Behold! The Power of Cheese...

Sorry--I couldn't help it. Doesn't that look like a big stack of cheese slices? CHEDDAR cheese slices, to be exact?

The cutting is complete...


and the mindless strip set sewing has begun this morning...


The plan is to steal away as much time as possible sewing strip sets, 4 patches and half-square triangles this weekend!

There's other things to be done this weekend though, so we'll see how much I actually get accomplished!

Today we have to do some school clothes shopping. UGH! At least there's only one left at home that needs school clothes. And he's more concerned about skate shoes and cool t-shirts, so this should be somewhat painless!

There's still time to enter my Threadheads giveaway...


where you can win a Stitchy haul or a Kwilty haul! Just leave a comment here on this post.

I've already met some new bloggy friends thru the giveaway and I LOVE that!! I'll be drawing winners sometime on Monday.

I'm going to head downstairs and get some more strip sets sewn until the Jakester decides he's ready to go shop. At least we know since it's shopping with a guy, it won't be a long drawn out affair! Whew!

Have a great day!

*Peace!

Thrifty Thursday!

Hello there on this wonderful Thursday morning! One day closer to Friday, AND it's time to share Thrifty Thursday finds!

Monday, the hubs and I set out to check out a few of our favorite places.

Stop 1 - GWilly's West.

Zip..Zilch...Nada.....nothing called out to me.

Skunked.

We move on...because this day the hubs is just determined to find a prized treasure...something Antiques Roadshow worthy...or at least something worth more than he paid! ;o)

Stop 2 - a thrift store run by the YMCA

All of my finds this week were from here...much to the hubs' dismay.


Yes dear...that is another crazed covered vegetable dish without the cover.


Yes dear, I realize I already have two others at home. I love to set them atop a stack of books. They're wonderful to 'gather' those little things....scissors end up in there, a thimble, spool of thread...they have a purpose and I love 'em!

And yes dear, that IS a regular ol' softball. I have a couple more at home..along with a couple old baseballs. Once when I was out with my pal, Blogless Kimm (Hi Kimm!), we stopped at a shop that had a LOVELY display....baseballs..all piled up...old baseballs...with greenery stuck in and among them...and flags! Little Old Glories on sticks...I LOVED it! And have been collecting to duplicate that display! So yes dear, the softball IS coming home with me.


What's that silver thing, he asks. A porridger dear! Don't you know I collect these!?!?!? ;o) I have three others at home, but none with a double handle. It was .69...it's coming home. Once I got home, I noticed it has some interesting marks on the underside, so I may research that piece a bit more! I don't know what it is about porridgers. But I do love 'em!

And then...I spied it....


A very large Longaberger basket. I broke out in a big grin when I saw it across the sales floor...I was beaming as I walked over and picked it up. Hubs followed...in complete disbelief. "Nu-uh!" he says. "I wanted to find one of those!!!" he feigns anger...but really it was just jealousy because I found the treasure of the day!


Isn't it lovely?

But uh-oh....someone has glued something to the inside at one point in time...


That's okay! I can deal with that! I'll just pick this stuff off (ha! not gonna happen very easily). It's still worth the price.

Oh joy..the price...


It's in wonderful condition other than the glued stuff on the inside rim. No broken splints or stains...just some cobwebs. $2.99!!!

I'm still stunned. And the hubs is still jealous! ;o)

We moved on to stop #3 - GWilly's central....and I picked up another large Anchor Hocking glass canister for $4 but that was the extent of it. No Antiques Roadshow treasures. Hubs is still disappointed. Maybe he'll have better luck next time out.

Don't forget...you can bring home some "treasure" of your own by entering my Stitchy/Kwilty Giveaway! Just leave a comment on the Threadheads Giveaway post to be entered!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you have a great Thursday and find some treasure of your own!

*Peace!

I Say It's Time! Threadheads Giveaway Time!

It's been a while...and I've been sorting and purging stash...stitching AND quilting...so I say it's time for another Threadheads Giveaway! What a way to kick off a new week huh!?

Here's a sampling of what I've gathered so far....


and there will be more!

I'm going to have a Stitchy winner AND a Kwilty winner! There's three ways to get entered in the drawing!

1. Leave a comment on this blog post and let me know if you want Stitchy or Kwilty or Either/Or!

2. Become a "Follower" over to the left there on my sidebar (if you're not already) and let me know you're a new "Follower"!

3. Link to this giveaway and tell your friends and you'll get another entry!!

Lovely stitching accessories, linen, charts, scissors, quilt fabrics, patterns and notions galore!

I'll draw and post the winner next Monday! So please be sure you leave a way for me to contact you in your entry!

I so appreciate all of you that stop by to see what I"m up to! And I love your comments and try to answer each one! But some are set to "no reply" in their Blogger profile, so I'm unable to reply back to you. :o( Please know that I read each and every comment...they all make my day. Blogging is such a great way to meet new people and giveaways are a great way to find new blogs too! Such fun!

*Peace!

A Kwilty Weekend

It's been a quilty weekend up to this point. And a fun one, at that!

Saturday noonish I met an old friend for lunch. Do you have those friends that you were so close and then life gets in the way and for one reason or another you fall out of touch, even though you live within miles of each other. Well it's one of those friends that I hooked up with on Saturday. And as is usually the case in those situations, we picked up right where we left off with nary an awkward pause. True friendship is that way. And she's a KWILTY friend to boot, so it was so nice to get together.

After a nice yacky lunch at Olive Garden with Kwilty Karen, we headed out to Brandon. Twyla, of Quilted Memories fame had a lovely quilt show in the park. Quilts in the Park took place in McHardy Park in Brandon and it was THE perfect day for it!

You know it's going to be a lovely casual quilt show when you're greeted by this at the entrance table.


Two cans of food for the food bank was the entry fee. A great cause!

And such a wonderful setting!


The quilts were hung on clotheslines....a lovely shaded park....it was just so nice!


And lovely quilts too!


It was so relaxing just walking thru the grassy park, yacking with Karen, and taking in the quilts.


It was the first year for this show.


But I don't think it will be the last year!


Such a great setting, I just know it's going to get bigger and better every year!


It was a wonderful day and it was so nice to spend time with Kwilty Karen!

This morning, I got up and got busy on the Amish Bricks quilt. Oh yeah! I got my machine back last week! WOOOHOOO! So it was time to get down to business. And I got it all put together.


As with the other Amish quilts, the quilting will bring this alive. Once it's quilted, washed and mellowed, I'll see how it compares to the inspiration. I wasn't looking to exactly duplicate it, but I hope it has the same look in the end. And have no fear...It's not nearly as BRIGHT and ELECTRIC as it looks in the pic! YOWZERS!

And now...it's time to fire up the grill. Jalapeno burgers! And then, I'm going to stitch for a bit.

I've got this waiting for me downstairs for either this evening...


or tomorrow morning! Some serious cutting of the cheddar is in store for me!

I hope you're having a great weekend!

*Peace!

Guess What I Did Tonight?

Yep....Gramps & I got our first official babysitting gig! The kids decided they could part with sweet little Avery for a couple hours this evening. YAY! I got to smell a baby for the evening!

Gramps is still a little nervous handling her.


But I remind him she won't break.

And she seems fine with his nervousness.


orrrr...maybe not. I sense a little apprehension!

She was such a good girl! And I did my job and kept her up most of the time she was here.


She did get this little 15 minute cat nap in though.

Friday night with Avery....a pleasure!

*Peace!

Thrifty Thursday!

A few wares to share this week, and for less than a movie ticket! Golly I love some cheap entertainment!

A couple more white creamers....


The one on the right has age...the one on the left does not. And I cannot make out the mark on the bottom of the 'newer' one.


Anyone know anything about it? Both are lovely, heavy, creamy white creamers! I started out with a white sugar bowl fetish and now the creamers have moved in as well. I'll store these away with the others while I plot and plan shelving etc to display them. I can see a lovely backdrop of color behind shelves. There is a plan!

And speaking of sugar bowls....


a lovely vitrified china example. I really liked the off-white and the RED accents on this!

Solid walnut pedestal for .79...


I could not leave it there. I have 3 other wood pedestals. Initial intent was to paint them black...at least that was the plan with the first two I found. Now I'm not so sure if I'll paint them or not. I rather like walnut!

And then the cherub....she is my project purchase.


She will not remain iridescent and sparkly. I'm going to definitely paint and age her. Just need to decide on color.


She's heavy and ready to hang. Just need to figure out the paint concept and get busy with her this weekend! Burnished copper? Crackled black with an undercolor? Hmmm...decisions decisions! What do you think?

What color should the cherub become? Would love to hear your ideas!

As always, thanks for stopping by to see what I brought home this week!

*Peace!

Chompin' at the Cheddar!

Isn't that just the way it goes? Machine is in the shop and I am ITCHIN' to start a new quilt! Yeah yeah...I've got Amish Bricks waiting to be finished...and finished it will be...soon! I should have my machine back this week yet! And I know what my quilt AFTER Amish Bricks is going to be!

Did you get this magazine a while back?


I can say unequivocally that I much MUCH prefer the antique versions of the quilts in the magazine. Several call out to me, but one in particular stopped my heart for a minute when I turned the page...or wait, maybe that was one of those nasty heart palpitation things that come with *ahem* ...yeah....

Anyhooooooooo....when I saw this one...


I knew she would be mine! I do love me some cheddar!!! AND two color quilts....well...I'm set!


I couldn't stand it, and ordered an entire large bolt of Moda's cheddar that came out with their Charity quilt fabric line. AND a bolt of their wonderful muslin. I am set!!

And I'm all up for having others join me! I'm willing to share my cheddar! Now, I don't have any of the magazines to offer you, but if you have the magazine, or can get your hands on one, and would like the fabrics to make this quilt, I will 'kit' this for you and ship within the US for $54.95! That's quality Moda fabrics for the top. If you want backing too, we can strike a deal. I only have two of these yardage kits available though, so if you wanna join me in making this wonderful reproduction, let me know! (**EDIT: one left)

I promise I didn't drool on the bolts....but man...I am chompin' at the bit to get busy on this cheddar quilt!!

Tonight I'm going to do a couple motifs on Ann Rayner, and probably force myself to do at least one strand of the over-one section. I decided it would be such a cop-out to not do the lovely red over-one alphabet, so slowly but surely, I will get it done.

Hope you're having a great week!

*Peace!

Fun With Avery (and now Ann)

Avery came to visit today! YAY! Seems she wanted to nap in the crook of Grammy's arm...


Is there anything sweeter than a sleeping sweet-smelling baby? I don't think so!

Here's the proud parents of this precious doll...


They're having so much fun being parents. So much fun to watch the family unit evolve. They're great kiddos!

We had some fun earlier in the week taking some quick shots of Avery.


Such a sweetie!


and with that double chin showing, she looks just like her Grammy! ;o)

This is my son's favorite shot of her from that day...he thinks it's absolutely hysterical.


Avery throwing the duece. Guess that means we're outta here! I'm heading off to pick up a needle now and get some more in on Ann before the night's done!

*Peace!

Today....I Stitched

Spent some more time working on the Ann Rayner sampler today.


Almost done with that upper right quadrant...sans that dreaded over-one section. *sigh* I'm tossing around using the over-one area for my own personalization in lieu of the over-one. But haven't decided yet.


Regardless, I'm pleased that I have spent this much time with her and am seeing progress again! I plan to continue until the upper section is done (ahem....sans the aforementioned over-one section). I may stay up late this evening and finish that section. Or not.

Tomorrow I may knit...


the Green w/Envy socks haven't had much attention lately. Need to get busy on those!

Or I might give some attention to the binding handwork that's piling up...


It's definitely a handwork weekend though! I need to take my Bernina in for a check-up. During my last machine quilting bonanza...I broke a needle..and...well...things are just 'off' a little. Bernie is in need of some TLC. So no Amish Bricks sewing for me this weekend. Booohooohooo.

So today...I stitched. And tomorrow...more handwork. I may as well get used to it...it could be a couple weeks until the machine is ready to go again! As my friend, Karen, said, it's a good thing I have other hobbies to occupy my time that don't require a sewing machine!

*Peace!

Thrifty Thursday!

It's been a busy week! I managed one stop last evening after work/class (Yes...I'm currently sitting thru a 3 day insurance class. You can pity me later...I will welcome it!).

$5.04 later...


A few more blue jars..these are the smaller ones. I only have big and bigger ones, so thought it a good idea to add a few smaller ones! And love the little clear glass jar as well. A $2.00 baggie of a mixture of marbles and glass vase pebbles. And a wonderful little Frankoma pottery find too!


The price was right! And as far as the baggie of baubles...of course I only wanted the marbles, not sure where the blue pebbles will end up. And look..


I got a small jar full out of the baggie! I think it was a wisely spent $5.04!

Thanks so much for dropping in again to see what I dragged home this week!

*Peace!

Ann & The Amish Have Captured My Attention....Again

True to my word, after I finished the Fraktur One Sampler, I abided by my self-imposed "rule" of picking up Ann Rayner and putting at least 3 lengths of silk in on her before moving on.

And guess what...she has captured my attention...


again. I've worked on her this whole past weekend. You probably can't gauge the progress...


but trust me...progress is being made. the whole upper right from the center over is new progress. And I turned a corner in the lower left. I'm going to keep her out for a while. I can't remember how long ago I started her...maybe this will be her year!

Also capturing my attention....Amish quilts. I've been playing around with the wonderful Moda Bella Solids that I have for sale in my Etsy.


So these will hopefully find their way in to a quilt top soon. My inspiration is this quilt.


I saw this on Minick & Simpson's blog a while back and was enamored. I'm planning to do a similar version. We'll see how it works out. I'm trying to use the Bella Solids I have and not order more in, so I'll be loosely taking the Amish approach and using what I have. Granted they didn't have bolts and bolts of lovely Moda fabrics to pick from....but we'll chalk that up to progress, or something like that.

*Peace!