Cute Fabric, Cute Sami, and Happy Mother’s Day

Look at this beyond cute fabric I found yesterday at Joann’s! Of course I had to get a ‘little’ of it as it had pictures of dogs like my Sami, and in sunglasses. As this is the only way I will ever see sunglasses anywhere near her cute little face I just could not let it get away.  This flannel fabric was only $6.99 a yard AND I had a 50% off coupon so it was meant to come home with me.

I’m not so sure she is as excited as I am with it, but she will learn to love it when it is made into a quilt…..maybe. 🙂

Happy Mother’s Day.

 

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Trying Out Pin Cushions

Don’t you just love cute pin cushions? During my recent browse around Pinterest several caught my eye, and of course these 10 minute crafts turned into a several day project, but they are so cute! The fruit pie cushion is a free tutorial from one of my favorite quilter/designers, Lori Holt at Bee In My Bonnet. The fabric I used was a charm pack called Farmer’s Market from RJR Fabrics. The little cobalt blue flower pots are ones that I’ve had for many years and decided to make them earn their keep and hold my pins. 🙂

I used the crushed walnut shells, called lizard litter at the pet stores, to stuff the cushions and to give them a little weight. A little advise: fill the cushions over a container up high in case your dog (Sami) decides to ‘help’. This stuff goes everywhere if you spill it and your dog tries to play in it while you are trying to clean it up.

These little cushions were made from orphan blocks left over from other projects. They are very handy to have at different locations around my sweat shop. Now I have one at each machine, cutting table, and the ironing board, but I will never be organized.

I am guessing you all have several pin cushions you have made, in addition to our old standby ‘the tomato pin cushion’, and probably some that have been handed down from relatives and loved ones. I remember my aunt kept a hanky pinned to the front of her blouse had pins pinned to the hanky when she was sewing.

 

 

 

My Take on Bonnie Hunter’s Diamond Tile Block

HELLO MY FRIENDS! Yes, I know that I am shouting. I am just so glad to be here I feel like shouting. 🙂

Sami and I have been away from y’all so long we feel like we are new but we are the same old girls, or at least I am. A Special Thank You to all our cyber friends that have checked on us. I don’t want to use any names because I did not get permission, but y’all know who you are. We really appreciate knowing you were thinking about us.

The block above is a  Bonnie Hunter ‘Addicted to Scraps’ block published in the May/June 2018 issue of Quilt Maker magazine.  This block is intended to be put together for a quilt and it would be lovely but I don’t think I am up to it yet so I decided to enlarge the block and add borders (see the second picture) and make it into a table topper. As always with Bonnie’s blocks, the instructions are well written and very easy to follow. She gives several different examples of how the block would look with different colors.

Many different quilts are running through my head using this block and I cannot wait to try more: Christmas colors for a throw for the couch, baby quilts, QOV, a new one for my bed……so many ideas…so little time or energy.

Also, did I mention that my long arm is in the shop! I think it is just trying to get attention, but did it have to wait until the warranty was out to decide to break down?

Thank you for visiting with us again. We are so glad to have you.

 

 

#bonniehunter

 

 

Regatta Project Completed – and I’m Still Kicking, Just Not Too High

Believe it or not, this was an easy quilt and normally would be a fast project to complete in a weekend. I have stretched it out for weeks due to one thing after another but it is now finished. You would think I was working for the government! I love the fleece lining and with the simple wavy line quilting it is just enough to keep it soft and snuggly for the couch and a good book….oh yes, that reminds me. I knew I had been reading way too many mysteries when I read my grocery list and I had ‘DB’ listed. I cannot imagine what in the world ‘DB’ stood for other than ‘dead body’…..see what I mean…too many mystery books. I know I wasn’t supposed to pick up a dead body at the grocery. Not even Walmart has that on the clearance shelf. 🙂     (Still do not know what ‘db’ means. Guess I will find out when I go to the pantry to get it and find out I have none.)

A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO EVERYONE THAT TOOK TIME TO MESSAGE AND CALL TO CHECK ON ME. 

I am not 100% well yet, but I am happy to be here. I am slowly getting back into my sweatshop to sew a little each day and with Sami’s help we will start producing again. I know the fabric industry has noticed my absence and I am sure their stocks have gone down. LOL

 

 

Merry Christmas Everyone-Sami and I Both Fooled Santa This Year

As you can tell from the look on Sami’s face, she knows she pulled one over on Santa this year with all the presents she received. In addition to her wonderful subscription to the monthly Bark Box, she got her all time favorite night-time snack, Pup-Peroni and several chew-aggressive toys. Mom even promised not to make her wear any of the cute clothes that she hates.

Isn’t this the cutest face? No, is isn’t Sami’s but it is on a t-shirt my son and DIL  got for Sami to give to me, along with jammie bottoms for Christmas. I just love it and it looks just like you know who. Along with my gift certificates from both of my kids I think I fooled Santa too. 🙂

 

 

The Stinker’s Quilt (guess who that is)

Missouri Star Quilt Company Friday tutorial was for a simple ‘wave’ type quilt that I thought would be perfect for my stinker Sami a new quilt. She hasn’t had one for a while so I thought this pattern would be good for her. Jenny’s pattern showed more of a wavy effect but for some reason I didn’t go as wavy. The next one I do will not be wavy, just straight across.

I purchased a cute pattern called Speak Love recently from Slice Of Pi Quilts Blog Spot that showed the white area used for messages. This is where I got the idea of putting a little message in the this quilt. Check out Laura’s patterns. She is so creative and I always get so many ideas from her blog. I plan on using Speak Love pattern for my new great-grandbaby that is due in June. (Oops…that is a surprise, so Glenda don’t tell)

The letters are not permently attached and only used for the photo op. This way they can be changed as needed. With the new great-grand it can be used as a monthly age progression quilt showing the picture at age one month, two month,  any special occasion, etc.

On Sami’s quilt I used a charm pack in American Basics from Windham Fabrics and Kona White. Of course, I still haven’t quilted it yet. I have added it to my stack of tops to be quilted. I am waiting for the quilt police to haul me away for getting so far behind.

Sami was SO GOOD this time. As you can see when I put the quilt down for the picture she was so eager to jump on it to check it out but she restrained herself, almost. As soon as I said it was OK, she bounced over and sat in her picture posing position.  She is such a diva!

 

 

 

 

Sami’s Weekly Update-Sami’s Side Of The Story

Mom, you know I am black, right? You know it is really dark at 6:00 in the morning when you take me outside to pee, right? You know you cannot see me, right? You know our yard is fenced in and I cannot get out, right? Then why do you start to yell for me at the top of your voice waking the neighbor and they start blinking their lights—then you blame me! 

OK. That is behind us. We will not do that again and remember, Santa is still watching. I have been very good, REMEMBER that. The little boys next door tell me that all the time. The guys that pick up the garbage tell me that too. I will be back next week with another report on how good I’ve been and how bad my mom has been. Thanks for visiting with me.

Merry Christmas everyone and thank you for visiting with me and mom.

 

Sami’s December Bark Box

All I can say is Sami has her brother and sister-in-law fooled to think she has been a good girl this year. They got her a subscription to Bark Box for Christmas and she LOVES it.

I am always getting deliveries of fabrics, etc., and Sami never barks or acknowledges the mail carrier. The carrier even leaves her a doggy treat on packages and she still does nothing….until today.  It was Bark Box day!  This was the second Bark Box delivery but the first was the day after Thanksgiving when we were away from home. Today the mail carrier left the box at the door and Sami went wild..

As you will notice I only got two pictures. My camera will not take high speed pictures. All I got after the first two were blurs. 🙂

It is safe to say she really likes her Bark Box gift. The boxes come with three healthy food treats and two or three toys. Sami is a VERY aggressive dog with toys and she destroyed the toys in the first box in five seconds. My dad would have said she could tear up an anvil with a tooth pick. LOL

After contacting Bark Box they said they could send toys with rubber inserts. This box worked much better for Sami and we are very happy with the customer service department.

Thanks for visiting with us and we hope you all have a happy and healthy holiday season.

 

Winter Post Cards Quilt

I think this is my last Christmas item I will make for this year. The inspiration for this quilt came from the cute fabric called Winter Reindeer by Sue Schlabach for David Textiles. It was just too pretty to cut into little pieces so I cut 8″ strips and bordered them in Poppy Red Waverly fabric. I had the gray and white dotted fabric in my stash, along with the solid white for the 16 patch blocks.

This lap quilt measures 49″x65″ before quilting. I have gray and white flannel for the backing.

Sami decided it was about time to have her picture posted. She matches the quilt. 🙂

Moda Blockheads Block of the Week #38

Designer Betsy Chutchian of  Betsy’s Best Quilts and More is the designer of week #38 of the Blockheads block of the week. This striking block is called Peace and Plenty appropriately so for Thanksgiving week. When I first looked at this block the first thing I noticed was the pin wheel in the center and thought I had it all figured out before reading the instructions. The assembly was totally different from what I expected but with Betsy’s clear and easy to follow instructions it went together very quickly. Thanks Betsy for another fun and easy block.

On another note, Sami and I had Thanksgiving at my son and daughter-in-law’s lovely house in Georgia. We had a wonderful dinner and visit with all the family to include my DIL’s parents from Texas, my granddaughter and her husband, and my grandson and his girlfriend.  We were very honored the grandson surprised his momma with a visit from his Marine post in Arizona and grandson-in-law was able to stop in after his shift as a Georgia State Trooper. Between the two of these young men we were very well protected. Also, as the news has been shared on Face Book I think it is OK to share here: My granddaughter is expecting my first great-grandchild in June!!!! You all know how much I hoped this would happen soon. Everyone is beyond thrilled.

As most of you know, Sami the Wonder Dog has a reputation of being an extremely spoiled dog and VERY active. She lived up to her reputation but she got along pretty well with the other animals and even shared her toy with my grand dog, Bella.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.