I got a code in by doze....

With the help of some friends in the above photo, and lots of rest, I am feeling better. I doubt any of that helped to make me better. It just had to run its course but at least they brought a little comfort to a coughing, sneezing, stuffy head.....well, you get the picture. I think my little sister passed it around because after our visit to San Diego, my older sis got it too and like me, is still fighting it. My mom is in the hospital because of it too, not because of the severity of it but because of her age. Hopefully, she'll get out today. I'll be there on Saturday to mom-sit. :o)

While curled up in the recliner and catching up on every movie on HBO, Showtime, TNT, Hallmark, etc., etc., I got my March BOM done. It was a big one (for me) and I didn't think I'd EVER get it finished. I guess that's what it took. Me practically nailed to a chair to "git `er done".

I love this pattern. In case you missed it in an earlier post, it's Berry Picking Party by Crabapple Hill. I just love the old scale and jelly jars on this block.

I traced my next block but it'll have to wait just a bit longer before I start stitching. I have some blocks to make for a swap. Ah, no rest for the weary?

Got gifts?

I do!!!!! And they are all just WONDERFUL. I feel like it's my birthday or something! :o)

My friend Carolyn made these adorable Redwork tea towels for me. She bought her daughter an embroidery machine for Christmas last year so I guess they have both been having fun playing with it. And I was the lucky recipient of the playtime. Well, at least one of the recipients!


My buddy Sherrie went to a retreat with Carolyn a few weeks ago so she brought them home to me. Here is a shot of one of the borders. You can barely see the other border in the first picture. It looks like a serpentine stitch with little bows on it. Very sweet, to match the embroidery designs.

And I got these goodies too. A page of scrapbook stickers to celebrate my heritage. LOL I am such a 'white' Mexican, these stickers are a joke.

Sherrie brought one of these little strawberries to everyone at the retreat.

As if being a cute little strawberry wasn't enough, it's a little shopping bag!!! Can you stand it?

And the little selvage tube you see is a pincushion Carolyn made. I've been saving my selvages too and had my sister save me some while she worked on her quilt projects. I was going to make either some blocks or a little make-up bag out of mine. This is a very cute idea too.

All those goodies AND I won $25 at Bunco last night. If I was a gambler, I'd head to Vegas but I'm not....so I won't. LOL

Tonight is sewing night (TNT) and my buddy Neena will be over. I'll work on my embroidery tonight so I can try and get my block done. I have April's block here and it hasn't been touched. Argh......

On the dark side

Sunday I tackled some more parts of my current project, my Star Studded quilt. You might getting tired of hearing about this one. It's taking me a long time to get it done. I hope I don't get tired of looking at it before it's finished since it's supposed to go on my bed! LOL

Yesterday I got the sashing done and two outer borders. I laid it on the dining room table to spray it with a mist of water to get the blue marker off and let it dry under the ceiling fan. It was late so I turned off the dining room light to go to bed and in the dark, the lamp from the living room created a great glow so you could see the quilting on the top. Of course, I put the breaks on and took a couple of pictures. Hopefully, you can see it all - the stitch in the ditch around all the blocks, the small vine in the sashing, the quilt motif in the blocks.

I sandwiched this on the table so I'm not sure why it's so rippled. Maybe I made it too taught or not tight enough. Anyway, here's a great picture of the block design.

The cornerstones are kind of puffy so I thought about doing an "X" in them and my sister suggested doing an echo 1/4" inside the seams. I think I'll do that instead. Sheesh, another part to quilt!!!! I have the seminole border to do, which I think I'll stitch in the ditch around the red paisley squares and have to order another roll of Quilting by the Roll for the outer green border. My sis gave me the one she had but it was just enough for one border. THEN I'll be finished!!!! Well, except for binding, label, washing............ How did the pioneer women EVER finish a quilt!??

A quilting dilemma...

I got back into my sewing room. Monday night I marked the rest of the six blocks on this quilt. Everything on this quilt seems to be taking me forever! I had to change the colored pencil I was using because I couldn't see the lead on light fabric and dark lead on dark fabric so I had to keep switching them up back and forth. Sheesh. I got the blocks quilted last night and they look decent. There was a lot of sewing back over my previous stitches to get to the next point and I missed a lot but this quilt is for me, for my bed. And my bedroom is dark. And there are usually clothes on my side so I'll just make sure the good blocks are on my husbands side. LOL

So now....the dilemma.....the sashing.....

....and this border. I have a few leaf stencils but OMG, the thought of transferring it on each sashing piece and then doing a bigger leaf design on the outer border just about throws me over the deep end. I guess I need to break this down in little sections so I don't cry.

I think this is why longarm quilters are worth their weight in gold!!! Wish me luck!

Seeing red!

Oh, I loooooove the color red. Deep, delicious cherry red. Add a few polka dot and I can't help myself! I was innocently walking around Costco last Thursday. I had to get dog food. Of course, you can't go buy dog food without a trip down the crafty stuff with paper cutters, scissors, etc. or the kitchen aisle. You never know what you're going to find. And look at the treasure I stumbled upon!!!

They had oodles of these sets in a pretty green and only a few red ones. I grabbed a set for me and another one for my daughter Stephanie, for her birthday. My children all love red. I guess it's genetic. hehe I took the picture with my iphone and sent it to my sister. Of course, Miss Cherry herself HAD to have a set too so Friday I went back. It's a good thing I didn't wait because there were only two sets left and I had to dig for them. So.....I grabbed two more. I felt like a drug dealer. LOL I'll keep the extra one for my friends birthday in a few months. They were $21 and some change. I love red. I love polka dots. I love Costco. :o)

A few eggstra pictures...

Gee, the days after Easter have flown by. It's amazing how my blogging shows me just how fast time goes by. I was going to share a few pictures of our Easter eggs but didn't get back here. So, pretend it's April 2nd okay? These are eggstrodinary pictures. :o)

If you read my blog often, you probably know my oldest daughter is the artsy one. Kelley, got an e-mail with simple but fun decorated eggs. Here are some of the ones she drew.

And this is a close up of one I handed Kelley and told her the crack looked like a mouth. All she did was draw two dots for eyes and he, or she, had a personality! Cute huh?

I hope to have some quilting to share soon. Things are going kinda slow but I'm trying to chip away at it. Hope you have a great weekend.

Happy Easter!

I got those cute little plastic holders at the cake supply store. They just filled them with Cheetos to make a yummy carrot snack. Aren't they clever??

A couple of friends came over to make cards the other night. My friend Nora brought her mom so we had an assembly line going for these cute Easter cards. I was the colorer, Nora punched the scallops and her mom glued the pieces down.

Then Neena (my Stampin' Up! buddy) had made this card for a workshop she had that I couldn't go to. It's pretty darn cute, eh?

I used her flower punch to cut some pink flowers but then used some of the scraps from the other cards to make a card.

Nora took a template Neena brought over and made these two little Easter baskets for her granddaughters. She was trying to reinforce them saying they're a little on the rough side and will probably try carrying them all over the house. :o) Neena made all three of the flowers. The first one was made using the SU Fancy Flower punch, stacking two flowers and putting a brad in the center. The middle one on the table was using the SU Scallop Circle punch, cutting down each scallop, folding each piece toward the center and layering them on top of each other. Looks like a little mum, don't you think? And the rose, well, that is just gorgous. Neena had a link to the site on the how to's. I'll just have to share it later.

Then today Nora borrowed my kitchen to make a surprise treat for her Granddaughters. She made a bowl out of fruity pebbles (talk about a sugar rush!) and bunnies and eggs out of regular rice krispies. They came out really cute and I'm sure her Grandbabies are going to love them. Can you say "Buzzzzzz"!

I hope you enjoy all your treats today and have a wonderful Easter!