Happy Halloween

I really want to be working on my McKenna Ryan block.

But that darn Halloween Quilt has been keeping me from it.

Mark is so sweet to me there's no way I can say no, or even wait.

It is all pieced and layered.  And I've been quilting on it. I quilted some bats and spiders and spider webs.  

Next I'm going to do some straight lines.

We did go shopping.  YEA!  That was so much fun. 

These fabrics are for the McKenna block. Do you see how much fun is waiting for me?  There's nothing like a new project to breathe new life into my sewing mojo.

We did get together and make some Halloween Cupcakes. 

Cupcakes + little kids = FUN 

And sticky fingers! LOL

 

And prayers for the those in affected by Superstorm Sandy. 

Linda

Book Review: The Giving Quilt

I feel so lucky that I was given Jennifer Chiaverini's new book "The Giving Quilt" to review. The people that contact me are so nice and I am not asked to give a positive review.

This book's setting is present day at the Elm Creek Manor.  Chiaverini introduces us to new characters and as the story unfolds we are given some background story on each of them.  I love the way she writes and develops each character    Each one comes with their own problems, hopes and dreams.  And I love the way Chiaverini gives such a realist voice to them.

I have to tell you, at one time I called my daughter and told her "listen to this - this character sounds just like you!"  As I read to her we laughed and agreed is sounded like Chiaverini had been a fly on the wall, then wrote about my daughter.  It's truly amazing the way Chriaverini characters are so real.

In "The Giving Quilt" the characters come together for a week of quilting for charity, Project Linus. I like the way Chiaverini has the characters interact and develop; finding solutions to their problems. I do find the book very entertaining and I highly recommend this book.  It is a lovely "sit by the fire and enjoy reading" type of book.

Happy Reading,

Nicey Linda

Lavender Street Winner

I've been on a bit of a winning streak.

I won a gift certificate from LavenderStreet.com in the Fabshophop.

I am so appreciate of Lavender Street for offering the certificate. I wanted to tell you about the shop because it was so easy to shop at their online store.  

I quickly found three must haves.

 Part of this is gift certificate and part is just because I wanted it.

Cuzco Charm Pack - like who could resist Kate Spain? 

Mark - that's who.  When I asked him if this wasn't the cutest fabric ever! He said no. What??  But then again, he chose those creepy Halloween fabrics. Remember?

The Sweetwater Down Home Tote  - Okay I admit I'm a sucker for dots and red. But isn't this bag so cute? I can't wait to make one. And then another and another. You get the picture. 

And lastly, a McKenna Ryan pattern: Roomies

 I love chickadees and bird houses and batiks. 

Happy Stitching,

Nicey Linda

Really Random Thursday -10/25/2012

It's Thursday, I want to post but do I really have anything to say?  

And then I realize it's Really Random Thursday and I do have those random pictures. I could link up with Cindy at Live a Colorful Life.

Okay! Let's go for it!

  I bet you weren't expecting a burned out Palm Tree.

On one of our Motorcycle trips we went to a statuary store and they had Palm trees. 

One just spontaneously caught fire while we were there.

However, the firemen said that some one had shot a bottle rocket which had landed deep in the tree. Apparently it smoldered for days and we just happened to be there the day it caught fire.  

While we were there I found this cute little fountain fish. 

Water comes out his mouth.

I have this old fountain Mark gave me for my birthday years ago. It's really special to me.   I think the fish looks great in there and now I have a bird bath for the birds!

One day while I was swimming, I found someone else swimming with me.

So Cute!! 

This little guy is so tiny!

On the my daughter's birthday I did a little extra surprise for her.  

I cleaned her room - as a teen you know she loved that!

I bought paper hats and party supplies and when she walked in late at night from work, she found her stuffed animals were all giving her a Surprised Birthday Party!

Yeah, that was fun.  

Stephanie over at Peas in a Pod challenges us to also do a Random Act of Kindness today.  

I think that's a great idea.

Happy Random Thursday,

Nicey Linda

Design Wall Monday - CW Quilt

I really didn't get much sewing done on my CW quilt this past weekend.  

I did make a Lemon Meringue Pie. Yum.

And got the car wash - got a little wet.

And did the laundry - so I won't be miss stinky.

Took hubby to the movies - where he took a nap.

Rescued my daughter when her car broke down - Nothing like having Mom & Dad & the checkbook come to the save the day.

And helped at the church Nursery School - No one cried. YEA!

And played catch with the cutest rough and tumble little boy - my little grandson.

  I do have a little bowl full of applique flower finished. I sure hope there will be enough!

And I experimented with my vines.  I've always heard that they have to be cut on the bias. I have a bunch of strips cut on the straight away - (hey, I bet that's called something else) anyway, I practiced curving them, and stitched them down.  See..

That looks like it's going to work.  It curved just fine and lays flat.   So I'll use up those extra strips.  Unless - anyone knows some other reason I shouldn't use these strips?

  And lastly, Mark didn't do anything on his quilt.  I did go down and buy some fabric to separate some of those blocks.  

I'm linking up with Design Wall Monday over at Patchwork Times. 

Happy Stitching,

Nicey Linda

I've been having a good time - Appliqueing

I'm sure ya'll want to know what I've been up to lately.  APPLIQUEING!  You know some think it's a dirty word.  But I enjoy it. I don't want to do it all the time - I like piecing with the machine best. 

I get all my supplies on my ironing board - get Netflix ready. And lower the ironing board to the lowest level so that I can use it while sitting on the couch. See Sugar? She's on Zombie Watch. (Explained a little later in this post.)

I use the Magic Sizing and then iron with my Clover Iron - hey, that's one of my BEST investments! I put the waxy side up so that when 

I curve that little HOT iron around the flower piece - it makes the fabric stick down to the edge of my freezer paper. Nice smooth round edges. I'm not saying this is the right way. It's just the way I do it. 

Disclaimer here: If you notice any dark spots on my ironing board it's from the Magic Sizing - not coffee or tea. It's that darn Magic Sizing. I think starch does it too.

I've been working on this while we have been watching The Walking Dead. Have you seen the program?  There are just sometimes when I can't watch the TV. Some of scenes of zombies eating are just too much, just disgusting. But for the most part I like the story line.  And it's so appropriate for Halloween time.

 

So that's what I've been doing, sitting on the couch merrily working away. I have the glue to tack down difficult spots but so far I haven't had to use it. 

And I have a report of Mark's Halloween Quilt for my next post. 

Happy Stitching, 

Nicey Linda

Halloween Quilt - Need Advice

Tonight is Sewing Night - or maybe Beer Night - Or Pool (as in billiards) & Beer Night or maybe The Walking Dead and Coffee-all-night Night.  Oh there are just so many options!

Mark's Halloween quilt - sorry for the poor lighting and strange ghosty things at the bottom of this photo.

This is how the quilt is coming along.  I would like your advice - do you think I should suggest to Mark that he put a strip between the houses and the blocks? A plain fabric to give the eye a place to rest?

Here:

Or a narrow strip to give the block a border from the row above?  I hope to have a good time sewing tonight - and I hope you do also.    

Happy Stitching,

Nicey Linda

Really Handy & Cool New Site - Find My Fabric.com

I have something really handy and cool to tell you.  I received an email telling me about this new website called FindMyFabric.com

Okay - I hope I don't sound like a commercial here.  I just want to tell you about the site because I've found it so useful and so easy to use.  What makes it different is the "find a fabric with a photo" option.  Yep, I thinking this is going to be good. 

Remember when I won Jane Sassaman's Book.  

Well, I found a quilt I wanted to make, but I haven't been able to find the fabric.  Okay - so here comes the good part - I uploaded a picture of the fabric. (Which was so easy to do)

at FindMyFabric.com and there it is! After searching for months and only finding one yard, I now have several online shops to choose from.   Okay but that's not all, I also just typed in the fabric line - Early Birds as I wanted to see all the coordinating fabrics and Wahla! There they were - at shops I could purchase from.  I also typed in Jane Sassaman and again I had several pages of fabric to choose from. I wanted to make sure no matter which way I searched I would find something. 

I then typed in beige tone in tone - (seems I'm always looking for good background fabric) and I was rewarded with many good choices. Below is my favorite.

The Dressmaker Collection available at Sew Inspired Quilt Shop

FindMyFabric.com tells me all the details of the fabric: name, designer, manufacturer etc and all the details of the shop. Then it provides a link to the product page or to the shop in general.  So cool. 

Then I wondered "How good is this search engine site?"  So instead of typing in fabric, I typed in "Log Cabin".  It brought up a page of Log Cabin patterns and books.  Okay - that's really cool.  I'm really happy with the site and I wanted to tell you about it - so that you too could use this tool. 

Sometimes I am asked to review products/services; I always give an honest review. I do want to disclose that I have been compensated for this review.

Happy Stitching & Searching,

Nicey Linda

Our Joann's Trip

After lunch the other day, we stopped by Joann's. We didn't have much time only ten minutes so I wasn't worried about being tempted. . I was sure I would walk out empty handed.  Yeah, right.  What planet was I living on?

As soon as we passed by the Halloween Fabric - which is RIGHT at the Front Door I hear Mark saying "I want to make a Halloween Quilt."  Oh! What a good idea!  And it is - except, he's making the quilt so he's picking the fabric - and it's NOT what I want. 

   

I told him don't pick that spider fabric - it gives me the creeps. Do I need to tell you he doesn't listen to me? Even those glittery spiders won't make it better!  And you know a girl loves glitter but it's not happening here.

Okay this one is not too bad.  I won't make a little kids sleep with it. Or watch a scary movie under it - but kind of cool.

Oh dear.  What can I say - sort of creepy - sort of ugly.

I just don't think Mark's listening to me!

Oh well, I suppose I can't find any fault with this one.

 After all the pumpkins are smiling.

And I'm kind of liking this one. (This picture is after the fabric was washed - but not ironed. Ironing is for later.)

Okay now, he's finding some cuter ones. 

Score!  

This one I like a lot.  I bought the rest of the bolt - 1 1/3 yard. 

Is this so cute or what?

I'll keep you posted on how it's turning out.

I think he can get the top make before Halloween. I'm not sure I can get it quilted by then.

I'm thinking I'm going to have to teach him to do the quilting too.

Right after I teach him to thread the machine. 

Happy Halloween Stitching,

Nicey Linda 

(Yes Nicey - cuz I'm helping him make this quilt.)

Last week we took off, driving from California through Arizona to New Mexico. 

We stopped in Williams, Arizona - we do every time we travel this way.

We went to Albuquerque, New Mexico to see the Balloon Fiesta.  It is an International Event. And there are people from all over the world setting up balloons or being spectators (like us).  

It is so fun to be on the field watching them fill the balloons up with hot air -and then struggling to right that balloon so that it can lift off.  Believe me it's a lot of work. 

Balloons getting ready for lift off. 

The crowd will cheer and clap as each balloon is lifts off the ground. It takes several hours to get the sky filled with balloons.  They are so pretty! There's just nothing like it.

Not all the balloons are typical balloon shape.  Many are special shapes.

Here's spidey pig.  I can't help but love him.

And here's a stage coach.  So cool. 

There are also Zebras - People that help keep the balloonists and the crowds safe.

They do a good job, and are always super friendly. 

But you better listen to them - or they will throw you off the field. 

So that's where I've been,  

visiting with my in-laws in Albuquerque and 

enjoying the Balloon Fiesta. 

Linda

I'm a Winner!

I'm so excited to win Pat Sloan's Eat Your Fruits & Veggies Moda Jelly Roll - all bright batiks!  

And this pack of autumn pack of Aurifil thread.  

 I really like Pat and I'm so super thrilled to have some fabric designed by her. If you haven't been to her blog you really need to check it out. Here's the link: Pat Sloan's Blog.

I took this picture last night - and now today when I don't have my camera - I see that the label is not showing on Pat's fabric. And I didn't get all the threads in the shot.  Darn those late at night photo sessions! LOL!

I'm going to steal this photo from Pat's blog.  I'm sure she won't mind.

Shamefully stolen from Pat Sloan -  I'll ask her permission as soon as I'm done blogging.  

So now, I'm sitting here with this too cute fabric and wondering what pattern I should use.

What do you suggest? 

Happy Stitching

Linda