Gabriel's tongue...

I know dogs have big tongues.  And that they usually drool a lot.  Especially when it's 100 degrees outside and they're wearing a black fur coat.  I don't blame them.  I'd drool too.

But it seems Gabriel's tongue is almost as big as her head.  It doesn't seem quite right, but makes for some weird pictures...

It doesn't seem possible that it fits inside her mouth most of the time.

You should see my shirt here.  It's wet from all the drool.  (Yes, I know it's gross...)

It goes on forever.  All you can see is pink!

I think I'd find it annoying to have it just hanging out the side of my mouth like that.

And wow...

Yes, she's had her rabies shot!

Until later...

"... You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." 

John 8:32 (TEV)

Rocky update...

I don't know if Rocky is long for this world.  But at least I know where his siblings live...



Until later...

"I gave them the message that you gave me, and they received it; they know that it is true that I came from you, and they believe that you sent me."

(John 17:8 (TEV)

Mail call...

When I returned home on Sunday, I found a package waiting for me!  I LOVE to get packages in the mail.

(Tangent - Way back when, Amazon used to offer to wrap your books for you before they mailed them.  And even though I was the one that ordered them and knew what they were, I always use to have them giftwrapped just so I could unwrap them when they arrived.)

I was expecting this package, just not so soon.  I though I'd have to wait another few days for it to arrive.  It was my new purse made especially for me by Penny.  (She has a great blog where she talks about the passions in her life, including Oklahoma.  Makes you want to visit there.)

Moses likes it too!

We're in a group of 12 ladies who each make a new project for each other every 6 weeks.  The challenge for this first project was to make a handbag or tote incorporating yoyos.  Do you see the blue yoyo at the top with the gorgeous silver button?  There are also yoyos on the back and each side.

And not only did she send me the handbag, but also a smaller version without handles and some fabric.

I'm going to put the smaller one beside my sewing machine and use it for scraps and such.  And look at the decorative stitching around the edges...

Thank you Penny for my new purse!  And for those of you who really know me, you know how I love fabric with touches of metallic in it.  It's just beautiful!

And on a related note, I delivered my mom her package for June.  I could have mailed it, but considering I was traveling down there anyway, I figured I'd save myself the postage.

Mom's June Package

This month's package included block 6 of the Imperial Splendor BOM, an Easy Quilts magazine and a pack of quilting labels you can design and print out from your computer.  I also sent her the Twilight Frost fat quarter pack from Connecting Threads.  (She doesn't have much of a quilting stash yet.)  And no package is complete without something homemade, so I gave her the Stuffed Feathers table mat I made (and that she admired last time she visited!)

Stuffed Feather table mat

She's also having to learn how to do applique for some of her BOM kits, so I included the basic supplies for doing several variations of applique (Steam-a-seam, glue sticks, hera marker, applique needle, silk thread, etc).  She tried fusible webbing and satin stitching this weekend.

And I forgot to post about her May package.  It included the June and July Camelot Snowman wall hangings, block 5 of the Imperial Splendor BOM and the Blue Feathers wall hanging.

Mom's May package

So now I'm all caught up.  And I'm almost finished quilting a quilt for her July package!

Until later...

So don’t get tired of doing what is good. Don’t get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time. 

Galatians 6:9 (NLT)

Welcome Rocky!

I spent the last post welcoming Ace to the family and I completely forgot to introduce Rocky.  He came to live with us last Friday after the unfortunate demise of Ducky Baby.  (I couldn't find a picture of Ducky Baby and he's in no shape to be photographed now.)

Rocky

I don't know if you're familiar with his kind, but Rocky belongs to the genus 'Raccoon'.  (OK, I made that up...)  He comes complete with a squeaker in each paw and a crinkly tail.  He also has another noise maker in his head.

Gabriel was quick to make his acquaintance...

Rocky and Gabriel

(I really must teach her the proper way to say hello...)

I figured the two of them would become fast friends.   But I didn't think the others would be so jealous for Rocky's attention.  Sam quickly found him nice and fluffy...

Sam on Rocky

Again, I don't think this is a proper greeting.  See his feet sticking out from under her head?  I guess I didn't raise them right.  (By the way, Sam is now officially on a diet.)

Sam and Rocky

This is a little better.  At least he can breathe (for now).  But I think the other kids got jealous of her hogging all his attention.  Especially David...

Sam, Rocky and David

Now kids, don't make me come in there!  If you can't play nice...

Battle for Rocky

I guess they can't.  A battle ensued to win Rocky's affections.  And guess who won?

Rocky and David

But David wasn't content to just hang out and get to know each other...
 

 Rocky and David

David, that's not very polite!



OK, that's even worse!  Were you raised in a barn?  (Actually, he was kind of born in one...)

Oh well, welcome to the family Rocky (such as it is).  We're glad to have you!

Until later...

“You must make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others” 

Colossians 3:13 (NLT).

Ace and Grace...

First off, I would like to welcome the newest member of our family into the fold - Ace!

Welcome Ace!

He is a 5 month old beautiful boy that my sister adopted a week ago.  (And he looks a lot like our Gabriel.)  I traveled down to visit over the weekend and got to spend some time with him.  I'm surprised someone didn't snap him up from the shelter before her.

He quickly made himself at home.  And although he has a lot of energy (as puppies do), he wants love and affection more than anything else.

Ace and Grace

He was a bit under the weather yesterday because of his treatment for hookworms and managed to finagle an invitation on the furniture.

Snoozing on the recliner

Hopefully he starts feeling better today.  But now that's he's had a taste of the furniture, I don't see him staying off in the future...

My niece, Gracie, wanted to do some sewing with me and her Grandma while I was there.  In no time flat, we whipped up a skirt for her to wear to church this morning.

Gracie's new skirt

She's also lost a few baby teeth lately and isn't shy about showing them off.

I had a good visit with family and only wish I could visit more often.

Until later...

God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. . . . We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. 

Romans 8:29 (MSG)

Stash Report Week #25...

June 18-24, 2010

Another good week for stashbusting!  Due again (in part) to my giving away fabric.  I mailed out some more packages with kimonos, bears and bunnies for Care Wear to the generous ladies on the HGTV Quilting Forum who volunteered to finish them and deliver them to their local hospitals.  One lady has also offered to take some of the extra flannel I have and make more kimonos (for preemie babies) from scratch.  It's exactly the purpose I had in mind when I bought the fabric so I'm glad it will get used for it.  So all told, that accounted for 20.5 yards of fabric.  And as a thank you, I also included another 3 yards of fat quarters for them to use as they like.

I mailed half a yard to a friend for her birthday.  (Sorry I'm so late Verna!  Happy Birthday!) And I actually finished a quilt top this afternoon using none other than the Verna line of fabric.  (No relation to each other although they're both beautiful!)  When I tried to take pictures of the quilt, a certain someone kept getting in the way...

Looking at it, I think the outer border is too wide, but I'll just trim it after quilting.

Elizabeth of Oh, Fransson! used a loopy flower on a recent quilt of hers and I think something similar would work on this one.

I moved from the couch to the cutting table for pictures, but David just followed me...

I think he was trying to tell me to stop everything and give him some attention (which I did of course)!

The Verna quilt used 2.75 yards of fabric for the top.  I hope to actually get it quilted soon, but I've got several projects with more pressing deadlines.

I also finished a purse for a friend, Elizabeth, that used about 2 yards of fabric.  But it's a surprise so I can't share pictures until I give it to her.  We're supposed to meet up for a day of fun and shopping next Tuesday.  (Looking forward to it!)

And I managed to restrain myself at the quilt store this week and only bought 2 yards of fabric.

So...
Purchased-this-week: 2 yards
Used-this-week: 28.75 yards
Purchased-to-date: 141.5 yards
Used-to-date: 265 yards
Net used: 123.5 yards

Until later...

"Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” 

1 John 2:6 (NIV)

Out of touch...

I've been out of touch this past week.  It's been hot, hot, hot and I was feeling under the weather until recently so I've been rather slack about blogging.  I've spent more time in bed than out of it lately.

I did a little bit of sewing this week.  I finished a purse for a group challenge that I'm in, but I can't share pictures until she receives it.  With the leftovers from the purse fabric and a Verna charm pack I had on hand, I started this little quilt.

It's just a bunch of quarter square triangles set on point with a plain border and a brick border.  I didn't follow a pattern but just made it up as I went along.  I knew that I wanted to add one more border to this top before calling it done, but I didn't have enough fabric left.

Well my quilt bee and I went to Whistle Stop Quilt Shop today on an outing and I found the perfect fabrics for the final border and binding.  They're from the new Sanibel line by Heather Mulder Peterson.  I just love her use of color in all of her fabric lines!

Sanibel by Heather Mulder Peterson

The colors are much richer than they appear in the photo.  The green will be my big border and I'll use the stripe for binding.

Other than this little quilt, I've been working on embroidering some t-shirts for a gift and quilting another quilt on my frame.  But it's slow going on both of those projects.

David has become enamored of this pile of fabrics I hand-dyed.  I have them on top of an armoire in my sewing room and he loves to lay on them and stare down at me while I'm working.  (He's such a funny cat...)

David on fabric

Until later...

"... You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." 

John 8:32 (TEV)

Stash Report Week #24...

June 11-17, 2010

This has been an amazing week for stashbusting but it's almost entirely because of the fabric I've given away.  I had one lone finish this week, block 10 of the Baltimore Halloween quilt.  I'm guestimating it used a fat quarter of fabric for the background and appliques.

As for the fabric I gave away...  Well first was the prize for my one year blogaversary - a Hearth & Home quilt kit from Connecting Threads.  It has 4.5 yards of fabric in it.  (Bridget B - it will be in the mail to you soon!).

Fabric from giveaway

And then I donated 4 yards of fabric to be used as prizes for some future quilt challenges on the HGTV Quilting Forum.  I forgot to take a picture of them but considering I donated them 'anonymously' I probably shouldn't post a picture anyway!

This week I packed up and mailed off all of the kimonos for Care Wear to the nice ladies who volunteered to finish them.  I mailed out most of the bears as well.  I tried to figure out how much fabric they used and I believe a conservative estimate is 30 yards for the 120 kimonos and 6 yards for the 120 bears.  That's a total of 36 yards!  I also sent each of the ladies who volunteered some fat quarters as a thank you and that totaled another 7 yards.

So let's see...  What's my total used?  .5 + 4.5 +4 + 30 + 6 + 7 = 52yards!!!

And as for what I brought in, it wasn't much compared to that.  I bought 3 yards of fabric and some coordinating beads to make a sketchbook cover.  It's my next project for a group I'm in.  The only requirement is that it has to be embellished in some way.  That's what the beads are for (I'm hoping).

Sketchbook project

I have an idea for it in my head and created a design in EQ7.  However, the design I picked is very challenging and I might have to rethink it.  (I still haven't finished my purse for this month's challenge but I'm working on it!)


So...
Purchased-this-week: 3 yards
Used-this-week: 52 yards
Purchased-to-date: 139.5 yards
Used-to-date: 236.25 yards
Net used: 96.75 yards

(My quilt be is taking a trip to Whistle Stop Quilt Shop next week, so we'll see how much self-control I can exercise!)

Until later...

"Only those who throw away their lives for my sake and for the sake of the Good News will ever know what it means to really live" 

Mark 8:35 (LB).

I have a winner!

I have the winner for my first ever giveaway!  I very scientifically printed out each person's name who left a comment and put them in a cereal bowl...

Cereal bowl of names

Because I'm the only one home, I considered letting the cats play with the names and the first one they successfully pulled out of the bowl would be the winner.  But seriously, how many ways could that plan go awry?  So instead, I picked the name myself and hope that you can trust I was above board and honest about it.  So to get to the good part, the winner is...

Bridget B - I've sent you an email!

As for everyone else who left a comment, I appreciated your kind words.  Better luck next time!

Until later...

Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. 

Ecclesiastes 4:12 (NIV)

Another block done!

(One last reminder, the giveaway ends today.  I'll announce a winner tomorrow morning...)

Just tonight I finished another of the Baltimore Halloween blocks.  This one makes 10 done - 2 more and the center medallion to go. 

Block 10

But now I'll put it aside and start working on the next 2 Ladies of the Sea blocks.  That's my routine - 2 Halloween blocks followed by 2 ship blocks.  Although the ships take a lot longer to stitch.  And now I've signed up for the new Baltimore Christmas block of the month.  This new quilt is designed by the same lady who did the Baltimore Halloween.  It starts shipping in August and I'm going to have to figure out how to fit it into the mix.  I've had a lot of fun stitching these ones though and I expect the new one to be just as enjoyable.

I went to guild Monday night and some of the ladies had already finished their samples from the Back-Basting Applique class I taught last month.

Guild sample blocks

I said if they brought their samples back completed, I would make a quilt out of them and donate it to charity.  These were just the first few and I expect more in the coming months.

And I've spent some time the last few days packing up unfinished bears and kimonos intended for Care Wear.  The generous ladies on the HGTV Quilting Forum volunteered to finish them for me and deliver them to their local hospitals.  I've also got 13 angel gowns I need to finish for my church, so I really appreciate the help!

Care Wear volunteer packages

I've never actually mailed this many packages at one time before!  Fortunately I have a postage scale at home and could pay for the postage online.  It saved me a lot of time at the post office.

Finally, I've been meaning to ask this question for a while.  Do your cats chew off their nails and leave them around the house?  My parents have 2 cats and theirs don't seem to, but I'm always finding little cat claws all over the house.  There are so many of them, I know it has to be at least a couple of cats doing it.  I'm just wondering if mine are weird or if it's common?

Cat claw

Until later...

Let the Spirit change your way of thinking. 

Ephesians 4:23 (CEV)

More stuff...

(I'm having a giveaway to celebrate my 1 year blog anniversary.  Leave a comment on any post between yesterday and Wednesday to enter.)

I managed to spend a few more minutes last night in my sewing room and finished trimming all my QSTs (quarter square triangles).

3.5" finished Verna QSTs

That brings my total up to 126 of the little things (84 - 1" finished and 42 - 3.5" finished).  I do think squaring up the smaller ones was much more challenging.  But now that they're all done, I can move on to the fun part of putting them together.  I made 2 different sizes because they're for 2 different projects - one is a surprise and the other is a little wallhanging for me.

On the home front, I'm glad to report that we now have tile and grout on the bathroom floor!

New bathroom floor

I couldn't get a picture of the floor without the dog in it.  She's psychic that way I guess.  Mr. Quilting Bug did all the work himself - he's so handy and I'm so blessed!  Getting the grout the right color was really quite a challenge.  The first grout sample he did, the grout dried 3 or 4 shades lighter than the picture on the package.  We ended up going with almost the darkest grout they sold and it lightened so much that it goes well with the tile.  Now he's moving on to the cabinets...

David was helping me cut last night and I got this picture of him.  (It's a miracle he still has a tail left!)

What wide eyes you have...

Until later...

"As the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more."

(2 Corinthians 3:18 (NLT)

Anniversary time and a giveaway!

It's been one year today since I started blogging and I only wish I'd started sooner.  This blog is a great way for me to look back on the past year - things I've accomplished, hard times that I've made it through...  And looking back, I've gotten a lot more done than I would have realized.

In honor of this milestone, I've decided to have a giveaway.  (That seems to be the customary thing to do.)  I'm going to send one person (drawn at random) a Hearth & Home Wall Hanging Kit from Connecting Threads.

Hearth & Home Wall Hanging

The wall hanging finishes at approximately 36.5" square.  The kit includes about 4.5 yards of fabric, enough for the top and binding.

Fabric in kit

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on any post between now and Wed., June 12.  (I don't get many comments so your chances are pretty good at winning...)  I'll draw a name at random and contact you for your information.

In other news, I had a nice and productive day sewing.  I made a bunch of 1.5" quarter square triangles out of one of the Verna charm packs I bought.

Verna QST's

These are just a few of the ones I've squared up.  I used the other Verna charm pack to make larger 4" QST's.

I also painted eyes with fabric paint on 120 bears for Care Wear.  Some very generous ladies on the HGTV Quilting Forum have volunteered to help me finish the bears along with 120 kimonos for preemie babies and get them delivered to local hospitals.  (When I was cleaning out my sewing room, I found these batches of unfinished items.)

Care Wear bears

I did some pressing on my strips for the Trip for 2 to Boston quilt I'm working on with Jan. And finally, my husband and brother were kind enough to help me put bed risers under my quilt frame.

The quilt frame has ten legs and I'm hoping the extra height will make using it easier.  Before, I found my back would start to ache from leaning over the machine or when I was doing pantographs.  I'll let you know if it helps.

And what's a post without a picture of a furbaby?

Gabriel

These are a couple of recent pictures of Gabriel.  I like the different angle on them.

Her snout looks so looooong

Until later...

It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. 

2 Corinthians 3:5 (NLT)