Confession!!

When I first started quilting, about 3 years ago, I always swore that I wouldn't have more than one project going at a time. Nope, not me! I would make something from start to finish before beginning some thing else.

Well, I am here to confess to you that I am a failure! LOL

Let me explain a little about what happened to that oath. When I made that statement, I hadn't found the yummylicious goodness of BOM's, I hadn't collected many patterns yet, my stash was quite small, my mind hadn't been accustomed to thinking like a quilter. Well, all those things have changed now. :~) I have 5 BOM's going and waiting for another to begin in Febuary or March. My bookshelves are bulging with patterns and books, my stash fills the closet and several containers under my table. My mind is overflowing with ideas and projects that I want to do.

Part of it is not my fault, it is yours! ;~) The wealth of inspiration out there in the cyber world is astounding!

I am all caught up on the Designer Mystery BOM.

Kimberly has another one starting here soon. Jump on over and check it out. These are fun!!!

I took a couple of classes at my guild last week. We made this tote. It is the perfect size for carrying my scriptures in for church.

We also made this cute little table runner. This is perfect for charm squares. I can't remember the designer or the name of the pattern, right now. I will find out and let you know. I still need to blanket stitch around the applique. I am going to big stitch hand quilt this one.


Yesterday, I met with some friends from my guild and we spent the day sewing. Amid the comraderie and laughter, lots was accomplished. We met at a church house, so we had lots of room to lay out quilts on the floor. The organizer made lunch for us. Delicious homemade bread bowls with Broccoli n' Cheddar soup! And, you guessed it. I started yet another project! :~)

These fabrics are so warm and pretty. I am making this Schnibbles pattern, sort of. I am going to make it bigger and do a different border treatment. I was able to get 80, 2"x3 1/2" flying geese done. It was nice to do these tiny little flying geese while talking and enjoying the company of other quilters. I am not sure how big it will be yet. I have 6 charm pack and some yardage for the background and border. When I run out of fabric, that is how big it will be! :~)

If you ever have a chance to meet with friends and have a sewing day, do it! It is so much fun! A nice break from daily life! I feel like I can get a lot done, because I don't have the interruptions of the phone, mundane house chores and I stay off of the %$#@@%&*( computer! Which gets me into trouble, because of that inspiration thing that I mentioned earlier! LOL

Hugs&Stitches, Julia

Salt Lake City, UT Shop Hop-----

I went with 14 other fun lovin' ladies from my quilt guild on a shop hop to Salt Lake City, UT, last Thursday. Oh my goodness, what a blast we all had together, laughing, shopping and laughing some more. We left before the sun was up and traveled for 3 hours. We were able to visit 5 quilt shops. They were all so friendly and I found some great bargains in each one. My credit card has been safely tucked away in the my drawer to recover from the workout that I gave it. :~)
I found a few things to finish projects that I already have planned and some nice stuff just for my stash. I didn't buy anything unless it was on sale. Well, except for that cute kit from the S'mores fabric line. I just love the little marshmallow snowmen. Not really my colors, a little bright, but I just couldn't pass it up.




And drum roll please------------------------------------------------------------------------
I found some fun stuff to make a tote for the crayon challenge! I wasn't going to let that bright pinky/orangey/red color get the best of me. LOL This was my first shop hop and I will definitely be going on more! After I give my credit card time to recover of course. :~)

Hugs&Stitches, Julia

Thanks for checking on me, Sweet Friends!

Thanks to all of you who have checked up on me in my absence. I appreciate your kindness and concern. Your friendship warms my heart. :~)

I have been fighting a bit of depression here lately. I go through this every once in awhile, add good ol' menopause with it and watch out! Just something I have to deal with. Prayers and some down time will generally pull me through. :~)

It was Spring Break for Ethan last week. We had big plans to spend time doing some fun outdoor activities, but Mother Nature had other plans. Winter is having a hard time letting go this year. Hmm, makes me wonder, where is that global warming that I keep hearing so much about. hehe Because the weather was so icky, Ethan and I spent some quality time reading, hanging out and watching some fun movies. All while cuddling under a nice warm quilt. Some hugs and loves from my baby boy sure helps to fight the blues! A few pats on the rearend from Randy don't hurt either. ;~) That is his little affectionate habit and I love it!

I didn't even turn on the sewing machine or the computer last week. Sometimes I just need to unplug and disconnect. I am ready to get back in the sewing room again! I need to check up on all of you and see what you have been up to lately too!

Hugs&Stitches, Jul♥a

The Winner Is---------

Linda from All Stitched Up! Congratulations! I did the random number generator and you were the lucky one.
Email me with your snail mail address and I will get your goodies right out to you.
These give aways are a lot of fun. I will be having more of them in the future.




I found a new LQS about 30 miles from my home.
While I was there the other day, checking it out, they were having a trunk show. They let me take a few pictures. I just had to share these stunning beauties with all of you.

Sylvia's Bridal Quilt

Have any of you read the "Elm Creek Quilt" books by Jennifer Chiaverini. They are a nice, fun read. They are stories based around the lives of a group of quilter's. In the "Master Quilter" they all make a surprise sampler quilt for Sylvia's wedding gift. The pattern is posted on this webpage, Patterns by Row. The quilt consists of 140 different blocks. I am just picking out my favorite blocks and will be making a smaller quilt. I am using "Heaven on Earth" by Northcott. I will be giving it to my sister for Christmas. I know, can you believe that I am actually getting a jump on Christmas. I generally start my projects in November. Just thought I would share the first 6 blocks with you. Maybe you all can keep me on task and I will have it done before November.

Charity Quilts

I am still here!!! I have been extremely busy since I last posted. It was our baby's 7th birthday, we celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary, first month of school, and I have made 3 baby quilts, 3 twin size quilts and 1 lap size quilt. All for charity. My church has been asking for quilts to get ready for winter, they have a huge world wide humanitarian effort and this time of year there is a great need for quilts. So I have been stash busting and making string blocks like crazy. I still need to take some more pictures, but here is one of them.


Oh, I also made a baby quilt for my nephew's little girl. He is in the service, stationed in Germany. He and his little family were able to come home for a visit before he will ship out to Iraq again, for the third time.


Whew!!! I am tired just reading all of that. Hope to get back to posting a little more regularly. Even though I haven't been keeping you all up to date, I have tried to keep up with what you all have been up to. I may not always leave comments, but I do try to read everyday.

During all of this busyness, one of you wonderful blogger's sent me something that I will treasure forever. I will leave you in suspense for now, but I will post about it as soon as I get some pictures taken of this wonderful surprise.

Good nite, my friends and thanks for stopping by!!!!

Birthday's -- He's 1 and I will be old!!!!

It was my darling little grandson's birthday on the 16th. He turned 1!!! We had a party for him at my daughter's (his mommy). He reminds me so much of his Mommy when she was little. He was almost a birthday present for me but, he came 3 days to early.



I am still painting instead of sewing. :( I needed to paint my open stairwell. My Dad helped to rig up this scaffolding. Well, I have to tell you that I was to much of a fraidy cat to go out on it. I made my Dad paint it instead. I HATE ladders and heights!!! I couldn't conquer my fear enough to go out there and do it. I still have the lower portion of the wall to do. But, I can reach that from standing on firm ground. :)

Walking

I went for a nice walk yesterday before I picked up Ethan from school. It was a beautiful Spring day. Just a small breeze and a little warmth to the air.

You can see that their is still quite a bit of ice to melt along the river's edge and lots of snow still to come down out of the foothills and the mountains. We should have plenty of water for the growing season this year.

I love the white clouds against the beautiful blue sky. Even the trees and bushes are beautiful, still waiting to wake up from their long winters nap. I would love to make a quilt using the colors from these pictures.

I just had to share these pics with you all.
Hugs & Stitches, Julia

Thank You Gift for Teacher

The school year is coming to a close, tomorrow is the last day. This has been a fantastic year for Ethan. He loves school and has progressed really well. This is in no small part to the wonderful teacher that he has had this year. I can't thank her enough for the time and effort she spends on behalf of the children in her class. I so admire teachers!!! I think that they have one of the most under appreciated jobs in this country. They are helping to shape the minds of those that are most precious and dear to us. Thanks to all teachers every where for all that you do!!!!!


I made this for Ethan's teacher as a small token of our gratitude for the excellent job that she has done.

Full Moon

I noticed the beautiful full moon when I was taking Ethan to the school bus stop on Wednesday, so I just had to grab my camera and take a picture when I returned back home.

It was so pretty and big!!!

I had some help the other night in my sewing room.

I was pinning a little wall hanging in preparation for some hand quilting and Kyson seen my gloves that I use when I do free-motion on my Bernina 630. (Which I don't do much of since I now have my SuzyQ!) He just had to put them on and pretend he was helping. Look at that smile!

I made this for Kristy from the same tutorial that I used for mine. Although I did change mine up a bit. Her's is exactly like the one that Kim made for the tutorial. Thanks again for sharing this fun pattern Kim!

These are so nice for just a little spot of St. Patty's Day fun!

Our sweet little Kaden (grandson) turned 4 years old yesterday. I think he was afraid that he was going to drop the cake. Happy Birthday precious boy! How grateful we are to have you in our family!

Hugs&Stitches, Jul♥a

Yummy Autumn Food

I made this yummy Tomato Basil Pie today for lunch. I got the recipe from Libby. Go to her Sept. 15the post and get this recipe! It is soooo good!! Randy and I both loved it. I took the leftovers over to my Mom and Dad, they really liked it too! I used basil and tomatoes from our garden. Yummo!!! Thanks for sharing this recipe, Libby!



On Tuesday the 16th, Randy and I celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary!
Randy loves homemade apple pie. Well, I do too! We are lucky enough to have an apple orchard real close to us. I stopped there yesterday, bought some apples and made this Anniversary Apple Pie today! Topped with a little vanilla ice cream, pure bliss!!! :~)That was the extent of our celebration. lol Randy is working nights this week, so we had a nice romantic lunch. Just the two of us! Kinda pathetic, huh? Yes, romance is still alive in our house! LOL Oh well, he did buy me the HQ, who needs romance! ;~)

I loaded another quick quilt on SuzyQ (HQ16, yes, I named it!) today. I used some of that cheater type quilt fabric, you know the kind that looks like it has been pieced. I added a couple of borders and Viola! a fast quilt. I still want to do some more practicing before I load a "real" quilt and I can't stand the idea of wasting time and supplies with just muslin. So I figure I can make a couple of these quick easy tops and I will donate them to charity. This one went on a lot easier. I still feel a little wobbly following the pantos. But, with practcie, practice, practice, I will get smoother. I hope! I am having lots of fun anyway!!!

I am going to a Kim Diehl class tomorrow. I'm really excited and a little nervous. This is my first real quilt class. I will take my camera and share with you all later.

Hugs&Stitches, Julia

Table Topper

When I was moving the furniture in my sewing room and doing some cleaning I found a little project that I started a year or so ago. I was going to make an entire lap quilt using a little Tumbler template. I must have been insane! Now, making quilts from little, tiny, 1 inch pieces may be alright for some of you, but not for me! I had some of them pieced together already, added a border and some applique and Voila!!!!

A cute little doll quilt was born. It is now adorning the end table next to our couch. I do want to make a tumbler quilt, but it will be with a bigger template. The tiny template was just to darn cute to resist though. :~)

I also discovered that my string/scrap bin was totally full. I have vowed that I will not quit making string/crumb blocks until it is empty. I have pieced one top, another is almost done and I have about 1/2 of the blocks pieced for another one. I think that I still have enough scraps and old, not so cute, fabric left to make two more. I have a big pot of potato soup cooking in the crock pot, so I should be free to keep at it today.

Hug&Stitches, Julia

New Project, Disappearing Nine Patch

I had heard about the Disappearing Nine Patch pattern from another quilter and of course I have to try it. I am pulling all of my purple and green scraps, cutting them all into 4 inch squares. Here is my first block, this is a lot of fun.
The blocks will finish up about 10 inches. I am not sure how big it will be or where it will find a home, but I just need to use up some of my scraps. This is a good way to get some experience, as I have only been quilting a little over a year now.

I have 3 other projects in the works also. When I started quilting I swore that I would start and finish "1" project at a time. Well that vow went right out the window in a quick hurry. I am doing a couple of BOM's and another group project. I will post picture's and info about those at a later time.

Just for your info, Eleanor Burn's, Quilt in a Day site is having a sale, 37 pages of fabric at $3.00 a yard. Of course I just had to see if I could melt my credit card, LOL. You might want to check it out.

Happy Quilting, Julia

Gratitudes for today,
1- Dh home today, he can help look after our 6 year old son, so that I can sew!!!!
2- A little cooler today!!
3- Quilt fabric sale!!!

Vintage Rick Rack & Baseball

This wonderful little pile of vintage goodness, came from my Mother. My Mom and Dad live right next door to us. Their basement was packed with stuff in storage. My Mom always said that she didn't want us to go through any of it until she was gone. Well, life happens and plans need to be changed. Their basement was flooded Saturday so we had to do a major clean up down there. Hence, we had to sort through everything. I found this old rick rack stored in an old shoe box. It smells a little musty, but other than that it is in great shape. I think that my Mom saved everything that she has ever purchased in her 76 years on this earth. :) She was a very accomplished crocheter, her doilies are works of art. I did manage to get a couple of those too. But anyway, I think that she had about 200 balls of crochet cotton. Some of them brand new with the wrappers still on them. I saved several of those too. I just might try my hand at making a doily or two myself.

We have been spending a lot of time at the ball fields watching this darling little man of ours play ball. This is his first year and he looks so cute out there. I LOVE baseball so this is lots of fun for me.

Today is the last day for signing up for my give-away, leave a comment on the give-away post below. The drawing for the winner will be tomorrow.

Hugs & Stitches, Julia

The Winner Is------------

Drum roll please!!!!!!!

Oh wait, before I announce the winner, let me just say, I am astounded at the amount of comments! Some of you said that you were new to my blog and others were lurkers. I had no idea that there was that many of you out there. I am honored and touched to have so many people interested in what I have to say. I am blushing! :~) I am glad that I decided to do this, now I have met some fun new friends. I have tried to respond to each comment but, I might not have gotten to all of you yet.

Okay back to the announcement!


Here is my cute little snowman bag, with all of the names inside.

Ethan was the impartial, official name drawer. (is that a real word?)


So without further adieu the winner is Teresa over at Stitchin Friends, Congratulations!!! Email me with your snail mail address and I will get your goodies sent to you!

Thanks to all of you for participating! Now that you have either found me or come out of lurkdom, I would love to hear from you in the future!

Hugs&Stitches, Julia

The Witch is In!!!

I finished this little witch last night. Isn't she just the cutest!
This is my kind of Halloween stuff. I don't like all of the gross, creepy Halloween stuff. With only 10 days to Halloween, I finally have all of my decorating done. I don't do that much for this holiday. Just enough to look cute without going crazy.


I also finished up my first month's blocks from the Simply Sophisticated BOM from Fat Quarter Shop. If you have this one or want to join in, Vicky is having a monthly drawing for a $25 gift certificate from the Fat Quarter Shop. read about it here. This might keep me on task and not get so far behind. I also signed up for the Designer Mystery BOM and I haven't made one of them yet. :~( I am setting myself a goal to get them all made before the next one is due.

Hugs&Stitches, Julia

Last weeks walking report isn't so good. Only 6 miles for the week. Trying to do better this week, 2 3/4 miles yesterday.

Trunk Show

These are a few of the beautiful quilts that Roma Lambson shared with my quilt guild at the trunk show on Thursday.This one has 10,000 one inch squares!

This one traveled with the Hoffman challenge for a year. That is gold lame'! Beautiful work!
I have lots more to share, but I will split them up into a couple of different posts.

Hugs&Stitches, Julia