Favorite Friday Blog Finds

These little homemade handwarmers are something I would use. They would stay warm long enough to make it to work.



Speaking of handwarmers...
I finally (only took most of the Fall and part of Winter) got these mittens done.

PDF download for sawtooth star quilt This quilt was done by Elizabeth from Oh Fransson. I'm a huge fan of her style. You can find a list of all her tutorials here.

Found this little tutorial/inspiration about wrapping candy bars for gift giving with "presentation".

Finally a Quilt Top!

It still needs to be quilted, but this is Swirly-Gig, from the book Hooked on Charms.It was made using two charm packs of Sweet Baby Jane. It's good to be getting some work done! The points aren't all perfect...but I'm gonna love it anyway.

organizing

At a quilt retreat I was at, one of the gals had a table top like this that her husband made for her sewing machine. Bruce didn't get mine done for Christmas, but he sure came through for my birthday. It's gonna make

free motion quilting alot easier for me. Another tip I found at the same quilt retreat were bedrisers for the cutting table. Not only does it make it more erganomical, but there is now more storage space in my tiny sewing room.
I'm trying to finish up this charm quilt that I started at the last retreat. Hope to have something pretty to show tomorrow.

A Big Day

Yep, it's my birthday....and a big one too.....I remember when this used to sound REALLY Old! Barb and Karen left me this bottle of wine and balloon when they stopped by.
Look at these beautiful tulips and candy I got from my friend Tari.

My brother stopped by with two bottles of wine and some lottery tickets. I won $25! (Is there a wine theme going on here?) My youngest thought that was pretty funny.

My sister (and best sewing partner), bought me this table runner book and a gift cert. to our favorite quilt shop. The card made me cry...it was so sentimental and thoughtful...just like my big sister!My oldest daughter bought me a wii fit and it is way fun! My wii fit age was 55!!!!!! It sure is a fun way to exercise.

So far it's been better than Christmas. My parents are coming over for dinner tonight and my mom is baking my favorite cake. (Good thing I got a wii fit!) Actually, I'm so grateful for everyday and all the wonderful friends and family I have. Okay, I'm gonna spend at least a few hours in my sewing room today. Ü

Favorite Friday Blog Finds

I keep thinking about Spring...I came across a tutorial for this very cute flower to make

These little Valentine Day Cards are a great way to use up scraps.

Getting Organized

I was so excited about making pillowcases at the retreat, with French Seams and the tube for the cuff...I went right out and bought some sewing notion fabric to make pillowcases for the next retreat!


I did this piece of embroidery last Spring, and finally got around to framing it in at the retreat. It's gonna look great in my chair this Spring.
I fell in love with this pillow when I saw it at HeatherHale Designs Blog.

It's so much nicer to work in a tidy space!I spent the first two days I was home folding my fabrics (I still have a bag of scraps to sort through). The top shelves are projects that need my attention...Now, if I can just keep it this way...

See that little dresser sneaking in the picture? It's next!

Retreat Weekend

The same group of us that went to a retreat in May, went again this past weekend.

This was our view out the patio doors that line one wall of the lodge in May...
The same view this past weekend! It was beautiful to watch the snow fall as we sewed. I think we got about 6" of fresh snow this past weekend. I worked on several projects and will try to post about them tomorrow.

I did learn how to make pillow cases with French seams and a neat way to avoid a seam showing on the cuff of the pillow case from some of the gals there.Krystle made this wonderful children's quilt. I love the idea of snuggling under this quilt while reading the fabric book blocks. I'm hopeful to do this with a Mother Goose book I have.

It was truly amazing the quilts that were completed this past weekend. So inspiring.

I'm Back

I'm back! I spent as much time as I could with my sister and her family from Hawaii, over the Christmas Season. It was as much fun to spend time with them as it was to spend time with the family as a whole that we sometimes don't see enough of even though we live close by. Right after the New Year, I got the flu....talk about a great way to jump start a diet....

My Lizzy got new ice skates, so I wasted no time making a pair of bright wool socks for her to wear with them.

I love this Ann Norling Pattern. This one pattern has directions for socks in sock wt, sport wt, and worsted wt yarn. I used Brown Sheep yarn to make this pair.

We had a quiet New Year. I'm looking forward to my baby graduating from high school this year. I continue to fight the urge to start new projects before completing those lying about needing to be done, as well as fighting the battle of the buldge...Both things I will wrestle with the rest of my life.