When Katrina hit, my niece, her husband, and little one came and lived with us for a few months while her husband continued his education in Austin.

I will have to say that that was one of the most fun times of my life. I so enjoyed that little one in our home as well as my niece. Hardly saw her husband.

Well.....my sister Margaret (Average quilter) (my niece's mom) made me this beautiful table cloth as a thankyou. I sooooo love this...it was one thing that I wanted to take to Samoa with me but was afraid it would get ruined....so to storage it went. Isn't it amazing?

TODAY I AM GOING TO KNOCK YOUR SOCKS OFF!

You ask how....well just take your shoes off and sit a spell.

We are talking major garage sale....the grand poo bah of delights. The kind that sets your heart racing and just lifts you a little higher off the ground.

Here goes.

A little background: Maybe I should have music to set the tone.

It is colder than as my husband would say "A well diggers butt" (sorry for the french)...but you have to admit, that is pretty stinking cold.

I am with my older friends....shaking in the back seat but we go to this one sale.

The owners of the sale are shaking in their boots, wishing they could go in side....( This gives us the advantage). You have to remember this is Texas and us Texans hate the cold....

...........................we are looking around and I see these.....

The light from Heaven shines down on me.

Of course, they only have a few items out but these were in two boxes.

You must remember me and my lid plus dish fettish....oh yes....gotta have them




I don't drink tea but who cares...it has a lid.

Besides as a little girl, I always dreamed of a tea set....now I have a tea service of eight....cocoa anyone?

I forget the original offer.




There are 10 large plates, 12 desert, 12 bowls....etc...


This is Noritke China - Harwood

You have any guesses what I paid for this?



So....we are still walking around and I am sooooo wanting this set.



I only have a twenty in my pocket.



So they give me an offer...and I just walk away...still can't for the life of me figure out what the original one was but my friend got them down.....



are you ready???? He got them down to 25 dollars....but I still have to walk away.


I am sitting in the car shivering and I tell my friend...to see if he can get them for 10 dollars (I told you I am a coward)...

oh yes my friend...ten dollars... I guess it was cold enough and they had enough of the day that I got this whole set and what ever else was in the boxes for ten bucks.

Talk about a total high, who needs drugs....I am floating all the way home. Dancing around like a crazed woman. To this day I still am amazed.

I went online and tried to price all of the items I had but stopped at 1,000 dollars.

This has been in storage for 3 years and I searched for two days for the tea pot...come to find out, I in my mind thought it was the larger ones and passed right over this, thinking it was a bowl....

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Now for some quilty news.....

I got these fabrics from Lee, Quilts by Lee, she has a deal of the day and boy was this a deal. Service is so wonderful here in the US...not long to wait for things...




Just love these fabrics....so if you have time, check out her deals every day...they are awesome.

READER'S DIGEST VERSION OF A MUG RUG AND TABLE TOPPER TUTORIAL

Disclaimer:

If I had to do this over again, I would use 4 different fabrics. I was just doing blocks for a quilt and came up with the mug rugs and then now this table topper. I only have these 3 batiks besides orange and I didn't want to use orange.

Also, my mug rugs can be like a mini placemat so....if you don't want them that big, you can always cut the long strips shorter (as you will see later).





So Let's begin: Mug rugs



You will need 2 strips 6 1/2inches x 2 1/2 inch strips and two 2 1/2 inch squares and a coordinating 2 1/2 inch square. You will sew the middle three together, then the sides.

You will get this.



Next you will need 3 each of 2 coordinating fabrics to match the above square, 6 1/2 inches x 1-1/2 inches. This is where you can cut the strips shorter if you do not want your mug rugs to be that long...but..when doing the table topper you will want the 6 1/2 inch strips.




sew them together and you get this:



Then put the two squares together and you get this:



You will put batting inbetween, quilt as desired and bind as desired.


NOW THE TABLE TOPPER:

You will need four of the above mug rug tops (or flimsy)

Like I said, if I had to do it again, I would use 4 different fabrics.



Figure out how you want to place them, sew together and you will get this:



Next, I did four log cabin blocks alternating the fabrics at 1-1/2 inch strips, starting with a 1-1/2 inch square and just adding to the two sides. I did two sets of two alike. So I started with the 1-1/2 inch square, then used the blue fabric, then green, then blue/green, blue and then ended with the green.

As for the other set of 2, I started with the 1-1/2 inch square blue/green, then the green, then blue, blue/green, green, then ended with the blue. Then I placed them where I felt they looked best. YOu can always do yours the same or however you chose. Sorry I forgot to take a picture of the log cabin block. Maybe you can zero in on the left side one.



You will connect 6 each of 2 coordinating - 6 1/2 inch x 1-1/2 inch strips, alternating as with the mug rug. Then place the log cabin blocks on the end. You will want to repeat this row for the other side of the topper.

If you will notice on the table toppeer, I did one row of green and blue/green fabric and then the opposiet side row I did blue alternating with blue/green strips.

Notice that the log cabin block is facing the wrong way on the left side...this caused me alot of grief when I had it all sewn together...had to take it out...what a mess....learn from me...tap into my vast wisdom and knowledge (mistakes) and don't do what I did.

So now you just sew this row and the other row (which my other one was the same but with blue alternating with blue/green fabrics.

and you get this...

I do not know how old this dish is but the paint has crackled on the inside. Just love it. Now..confession time....I LOVE ANYTHING THAT HAS A LID....it is hard for me to pass sugar dishes up, bowls with lids..etc.

So....now that this is done and out of my brain....I can get back to this:



OOOOPPPPSSSS it was not supppose to post today...oh well. Oh by the way, you can use your Go cutter to make the topper and mug rugs...

MORE GARAGE SALE GOODNESS....AND FABRIC AWESOMENESS

I looked for the post I did in Amerika Samoa about these dishes. I had taken an eight place setting with me and these dishes you see here are the ones that were left behind in storage. So as you can see, I have easily a 16 place setting.

My very first garage sale I found the desert plate for 25 cents....I just loved it. For four years I collected these dishes. At the risk of repeating myself, these were Diamond Shamrock Premiums...you were given stamps for however much gas you used and in return you could turn the stamps in for dishes. I don't really know how old these are but I think the premiums went out in the 70's...not sure. If somoeone can help me with the answer, that would be great.



I just loved these little angels that Tudy, Tudy's Craft Cupboard, made.... Don't you just love them???
She also does awesome stitchery, and has in the past given me a few pointers. If you haven't been to her blog....it is a must see.



Got these fabrics from Burgandy Buttons...I was floored at how fast I got them...not like waiting weeks in Amerika Samoa.



My niece Toni gave me these beautiful fabrics for Christmas.



I also was so delighted when I won 3 patterns over at The Pickled Dish Patch. If you haven't been over to visit Vicki, you really need to go. She is so creative in her designs. Check out her store and patterns. I hope to have one of the patterns that I chose done real soon..when I do, I will post it then.

MUG RUGS AND MORE.......

Krista sent me photos of her mug rugs she did for Christmas, notice the pocket in the side for the cocoa packets, marshmellows, and candy cane....ummmm ummmmm



Here are some more of Krista's mug rugs.



Here is a little diversion ..... more garage sale items....



My mug rugs made from my batiks and with Mr. Big.



Mr. Big is purring like a kitten. I will do a review on Mr. Big at another time....but just know that I am very satisfied customer!!!



He has me purring and dreaming up projects galore!!!
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The winner is Bridget number 74....chosen by my son....
Need you address Bridget...and a big thanks to everyone for participating.

"MEMORIES PRESSED BETWEEN THE PAGES OF OUR MINDS"

I have always loved that song.

These were given to me by a friend in Texas, she knew I was collecting wheat dishes and well...she saw them on ebay ..... end of story. Lucky me...I love them.



I taught her father and mother to quilt, if you have been reading my blog for a while, you will have heard me mention that I taught an older couple to quilt, this is them. They made me this quilt. That is where the memories come in...I can barely stand to see this quilt without crying because he is suffering from alheizmers. They were the first friends that Vance and I ever had as a young married couple. Even tho they were old enough to be our parents we enjoyed their company, dominos, and cards.

They have treated our sons as their own grandchildren. So this quilt will hold alot of sweet memories for me and for my children for they made them each a quilt as well. I will show my husbands another time.

I taught them when they were in their middle seventies and she has said to me on numereous occasions that she wished I had taught her sooner.




They got me hooked on garage sales....and he taught me to dicker with the prices and if I was a coward, he would do it for me. In the post coming up, I will show you all the dishes that I collected with him and his wife. You may tire of me and my dishes but I did get rid of alot before moving to Samoa....lukcy you!

MAKING DO......

Some of you have asked how I am making do without our household goods...

For starters, we purchased a couch and loveseat, kitchen table, and matress. So we have somewhere to sit, eat, and sleep.

But...even tho in our airshipment we have a crockpot (should have been here by now, the airshipment were items to keep the house going until our household goods came)....we purchased another one...and I have been keeping this puppy busy.



We did get our items we put in storage for 3 years but no pots and pans....until I remembered these cast iron pots my great aunt gave me.



We used these for camping and being in storage these have rusted terribly. If I had a wood fire going, I would have just thrown these on the fire until all the rust brunt off...but instead...I had to clean, put on stove...oil...and repeat until I felt they were cooking worthy. I didn't oil the outside so they still look a little on the rough side but...hey it works....

Momma has gotta eat!!



I have a confession, I have a dish fettish....yes...a fabric one too... So I collect old dishes. Well....we are using my wheat glasses to drink out of and later I will show you some more of my dishes.


My husband gave me this knife to open boxes...next thing he knows, he goes to get him a brownie and finds this knife doing the honors of cutting the brownies (ooopsss).



Like my measuring cup? Already made cookies and brownies with this cup....
I have to hone my measuring skills but for now, it works!!



Trying to get some knee action in....not use to this knee lifter but trying. My hands are so grabby....I keep grabbing for the lever that lifts the foot instead of using the knee and then I use the knee when I want to start the machine...yes...not known for my coordination.



The joys of being in the USA...all the batting a gal can dream of. I got this roll (10 yards) at JoAnns when they had the 50% off and then 10% off at the counter....oh yes....my dreams are filled with fluffinesss and they are coming true. May all your dreams come true in 2011!!!



Don't forget the giveaway below...