Rooster Quilt Is Finished!

I finished sewing the binding on the rooster quilt this morning. I used black for the binding. I think that was the right choice. Even though I complained alot about this quilt, I am glad I did it. I learned some new techniques and my husband is thrilled with it. (grin) So it will hang in our home. Here it is. I really like the way it turned out.

Of course, you know me. I always have to share the back. I decided not to do any quilting on the rooster itself. I just quilted around it.

Now I am busy piecing a small, bright quilt. It is being strip pieced, so is coming along quickly. I am using up some of the fabric I bought half price at Wal-Mart a few weeks ago. I have never made a quilt using this technique either. So I am learning again. LOL This shows the pattern and the strips I am workng with. It will be bright, but I think it is going to look ok.
I haven't felt real good today. I think it is all of those nasty carbs leaving my body. I sure hope the cravings leave soon as well. Even all of the snacks I think of have carbs. (eye roll here) I knew this way of eating would be hard, but when I am eating low carb is when I feel the best. So I decided to just toughen up and do it. I also exercised today. I am thinking it must have helped, cause surely I wouldn't be so sore for nothing. Right? LOL

As you can see, I got my camera back today. I am going to try really hard never to leave it anywhere again. I was just lost without it. I will share a few pictures of Ava's party. The only guests were Jeremy's mom and grandma, Hazel and her family, and me. Everyone else had other plans. Ava with her Strawberry Shortcake cake.

I told you she loves bugs. Well, seems she loves snakes too. Our daughter says no snakes. Thank you Cath. I would have a hard time visiting, knowing a snake was in the house.(Shivers here) Here she is with a toy green snake. I didn't get many pictures of Ashton. He just doesn't like his picture taken and doesn't hold still long enough for me to get a good one. I can't tell you how many pictures I have of him with no head or the back of his head. LOL He was holding his mom's camera, trying to get a picture of me. Here he is actually posing because he wanted me to take a picture of this puppet.
Noah likes to have his picture taken, then he wants to look at the back of the camera to see it.
Ashton, Ava, and Noah all went outside for a little while to play, but didn't last long since it was only about 20*. Jeremy said he just wanted them to go out and play long enough to burn some of the sugar off that they had all eaten. LOL Here's Noah all bundled up. I didn't last long either.
Izabella is cutting teeth. Not just one at a time, but a whole mouthful at a time. She had moments when she just wasn't happy. She also had moments when she was laughing. You can see how my poor little sweetie was drooling. I believe she has one tooth in and about 4 or 5 trying to come in. She is also just on the verge of crawling. *************************** WARNING*********************************

Ok, those are my 'grandma bragging' pictures. LOL I have one more picture I want to share with you, but thought I'd better warn you all. If you are squeamish about rats, you might not want to look at the next picture. Our kids usually had pet rats. They actually make very good pets. Anyway, I had Ava's and Ashton's rats out sitting on my shoulders when Cath snapped a picture. They are so sweet. Really they are. The kids named them. They are called Pickle and Hamster. How are those for names? LOL Now if anyone is still with me, I guess it is time for me to get this posted. Sorry if you are squeamish. I just couldn't resist. LOL Before I go, though, I want to wish Joel a very happy birthday today. He is my friend, Teresa's youngest son. Hope he had a great day. Everyone have a good evening.

Some more oldies, but goodies.

The sun is shining brightly. We only have a couple of inches of snow, but it is enough to almost blind you when you look out. Sure hope everyone in the path of the ice storm south of us are doing ok and staying safe and warm. Snow can be rough to deal with, but doesn't hold a candle to ice. I will share a few pictures of our ice storm from December 2007. Now remember, these are old pictures. Thankfully we did not get any ice from this storm.

The trees were just about topped. We had a major cleanup, that our kids helped with. I believe we had about 1 1/4 inches of ice. I remember laying in bed and hearing the trees snap and fall with the weight of the ice. Our power lines were down across the driveway, but we didn't have power anyway for 6 days and 6 nights. It was a rough time for me, but at least we had wood for heat. Many families had no heat. I soon ran out of handwork. I ended up playing lots of solitaire. LOL Our Coleman lantern and my oil lamp became my best friends. (Also my flashlight and transistor radio. ) I got lots of rest, because I usually went to bed at about 7 p.m. and got up when it got daylight, around 7 a.m., I believe. LOL While looking at the pictures of our ice storm of 2007, I found some pictures of things I made for Christmas gifts for that year, so I figured I might as well share some with you. I made quillows for each of the kids and their spouses. These are the sons-in-law quillows. These were made for our 3 girls. All of them were made with flannel and a thin batting in the middle. I ended up tying all of them. Actually I was running short on time. I hadn't planned for almost a full week to be lost due to no power, I had to make all of these in a week's time.
These were our 2 boys' quillows. I had hit the JoAnn's black friday sales that year. They had flannel for $1 a yard. I have never been in such a crowded mess before. I did not go back for their BF sales this past year. Anyway, the flannel shrunk quite a bit when washed and oh goodness, that red. I washed and soaked and washed again. Its color bled so bad. So I decided to use colors with the boys' quillows that wouldn't matter if the color ran again when washed. I also warned them to only wash them separately. LOL
For my mom that year, I drug my scrap bin out and made her a pair of matching place mats. She loved them, and still has them on the table every time I visit. She says she just washes them and puts them right back on the table. It makes me feel good to make something that mom really loves. I made this table runner for the gift exchange at mom's. This was fun and I am working on another one like it, only with an applique in the center block. I found the pattern for this on the net. It only takes 3 fat quarters to make the top. Lots of fun. Here is a picture of the back. Well, I had better stop there on pictures. I made pj's for all the grandkids that year. I am hoping my camera comes in the mail today. We don't get ours till noon or after. I thought I would also tell you about a cute giveaway that Joy is having. She created the cutest baby quilt with panda bears on it. She is going to have a drawing soon to give away a few of the patterns for this quilt. So stop in and sign up for it.

Did any of you watch the Biggest Loser last night? I hated to see Daniel sent home, but was so impressed with how great he is doing. The month he had on the ranch must have really helped him. I believe it said he has lost 101 lbs so far. Wow! Also he is off of his diabetes meds. How great is that! I know this is just a show, but I love seeing all the weight these people lose. I could do without the game play, but then there wouldn't be a show. Right? LOL My dh has to work late tonight, so I have a long day ahead of me. I finished the quilting on the rooster quilt last night. I am going to work on binding in a bit. Well, I had better get this posted and get with it. Everyone have a wonderful day. Thanks for visiting.

Izabella's and Noah's quilts

Well, I haven't blogged for a couple of days. Did you miss me? Come on, tell me the truth. LOL I spent the weekend with our daughter, Cathryn's family. We had a little late birthday party for Miss Ava. She wanted a Tinkerbell party, but a Strawberry Shortcake cake. So that is what she got. Hazel and her family came too. So I got to play with all 4 grandbabies. I sure felt blessed. Sorry, no pictures yet. I left my camera there. (sad face) Cathryn shipped it to me Priority today, so hopefully I will have it either tomorrow or Wednesday. Wow, I am lost without my camera. I thought of several things to do today, then thought, naw, not without my camera to take pictures. LOL I guess my life revolves around blogging now. I am hooked. I realized that I never did post pictures of Izabella's and Noah's Christmas quilts, so you will get to see them today.

I used different blues and purples for Noah's quilt. I love those colors, so I hope he does. He loves to play with cars and one day while he was here, he preferred a blue one. So I assumed blue is his color. LOL It is a Yellow Brick Road pattern. I quilted 3 different sized circles in each block. You will have to forgive Aeris. She wouldn't get off of the quilt. I put her down, but she jumped right back up. I just figured she was giving her seal of approval. (grin)

Here is a closeup, so you can see the circles a little better.

And of course, we have to have a picture of the back. I love those backs. There's Aeris again.Izabella's quilt is a Yellow Brick Road too. I used bright fabrics in it. I found this wonderful Winnie the Pooh fabric for the back. Hazel says she likes to lay on it and look at all the bright colors. That was my idea. I quilted 2 inch squares over the center and Baptist fans in the borders. This quilt should work for her for a couple of years, then I will fix her another quilt kind of like Ava's. I am thinking maybe a Sunbonnet Sue quilt, but may change my mind by then.
Here is kind of a closeup.

And of course, that beautiful pink back.
I also want to say a big 'WOOHOO!' to my friend Bren. She lost 3 pounds this week. I think she told me she has now lost 30 lbs. Isn't that great? I plan to start back on the Atkins diet tomorrow. I probably won't be real strict with it, but I just have to take some of this weight off. Nothing like a weekend spent playing with 4 grandbabies to show you how important getting healthy is. (grin) I know I keep saying this, but I really plan to start exercising as well. I was hoping for warmer weather so I could get out and walk, but that isn't happening, so I guess I will exercise right here in the house. I have to get in better shape or the garden work will kill me. (big grimace) Sorry, but I am just not brave enough to post my starting weight. Let's just say it made my mouth drop open and eyes widen this morning. I took my measurements too. Also not a pretty sight. I wrote everything down with the date. We shall see where I am in one month. My goal is to lose 10 lbs. What should my reward be if I reach my goal? Nothing to eat. That is what got me into this mess in the first place. I know. I get to buy an extra yard of fabric for every 10 lbs I lose. I like that as a reward. You notice I say an 'extra' yard. I have promised myself to not buy any more fabric till June. (Now I doubt that I will be able to keep that promise, but it sounds good. hehe) I really need to use from the stash. It is getting out of control. So, by Feb. 27th, I hope to be 10 lbs lighter. (But I sure wouldn't be upset if it was more. LOL) That is great, because my birthday is March 2nd. If I am going good, I won't be so tempted to eat bad things for my b-day.

Well, I think I need to get to bed. If my camera comes tomorrow, I will share some pictures of my weekend. If not, you will get some more oldies, but goodies. LOL Everyone have a wonderful night.

Some older projects

It has gotten cold here. Almost 60* yesterday and down to 19* today. Supposed to be really cold this weekend. I sure was enjoying those warmer temps, but it is January. I would rather get the cold weather out of the way to make room for a warm March. (grin) I went to town and only went to the bank, post office and 5 stores. My seed order is on its way. I about froze when I came out of Wal-Mart. I forgot to zip up my coat and put my gloves on. I was glad to get in the car and get the heater going. I picked up some groceries for my MIL. That is why I had to go to so many stores. Couldn't find what she wanted till the last one. Anyway, her groceries are delivered, mine are put away, and here I sit writing my blog. LOL I thought I would show you some older projects today. I used to do lots of counted cross stitch. All of the kids have received various pictures from me over the years. Carolyn took most of hers and had them professionally framed. Sure made them look classy. I gave this Native American girl with wolf cub to her last year for her birthday. It took me 3 years, working off and on, to get this picture done. I was kind of sick of it by the time it was done.

I made this horse picture for her many, many years ago.

I made this picture for my SIL, Bob. He is Carolyn's husband. He loves eagles and Native American things.
I also crochet. I made this shawl a few years ago. I gave it to a friend, but was looking through my old pictures and found a picture of it, so decided to share it. I loved the yarn in this. I think it was Bernat. I remember it had a silvery thread running through it. If I remember correctly, it was an easy pattern, but I made this several years ago. May not seem so easy now. LOL
Since this is basically my quilting blog, I figured I'd better show you some quilts. LOL Here are a couple of small quilts that now have new homes. I think I made these in the fall of 2007. The first one is a Thimbleberries pattern. It is called Pumpkin Patch. I really enjoyed making this quilt.
Here is the back of Pumkin Patch. The hand quilting shows up nice on this back. Like I said, this one was a lot of fun.
This quilt was made for my partner in a gift exchange in 2007. She loved blue and snowmen, so I came up with this wall quilt or table topper. Not sure what she decided to use it for.
This back doesn't show the hand quilting very good, but I liked the snowmen in this fabric so used it on the back too.

Ok, I have a surprise planned for my husband. You won't tell, right? LOL Last night he took the time to really look at the rooster quilt and loved it. He had looked at it as I was working on it, but didn't really pay much attention, like husbands do. (grin) Anyway, he was saying how much he liked it. Then he asked if I thought I could make him a wall quilt like it, but with a beagle in the center. I didn't really give him a straight answer, and I am sure he has forgotten by now. I went online and found a beautiful appliqued beagle block. K's birthday is in May. I hope to have him a beagle quilt made by then. I think he will love it. So, though I moaned and groaned about how hard the rooster quilt was, I am so glad that I did it. I learned different techniques and can now spread my wings, so to speak. LOL He knows about my blog, but doesn't read it, so I will probably share pictures as I work on it. I hope to start on it next week. What do you bet that if I share picture's of K's quilt that he will want to start reading my blog. LOL

Well, my feet are getting cold, so I'd better get off here. I probably won't have time to blog tomorrow, but you can bet I will blog all about tomorrow on Sunday, if that makes sense. (grin) Everyone have a wonderful weekend.

A beautiful day

I almost didn't get a blog post in today. I have been busy, although not much to show for it. LOL This morning I ironed some fabric, got a block kind of prepped for applique, answered emails and comments, read some blogs, talked to mom and my MIL, and got the quilting lines drawn on the rooster quilt. I even got it sandwiched and ready to hand quilt. I spent my evening last night slowly machine stitching around each of those pieces with black thread. It is kind of hard to see, but it is there. It called for a black button for the eye, but I didn't have a small black button so I improvised and the rooster has a blue eye. LOL OK here is the last picture I will bore you with of this project till it is completely done. I promise. (grin)

It was a beautiful day here in Missouri. It got up to about 60*. Tomorrow is supposed to start off nice, then temps drop rapidly. Anyway, I took advantage of the nice weather and took my old dogs for a walk. They are all over 10 years old, but mention a walk to them and they are teenagers again. LOL This is Midget. He is half Norwegian Elkhound and half ?He is such a great dog. He always goes with me where ever I go.
This is Thunder, the beagle and Sheba the black rat terrier. (Sheba is supposed to be pure rat terrier. I don't know if she is or not, but she is going on 16 years old and still loves to run and play.)
Here is a little closer picture of Thunder. I will try to get a better picture of Sheba some other time. It is hard to get a good picture with them bouncing around everywhere. Thunder usually takes off after a rabbit, but today she hung close.
We were walking on a wildlife area close by. Even though it is winter, I think it is beautiful.
This is a pretty little pond. Midget just loves to swim and wade in it in the summer time. I have seen lots of ducks swimming on it, even some with their little families. Maybe I can get some pictures of some ducks on it this spring. It has ice on it right now. It is so peaceful down by it.
After I got back from my walk, I took care of my chores, mended a shirt for dh, got the mail ready to go, got my grocery list ready, and then got my seed order ready. Not long now before I can start some of my plants. I am excited about the garden this year. I have always had good luck with Jung's seeds. Not sure why I haven't ordered from them in the past couple of years, but can hardly wait for my order to get here. LOL Well, that is about it for today. Everyone have a good night. Thank you for visiting.

Complaints and a Triumph!

I am afraid this post will be alot of complaining, but also triumph! LOL I have the rooster quilt ready to machine stitch around the rooster pieces. Oh my, this quilt has been so hard. I did learn some new techniques, so I guess I shouldn't complain too much. I told you all about the paper piecing yesterday. I got all of the pieces of the sun appliqued together, after sticking myself numerous times. I'm not sure I did it right, but it is done. Then I got the sun sewn into the rest of the quilt. Whew!

Then came the rooster. By the time I got that baby done, I was thinking the sun was quite easy. LOL In order to have the rooster facing the right direction, I had to trace the pieces onto tracing paper with my black marker. Then turn this paper over and trace onto the fusible webbing. Each piece had to be carefully labeled because they go on in a certain order. Then I ironed the fusible webbing onto the back of my chosen fabrics and cut them out. It was hard to tell where one piece ended and the next began when I was doing the tracing. This morning, I laid the quilt over my ironing board, peeled the paper off the pieces as I needed them and began arranging the pieces on the quilt. I didn't realize how hard it would be to get all the pieces to line up just right. Move one and it creates a problem with another piece and so on and so on. I finally got it just like I wanted when Callie showed up. I grabbed her just in time and bribed her with treats away from my quilt. LOL I very gently pressed everything in place. It is not perfect, but it will do. This is a closeup of the rooster, but my camera washed it out.

Here is a picture of the whole quilt.

Another view. Now I have to machine sew around each piece. I haven't done much of this, so it will take a while, lots of curves and little pieces to sew around. I just figured it would be easier to use the machine than to hand sew with a blanket stitch around each of these. I also need to sew a black button on for an eye. Then it is ready to be sandwiched and quilted. I will hand quilt it. I love the way it looks, but it sure has been a pain to work on. If I ever do another one (very doubtful LOL), the rooster will be facing the other direction. I hated tracing all of those pieces then turning them over and tracing again so they would be going the right direction when fused on the back of fabric. Maybe I made this harder than it had to be. Remember, this is all new to me. If someone knows an easier way to do this, please share. (grin) My husband always says I make things harder than they need to be. Maybe there is an easier way, but I sure couldn't see it. LOL

It is a nice day out, about 41*, so I may take a walk with the dogs in a bit. They love walks and it is good exercise for me. Sorry not much else going on here today. I have spent the past 3 days working on the rooster. I think my next project is going to be easy peasy. Something I don't even have to think about. LOL Just sew some blocks together. Everyone have a great day.