Cooking, Sewing, Working, Traveling, Gardening and Pondering

Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential.

~Winston Churchill~

Thursday, October 27, 2011

I bet you thought I'd be posting about the

Old Truck Quilt by now...well it's taunting me...hanging up on the wall in my sewing room...just staring at me. Don't worry it's day is coming and soon I might add. But in other news, I am about to change my skin care products out. That's not crafty or especially exciting but for me it is a bit stressful. You see I am this uber sensitive skin an any little thing makes it react like a teenager full of raging hormones. I have used all kinds of things over the years and of late had a pretty decent set of products. But then I started noticing these deeeeeeep crows feet at my eyes and this crepe - iness under my eyes. So this lead to some research and a decision. I'm going try out DHC products - the cleansing oil, the olive oil soap and their Q10 cremes. The reviews on this line have been fairly high across many different boards. It is suppose to be delivered today, so I'll let you know how it's going next week.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

My modified Stack Coins Quilt

Just needs one small bit of work and it is DONE. This thing has taken me months and months and quite frankly I'm a bit of sick of looking at it. I may need to pack it away for a while before i put it out. So a refresh of what it is - I used 2 boxes of Moda Dark Candy Bars, two brown sashing fabrics, a green polka dot backing and redish brown/green fabric for the binding. I hand quilted with Perl Cotton no 8 in a variety of colors. I don't know how the Amish and the hand quilters do it. Looking at the same quilt for so long but it's no wonder their quilts cost what they do - I now think they undercharge. Now I feel like I can move onto the Old Truck Quilt and a few other projects without the Lil Rascals and Stacked Coins wearing on my UFO stack.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Friday Night Sew In!

I gotta say this last week was a long one. Lots going on at work, Junior League, and home. So last night when I got the apple pie out of the oven, I was finally able to sit down and pick up my sewing for the Friday Night Sew In. I finished hand sewing the binding on to the Lil Rascals quilt I am making for one little Spider Man back in Texas for his Christmas this year. This is one gift done and ready for wrapping. Here is the top of the quilt: Here is the what the binding looks like with the brown minky fabric as the back. Also, the tracking says this was delivered to my partner so this is what I sent for Aunt PItty Pat's Halloween Tote Bag & Mug Rug Swap. I hope that my partner likes it!

Friday, October 21, 2011

Friday Night Sew In

Yeah! see the link there on the left side bar? click and join! I plan on doing the quilt bindings featured in the post below! See you then!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

On going projects

Being home this weekend was nice. I was able to work on some UFO's. I finished the hand quilting on the modified stacked coin quilt and got it all prepped and ready to bind. Here is a picture of it with the backing and the fabric I found for the binding. Then I worked on the Lil' Rascals Quilt I'm making as a Christmas gift. It was my first quilt to back with minky fabric and boy was it easy! Now I need to bind it and pack it away for wrapping. I also finished up my two swaps - Aunt Pitty Pat's Halloween Tote & Mug Rug swap and the Charming Christmas Swap. These are mailed and on their way to their recipients. Happy sewing everyone!

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Halloween Tote & Mug Rug Swap

I signed up for Aunt Pitty Pat's Halloween tote & mug rug swap this year. I sure had fun making up the tote and mug rug for my partner. I even made up some additional goodies too. Plus all the necessary swap tuck in's and fun stuff. I'll mail it either tomorrow or Monday depending on if I can find a box around here or have to wait until I see what I have at the office. I did receive mine today from my partner! It is just adorable She really did all kinds of extra goodness in there. Here's a picture minus the candy (the hubs snagged it quick). Thank you Jackie it's really great!

Friday, October 14, 2011

I tried a new recipe last night

My hubs likes to take home made goodies in his lunch. While trolling through Pinterest I found this great cooking blog Lick the Bowl So I made these great pecan pie cupcakes last night. My review - 5 minutes of prep I baked for 30 minutes as I only have a jumbo muffin tin and they just took longer than the mini muffin tin instructions. Outcome DELICIOUS!!! run hurry put some in the oven - you won't regret it!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Sad Event

A little over a week ago, I got a horrific phone call from my very best friend in the world. Her husband had been in a motorcycle accident and did not survive. As we live so far apart, it took me a few days to get there to be with her and their daughter through this tragedy. It has given me a lot of clarity in how to live my life. I want to live it more fully as if tomorrow may never arrive. Since I lost my mom to breast cancer, I've been better about telling those people close to me how much I love them. From the passing of Steve, I'm taking a "live life to the fullest" approach. He was a good husband and father and will be missed by so many. I am here for my friend and her daughter and want to keep them focused on the positive and to endure lives challenges with courage and optimism.