Might as Well Sew

This is what is happening right across the road from me. That big cloud of dirt you see in the air is blowing right toward my house. No sense in doing any dusting or cleaning until they finish. Seems like a good reason to stay in the sewing room and put off the house cleaning for a couple more days, don't ya think? :~) It is nice to live right next to a potato field, we know the farmer and he lets us go out and get all of the potatoes that we want. We have a nice big box full in our food storage room. Should be able to enjoy them for most of the winter months. YummmO!!!

We are supposed to get our first frost of the season tonight, lows expected to be around 30. I sure hope this beauty will survive.

A couple of weeks ago was our State Fair, my adorable little grandson had to give the milking a try. As soon as he realized I had the camera out, he struck a pose. Takes after his mother! :~) They sure didn't get it from me, I HATE the camera!


Hugs&Stitches, Jul♥a

30's Quilt Finished

I was able to finish the quilt for my daughter. Our weather has been a little crazy and as she lives about 30 miles from us, I haven't been able to give it to her yet. But, I think she will like it. It is nice to finish a UFO.

I was able to make another scrub top for our other daughter this past week too.
I am now working on a set of shams to go with the quilt that I gave Mom and Dad for Christmas.

Actually, I am surprised that I have been able to get anything done this past week. It has been a very stressful week. Remember my little helper, our 9 month old grandson, he was very sick. He was diagnosed with RSV. My daughter had missed 2 days of work already, so she had to go to work on Friday and that just happened to be his worst day and guess who was watching him? Yep, me! I was so worried about him. He was so lethargic, and his breathing was so labored. He slept in my arms most of the day, I was to scared to put him down, for fear he would quit breathing.
Prayers have been answered and he is doing much better now. I get very anxious when one of my loved ones is sick, especially when it is one of my little ones.
Now I am getting sick. Yuck!!! I have spent the entire weekend in jammies and just lazing around. My throat is so sore, I feel like I am swallowing razor blades. I feel a little bit better today though.

I can show you what I made for my Pay it Forward gifts, as they have both received them now. Thanks for signing up Nikki and Sue!!! This was fun to participate in.
Thanks for stopping by and I would love to read a comment from you!!!!

Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn!!!

Happy Autumn, Everyone!!!!

This is one of my favorite days of the year, Fall Equinox!!! I LOVE fall!! As the days begin to cool, the air gets crisp and fresh, the nights are cold enough to add another quilt to the bed. Ahhhhhhh!! A cozy feeling permeates my home! It is time to light some spicy scented candles, to add to the warm and cozy feeling. I want to start baking bread and cookies. And the best of all, it is time for soups!!!!! Not much better than a crock-pot full of a yummy soup, simmering all day to meld the flavors together. YUMMO!!!!

This is one of my favorite trees. It is in my front yard. It is the first to show it's beautiful fall colors.

I was able to work on my project from the Kim Diehl class. I have all of the applique done, just have the borders left to piece and sew on. Then on to the big stitch quilting. I haven't done big stitch before, so it should be interesting to try. I need to hit the LQS to pick up the perle cotton first though.
I have a couple of projects with deadlines that need to be completed before I can add the borders and start the quilting.

Thanks to all of those who left me Anniversary wishes. I especially enjoyed all of the comments as to how young I look. :~) You have all swelled my head a little. :~) A couple of you asked about my skin care regime, I don't really have one. I use just whatever facial cleanser I happen to pick up at the store. I have used Oil of Olay moisturizer with SPF 15 for years now. That is pretty much it. I guess that I have been blessed with good skin. Not so blessed with a good metabolism though. LOL

Hugs&Stitches, Julia

Busy Springtime!

Yard-work and quilting deadlines have kept me pretty busy this past month. Thought I would make a quick post to show you some of what I have been up to.

Flower gardens are looking delightful,

veggie plants are starting to pop their precious little heads out of the ground,

front porch is set up to enjoy some time relaxing,

(I do need to add re-finishing the deck to my list of summer jobs! *sigh*) Oh well, I am still going to plant my behind in one of those chairs and do some serious relaxing! :~) As soon as the weather warms up a bit more and the rain quits, that is. This has been an unseasonably wet and cool spring for us. Everything is sure pretty and green though!

I will share some pictures of the quilts that I finished for birthdays next time. Next on the quilting front is a wedding quilt for my nephew, he is getting married on July 10th.

Blogs posts will be sparse this summer, don't give up on me though. I will still pop in occasionally just to keep in touch with all of you. :~)

Hugs&Stitches, Jul♥a

This One is for Sharon Too!!

Here is my giveaway in honor and support of Sharon. A set of 6 Thimbleberries fat quarters. If you are interested, just leave a comment by midnight on Feb 7. I will draw the winner on Friday, Feb 8.
Our ever widening circle of quilting blogger friends is a joy to behold. We are meeting and becoming friends with people that we would probably never have met before. We should be able to share our quilting adventures, our daily joys and sorrows, without fear of judgment and cruelty. Sharing our little warm squishys is one of the funnest parts of our online friendships.
So this one is for you Sharon!!!!

Quilty Christmas Present

Thanks so much to all of you who shared your condolences with me concerning the passing of my aunt. It meant so very much to me. ♥ ♥ ♥

I finished up the quilt for my brother and SIL.
I used some Thimbleberries scraps and this pattern from Bonnie. I love this pattern! It is really fun to make. I used a panto called "Plumage", from Willow Leaf Studio. I think that it is my favorite one so far. Of course, I say that with every new one that I use. hehe I think that my panto stash is going to rapidly become as large as my fabric stash. ;~)

They came up from Utah for the funeral, so I was able to give it to them while they were here. Nice to give it to them in person instead of shipping it. I think that I should have made them each one though. They were teasing each other about who was going to get to use it while they watched t.v. *s* Maybe after the first of the year, I will have to make another one. I don't want to be the cause of contention. lol

I am getting a very late start to my day. We had a storm go through last night and it knocked out the power. Now I am running behind.

Hugs&Stitches, Julia

Quiltathon!!

I am getting kind of a late start on the Quiltathon, hosted by Judy, today. But, here is what I have planned. A table runner from Thimbleberries book, Calendar Table Toppers and a Easter wall hanging that I drew up in EQ6 last year. I will be using these fabrics from the Laura's London Lawns II by
Moda.



Ethan is in his room playing with his Kinex. So all should be good for a little while.
I plan on sewing most of this day. I am not sure about tomorrow though. I might sew a little after church. I usually try to make Sunday a special day and stay out of my sewing room. But, I shall see what tomorrow brings.

Happy Quiltathon to you all and let the sewing begin!!!!!!!!!!

Rainy Saturday

It is raining like crazy today. Look how pretty and green our grass is getting! I love the rain! Of course, living in a high plains desert we don't get tons of rain, so I enjoy these kinds of days.

I am babysitting today. Kristy is at work, so we are watching our two darling, little grandsons. Kyson loves to play with the pans and kettles. Before the day is over these will be spread all over the house. LOLI am trying to distract him with some of Ethan's toys, we'll see how long that lasts. :~)

Ethan is entertaining Kaden for me. They are downstairs playing some video games. Maybe we will read some books or play a game here in a little while. I am trying get my laundry done too. We were drowning is a sea of dirty clothes. :~)

I would love to be working on this quilt for my brother's birthday instead of doing laundry,

but there should be some time later this afternoon, after the little ones go home. I am using a couple of jelly rolls and some charm packs from two or three different Kansas Troubles lines. I love how they can all go together. This is a fun pattern to make! I love using the pre-cuts, like jelly rolls, charms, layer cakes, etc! I wouldn't want to use them all of the time, but I sure do enjoy using them once in awhile.

Uh oh, I hear a chair scooting across the dining room floor. That can only mean one thing, Kyson is getting ready to climb somewhere he shouldn't be! eep!!!

Hope that you are all having a wonderful weekend!

Hugs&Stitches, Jul♥a

30's Sampler Quilt

This is the quilt that I mentioned in my last post. As you can see, my design wall is not big enough. This is what I have so far. I think that I am going to do some applique in the setting triangles too. I am doing the applique with my embroidery machine. The basket is from a Thimbleberries book. It will be about twin size when I get it done. It is our oldest daughter's birthday on Monday, so I think that I will give it to her. Of course, I am sure that I won't have it done by then. I am babysitting my grandchildren this afternoon and evening. With my own 7 yr old and 3 grandchildren, ages 5 yrs - 2 1/2 yrs - 9 months, it gets a little crazy around here. :)

Thanks to everyone that stops for a visit and leaves a comment. You know that I love to hear from you!!!!!

Hope that you are all having a great weekend!!! Happy Quilting!!!!

Deadline Projects Finished

This is one of the the projects I had with a deadline. I finished it the day that it was to be shipped on to the next person. Nothing like waiting until the last minute. I usually don't do that, not sure what happened. Probably school starting, SuzyQ, that I want to bond with, and I got sick for about 3 weeks. This is step 2 of the online Round Robin that I joined in on. It is fun to see what comes in the mail. I can only show you a little snippet of it because they want the final reveal of each one to be a surprise.


This friendship block was my other deadline project. I did paper piecing again. I am getting to where I really like doing paper piecing more and more. I am not very fast at it. ;~) But, it is so accurate and precise. You can work with some odd shaped pieces very easily. I still want to make an entire quilt using the stars from Carol Doaks book, "Simply Sensational Nine Patch Stars". I really like her books. This is from that book.

I am working on a baby quilt for charity. I want to do a little more practice with SuzyQ before I do a "real" quilt on her. These charity quilts are good practice. I am doing well enough that I don't feel bad about the quality of them for donations. Each one that I do, I learn a little more. I have my first class for SuzyQ on Oct.2.

I have started walking again since school started. I think that it might help to keep me motivated and to stay committed, if I post my progress. I have a goal of 5 days a week, and around 2-4 miles a day, for right now. I will try to increase this as time goes on. I have been pretty close to this goal for the last 4 weeks. This week I have walked 4 days, totaling 9 miles.

Hugs&Stitches, Julia

Squishy Mail brings Summer Garden

I had to go to the dentist the other day. I hate going to the dentist, it is about like that yearly gyno visit. Not on my list of pleasant things to do. ;~)

Anyway, when I got home, on the table was this lovely little squishy package with a Royal Mail sticker on it. I knew at once that it had to be my Four Season Summer Swap quilt. Suddenly the unpleasantness of the dentist was forgotten and I squealed with glee. Inside was this beauty! I love it!!!! I am the luckiest girl on the planet! I have another beautiful creation from Andrea. She was also my Winter swap partner and made this cutie for me. Her work and creativity are outstanding. Her little, tiny, hand quilting stitches are amazing. It is now hanging in my hallway and I can see every time I go into my bedroom or into my sewing room.
She included these other little goodies too! I am so excited about the pincushion. It has taken up residence next to my sewing machine! Thanks so much Andrea!!!!

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. :)