Really, I'm still here...

Okay, okay, so I'm really, really, really, really late with this months FFFF, so here it is...

Eight Fat Eighths from Judie Rothermel's "Pewter, Indigo, & Honey" collection. I love this fabric, but have not decided what I'm going to make with it - so to enter this months drawing, please leave a comment on this post and tell me what quilt you would make. I promise I will draw a winner before toooooooo loooooooong!!!! LOL!!!!

Now to tell/show you why I have been negligent in posting!

On September 6 (Just one day after my last post) Gracen Kate was born. So, I've been doing a little rocking!!! (They live in our guest house, so though I'm not a "hovering grandmother" -Nene (me) gets to see her every day!!!!)

So, you tell me, "Post" or "Rock"!!!!

We have also been working cattle, weaning calves and moving cattle around.

Oh yeah - I've been rocking Gracen!

I also fancy myself as a" wildlife photographer" and have been catching shots of various fowl.

Oh, yeah, Gramps gave Gracen her first horseback ride!!

Also, the fall Sheep Dog trail season is upon us and I've been readying Tate for several trials in October:

I did finish the Porter Brothers (grandsons of a dear friend) quilts and put them in the mail today!!!

Oh yeah. I've been rocking Gracen!!!

I PROMISE that I will post the winner and more "quilty" stuff next week. I'm currently working on 7 quilt projects, so hopefully I will have at least a couple of pictures!!


If you have time, enlarge the photos - the details are amazing!


Blessings Ya'll!!!!

Piecing Frenzy/Overload - Segment #3

Rather than take a separate photo for each of my current block piecing projects, I just spread the blocks on the grass (which is sort of green - even though it has been 100+ again!)

From top left:

     Barrister SAL blocks - I'm caught up!!!

     Our guild's Block Exchange for September - I got a little carried away - fall colors and couldn't just pick one - plus I just used scraps from previous projects!

     Pam's "Forget-Me-Not" Pocket Patchwork! I'm loving these little blocks with the Dear Jane fabric!

     Four more Petite Grannys for Emma's baby quilt (Emma is due in November, but is my soon to be born granddaughter's first cousin).

    And the three blocks on the bottom - Barbara Brackman's newest BOW - Grandmother's Choice. We will be making 49 blocks and I have already decided to set them with chain blocks, so each week I will make the BOW and one chain block and assemble as I go. I'm loving the royal purple that I have chosen for the main color. If you enlarge the picture, you can see the delicate grayish flowers on the royal! My background fabric is a small flower tone on tone gray.

Blessings Ya'll!!!!!

Charm Pack Winner and Charm Pack Question!!

So sorry that I didn't get this posted yesterday like I said. I had a hard time "corraling" the resident cowboy, but finally got him "lassoed" this morning! He drew and the winner is:

Congratulations, Louise!!!

Now, I have another question for everyone, just for my information.

What is your favorite block and/or quilt project that would use a charm pack?

Thanks!

Blessings Ya'll!!!!!

Starry Stars & Blogger Problem Resolved!

I just got antsy - I wanted to "finish" something, so because I had made extra Temecula star blocks, I just finished mine up into two little fliimsys. They are about 16" square and I call them "Patriotic Starry Stars". They will go into my box with my other small patriotic star flimsys to be quilted for next year! Looking forward to seeing the final star (which will not be included in my quilts - lol) and all of you fellow quilters finishes! This was one of my favorite SAL - you know me and STARS!!!!

Now to my blogger comment problem - Well thanks to Muddle Puddle, I found out that you had to type in the Numbers. Well, I consider myself and intelligent person - thought I am not an English Major but rather my education is in Applied Mathematics. So, you see I do understand numbers - but if you notice the next time you come across a comment that has word verification the instructions say:

"Prove you are not a robot"    Type the two words.

Now like I said, I am not an English Major, but NUMBERS ARE NOT WORDS!!!!!! Maybe I am just too literal!! LOL

But alas, I can now again leave comments on blogs with word verification, and most of the time I can get it right with less than 5 tries!!!! I think I would do a whole lot better if they just had me type in Numbers - I can understand those a whole lot better!! LOL!!!!

Oh by the way - I will catch the resident cowboy and his trusty black/dress hat and draw a winner for the two charm packs in the morning! So stay tuned...


Blessings Ya'll!!!!!

Recent Finishes & Another Start!

Isn't it always fun to finish up a quilt project!! I've finished 4 small quilts and even learned a new skill!! Yes, I have ventured into machine quilting - though it be only straight line quilting with a walking foot attachment. But I'm hooked!!! I hope to venture into FMQ soon. I've found some old batting pieces so will make up some practice sandwiches soon!

Wee Care quilts for our guild's benevolence program.

A fall small quilt for myself - yes for me!!!! I had pieced the top last fall for a small quilt challenge, but had put it up to quilt later. But decided to practice my straight line machine quilting for myself, and I was pleased with the results!

And a very old UFO that I had put together several years ago and started hand quilting. Well, I finished it!! It is a Debbie Mumm pattern and I wanted a valentine quilt for my coffee table. The colors are kinda Christmasy, but my living room is burgundy and hunter, so goes any time!!

I do love to hand quilt! But I have found machine quilting to be very fun and rewarding too. One of the things that made it "pleasant" is that after viewing several tutorials on-line I ordered 505 Basting Spray. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!! NO PINS!!! It makes the layers of the sandwich adhere wonderfully, but it is very supple and very easy to handle. I haven't used it on a bed size quilt yet, but I have plans to machine quilt one of my Christmas quilts in a couple of weeks. But it worked absolutely wonderfully on the small quilts I did. This is a picture of my three new most favorite quilting tools!!

And here is my new start! The GREAT GRANNY CRAZE has hit!! But alas, mine are really PETITE GRANNY SQUARES. My squares are only two inches which makes the blocks about 8 1/2 inches finished. Plus, I am such a "Frugal Frannie" that I piece with the "no waste" method. But, I'm really liking them. I won the pink, green, and lavender FQs and am making them into a baby girl quilt for a friend.

Lastly, I am not able to leave comments on blog posts where there is word verification!!! Is anyone else having that trouble? It has just come up and I've checked and rechecked my settings on my blog and on my browser! Any tips would be so greatly appreciated. BTW I HATE Word verification!!!!

Blessings Ya'll!!!!!!

FFFF - late again!!!!

So sorry, I'm late again with my monthly fabric giveaway! I had part of what I wanted to do, wanted a little more - so had to contemplate it awhile - okay, okay, just got busy and didn't get around to taking pics and posting!!

Without further ado - This month's FFFF consists of two 6" charm packs - one is a collection from Hancock's that is a 16 piece pack - 4 each of 4 designs that are nice fall colors. The other is a 18 piece pack of purples - 2 each of 9 designs that I put together from my stash. Which brings me to this month's question - what's your favorite color? Mine is purple!!! But I love fall colored fabrics!! So to enter the giveaway, just leave a comment on this post telling me (us) your favorite color and your favorite fabric color. Even if you don't want to be in the giveaway - tells us your favorite colors and why you like them! Oh yeah, I like purple because it is "royal" and I like feeling "royal"! I love wearing purple! But when I shop for fabric I'm always drawn to browns, rusts, golds - all those rich fall colors!

Blessings Ya'll!!!!!!

Piecing Frenzy Segment #2 - Blocks

I've gotten caught up on my blocks for the SAL that I have been doing!!!

Temecula Stars

Barrister Blocks

Christmas Greetings

 

And a new SAL that 

Pam over at Heart Spun Quilts is hosting called:

Pocket Patchwork - Forget Me Not

I'm excited about this one (though I LOVE all the SAL that I do!) because I am using fabric that I won in 

Elaine's giveaway! These are such fun fabrics! Thanks Elaine!!

Blessings Ya'll!!!