Wicked!

It's a Wicked day here on the lake and if you look closely you'll see a few ghosts and bats and black cats lurking about!  

Thanks to Wendy and to Madame Samm for this Wicked Blog Hop - it seems to me that whether or not you celebrate Halloween at your house the decorations for this holiday are lots of fun to see and to make.  You can always gift your creations to your Halloween-celebrating friends.  :)

Be sure you visit others who are posting on this Wicked Day!

Ariane Quilts

Cindy Crafty Creations

.Quiltscapes.

Sentimentalstitches

Moosestash Quilting

Krislovesfabric

Marjorie's Busy Corner

Stitchinbythelake

Rose Creations

Simplesew
Charlottes Creations

Betty - That Other Blog
Alexa's World 

First up for my venture into Wicked creations is this 12 1/2" ghost block.  Well, he started out at 12 1/2"; but then I found this great border print that I just knew would be perfect so I trimmed him up a bit to fit my stand.

And who could resist this spider web fabric for the back?  :)

Last summer when I was in south Louisiana on a mission trip I found this wonderful layer cake of Halloween fabrics by Deb Strain.  Bats and spiders and candy corn and witch's hats...I just couldn't resist!  So I used a little of it to make this quick table runner.  Doesn't that bat look like he's coming right toward you?

With the triangles I cut off when making the above table runner I made some half square triangles.  But they needed a little stitchery to set them off so watch out - here comes a black cat!

And now dear friends, as my goodbye enjoy this poem I found on The Holiday Spot:

Happy Halloween

It's late and we are sleepy,
The air is cold and still.
Our jack-o-lantern grins at us
Upon the window sill.
We're stuffed with cake and candy
And we've had a lot of fun,
But now it's time to go to bed
And dream of all we've done.
We'll dream of ghosts and goblins
And of witches that we've seen,
And we'll dream of trick-or-treating
On this happy Halloween.

It's Time For Girl's Weekend!

Every year some of my very best friends - old friends - very old friends - come for the weekend.  We graduated from high school together in 1964.  Gasoline was $.25 a gallon, McDonald's hamburgers were $.15 each, and we all wore wheat colored jeans and button down collar shirts every chance we got.  But not at school.  At school we were dresses or skirts, no pants.  Pants were forbidden.

We had so much fun then and we still do.  We might not look the same but we laugh the same!

Sometimes we act our age.

Sometimes we don't!

And today's the day we do it all again - I can't wait!

Our Wicked Ways Continue!

Thursday, October 25^th

Angies Quilting And Crafting Place

Just Let Me Quilt

Lady Bug Lane

Debby Kratovil Quilts

Creative Obsessions

Kathy's Quilts

Loose Threads

Sew Maybe I Can

That's Sew Julie

Aurea - That Other Blog
Peck's Pieces
 

 Friday, October 26th

In Stitches & Seams

Sew.Darn.Quilt

Quilt Monster In My Closet

Lieselfriends-Di... Handnäher

The Learning Curve Quilts And Such

Qreative Quilts And Quests

Sew Many Yarns

Annieoak Designs

Searching Out Simple

Sheila's Quilt World

Val Spiers Sews

Robin - That Other Blog

Fall Stititchin'

This was a birthday gift for my friend Connie.  The vine is hand applique, the pumpkin strings are hand embroidery, the leaves and pumpkins are machine applique, and the quilting is free motion.  I didn't have a pattern but I did use templates I found in a book for the pumpkins.  When I finished it I liked it so much I didn't want to give it away.  :)  And if I didn't love my friend so much I might not have!


Looking for Wicked?  Here's today's schedule:

Wednesday, October 24th

Dancing Moon

Cheryl's Teapots2quilting

Freemotion By The River

Quiltingbydawn

Ninis Patchwork Blog

Grandmama's Stories

Kwilty Pleasures

Happier Than A Bird Quilts

Quilts From My Crayon Box

Quilt N Queen

Vroomans Quilts

Bumbleberry Stitch’n

Quilts by Christa

Morning On The Lake

                                                                               7:00 a.m.

                                                                              7:30 a.m.

8:00 a.m.

8:30 a.m.

9:00 a.m.

Do you have any Wicked plans this week?  I do!  I'm reading some Wicked blogs to get some Wicked ideas!  I know I'm going to see some tutorials, some gorgeous stitching, maybe I'll even win one of the giveaways!

For a master list of the Wicked participants check out Wendy at Why Knot Kwilt by clicking on the haunted house!

Everyone Knows....

That I'm not a good cook.  Really.  I'm a worse baker.  I have the best of intentions.  I get out all the ingredients.

I follow all the directions.

And even Banana Bread falls in the middle

And sticks to the bottom.

But finally, finally!  Today I made this beautiful Apple Walnut Cake!

It didn't fall in the middle.  It didn't stick to the bottom.  And it tasted so wonderful!

Want to make it?  It's Carrie's recipe over at A Passion for Applique.  Thanks Carrie.  You'll find the recipe here.

"Found Items"

Last week I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond to get a shower curtain liner. I should never be allowed to go in that store. I totally lose control. I want everything there. Sometimes I want two of everything in there. That shower curtain liner cost me ... well, lets just say a lot and stop there.

Update on Mike

For those of you who have joined me in prayer for my brother-in-law, Mike, here is an update.

Leafs Me Happy Blog Hop Winner and a Prayer Request

The Leafs Me Happy Hop is over  :(  and I'm sad to see it go but can hardly wait for Wicked!  Wicked is set to begin October 22 and is going to be led by Wendy at Why Not Quilt - it's going to be so much fun!

Meanwhile here at Stitchinbythelake I've got a winner of the glow-in-the-dark Halloween bag - Judy from Shade Tree Quilts will be getting this fun bag (with a few goodies added of course).  I've e-mailed her and will mail it sometime this week.

And for those of you who believe as I do that prayer changes things, please pray for my brother-in-law, Mike, who lost the vision in his right eye last March, and this week lost most of the vision in his left eye.  He and my sister are on their way to The Mayo Clinic right now to see doctors there, hoping to keep the small bit of sight that he has left.  Thank you for joining with me in praying for healing, for strength, for peace and for grace.

Leafs Me Happy - Last Day

Wednesday 10

Quilter in the Closet

SewMuch2Luv

Peanut's Patchwork

Quilting Lines

Mochawildchild

Ariane Quilts

Lily Patch Quilts

Cindy's Crafty Creations

Hill Valley Quilter

Count it *all* JOY!!!

Rose Creations

Sew We Quilt 

I Seem To Have Passed Some Bizarre Threshhold

I should still be wearing these:



Or these:




Instead I'm wearing these:

What happens to your feet as you get older should be classified as cruel and unusual punishment.  :(

Looking for Leafs Me Happy?

Tuesday 9

Till We Quilt Again 

Sheilas quilt world

ferristhoughts

Home Designs by Amanda

Quilt n Queen

Polka dot classic

Moonbeams in a Jar

Stitch, stitch, stitch 

Sew Me Something Good

quiltingbydawn

My collection of Things 

Jessisca

Leafs Me Happy - Day 6

Monday 8

Feathered Nest Studio

Grandmama's Stories

From This to That

Little Mama Hen 

Quilt Monster in my Closet

Kathy

in stitches & seams

Buzzing and Bumbling

Nunu's Quilt World

Quilts And Dogs

Briarside Lane

48 Years

How in the world did we get from here....

to here.....

I blinked, that's how.

I thank God today for this good man.

Leafs Me Happy Blog Hop (My Day and a Giveaway)

Autumn has begun in Arkansas and I'm so excited to be entering this wonderful time of year!  When I walk through my yard now I see these wonderful fall views -

You can't see the beautiful fall flowers and grasses without being inspired by their colors and their graceful stems.

I have lots of fall books so when I began to think about what I wanted to make for this blog hop I found lots to choose from; but when I came to this book I knew I'd stumbled across something I couldn't wait to make.

This pillow was where my eye kept returning.

I didn't really want a long pillow, and the blog hop rules said to make a 10 1/2 or 12 1/2 block so I measured and calculated and decided I could make a block at 10 1/2" and it would make a nice square pillow.  I pulled out some warm, rich colors of scrumptious wool that might look like the colors of the leaves and pumpkins in a field -

and I came up with this block:

I think it made the cutest pillow!  But you know, working with wool is kind of like eating potato chips - you can't stop with one.  So I made a pair.  :)

As much as I love these they didn't solve a small problem I have - my Ackfeld wire hanger still has an Uncle Sam block on it!  Certainly that won't do for fall so back to the bookshelf I went.

I used a pattern from this book to make this block -

And turned it into this little quilt.

(No I didn't make two of these.  :)  I just took one picture on the deck and one on the fireplace and couldn't decide which one I liked more!)

For a chance to win this glow-in-the-dark Halloween bag just leave a comment below!

Thanks so much to Madame Samm for the dream of these blog hops and to Cherry for coordinating this one!  Be sure you visit the rest of the bloggers on today's schedule (posted below) - you don't want to miss anything!

Friday 5

Insanity Defense

Michelle May and the Bunnies

Sparrow In Flight

Quilted Delights

Quilting With a Marmalade Cat

Traveling Quilter

A Stitch in Time

Cherry Blossoms
Tea Time Creations

Moose Stash Quilting

Stitchin By The Lake