"SNAP OUT OF IT!!!"

Do you remember that movie Moonstruck?  The one where Cher smacks

Nicolas Cage across the face and screams to him to

"SNAP OUT OF IT!"

LOL

That's what I'm trying to do….just snap out of this 'slug' mentality I've had lately.  Even though I've been quiet on the blogging scene, I HAVE been busy…..well, sort of…..at a snail's pace.

Here's some of what's been hanging around on my various make shift design walls upstairs.

Determined to use from my stash I finally chose some dots and stripes to piece together a backing for the quilt top laying there on the ironing board.  Maybe I'll just cut a bunch of big squares and sew them together.

This is my "taking forever and ever" log cabin.  It IS all sewn together… BUT…yep...there's that BUT... there's ALWAYS a BUT with me!  I decided it needed one more row, you know, just to make me TRULY happy with it.

Yesterday I sewed more blocks and all I need is 5 more to have enough.

Here and there with blocks of time I have put together these free pieced little cuties.  I have planned this for a 'real live little cutie'…….hhmmm, I hope she doesn't turn into a 'big' cutie before I get this finished.  I'm constantly mulling over how I want it all to come together.

NO pattern here…..just me and my constant brain churning…..sigh.

Of course my MAIN project for the past year has been my FRIENDS OF BALTIMORE hand appliqué blocks…Sue Garman's pattern.  I thumb tacked some flannel up in the hallway so I could admire them as I pass through.  Red bird on the bottom is the current 'in process' one I'm stitching on.

Only 9 more blocks…AND 4 most tedious borders to go.

Speaking of birds, you should go Here and see Lynne's oh so creative birds and quilt
she has sewn.  Yes, go NOW…I'll wait.

A-N-D

T-H-E-N

I succumbed to THIS TEMPTATION!!

Can you guess which one it is?

Darn it…..I'm so weak and easy…..sigh.

 …..and my little helper who's always close by...IS NEVER impressed.

Now that we're all caught up it's time for me to get back to the sewing machine.  I think I've

'snapped out of it' for a while and I'm quite amazed I could still spell all these words.

p.s.  If you live in Canada you should go HERE and check out this NEW quilting book Brenda is
giving away. It's Julie Sefton's new Build A Barn book….good stuff!

Nancy is having a giveaway too!

Birds

Bird blocks were on the list for this months Block Lotto.  Just too darn cute??!!

I've been hacking and coughing for about a month now and just haven't felt up to parr, but my friend JULIE over at Joe Tulips blog nudged....suggested......nagged.....forced me to make

some of these Birds!  Her reasoning...."so she could win them"!!!

Uhhh, excuse me!  Don't be so sure of yourself there Missy!!!

Well, at least I hope I win this month!

Regardless who wins, click on Julie's name or Block Lotto and see more cute Bird blocks!

Sophie, our fearless leader at the Block Lotto  

has a how-to tutorial on this cute little bird on her blog Sophie Junction, click on the word FREEBIES right under her blog title.  Run over and check this out if you
want some of these feathered friends for your own.

Misc. Projects...and Bunnykins

I have been looking at and studying the little stars I made....like the ones above in my header. I have them all layed out on my design wall where I can see and enjoy them. My intent is to use them in a quilt, but I got to thinking maybe they needed something else to go along with them...??? I just love crazy little churndashes... SO...I made some! I think they could fit right in with those stars!!

This unusual block is SUPPOSED to be one of those churndashes like above. This is what happens when you're not paying too much attention to what you are doing and sew a piece to the wrong side. I LIKE IT!! So it's a keeper!!

I saw a demonstration on this cute little 'paper pieced' bird and immediately wanted to try it. I think it is cute and I sure want to do some more in different colors. After I got the hang of the fact that it was like sewing upside down AND backwards I thought maybe it was fun!

Here is a preview of the many Royal Doulton 'Bunnykins' I have collected. I thought I would share a few with you between now and Easter. This sweet little group are members of the 'Oompah Band'. These are close to being my favorites and are from 1984.

DRUM ROLL PLEASE.......

TA DA!!!!......Here it is Ladies and Gents!!! My very first officially completed quilt. All washed and crinkly from the dryer! Machine pieced and then hand quilted. Yeah, it is finished!!! I couldn't wait to show you!! Cute backing huh? ( I probable like the back better than I do the front )......

Here is a picture of the whole 'tomato'. I would have preferred better pictures, but of all the photos I have taken of this quilt....this was the best of the lot! You can click to enlarge. I guess you could say this quilt is a 'hodge-podge' no pattern and no experience type of quilt!! I learned a BUNCH from this little 'Bonnie' quilt. I can't wait to give it to her! Thanks go out to Fran over at Making Memories One Stitch at a Time for prodding me occasionally by emailing asking "how's that baby quilt coming along ?" I appreciate the encouragement Fran !!
Of course we all know Tonya at Lazy Gal Quilting too! I got the 'bonnie' letters idea from her, as well as her fans she does on HER hand quilting. Tonya has the best alphabet and numbers tutorials around. Thank you for sharing Tonya!!! Thanks everybody!!!

I tried to adjust this photo so you could maybe see some of my my hand quilting. The quilt measures 44" x 56"...not small, but not large!
Now I just need to make a label!
But I don't want to!!!

Look what flew in here Saturday....why a lovely pair of vintage feed sack love birds. They came all the way from Ohio with greetings from sweet Eileen over at Eileens Attic. They told me she just worked and worked and sewed and sewed little owls and more cute little birds and that she was plum tuckered out from all that stuffin'!!! These little birds shared with me how wonderful Eileen is and that they knew first hand how wonderful she truly is in person. They told me how happy she was making all of her hand sewn goodies for all her friends and she was so sorry in her heart that couldn't make just EVERYBODY something!!! Eileen told my new little bird friends that they were going to a good home because the lady over at Brown Dirt Cottage LOVES birds, she LOVES blue and she LOVES vintage feed sacks!! Thank you so much for thinking of me Eileen...they are lovely!!!....and you are a SWEETIE!!

SOLIDS

I've never really considered the value of solids. Usually when I shop in the fabric store or online I'm drawn to the prints. Prints of all kinds...plaids, florals, etc.. I've always loved fabrics, lots and lots of fabrics. Even in my home....I have always loved long window treatments with yards and yards of fabric. But you know, I've NEVER EVER had or used ANY solid colors. It was not even considered on my part. But...you know....things can change, right? I'm thinking about some right now!! I was thinking about this today and I thought...I'll go and see how many solids I have. The ones above were really only bought to use in borders. As you can see, I don't have very many. I don't know why this came to me today, but I intend to be more aware of the solids in the future. As I continue to try and finish hand quilting the baby quilt that seems to NEVER get finished, I'm considering other projects in my mind. I think some solids are in the near future....after all, there IS the ROUND Thang to finish!!

Above is a bird DH cut out and I painted years and years ago for my grandmother. I was so glad to see that she had kept it all these years.....so, I inherited it back. My grandmother was a BIG bird watcher as well. I guess I have come by it through her!!

It's a Bird Thing

Yes...I must say I am really into birds. Look what I found yesterday. I'm not usually one to buy panels, BUT when I saw this I just about fainted. The colors are so vibrant and the effect makes these birds look so real. I have absolutely NO idea what I will decide to do with this, but I sure wasn't going to leave it behind. This is a nice sized panel and could be used as a fall wall hanging or a table centerpiece. The fabric is really nice quality which surprises me a little because believe it or not I got it at Walmart. I am usually careful when I purchase fabric from there, BUT this is good quality and weight. I'm loving this!!!! Speaking of birds, Sarah over at House of Krom has just finished the CUTEST bird swap. I have a similar pattern to hers but have not tried it yet...I aim to though. She just does the most wonderful projects. Her flair for color and design inspire me to only hope to measure up. I love her blog....you will too!!!

I also purchased a couple yards of the coordinating fabric to the bird panel. I will probable make myself a couple of pillowcases from this. One for my bird watching chair here at the house and then one for my bird watching chair at our lake house.

I think this here cottage is REALLY cute. Thanks in part to Eileen over at Eileens Attic. We did a little behind the scenes swap on some roof fabric. I told her how much I loved the vintage fabric she had used for one of her cottage roofs so she sent me some so I could also have a cute vintage roof like hers. I saved it for last, auditioning various other fabrics to go with it and this is what I came up with. Don't you just love the vintage look "Miss Hostess" lady Christmas fabric I purchased at Jane's Fabrics!!! You must go see what fabrics Jane just got in!! These Christmas cottages have been so much fun for me. Thanks Nanette from Freda's Hive.

County Fair Quilt

Hubby and I took off to the local county fair yesterday......specifically to see the quilts that had been entered. Above was our absolute favorite !!!! This quilt was phenomenal!! They were all displayed behind glass with a safety railing in front of each case...so I was having to do a balancing act to get this picture without much glare. The quilt was folded...so this is all we could see of it. Everything you see is hand appliqued......i counted 14 different fabrics on the one chicken...and then she hand embroidered the name of the chicken ( click to close up ). It won a blue ribbon....but should have been best in show. There was not another quilt there that compared, and as we stood there admiring it.....we heard lots of others who felt the same way we did. The best in show was a 4 block wall hanging in rusts and greens...each block had a blackeyed-susan type flower hand appliqued in it. The glare was so bad on that one or I would have shown it too so you could see for yourself. My husband counted only 76 quilts entered. They told us that fair entries just keep getting smaller and smaller every year. That's a shame. I managed to squint my eyes and make out the ladies name. She lives about 25 miles from me.....I tried calling her this morning. I really want to chat with her about THIS quilt.....and I REALLY would like to see the whole quilt!!

And here is ONE MORE mess I have made....this is just one of many I am looking at right now. This is part of my Christmas stash I was digging through. You know...sometimes you just have to dig and dig and dig to find what you are looking for....right?? Well.....I must say it's ALL Nanette's fault!!! SHE made me do it! You know......all that talk of hers about a Christmas swap and all!! (( You know.....I think she is one of those people who walks fast too......you know....the kind you can't keep up with.......you have to do this little skipping run just to keep up with her! )) You know I luv ya Nanette!!!

But....as you can see....I think the mess was worth it. Here is another little cottage I just HAD to make. I wish the picture would capture the sparkle of the white rick rack. It has that iridescent thread thru it and it looks like real snow sparkling. Nanette came up with just the cutest cottage design for the swap. I must say...I am not "legally" participating. I'm just going to participate from the "shadows".....so beware ladies.....I'll be watching you!!
Here is just a suggestion.......Tonya over at Lazy Gal Quilting has done a post about I.D. theft and blogging. I think it's a worthwhile read . She has another good post about you and I posting pictures and content without others permission.....Duh...me.....I had never even thought about it.
Oh....and Fran has a hilarious post about her unkept house!

More Potholders

Have you ever heard a chicken "moo"? Well I have......here in Texas. We hear it all the time......no really.......... we do!!!