Comfy Cozy, Snug As A Bug in a Rug & A Scraps Giveaway!

I can't believe how fast this long holiday weekend has flown by! Why---it doesn't even seem like it WAS a long weekend! But....a look at the calendar does confirm...4 days off has gone by.

Today...I put together a haphazardly scrappy 'figment of my imagination' flannel quilt.



Oh how I wish you could get your hands on this quilt top! These flannels are soooooooooo soooooooo soft! OMGosh unbelievably soft! This is the Jingles line from Minick & Simpson for Moda. Very vintagey looking! To me it looked like a bunch of old vintage flannel nightgowns! So I went with a very haphazard, no rhyme or reason quilt top. I really wanted it to look like someone cut up a bunch of flannel nightgowns! I can't wait to get it quilted!! It's going to be so comfy cozy!!

If you want to experience the softness yourself, read thru to the end of this post for a giveaway!

Today...I also decided to take on a new past-time....I am now a hooker! You may remember I've purchased wool for a while....



And today....I made my first loops!



Of course this isn't going to be a quick project...



Kinda like with my taste in repro samplers...it's Go Big or Stay Home....



so this is going to be fairly large rug! Something to keep me busy this winter no doubt! I tell myself I won't be in any hurry...just casually work on it. We'll see how long that holds out until I become completely hooking-obsessed and spend all my waking hours pulling loops!

With another quilt top pieced, I find myself with quite a bit of scraps and strips from the Jingles flannel! Lots actually! Very useable scraps!



If you would like these wonderfully soft cozy flannel pieces...just leave a comment and I will draw from the comments on Wednesday evening. I'll announce whose home these scraps will be going to in my Thrifty Thursday post! Please be sure and either enable your email to be visible, or leave your email in with your comment.

I hope you've all had a comfy cozy long holiday weekend! There's a cold front moving in this week...so it is definitely my intent to stay Snug as a Bug in a Rug...while I hook on my rug! ;o)

*Peace!

Sampler Saturday

We are experiencing some absolutely glorious weather this long holiday weekend! I took advantage of it and was out and about running errands. One of the errands was to FINALLY go the framer's and pick up some samplers that I dropped off this past summer. I'm sure she was thrilled to see me finally come in and pick them up....and my checkbook is now NOT thrilled, but....a necessary evil!

I now have a second sampler wall!








This is the Blackbird Designs mystery-that's-not....



and a close-up of the frame. Not sure if it's coming through in the photo, but it has a wonderful red under the black.



My shortened/condensed version of the American Quaker Band Sampler...



close-up of the frame...



Mary Corey....



aaaaand a close-up of the frame....



Not on the second sampler wall, but off by itself is La De Da's "Our Daily Bread" (notice the DATE! I need to get things framed more often..no?)



and the frame...



As you can probably tell...I have champagne taste in moldings.....thus it took the beer budget longer to pay for them this time around!

But now, after an afternoon of hanging....this is now what you see when you enter the front door.



Aaaah...feels like home!

*Peace!

Thrifty Thursday & Thanksgiving!

First of all...HAPPY THANKSGIVING, everyone! Today's uniform.....stretchy yoga pants and a big denim shirt....I am READY! ;o)

There was definitely some thrifting going on this past week! My dear friend, blogless Kimm, and I took off Saturday morning on our trek....found lots of great things!!! Mostly more of the same...or so it seems!

Look!



Yep...another globe. I know, I know! But it's BEIGE! Not blue! So home it came for $5.

And...



more tarnished silver to add to the collection! And look at that stinkin' cute little lone salt or pepper shaker! Is that the cutest thing!? It passed the 'you are elegant enough' test, and home it came!

I really like the trays I found this time too!



Kimm and I always have a fun time, and we stopped off at our new fav' Saturday lunch spot for some Mediterranean cuisine....so yummy! Then we headed off to Well La De Da....what was once our fav' junkin' stop has been resurrected and we were ever so happy!

Look what I FOUND! OMGosh I love this thing...




Yes...I know...it's a cabbage. But oh what a beautimus cabbage it is! ;o)



We were so excited to see Tina and Well La De Da back in business, even if only part-time on the weekends! Fun stuff!

On to more Goodwills we went....I picked up some sheet music (for the creativity stash)...and Kimm was so kind as to spy TWO boxes of dominoes for me!



Friday evening I went out on my own to another thrift store and so scored the silverplate bucket/cooler/urn thingy you see up there! It's marked "Poole"....I LOVE it!!

Look at the gargoyles!



Very cool! I will try and clean the inside up a bit....clearly it had been used in the past.

I also picked up a few wooden spools on our Saturday outing.



Kimm found the crock she was looking for, and a few other must-have items. It was such a fun day!

I'm so thankful and blessed to have great family and friends...including all of you blog readers! I do think of you as my friends, and hope you have such a wonderful day today...whether it's your Thanksgiving holiday, or if you live abroad and it's another day...make it wonderful!

We are so blessed to not have to be too 'thrifty' with the Thanksgiving meal. We will be stuffed...

and I got the pies done!



I'll be sure and save you a slice! Have a wonderful day!

*Peace!

Tradition in the Air

Can you feel it? Can you smell it? Tradition is in the air! The day before Thanksgiving....aaaah! Heavenly!

Once upon a time I used to watch holiday movies...full of fake families and their wonderful fake get togethers that incorporates the whole extended family in glee and merry making and think how nice it would be to have the same thing. But then I remind myself that it's made UP.....LOL

That being said...the older I get, and the older my kids get, and the more extended my OWN immediate family becomes, I realize that I...am....a matriarch! AAACK! Doesn't that make me sound old? LOL But it's true I suppose! And whether I have realized it or not, all these years I have been setting tradition for my own family. That's a great feeling!

My kids know that the holiday tradition begins with Thanksgiving. Never before Thanksgiving will you spy a Christmas tree, a Christmas decoration or a Christmas card. That is not our tradition. We enjoy ushering in the season by celebrating turkey day....and this year all of the kids will be here...along with some significant others. The house will be full, the dishes will be many, and I'm guessing there will be some glee and merry making....and the occasional argument. LOL That's what comes with family get togethers, and I'm looking forward to it!

After the dishes are cleared and the house has calmed down....I might then entertain the idea of dragging the Christmas tree upstairs...but most likely it happens later in the weekend. Meals of leftovers....packing up abundant turkey to send home with the adult kiddos....and feeling gorged on goodies...that is our tradition for this long weekend!

And it begins tonight.......

Tonight I bake....



pies...



three this year...



I'm looking forward to it! Not only is tradition in the air...but soon the smell of cinnamon and cloves and baking apple....and pecans.....mmmmmm.......I can almost smell it now! It's a great feeling knowing that my kids look back at our holidays and see that as their tradition!

*Peace!

It's Snowing!

At approximately 10:42PM this evening...it began snowing....in France....probably Paris....

Ta Da! Quilt top completed!



Simple 6" snowball blocks....



Gorgeous Rouenneries print fabrics from French General...



It is photographing waaaaaay more pink than it appears in person. Those are faded washed out reds....



I think this is my favorite print...



No...this one is....



Hmmm...this one's nice too!



Ah heck...the whole line is luscious! Now to decide whether to have this quilted with red thread.....yeah...I think I will. Because it'll help camouflage that pink...er...uh...I mean faded washed out red!



Feels great to have another top completed! Next!!

*Peace!

Stocking The Studio From Around The Globe!

I love online shopping almost as much as I love my online friends! I regularly submit to retail therapy....and this week I received some lovelies from around the globe! Adding to the stitching, knitting AND quilting projects...always a good thing---right? Riiiight! :o)

First of all...many many many thanks to sweet Rosa, a wonderful blog reader from Spain. She was so very kind and sent me a new chart...that I LOVE...



Permin! Hamburg 1746! Loooove! Adam & Eve....lovely motifs. I LOVE this sampler. Rosa, thank you so very much for your generous kindness! So very nice and a lovely surprise when I saw the envelope from Spain!

Next up....I stalk Ravelry and other knitting blogs...regularly....too much probably....but I love the color and the inspiration! I spied a scarf knit from a yarn called Crazy Zauberball. It was the most colorful baktus scarf and I LOVED it and decided I MUST knit it...in that EXACT yarn. Well...as is usually the case...the yarn was almost non-existent in that colorway...I say ALMOST because IIII was lucky enough to find some.....in Canada!



Of course I couldn't just have the wonderful seller send one lone ball of Crazy Zauberball...so I ordered several other balls of Crazy Zauberball in other colorways..and also enhance the sock yarn stash just a bit. But I am most excited that I found that LOVELY Crazy Zauberball---colorway Kleiner Fuchs.....Poppin' Color Baktus Scarf will now be mine! Thank you neighbor to the north!!

And then....I went far around the globe....to Australia...for a couple new quilt projects!

If you've not discovered Threadbear over in the land down under yet...you are missing out! Especially if you love the older looking quilts! AND the ultra challenging!

First up...Mid 19th Century Stars. I loved this pattern the second I saw it and knew it had to be mine!



AND....my word this is a CHALLENGE....but I know lots of people are tackling this one...and, well, honestly...it's just one block at a time...right? I mean...it CAN be done...obviously! There's an entire blog devoted to those that are making this one...



The Civil War Bride Quilt! LOOK at all of that glorious applique! Quite the pattern! QUITE the challenge! I have NO idea when I will tackle this..but again....rule of international ordering states one cannot just order ONE item to have shipped such a long distance...make it worth your while...and so I figured what the heck. So two new quilt patterns from the land down under. Check out Threadbear's website for many many more delicious quilts!! There were quite * a * few I wanted, but restrained myself.

The globe-hoppin' stash enhancements all arrived to make me smile this week! Anything that keeps the creative mind working helps ease the stress of the working mind!

*Peace!

Thrifty Thursday

The thrifty activity was almost nil for me this week. Busy evenings that didn't allow me to stop off at my on-the-way-home jaunt but once. This doesn't make me happy, but....it is what it is I suppose!

I was able to pick up two things......isn't this cool?



Hammered aluminum ice bucket....$3.00. Do I NEEEED an ice bucket? Well....no...I don't suppose....but I don't have one...and what if I DO need one? This one's cool and in excellent condition! :o)

And....soon my quilting 'studio' will really be looking like a shop if I keep this up! Not only are there bolts of fabric down there...but I found THIS to add to the mix!



Isn't it wonderful? As soon as I saw it sitting there I grabbed it...for $3.50...and knew it would house a small portion of the ever-growing yarn stash! For this photography session, I tossed in a few balls. It's lovely and tall and in great condition! I saw one similar quite a few months ago..but it wasn't in this good of shape...and actually I think the configuration was a bit different. Anyhoo, I passed it by at $5 and then days later decided I should have gotten it...went back to that particular GW and it was gone and I kicked myself a little. But see....good things come to those who wait! This was cheaper AND nicer! :o)

My friend Kimm (blogless at the moment) and I are trekking out Saturday for some thrifty fun and lunch and more thrifty fun, so I'm sure next week's Thrifty Thursday will be a bit more entertaining! :o)

Did you score any thrifty finds this week? Hope your week's been grand!

*Peace!

Weekend Inspiration!

Finally I got to a quilt show! Saturday I met up with a group of great friends and attended the Sioux Falls Quilters Guild quilt show at the Convention Center. I was primed and ready for the sights!

Inspiration was found....

Color!



Color and Applique!



Reproductions and Applique!



Wonderful scrap quilts!



And more wonderful color!



I so loved this one.....



so very much. It's made entirely out of the maker's husband and father's shirts. I will now be looking for mens shirts on my Goodwill jaunts to make one very similar. I loved the faded 'beachy' look....just simple brick rectangles...but oh it made my heart sing!

And I was rather well behaved at the vendors...except for one booth....a super friendly gal that happens to be a hand dyer and screen printer. I had to bring home some of her wares...



More color!



Isn't it fabulous?



And I just loved the colorful covered 3 ring binder!



The supplies I purchased from her are for a fabulous quilt she had hanging in her booth....it looks VERRRRY similar to the binder cover.......fun fun FUNKY! COLOR! The upcoming winter season is going to be packed with colorful creativity! I'm going to make sure of that! It will be my saving grace on those days on end without sun.

But for now....I'm heading downstairs to work on my quilt with those yummy Rouenneries fabrics......more on that later...though it's honestly going to be a super simple quilt. I'm hoping the fabric will do the work and be just the look I'm going for!

Hope you've had lots of inspiration wherever you are this weekend!

*Peace!