Don't let the difficulties of the present moments overshadow the reality of God's promises. God's promises still stand. And God's promises are stronger than our failures.

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Happy New Year!




I don't know about you but I'm ready!  Ready for the new year with all it's new beginnings.  There are new people to meet, new friends to make, new blog posts to read, new quilts to make, new....oh, the excitement of all the new things a new year can bring!

I don't make resolutions but I do plan/hope to do a few healthy things.  I joined Jazzercise a month ago and I love it!  I go three or four days a week and I can already tell the difference.  I'm eating healthier, cutting back on sugar in particular, and having fewer diet sodas.

2014 is the year my husband and I will celebrate our 50th anniversary -  not until October - and are planning a wonderful trip to reward ourselves for meeting that milestone.  And speaking of rewards...I'm going to take the late Erma Bombeck's advice and use the good china, figuratively speaking, since I gave mine to my daughter some years ago!.  I'm not saving favorite things for some ambiguous later.  I'm going to be sure that I smile a lot, tell people I love them, and savor each day.  I'm going to finish some UFOs but if I don't I'm not going to feel guilty.  I'm going to start some new quilts just for the fun of it, even when the UFOs are calling my name.

And I'm going to share more - I'm going to give away some patterns and some fabric because, Heaven knows, I have more than I can ever use.  So be watching...there are some giveaways coming your way!

Have a wonderful New Year's Eve, a fantastic New Year's Day, and an amazing New Year!

Blessings to you and yours,

Marlene
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Saturday, December 21, 2013

A Little Stitchin' On Wool

I got this pattern from Primitive Gatherings last week...I love working on something like this at night when I'm watching television. It's going to be a pincushion soon.







This is what I'm working on today. A small table mat...would be perfect for a glass of milk and a couple of cookies for Santa. :)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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Thursday, December 12, 2013

Christmas Stitching

Like most of you I've been spending as much time as possible in my sewing room doing some stitching for Christmas presents. I bought sewing machines for three of my granddaughters so, of course, they need a few things to go with the machines. First I made sewing machine covers...simple rectangles with some rick rack added.



Then I made a trifold sewing kit using one I had gotten as a gift from a friend as my pattern.











I'm wondering...what would you put in these sewing kits? So far I've gotten a tape measure, seam ripper, seam gauge, bobbins and pins. I think I need some hand and machine needles and some thread...what am I leaving out?


Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

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Saturday, December 7, 2013

This Is Not Snow and Is It Christmas yet?







We got two inches of sleet this week. Sleet. I'm so grateful it wasn't freezing rain and our electricity didn't go off! I'm sewing up a storm...love being stuck in the house!

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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Saturday, November 30, 2013

A Funny Kid and A Winner

Our son and his family came for Thanksgiving.  So much fun!  Andrew, who is "about to turn 5" in his words, was ready for bed when he discovered he had forgotten his sleeping companion. He came running in to me and said, "Grandma, where do you keep your stuffed animals?"  After all, everybody keeps stuffed animals, right?  :)  And what Grandma doesn't?  I happened to have 2 teddy bears in the closet, in case of emergencies!


The winner of my giveaway on the Black Tie Boogie Blog Hop is Carolyn from Sew. Darn. Quilt.  I've e-mailed her and will be sending out her two charm packs next week.  Congratulations Carolyn!
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Monday, November 25, 2013

Black Tie Boogie - Today's The Day!

Today's the day I get to show you the projects I made for this hop - and I have to say this has been one of my very favorites!  I love this idea that Madame Samm came up with and the great way Vickie has handled the organization chores for us.

It's been simply gorgeous here on the lake this year so it was hard for me to stay in and sew....just look at this beautiful scene I'm blessed to see outside my window.


I started out a bit slow even though I had several things in mind when I first heard about this hop.  I was in Missouri visiting my sister when I ran across a panel in a quilt shop there that I knew couldn't be passed up.  It was for this cute apron:


My friend Sandy agreed to model it for me but I promised not to show her face.  :)  This one is for my sister because she has, and loves, 22 chickens!

With this panel came another smaller rooster off by itself on the panel and since "waste not, want not" I made it into a simple pouch with a velcro closure for all my hand embroidery/quilting/applique needles.
You can see it here peeking out of my grandmother's sewing basket.


I just thought this was a pretty picture with the sun shining in the patio door and right onto Mr. Rooster.  :)

Then I dug back into my stash and UFOs and came up with these placemats.  I had bought this fabric about 3 years ago at a shop in Greenwood, Arkansas but had put off cutting into it.  I do love these!



I was visiting the local quilt shop one day and saw some more really cute chicken fabric and couldn't resist.  Truth be told, I didn't try.  :)  I needed a simple machine cover that I could just toss over my sewing machine so this is a rectangle, quilted, with ric rac added.

But my favorite project of all is this quilt called Hip Chicks - it just makes me smile every time I see it.  :)  The hair and legs are ric rac and the beaks and wings are prairie points.







I have a new computer and I just learned today how to do this so you're getting an extra picture 'cause it made me smile!  Going from a PC to a Mac definitely has a learning curve - a steep one!





Have you ever seen anything so cute?  :)

If you've made it this far be sure to leave me a comment. I've got a couple of charm squares from Free Spirit that I bet someone would love to have.  Just one comment will do and yes, I will ship internationally.


Here's the schedule for the rest of his hop - so many great stitchers to see and so many wonderful projects to crow over!

November 25
November 26
November 27
November 28
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Saturday, November 23, 2013

Baby It's Cold Outside!

So thankful to be sitting in front of the fire tonight! I sure hope that winter storm stays away from us!




It's been such a pretty fall here...freezing rain, if we get it, will ruin this beautiful scene!




Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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Friday, November 22, 2013

Black Tie Boogie - Day Four


Here's another great group of bloggers - you don't want to miss a one!

November 22
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Thursday, November 21, 2013

Black Tie Boogie - Day 3





Here's today's schedule - enjoy!

November 21
                                          Pigtales and Quilts ~ Happy Birthday Thearica !







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Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Black Tie Boogie - Day Two

Didn't you just love all the posts yesterday?  Look who's posting today!

November 20
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Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Black Tie Boogie - Day One







Ya'll know how I love Blog Hops and this is one I couldn't have resisted if I tried!  I love roosters, my sister loves chickens of all kinds and I had a cousin, now deceased, who collected roosters.  A couple of years ago I made this quilt which hangs in my dining room most of the time:




My day isn't until the 25th but I know you will want to visit all the participating blogs so you don't miss a thing.  Here's the schedule for today:

November 19

Be sure you comment on all their blogs - it's just the nice thing to do - and also on the sponsoring blogs:
Sew We Quilt   (Madame Samm)
In addition to being nice you also will get the opportunity to win prizes!  And who wouldn't want to win a great prize?  And then crow about it?  :)

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Saturday, November 16, 2013

What a Great Find!

Down the road from me there's a neighborhood shop that's been there for years and years.  The owners are friends from church and I've known them since the early eighties.  This little shop reminds me of the old General Mercantile, except without the food.  They sold all kinds of craft stuff, cake decorating necessities as well as specialty pans for baking, wigs.....yes I said wigs, tee shirts and costume jewelry and they serve as the neighborhood post office.  Recently one of the owners had some heart issues and they downsized by giving up half their store space and lots of their inventory.  Now they are getting rid of their craft stuff because it seems people aren't buying their craft stuff there - probably at the chain stores.  They carried DMC embroidery thread and had the normal cabinets to hold it.

I'm sure you've all seen these - each drawer has slots for the different color threads.  I was lucky enough to be there when they emptied one and got to buy it - and turned it into a button holder!


Is that perfect or what?  :)  Now I'm anxiously waiting to see when they might empty another so I can buy it too.  I might even put embroidery thread in it!
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Sunday, November 10, 2013

A Transformation and a Question

I was at the beauty shop last week not getting my hair cut....well, that sounds crazy doesn't it?  :)  I'm trying to let my hair grow a bit since I kept it a couple of inches long all summer and now it's getting cold out and so is my neck.  I remember years ago my husband's grandmother saying in the car, "Close the window, the breeze is making my neck cold."  I thought that was the craziest thing until I got to be, well the age I am now.  Anyway, while not getting my hair cut I was sitting in a chair waiting and had my feet on a small stool the beautician keeps there for short people to put their feet on while drying their hair.  I commented that I needed a stool like that in my bedroom but hadn't had any luck finding one.  I just wanted a small used one I could recover and the flea  market I'd been to the week before was fresh out.  Or maybe they'd never had one, what do I know.  To make this long story a bit shorter she gave me one she had but couldn't use because it didn't slide under the dryer chair - too tall.  What do you think?

Not bad, right?  It's a little taller than I wanted but it works....I have a rocker there where I like to sit in the mornings doing my Bible study and prayer time.  Now the only things I've ever recovered have been chairs and they were easy peasy.  Turn them over, remove the screws holding the padded seat on, put new fabric on, staple it underneath, put the seat back on the chair, put the screws back in, turn the chair right side up and there you have it.  Much to my surprise....I turn this stool over and there are no screws.  Nary a one.  I have no idea how that padded top is held on there.  No.  Idea.  So I improvised and made a "throw" for the top.  I love this fabric - it's part of a line of fabric I also used on my pillow shams.


And since I'm a quilter at heart, not a reupholsterer (is that a word because on my screen it's underlined in red), I quilted the top.

Now for the question part of this post.  The corners stick out.  It's not horrible but I wanted them to drape.  Are they sticking out because I put batting in the whole thing?  Or for some other unknown reason?  And whatever the reason is there a way to fix that?  Without taking the whole thing apart I mean.  Because I'm pretty sure I'm not going to take it apart.  Hmmm, not pretty sure, real sure.
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Monday, November 4, 2013

Another Girls Weekend

One of the greatest gifts God can give us is girlfriends.  Can I get an Amen?  No matter our age, no matter our circumstances....girlfriends are the glue that holds our lives together.  Oh yes, I know family does that too.  But for women it seems to me that girlfriends are the icing on the cake.  Cake is good by itself, but with icing cake is just so much more!

I have all kinds of girlfriends.  Friends I go to church with, friends in my neighborhood, friends I stitch with, friends I work with.  But in the end, old girlfriends are just a special breed.  Once a year several of my elementary/junior high/senior high girlfriends come to my house for a weekend.  Those of you who've been reading my blog for several years have seen them before.  These women are so special to me.


Do you still see old girlfriends?  If you don't I highly recommend you look them up, get together, have coffee or a coke and do some reminiscing and laughing and even crying.  It's good for your soul.
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Thursday, October 31, 2013

Wicked, Day Eight


Thursday, October 31st
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Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Wicked, Day Seven


Wednesday, October 30th
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Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Wicked, Day Six


Tuesday, October 29th
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Monday, October 28, 2013

Wicked, Day Five


Monday, October 28th
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Friday, October 25, 2013

Wicked, Day Four


Friday, October 25th
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Thursday, October 24, 2013

Wicked, Day Three


Thursday, October 24th
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Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Wicked, Day Two

Wednesday, October 23rd
A Geeky Crafty Life
My Quilting Journey
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Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Wicked!



I'm not sure why but I seem to have more Halloween decorations than any other holiday, maybe even Christmas!  I think it might be because there are just such cute things to make and they're so easy!  I'm pretty excited about this blog hop (a big thank you to Wendy and to Madame Samm for giving this one to us!) and can't wait to show you what I've made.  :)

I started out thinking I was only going to make one thing.  Just one.  Because I have lots of Halloween decorations and not much time...that's what I told myself.  I started out with a quilt - this strip quilt is similar to the sock monkey quilt pattern Carol from Just Let Me Quilt has on Craftsy.  I added borders to mine and I didn't do the quilt-as-you-go method (which I think she did).



 I used a strip from the front on the back because I just loved that fabric!
Well that was done and I had a few more days before the hop.  I was finishing up one of the Kathy Schmitz BOM embroderies so I decided he had to be added to the Wicked list too!


Tell the truth...you love that face, don't you?  :)


Okay then I just got carried away.  That happens to everyone, right?  I loved this pattern...I mean, it's wool so what's not to love?

And I was pretty sure one of my daughters needed a table runner so I made this one I call Black Cats on Parade.
It would look pretty cute as a seat cover on my redwood swing too, don't you think?
Now it was getting down to the wire but I felt sure I had time to do one more thing.  Just a small thing.
I'm not sure what he is.  Maybe a mug rug?  Or I could add ties and he could be an apron for the witches broom he's leaning against.  :)

Okay, I was done.  Over it.  Really, really, really done.  Except for this one problem.  I had so many leftover scraps from the quilt I started with.  And I felt like I needed to use up those scraps.  I mean wouldn't you need to use up those scraps?  So here's how they ended up...three pillows.  :)



Okay, I'm done.  Really.  Done.  But you're not!  You have more blogs to visit....and you're going to love what you see!

October 22nd
Stitchin By The Lake (you are here!)
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