Sunday, October 31, 2010

BOO! These pics. will scare you for sure!

Happy Halloween!

What a fun Holiday.....I've always loved dressing up and still do, even at my age!  It's fun and crazy and brings smiles to everyone.  So, I say WHY NOT? 
I remember as a very small girl (maybe 5-6)  dressing up in one of Mom's dresses, a hat, a big purse, and some high heels.  I'd dress up one of my dollies too, put her in my buggy, go outside and "parade" up and down the sidewalk in front of our house hoping one of the neighbors would see me.  Mom didn't let me go very far, so I had to go back and forth in front of our house....back and forth...clop, clop, clop in those high heels.  What fun that was! 

Our Red Hat Society Halloween party was a blast!  I thought I'd share a few pictures of all us "juniors"  in our silly costumes. (yes..I like that word better than seniors, so thought I'd use it instead)


My sister, Jerre, was Miss Sew and Sew.  Since I was born in July and the sign of Cancer (Crab), this Red Hat for me was perfect! 


Here's Miss Sew and Sew again with one of our Tied Together Bee members as a "Lady of the Night".  That hat is bigger than she is!


These were some of the best costumes of the day!  The restaurant where we go every year is called the Time Machine, and our waiter was dressed up as Ace Ventura  (Jim Carrey's movie).  He sang and did a skit for all the Birthday girls celebrating their birthdays in October.....fun stuff!


We Red Hat "Juniors" really know how to have fun!



Our Red Hat Society group is called Rubies and Garnets and was one of the first chapters formed in San Antonio. 

Last picture, but not the last of the fun.....Sister Jerre - Miss Sew and Sew, Red Hat Devil (Jerre's oldest daughter, Alice) and the Red Crab (me).

Have a fun Halloween!


Thanks for visiting.

Friday, October 29, 2010

More UFO'S.....Is there ever an end to them?

Here's a couple more UFO'S I found  in that same plastic bin from the other day.


These are purses without the removeable/changeable handle.  At one time I was GOing to embroider a different design on  all different colors of this handkerchief linen fabric so I would have lots of choices with different color outfits.  Well, you know about the saying........."The best laid plans......."  AND, I've still got a lot of different colors of this stuff too.  I'm not interested in finishing these now, so back in the bin they went.  I do use my one purse I embroidered my big fancy monogram on one side...out of purple & red fabrics.  I take it every once in a while for a Red Hat luncheon.



These are D9P blocks from another Tied Together Bee exchange we did this year.  We all made 9 patch blocks from our OLD 5" charm squares from a HUGE exhange of them we did  years ago.  (Thank goodness my old squares are about depleted, 'cause some of those were DEFINITELY UGLY fabrics.)  Most of the gals were very organized and color coordinated their squares in their 9 patch blocks.  NOT ME!  I just picked up whatever 5" charm that was next on the pile.  Scrappy is scrappy to me.  Then we cut them in fourths, and exchanged 20 sets, so we all would have some from everyone.  

When we decided to do this bee group project at the beginning of this year, one of the rules was we could only do the sewing on them at our bee meetings.  That was a fun rule 'cause we could see everyone's blocks before they cut them. 

I put this  D9P UFO quilt on my "to finish" list.  It will be a fun one!

Well...........how long has it been since you pulled out some UFO's to evaluate them??


Thanks for stopping by.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

TWO Embarrasing Happenings!

Have you missed me??  My camera has been broke and I borrowed one, but have had a difficult time learning about it and the editing software.  Was finally able to get pictures on my last post, but took me way too long.
I love to blog and it's been so frustrating for me to not be able blog with pictures. 

My camera would NOT work, so today I decided I would take it apart....step by step.  What did I have to lose??  Thought maybe it was some sand from when I went to the beach on vacation and I could just use some canned air and blow it out.   I love to fix things and am one of those "do it yourself" type of gals.  My Dad was a contractor and as a kid I was constantly following him around and learning to do things.    I remember him giving me my own hammer to carry, and a small bucket to carry it in from place to place as I followed him while he was working.

Ok..back to the camera.....step by step.

 *  Find tiny, tiny screw driver........check.
 *  Lay down a towel on table....check.
 *  Remove 9 tiny, tiny screws....check. 
 *  Put charged batteries in it....check.
 *  Take out SD card...check.
 *  Put SD card in computer to check pics....check.
What??  no pictures on card??  Got a card reading error??
 *  Find new SD card still in package.....check.

 *  Put new SD card in computer.....ok check.
 *  Put new SD card in camera.....turn on camera.....WORKED FINE! 
 *  Put 9 tiny, tiny screws back in camera....check. 
 *  Feel stupid....check. 

I feel so stupid that I didn't check the SD card several weeks ago.  DUH!  I guess I didn't realize that they will wear out or quit working.......????

DO YOU HAVE A LOT OF UFO's??

Here's just a few of my UFO's that I have been sorting.  I won't show you all of them as that is too embarrasing;  I won't even count them...(tee hee!)

These are Birthday Blocks from a Tied Together Quilt Bee exchange we did several years ago, and I never put them together for a quilt.  Each one of us chose our color choices and mine was pinks & greens.

This one is a four block Hawaiian Flowers quilt top I made when I was teaching at a LQS and we used the Quilt Smart technique.


Christmas quilt top finished, needs to be quilted.  I just might try to get this one finished to enjoy it this year.  This is  another Tied Together Bee block exchange we did many years ago.   The little kitty who is quilting that's  Embroidery Redwork was my block I gave to everyone!  The corner stones in the sashings have gold metallic thread embroidered jingle bells. 


I have no idea what I was thinking or when I started these circles???  I found it in the bottom of the big plastic tub that is labeled UFO's.  Ugly fabrics too!


My gosh!  I don't know if I'll ever get this one finished.  This one comes from about 12 years ago.  JEEZ!   I ran out of the white tone on tone I was using and was not able to find it anywhere.......too many years ago.   I still have a bunch of the hexagons cut, so maybe there's still hope. 

This is just the tip of the iceberg for my UFO's.  One of these days I might get nerve enough to count them and tell everyone!.......No...No..on second thought, that's another embarrasing thing.

Thanks for stopping by and I'll be posting regularly again now that my camera is "FIXED".......(tee! hee!)

Saturday, October 16, 2010

ON A ROLL! Jelly Roll that is.

I'm cutting, cutting, cutting with my GO cutter and on a roll ..............

Here's a few things I've been working on.



Yup!  Those are blocks cut with the Drunkard's Path new die for my GO cutter......curved piecing and all.   There's so many different layouts you can do with the Drunkard's Path pattern, and I love them all.  I've made several DP quilts in the past using the traditional way, but this is so much faster and easier.

 

I just love the Drunkard's Path die and am so glad to have the GO cutter to save me time & making these the easy way.  

I'm just teasing you with these two pictures and don't have the quilt finished yet.  Don't ya just love it when bloggers do this and don't show you the finish??  I will.........I will..........I promise.


Some of my other cutting with my GO cutter for my ETSY store......


Here's the link for these Bubble Gum Jelly Rolls..just click HERE.




and the link for the Blueberry Blues  jelly roll too!  




I've got other colors cut and ready to list, but then I hit a snag.  My camera recently broke and I haven't bought a new one yet.  I'm using a borrowed one right now and the software/editing/storing for the pictures is totally different than mine.  It's taking me longer to learn about it and get my new pictures finished for my new listings......yikes! 


Yes, I'm on a roll.......just gotta get it rolling faster.   Good excuse, don't you agree?? 


Thanks for stopping by. 


Friday, October 15, 2010

Very Talented Quilters, Teachers, Bloggers

No pictures today.......just a shout out for a great quilter/teacher.

I belong to such a nice group of quilters who share the love of their AccuQuilt cutters.  We share with each other, ask for advice, post tips and quilt ideas, etc.  If we run into a problem someone is always there to help us.   Some of them are outstanding and post great tutorials, tips and advice.

Today I want to feature one in particular....... Marjorie's Quilting Bee

If you haven't seen her blog or videos, you are really in for a treat.  She's a great teacher and quilter.

One of my favorite tutorials of hers is the Patience Corners Quilt.  If you love the Disappearing 9 Patch quilt, you're GOing to love this one even more. 

Another easy one is the Rectangle Block Quilt.  On this one she has instructions for both rotary cutting and using the GO cutter. 

I hope you'll GO visit her blog and look around.......you'll definitely enjoy it.  

Thanks for stopping by.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

FINALLY! Some sewing time for ME!

I belong to two Red Hat groups, and one of them is called Sew Sassy Red Hats.   We get together once a month to do some sewing and quilting at our Queen's (yes, that's what our group leaders are called.) house for 4 hours.  We sure have a good time; yakking, laughing, eating our lunch, and a little sewing thrown in for good measure.    Naturally, we have to wear purple AND some sort of HAT???  Now who wants to wear a hat when they're sewing?  Definitely not me, so I just clip this silly feather/flower in my hair, put on my red stud earrings and away I GO. 


AND...what did I sew?? .... you might ask.  Well, even if you didn't ask, I'm still gonna show ya......phhhht!  So there!    (See...us older girls can get a little Sassy too.)



I'll add the insert page directions to this picture.





These BOM kits are from Fabrics 'n Quilts and are 30's reproduction prints....my favorite of all favorites.  I've only got 3 more to do and all 12 of them will be finished. 


It was sure fun to do some sewing on quilt blocks for me for a change.  ahhhhhh!  puts me in such a good mood. 

What kind of sewing puts you in a good mood?

Monday, October 11, 2010

TUMBLER BLOCKS and SNOWMEN!

Sew Dang Cute had her blogiversary celebration last week.   I donated 50 pre-cut tumbler blocks cut with my Accuquilt GO cutter as one of the prizes. 



We have a winner......and it's Marcia from Trenton, FL.  Here's her comment:

"From your Etsy store, there is much I like - but to pick one I would say the Christmas dishtowels, such as the Snowmen.  Thanks for the giveaway."   Congratulations, Marcia!   They will be mailed to you tomorrow.


Here's the embroidered redwork dishtowels in my Etsy Store that Marcia liked. 


Thanks to everyone who entered and commented about the giveaway.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Celebration Time at Sew Dang Cute - 16 Giveaways

What a HUGE celebration SEW DANG CUTE is having today for her blogiversary.  There are many featured artisans on her blog today and each one of them is having a special giveaway to help her celebrate.  I'm doing one too.  

How would you like to win these??


That's 50 assorted large tumbler blocks cut with my GO cutter for some lucky winner.  But you have to GO to Sew Dang Cute's blog to enter. 

Have fun!

Monday, October 4, 2010

GIVEAWAY WINNER! 2 1/2" squares - 100 of 'em!

We have a winner from my giveaway for the AccuQuilt Bloggers Blog Hop! 

Whoa!  Wait a minute.....you won't find out so fast and as easy as me just saying who won.   You ought to know me by now and know that I'm GOing to share about my GO cutter and what I do with it..right?  So, you have to look at all these pictures and read all this chatter before you find out who won my giveaway.  Hey......Oops...now,  no peeking ahead of time.

I do not like to waste one little bit of fabric as you see by my two huge boxes of scraps.  Well, what to do with them?


I like to cut some of them into strips for string quilt blocks ....(a never ending on-GOing project)





And all of the little, little pieces are cut with my GO using the Value Die 2 1/2" square.



What fun it is to see all the different prints, colors, styles all stacked up and ready to be used for a new  special little dolly quilt!


My two Kitty models love this red one I made for them...it GOes with their pretty little red satin hairbows!  These different small dolly quilts are always available for sale in my ETSY store and I have several different ones.

Ahhhhhhh....but you're still waiting to hear who won the big pile of 100 of these little 2 1/2" squares......right?

Ok....ok...stop twisting my arm....that hurts.  "Uncle".  My niece picked #35 and it is.......

  Marilyn who said  "I'm following already and I love the GO! baby.  It is definitely on my Christmas list.  The little squares would come in handy as my son came home yesterday with a wish list for his class and I got the idea to make little doll quilts to donate to his class store.  How fun to have the fabric already cut out for them.  I know what I'll be doing this weekend :)  Thanks for the great blog hop.  I've learned a lot."

Marilyn has a blog  Stash Manicure .   Her latest blog talked about what do you do with all of that "ugly" fabric.  It's a fun read.  GO follow her.

Thanks to everyone who entered  and be sure to stay tuned and keep checking everyday.........there's GOing to be another one this week. 

Friday, October 1, 2010

GIVEAWAY & GO BABY from AccuQuilt Was Born Today!

Today's the last day of the AccuQuilt Bloggers Blog Hop,  so I will be sharing my hints/tips and GIVEAWAY below.   We hope you've enjoyed our Blog Hop and learned some new things you can do with the AccuQuilt Cutters.  Be sure to visit Beautiful Seams blog post too.  Thanks GO to Sew Cal Gal for creating this blog hop....it's been fun.




BUT, ................first.....tada  tada  (drum roll, please!)            It is my great pleasure to announce that  the new GO Baby.......from AccuQuilt was born this morning.    How exciting! and I'm so privileged to be able to share this wonderful news with you.  (Just click on GO Baby words to see the video)






GO! Baby and GO! side by side for size comparison!




Along with the birth of GO! Baby, 10 new dies were announced,  including a smaller tumbler die, dog, cat, more flowers,  more triangles & a 2 1/2" strip cutter for GO! Baby.  All of these new dies will fit both cutters. 

Congratulations to AccuQuilt! 



Now.....my post for our Blog Hop and my Giveaway.



All the standard size GO cutters come with a Value Die,  which has 3 different shapes; 2 1/2" square, 2" finished triangles, and 4 1/2" square, and a 10"x10" cutting mat.  I know every GO owner gets excited about the different appliques, the strip cutters & designer dies.......but this Value Die is wonderful too!  Let's take a look at it. 







This Value Die is the one I like to use to cut my small scraps into useful shapes.



You can fan fold your scraps & cut up to 6 layers at one time.  It's okay to let part of the scraps hang over the end of the die.



You can see by my cutting mat, I've used this die many, many times.





There's very little waste....and you've got scraps cut into useable shapes.



I've cut a lot of my white muslin scraps using the 2 1/2" triangles too, just didn't show them.  They stack & store very easily in a plastic tub.



And what can you do with them??  I know you'll think of lots of things to make with them.  I have a lot of fun making small Dolly Quilts to sell  in my ETSY store.  





For this Giveaway and the end of the AccuQuilt Bloggers Blog Hop, let's make it easy, peasy;  Just follow my blog, tell me;  leave me a comment on this post by midnight Sunday night - 10/3/10.    The winner will be randomly chosen and receive 100 of these squares;  plenty to make a small Dolly Quilt, placemat, or table topper.   Remember...to leave a way for me to contact you. 


Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you've had fun on our Blog Hop.    Now GO take a look at AccuQuilt's  new family addition.

Disclosure:  I am not being compensated for these blog posts or the blog hop, nor am I being compensated for posting about AccuQuilt's arrival of their new GO! Baby.  I just love my GO cutter and enjoy sharing about it with you.