What a day yesterday.

It started out like any other day...just a little earlier than usual. I was in my sewing room and my husband was getting ready for work.

As I was sitting there, I noticed my metal shelves rocking back and forth and then things began flying off of them (in most earthquakes that usually doesnt happen, things flying)...so I knew this was going to be a good one.

So I went to the room where my husband was, he was getting dress. It is amazing because there was no fear, we stood there, seems like for ever trying to decide what to do. We discussed going out, laying beside the bed, we heard the bed would take the blunt of the ceiling. I told my husband that I had to get decent first. He said, no....let's just get outside. I was not going outside looking indecent. So I began to get decent. He called at me to foget it and just get outside that if the ceiling and walls collasp that I would still be indecent. But I would not have it....and so I got dressed. By that time things had slowed some. I knew that it was more than a 6.6 because that is what we had 2 weeks ago...and sure enough it was 8.0...(you heard different reports). The next question was, what next. We decied that Vance would stay home from work incase of a tsunammi. What a great decision that was.

His office was right in the middle of all of the commotion. There and on the other side of the island. So the damage was in concentrated areas. We are up a hill and are very safe. We could watch the waves and life below us with much ease. We only saw the sprays of the ocean waves against the mountain side in the direction of Pago Pago...we did not see the destruction because our vision is blocked by the moutains that incase the Pago Harbour.

The oddest thing was that it was an amazingly beautiful day, cool, nice breeze, beautiful sky and yet happening beyond our view was mass destruction.

People filled the mountain side. Friends came over for safe keeping.

Later that day we went and took pictures of the damage to my husbands office building. The whole bottom level was totally gutted out. His office remained unharmed. He will have no electricity for weeks, maybe months....so he may be working from home. Lucky me.

We have heard some truly horrific stories, one of a lady having her baby snatched out of her arms by the wave. We have friends that have lost everything and barely escaped with their lives. This makes me cry to know how near they came to death. We met a man at the Harbour that barely made it up the side of the mountain with his life. There are alot of people who have lost everything and some even family members. Some have gone out to sea never to be seen again. That would be the hardest part, trying to find a family member and not be able to, knowing that that ocean was their death.

So I sit here today, complaining because I can't post pictures, or email....and I think, what is up with you Barbara, you are safe, others are not, you have all and others have none....so a little inconvenince with the internet is nothing.

I am soooo grateful to all of you for your comment of concern, I have not been able to read them all due to the internet. I can not respond either...I am sorry. Thank you all so much!!! I knew I had some wonderful friends out there but didn't know how wonderful until now.

IT IS THE SIMPLE THINGS!!

I usually don't put non quilty things on this blog, those things are reserved for my personal blog but....as I was cleaning the bathroom while my husband was away....I noticed this:


Now for some of you.....it is no big deal to put the toilet paper on the holder. I have a bad habit of not doing that....but my husband will come along and put it on the holder and when I see that he has done that...well...for some reason it gives me a warm fuzzy. I know, you all are laughing....okay...go ahead at my expense.

Like when he goes to bed before me and tuns down the covers on my side, this always brings a smile to my face.

Or when we had the 6.6 earthquake at 4 in the morning....scared me half out of my wits....the bed going wild, the earth groaning....I had to wake my husband up. He was already awake and said so but it was just nice to have his voice in the dark and to know that if I was going to die, I would die by his side and he was going to be awake with me in our last moments on earth.... I wanted him to be scared too....didn't want all the excitement to myself.

So yes, it is the simple things in life!! Enjoy your day and see if you can find a simple pleasure you might not have noticed. I promise not to post too many of these personals on this blog but I have so many wonderful friends and thought I would share this with you....my friends.

WHITTLING AWAY1!

YEP.....You guessed it.....I am a whittling away on my UFO's....I think at one time I have over 36 and now I am down to a managable amount, maybe 15. YEPEEEEE

This is the pile on my table that will get baskets when I finally to to the store.



This is just a pile on the chest....so when my husband gets back with some more batting, I will get to whittling away on these.

SO JUST WHAT DID I DO WHILE MY HUSBAND WAS AWAY?

I certainly wasn't posting. I definitely wasn't sleeping (had only about 3 hours of sleep a night...truly miserable). I am hoping when he comes back that I will get some sleep.

Because ladies and gents, you are looking at a very well kept woman!! I have such awesome sons that have always taken such good care of me when their dad was away. Now that I am alone when he is gone every bump wakes me up and my mind does horrible things to me....so yes, this kept woman is looking forward to her man coming home.


SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO JUST WHAT DID I DO? I cleaned my sewing room.

I got rid of one of the long tables (was just a catch all). so this is the view as you are coming into my sewing room. I need to go and buy some baskets for my piles on the table....and I need to work on a few small piles but this is a 360 from what it was before.

Then to the left is my row of fabrics and you all have seen them.


Then I took the one chest out of the closet (put the scraps of material and batting in there, what an eyesore).....and of course moved my bookcase. Believe it or not, I just organized that bookcase....hummm

I am going to work on it alittle more....won't my husband be surprised. He won't be able to come in and say....Barb, you have one big mess in here anymore...well.....atleast for now.

Royce you won the grab bag, email me with your address. A big thank you to everyone out there for your interest in my reject of a bag.

GRAB BAGS

One of my sewing buddies made one of these for a mutual friends birthday. It was soooooooooooo cute, so one evening I decided to make some..

The purple one is my first attempt. It is truly less than perfect.....so my thoughts were, I can't give it away, don't want to redo it.....and don't want to throw it away...so if there is someone out there that would like a very much less than perfect grab bag, just respond to this post and at the end of the day, I will draw a name. Surely someone has a grandchild or someone who would love a reject?


The first two are gifts.

I also made me a shirt that evening (all but the buttons)....I would show it but there is not a screen big enough....HA!!! it is pink with white flowers. I love it, I did make it a little big....I guess sometimes I think I am bigger than what I really am.

If you are interested, you can find the instructions for these bags on www.allpeoplequilt.com

STIPPLING SATURDAY

I finished this little project last Saturday. I don't like the binding, I did it the traditional way and i really don't like how the corners came out. Maybe I will redo it? Hummm

I stippled this for my one friend that is making 3 baby quilts, I thought stippling would take up some of the excess in some areas. She is doing really well for her first quilts.

I am always doing the opposite of what I should be doing. I am posting to put off exercising and laundry....

Fat Quarter Giveaway

A wonderful giveaway over at Gene's Blog

He also has a new baby...go and check out his blog.

LAST FRIDAY'S SEWING CLASS

I had four women at different times but had three the majority of the time.

Three worked on quillows. The one gal was working on her three baby quilts.

Above is a picture of one of the quillows.

I will have only two gals today. One is still working on her baby quilts and one will finish up her quillow. I will take pictures.

One thing more...please keep coming back....one of these days soon....my niece and I have something wonderful planned for you....

INTERRUPTING MY POSTING BREAK WITH BREAKING NEWS

Another wonderful giveway over at Bluebird Quilts

POSTING INTERRUPTION

This blog is temporarily taking a posting brake. The owner of this blog would like to apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused and will assure her favorite viewers that this site will be up and operating in no time.

GREEN FAIRY QUILTS IS HAVING A GIVEAWAY!!!

I just love Green Fairy quilts and adore Judi, so if you have a chance, hope on over to her site and check out her amazing giveaway. She doesn't know this but she is my new BFF.....I am her personal stalker....I check her website on a regular basis, checking out her new fabrics, patterns, specials.....ohhhhh do I love her specials. Can I get arrested for this? Hummmmmmm

Another Giveaway

A Crafty Moment: Birthday Giveaway!!#c3811601147459414553

If you have noticed that my side bar is getting full with giveaways, so since I have kinda taken a small break from posting, I thought I would just put this in for all of you to take advantage of. Go on over...tell here Barb sent ya.....you will love her blog so stay a spell and wander around.

BUG JAR QUILT!

This was my project this week. We have a new polagie (white person) on the island. She knows I quilt so she brought over the makings for a bug jar quilt. I had to furnish the white and green fabric.

The only problem was, the bugs, mouse, snail, I had to find. She didn't have the paper pieceing for that nor the measurements. Soooooooooooooooo what an ordeal. I had to figure and figure....my small pea brain was a smoking....and....yes, it is not perfect. I see what I should have done and what I did wrong but once it was together it was going to stay that way. Shoooo eeeeee.



Don't you just love the back? The green trim is just the right punch for it. I am running out of backing material (traditional American material) but I had this on hand and was skeptical but now.....it is awesome.

A NEW QUILTER IS BORN!!

last Friday a friend came over and made this quilt. Her first quilt ever. I had the strips cut, she sewed them and then we cut and she sewed again. She is working on a green one to match this brown one because she is expecting twin grandbabies...YEpEEEE



She is also expecting another grandson...so she called today to come over and cut up the green and white strips she sewed together. So I got the strips ready for her to do another one while I cut up the green and white strips for her 2nd quilt.


She stayed and sewed these together....she did an awesome job....she did sew a few on in the wrong sequence but that is okay, the overall results was wonderful!!

It is like lays potato chips, you just can't eat one and so...once you get that one quilt under your belt...you just can't stop there.

It is funny, I have several friends that are getting quite the material stash...my husband says that there will be husbands cursing my name because of the fabric addiction their wives have gotten......heheeee..... Now there are several that are getting cutting boards and rotary cutters.....oh what have I done?????? Can you see the devil horns on my head???

It is funny because one friend just made a purchase of fabrics at one of the stores. She calls me on her cell phone says "Whave have I done, I just went in for a matching back and end up spending alot of money".....like I am her 12 step advisor (whatever those people do in AAA to help someone new)....and as if I can help... I will be her coach all right.. I will be coaching her into buying more..... Oh yes...there are horns on top of my head....yes indeed.

New Twist to the disappearing Nine Patch

Use just two colors and you get this: (yes, I know I need to iron it!!)


And it can be this?



I had originally planned to make this quilt like the above...but...i just like the way the block stands alone...so I am looking for some pink fabric (plain) for sashing...do you have any Jane?

DONE AND DELIVERED!!

Another one is gone....I really loved how this one turned out. I stippled it, white thread on top and red on bottom. I had very few white show through on the bottom, if it did, I just went over it with a red crayon.


The quilt is sitting pretty inside this tote. Yes, another tote. I just think it is so fun to deliver a tote with a quilt inside....so ..... I guess you all are stuck with my totes.

HOODIES

Hoodies for my Bernina and Janome bobbins.



Hoodies for my Pfaff bobbins..... No bobbin will be left behind. Hoodies for all!!


Have you seen this clever idea? It is hair bobs (that is what I call them), they are the small ones. I just happened to be in a store the other day and was browsing and found these small hairbobs. I remember seeing this idea in a quilt magizines. So clever.

But I call them Hoodies. My bobbins looks so fresh and ready for the winter. I have a hoddie for each one. Even shared with the girls that came over on Friday! How fun is this?

No more tangled threads.....

I feel somewhat organized now...that is the key word, somewhat. I am so embarassed about my messy sewing room.....

DID SOMEONE SAY SALE?

Jane over at Jane's Fabric and Quilts had an awesome Labor Day Sale.....

Thanks Jane for the buttons....they are awesome, so if your fabric!!!


Speedy Delivery!!! Real Speedy!!

I needed the pink fabric, will show you what I a doing with that later....

RAIL FENCE

Rail Rences turn out so nice and are so fun and easy. I got the idea from one of the blogs I visit. Now for me to tell you which one is another story, so I apologize for not giving credit where credit is due.



I have had this back material for ever, got it at a garage sell and I think it is a sheet. I just love it. Unfortunately, my camera seems to be washing out the colors on my quilts (probably operators error).

\
A few ladies came over today. One just finished the handle on a bag (she had to run). Another made a quilt top for one of her gransons to be (still baking in the oven), infact she is having twins....so one more quilt is due. I had the material already cut out for the quilt, it is a checker board quilt...easy....great for a first time quilter. when she finishes the next one, I will take pictures of both. Then another gal made 3 one hour totes and two cosmetic bags. What a very busy day. Sorry, didn't think to take pictures today.

The stippling of the quilt above was done after a they left and a nap.....sheweeeee was so tired.

I WOULD RATHER BE QUILTING!!

Notice that there are three different types of fabric there? I am making three shirts for my husband at one time. I have already made him two on Saturday. He liked that one green shirt so much (earlier post on buttons) that he asked for more and well....as I was ironing his shirts I saw how bad off they were so I relented.

I would much rather be quilting. See the three pockets, 3 collars, 3 lapels? That is what I am working on today...well....when I finally get off the computer.


So...I went shopping Saturday for the material for his shirts, at least that is what I justified to him for buying more fabric.

Well.......

As I am sewing on his shirts Saturday.....

He comes into my sewing room.....faces my material wall and says....."Why did you buy all that fabric today when you could have made me shirts from some of this fabric, you certainly have enough?"

I am thinking "ARE YOU KIDDING ME"? REALLY!!! YOU ARE KIDDING!!

So that is what I said...."Are you Kidding me!"


"That fabric is for quilting, not shirts!"

OH...he says....."Heaven forbid that you use some of this fabric for me a shirt!"

I am laughing inside because he is right but.....I am not telling him that!!!!!

Maybe I will need to go shopping for more shirt fabric soon?

FREE PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT -this is preapproved by the owner of "I Have A Notion"

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO the other day.....looking for my seam ripper (I love my seam ripper)....still can't find my seam ripper....so...over on "I Have A Notion",she was mentioning her seam ripper from her online store "I have a notion".....so I go over and look.....and oh my goodness.....that is all I can say.

First of all, her blog should be rated "R" because she is shaking her bottie all over the place and second of all....you go to her store and that should be Rated "R" for her really and I do mean really inexpensive prices.



Yep, this awesome seam ripper....I really need it but it scares me, I do so much damage to my material as it is but....this is on my list.


Now I already have these scissors but she is selling them for about 15 dollars less than what I paid for mine....hummmmmmmmm


Buttons covers....


Bias Tape maker machine.....


And YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSsss Pigma Micron Pens, where were you Kelly when I was looking all over for these? You would have saved me a ton of trouble and Pat too...she was kind enough to send me two.

So what am I trying to tell you? Get your little bottie (notice I did not say big bootie) over to her store. She has so many items that I can't list them all, if I could, then it would be my store....oh...idea???? hummmmm

YOU HAVE MY HEART!!!!

From this magazine.....



I found this quilt....



And I made it into this:

I am quite pleased with how it turned out except that the white polka dots on red are not straight...so it kinda gives my quilt an illusion of not being proportionate.
Otherwise......I am happy with it. This is just the top. Maybe I will have it quilted by the time this post on the 8th...today is Friday the 4th.

BLUE IS FOR BOY

Those of you that have been following my blog have seem a proto type of this, the last one I did like this was smaller. I needed a baby quilt for last Saturday so I decided this was an easy, fun pattern to make up....and it was.


Can't forget a tote to match. This was suppose to be the one hour tote (see side bar if you are interested in making one) but I forgot and cut two sides....then decided to make pockets, then decided to make a square bottom....soooo I deviated alot from it but oh well.....then I made the straps to long, too lazy to take them out and cut them down so I just put knots at the end.....solved that problem.

WINNERS THE OLD FASHION WAY

You guessed it, I spent about an hour, writing, cutting, and mixing....remixing....and mixing again and so....now we have two winners.

I have two piles, one for those who wanted the quilt....that goes to Quilting Fiesta, if some of you have never been over to her blog, you should go....she is amazing.

Then there is the emagazine for Homemaking Cottage, that winner was Pat, I think that woman has a lucky streak.... yes, go visit her blog too.

Congrats to the winners....and for those of you who didn't win, coming soon will be a quilt giveaway, the whole shabang.....top, binding, and quilting...yes...the whole thing...so stay tuned and hope to see you around. I have enjoyed your comments.....I am upset that I had this one too soon, my husband will be gone on the 20th and I enjoyed the compnay from the last giveaway when he was gone.....oh well...

Well one day while my sewing friend was here, she left the blade out (I would never do that) and she came back to the cutting table and goes "OOPS....Safety first".....and so every since then, even when no one is around and the blade is found to be open, I go...."OOPS Safety First"....and then smile (thinking of my friend)....Of course, I would never leave the blade open...must be some Samoan elf walking around my house opening the blade, moving my glasses somwhere else, or the keys..... One time I even said it with Vance sitting by the cutting table...he goes "What"?..... I just laugh....that crazy Samoan elf is at it again!!!


So remember...."Safety First"!!!

More Samoan goodness!!

Couldn't resist!!




UMMMM UMMMMMM good.....

A WONDERFUL GIVEAWAY WIN AND SOME MORE....TOTES.

I won this over at Jean's page
on July 24th....I got it on Sept. 2nd...took that long to get here, I really don't know why some things take so long and some come the next week....well...isn't this bag awesome? Wonderful work, go on over to her place and check out all the wonderful things she is doing.... Thanks Jean...I am loving it!!


I needed a quick gift for the next day so I made this tote with cosmetic bag....infact, I have come up with a super easy way to make these cosemtic bags in 15 minutes...maybe one day I will do a tutorial for you????

Then this next one is for a friend. I actually made these two and one other, not showing the other right now (my own thoughts went into it)

This one is for another friend......I stippled the fabric and my needle does not like those white flowers...so the stippling looks horrible.

Each tote has a pocket in the inside.

ONE MORE DAY FOR MY GIVEAWAY, SIGN UP HERE