Christmas is over and now onto the New Year

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.

This is my first applique project.  A country Santa.  It was a great learning project.

The above are the Christmas projects I was working on.  I made about 13 mug rugs and 12 of the note pad holders.  They were so easy to make and everyone loved them.

It was such a beautiful Christmas morning.  The sun was shining and it was fairly warm for December.  So Terry and I had breakfast and then went for a walk.  I got to try out the new camera I got from Santa.

 Part of the walk goes along Lake St. Clair.  There were so many ducks on the lake but they were too far out to get a good picture.

This little fellow was basking in the sun.  I really love the zoom lens on my new camera.

I couldn't believe how many Canadian Geese were at the park.  This was just one group.  I guess they were resting up for the rest of their journey.

We were going to sit down and rest for a while but this furry fat fellow got to the bench first.

Today I sat down at my sewing table and looked down at my cutting mat.  It was in terrible shape.  Of course it was over 15 years old.  I checked the JoAnn's sale paper and lo and behold cutting mats were on sale 40% off.

I'm so glad I went.  This is my new cutting mat.  It is made by Fiskars.  It's the above green on one side and yellow on the other side.  Two mats for the price of one. Plus 40% off.

I got this 8" rotating mat too.  Great for trimming parts of quilt blocks.  Another great buy at 40% off.

Since I'm going to be making some quilts for Quiltmaker Magazine I decided to try this new batting.  It is made by Pellon.  It was $10.00.

They had Christmas wrapping paper 75% off.  I fell in love with this button paper.  Doesn't have to be Christmas to use it.

I ended up saving more than I spent which is always a good deal.

Sorry to be so chatty today.  Just trying to make up for lost time.

Wishing you all a quilty day.

Hugs, Cathy

Friday Night Sew-In Projects

Didn't get too much done.  Life so has a way of stepping in.

However, I did start working on the November Primitive by Cheri Paynes Blog .

Isn't it adorable.  It is only 4" square.  I need to make 4 for the quilt.

All the pieces are cut out and ready to go.  I just love her quilt patterns.  Each month she has a new quilt she shares with everyone.

I finished another Mug Rug...

I just need to sew the binding down.  And I started another....

I love the shades of green.

Well, that is all I got done.  But I did have fun.

Hope you had a productive Friday night.  Until next time.

Hugs, Cathy

What a Week

What a week it has been.  First all the snow melts and then we get 14" of snow.  My husband had a few days off and we were going to take off for a day or two.  He spent almost all of Monday shoveling snow.  Tuesday morning he said we needed to get away....so off we went.

We headed west...to the west side of Michigan that is.  The first stop was Battlecreek.  We went to the FireStarters Casino.  It was big.  However we did'nt do to good.  So we took off again.

This time we headed to Lansing and to my favorite quilt shop.  Country Stitches.  I bought a few patterns and got some fabric.  The light fabric is what I am going to use for the Granny's Hankies BOM.  You can't really see, but it has little sprigs of leaves all over.  It is not just white.  The other two are a reproduction fabric.  Now I haven't bought much fabric in the last four years because of being with my Dad and no fabric shops in sight.  Now the big problem is where to put the fabric.  I am running out of room....but it is a nice problem to have.

We ended up staying in Lansing over night.  When we got up in the morning there was a heavy, I mean heavy frost everywhere.  Here's a picture of the tree outside the motel.  The ice was thick. 

On the road again and we headed to Williamston and Mason for some antiquing.  We stopped at one shop and found an adorable quilt from 30's.  It showed some wear, a few holes but I fell in love and it was only $20.00.

I think I'm going to reproduce this quilt in more modern fabrics.  But isn't it sweet?

When we got home last night I immediately ran to my computer to check e-mail, and of course all the blogs I follow.  I was happy to find out that my partner in the Mug Rug swap finally received her package.  I had mailed it to her 2 weeks ago.  She lives in Canada and I was told that it did take longer.  So now I am relieved she received them and she likes them.

I then sat down and finished sewing the binding on my wall quilt that I have been working on

forever.  It started out as a Christmas gift for my husband the last year I was up north with Dad.  I gave it to him partially quilted.  Well I forgot to take it back up north with me and hubby forgot where he put it.  So this Christmas I was down in the basement looking for boxes to wrap presents in and low and behold I found the quilt still in the box I put it in.  So I felt obligated to finish it before I could start hand quilting another project.  This quilt is a design by Lori Smith.  It was hard to piece (so please overlook the multitude of piecing errors).  It was also hard to hand quilt.  But I got it done.  I also misplaced the binding I had made for the quilt.  In the move back home from up north I have things packed in boxes all over the house.  Too many to go through.  So off to the fabric store for more fabric.  Unfortunately I couldn't find the exact shade of rust for the binding.  But I think I came real close.

Now I'm off to wash all the fabric I just bought and work on the latest Thread Head Quilt-a-Long block.   Here is the last one.  I forgot to post this picture. 

So have a quilty day...get lots done and post some great pics.

Hugs, Cat

Sunny and a High of 35

What a difference sunshine makes.  It just brings a smile to your face.  And it is suppose to be in the 50's the next couple of days.  Looks like Spring will be here in no time.

My electronic sewing machine has been acting up lately.  So I packed her up and put her aside and brought out my old stand-by.   Yep my Featherweight.  This is #1.  I have 2 others.  The second one a friend of my mothers gave to me when I was up north taking care of Dad.  The third one my hubby bought real cheap while I was up north.  I use it for parts.  I don't know why I don't use this one more often.  I use the quarter inch foot from my electronic machine on this and it gives me the perfect quarter inch seam.

I've been working on my Thread Head Quilt-a-Long quilt.  I need to make extra blocks seeing I am making 6" blocks and Joanne made 9 blocks. I have the first row and sashing

rows sewn together.  I like the way it looks.  It will have 7 blocks across and 8 blocks down.  My husband really likes this one, but he is a Civil War buff and likes anything Civil War.  I'm hoping to get 3 rows done by tonight.  In case you are wondering....my design wall is made of 2 flannel backed tablecloths sewn together lengthwise and tacked to one wall of my sewing room.  I like it because I can put up 3 or 4 smaller projects at once.

Speaking of smaller projects.  I pieced together the background of my Pat Sloan's mystery quilt.  I got the  embroidery done and the water appliqued to the background.  I'm not sure if I like my background, one is too dark and the other too light.  But we will wait and see.  It just might be okay.

I had mentioned before that I was involved in a Mug Rug Swap.  In the mail yesterday I got my mug rugs.  They were made by Jan from Missouri.  She also sent me some coffee, tea and hot chocolate.

I really like them.  It was a fun swap .

Well, my sewing machine is calling and I have lots to do so I better get going. 

Hope you have a quilty day.  Hugs Cat

Snow Advisories Last Night....

And woke up to more snow this morning.  However, it wasn't as bad as they said.

As you can see it was just an inch or so.  Now if I were up north it would probably be 9 or 10 inches and the picture would be much prettier.







Well I worked on my to-do list.  I only got 3 petals of my sunflower appliqued down last night while watching TV.  I think I watched more then appliqued.  But 3 is better than none.

I did however finish the 4th border for my RRCB.  Today I'm going to make the corner pieces and sew the borders to the top. 

I got my EQ7 January block finished and sent it in to the webmaster but for some reason it has not been posted.  Oh well, at least I made it.  For those of you who don't have EQ7 (and I'm one of them) you can still make the block.  They provide the templates and cutting instructions for you to download and print.  Each month a new block and a chance to win a prize.

                                                                                                            

I forgot to add something to my list.  That was the mug rugs for the mug rug swap I'm in.  Both are now finished and I just need to sew the binding down on the second one.  Went with a different pattern for it.   I hope the recipient will enjoy them.  I can't wait to see what I get.

Well after one day I worked on 3 projects on my to-do list, finished one, added one and now I need to go in my sewing room and start working on the rest.

I hope you can get some things done on your to-do list or bucket list. 

Have a quilty day....Hugs, Cat

I Can Breathe

I'm feeling much better.  I can actually breathe through my nose now.  And my congestion has cleared up.  I guess that Pneumonia shot I got a few years ago helped.

I was reading Pat Sloan's blog this morning and she was asking if we are ready for spring.  I sure am.  Although I must admit the winters here are easier that the winters up north.  In the Upper Peninsula we would get 12"  - 18" of snow at one time.  One year we had over 150" of snow for the season.  My shoulders still hurt from shoveling and using the industrial strength snow blower my dad had.   I love winter but I couldn't wait for spring.  My favorite part of spring was the early flowers.  Trillium is my favorite. 

It comes out while there is still snow on the ground and it hides out under the trees.  I would love driving down country roads and see the trillium spilling out all over.  I tried to bring some down here once...it only came up once.  I think it was a real treat for the squirrels.  They ate the whole thing.





I did get some sewing done the last couple of days....

I finished one of the mug rugs for the swap on Quilting Gallery.   I machine quilted around the design and then an overall diagonal quilting.  I still have to make another one to make.  Want this one to be different.

I made another pieced border for my RRCB.  One more to go.  Can't wait to finish this baby.  It has taken up a lot of my time but has been well worth it.







As you know I have also been working on blocks for a Civil War Quilt designed by Thread Head.  I am a bit behind everyone else.  I started working on Block #3 yesterday.  Now the original blocks were 9".  I decided to do mine at 6".  So naturally I had to redraft them.  The first 2 blocks went really well.  But when it cam to doing the pinwheel center of this block I was stymied.  I drew it up on EQ5 and printed out the templates for a 6" block.  I did a sample first and it didn't work out.  Then I got an idea.  I printed up paperpieced blocks for the center and it worked.

 

I think it turned out pretty good.  Today I'm going to make a second block.

It's getting close to lunch time so I'm going to heat up the last of my Cabbage Soup.  I wish you a quilty day....
                                       Hugs, Cat

Still Under the Weather

Cold getting worse but not feeling too bad.

Worked on mug rugs for Quilting Gallery's Mug Rug Swap.  I like the positive, negative look of the block.  Hopefully I can finish them today.

I'm going to make my all time favorite soup today.  Just thinking about it makes me feel better.  Here's the recipe.

CABBAGE AND TURKEY SOUP

1lb.      Ground Turkey ( you can use beef if you want)
1/2 t.   garlic salt
1/4 t.   garlic powder
1/4 t.   pepper
2          stalks celery, chopped
2          16oz. cans kidney beans, undrained
1           28 oz. can diced tomatoes
1           28 oz. can of water
1/2      head cabbage, chopped (you can us coleslaw mix if you are in a hurry)
4  t.      beef broth, granules
1/2 c.   Instant rice

In a Dutch oven, brown turkey.  Add all ingredients except rice, bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, covered for 1 hour.  Add rice and cook till rice is done.

This soup is even better the next day.

Have a quilty day....Cat