New Years Day Mysteries

Well it's that time again for Mysteries to end the year...anyone doing any of them...I'm just going to be following them due to time constraints...so there are three of them which are free to follow, they run on New Years Day and they are:
http://www.quiltbug.com/
http://www.planetpatchwork.com/Case133/case133part1.htm
http://quilting.about.com/od/quiltpatternsprojects/ss/2011-New-Years-Day-Mystery-Quilt-Pattern.htm
If I find anymore available I will let you know...I'm also following a couple of mysteries through my yahoo groups, but unfortunately they have closed their acceptance for new members during this time.

Well have fun, be safe, quilt lots, love much!!!!!!!!

The count down is on....

Well, my house is slowly getting some order in it after a marathon of quilting, and having company for Christmas...All my fun in the sun clothing is ready to pack and I'm counting the days/hours/minutes....lets see 9 days, 21 hours until I'm in the big ole bird flying to Hawaii....whooooo hooooo.....at this point, I don't even care if I get my fiance' wallhanging done...I will take a picture and give him a box of chocolates...hehehehe I know me bad, but at this stage I'm feeling really burnt out....
I have lots to get done between now and when we go...I'm off to my home town next week Tuesday, to clean my father's house and freshen up all his quilts and stuff...will probably have both my boys come out and help me and then make a supper for them all...which means, I will be away from home for 2 days....and since my hairdresser is there, I will also do my hair and all the waxing required to be on the beach...ouch sound painful to me...anyhows, I go now so I can get more stuff done around here, maybe even sneak in some sewing time.....

Bonnie Hunters Mystery has been revealed

Well the mystery has been revealed. I added a side button on the left for the Roll Roll Cotton Boll mystery....I really like it and will have to put it on the to do list.... It's the 600 hst that is a bit scarey lol.....

Are you keeping up

So are any of my wonderful followers doing Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt....What 600 HST OMG are you kidding me....I wish I was doing it but no time at the moment so am just saving the clues for another time...The rush is on now to do a million things around the farm before we fly away to Kauai, Hawaii for 5 glorious weeks of fun in the sun...whoooooo hoooooo.
So I believe that Bonnie is up to Clue #6 so if you haven't checked it out yet go on over to http://quiltville.blogspot.com/p/roll-roll-cotton-boll.html. Bonnie is also running her mystery that she ran in Quiltmaker last year called Christmas Lights, it's a 3 part mystery....                        http://quiltville.blogspot.com/p/christmas-lights.html

Oh come on guys and gals you know you want to start yet another project lol....

Well thats it for me for now, I'm off to my quilting room to sew more as I have a Valentine gift I designed for my Fiance' and need to have it at least sewn together before we leave so I can pack it as we will be in Hawaii for Valentine's day...oops hope he doesn't read this...he looked at me like I was off my rocker wanting to go sew after the marathon I've been on...oh my what was I going to say...so like any good lil white lie would do, I said this was for pleasure and relaxation....hummm wonder if he fell for it...besides I will be saved by all the football he will be watching.....

Until next time, stay safe, quilt lots, love much........

The Quilting Marathon is Finally Over

Oh my heavens, I don't think I have every had such a quilting marathon...hummmm oh yes I have....duh....same time last year...rush rush rush...if anything could wrong it did...So there I was in the wee hours of Christmas morning, baking and quilting...sheeish when will I ever ever learn....but they were completed and delivered on time...all was happy and I was exhausted to say the least...would you like to see the 2 quilts I had to complete..oh come on please you really want to see them don't you....hehehehe...ok here they are...the black/white/blue is called Paradigm Shift from McCall's june 2010 issue, the other quilt is called Shadow Box...
So without further delay here they are.....2 quilts pieced and quilted in 1 month.

Part One for Roll Roll Cotton Boll

Good Morning Everyone in Blog Land...Bonnie Hunter's Mystery has begun..Part one is up. get your motors running, your favorite movie/music on, sharpen those cutters and lets begin..This quilt will measure 87x102in. This Mystery will not stay on Bonnie's site forever...it will be removed on July 1/2011 as it will be featured in her new book scheduled to come out in 2012.

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/

Yeppie another Bonnie Hunter Quiltville mystery

Are you ready........really ready......it starts November 19, 2010...Another Bonnie Hunter's Mystery from Quiltville called Roll Roll Cotton Boll.....click above to get the starting info....whoooooohooooooo can't wait....I'm hoping to do this one...all my fabrics are sitting and waiting....oh come on you know you wanna lol.....
http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2010/10/roll-roll-cotton-boll-yardage.html. Bonnie says the first clue will show up sometime in the weeee early hours of the 19th......

10 - Minute Blocks

Done Done Done

As some of you may or may not know...here in Saskatchewan, Canada, this year we had a record amount of rain which really made seeding and growing and harvest, one that most won't soon forget.

Well as of Friday 22nd of October 2010 at 11:49pm we finished harvest. Saturday was a beautiful crisp sunny day and all machinery was brought back to the yard. What a sweet sound to hear the final key shut off on the combine and swather. As we all sat on the end gates of our trucks and sipped on our beers we all said this season was a season from hell...we did 7weeks of work in 3weeks...there was no sleeping, and even though there was plenty of meals and lunches made everyone lost weight...there was more break-downs than we care to think about...

Today it is raining, and they are predicting freezing rain/snow for tomorrow...even though there is some field work left, like banding and fertilizing, we just have this big sigh of relief.

I would like to take this time to send out the biggest hug and thanks to my youngest son who came and helped us and basically kept us going as he was swathing ahead of the combine and did the most perfect swathing job any of us have ever seen....for putting up with all the demands that were put on him and the long unexpected hours he put in...it was sooooo greatly appreciated, more than words alone could not express....Thanks bud for everything you did for us....hugs and kisses

Accu Quilt Giveaway Now until November 5, 2010

Wow another giveaway peoples.....whew sooooo many lately...but this one is for the Accuquilt Cut....and 3 dies...sooooo cool, but sheesh try and just pick 3 dies....but I did manage to narrow it down...ok now hurray on over to
http://thedote.blogspot.com/2010/10/its-time-for-accuquilt-go-giveaway.html
and join in the fun....take some time to browse around Micki's blog as it is wonderful....Love the music......

Another blog giveaway

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!!!!!!!!!!

Sooooo here is another great great giveaway....go on over and check it out at http://giveaways.jaybirdquilts.com/2010/10/sponsored-giveaway-featuring-canton.html...... or just click above on the heading....
Good luck everyone.....

Fall - Into - Fall Give Away

AND THE WINNER IS..............VICKIE FROM http://www.2sistersandme.blogspot.com/ congrats Vickie....Vickie has been emailed and I'm awaiting for her to respond with her snail mail....

I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and everyone of you who played along and who participated in this great giveaway...I wish everyone could have won....I had great fun being involved in this giveaway as it felt like a pay it forward for me...I hope you all had fun while surfing all the wonderful blogs...it was great fun for me and the diversity in which people blog was both enjoyable reads and lots of tips/tricks and lesson in not only quilting but life...WONDERFUL I SAY JUST WONDERFUL....THANKS DEBI FOR HOLDING THIS GIVEAWAY...GREAT JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



UPDATE: ENTERIES TO THE CONTEST WILL CLOSE AT 6PM CENTRAL STANDARD TIME OCT.14,2010. WINNER WILL BE PICKED BY RANDOM.ORG....GOOD LUCK EVERYONE...THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED...GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE.

I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO THANK EACH AND EVERYONE FOR ENTERING AND TO THOSE WHO HAVE BECOME FOLLOWERS AND OR BOOKED MARKED MY BLOG....I have enjoyed being apart of this Fall Giveaway and may have my very own give away sometime in the new year...

Looks like the rotary cutter is winning hands down for the most favorite tool...


So are you ready for all the fun ...whoohooo here is what I'm giving away: 1 meter of each of the three fabrics think Christmas
                         and the 4-Patch Stacked Posies Pattern

OK, so here are the rules simple really,leave me a comment about you favorite quilting tool or become a follower...see told you simple....I welcome international visitors....
1) leave a comment about your favorite quilting tool (gives you 1 entry) or
2) Become a follower (gives you 2 entries)
Give away ends Oct 14, 2010
Only comments on this post will count

Please remember to leave your email address so I may contact you. If you don't leave me your email address your entries won't count and make sure you remember to answer the question . Once the winner has been selected, you will be contacted by email. Don't forget to keep your eye on your junk mail as I'm probably not in you address book. Check back on Oct 15, 2010 when I will announce the winner.  Have great fun and good luck to all

Remember check out all the other blogger's who are participating by clicking here:    Fall-Into-Fall Giveaway
Please note that although I would love to respond to everyone's comments we are in the middle of harvest and my computer and sewing time has pretty much come to a halt.

Fall-Into_Fall Giveaway update

Ok it's official...I'm joining in the Fall-Into-Fall giveaway....let's see should I hint on what I'm giving away??????naw.....I'm going to make you wait until Friday Oct 1, 2010....the winner will be posted on Oct 15, 2010....want to learn more about this great give away....go to     http://fall-into-fall.blogspot.com/2010/09/i-am-hosting-fall-into-fall-quilters.html or click on the scarecrow on the Left side bar..... not the scarecrow above

Neat way to make templates

It is soooo cool. I can't wait to try this out...I'm putting this link also in my tutorial's. It will be under emsscrapbag.blogspot.com....kkkkkk hurry and try it out... Just click on the title of this post, it will take you to her blog.....

Fall Into Fall Giveaway

Ok, so I'm thinking I might just participate in the fall giveaway...Never done this before...But I was rearranging my sewing room yesterday and found stuff...well lets just say things I have had for awhile now and haven't used or probably won't use...so going to think about this giveaway a bit more and will let you know. Go to Debs blog as she is looking for more bloggers to participate, she's hoping for 200, come on bloggers we can do it....www.debiquilts.blogspot.com

Sewing Curves

Aw yes those pesky curves..boy what a challenge it was but, I did it....only after I watched and re-watched Elisa Wilson's video....it's nothing special just a simple table runner made with 5" charms...yeppers, Elisa's 3 1/2" template works just dandy with charms...She has alot more different sizes and shapes of templates and books also.....Go on over and check her site out...she also has helpful videos to...I love her site and always refer back to her video's before I tackle one of her templates......I have site listed in my tutorial section it is http://www.blog.backporchdesign.com/

Oh this is going sooooooooo slowly....

Ok so this huge quilt has to be done for Sept 12, 2010....I really have no excuse not to have this done...oh yeah it's that precrastination right???????? Yeppers need a really big kick in the butt.......

See I have four rows done only 7 more rows with 9 blocks per row soooooo whats that add up to 63 more blocks....ewwwwwwwwww that really really sounds like no fun at alll.......

Wondering what this pattern is...it is designed by Bonnie Hunter over at Quiltville called Star Struck....

I don't usually forward emails, but this one I have to share here

I copied this email I received in my email today.....how many of us misjudge...ummmmm I know I have and have always tried to rectify it.....anyhow here it is....thanks Jan for sending this to me.....

ONE OF THE BEST STORIES I'VE EVER HEARD!


As she stood in front of her 5th grade class on the very first day of school, she told the children an untruth. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same. However, that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard.

Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he did not play well with the other children, that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath. In addition, Teddy could be unpleasant. It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X's and then putting a big 'F' at the top of his papers.

At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child's past records and she put Teddy's off until last. However, when she reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise.

Teddy's first grade teacher wrote, 'Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners... he is a joy to be around.'

His second grade teacher wrote, 'Teddy is an excellent student, well liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle.'

His third grade teacher wrote, 'His mother's death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best, but his father doesn't show much interest, and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren't taken.'

Teddy's fourth grade teacher wrote, 'Teddy is withdrawn and doesn't show much interest in school. He doesn't have many friends and he sometimes sleeps in class.'

By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents, wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper, except for Teddy's. His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper that he got from a grocery bag. Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing, and a bottle that was one-quarter full of perfume. But she stifled the children's laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist. Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day just long enough to say, 'Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my Mom used to.'

After the children left, she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she quit teaching reading, writing and arithmetic. Instead, she began to teach children. Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class and, despite her lie that she would love all the children the same, Teddy became one of her 'teacher's pets.'



A year later, she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling her that she was the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in life.

Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he'd stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would soon graduate from college with the highest of honours. He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was still the best and favorite teacher he had ever had in his whole life.

Then four more years passed and yet another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his bachelor's degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had. But now his name was a little longer.... The letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, MD.

The story does not end there. You see, there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said he had met this girl and was going to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit at the wedding in the place that was usually reserved for the mother of the groom. Of course, Mrs. Thompson did. And guess what? She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. Moreover, she made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together.

They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson's ear, 'Thank you Mrs. Thompson for believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference.'

Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back. She said, 'Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn't know how to teach until I met you.'

(For you that don't know, Teddy Stoddard is the Dr. at Iowa Methodist in Des Moines that has the Stoddard Cancer Wing.)

Warm someone's heart today... pass this along. I love this story so very much, I cry every time I read it. Just try to make a difference in someone's life today. Tomorrow? Just 'do it'.

Random acts of kindness, I think they call it!

'Believe in Angels, then return the favor.'

Aw yes that would be me procrastinating AGAIN!!!!
But honestly I have been busy with my father who has been in the hospital for 2 1/2 weeks so no sewing for me...but he's home now and I can now sew...well ok better clean house, do laundry and then get back to sewing......

Holy Cow I've started something lol

Yes Yes Yes, I've actually got everything cut out and even started sewing my strips together for one of the three quilts I have to make...yahoooooo for me...I'm currently working on a quilt called Star Struck with the combination of White/black/Green.....go me go.....no more procranstinating right?????righttttttttttttttt...ok ok just makin sure I'm not fooling myself.

Ok Ok....can anyone procrastinate as bad as I do???  I have all the material to make this quilt that has to be done by Sept/10 and have changed my mind soo many times on which pattern to use.... then I see a certain block in a setting and I run off to my EQ program and redesign and there you have it....yet another quilt designed and nothing started...sheeish.....I mean really, I have another 2 quilts that have to be made by end of November also....These aren't small quilts were talkin about they are all around the 84x84in size....Oh pleasssssssssse someone kick my butt into gear......

Doing the Happy Dance..... My Magic Tile Quilt is finally finished

Yeppy, finally after lets see ummmm do I dare say....Ok I will. I started to get the quilting fever around 1998 and had made a couple of baby quilts. Then in 2000 I came across this pattern Magic Tile well sheeish I knew I just had to make it...ummm but wait I don't know how to piece a full size quilt, but that didn't seem to stop me...So the way I went buying FQ's and all the rest of the goodies I needed...Got the blocks all cut out and life took a huge turn and well I moved and my quilting days came to a hault until 2009. Yeah I know, long break...but I'm happy to say I'm back at it and loving it..So I finally finished sewing the blocks together (but some of the blocks aren't correct) that was back in the fall of 2009. I didn't at the time have a long arm so off it went to a wonderful lady Jan H., who quilted it for me with a simple meandering. But yet again, Yeppers another delay in finishing it, but I'm here to say the binding is sewn down and is now finished finished finished...I really struggled with the binding on this one so when I finished the binding I did a zig zag effect...This is certainly not my favorite quilt, but just the same it's mine to stay in my home....

And here is the backing I used. It is Flannel

Name of the Pantograph on my Town Square Quilt

First, I would like to say a great big thank-you to all who have viewed and left comments on my quilt top Town Square. There has been many requests for the name and designer of the pantograph....so here is it,
The pantograph is Halcyon by Lorien Quilting. You can go to her site to purchase it but they are a bit more expensive because her site is for Australia and New Zeland. For the US site that sells this go to http://www.willowleafstudio.com/ once there on the right side you will see Lorien Quilting click on that and then click view all or go through page by page there is alot of Lorien's pantographs. If you clicked on view all it is about 1/3 way down on the very left side...good luck have fun viewing all the lovely designs at this site....

Another one bites the dust

Yeppy I'm finally done my Town Square. Boy have I ever mentioned how I hate hate doing binding....I really suck at it. It doesn't matter how many different videos I watch or how many tutorials I read I still struggle with binding....could be why when I get to that stage everything stops....So now that I am done with this one, I'm moving on to my Magic Tile Quilt. This quilt has been in the making since 2000. I finally had it taken to Jan who quilted it for me waaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyy back last fall 2009. So now today I will sew the strips together and hopefully finish binding it by at least tomorrow......I just have to sing that song to myself LOL I know I can, I know I can hahahahaha...ok I'm off to do the binding.......

I like how the quilting came out on this one...Sure am enjoying my Lizzy longarm

Oops forgot my puppy got a hair cut...had to put a little shirt on her as she was feeling quite chilled lol

Well I've been playing around my blog site for a few days and have added some of my many blogs that I visit and changed the layout also. I also added my recent addition to my family. We rescued this 2yr old shitzu from the pound and we just love her. It has taken her a month to become comfortable with her new family and is growing an ever so humours personality. On the quilting side of things, I have cut out my binding strips for 2 quilts. One quilt I completed was a UFO for a few months and the other was my Magic Tile Quilt which I had started piecing back in 1999 and finished piecing last fall. I didn't have a long arm so it was sent out to be quilted by Jan Healey so that is the other quilt waiting to be binded...as for the quilt on the design wall, well it hasn't grown as I have been busy taking care of my down syndrome brother for a month. So not much quilting going on and we are in the middle of seeding right now. The only sewing that took place over this past month was a pillow case I made for my brother. Will post more finishes in the next couple of weeks.

What I've done since January 1, 2010

Well this is my second post since creating a blog....please bare with me as I manuver my way through on how to set up and use this blog....

As some of you know, I was really sick from October until late December. On my good days I managed to work on 2 xmas gift quilts and completed them. They were delivered for xmas, they were the star quilt and Dora quilt.

I had promised 2 other quilts that were going to be twin sizes, but was unable to do much.....so I was feeling better starting in Jan.2010 so I decided that on my good days I would start to cut for both quilts as the twin girls were willing to wait. So that is what I did....now bear in mind we were also booked for a trip to Hawaii on the 23rd of January and we still weren't sure if I would get the clearance from my doctor to fly....so this did not leave me much time to make both of these quilts....well I'm happy to say that both quilts were completed and delivered on the 22nd of Jan and along with that, I received the ok to fly....whew talk about rushing and still not feeling a 100%. I even had to still pack for the trip the night before...
So enjoy what I have completed for January 2010. All these quilts were quilted by me on my new longarm so there is plenty of room for improvement but I'm enjoying the learning process.

This is GD Brittany's quilt one of 2 twin girls. This quilt is a twin size 70x94. Pattern is called Day & Night by Eleanor Burns Day & Night Book. Blue/Purple is Batik, Light Lavendar and Bright yellow for Accent color.

This is DG Sidney the other twin girl. This is also a twin size 70x94in. Pattern is called Day & Night by Eleanor Burns. Red/Pink Batik/light pink/Lime Green as accent

Here are the labels I made for the twin's quilts....I put Dec/09 as a date as these were suppose to be xmas gifts. can you see how I put a plug in for their Grandpa lol.....

So since I was gone to Hawaii from the 23rd of January to February 17th there was no quilting done, but I did however visit some neat shops but only purchased one 18 pack of Jewel colored fat quarters, 2yards of Hawaii print and one panel.

Since I got home on February 17th, 2010, there were twin boys born on February18th...so we all know what that means. So off I went and made 2 baby quilts...in the center of these 2 quilts is one has a John Deer Combine, and the other has a John Deer Tractor...their dad works at a John Deer place...so thought it would be fitting lol, I also backed the quilt with flannel John Deer material.... On the blue/red/yellow quilt you will see that I turned one of the blocks wrong...oh well....

Here are the new twin boys quilts and labels

Whats on my design wall

This is what I'm working on now. I'ts mindless just what I need after doing power sewing for the last 4 quilts......