Little Forest Quilt-Along and a Squirrel

Is everyone one getting excited about the Little Forest Quilt Along?  There's still plenty of time to join. 

Little Forest Quilt Along Starts Sept 1st (that's tomorrow!)

But even if you join today, you'll have time to gather your fabrics so don't worry.

Sign up here or with Stephanie and don't forget we also have a Flicker Group.

I'm excited because for a couple years I've wanted another Christmas quilt.  Ours is just getting so worn.  It gets used so much in the winter, but I just haven't had the time to make one.  This Little Forest Quilt is going to work out just right and be fun to make too!

And since last time I showed you a monkey, this time I'll show you Scarlett's Squirrel that I finally finished! Yay!

Giveaway Winner & a Monkey

Okay it's that time!    Drum roll please....

Random Generator Picked the Giveaway Winner:

     Susan with Susan's Needle Magic

Congrats Susan!!

This is the first time I've used the Random Generator and I don't know how to post it's selection.  (Maybe that not part of the free service.)   

Thanks everyone for helping us spread the word about the Little Forest Quilt Along.

Now on to the Monkey part of this post. 

Do you remember this book?

Well, Serena wanted to make this Monkey for her boyfriend.  She begged me to take her to the fabric store.  When I refused, (I was tired.  And you all know I was very tired if I didn't want to go to the fabric store!) she went out and found scraps to make her own striped fabric and scraps for the rest of the Monkey.

Ta Da!!

I think it turned out adorable!!  One of the patches is a dinosaur that she fussy cut, and another has little blue hearts.  Serena's not into sewing so I'm really proud of her for doing this all on her own. 

Good News: Little Trees as ONE piece.

Now I was thinking (as was Lynn of Alamosa Quilter ) the little trees in the Little Forest Quilt Along would look nice as a single piece. 

Here's where we do the Happy Dance!! 

Ariane has done a tutorial on a Triangle in a Square!  Check out her tutorial - she has done a great job of explaining how to make these and even gives several sizes.



Ariane's Triangle in a Square blocks - Look! She made different sizes!

How cool is that?

With a little tree trunk this could work .  I'm not sure if the size would be exactly the same as the one in the Little Forest pattern.  I've been thinking of making the quilt a lap size, so for me this would be a good method.

I just thought you might like to know.

Linda

Dog Gone Good

Some people have donuts and coffee in the morning,

But not me!

Here's what I got this morning...

The cutest, calmest puppy.  He's was lost, poor little thing! Apparently for three days he was

living among the office bushes.

Today one of my co-workers found out about him and offered him a sandwich.  I offered him a nice place to stay - since my office is one of the few without carpet and a door. 

Within a hour or so we were able to find him a home with the cousin of one of the workers. Good! No Dog Pound for this Puppy.

YAY!!  A dog story with a happy ending.

Linda

Don't forget to sign up for the Little Forest Quilt Along and for the Giveaway!

Design Wall or in my case Design Carpet

Here is what is on my design wall/carpet. I finally grouped all my civil war blocks together to get an idea what to do with them. 

See what is on everyone Design Wall here.

I just love working on these civil war blocks.  It's so relaxing to just do one or two blocks per week.  These are the two that I just finished this past weekend.

Each block I make is my favorite.  Until I make the next block. LOL!!

Oh and don't forget to sign up for the Little Forest Quilt-Along!

Terri's Little Forest Quilt

(Or blog about it for the Give-Away)

Happy August Stitching,

The Bad Stuff

Along with the good stuff that happens on vacation - there's always something you would rather didn't happen. 

So here's the bad stuff.

On the way up we stopped in Vegas at a KOA Campground.  The guy wanted to charge us $88.00 for staying!  YIKES!!!  We could stay at a four star hotel for $42.00.  So we went to dinner, and hubby decided to go back (since we were tired) and take that site.  UGH!!!!  Oh well. 

But then when we walked in that guy was busy and he told the other gal - give them an inexpensive site.  She also gave us a discount and the site was $48.  Okay, so that turned out okay.

Our next major mishap was with the bike - oh dear...not to my husband baby!  It got a gouge in the front fender.  Small gouge - but still it went right through the clear coat - right through the red paint, down to the metal. 

While riding through Spearfish Canyon, SD we came across Russ Mowry, a Master Pinstriper.  He painted and worked his magic and hid that gouge.

Hard to read - it says Mark & Linda  Sturgis 2011.  The gouge is right under the barb wire. 

So that actually worked out very well.

Next, and this was a dozie!  We were on our way home - had gone about 20 miles.  Mark says very calmly "We have rubber coming off our tire".  I look and say just as calmly, "Oh and it's LOTS of rubber".

Yep, this tire had had it!!  So we quickly took the next exit - Thank goodness there was a Walmart right there.  The manager said - it would be 2 1/2 hours before they could change the tires - we had decided to get four new ones.  And then it would be 2 1/2 hours to change them.  So much for an early start home. 

Well, Walmart can be an interesting place - but not for 5 hours!!

As it turned out they had a little eatery - serving pizza.  After eating and shopping - we were actually on the road 1 hr and 58 minutes later!!!  Thank you Walmart Mechanic!!!

We went another 10 miles down the road and we heard a loud BANG!!!

Our hitch broke - okay, how can metal 1/2 of an inch bend? That square hook piece the chain is hooked to bent and came off. 

It only took about 1/2 hour to weld it on. Now we can be sure know that won't be coming off.    So even when things don't look so good - they can end up being better than you anticipated. 

Okay, time to get back to stitching,

Linda

Little Forest Quilt Along & GIVE-AWAY

When Stephanie of Peas in a Pod posted this quilt, I thought I WANT TO MADE THAT!!

Don't you think so too?

Good!!

Cause Stephanie and I will be hosting a Little Forest Quilt Along.

And YOU are invited to join us!




Terri Wilhelm's, of Terri's Notebook, version of the  Little Forest Quilt



The original design is by Sharrilyn from Lovely Design.  Stephanie contacted Molly of The Purl Bee for permission to use the free pattern located on her blog.  (Thanks Sharrilyn and Molly!!!)

Here's a picture of Page and Joelle's quilt.



Our plans are to start Sept 1st.  That gives all of us two weeks to gather our greens - lets see how many we have in our stash!

We will post weekly steps and finish up by October 7th.  Plenty of time before Christmas.  

And to make it more fun we have a Little Forest Quilt Along flicker group to share our progress.

To join - just leave a comment here, or at Stephanie's Peas in a Pod, and/or join the flicker group.

NOW THE GIVE-AWAY

To help spread the word, up for grabs are 5 fat qtrs.

To enter, please post about the quilt-along and then leave a comment letting us know you did here or on Stephanie's blog.  Yep, it's that simple.  We just want to let those who might want to participate know about the quilt-along. 

A winner will be chosen next Friday the 26th. 

We sure hope you join us - this will be fun!!

Linda

Pets on Quilts

Oh Good, Mommy laid down my favorite quilt. I'm the Queen of it. It the best place to groom and lick my paws. 

What's that?  Do I hear chewing? 

What is she doing chewing on my quilt???

Off!  Off!  Get off my quilt!!  

(Play dead Sugar! That will stop her!)

See I told you I was Queen of this Quilt.

And there was Peace on the Quiltdom again.

The End.

No dogs were hurt in this production.  All fighting was done by professional actors. Warning do not attempt these stunts yourself. (Playing dead can be hazardous for your health.) 

Actually a few minutes later finds all the doggies.....

 were relaxing on the quilt.

Silly little story brought to you by

The Queen:   KitKat

The Chewer:  Sugar
The Loafer:  Neptune

And Special Thanks to

Sew Cal Gal for doing Pet's on Quilts Show

Sewing in my lap

Before I left I on vacation I sewed up the background for my civil war block.

Then as I was traveling through - oh which state was that?  Nevada?  Arizona? Utah?  No Utah is just too pretty to sew through.  It was Wyoming. Which is pretty but I still sewed.  

I enjoyed finishing this one up.

And here's Mister Penguin before the trip.

I cut his head off.  Rather satisfying I must admit.

And Mister Penguin after I restitched it on.  (and with a beak)

I'm a happier with his new look.  Now for some eyes, feet, wings etc.

Okay so I didn't do much sewing on vacation - but really - I can't sew on a motorcycle!  I'm not that talented!!  Hahaha!

Happy August Stitching.

Linda

Good Morning! Back From South Datoka

Okay, I have to tell you we took off last week and took a nine day trip to Sturgis, South Dakota.

 

Hubby snapping a picture of Mt Rushmore.

I like the way I got him in his Sturgis shirt, with the bike and Mt Rushmore.



Just in case you don't know,  Sturgis holds a huge (the biggest?) motorcycle rally each year.  Over 450,000 bike show up.  It really is the coolest thing to be among that many bikes.  The streets of Sturgis are packed with bikes and vendors (719 vendors this year).

Even me, who's used to motorcycle rallies, was totally shocked seeing the volume of motorcycles in down town Sturgis.  They were everywhere!!

We had a WONDERFUL time in South Dakota, and Wyoming!  For people who do not live near these states, these are the nicest people!  Not only are the people nice, but the area is BEAUTIFUL!

I wish I had visited these states earlier in life and I would have moved there and raised my kids. I'm seriously thinking of moving - however, it would be hard to get the whole clan to move - and I rather attached to my children and grandchildren. 

At any rate, we stayed a place called Suzie's Campground, two miles from Sturgis. 

I like the way many of the signs are made from metal in Wyoming and South Dakota.

Here's a picture of our rig parked at Suzie's. There motto is "Come as Strangers, Leave as Friends".  So true!  This was a great place to stay.



Our Rig. - See the ramp for the motorcycle to be loaded?



And this was our view from our trailer

The picture (camera phone) really doesn't do this place justice. 

Oh,  just in case you were wondering, the bike made it there just fine.  We had the best time ever riding!  We didn't feel crowded as we rode because there are plenty of surrounding areas and cities to ride in.  We visited Rapid City - where I found a cool quilt shop.  Funny how I could see that Quilt Shop a mile away!! 

Thimble Cottage

This is home to Pearl Louise.  She designs quilt patterns (real cute ones) and fabric too.  I course I bought some fabric.  I'll show you that in a different post.

We visited Deadwood, where Wild Bill Hickok was killed.  Supposedly he was holding the "Dead Man's Hand" while playing poker when he was shot. 

And we visited Lead located in the winding roads of the Black Hills.  It's a real fun historical town.  Calamity Jane lived there.

Black Hills is known for it's beautiful gold jewelry.  We took a tour of the factory to see how they make the jewelry.  It was very interesting. They add copper and zinc to get the gold in shades of pink and gold.

A ring we saw - but didn't buy.

I had no intention of buying anything, but then I found this watch - and at a super good price so I just couldn't resist. I had to take this baby home with me.

We had a great time.  I'm not sure which I like most, riding in the Black Hills and hiking to the different waterfalls or just spending nine whole days with my husband.  

Well, that's probably enough for today.  I'll show you the little bit of sewing I did while riding in the truck tomorrow. 

Happy August Sewing,

Linda

What I've been doing...

I haven't been sewing that much this week.  Instead, I've been doing some relaxing and also some planning on my quilts.

I've been looking through my older magazines. 

and I found this idea for a setting for Angela's quilt.  (I still haven't worked on the Feathered Star - but I will!!)  I could put that feathered star in the middle and the other stars around.  Yes, this could work.

and while I'm just showing pictures, I'll show you this apron I made for my daughter for her birthday. 

I loved the fabric with the oranges!  And since is was for my "artist" I got to go a little wild with the black and white squares, polk-a-dots and rick-rack. 

And while we are on the subject of rick-rack, I have to tell you a little funny.  The first time I said "rick-rack"  my 15 year old, laughed and ran to the computer and looked the word up.  She thought for sure I had just made the word up!!!   

Happy August Sewing,

Linda

The things you learn in BlogLand

One of the things people like about blogging is making new friends. I make a new friend when I started commenting on Sunny's Blog.   Or maybe it was because she was commenting on mine? At any rate, guess who found me on Sunny's blog?

Another Linda. Well, that in it's self is not that profound, after all, look how many Linda's are out there.

But come to find out she's also from my hometown. How cool is that??

And she also attends the same guild I do!!! Now that's really cool.

And our guild has two meeting: morning and night. Yep, you guessed it, we both attend the night meeting. Yet I don't believe we have met.  Maybe we have, I'll let you know when I see her. 

Well, that just too cool.

Okay - here's the best part. She has the coolest blog.

Go check her out.  

straystitches

Believe me, it's really worth your time

Linda

Block Lotto

Did you know that I play Block Lotto? Last month's block looked like this. I donated mine. Although it was fun to make.  I didn't really want a whole quilt from one.  This just isn't really me.

But would you believe: 

       They had a total of 238 sets (that's 476 blocks!) And ten winners. That's about 48 blocks per winner.  Pretty Cool!

Just thought you might be interested.

I was thinking of not playing for August, figuring I would be too busy. But here's the block and oh boy!  I like it.

Now I'm thinking I need to play again.  The block looks simple and fun.  This really is me. 

Do you see how I get myself overwhelmed?  And loving every minute of it!  LOL!!!

Happy August Stitching to you!!

Linda