LOL

If you have a large family, you might want to double the recipe. It makes quite a bit, but we like leftovers (and aren't soups better the next day anyway???) and we do have lots of people in and out. It's great to heat a bowl up when you come in from the cold.

I've been working on Dear Son's graduation quilt from 1922. I mean, from when he graduated two years ago. I have almost all the rows joined. Ok, more like 3/4 of the rows joined, but I am sewing it by hand, so it takes a while.

Well, Dear Son and his bride to be and her parents are coming over today for lunch. They are bringing the meal, so that is a special treat. We're looking forward to spending a few hours with them.

Maybe this evening, I'll pull out Dear Son's graduation quilt and sew a few more rows. Who knows, maybe soon, I'll even have some pics to share!!

Happy Quilting!!!!!

Winners of The Whirl Into Winter Give Away!!!!

And, the winners are.....................
Prize number 1 goes to:

Quilt Pixie said...

what wonderful fabrics! Thanks for the opprotunity to win them :-)

Prize number 2 goes to:

GunnyMom said...

This is the perfect giveaway for an beginner stasher. I enjoy fabric so much, these are very comfortable fabrics. I would love to create something with them. checked out your profile, we are new caregivers also.
thanks, gunnymom86@yahoo.com

And since there were ALMOST 300 comments, I decided to draw a third winner!!!

Prize number 3 goes to:

Willow Lake Stitches said...

Wow it looks like you are breaking the records on comments !

Nice blog and thanks for the generous giveaways !

Beth in ND

Congrats to all three winners!!!! Now, winner two and three will not receive the exact same fabrics shown, but they will be very similar.

Please contact me with your snail mail addy. I will try to get these out to you on Tuesday, the 20th, but hopefully, sooner than that!

Thanks so much everyone for all the comments!!!

What's a quilter to do??

With just a few minutes here and there to sew in my busy schedule, I decided to start another quilt!!! Yikes....I don't know what I was thinking. Yes, I do.

I received a quilt sales paper in the mail, probably wanting me to order yet another quilt magazine. Included in the flyer was a pattern for several scrap quilts using HSTs. They used 6 inch squares, cut them diagonally and make lots of large HSTs. Now, me?? I've been looking at all these precut strips and thinking, "I need to make something from them, and get them out of here." The drawers are overflowing. So, I pulled out the 4 inch strip drawer, lights and darks and started cutting squares, and then cutting them on the diagonal. I made HSTs and trimmed them down to 3 1/2 inch unfinished squares.

Yes, I could have pulled out my red strings and worked on those. But, honestly, we've had so many people in and out of our home that I don't want a huge mess. Strings are messy. Squares, not as much. So, I sew a bit and trim a bit. I've still got the red strings sitting here, all trimmed. I have 67 of them. I need to do some playing around with paper and figure out how big I want the quilt and how many more blocks I need to make. Maybe tonight??

I've got taco soup in the crockpot, grocery list all made, I'm waiting for DH's mother to get here after her Dr. appt. to sit with him, so Dear Younger Daughter and I can go grocery shopping. I'm feeling more organized....at least with my time, when we aren't having company every day!

I'm working on setting something that resembles a schedule, although very loosely. I have a friend coming on Thursday to sit with Dear Hubby, so I can get some errands done. Dear Son has orientation at school tonight. He is getting some of his books this week and starts school on the 20th.

Here's hoping things settle down soon, I'm sure missing my sewing machine!! LOL

Happy Quilting!!!

I'm back

and I survived.

I saw the same dentist who did the work when I was younger. He remembered that it was difficult to deaden me. I reminded him that I passed out too. LOL

So, he did a great job. It took several shots to deaden me. But, I was comfortable. Yeah!! I mean, as comfortable I as I could be!

So he discovered the reason for the broken tooth. My teeth ARE great. Only one small cavity on another tooth. The tooth that broke did so because the dentist said that I clench my teeth at night. He knows my life....he said stress has to be dealt with and when we sleep, we grind or clench. So, he saw two other teeth that have small fractures in them.....the two teeth right beside the one that broke. The dentist filled in with a "bonding" filling. Now, I will have to get a crown. One step at a time......

So, in two weeks, I am going back in for a complete exam. And, I will be fitted for a mouthpiece to wear at night, so I won't break the other teeth. And, we'll set the date for the crowning. I'll be QUEEEN!!!! LOL

I need a DEEP cleaning, etc. but, I am determined to do this. I've got to take care of myself in every way. People need me!! LOL I certainly don't want to do this again.

Thank you SOOOOO much for the kind words and encouragement. You gals are the absolute GREATEST!!!!!!

Happy Quilting!! And, please see your dentist! Hee hee......

I'm a chicken

I admit it. Tonight, something awful happened. I'm in shock, I'm terrified, and in all truth, I'm feeling sick to my stomach.

Now, what on earth would provoke a reaction like this??? What is it that would upset me so???

I mean, really, I'm a mother. I've seen things that no human alive should have to see. I've administered the Heimlich maneuver on one particular child several times. I've been to the ER several times with this same child for many stitches. I've held instruments while a Dr. felt around in a puncture wound and stitched up said wound.

I've put in and taken out an NG tube in a premie. Held said premie down while eye retractors were used for an eye exam. I've watched an ENT use a scope to examine this same child's vocal chords.

I was a secondary caregiver for a friend's child who had a trach and had to learn trach care. Suctioning, emergency procedures, etc.

I've emptied drainage tubes from a rib resection on one child, watched a Dr. insert medication to break apart blood clots, slept in an ICU watching my son knowing at any moment a clot could break loose and cause severe even fatal consequences.

I've been lots of places, seen lots of terrifying things.....

But, tonight, as I sat with Dear Hubby feasting on a delicious home cooked meal, I cracked a tooth. Now, I know....everyone has had dental work done. But, here is my admission. When I was fifteen, I had some dental work done. For some reason, deadening the nerve was not easy. The dentist continued to administer the shots, one after another. I freaked....just a bit, but was finally deadened enough to finish the work. Then, afterwards, I stood up and promptly (in lady like, southern fashion) passed out.

So, let's see, I haven't been back to the dentist since then. Yes, I'm over 21.....and 31....and 41. I've lived in complete denial for years. My teeth are in great shape. No pain, no issues. My teeth are fine. Tonight, my illusions have been shattered. I need to see the dentist.

Panic!!! What do I do until Monday????? Dear Hubby, ever the level headed man, suggested that I call the dentist office and get the emergency number. I asked, "Yeah, it's an emergency in my opinion, but is the dentist going to think this is a genuine emergency????" So, I'll call the number, and his wife answers. Ah, he's sitting right here. He knows me, after all, my husband sees the dentist.....and we make quite a scene. (humongous wheel chair, lady lifting her husband, etc.....quite an impression)

I asked him, what do I do until I can see you on Monday? Actually, he'll be there tomorrow at 10, so I can come in then and we'll see what we need to do. Relief. Then.....

TERROR!!!! I have to go to the dentist....panic!!!! My kids are gone. Mom will need to stay with Dear Hubby. Who is going to go with me to the dentist????? My 12 year old volunteers, but somehow, that does little to comfort me. I'm thinking I need a driver.....

Light bulb moment....Dear Older Son is in town, at his fiancee's house, this weekend visiting the family (he's there every weekend!) So, I call him up. He and his gal have plans, but he agrees to meet me there with his fiancee. He will hold my hand, and he will drive me home if it's needed.

I feel better, but I'll admit, I'm a chicken. So, if you're a praying quilter, please pray for this chicken tomorrow!

Certainly not complaining.....

but, we've had someone at our house everyday this week! Between visits and caregiving, I haven't had time to sew a stitch!!

Tuesday, my niece from Alabama stopped by on her way to California with her friend. It's probably been three years since I've seen her. She looked great and was sweet as always. My Dear Sister and her baby came to visit too. So it was a mini family reunion.

Wednesday, my Mother In Law came by for lunch and cut Dear Hubby's hair.

Thursday, our friends came by to visit. The husband is going to be staying with Dear Hubby once a week, so I can get out and run errands. We had to show him the ropes of transferring, making coffee, and adjusting Dear Hubby in bed. All the essentials were taught, and it seems as if Dale is a fast learner!

Today, another friend is coming by and bringing a playmate for Dear Younger Daughter. I'm looking forward to that visit.

Tomorrow, Dear Older Son and his fiance are coming over for dinner and visiting.

And, finally, Sunday, a small group of ladies from church are supposed to come by for an afternoon visit.

Let's just hope we can hang in there until Sunday!!! LOL

Mini Give Away Winner!!!!

The winner is..............

Wendy!!!!!!!


Wendy said:

Well you are starting 2009 off right :)I sooo need to organize and clean my sewing room.
I really love the civil war prints too. I just got some new Jo Morton FQs the other day from her Toast line. Couldn't resist.
The red string blocks look amazing.

Thanks for reading and playing with me in this Quick Mini Give Away!!!!!!!

Please send me your snail mail address Wendy~

More Red Strings and a mini-give away....

Read to the end or you'll miss it!

I spent the day today cleaning up the sewing room. I moved furniture around and consolidated my scraps and string fabrics. I dusted and swept behind furniture. Oh man, I just thought the rest of the house was bad... but when you pull things out in a sewing room the dust is about three times as bad. But everything is clean now. I have used Bonnie's Scrap User's System for a about two years now, and today I separated the light strips from the dark strips. I need to start using up some of those strips, I really didn't realize how many I had. And I now have three scrap/strings containers.... light, dark and red.

The reason I made a red strings container is so that it would be easier to make the Red Strings blocks. After all that organizing, I made up more string blocks. Now I have 35 of them. I really like the way they are looking, although I don't like the pics. The real colors are really rich.







And, on Saturday, Dear Hubby sent me to the Quilt Shop to pick up some fabrics just for me. I told him that I had gathered my fabrics for the giveaways, but hadn't bought anything for me. Wasn't he sweet to tell me I needed some stuff just for me? I chose to go with some Reproduction fabrics. Love them!!!

With my older kids out of town, I knew there wouldn't be any running the roads for me, so now I'm all set to sew this week. I don't know how much I'll get done though, because my back up caregiver is gone!! We'll survive though. We've got coffee, chocolate and lots of fabric and thread.

Oh and since I was digging through the scraps, I pulled out some scraps to send along in the Whirl Into Winter Give Away box. I now have two sets of fat quarters to mail out and their companion scraps. I think a couple of quilters are really going to like what I'm sharing.

We've made it to 200 comments, so there will definitely be two winners. Let's see if we make it to 300.

And, as a little mini give away, whoever leaves a comment here will be added to another little scrap give away. I'll send someone a small brown envelope of scraps....just leave a comment on this post. (I just want to see who is still reading my blog!!!)

I'll draw for this mini give away Monday, the 5th, at 7:00 p.m. (CST).

Thanks so much for all the wonderful comments. I haven't been able to respond to them all, but I have read each and every one. I've even visited some blogs and added them to my Google Reader.

Have a great week, and I'll be back tomorrow for the mini-giveaway!!!

Happy Quilting!!!!!!!

Exciting Times....

Well, at least in my book! Last night Dear Hubby, Dear Younger Daughter and I stayed up til all hours watching "The Twilight Zone" Marathon on television!!! Episode after episode.....I really like those old crazy shows. I just giggled and laughed throughout the night. I'm really amazed at the creativity of the writers of that show. Rather awesome to watch them and find them to be so great 40-50 years later. It really was a great way to spend the time waiting for the New Year to come in.

At midnight, I kissed my sweetie, so looks like we'll be together at least one more year (*wink*)!!!! I remember the first New Year's we watched come in.....1981. We weren't dating then, but I remember! I sure hoped 1982 would bring me this wonderful man to call my own, and it did!!!!! Whoo Hoo!!! We married in 1983, so looks like it might last.

Today, Dear Older Daughter and I spent the day shopping. Lots of good deals. It's so much fun watching her shop. She's like me in that she sees something she likes, looks at the tag and says, "It's cute, but I'm not paying $27 for a t-shirt!" She found some great deals for herself, to take on the trip to North Carolina on Saturday. And, I picked up a few things for Dear Younger Daughter, who is constantly outgrowing everything I buy her within about 4 weeks! Yikes!!

Dear Older Daughter took me to lunch today, we had our nails done (me a pedi, her a mani) and had a fabulous day. It was worth the raising, cause I sure like her!!!

Hope your New Years Day was as good as mine.

And, I'm already blown away by the amout of comments!! Thanks so much quilty friends!!!