A Great Find!

Hello!

Guess what I found a couple of weeks ago while thrifting?

Do you know what it is?

It's a sewing box! I saw it and snatched it up. It was love at first sight!  :)  Then I turned it over and it was only $5.97! AND I got it for 50% OFF of that!!! What a great deal!  :)

I took it home, cleaned it up and filled it with my perle cotton stitching threads.  :)

It has lots of knicks and scratches . . . but I don't care. I love it anyway!  :)

That just means that it's been used and loved! It has character and now it's all mine!  :)

Until next time . . .

A New Stitch & Quilt Along . . .

Hello!

Sorry I've been gone so long. I've been really out of it lately. I've been very tired, with lots of allergy problems and just haven't felt like doing anything. I have managed to get some cleaning and organizing done. My projects are lining up though. Hopefully I can get back to sewing again soon. I miss it!

In the meantime I discovered a new Stitch & Quilt Along I'm joining . . .

It's the Garden Steps Stitch & Quilt Along with Clover & Violet. Here's the sample block . . .

It's so yummy and so me!  :)  You should go and check it out!

For the quilt I need 12 fat quarters and a solid for the center. Last week I noticed that Sew Lux Fabric & Gifts had the fabric I wanted to use on sale. I could pick out the 12 fat quarters I wanted and order just them so I did. It arrived today . . .

Such pretty packaging! I almost didn't want to open it . . . (almost.)  ;)  Here's a close up of their business card . . .

I choose to use Ruby by Bonnie & Camille for Moda. I just love it!  :)  Here it is all wrapped up . . .

And another view . . .

Here are the twelve fat quarters I choose . . .

 Aren't they yummy?!!! The quilt requires two colorways so I'm using red . . .

and aqua . . .

I already have some white on hand so I'll be using that. Now I just need to figure out what threads I'll be using for the embroidery. Then check my stock and order the ones I don't have. I can't wait to get started on this one. It looks so fun!  :)

Until next time . . .

Look what I got!

Hello!  :)

I received the most wonderful Valentine surprise from Donna of Donna's Lavender Nest.  :)

Donna's a real sweetie and she sent me lots of Valentine goodness! Don't you think?! First she sent me this awesome vintage Valentine. I love it!  :)

Here's a close up of the beautiful heart shaped pin cushion. I absolutely love it!  :)

I love roses, pink and rick rack of course! Did you see the pins in it? Here's a close up of them . . .

Aren't they awesome?!!! Then I found some chocolate goodness hidden inside this awesome Valentine wrapper.  :)

She also sent me a couple of vintage sheets, which I love!  :)  Great job Donna on all of it! It was a very pleasant surprise! You should check out her blog, Donna's Lavender Nest, it's full of lots of vintage goodness!  :)

Check this out . . . 

It's the sewing machine I've had for over 20 years. It's been with me through lots of projects and has served me well. It's very basic though with only 9 stitches.

For Valentine's my hunky dude surprised me with a new sewing machine! He's so awesome!  :)

It's not as fancy as the machine's a lot of you have, but it's definitely an upgrade for me and I love it!  :)

It has 100 stitches!  :)  It also came with the table extension, 10 feet including a walking foot and a free-motion quilting foot. It has lots of fun stuff for me to play with. It kind of makes me nervous. I've gotten it out of the box but haven't played with it yet. It kind of intimidates me. I know it's silly. Maybe tomorrow I'll get busy with it for the Friday Night Sew-In. Wish me luck!  :)

Until next time . . .

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hello!  :)

I hope you have had a wonderful Valentine's Day! I did! The hunky dude and I had a steak and lobster dinner for two at home. I've never purchased or cooked lobster tails before but they were on sale so I picked some up. They were delicious! A very nice treat!  :)

I finished a stitchery I've been working on today.

Isn't he cute?!!! It's a little late to make something with it for this year but that's okay. I had no idea what I wanted to make anyway. Now I have months to decide.  :)  I got the pattern from Sarah at Gingerbread Cottage. She traced it from a vintage valentine. Isn't that cool?! You can find it here. She stitched it up herself and made the cutest Gingham Valentine with it! You should check it out!  :)

I just love vintage Valentines! Don't you? Maybe I can find some that I can trace and stitch up. Here are some awesome ones I've come across . . .

Until next time . . .

Swaps

Hello!  :)

Last week I told you I had joined a Valentine's apron swap. I made one for me and one for my partner. Gail received her apron, so now I can share it with you.

First here is the one I made for me!  :)

I love it!  :)  It was a new pattern for me and went together pretty quick.  :)

This is the one I made for Gail . . .

Here's a close-up of the details . . .

Don't you just love the kitties and pink hearts?!!!  And how about the pink mini pom-pom's on the pocket and of course the extra large rick rack! I hope she likes it as much as I do!  :)

I received my apron and goodies from Gail today. She sent me a two-sided apron, one side Valentine and the other for every day! How cool is that?!!! She also sent me some Valentine socks, cupcake liners & picks, and a set of heart cookie cutters. I'm a lucky girl! I love it all!  :)

Here's the Valentines side, full of hearts, and the goodies.  :)

Here's the reverse side . . .

I love it! Check out that awesome apron fabric!!! OMG!!! I love it!!!  :)  She also used the same heart fabric from the front and some black rick rack! Did I tell you I love it?!!!  :)  Thank you so much Gail! You rock!!!  :)

I have one more swap to share with you. Remember this Snowman block I made?

My partner Nettie received it!  :)  I received this one from her . . .

Isn't it adorable?!!! I love it! It's all appliqued. She did a wonderful job! Thank you Nettie!  :)

That's all the swaps for now. The only other swap I have lined up is making two heart blocks for this month's block swap. Not quite sure what I'm going to do yet. Can't wait to get started on them. I love hearts!  :)

Until next time . . .

Birdies Top is Done! . . . I think . . .

Hello!  :)

When I last left you I had gotten the sashings and cornerstones on my Birdies Quilt.

I also had decided that I wanted it bigger than originally planned. The original plan called for one border which was going to be this . . .

So I got out my Sophie stash . . . Yes I have a stash of Sophie for another project! I love it that much!!!  :)  I decided to do three borders. Hope it's not too much!

I came up with this as the first border . . .

What do you think? I love it!  :)

Then a second border, the same size as the sashing . . .

This one looked good when I just laid the fabric next to the quilt but I'm not so sure with it attached. My original idea was to bring some of the stitchery color out to the border to balance the colors out. What do you think?

I went ahead and added the last border. I wish I had a better picture. I took tons of pictures but this is the best of them. It's hard to take pictures of something so big by yourself.   :(

So what do you think? Please let me know. I need some opinions here. Sometimes I look at it and I love it. Other times I just don't know. Is it too much? I am happy with the size now.  :)

I will be using this for the binding . . .

And this for the backing . . .

Looking forward to your comments and opinions. Thanks so much!  :)

Until next time . . .