Dusting of Snow and Some Projects

Well we did get a small dusting of snow on Sunday morning which is a rare thing for us being so far south. You had to be up early to see it and I almost did not get any pics, because I forgot about making them at first. It was so pretty when we first got up all white and crisp looking. But it was cold also so while I made and had a few cups of coffee it had started to melt. My mom who is 73 was excited about it but disappointed that there was not more of it. So now we are left with just the cold and wind! I will be so glad when spring finally arrives! My neighbors yard is full of buttercups and they are so pretty, and my moms yellow bells are in full bloom which means spring is not far behind. Yea!!! I am so ready for bright sunny and warm days. Anyhow, here are a few pics of our dusting, nothing like those in the north experience, but again a rare sight here in the south.Although we did have a blizzard in the early 90's and we had 36" of snow! Once in a lifetime occurrence I am told. Anyhow, here are some pics of projects that I have completed in the last few weeks. I finally taught myself to knit and have made more dish cloths. They are so much fun to make. I have this really big roll of cotton thread so I have made white dish cloths and also I have made some out of the peach/cream color also. Finally I have knitted my mom a neck warmer out of Bliss by Paton's. This is the softest thread I have ever felt of. I originally bought this yarn because it has the same name as my middle daughter and we thought it was fun having a yarn with her name! This one is Bliss Mango:My mom is very cold natured so I thought this might help keep her toasty when she is just sitting around. That's all I have for today, I have more that I am working on but have not made pics and will try and do that in the next few days. I have finished Megs RR block and will be sending it on to Ati in the next day or so and I will be posting pics of it soon.
Happy Stitching Everyone,

A Blog Giveaway

Just wanted to let everyone know that Cathy over at http://cathyscrazybydesign.blogspot.com/ is having her 100th post celebration with a give-a-way. You should go over there and check out her blog with all the wonderfully gorgeous work that she does. Make sure you have soda, tea or a cup of coffee so you can stay awhile and browse through past posts. That way you can see all of her lovely work! Congrats Cathy on your up-coming 1ooth post!

Small Update

Just a small update to post a couple of pictures. First is the blue postcard made for me by Doreen over at http://doreeng.blogspot.com/ She is a very talented lady you should go by and visit her blog. The picture although a good one does not do this post card justice. The colors are just gorgeous, and I really love it. Thank you Doreen.The next pic is of the card that I have made for MaryLou in this months swap. The colors this month were orange, brown and green. I decided on a landscape and I did add just a touch of blue because the landscape needed water. I hope she likes it. It is now off in the post to her. I have found that I enjoy making the landscape post cards. I am thinking about making a 14x14 inch quilty of a landscape design to see how I like doing that size since I like the smaller ones so much. Will post an update as I go along.Well that is all I have for today, I did finish another dish cloth but have not taken a photo as of yet. Will do that later in the week. Happy Stitching ,

A Few Pics

Just thought I would post a few pics of some projects that are finished and swapped out. First is a blue post card I made for Doreen in my group for fabric post cards. This has been my favorite that I have made in this group so far. I think I will make another one so I can keep it.lol Thats how much I liked it. The picture does not do the colors justice. It was a total blue swap this time. I need to photograph the card that Doreen sent to me, it is gorgeous, but will have to charge the battery first.Next is a pin cushion that I made and sent with my Vintage Valentine swap. I am going to make several more as I really enjoyed making this one. I am going to do one with crazy quilting next. I think it turned out really cute. I just love pin cushions and have a few in my collection. This one however is not mine as I made it for my swap partner. This is a work in progress, and should be finished one day this week. I'm having a hard time with these colors I guess. It looks better than the photo and it seems to need something. I will think on it overnight and maybe some inspiration will hit!lol

Well thats it for today, I'm off to work some more on my projects with a hot cup of tea before bedtime. Happy Stitching,

Look What I Have Finally Learned To Do!

I am doing the big happy dance here as I have learned something new that I have tried in the past to do with much disappointment. I have finally learned to knit! And I have actually finished my first project all in one day! WOW is all I can say. Can you tell how excited I am. I have tried to knit since I was eight and could never get it! Well I have been so inspired by Kerry over at http://kerrykatiecakes2.blogspot.com/ . She has been making some of the neatest dish cloths with knitting. I have been doing the crocheted dish cloths for years, but have never been able to knit them. After reading her blog every time she posted a cloth, I decided that all those dormant needles of mine needed to be put to the try once again or gotten rid of. So, I pulled out my threads and needles along with a small book I purchased at the thrift store for 39 cents and decided it was now time that I could learn this. It took several times before I could actually get it right, but I finally did and this my friends is the end result. Now, all you proficient knitters out there that have been doing this forever I am sure you will find my mistake, please just look over it please. I was determined to fix it and go on, not that I really knew how, but I did and went on with no further mistakes. I did realize what had happened and kept that from happening again. Now I have a finished product and am so happy with it. I also decided to put a crocheted border around it. My son said it was too frilly for a dishcloth, I agree but could not resist. Anyhow, what do you think of my first try!

Next is a pic of some new tools for my crazy quilting. As anyone who reads this blog knows by now that I love to crazy quilt. I am always on the lookout for things that will help and ease the process. I found these rulers yesterday and the dollar tree in town, you know the kind where everything in the store is a dollar. Well when I seen these I knew I had to have them for working on seams. I have a set of "hair houdini" part makers that I have used for years. (You know those plastic templates you laid where you wanted the part in your hair to be, then you chose which pattern you wanted and then you just took a rat tail comb and followed the outlines to get a hair part.) Anyhow, when I seen these rulers I just had to add them to my collection and they are well worth the cost. You never know when you will come across something you can actually use in cq, so I always stay on alert for new items that I can use in all my crazy quilting adventures. Here are some closeups of each ruler:

I just love a bargain and especially one that is so useful! And to think I just went in there for some tissue wrapping paper (again used in my cq's for motif transfer). Well back to stitching for me. I have already started another dishcloth, just plain to get more practice before I try and do anything with a pattern. But hey, at least I have finally got it! Also, Megs block arrived on yesterday for the "Anything Goes" Traditional DYB RR over on CQI and I cannot wait to start the stitching. Will post pics of before and after my work on it next week sometime. Until next time Happy Stitching,

Small Update

This is just a small update with no pics at the moment. I am so busy with projects that need to be finished that I have not had time to post. On top of my crafty items that need to be finished we just signed a contract on a house!Yea!!!!!!! Now we can stop paying rent and move into our own house. The only thing is, now I have to start packing again!uggg!! I hate packing and then unpacking, but that is part of moving!lol. My plan is to pack one room at a time with the items that we are not using the most. Then it won't be so much at one time. When we moved into this rental in June I had over 200 boxes and about twenty big tubs! I have since added things which means more to move. My lovely children will pack their own rooms this time and that will be a big help. So, I will be posting when I can to update everyone on my progress and show pics of the house soon. I am in a couple of RR and that will be fine as I use a p.o. box for the exchange, I will be keeping out what I need for those. If I have time later I will post pics of a project that I am finishing up. Happy Stitching,

Finally Finished and Mailed

Remember the adopted "Stitchers Angel" project that I was working on, well it is finally ready and heading out to its new home. I had a hard time finding the right size binding pre-made in the color that I wanted and needed. It finally came and now all three items are finished. So this project can be marked off as finished! Yeah for me. Not only that, but now this wonderful angel will get her goodies in the mail and will not have to feel as if no-one cares. I enjoyed working on this set of gifties very much. I finally made one of the armchair caddy's, as I love the one that Martine who was my swap partner made for me. I use it continually. This little project was easier to make than I thought it would be. I will definitely be making more of them in the future. There are several birthdays coming up and they will be getting a caddy from me. The one thing I am going to do since completing the caddy is to start making my own binding. I am going to get the tools this next week so I will be able to do so, plus I am going to be doing some reading up on making your own binding. If anyone has any knowledge and advice on this subject please email me at stitchduchess2@yahoo.com with all you know. It will be greatly appreciated. Anyhow, I hope to finish more projects this week and I also have another RR block to make, for a RR on CQI called "Birds and Bees", which means you have to have birds or bees or both on the block. I think I will go with birds. Probably hummers since they are my favorite. Well back to stitching, have a blessed day!

Siggy Swap Blocks

Thought I would post a couple of blocks I have made and two that I have received in my siggy swap. The first one is from Jutta over at : http://stoffundnadel.blogspot.com/ you should go by and visit with her. She has some beautiful work on her blog.This is the one I made for her:
And this is the block that Annelies sent to me you should also go visit her here: http://quiltsandsiggies.web-log.nl/quilts_and_siggies go check out her blog. She has some beautiful work also. I spent a lot of time just browsing through both of these blogs. Great eye candy.This is the one that I made Annelies:

I have no idea how this one pic got to the left side. With blogger you never know. Anyhow, I am sewing up more siggies so I will have them ready to swap out. I am so excited about this. And they are so easy to make that you can whip them out in no time at all. I have 25 cut and ready to sew, and that is what I will be doing on tonight. So if anyone who reads this wants to swap siggies with me, leave me a message and I will get back with you.

I have more items to share but blogger is acting up today grrrrrrrrrrr! So I will post again later if I can get it to work correctly. In the meantime happy stitching, and those in the cold try to stay warm and those in the warm think of all those who are freezing!

Pay It Forward: I Have My Three Ladies

This did not take long at all I have all three of my ladies for the PIF! A biiiiiiiiiig drum roll please! Notice how each of their last names begin with a G! What are the odds of that happening! Anyhow, these three ladies are passing along the PIF on their blogs, so since you did not get to participate here please go on over to one of their blogs and sign up with them and spread an act of kindness in 2009!

1. Jane G of: http://loopylousadventuresintohandicrafts.blogspot.com/

2. Nancy G of: http://nldugas-gilmore.blogspot.com/

3. Sharon G of: http://sharon-dancingthruthreads.blogspot.com/

Remember all you have to do is put the PIF logo on your blog with the rules and your set to go. I am already working on the first gift as I just couldn't wait to get started. Happy Stitching Everyone.

Swap Package Arrived

My "Vintage Valentine" swap package from my partner Rosannehttp://rosannes-blog.blogspot.com/ from Canada arrived yesterday so I thought I would post a pic of all the goodies that I received. I love all of it and a big thank you to Rosanne. The goodies in the package were :

Ornaments

heart cookie

soap

Lindt chocolate and some truffles (already eaten!lol)

post card of Paris

Quilted heart mat

recipe cards x2 packs

valentine cookie cutters

altered notebook

travel tissues with hearts on them

heart candle

and of course the beautiful box that it was all in. A big thank you also to Heidi over at http://foxglovesfabricandfolly.blogspot.com/ for hosting this wonderful swap. Below is a sneak peek at what I have sent Rosanne, I hope she likes what I sent her! When you have time stop by both of these ladies blogs as they are wonderful to browse through.

Happy Stitching Everyone,

A Little of What I Have Been Doing

Just a brief post to show some of what I have been up to. Not much I can show at the moment as two of the swap items are secret until they arrive at their destinations. One is my "Vintage Valentine" and the other is the fat quarter swap that I am in. I will post pics of those when they arrive at their new homes. I do have a pic of the block for my new RR that I am in over at Crazy Quilting International. It is a "Anything Goes" Traditional RR and there will be four other ladies to work on my block besides me when it gets home. This will be one block of eight for a wall hanging for my entryway. I chose pinks, creams and green for the color palet and I think it will be very pretty when complete. I want this wall hanging to have a victorian look to it. The print fabric has luscious roses and teacups/pots/saucers on it and will be used in all the blocks and I may use this as a border for the whole project once it is done. Will have to see. The next pic is of my continuation of the chicken scratch stitch. I have decided to do a heart shaped pillow with this stitch. This is a pic of the progress so far. I am using crochet thread for the thread as I wanted to see how it would work out and it does work pretty good. Next I am going to use this particular stitch on some solid fabric, I will post a pic when it is completed.Don't forget to sign up for the pay it forward on the previous post if you want to join in on the fun. You have to leave an email addy for me to get in touch with you. The other swap that I am in is on the Carol Doak yahoo group for paper piecing and this is the f8 fabric that I am sending in to have my blocks made out of. I will recieve the same amount of fabric from four other people and will make their block using their f8 and fabric from my stash. Then we send them back to the swap hostess and she will then send our finished blocks back to us. I have done this type of swap before and I love paper piecing so I am looking forward to this swap. I will post pics here as I do the blocks for those in my groups.
(edited to add: the pic does not do the colors justice. They are really much deeper than they look)I also have recieved two siggy blocks and have sent two in return. I am collecting siggy's now to make a quilt from around the world. Anyone who would like to swap drop me a line with your email addy and I will get in touch with you and we can swap a block. Have a good evening everyone.
Happy Stitching,

Pay It Forward

I made a promise on the blog of Mai, http://mariejoze.blogspot.com/ I joined her Pay it forward and this are the rules. It’s the Pay It Forward Exchange. It’s based on the concept of the movie Pay it Forward where acts and deeds of kindness are done without expecting something in return, just passing it on, in the hope that the recipients of the acts of kindness are passed on.So here’s how it works. I will make and send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment to this post on the blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. It will be sent to you within 12 months.What YOU have to do in return, is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

So who will be the three that I will send a giftie to?

Some of What I've Been Working On

Well it has a little bit cold here the last four or five days. Not like those who live in the north, but cold for us. It got down to 13 degrees the other night and I thought I would never get warm! I am now ready for spring to come!lol. Anyhow, I have been stitching some and thought I would post some of the pics. The first pic is the extra Angel gifts that I am working on. I still need to put the binding on the armchair caddy and the needle book that I am doing. I picked up the wrong size binding, and I have never made my own, so I need to go and get the correct size later today. But I wanted to go ahead and post a pic of it anyhow and I will post a finished one with binding when I get it on.

Armchair Caddy:

Pin Cushion:Next is the first part of the new challenge from Sharon B over on http://www.pintangle.com/. The first challenge of the year is the "Chicken Scratch" stitch. I have done this before a long time ago. This is just the first of my attempts and I will post more later on today. Sharon has given several ideas to further the stitch and push yourself outside of what the traditional way this stitch is applied. I will have further samples to post later. For this sample I chose red gingham and used black thread as I liked the way a bolder color looks. If you look closely at the fourth circle you can see a mistake that I made and will rectify later. The stitch is going in the wrong direction and can be easily fixed. I guess I was in a hurry and did not pay attention to the direction until I had finished the row. I used perle 8 embroidery thread. I will be using different types of thread for the others.

Here is a seam from the "Build a Seam" challenge over on Kerry's blog, which can be found here http://kerrykatiecakes2.blogspot.com/. In this challenge you can join in the fun at any time during the process. I believe she started this for the novice group of crazy quilters, but anyone wanting to stretch themselves with new seam treatments should give this a try. I have several more that need the beading applied before I post pics.

Build a Seam Challenge: Seam #1

Another New Challenge for 2009

I have joined another "Challenge" for 2009. This one challenges you to finish one project each month during the year. This should be fairly easy and will allow me to get some wip finished sooner instead of later. Not only that but you can do more than one project per month and there will be monthly drawings for those who do complete projects for the month. I felt like this would help me to stay on task and maybe do some extra gift making through out the coming year. I am excited about this, and I already have one project almost finished for this month. You can go sign up for the challenge over on May Britts blog here

http://abyquilt.blogspot.com/ or you can go over to Kris's blog http://tagalongteddies.blogspot.com/2009/01/new-years-action-excitement-challenge.html : which is where you will let her know that you have finished your project for the month along with a pic of the project. Also, you need to put this pic in your side bar and keep a list of all your finished projects for the year on your blog as well. Just think, this will give you a little nudge every month to complete some of those projects that have been waiting on you. I am excited and will be posting mine soon so stay tuned and see what I am doing through out this year!

Happy Stitching,

What I have been up to

This past week has been so busy that I have not had time to post. So I am doing today's post tonight so that I do get something posted today. I have been busy here with sewing and stitching, I just have not had time to sit down and post anything. And there are a couple of things that I cannot post as of yet but will give a sneak peak and let you know why. I have been trying to get my sewing room back into shape. After the move it was the last room to be set up and then hodge podge and anyone who knows me will tell you that it was driving me up the wall. So order had to be established in my "creative tower" as I call it. Not quiet finished, but a big improvement and hopefully this week will see it finished the way I like it.lol Anyhow I have been working on some items that I am going to show pics of. The first two are post cards that I did for a swap on "Stitchin Fingers". One is a landscape and the other is a color theme of green. The landscape is a replacement for one that I had already sent, but the card never arrived to its new home, therefore I made a new one for my swap partner and hopefully she has received it or will some time this week.

This is the landscape, which is my first by the by.

This is the "Green" color study:
Next is some fabric that I am using to make some gifts for another "Stitching Angel". There were some who did not receive anything from their swap partner and I had such a wonderful experience with my swap partner that I decided to do something for one of those who were left without their gifties. This is the fabric that I am using. After she gets her goodies from me I will post a pic of what I make and send to her. I am working on her gifties now and should be finished and mailed out by the week-end.

Next is some fabric that I am using in my "Vintage Valentine" swap. I can't tell you what I am making just in case my swap partner comes to have a look see at my blog. But I will post all I send her when she receives her box from me.
So you see I have been busy with sewing and quilty things. I am also working on a mini quilt and will post a pic soon. I am also working on another post card done in all blue as that is the theme for this month. I will post it on tomorrow as I should be finished and ready to mail it out. I just have a little bit of tweaking left to do. Happy Stitching everyone,

Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Whew what a month! Lots of visiting going on along with all the other preps for the month. All in all our holidays was wonderful. Now to get back on track and finish up some projects and start some new ones! This year promises to be busy already and I am so looking forward to what lies ahead. I hope everyone is looking forward to this new year as much as I am. There is so much that I want to achieve this year both naturally as well as spiritually. Anyhow, come by often and see what is happening in my world leave a comment if you like and if you don't that is ok too. Now, back to putting up all those trees I had out!lol. And I still did not get four of them up! Not only that but my lovely Bliss gave me three more table top ones for Christmas that will be put out next year! A gold and silver bottle brush tree and a silver wire tree with blue and lime green balls (some of my favorite colors). I will post a quick pic of those soon also. Well, back to packing up!

A New Challenge for 2009

Coming up in January of 2009 Sharon over at Pin Tangle is going to be doing a "Stitch Explorer" Challenge. A new challenge will be posted on the 15th of each month. If you have not already done so, go on over and sign up for it. You will learn lots of new styles, stitches and techniques. I have signed up and excited for the first installment to be announced. Here is the link http://www.pintangle.com/community-challenges/, see how easy I have made it for you. Look forward to seeing you there.

Happy Stitching,