creative juices . . .

I've just had this need to create lately, you know what I mean? I've been on a roll (for me, anyway) since I started and finished that little doll quilt for my niece! I finished that, got my blocks done, created a table runner, made a little hostess gift bag, and today got up with a bug to do more.

I've really been needing one of these for a while now . . .

But I hadn't been able to find a pattern I liked (or could figure out). But this morning I was on a mission!

I got on the internet and scoured through pages and pages looking for just the right fit.

And I found it, right HERE. It was on Chica and Jo's crafty website!

And now my Kindle has its very own home, made just for it, in colors that had to be for me.

The tutorial was *very* well laid out and super easy to follow. I opted to cover my elastic with fabric. To do so, I cut a strip of fabric 1-3/8" by 14", folded it in half with right sides together, and stitched up a 1/8" seam (using a very small stitch length). I turned it inside out using a safety pin, and then pulled my 7" piece of elastic through the opening using that same pin. I bunched the fabric up over the middle of the elastic and made sure about a 1/4" of my elastic was hanging out at both openings of the fabric tube. Easy-peasy.

In all honesty, it took me nearly as long to print, cut and iron on my initials on the front as it did to do the rest of the project. Really!

Last night's guild meeting was LOTS of fun! Our Stitcher's group met beforehand at Nothing But Noodles and had a nice dinner. There were thirteen of us for dinner -- a pretty good turnout! Then when I got to the meeting, I turned in my registration form for the quilt show. Whew, I'm glad that's done! Next, I had put out a query on our mailing list about fabric postcards, and several members offered to bring in their postcards and cards. I was so impressed! I've wanted to do one of these for a while now, but just didn't understand enough to do one on my own. I will now! Four ladies brought in cards and pictures of cards for me to fawn over ... it was great!

Our program was very interesting, too. The speaker was Jim Warf of Decherd Needleworks. He does long-arm quilting, and he talked about borders and the best tips for preparing a quilt for long-arm quilting. He was very funny and I enjoyed listening to him. At the end of his presentation, he gave away five 20% coupons. Guess who won one?! Yours truly! Yay!

I get to spend some time with my Sawyer this evening and I still have some ministry work to finish up, so I'd better hop to it!

Toodles!

:)

all that . . .

I worked with all sorts of dangerous, sharp things this weekend.

Pins and seam rippers . . .

All manner of scissors . . .

Rotary cutters in all shapes and sizes . . .

All kinds of accidents waiting to happen . . .

And yet, it was on a piece of cardboard that I sliced open my finger.

And it HURT!

:)

this , that, and the other . . .

Today was my optimum Monday. I'm off, Todd's on shift, and there's really very little that I *had* to do! Talk about a day that just feels goooooooood!

I got a load of laundry in early, but the danged dryer portion of our combo unit is not working, so there's not point in putting in a second load. I'd really wanted to have all the laundry completely caught up, but c'est la vie. I don't think I'll let it stress me. ;)

It's been a rather soft, gray day. The temps aren't too hot, though they're certainly not cool! Rain has danced all around us, but other than a very few sprinkles, I've not seen any precipitation of substance. As I type, I'm watching a doe walk up the road, like a sentinel watching the borders! The birds are busy, busy, busy this afternoon, flitting, eating and drinking.

I did head out mid-morning to get my Lissa blocks in the mail and do my weekly bookkeeping for the builder I help out. From there I headed over to have lunch with Kim & Sawyer! I didn't take any pictures because I can either hold him or take pictures of him . . . guess which I chose? LOL!!

I made some finishing progress on Sawyer's quilt, too! It's all quilted and squared up, ready for the binding!!!! Whooohoo!!

By the way, you do see the view I have while sewing, right? Sometimes it's hard not to be distracted!

My hope was to get all the binding cut, put together, on the quilt and have it ready to finish. But my foot started aching, so I decided it was time to take a foot-icing break. I did manage to get the binding cut and ready to go, though. (Although I admit it's been so long, it took me a while to figure out what I'd done with the fabric I'd set aside for the binding! Shhhhh!)

Anyway, it's all ready to go, when I'm ready to go!

I probably shouldn't tell on myself, but my quilting supplies niche has seen better days! Of course, given that I haven't really been into it for three months, and Todd moved us during that time, makes it look not *nearly* as bad as it could! This was one of the areas I had wanted to re-organize for my July/August Charming Girls goals, but being up and about still takes effort, and I'm not quite ready to tackle this yet.

On the other hand, being organized will mean I don't spend so much time hunting what I'm looking for, and will have more time for the actual doing!

I think I mentioned Saturday that I wanted to do something with Christmas fabric with the Heavenly Stars block from Quilter's Cache. Though the block is done with 2.5" strips, I'd like to make it a little bigger and use 3" squares. I'd like a single block as a table topper. I was playing around with photos of my fabric and came up with this . . . help me out here -- I *really* am set on the center star being the holly fabric, and I like the way the red borders it, but I'm not completely sold on the gold/cream print in the surrounding stars. Any thoughts?

Finished it would be 20" square. I'd probably bind it with whatever I use for the outer circle of stars.

I also finished working on a power point project for Todd. He's leading a session tomorrow evening for the Madison Baptist Association's leadership conference. I'm his wing man -- I'll do his audio/visual! He typed up his notes, and then I did the student handout and the presentation from that. He's put a lot of work into this, and it's going to be good! I'm *so* proud of my dear husband!!

So, for now, I'm off to have a cup of tea and switch out ice bags on the ol' foot. Tomorrow is my re-evaluation and I sure don't want to get bad marks! From here on out, I'll just be wildlife watching!

:)

sewing party . . .

* * * Calling it a night! * * *

Well lucky me -- I got a text from my son late this afternoon, inviting DH and I over for pizza and time with the grandbaby. Ummm, ladies, time with the grandbaby??? Sewing was *all* over! I'll have some free time tomorrow and Monday to finish up and post pictures! And probably some Sawyer pictures, too!!

I so enjoyed your company today -- have a great night, filled with visions of sugar plums!!

:)

* * * Update * * *

Three o'clock and all's well!

I've got lots of things cut; some things pinned; some things I'm still thinking about. I *can* tell you that I'm doing a little something with this pretty little block, from Quilter's Cache. I hope perhaps I'll be able to take pictures of it later.

I'm *also* doing lots of playing with this darling little tutorial, found on Prairie Moon Quilts!

I cut, stitched and pressed my blocks for Lissa, too. I'll send those off on Tuesday!

I've also had my last cup of coffee (I moved on to pomegranate iced tea, which is red, so still in the spirit), eaten a fare share of my kettle chips, and only had a bite of my Hershey bar! I've been too intent on projects, if there's still chocolate left at 3 o'clock in the afternoon! :)

* * * Original Post * * *

I do love having choices and today I've got plenty!! I mentioned last night that I wouldn't be able to necessarily discuss details, nor show finished products, but I can show my options . . .

Today's Christmas sewing may involve a little of these . . .

Or possibly a little of these . . .

And maybe even a little of this . . .

And most likely a little of these . . .

But most definitely it will include this:

Now, go check out Charming Chatter and see what everyone else is up to today!!

HO HO HO!

:)

finally . . . a finish!!!

What a happy day today was! At some point I was sitting here playing on my laptop, and I turned around and saw this . . .

Yay! A doe and her twin fawns! They are so darling. I wish I could pet them! The fawns are a lot more jittery than the mom. They'd all of a sudden take off running, and then run back. Mom didn't even lift her head!

This sweet little goldfinch has been hitting the feeders off and on all day. He makes his rounds to the four feeders, and then flies off, so the female can come in and get a bite.

This solo doe came up through the camp this afternoon. It had rained briefly and cooled the temps, so I guess the deer were moving around a bit more. I happened to look out the side window and thought I saw a chipmunk in the woodpile. Then I started, as I saw a pair of legs through the hedges, walking down the paved road. Then I realized it was a set of legs . . . a set of four! The doe peaked her head in through the short cut I'd trimmed into the hedge, and tentatively stepped on into the site. She'd been here before, I'll bet, because she walked straight to the corn! The doe with the two fawns came back through a couple of hours later.

In the meantime, I squared this up this afternoon . . .

Since the back of the pillow top will be hidden, I wanted to get plenty of pictures of it. LOL!

And then I pulled out the ol' sewing machine and worked that thang! It felt really good. Really, really good. I'm so tickled with the end result!

The back is simple and I did a fold-over flap, so that I could pull the pillow form out and wash the cover, if I needed to.

Today, this . . .

Tomorrow, this . . .

This is a week of big things for me!

:)

a double-happy find . . .

So yesterday Todd and I headed down to the Madison Baptist Association. We thought we were receiving training/certification, but actually we were being interviewed to see if we were serving in a capacity that made us eligible for training/certification. It was an interesting experience and we both were pleased with the process.

As we were coming out, my eye was caught by this cute little building sitting right next door . . .

It's Snickerpoodles -- a consignment shop!! I'm not able to manage steps in my roller, so I didn't head over there to investigate, but it looked like they had some really *cute* baby things out! And looking to the store on the other side, guess what it is . . .

I have a feeling I'll be back to that particular area when I'm walking under my own power again!

Happy Thursday!

:)