Some Swap Items/Gypsy RR Block

I thought I would post some of the swap items I have received and not posted about yet. First up is the 2nd half of my Goodie Swap. This lovely parcel was sent out to me by Ivina....I love the pouch and mug rug that she sent out to me. The mug rug is made with batiks and the little pouch is made with Kaffe fabrics.....

 Next I did a side swap with Aletta for a Fall/Autumn theme mug rug.....this is what she sent out to me...not one but two awesome little mug rugs. She also sent the cutest acorn....I really love that these are made with wool....Thank you Aletta and yours is on the way to you.....I will post pics of what I made for Aletta once she has received them...I don't know why this pic is blurry and I will make a better one tomorrow and swap it out....the pic does not do these justice.....

 Next is the parcel I received from Julie in the Fall/Halloween mug rug swap....I chose fall as I don't celebrate Halloween....She sent an awesome mug rug made with batiks which everyone knows that I love...Each leaf is just wonderful....she really spoiled me....thanks Julie.....

 Last is a pic of Alice's block from the Gypsy Treasures RR....As I was the last one to work the block I finished it up and it is on its way to Alice.....I enjoyed working on her block and carried the music theme that Laurie had started on the block....I added the violin, the music notes, the vintage brooch on the yellow patch, sre feather stitch and I embellished the silkie in lower right corner with sre and a lace motif that I had that went really well with the block.

Until next time,
Wendy

Mug Rugs Finished

Here is a pic of the mug rugs posted before now finished....

 Until next time,
Wendy

A Surprise For Me: RAC: Random Act of Kindness

My blogging friend Cathy over here  just blessed my socks off this past week......I had commented on a post about this boho bag that she had made.....the bag is just beautiful in fall colors.....well before she left for a crazy quilt retreat she dropped a package in the mail......when I got the package home and opened it, (insert big squeal of delight here) it was the boho bag that I had commented on! I was so surprised and delighted to say the least......this random act of kindness just blessed me so much! Thank you Cathy for such a lovely and thoughtful gift from you my friend.....I love my new bag and have gotten so many complements on it already......It will be much loved and used by me......again thank you......

Until next time, 
Wendy

New Mug Rug

This new mug rug arrived in the mail on today.....I just love it.....Pat made this along with the mini card/wallet that she sent along also....this was from the mug rug and goodie swap hosted by "fluffy Sheep"......

Until next time,

Wendy

Mug Rugs

Just a couple of pics of some mug rugs that I have made....this pic is a in process pic.....Once these are received I will show the finished product....

 And this is # 2...hope my partners like them.......

 Until next time,
Wendy

We Will Never Forget

 As a country we will never forget the horror of 09/11/01....I will never forget this horrible attack on our country and upon the lives of the innocent victims of this day...

 ...my heart and prayers goes out to each family that lost a loved one on this day.......to each child that lost a father, mother, brother or sister I pray that you find comfort.......for every wife, husband, mother, father, brother and sister who lost a loved one I pray you have peace and comfort on today.....for those who lost friends and co-workers I hope your memories of the good times bring you comfort.....May we never forget those who died that day in all the locations that was targeted......May the families and friends of those who perished find peace when none can be found in the loss of life that was forced upon them in such a way......

 Thank you to the heroes that was born on that day that saved many lives.......May our country always remember what this act of terrorism did to our country and those who lost their lives.......As Americans may we always strive for peace and be ready to defend our country and those we love for the sake of the freedom that we enjoy daily.......

 GOD BLESS AMERICA AND HER PEOPLE!

New Blog

After much thought and consideration I have decided to start a food blog.....I love to cook and am always being asked for recipes......so I thought why not have a blog that is dedicated to food only, that way I can share my recipes and food and leave this blog for my quilting and such......you can find my food blog here:    
http://wendy-fortheloveoffoodandcooking.blogspot.com/

I would love for you to drop by and visit.....and I would love for you to follow if you are so inclined.....

Until next time,

Wendy

YoYo's

Cutting more yoyo's for the grand project! I decided to use my GO Baby with the circle die to cut them with.....and I am so glad that I did.....much quicker and it saves the hands from cramps!lol....since I am going to need 2500 of them this tool is going to come in handy.....and the waste is very little, really I am serious! I had read some comments that there was a lot of wastage when using the GO cutters.......I disagree and I have proof! (more on that later).....as I was saying I used the cutter to cut out more circles.....140 to be exact in a matter of minutes!

I had been cutting strips 5 1/2 inches by 5 1/2 inches to use....that was okay with little waste left over.....then I thought about using some 5 inch charms that I have had forever and a day just to see.....again I read on someones blog that you could not use them as they were too small......wrong again! and I will show you later in this post.....and using the 5 inch squares had very small, teeny tiny waste! I am not kidding.....I was so happy with the results that I had to post about it.....
 5 inch charm square over the large 5" circle die......

After running it through the GO Baby cutter......see how little the waste is!......

Close-up of what the circle looks like after going through the die.....notice that there are still a few pinked edges on the circle...it doesn't matter as that will be in the 1/4" that you turn under as you baste for the yoyo and will be hidden.....

 So to all the quilt police who say you cannot use the 5" charm squares......I am here to inform you that you need to go to jail yourself as you do not know what you are talking about.....stop scaring people into not using the cutter with 5" squares......Now mind that you have to make sure you lay the squares on the die properly in order to get these results......but I cut out 50 of the above circles with no problems and just a teeny amount of waste!.....well worth the experiment of trying what others say was not  possible....now you know that it can be done with great results.....now you can sew these together and they do come together quickly......someone asked if I was doing these by hand or using the clover yoyo maker.......I am doing these by hand.....I do have  a clover yoyo maker but you do have to use 5 1/2" squares to make them work....not only that, but I found the maker to be too fiddly for me.....I can hand sew and gather quicker by hand than I could with the yoyo maker, so that is the way I am doing it......if you want to use the yoyo maker you have to revert to hand cutting......and the funny thing is both ways turn out the same size yoyo! So I guess it comes down to which method you prefer...now back to my coverlet........while cutting out said circles I discovered that I had no where near the fabric I will need for this project.....as I am using jewel tones and bright prints for this project......no pale or soft colors here! So this project may take a bit longer than I thought to finish up.....but that is ok as I will make it a slow work in progress......I am going to try and cut all the fabric I have soon to see how many yoyo's I will be able to make before I have to buy......my hope was to only use what I have on hand, so we will see......this is what I have left to work with....these are fat quarters........

Another set of fat quarters.........

This is yardage......1yd....each......

 Hopefully I will put a large dent in the amount of yoyo's needed for this project.....I will give an update on the count after cutting all this fabric some time next week.....
Until next time,
Wendy

New Mug Rug

This is the mug rug I sent out to my partner......And this is the Haiku that went with it.....

Cut, sew, press

Chirp, tweet, chirp

Silent contentment

 And this is the mug rug that I received......and the Haiku that went with it....there is a peacock stitched in the mug rug....

Beautiful peacock

Feathers spread in glory

A fabulous sight

Until next time,
Wendy

Doll Quilt 11 Received

I have been so busy that I have not had time to post about my doll quilt that I received in the Doll Quilt 11 swap.....this is the stunning little quilt that my partner Suejoy sent out to me.......

 And this is the one that I sent out to my partner.....I did add another row of stitching next to the binding before I mailed it out.......looked much better after the second row of stitching was added....

Until next time,
Wendy

Help!

Help I am drowning in peas!lol... We harvested the first round of peas on Saturday......this is what the back of dh truck looked like minus six bushels of peas.....

 the truck is a 3/4 ton full size bed on the truck.....this is what we brought home after giving away the six bushels of peas......lots of shelling going on here.....my mom and I are canning and freezing these....my dad, dh and I picked from 7am until 3pm and still had four rows left unpicked......the green peas that were not ready will need to be picked again this coming week......which is more than we picked this go round.....plus the cukes and squash will be ready oh, don't let me forget the eight rows of okra will be ready to cut also.....my back, arms, legs and muscles that I had no idea I had hurt like crazy.....my fingertips are so sore from picking and shelling......how was your labor day? Mine was truly a day of labor....but in a good way, we are truly blessed by Gods' bounty in our garden.....

Until next time,
Wendy

Coasters

Here are some coasters that I had made and am just now posting the pics.....

 These were a lot of fun to make and I am in the process of making more.....

Until next time,
Wendy

YoYo's

I made all these yoyo's today while at the Dr.s office with my mom for them to check her pacemaker/defibrillator.......it was a long wait as they had to check the amount of battery left and also do a round of blood work and chest x-rays (one of the meds for congestive heart failure can cause scarring on the lungs).....her battery pack is good for another six months then they will have to go in and change it out.......she fell on yesterday and cracked her tailbone so not a fun day for her at all.......but we are happy that she is clear for another six months if all goes well with her heart......so much to be thankful for........so while we waited I worked on these..........54 of them, so this is a good start.....I need 2500 to make a king size with drape over the sides......

 This is the yoyo jar.....they look so nice inside......

Until next time,
Wendy

Another Mug Rug or Two

Another mug rug I have made recently....pic is before the binding was put in place......I so love this one....this is before the quilting was started..........

 And this is the mug rug after the quilting is finished....I used spirals on the peacocks and stippling for the sides.....I love how it turned out......

 It is now finished and ready to use.......here is another one that is in progress......

 I am using variegated green thread on this one.....I am not sure how I like it at this point.....so we will see how the finished mug rug looks before I decide.....

Until next time,
Wendy

Pin Cushion Tutorial

After I hosted a pin cushion swap I was asked to do a tutorial on the one that I made.....I have finally sat down and made a new one and thought to do pics as I went....below is the tutorial......Ruby this is for you.....

This pin cushion is made using a small jelly jar.....you can find these at just about any store.....I picked mine up at Wally World!:).....
Supplies List:
1 small jelly jar with ring lid not solid lid
fabric scraps x 2
circle template or bowl, saucer to trace
thread
scissors
stuffing

The first thing you do is cut out your circles for the yoyo's you will need one large and one small.....the small circle should be about five inches....the larger circle I just used a cereal bowl turned upside down and traced around it......the larger yoyo must be large enough to hold the stuffing and still pull tightly over the inner lid making a closed yoyo...

Next you sew up the yoyo...

It should look like this when finished......

 Now is the time to stuff the yoyo.......really simple....be very generous with the stuffing as you want a really nice lift when you put this together....do not be stingy!

 Be sure and hold the bottom of the fabric over the insert while stuffing or it will slide off......pack the stuffing really tight in there.....once you have your stuffing in close the yoyo around the seal.....pull tight and then sew it shut with a few stitches....next place the smaller yoyo that you have made on top and stitch it into place with a hidden applique stitch.....easy peasy.....press the small yoyo to lay flat....

Next you place the pin cushion into the ring....this takes a little bit of pushing but I promise it will go in there....once you have it pushed through go around and tug gently to bring it up through the ring....do this until you can leave the pin cushion in the ring without it falling out......your done! Easy peasy.....these are so fun to make....if you like you can embellish them.....

 This is the top.....I so love peacocks.......

 After a little embellishing.......

I would love to see yours if you make one using this tutorial......if you have any questions please email me and I will try and answer them as soon as possible....

Until next time,
Wendy

Little Star Quilt Finished

Finished my little star quilt......this was a real learning curve.....(1) I love hand piecing (2) hand piecing is a slow progress, no rushing through here (3) keep plenty of hand lotion ready as your hands and fingers get really sore and this helps...(4) the end product gives much satisfaction to the maker!

 I did add another round of quilting next to the border after taking this pic......that made a world of difference in how it looks......I am so proud of myself.....each little piece was only one and half inches big and was really fiddly.....My larger two inch ones will take a while as it is bed size.....but now I know that I will love the process.....so the bigger quilt will be a slow work in progress to make.....then will come the hand quilting.....this was the first time I used the perle 8 to quilt with and I love how it worked out and the look of it....this will be how I quilt the bigger one when the time comes to finish it up.....

Until next time,
Wendy