We woke up this morning to a nice covering of snow making everything whiter and brighter than it has been in days.  Too bad along with the pretty snow the temps have to drop so much.  Brrrrrrr!

I thought I'd show you the fabrics I'm using to make a Christmas throw.  I ordered fat quarters and yardage from Connecting Threads.  It's called All Wrapped Up and I've started making the blocks.  Today I plan to set them together and then figure what I want to do for borders.  I'll show you more later.
Thanks for stopping by.... I'm going to go grab a bite to eat.
 Have a Great Day!!  

Today was a quiet day.  The weather is cold, cloudy and dark and I was really chilled to the bone after we took the car to the repair shop early this morning.   I came home, grabbed a hot cup of coffee...redesigned my blog and after lunch I snuggled under a quilt to spend the rest of the day finishing the book I started last night.  
     Jessi had loaned me her copy of The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks.   It’s a quick read and a tear jerker towards the end.  I enjoyed it a lot.  Now I'll add it to my Safari Book shelf at the bottom of this blog.  

 Trent had been lifting my 5# hand weights off and on during the day on Christmas.  So when his Uncle Dan said something about how strong he was.... they got down to arm wrestle so Trent could show him.
I'm pretty sure Trent won.  (of course)  lol  

Sooooo.... 2010 wasn't a very productive year for me as far as completing very many quilts etc.  The last four months have been a big blur of Dr visits and hospital waiting and more Dr visits.  I'm glad the year is almost over and I can move on to more enjoyable time.

On that note....I decided to redo my blog.  I intend to try to post more often and stop waisting my time playing Farmville.  I have had a goal to master all the crops and I'm almost finished.  Then I'm shutting it down and getting back to real life.  Just in case you're contemplating about getting involved in those silly games on Facebook...... DON'T!!!  They just suck you into their black hole.  ;0)

Christmas was wonderful this year.  (of course it always is when everyone is here)  The Greats are growing soooo much and they sure aren't babies any longer.
Kianna has a mind that never ceases to amaze me at times.   One of the funniest things she said was ......  She was sitting on Deb's lap by the tree and she told Deb that "G.G. has dead birds on her tree".  Then she started counting them...."1 2 3 4 5 6.  She has SIX dead birds!"  "That's just SICK!"   ........ then she whispered to Deb...."She killed them!!!"
OMGosh we all just can't see anything else now except those dead birds!!!   hahaha

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too.  It sure wasn't long enough for me.

a few of the Grands & all three of the Greats

Thanks for stopping by....

Here's the panel I added the borders to.   This will fit nicely in my kitchen this Christmas.

I fly by the seat of my pants when I try to miter corners.  I just don't know how to get all four to turn out right.  I'm pleased with three of them....and then there's that dang last corner that just wouldn't work right.
I fiddled with it and stretched it every which way and even squinted my eyes to see if that would help (it didn't).... So I gave in and let it be and sewed it up and I'm going to act like I don't even see it.   



Thanks for stopping by....

Good morning..... I was reading my newsletter from www.superiorthreads.com this morning and Bob had a link for a new site called Find My Fabric .  If you don't have all the important information about the fabric you need....all you have to do is take a good picture and their software can 'read' that pic and tell you an online store that may have it in stock.    This has the potential to become a great help for those of us who seem to run out of fabric before a top is finished.  (Me!!)  


Today I'm going to be working on attaching a border to a Christmas panel.  I want to miter the corners since the border fabric is a stripe.... (notice I said "want")... but I usually have a hard time getting all four corners to look right.  Wish me luck 
Thanks for stopping by....

I got so far behind on making the blocks from Shannon's Blog so I've been busy these last few days trying to catch up and get them finished.  I've really enjoyed learning new ways to piece the blocks and most of all ... changing how I press those pesky bulky seams.  Thanks Shannon!

For now I've put them away until I decide how I want them set.  I don't think I want to do an applique' center.  I do have an idea floating around ....but for now ....

Thanks for stopping by....

Wow!  I knew it had been awhile since I'd posted .... but goodness!!!   

Our guild had our second Quilt Auction a couple of weeks ago.  I made two sets of (matching placemats and table mat) and a Ho Ho Ho wall hanging from Patrick Losy Christmas.  Santa was fun to put together and I plan to make more from his book.  Such cute patterns.  I wasn't at the auction since that was the day we got home from Lincoln.... but one of the gals told me all about it and said my HoHoHo sold for $55.oo so I'm pleased with that.  Not sure what the sets brought in.  Sounds like we had a successful Auction that will help build our bank account.  We also donate a portion of our sales back to a local charity of our choice.  This year we are donating to the local Majestic Theater renovation.    

about 36" square

I used Connecting Threads charm pack

Made with Jenny Beyer border print

I've completely lost track of time with all of the Dr visits and Don's surgery.  He's strong and dedicated to getting back to being able to do everything he used to do and now we're back home and settling back into our somewhat normal routine.   I've also completed this round of  knee injections for at least another 6 months.  Two trips a week, for 5 weeks, running to Holdrege.... along with extra days for Don's tests before his surgery has been just enough road trips for us for awhile.  (I wish)!!!   

 

What a memorable day yesterday was!  They were all heading to K-State to move Alivia into the dorm for her first day of collage life and....around noon two deer ran across the road right into their path!  The back one didn't make it.  You wouldn't think such a small deer would wipe out his grill and fender and buckle the hood and cracked the windshield.  Stupid animals!!

Sooooo...Dan called us to bring our pickup so they could transfer everything so they could go on and get her moved in.  Liv's boyfriend had been driving ahead of them and she called him and he came back for her and some of her clothes and they went on ahead.
  Thankfully there was a big tree providing shade and a nice breeze to keep the bugs away because it took us over two hours to get to them.      

AND.... Bethany's new hair color!  In the sun it just glows.  Copper.  Very pretty.

We're heading out with the camper in the morning for a few days.  Just to get re-acquainted with it after almost two years not using it.  I'm taking books to read and some blackwork embroidery.  No sewing machine or laptop this time. 
Just quiet. 

Here's the Dragonfly shot I told you about. 
I didn't really "capture" it (as in putting it in a jar)...I captured it with my camera.  hahaha 
I don't think I've ever seen one colored quite like this one. 
He was fluttering around all over the garden and finally landed on the wooden walkway about 6 feet away.  That's when I snapped the pic.

<< this is the first cropping I did to the photo to bring him in closer. 

Then I cropped it even more to show the detail in the wings. 
Cool huh? 



And now for a little HOT SUMMER COLOR.......... try this one full size.   

OMGosh!  It's still HOT.  Some of our Heat Index's have been up to 115 degrees!  I don't do much in the heat.  Even tho I stay inside it still seems to just zap me just thinking about how hot it is.  
Yep!  I'm a wimp and freely admit it.  lol

Haven't been back to sew for awhile and I'm between 'what to sew' and 'need to quilt'.   Can't make up my mind about which to do......
So....   I turn into a slug and play games on the puter.

I have been out (on one of the nicer days) and took some pics of the summer flowers. 
So here you go.... Enjoy...My one and only Stargazer Lily.  It's a beauty isn't it?

You really should click the pics to enlarge to see them in all their glory. 

 I have more garden pics I'll share in the next few days.  I can't wait to show you the really weird dragonfly I captured.   Stay tuned. 

It's HOT!!  Want to see proof? 

106 degrees in the shade according to the weather site!  
And calm! 
These poor things were lined up on the fence and fluttering their wings to create a breeze.   There were three more on the other side of the tree but I wanted a closeup and I couldn't get them all in one pic.  
I wasn't about to go outside just to click a picture... so these were all taken through the kitchen window.  Screen and all...so the quality isn't the greatest.   Yep!  I'm a wimp!
 

And this was the reason I grabbed my camera in the first place.   We had a mottled Crescent Dove stop at the feeder today.  See the different colors.   We've never seen one like this before.  Hummm??  Wonder what it's crossed with.


And then there's the baby Cardinal. 
He's staying in the shade too.   I waited and waited for him to move out in the light....but he was having nothing to do with it.  So I had to settle for this one.  

I'm sure glad they're out there and I'm in here.     

I went out to the garden the other day to get some closeups of some of the flowers this year.
One of the plants I wanted to capture was this Butterfly Weed that has gotten pretty good sized this year and very pretty.
The sun was shining and from the door of the house... it looked like the plant was glowing.  So pretty!

  As I was walking toward the plant adjusting my camera....out of the corner of my eye I spotted movement.
So I stopped where I was.... and as I looked toward the movement this is what I saw.
One of two baby Morning Doves.  The other one scurried into the foliage so I couldn't get a pic of it....but this one just squatted and watched me watch it.
I'm so glad the pic turned out.  And I just had to share.

Well this isn't Monday but it is still what's on my Design Wall.
......Again. 
I'll be working on this in my spare time this week now that I have the Christmas Diamond top finished. 

This morning I was searching through my little book of '1000 Great Quilting Designs' and I've found what I think I want to use on it when I quilt it.  It will need to be pre-marked and won't be able to do it on my frame....but that's ok.  I'm ready to do some more sit down quilting for a change.  I'll show you what I've chosen later.

Yesterday I made #8 Country Star block from Shannon's blog.  This is the first time I've had to re-do one of these blocks...but I just wasn't paying attention.    I know! I know!  She told us to be careful...but the brain wanders at times.  I had turned the two top 4-patches (in the 9-patch) and they weren't radiating the right way.   And so.... I had to fix it this morning.  But it was such an easy fix since these fabrics are a dream to work with.

Now if you haven't already....run on over to Judy's blog and see what other quiltiers have been working on.

 

OK now... I finally have a picture of the finished top. 
This was very enjoyable to set together and I'm very pleased with my final design.  I don't have a 'design wall' large enough to show the whole quilt so my quilting frame will just have to do.


As you can tell I made a small dark stop border to frame the center...  and then decided to add two small borders on both sides of the border diamonds.  I wanted them to seem to float along the border and I think I've achieved that effect.
I can sure see this pattern made in many different color arrangements.  And I may just do that one day.



For now I'll leave you with a Lilly that is growing by my front porch.
 

Last night we had a bit of exciting weather for awhile.  Around 10:00pm the siren went off.  I had been watching the radar so was aware we had storms moving in so we headed to the basement just in case.  When it was all said and done it turns out a tornado did touch down about 8 miles North of town.  And boy oh boy did the storms dump LOTS of water.  News reported between 5 to 7 inches.  We didn't get that much here in town....but the creek that runs through our City Park was the fullest I've ever seen since we moved here 40 years ago.  We've seen it out of it's banks before but never by this much.  It's going to take awhile to get the field and playground dried out that's for sure.    Oh the skeeters will be thick!!  Yuck!!

I've been slowly sewing a little on the border blocks for the Christmas Diamonds after I squared them all up.  I did have to go back through the side blocks and trim just a tad bit more off the ends (the green side opposite the red) so the borders would fit right.  They are all on and now I just have to get a scrappy outer border added.  Then on to the frame to be quilted.  

My Design Wall today.......
This afternoon I spent a bit of time making more border blocks.  I only have a few left to do (but I have to cut more fabric) but.... before I do that I needed to stop and change positions because my back was screaming just a little to loud.  So I'll get back to them tomorrow, finish sewing them together .... then I can square them all up.

My EQ7 update arrived today.  (Thanks Judy for the fast shipping!!)  I've installed and quickly skimmed it to check out what's new...but I need to get into it a bit more to see how it really works.  Maybe I'll play tonight since there's nothing on TV worth watching.      
 Yesterday we met Don's sisters for lunch buffet at a little cafe in Holdrege we all like.  Good home cooking!   Then today we drove back to Holdrege again for our checkups and bloodwork.   Everything looks good and we don't go back till the Fall.   I did stop in at Quilters Delight to pick up some batting.  And I was able to buy three different colors of chalk lead refills for my Bohn marking pen. 

And since we were on the road so much these last two days I was able to start and finish the book Jess left me.  Dear John by Nicholas Sparks.  It was very good Jess!  I liked it. 

In Flanders Fields
John McCrae, 1915.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Please have a safe and happy Memorial Day.  And let's all stop for just a few moments to honor those who gave everything for this great country and the freedom we so often take for granted.  

Just a quick post today to show off the #7 Block from Shannon's Blog.  I just love the stars she has chosen and they are so easy to set together.
This one is called "4 Corners Star".
I'll be adding it to my blog header later...but for right now I'm heading back to my room to take off all those light fabrics on the Christmas Diamonds blocks.  That should keep me occupied for awhile.

Everything in my yard seems to be a couple of weeks later than normal this year.  Two days ago my Scarlet poppies started blooming!  But the wind has been blowing something fierce the last several days and they are really beat up.  So I'll pull a pic from last year.
Something to brighten your day.... 
Have a great one.   

Another Design Wall Monday (according to Judy at Patchwork Times) rolls around.   I missed last week so I wanted to be sure to get this posted today to show what I've been working on. 
I'm calling this my Christmas Diamonds.  
I picked up the design from Diane Wilson at MQR (sorry I can't find her post to link to).  She basically started with a foundation cut 7"x10" and then trimmed down to 6.5"x9.5".  
I pulled some really really really old and ugly fabric to use for the foundations.  It felt really good cutting it all up.  I now have quite a pile to use for something else.  Great stash reduction! 

My original idea was to radiate the darker fabrics to lighter in the centers of each of the diamonds.  But I don't think I like the lighter pieces in there.  My design in EQ made it look like it would glow in the centers. 
They don't do that at all!!     I'm going to replace them with darker pieces of each color.  The light fabrics are just too distracting to me.

These are all the strings that I'm working with.  Even though they aren't Christmas fabric ...the red/green combination just has to be Christmas as far as I'm concerned.    

I have come to the realization that even tho I do like the looks of a completely scrappy quilt..... I don't know that I'll ever be able to make one.   Completely scrappy!
I just have that undeniable urge to control everything.   I want each piece to work nicely with the next piece or else I get very nervous and a little bit shaky.   LOL  I just can't help myself. 
I'm very much that way in real life too.  Just ask my daughter!  hahaha