Last Finish for February

I did a meander on this quilt, kinda in a hurry (that is my story) but I did go out of the box and do my binding sooo different than what I am used to.....

Sharon Schamber's has a wonderful video on how to use Elmer's glue to get the perfect binding, I found her through Jane's Fabrics......

Do you see me, out of the box....oh yes.....cardboard box!!!

it took me a lot longer than normal and it is not perfect....

I know, suppose to be perfect but well....

some of us are not able to achieve it right out of the stall, least ways I have never had such an experience, I am a slow learner.....



but.....I am pleased as punch...tropical punch to be exact!!

I am actually binding another quilt but well...I am quitting for the night.

Don't foget my island giveaway below.

PLEASE DON'T BE LIKE ME!!! THIS PICTURE IS VERY OFFENSIVE!

Those who read my post yesterday know that I was having trouble with my tension.

Well..the Horizon has a different bobbin for quilting, I have just never used it because the regular sewing bobbin worked just fine until yesterday.....

So...thought I would use this quilting bobbin.....and this is what I found.............

get ready.....

Hold your breath.....

Don't judge me to harshly.....





Oh my goodness.....look what crawled into my machine....

How did that get there?????

It has only been two months since I have been sewing ......(I have more excuses)

You should have seen what was under the bobbin.....shameful shameful......

My head is hanging down.....all I can say is

"Do you know what is under, around, within your bobbin casing?

ALL IN A DAYS WORK!

Seventeen pillowcases (these are not the regular size, these are smaller and the opening overlaps in the back).



Prep work for a Turtle Tranquility quilt!



Prep work for Octopus quilt.



Yellow Brick road blocks all in their prespective rows ready to sew together.



Yellow Brick Road top, just needs a border.



It was all in a days work....good night all!!

HOLD THE PRESS.....MAKE SURE YOUR DENTURES ARE IN GOOD SO YOU DON'T DROP YOUR TEETH!!

Someone is sick here in Virginia......

My husband took me to JoAnn's today, I was armed with a 10% off everything coupon, a 40% coupon and as I am getting out of the car, my husband says...buy what ever you want. The sky is the limit!!

Oh my gosh...did I hear that right!!! Whohooooooooooo

but.....

but.....

but.....

I must be sick, I only came out with ten dollars worth of stuff..... see Nanci, I have gloves.




What is wrong with me....should I call a Doctor? Maybe I should have brought a friend?

Putting cold compresses on my head right now.

So......that being said.....

husband is upstairs....

I got online to I Have A Notion....oh yessssss baby....we aint too sick over here (well...maybe mentally sick)...just ordered me two Patsy Thompson DVD's for free motion quilting..... You all know how much I love Kelly, and no she did not pay me to say this...she is one amazing lady....maybe he should just tell me the sky is the limit in Kelly's store...hummmmm

wait just a minute, I will go and ask....

FREE MOTION QUILTING AT IT'S WORSE....AND AT IT'S BEST.

Recently Sew Cal introduced me to the most awesome blog Ivory Spring.

She does the most awesome free motion quilting on her home machine. She has also been trying to encourage me to take the plunge. As you know, I did a little free motion on my sons quilts....

Swirls are easy, pebbles, stippling, but to do feathers and to jump out of my box is scarey.... I guess my main problem is what to do, what designs.

So.....I did feathers....this is at it's worse....but the problem is, I didn't stop there, I kept going and going......then spent most of the morning taking all of it out....oh yes.....alot of froging this morning...


It was fun....but looked terrible.



I was going to just give up and stipple this quilt (yes, that would have been fun and easy and it would be done by now)....but this nagging voice on my shoulder kept telling me to keep trying and not give up.

So I did this....

This is the back.....all I can say is this is not great but it is a start and has me going outside my comfort zone. I will say that the more I do free motion, the more control I have so maybe in a few years I will be a pro....HA!!!!

I took a break from this and cut out 17 pillowcases and worked on my 12 ugly towels for my towel swap. Oh yes....uuuuuuggggglllliiiiiieeeeeeee but my husband told me to make it work. He knows what pains I have gone through to find towels. I have looked high and low. Order some online and then they back ordered. I finally ordered these towels that I have now and they are sooooo uggggliiieeeeee but....I am going to do as my husband says and make them work. Not due until April but I hate waiting until the last minute....

Oh well....have a wonderful evening.

Something Amazing just happened at my house!!!

I made these muffins for the Young Women tonight (game night) and I was able to put them on the counter without ants getting to them.....Ohhh yes...amazing things happening here in Strafford.

Don't laugh, in Samoa I had to beat the ants away and sometimes a flick of the finger or just go ahead and eat the sucker....

Now if you knew me growing up and as an adult, you would know that I hate bugs of any form (ask my family)....and for me to just eat an ant without the bat of an eye....

listen,

nothing is going to come between me and my food..

Another amazing thing. Did you know that the mail person actually brings your packages to your door....or is it just me?

I must be so important for that to happen (snickering).

No mail service in Amerika Samoa...had to go to the post office about a 30 minute drive to get our mail.

Nothing happening in the sewing room today except cleaning....

STICKING WITH THE FAMILIAR

I decided to stick to stippling, it fits comfortably and well....gotta get these baby quilts done.



Plain ole stippling and boy do I love to stipple, added a few loops to this one.



To think I was going to just throw this top away!!! Had a great day stippling...no ripping out at all...whohoooo....
This quilt has a flannel back, I thought it would just slide over the table but I was soooo wrong...I had to really work this quilt.

These tumblers were cut out with my Go cutter when I first got it.




Finished the binding on my son's quilt.




I have to work on a few things tomorrow that I can't show, one of the projects is on the towel swap I am in....the next is a design for a quilt....so....things may be quiet tomorrow.

IN THE ZONE......AT THE TOP OF MY GAME....

Every so often...few and far between, there comes a day that just sings....

Valentines day....I went shopping(that is what I look like in a bikini...ha!!)...and I shop in it too....

Wanted to make my husband's favorite meal.




Did two loads of laundry....



Made my husband's favorite cookies....



Found the floor to that messy room...



Organized some fabrics (about three boxes left to unload).



Pulled out my Go Cutter and cut up some drunkards paths for some baby quilts...

Here is a blue one



Green one....don't you just love this Samoan Fabrics...the lime green has the Elie (Samoan form of fabric painting)on it.



Been wanting to do the "Boot Bash" for a while now...if you want the pattern, just hit the button on my side bar. Cindy introduced me to this BOM back in January. I know that Tonya from Tonya's sewing room is doing this as well....and I sure hope I can keep up and not just give up....



Notice that my boots are backwards.....ooopsssss...well....I ment it to be that way!!!
That is my story and I am sticking to it!!!

HOARDERS INTERVENTION!!

When you see this picture you will see why!!!! My husband was walking up the stairs and he said "You know that room looks like that show on TV "Hoarders...." I laughed and he is right.

So I took a picture to show you what the room looks like now and my husband said that he could not believe I was going to put it on my blog.

No shame here!! Now if you saw my work station....I would be embarassed. A little at a time....mile by mile it is a trail but inch by inch is a cinch!!! Working at a turtle's pace right now.




Some of you have noticed that I haven't been blogging, thanks for checking up on me. I must confess that my husband and I are having the dickens of a time with the change in climate. Today is really the first day I have felt like living.

SURPRISE FOR SANDY!!

At the beginning of January, Cyndi of Bluebird Swings emailed me and said she was making a quilt for Sandy. I told her that I had wanted to do one for her as well.....but since she had already started one that maybe she could make the top and I could quilt it.

Cyndi did a fabulous job on the top. Hopefully, this will bring some cheer to Sandy...... I know that all of the cards that were sent to me did the trick and I so want to thank all of you who sent one. If you haven't heard from me, it is because when I would get them, I would just turn around and send it on. Thanksssss so much.

Thanks Cyndi for allowing me to help with this quilt, it was fun working on this project together.



For those of you new to my blog and Bluebird Swings, our friend Sandy, who does not have a blog but was always one to give such wonderful comments on our blogs and others, has cancer. We have heard that she is out of the hospital but we have not heard anything since she was released. Maybe we will hear something tomorrow.

WELCOME TO MY WORK STATION!!

I have taken over the family room (with permission). Yes, it is a mess....been working on some things....lots of things....

Oh...you want to see??? Can't show it yet.

So here it is so far.....Now take a walk with me upstairs.....



Take a look at this mess....



This is all of my sewing stuff that needs to be unpacked. Oh...you say but Barb, there is stuff everywhere and no order.....you have boxes tipped over....

So...call me Mrs.....PIGGY.... I was looking for some pink fabric for the border of a quilt for a project at church.....can I help it if I had no where to put things????? Actually, if truth be told....I can wreck a room in five minutes, organized or not.

My task for today, if I chose to accept it, is to get in that room and start putting things away. I could use that room for a sewing room but that is going to be the guest room. I have a son coming home soon and he needs the other room.

So anyone want to come and be my guest....we can play!!

SEW........AWESOME THAT MY BOBBINS ARE EXPLODING!

A few days ago I received this in the mail from Cindy, "Just About Cindy"


Isn't it wonderful??? I will parade around the house, look in the mirror....parade some more...put it down....later....back parading again. What a heart warming gift, anytime I think of her sweet gift my heart melts all over again (too bad it won't melt the excess weight)....No words can express my gratitude.....thanks Cindy!!!! You are amazing!!

My husband borrowed my camera and so I finally found it yesterday while cleaning boxes out of our room....this house is slowly looking like a home, usually I work faster than this but......

I will have to tell you that yesterday I had such a massive headache (had headache all week), it was sooo bad last night that at one point I thought to myself, how bad does it have to get to ask to be taken to the emergency room (never in my life had I gotten to the point of thinking emergency room). Fortunately, I took some more medication went to bed and was grateful that the Good Lord allowed me to see another day.

My poor husband said he was sooo glad to see me this morning because he was so afraid to come and check on me, afraid I might not be breathing..... now that would be scarey for him....I would have been in a better place. My heart goes out to my many blogging friends that have lost a spouse especially lately....I know it must be so hard.

I feel like I just came through a dark tunnel to the other side and let me tell you, the other side feels awfully good right now..... Today I have a few things I have to sew for church.....so....off I go, need to hunt for some pink fabric......

but before I do...here are a few dishes from the past I thought you would like to see.