Second Block in Fusion Along

I have completed the second block in the coverlet I am making for Jazmine. These go pretty quick once you have them put together and the blanket stitch completed on them.
Until next time,
Wendy

Fushion Along

Here is my stack of "Spirit" all sewn together and waiting for me to add the crocheted part. I only used one charm pack for this as Jazmine is only 16 months and she loves to tote a blanket around with her.
Until next time,
Wendy

More Hexi Flowers

I now have five finished flowers to show for the hexi mf quilt along. This is going fast as these hexi's are big. They come together quickly as well. This is my summer take along project, but I wanted to see what they were going to look like. I absolutely love them and will be working on them steady until I get it finished. Below is a pic of the hexi that I am trying to make into a square. I really love this pattern,but so far I have not figured out how to turn it into a square so that the sides will be even when put together.

Until next time,
Wendy

And The Winner Is.......

Hi everyone, hope all is doing well on this beautiful but hot Saturday. We have a winner for my blogversary giveaway....I used Random.org to choose
 

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

5

Timestamp: 2012-07-07 16:06:50 UTC

Which belongs to Sandie of crazy'boutquilts! Congrats Sandie I will be sending you an email shortly for your info!

Fusion Crochet Along

The first block of my fusion throw. This I think will be for Jazmine when finished. I tested this one block before committing my whole charm pack of "Spirit" to the project. It came together rather quickly and will make a nice light throw. There is no batting inside the charm squares although some are putting batting in theirs. I just chose not to do so. I have stalled out on my hexi throw for myself and may decide to change it as well. I am trying to come up with a way to turn the hexi into a square block so that the sides will be even when I put them together. So far no luck and I have frogged my sample block to death it seems. Hopefully, I can figure out a way soon to do it that will look nice. I am open to suggestions if you have any.
Until next time,
Wendy

Happy 4th of JULY!

 Happy 4th of JULY everyone! Trying to stay cool here as it is really hot. Not even a breeze to help cool things off. The furbabies are trying to stay cool as well with a little swim.

Riddick swimming

 Riddick

 Whizzer coming out of the pool

 Whizzer getting ready to get in the pool

Whizzer is my add/adhd sweet boy! He is always running and never just walks. He was in and out of the pool like a shot. Then he would run around in the yard and come back up the steps and get in again. Riddick being my chubsy ubsy boy could not get up the ladder steps on his own. He does not really like the water, but will swim if I or B is in the water. And you have to be right there as he starts to sink because his hind quarters start going down due to his chubbiness! So we have to make sure we are right there with a hand under him. Of course on the other end we have to watch Whizzer with the pool now that he knows he can get into the water. Hope you are having a great 4th. Be safe this holiday and don't drink and drive.

Don't forget to comment on the post below to enter my blogversary giveaway if you have not already done so. Drawing ends midnight on Friday!

Until next time,
Wendy  

Blogversary

Yesterday was my Blogversary and I forgot about it! How could I have managed to forget when I started blogging, which was five years ago on July 2. I had planned on having a giveaway for it as well. I may have missed yesterday but, I can still have a celebration as it is still July! So if you want to be entered into the draw leave a comment on this post only. One single comment, no hoops, jumps, contortions of any kind. Just a simple comment and you will be entered into the drawing. I will draw the winners name Saturday July 7th. That means you have until midnight on Friday to enter.

Hexi MF Flower

I have been basting hexies all day and thought I would make at least one flower to see how they will look. These make up really big and this should go pretty fast once I start putting them all together. I love the way this one turned out. Off to finish basting my hexies.
Until next time,
Wendy

Lots of Prepping Going On

A whole lot of prepping going on in hexi land! I am so excited about this project. Now back to prepping so I can get some of these beautiful flowers made.

Until next time,

Wendy

Choices

I am trying to decide which yellow I want to use for the center of the flowers. I am leaning towards the brighter yellow with the print flower which really looks good next to all the bright happy colors in this quilt. Will think about it over the weekend.
Until next time,
Wendy

Remember This?

After much deliberation and irritation I have decided that knitting is NOT my forte! When I finished the back it was way too big! That meant I had to frog all that work as it was not going to fit. I have decided that although I love the look of knit sweaters and such I will just stay with crochet which is what I know how to do. From now on I will only knit dishcloths as they are so much easier and less stressful for me. So I will use my thread in a crochet project this winter.

New Project

I needed a new project to take with me when going to the dr. and such. So I decided to do the HexyMF over on Katy's blog. I have everything ready and organized in a box. I spent the better part of yesterday morning cutting out all the hexagons for this quilt. My hands are sore this morning but they are all ready to go. I may start basting some later this evening after I have my swimmersize session. The first pic is what a stack of 425 hexie's look like waiting to be basted. I still need to cut 80 yellow centers for the flowers. I am waiting on fabric to arrive for them. I chose to use only five different fabrics which will be 16 flowers from each. I decided to use fabric I had in my stash for a while. There are two solids and three prints. I will be putting this on a black background unless I change my mind.

Until next time,
Wendy

Heartwarming Find

What you may say is heartwarming about a sewing machine find? I will tell you why this little machine warmed my heart upon seeing it. When I was nine I inherited my grans (my dads mom) sewing machine. It was an Atlas sewing machine and she was the only one to have ever sewn on it. When she passed away my dad brought it home to me. I learned to sew on that little pinkish tan machine. Nothing fancy but she sewed like a top. I literally wore that little machine out. I was sewing one day and the motor caught fire! She burnt up before my eyes! Cabinet and all. I had nothing left except the iron legs of the cabinet when all was said and done. My gran had put her machine in her mothers singer treadle cabinet. Now all I have is the legs for the cabinet and my memories of learning to sew on that machine. When my machine was destroyed my dh bought me a new singer. It was ok, but not my sweet grans machine. When I laid eyes on this my heart swelled with memories of sitting at my grans machine learning to sew using a machine. I could hand piece, but this allowed me to sew anything I wanted. I made all of my oldest daughters fancy dresses and such on this machine. Like I said, the memories just came flooding back and I had to buy it and give it a home. She needs to be oiled and dusted a bit, but the motor runs smooth as silk. And just the sound brings a smile to my face that only I can understand. Not just memories of sewing, but standing near gran when she sewed and the times that we spent at her house once we moved close by. Yep, this little pinkish/tan girl has found a loving home that will treat her kindly. Now off to sew after this long post of memories for me. A quick pic of the boys, Whiz is ignoring me by closing his eyes nearly shut and being real still!lol He does not like the camera at all and usually tries to bite it when it is this close to him! So funny my little guy.

Until next time,
Wendy

Great Find

I love it when I make a great find, but when the sweet hubs finds a great deal I love him for it. Look at what he found while out on Sat. and brought home to me. A new to me Pfaff 1222 at a ridiculously small price and it hums like a dream. It also came with a number of feet. This baby is an older machine and weighs a ton, and is all metal. 

Not only that the guy also gave him a fishing tackle box full of parts for singer machines. This box is full of parts and sewing feet (I am guessing over a hundred or more as I have not counted them yet) 

This box contains anything you would need to fix a machine. Tons of bobbin races brand new! I am going to do an inventory in the next couple of days. The machine also came with two glass jars of bobbins. One is clearly marked for Singer machines, which I have in abundance! And one was half full of metal bobbins that can be used as universal bobbins. I don't know if they will work in my Bernina as I have never tried to use a universal in it. But, I do have plenty of other machines to try them with.

 And this little knife was also in the box of goodies. I am so excited about this find. My hubs really hit the jackpot for me on this! And it is so wonderful that he helps me with my love of machines, especially the older Singer machines. Soon I will need a room just for them.

I do have another machine to post about soon that was a find at the thrift store.
Until next time,
Wendy

Sweater Progress

 Thought I would post progress on the sweater. I now have seven inches completed not what I had hoped, but I am trudging along. I have noticed that I am building a little bit of speed now, so I know there is hope. I also tried to get a better showing of the colour for this project. The teal is such a beautiful colour and these pics are much better but, still a little bit off in colour. Wish me luck as I spent all afternoon and evening on this yesterday. I might have the back finished by the end of the week at this rate. Off to the Dr.'s now ugh....

Until next time,
Wendy

Knit Along and 2nd Post of The Day!

I have joined the knit along on Melody's blog found here. We are making a sweater! And I chose this beautiful teal color. I have longed to knit a sweater for years, but have never put needles in hand to do so. I am a self taught knitter and have only made dish cloths and neck warmers. So, when Melody (she is a prolific knitter and loves colour) decided to have this knit along with the way she learned when she started, I had to jump in and at least try. I also realized that I had been casting on wrongly and found out the correct way, which was also easier than what I had been doing. My stitches also look so much better. I am very slow but am hoping speed will come in time. I hope to have the back finished today sometime, but here is a pic of what I have so far. If you would like to join go on over to Melody's blog and take a look see. As for me I will be picking up the needles and work to finish the back as we will be starting another part on today. Wish me luck on this new adventure!
Until next time, 
Wendy

Awesome Mail

I finally made it to the post office on Saturday afternoon and found this lovely package waiting on me. It is from Peg, who was my partner in the colour swap that I was in. She really spoiled me in what she sent out to me, and everything in colors that I just love! Thank you Peg for all the beauties that you sent out to me. Below are a couple of closeups of the fabulous goodies she sent out to me. I will post what I sent out to Peg once it arrives and she has seen it...

 Until next time,
Wendy

WIP Crocheted Lap Rug

This is a wip for a crocheted lap rug that I am making for myself. It will take around 70 to 80 blocks for this one as I need to be sure my furboys can snuggle up with me under it. Not much else going on in the sewing crafting dept. I have some items to post about but am waiting on the receiver to get them before I post pics of them. I also have done a bit of lace dyeing with some dyes that I had gotten off ebay. No instructions came with them as far as mixing them so I just put full strength dye to the lace. I found better instructions by using google and next time will be adding water to the mix to get the shades I want. Live, try and learn!

 I also added a another smoothie to my list....this one is mango and so yummy.

 Until next time,
Wendy

Just Lovely Plants, Fabric and Smoothies

I just love hens and chicks! Mine is doing really well and is full of little chicks! Below is my fabric pull for my new crazy quilt. This is the fabric for my CQJ quilt for 2012. This quilt will have more than 12 blocks, I have been sloooooooow to get them made but am almost finished making the blocks. My muse had taken a vacation and I was left with no creative juices flowing. I am happy to announce that she has come back and is well rested and ready to go forth with this project. This quilt will have a theme that I am excited about, this will be my Marie Antoinette tribute to a queen who I find really fascinating. I will show the blank canvas sometime this week hopefully. I do have one block completed, but I am thinking on using it as a pillow cover....not sure yet.

Next is a great mixed berry & spinach smoothie. You can get the recipe here, I really enjoyed coming up with this one. We are trying to get more healthy around here and add more fruits and veggies to our diet and this is the least painful way of doing so for some of our family (especially the green stuff)lol.

Until next time,
Wendy

Happy Memorial Day

Wishing everyone a safe and happy Memorial Day here in the US. Thank you to all those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms we so enjoy. Thank you to each family that has lost a loved one who has given their all to protect and keep us in the freedom that we are accustomed to. May your day be blessed and filled with good food, fun and laughter.

Fools Gold RR Finished Block

This block was really hard to send on. It is my favorite so far in this rr. I love fans and the color pallet that Arlene chose is just wonderful. This one took a lot of work but it was so worth it in the end. I did make a few changes, but I let the block speak to me and it developed well I think.The first pic is of the blank canvas I had to work with. Just lovely.

 And the finished block for Arlene.

 A good amount of time went into this block design. I think my favorite is the spiderweb roses in gold. I used Krenick ribbon to make them and they are just so pretty. The pic really does not do this block justice. I hope that Arlene likes what I have created for her. I was going to go with bullion roses at the bottom, but my practice ones were really not very good. So I opted to forgo them and use the hummingbird and french knots instead. This block is now winging its way to the next person in the rr and will arrive soon hopefully to Arlene.
Until next time,
Wendy

"Santa Sack Swap"

It's that time of year again. I have been waiting several months now for the sign ups for this swap. I participated last year and had so much fun gathering items for my swap partner. You send out two gifts per month from July to December and then open when Cheryl gives us a date. It was so much fun last year. Participation is limited so you need to hurry on over to the blog that Cheryl has set up and sign up before it is too late!

Great Weekend

I had a very good weekend, as I was with all three of my children for Mother's Day this year and spent time with my mom as well. This is my loot for MDay! A kindle, k cover and money for books, flavored coffee and a mug, a dozen red roses and two cast iron with enamel dutch ovens!(these will be used to bake bread in)

The pic of the roses do not do them justice. They are so pretty, but it has been rainy here all weekend and no sun for good pics. They have stripes in them and are so pretty.

Until next time,

Wendy

Karen's Finished Fools Gold Block

I had thought that the pic for the finished block was gone. My camera stored it in another place! I really think my camera is going out on me, so time to think about getting a new one. With that said, here is the finished block for Karen in the "Fools Gold" RR that we are doing.