bees and things.

I've been trying to catch up on my quilt bee assignments.

Here are the stars for Shaina.

I love this fabric!!

Alphabet letters for the quilt that Shea is

going to be putting together for her little one.

I'll be really curious to see this quilt completed.

Everyone is making a couple of letters

using all different colors....

Can't wait!

As I was finishing up those blocks

I received a package in the mail.

A BIG package!!

I opened it...

wondering what it could be.

I AM in a potholder swap...

but this looks too big for potholders!!!

It's a whole new kitchen set!!!!!
WOW!
and WOW again!!

My potholder pass friend got carried away I think.
Isn't it all too lovely for words??
Yes, I think so too.

Thank you.
Thank you, Jeannie.


One of the larger potholders looks lovely
under the flowers I received for Mother's Day.
Don't you think?


Let's just sit down and enjoy looking at
those potholders and goodies together.
Have some soup.
It is super, super easy.
So's the chicken salad sandwich:
diced chicken. celery. dried cranberries. Mayo.
Serve on croissant.

I would love to have my blog friends over for this
simple supper.
We'd sip our soup and admire all the
lovely things Jeannie sent...
Then we'd ooooh and aaaah over fabric....
Wouldn't that be fun?

owls and friends continued.

Ta Dah!

Quilted.

Bound.

Fun backing.

I didn't have enough of the right fabric
for the back, so it's pieced.
I think NOT HAVING actually stretches our creativity.
Don't you think?

I had a lot of this left over.

A lightbulb moment then happened for me!

"What if I cut all those strips to 2 1/2" wide?
They'd make a great binding!"

And they did!!!

owls and friends

Here's a little finish.

Almost. Still have to quilt it.

I just loved this fabric when I saw it.


I bought 2 fat quarters of each design.
I bought it last month when visiting my daughter.

Then I began cutting and sewing.
Note: I did not plan ahead.
Bad Idea!


I got this far.
Oops!!
Not enough of that brown stripe.

I need SIX little 1 1/2" x 6" pieces.
AARRRGH!!!

What am I going to do now??

1. I tried first to find SOMETHING in my stash
that kind of went with it.
Nope!...can't find anything.

2. Called my local quilt shops.
Nope. They don't have it.

3. Looked online.
Found the fabric on sale for $5 a yard. $6 shipping.
I don't know.
Pay more for shipping than the fabric??

4. waited. and wondered.

5. Hallelujah!
I asked my friend Nancy....
"Will you be going to that quilt shop we went to
anytime soon?"
I really didn't want to travel
all the way across the country
for six little pieces of fabric!!

But...
I wanted that fabric!!
Yes.
She went.
She found.
She sent.

Free shipping too!

she sent it home with my daughter who was coming home for the summer.

What a dear friend!!!

Thursday morning.

Almost every Thursday morning I get together with friends.

Nice, huh?

They come over and bring their projects.

We work.

We talk.

Compare notes.

It's always an inspiring morning.

Today Jenn added a border to her quilt!

AND

we pinned it...ready for quilting!

I stitched a little on my baskets.



Ellen (the expert Knitter) clicked away on her new socks!


Jenn showed us her C-u-t-e Bib!!
She said it was easy...
but I don't know about that part!

Maybe for you knitters it is....??


We pondered this little knitted cap.
Why is it so big if the pattern says it's for an infant??


Cute, though.


Well...
Chloe kind of wanted to do something too.
Were we leaving her out?


Wouldn't want to do THAT!!


" Here we go Chloe.
A sewing project just for you."

Can she do it??

Yes she can!

She had some fun!!

Sewing begins at an early age around here!!

Hey!

I was even inspired by my knitting friends to

take up my crochet needle again.

I made these last Saturday during an all day conference.

So glad I could use the time doing something crafty!

My kitchen will LOVE them.

And so will I!!

I'm adding this to Amy's sew and tell.

Run and around blogland and get inspired!

Bizzy.

Two potholders for a swap.

Two blue quilts quilted and bound.
One nine patch pinned...and ready!

One scrappy quilt quilted.
waiting for binding.



One thread catcher seen on Bonnie's blog this morning.
It took me 5 whole minutes!!
Thanks Bonnie.

I just realized I didn't sew the edge seams
to make it more boxy...
I'm going to do that right now!

Another thread catcher.

I tried making this one first,

but it didn't stand up as well as the jeans.

I added a loop and hung it up.

Now I have two!

We'll see which one ends up getting used!!!!

My thread catcher so far has been...

the FLOOR!!

Here's my hint for the day.

This little guy lives right next to my machine!!

Isn't he cute?

HA!

I could probably upgrade to a fancier brush..huh?

Everytime I change that bobbin...

I conduct a lint removal operation.

Happy quilting!!

Hang it up.

I found some hangers at IKEA last week.

They were simple wood hangers.

And....

They were the right price.

I thought of something I could do with those hangers.

I used my daughter's acrylic paints and
I doodled.....


And doodled some more.

They look kinda cute, huh?
I think that little bit of ribbon really adds to the charm.

The recipients will be so happy their gift is not made out of
FABRIC!!!
:)

I also made this last night.

We were out of snack food.
A Very important commodity in our house.

This is sooo much better than the store bought
granola bars and super simple.

I found the recipe here.

You can see that no one has been shy about
eating it!!



I also tried my quilt top on.
It fits.

Now to get quilting!!

ta dah!

This scrappy top is done!

Woo Hoo!

It measures 56"x60"

Perfect for cuddling on the sofa.

I learned this about scrap quilts:

The bigger they get...

the better they look.

When I only had a few blocks done I was dubious.

Was this really going to work?

But as the quilt grew...

it grew on me!

FYI!!

scrap quilts DO make a dent in the scrap box.

I actually ran out of 2" squares and had to cut more!!

Is that license to acquire more fabric???

hmmmm.....

I told myself today:

"You may not quilt this until you

quilt one (or two) of those senior quilts!"

Soooo...

I'm going to quilt one (or two) of those senior quilts...

so I can get back to this one!