Still calm even though.....

Christmas is so close.  I don't feel any pressure to get things done or to do last minute shopping.  I wonder why?  Could this be the reason.....???

A very nice Merlot from my secret Santa

Noooooo... its because there is very little for me to do and I still have time.  Check back with me on Friday morning... I may be a whole ball of mess then!  We are celebrating Christmas with my family on that day since I have to work all Christmas weekend... 12.5 hour shifts...  They are so kind to accommodate me.  But if you were to ask my OLDER sister, Cindy... lol...  she would tell you that it is always about me.  And, well, it is.  LOL...  I love my family... just sayin.  They spoil me rotten.

We had our Secret Santa exchange at work last night.... and beside the Merlot  labeled by Running with Scissors (how appropriate for a quilter~!)   I also received a gift card to one of my most favorite quilt shops in Cedar Rapids.... Pine Needles.

I can't wait to go and buy more fabric.... however, maybe I should get more thread.  I have been doing more quilting this year and my thread selection for quilting is dwindling down.

Well, I better get back to my sewing room.  I have to finish quilting a Christmas gift so I can put the binding on tomorrow morning... AFTER I have had my pot of coffee and not a minute sooner!

Another Friday Night Sew IN!!

Crazy busy getting ready for the Holidays????  Only a few days left to go and I only have a couple more small gifts to buy.  I participated in another Friday night sew in... it was fun and I did get a quilt finished quilted and bound!  Well, my sister actually pieced it... this is a gift for our niece, Jaycie.  She is a teenager now and we thought this was a more grown up quilt for her.

Opposites Attract by Julie Herman of Jaybird Quilts
find pattern here

I also did more work on the Quilts for Kids quilt blocks.  I had fabric left over from the first set that I made and decided to make four more blocks.  

I still need to trim them down and then sew the units together (there will be two grey blocks and two black blocks)... I love this pattern.  Whodathunk that half square triangles would look so cool!

Its time to step away from the computer and change over the laundry.  I will be working on my other nieces quilt this afternoon and yes... my sister pieced it and I will be layering it and quilting it.  If I am fast enough I will be binding it too.  We will be celebrating Christmas with the family on Friday.  Time to suit up with my quilting mojo!

Charity sewing and Friday night fun!

One of the things that has always brought me joy was making quilts
for people in need.  Our local quilt guild, the Muscatine Melon Patchers, does  just this.
We make quilts for our domestic abuse shelter.  There are thousands of people that
use their services every year with the majority of them being children.  It really
breaks your heart when you see the numbers and know that these people are coming
directly from our county.

As I was surfing the internet this morning, more specifically blogs and flickr, I came across the blog of SoSarahSews.  She is the mastermind of Quilts for Kids.  This is an online Flickr community open to anyone who wishes to make quilt blocks, as directed by Sarah.  You may make one or a hundred!  Sarah puts these together and gives them to children in need.  The quilt I am helping with is for a little boy who is in foster care with his sisters. I believe that these quilts will bring lots of love to the children who may be thinking that they are not lovable, or that no one cares.  As quilters we have a great opportunity to share our passion with these children.

We know how much we love making our quilts; how much love we pour into each and every quilt.  And what about when we are picking out the fabrics... do we not love to touch the fabric and soak in the texture.  From the moment the idea first pops into our mind, to the purchasing of the fabric, cutting the fabric, assembling the top, the quilting and then finally sewing on the binding, do we not feel love?  Absolutely!  WE ARE QUILTERS!!!
 
So please join in on this.  There is a bit of urgency for this particular quilt... Sarah needs the blocks by Christmas but they will only take 30 minutes of your time if you send two. She still needs a commitment for 20 more blocks.  I am making four.  I challenge you to make 4 as well!  All you need is an 8.5" square of black(or grey) and 8.5" square of white. to make one block.

On a lighter note.........

 Friday fun night!!! What is this?????  well, it is my first time participating in Friday night sew in.  Fun, easy and free!!  It is an internet group that gets together..usually the 3rd Friday of the month but this month it is the 2nd Friday.... we sew in our jammies at our own home (unless you have a group of friends to sew with)...Then on Saturday you post your project in the flickr group!  Easy Peasy!!   The party starts here!
and  finishes here.  Oh...and how dare I nearly forget.....there's a  GIVEAWAY with each sew in!!  yeah!

An organizational tip

Before I moved into my new house I was doing some inventory of the old.  I just had to laugh at myself when I looked at my piles of quilting magazines...  How many times had I moved that pile from house to house... I had magazines from 1999!  

just a small sampling of the magazine stash. I had to break it down so it
wouldn't seem such a daunting task.

This move I decided I wasn't going to do that.  I was tired of being surrounded by clutter and I was definitely not going to bring it with me!  I think we all do that when we move anyway.. It is a perfect time to toss, giveaway and recycle what we have found we no longer  use.  I did notice as I looked at my magazines that I was getting a bit nervous.  I like to have the patterns just in case ONE DAY I will make them!  LOL.... lets be honest, for me that one day rarely gets here!   So I made a compromise with myself, I would keep only the patterns that I really thought I would make and recycled the rest of the issue. I didn't like how the patterns were written in some of the  magazines that I had subscribed to in the past so those went immediately to the recycle unless I really liked the quilt and thought it worth the effort to decipher the pattern.

I just so happened to have on hand a little 3-ring binder and page protectors.  I printed a fun little page for the front of the binder.

The next few hours I spent looking through my magazines tearing out the patterns I really wanted to keep and saying good-bye to others... I couldn't let them go without doing at least that!  LOL  

all this....

into this....

equals this!

My pile of magazines went from chaotic to controlled.  There is one pattern per page protector and the picture of the pattern is in the front so I know at a glance what it is.  Now I know that if I was completely wacko I would make a table of contents but that will take away the fun of browsing through the notebook.  I wonder how long this will sit around before I even look at it again!  LOL

WOW!!!! Can you believe it is Dec 1st already?!!!

Time has sure flown by since my last post.... I have been one busy bee.  Lets start by what did I finish....   Randy's Quilt.  Modern Christmas Table-runner, I helped my lovely sister with my nephews quilts so she could get them quilted.  I was just the pressing and cutting girl..but as you know, I was loads of fun until I got tired of standing!  LOL  

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I spent it with my most favorite people in the entire world...my family!  I have also been busy getting my house decorated for Christmas!  It is looking so pretty!  What is that you are saying????  You want to see pictures???  Well, since I just finished taking them... I think you are in luck.  This post will have lots of pics and then I will probably be a bit in posting again as I have GOT to get this t-shirt quilt done.... I want to take it to the quilter tomorrow...I think I may have to pull an all-nighter!  Put on the coffee!!!!!!

Have you started Christmas shopping????  not many days left!  chop chop!    My list is short and I have almost all I need... just a few small items and I am done.  I got my sons gift today...

These trees are in my kitchen/dining room .
The other images above are on the half wall that
goes down to the basement.

No flash... don't the lights look pretty.  I love the simplicity
of the clear lights.

Wanted to show the ornaments....still need a topper.. I was thinking
feathers!  pink, teal, red, and blue feathers!  lol

I just love this.... the ornaments are just clip art
from Microsoft... I printed them on regular paper, cut and
famed them.  Easy Peasy and the frames are from the dollar
store.  The Faith plaque is one I talked my sister out of.
I just loved it soooooo much.  She spoils me sooo much!

My wall decal wouldn't stick so I just
put some paint over it and peeled it off.
this is the same wall color that is painted
on the inset of my bay window.  It needs
a little touch up.  I will do that after the paint
dries.

This is my man and his quilt!  

completed table runner for the swap..bye bye!  My partner, Ailsa has received this and loves it!  That makes me very happy!

This is the ornament that I made and sent with the runner.

This is the runner I received..too pretty to put on the table!

Here is a closeup of my runner... I received this along with a house ornament,
handmade card, a piece of the fabric that was used for the back of the 
runner and a postcard of the town in which she lives.  Dianne
lives in the Czech Republic  I absolutely love this!