Some Stitching

I just got back from our monthly quilt meeting and I am feeling inspired.  Our guest speaker was Wendy Mathson who lectured on scrap management.  She showed the most amazing quilts which were all done with scraps - scraps that were organized.  I think I can do this, but my scrap management needs a new system.  BIG SIGH!!

 

My machine this week has been pretty boring with a lot of mending.  There comes a time when it just needs to be done, but it surely feels great to get to the bottom of that basket.

 

I've been enjoying doing some Christmas stockings for a couple of the new grandbabies. Three new babies in one year has kept me jumping with stockings. Two down and one more to go, but the last one is counted cross stitch and may not be finished this year.

 

 

The days have shortened and cooled down considerably this week. The fires in the evening have felt wonderful and make a comfortable place to sit and stitch.

 

I did get some time to try a jelly roll quilt.  I have wanted to do "the race" for some time and I was interested in how quickly it would go.  I had two 20 strip jelly rolls so it had 4 strips of each fabric.  I thought it might be too repetitive so I added some little 4 patches for between each strip.  It was one VERY LONG strip when I had it finished. 

 

 

 

Many of the fabrics ended up next to each other and it gave it a block look in the end, but I rather like it.    I think I will add a narrow orange border and then a wider border to finish it off.

 

 

 

Sunday we had the pleasure of attending a piano concert which included our grandson.  He was a gold medal recipient in the 2012 Contemporary Music Festival and the concert featured the gold medal winners.  There was such wonderful talent. 

 

 

 

Since today marks the end of the UR Priceless blog hop, I threw the 127 comments into the random number generator.  The winner came up #19, My Sister Made Me Do It.  Congratulations.   (I surely wish I could figure out how to put the little box into my posts.)   How many of you tried making one of the little coin purses after seeing all of the gorgeous and clever ones on the blog hop?   

 

 

 



UR Priceless Coin Purse

A million thanks to Madam Samm and Katherine for sponsoring the UR Priceless Coin Purse Blog Hop.  I know that a ton of work goes into making these hops so successful and I am sure that we all agree that Madam Samm is the best at doing it. 

 

These little bags are quite addicting to make.  You start off with the little 3" handles, which I purchased from Kelly at IHAN, and a pattern which can be purchased here.  From there the choices are nearly endless.

My first attempt was to use some Kaffe Fassett fabrics.  After learning the ropes of making the first one, I had to try a few more just for fun. 

This one is a little brighter and would make a great teacher's gift.

Then I added some machine embroidery. 

 

Needless to say, I am not the only one hooked on these.  Please check out these other blogs for today's creations. 

Day 1 - Nov. 5th

Quiltin' Jenny
Hill Valley Quilter
Loopy Lou's Adventures Into Handicrafts
Just Let Me Quilt
Lixie Makes It
Beaquilter
Sunshine, Handmade
Buzzing and Bumbling
ANNIEOFBLUEGABLES
Needled Mom
The Slow Quilter
A Quilting Sheep
I Have A Notion
Quilt-n-Queen

 

 Just to make things even more fun as we kick off the great blog hop,  how about a little giveaway?  Since I know many of my followers are not quilters,  this giveaway will be something that even they could use.   I always love to have seasonal towels in my kitchen so I thought a couple of towels to help with Thanksgiving cleanup would be appropriate.  Just answer this question. How many people you will have for your Thanksgiving dinner?  We tend to have between 40 and 50 here. 

I will random number generate a winner at the end of the blog hop and, as usual, my followers can leave a second comment for a second chance.

An Extra Hour

I feel so rested with my extra hour of sleep last night!!  How about you?  I know that I will not be happy tonight when it is dark by 5:30, but I guess I can deal with it. 

Halloween has come and gone.  We had very few trick or treaters again this year in spite of nice warm temperatures.  Our kids always come over for a quick dinner of lentil bean soup, fresh bread and salad before heading out for trick or treating in the neighborhood.  I love seeing the little ones in their costumes.

I continue to work away at the Just Takes 2 blocks.  I think we only have a few more blocks to do before we are finished.  I have close to 90 blocks completed so far.  These are the latest.

My DIL asked if I would make a Christmas stocking for their children's school auction which is coming up in a few weeks.   Although it looks blue in the photo it is a lovely shade of regal purple. 

Last evening we had the thrill of attending our granddaughter's 16th birthday party.  They had the nicest group of kids and we had a blast.  There were several who played different instruments and entertained us with their wonderful music and fantastic voices. 

Several years ago our granddaughter had fallen in love with my pinwheel quilt.  I told her she could have it when she turned 16 and she has reminded me of the fact ever since.  Last night she finally got it and, although she knew she was going to receive it, she loved it. 

Don't forget to check back tomorrow for the kickoff of the UR Priceless Blog Hop.  Again, I get to show mine on the first day.  Yeah.  I think we will see a whole lot of wonderful coin bags and I am looking forward to it. 

 

I am off to enjoy the day now before it gets dark.  It is also 88* outside right now so those of you who know me know that I am loving it.

Vacation 2012

First of all...my prayers are with all of you suffering the damage from Sandy.  It looks just devastating on the news feeds.

Warning......this post will be picture heavy.

I know it has been awhile since I have posted or even checked blogs, but we have been away for the last few weeks.  One of our very favorite things for DH and I to do is to jump in the car and just drive.  Our final destination was to be Iowa where many of my family members live, but we make no plans ahead of time.  We drive until we feel like stopping and just enjoy our beautiful country.  This trip took us across California, across Nevada, through the tip of Arizona, up through Utah and Bryce Canyon.  We continued on through Colorado and headed north through the sandhills of Nebraska (and hurricane force winds), finally crossing the Missouri River and across Iowa.  The trip home took us through the Black Hills and Wyoming when our visit to Yellowstone and the Tetons had to be altered due to heavy snows.  At that point we left our beloved small roads and moved to an Interstate that had snowplows. 

Snow in Bryce Canyon

Lake Powell, Utah

Well disguised Bighorn Sheep

Cows along our newly found favorite road to Cripple Creek, CO.

I hope no cars are coming from the other direction!!!

Still showing some nice fall colors.

Two crops...hay and windmills

Chimney Rock in Nebraska.  Did you ever play Oregon Trail on the computer?  I could hear the music as we visited Chimney Rock.

Sand Hills in Nebraska

My cousin's brand new toy.  It had just been delivered.  What an amazing piece of equipment!

Very fall looking - view from my cousin's patio.

Along a road in Iowa.  Isn't this great?

Loved this car beside the old house.

Entering the Black Hills.

Snow as low as the desert floor in Nevada

Of course returning home after that length of time always leaves much catch up to do.  I had some wonderful mail from friends awaiting when I returned, including lots of birthday cards since I turned another year older while traveling.  It makes getting older so much easier when you have such wonderful friends.

These darling labels were in a card from Maria.  I already have plans for both of them.  Thanks, Maria.

Mug rug and fun goodies from Ida and Irene, our Rugs with Friends "Momma".

A wonderful package from Leona, my mug rug swap partner for Nov/Dec.  Thank you, Leona.

I also received a package from Madame Samm for participating in the Fall Blog Hop party.  Look at all the fun goodies.  Thank you so much.  I will also be participating in the URPriceless hop and my day will soon be here - Nov. 5th.  Please stop back for that.

Lastly.....remember when I showed the fabulous carved pumpkins?  After seeing them we were visiting our grandson's garden.  He had several green pumpkins so we gave it a try.  What do you think?  We just quickly did the name with a scissor blade, but think how much fun it would be with a little Dremel drill.

Harvest Days

It seems like fall signs are appearing everywhere ....cooler temperatures, shorter days, fall colors and LOTS of pumpkins. 

We attended the Savor the Central Coast event that is sponsored by Sunset magazine.  It is an amazing celebration of harvest.  Check out this great idea.

I was told that they go out to the pumpkins in August and carve the names into them.  The pumpkins then scar over and this is the result.  I think that I will be trying this technique next year.

This is another fabulous idea.  Talk about having your salad at your fingertips!!  I have a pallet of strawberries growing here, but mine is just sitting on the ground.  I may have to elevate mine. 

We've been watching little ones lately so there hasn't been much creative sewing going on here, but we have enjoyed the little ones.  Their visit included a trip to the pumpkin patch.

Taking the train to the pumpkin patch.

If my cow had that name, I might be a bit worried about riding in it too.

Even Grandpa fits!!!

The last few days we were in Atlanta for business.  While there we were able to spend a few hours at the incredible Oakland Cemetery.  It is as much a botanical experience as it is a cemetery.  I, unfortunately, forgot to bring my camera so these photos are from my camera.  I just have a couple of pictures, but this cemetery dates back to the mid 1850s.  Among the well known people buried there include Margaret Mitchell (author of Gone With the Wind) and Bobby Jones, the golfer.  The cemetery has sections which include soldiers from the Civil War - both Union and Confederates, buried separately.  As a sign of our history, the plots are also divided into the black section, the Jewish section and the pauper section.  Known for it's statuary, it was an amazing place to visit. 

Granite obelisk from stone obtained from Stone Mountain - the Mt. Rushmore of the South.  This was a tribute to the Civil War soldiers.

I think this fellow must have like trees to have his stone as a tree trunk.  Interesting!

I loved this flower, but I have no idea what it is.  It was just gorgeous.

I'm thinking something like this might be nice.  The cemetery was filled with different family ones.

We had our first measurable rain yesterday with some wild thunder and lightening to go along with it.  We even had a rainbow that arched right over our yard.

Pot of gold?????  Looks close.

Finally, the winner of my Leafs Me Happy Blog Hop was Barb of Mountain Quiltworks - selected by Random Number Generator.  Congratulations, Barb.