i've been busy.. FINALLY!.. lol

wow... this month is just flying by..  i was doing so good with keeping up with this blog.. and i look and .. wtf..  the month is more than half over..  but.. i have been working..  i've done quite a bit on my mermaid.. and on the cirque des carreaux...   and... believe it or not... i've actually been sewing too!!... i know.. it shocked me too.. lol..

i've start working on some of the charity quilts for the guild..  at least got the tops together.. and i went to joannes and got some fabric to put the first borders on them...  i'm hoping to get those done in the next couple of weeks..

i also did another easy striped table runner top.. since i wanted to practice a bit before i taught a class on them for the guild for the may workshop... the girls did great!!.. and their runner were beautiful..  they each did one.. and i hope they bring them to the next guild meeting to show them off..

then... i got bored with the usual stuff...so i took a charm pack i picked up.. cherish nature.. and make a table topper with that... that is one beautiful fabric line..

and... i finally started on a 4 patch posie quilt... i've been dying to try one for the last year or so.. so.. i finally cut one of the pretty asian fabrics i had... (i probably have enough to make at least 6 more of these.. lol)..

not gonna get much done this next week.. my dear sister flies in tomorrow for a lonnng weekend.. she'll be here till tuesday.. and we have a family birthday party on sunday.. so we'll be busy..

till next time..

shey..

nickilee is having a give-a-way..

my dear friend nicki is having a give-a-way to celebrate her 100th post on her blog and her 100th sale on her etsy site...

check out her blog... http://cqnickilee.blogspot.com/  for more details.. and for some lucious eye candy... she's a genious when it comes to dying laces...

and her etsy site.. http://www.etsy.com/shop/ravioleedreams  ..  she has amazing stuff in here!!..

shey..

gudrun's world is having a give away..

to celebrate her newest book... fast and furious Holiday quilting as you go...  and the prize will be... a copy of the book...   hope i win.. :D

check out her blog... http://gudrun.typepad.com/my_weblog/ 

i LOVE.. LOVE.. her patterns.. they are always so quick and easy and the directions are excellent!!..

shey..

May???.. where did april go??

wow... it's may already.. wish i knew where the first 4 months of the year went.. this year seems to be whoooshing right by!!..

i didn't quite finish the round 3 on my pp challenge quilt .. i got all the blocks for the sides done.. (24 blocks) but.. not the corners yet.. i would like to say i'll get those done this week.. but.. i'm not sure i will.. i need to do a bunch of stuff for the guild before the meeting next monday and.. with mother's day this weekend.. i won't have time to do it then..

i worked a little on my mermaid picture.. but.. i've been told i have to slow down on that one since i'm so far ahead of the other girls in the group.. so.. basically worked on the hair on one of them.. and i put some sparkle on her... there's a real pretty blue kreinik going thru her hair..

and i did a lot on the cirque des carreaux..

and when i went for my walk this morning i discovered another pair of sand cranes have had babies... these little ones are much younger than the last ones i took pictures of... they are still all tiny and fuzzy...

shey..

gawd.. has it been a week already??

where the heck has the week gone??..  it just seemed to fly by.. and.. i honestly don't have much to show for it .. lol..  in fact.. what little progress i did do on my cross stitch is hardly noticeable so i'm not even gonna post pics of them.. hopefully next week they'll look like i did something..

quilting... i did work on my paper-pieced challenge..  those 24 little blocks are sure taking a lot longer to do than i had hoped but... i should be finishing those up today and  with some luck.. i'll get them on the quilt this weekend..  then.. onto round 4.. which is 2 colours..  i think i know what colours i want.. but i need to find a block for them..

the weather here in Orlando.. is getting so beautiful.. and by this weekend we are expected to get our first 90+ day of the year...   so.. looks like the pool may be warm enough to go in very soon.. :)   i admit to being a complete wuss when it comes to that.. if the water temp isn't at least 80... it ain't happening.. lol..

well best i get back to work if i plan on getting anything done today..

shey..

busy... busy... busy..

wow... seems like all i've been doing is running lately... so.. again no progress on the quilting front... hopefully things will settle down soon so i can actually get something done!..

i did get some work done on my mermaid...  i really really like this... they are beautiful.. and are coming along quite quickly..  i can't wait to get some beads on her and some of the kreiniks to get some glitter on her..  i'm hoping tomorrow to get to the cross stitch store to get the beads... 

i also did a little... note very little on the cirque des carreaux..  the colours in that one i love they remind me on an old fashioned tapestry..  very vibrant jewel tones..  gorgeous..

it's spring and i saw my first sand-crane babies of the year.. aren't they adorable!!..

well.. i think i'll try to head up to the sewing room and try to work a little on my Paper-pieced challenge quilt..  i'm so far behind on it.. :(

till next week..

shey..

teaparty fun..

hello..

well last nite at the guild we had a teaparty and did some redwork..  and.. it was a success!!.. yahoo!!... everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.. and some of them learned something new..  attendence is holding steady and we are getting some new members..  of course the next few months.. less people will be coming as quite a few of our ladies are snowbirds.. and they'll be flying north for the summer..

now for some progress... as i was one of the ladies in charge of the refreshments for the teaparty and i had to make the tracings for the redwork... i didn't get as much of my own stuff worked on as i would haveliked... but.. i did work some on my mermaid...

and on the cirque des carreaux.....

 and i made a very very easy table runner...  which i'll be teaching at our guild's May workshop..

and i finally took a picture of the snowman wallhanging that i did the machine blanketstitch applique on .. he's kinda cute...  and was kinda fun to do... and new to me..  this is first time that i've done that with my machine..

shey...

happy easter!!

ok.. so i'm a day late with that.. lol.. anyway.. i hope everyone had a fantastic Easter Holiday..  i had the family here for the day.. and it was great.. the weather was sunny and warm.. and  we all got to sit outside in the sun.. the guys played rummy and the girls.. sat in the sun and drank champagne..  we had a wonderful dinner and all enjoyed watching the Blind side... GREAT MOVIE!!... if you haven't seen it.. i'd recommend it...

now for some progress reports.. quilting wise.. well nothing to report on that front.. maybe next week..  i did however clean more in my sewing rooms... and taught 2 girls from the quild to paper piece.. and they did great!!.. they both caught on quick and like doing it!!..

cross stitching wise..  i've done quite a bit on my Mermaids of the deep blue..

started the cirque des carreaux..

and did some on the quaker Christmas...

looks like a busy week this week with taking cars in for repairs and lots of errand running.. but.. i hope to have some more progress to show you all next week..

shey..

back from vacation.. *sigh*

*sigh*... i'm back from the cruise... it was absolutely wonderful!!... 7 days of sunshine.. fun and laughter.. i so love our annual ladies only cruise.. with mom and my sister..  this time we did the eastern carribbean..  and went to samana (dominican republic).. st. thomas and tortola... beautiful.. beautiful islands!!..  i can't wait for next year's cruise..

but.. needless to say with my sister here and the cruise.. i didn't do much on my projects... so... no pics for you this week...

quilting-wise... i did do the machine blanket stitch on my snowman wallhanging.. and.. i've started doing a bunch of tracings for the redwork that the guild is going to do at the next meeting..  and tomorrow i have karen and lulu (from the guild) coming over in the morning so i can teach them how to paper-piece.. should be fun...

i picked up the linen i needed to start my mermaids of the deep blue.. and i've started that.. it's going to be very pretty on that linen... and i got the linen to start the cirque des carreaux..  i just had to see how the nefertiti looked on that taupe... so did a couple of stitches to start that one too..  other than that.. i've done a little more on the quaker christmas..  i'll have pics of all the cross stitch for you next week..  i hope by then it will at least look like i've done something..

i'm hosting Easter here this year.. and will have a houseful.. so most of the remainder of the week will be cleaning and shopping and getting ready for that..  i love to entertain and cook... i just hate the prep and cleaning.. lol.

till next week..

shey..

2 quilt tops finished this week!.. woo hooo!

it wasn't an extremely productive week ... but i did get a couple of quilt tops done... first i finished the Laurel Burch Christmas Challenge quilt that i've been doing with .. patti, nicki, elaine and christine... it's definitely bright.. lol.. and brights are out of my comfort zone.. but i like it... and i have tons of fabric left over... so looks like another Laurel Burch christmas quilt is in my future... lol...  and i finished Tim's quilt for christmas..  i think he'll like it.. it's the colours he wanted and looks like a great guy's quilt...

i didn't do much cross stitching this week... i had to take the car in for some repairs on tuesday and they said i'd be there for a few hours so i grabbed a book... big mistake... now i can't put the damn thing down.. lol... fortunately i'm almost done with it..  so i might get a little done this week...

however... my sister is coming in this week and ... we leave for the cruise on saturday for a week... so.. i won't be getting much done till she leaves..  and i won't be blogging much either.. lol.. but we are going to have a helluva good time!!..

ohhh... i got 3 red ribbons on the pieces i put in the fair..  i've got 2 of them pictured here... the Merry christmas one.. we are changing the mat on it... it was just a bit to bubblegum pink.. and i think we are going to go with a hot pink for it... i'll get a pic of that one after it's been changed..

shey..

quaker christmas started.. updated pretty pumpkins

well this last week i've been working a lot on cross stitching... i've started a quaker christmas... and omg... i love working with the silks threads... they just glide thru the fabric..  i'm using moonglow.. and on the med/dk blue fabric... they look like snowflakes.. i think i'm gonna really jazz it up and use a ton of beads on it to really make those snowflakes shine... i have a bunch of beads left from the Deck the Halls cross stitch and patti did too and said i could have hers..  so with both of those and some pearl beads i have i think it'll be good.. i think i'll also mention it to cathy to ask some of the other ladies that did deck the halls if they have any left they don't want..

and i started working on pretty pumpkins again.. and i've done pretty good on it...

i'm dying to start on the mermaids.. lol.. but.. i think it'll probably be after the cruise before cathy will get me in the fabric i want...  ohh.. and we've set up a new blog for that... none of the other ladies could get back into the 5 ladies a quilting blog... so the new blog is...  Twisted Stitchers.. lmfao... i love it!..  if you check in there... you'll see all the pretty Mermaids we're gonna be doing..

on the quilting front.. i actually went up and did some sewing this weekend!!.. i know.. it shocked me too.. lol..  i finally got the papers off the LB christmas challenge quilt... and i've put a border around it.. and i'm now working on the braided border for it.. i've got 2 sides done.. i'm hoping to get the other 2 sides on it this week and .. if i can find one i like.. a black and gold final border..

i think i'm gonna go to the cross stitch store this week... and if i got any ribbons for my cross stich i entered in the Osceola fair... i'll be back to post about it..

shey..

patti's murky manor is done too!!

my friend patti.. who was doing the Murky Manor stitch-a-long with me.. has finished her picture too.. again.. she is missing one of the skulls too.. i wanted to show a picture of her finished piece... she used a very dark fabric and i love how the colours seem to just pop on hers..  it's beautiful!!..  so.. that's another finished piece for us..  we've decided not to do the Sleepy Hollow picture for a bit.. we are Halloweened out .. lol.. so we're gonna wait on that... however.. we did decide to do a Mirabilia Mermaid stitch-a-long with Nicki and Elaine..  only with this stitch-a-long.. we are all doing different Mermaids..  we'll post the progress on those in the 5 ladies a quilting blog... and of course i'll do my progress on here as well..  i've decided to do Mirabilias.. Mermaids of the deep blue... and i think i'm gonna do it on crossedwings collection hand painted linen in .. deep sea..  so look for that one to be started soon..  well... as soon as i can get the fabric.. lol..

shey..

Murky manor is done!!

wooo hooo... i finished my Murky manor cross stitch picture over the weekend... well.. just about.. for some reason.. the JABCO bead pack for it... only came with 5 skulls instead of 6.. and i didn't notice it till i went to sew them on... so.. cathy is going to get me the last skull... then all i need to do is put my name on it.. and the year..  feels good to have a finished project.. :)... next and last (for a while) Halloween pic will be Sleepy Hollow and i'll start that one on March 1..

not that it lasted long.. lol.. cathy called me on saturday to tell me the silk threads i ordered for the Quaker Christmas came in... she knew damn well.. i couldn't reist going out there on saturday to pick them up... so.. i've started that one...  theres really not enough done to even show you all yet.. so .. will get a pic up for you in the next couple of days.. ...  and the threads for the ink circles one.. came in too.. but.. i'm waiting on the fabric for that one.. so .. will be starting that soon too..

as for quilting projects... well.. i've been immersed with cross stitching lately.. lol.. so didn't get too far... i am still taking all the papers out of the Laurel Burch Christmas challenge quilt... omg.. i forgot how many pieces were in those stars... lmao..

my cruise is coming up soon... i soooo can't wait!!...  one of these days i really need to clean up the guest room for my sister... and.. start getting some clothes ready .. we are going to have a blast!!...

shey..

update time ..

hello all...

well.. i got my laptop back from the doctors... poor thing was sick... but she's working good now.. so.. i can show you how much i've done on my Murky Manor cross stitch.. i've done quite a bit.. and.. i have a new goal.. i want to have it finished before i go on my cruise March 13th.. think i can do it??..

i also did a store sample for my local cross stitch/needlework store.. Needlecraft World in Kissimmee.. this was fun to do.. and very quick... only took an evening.. it's a pillow sham for a little mini pillow.. it's called.. January Expressions .. by Pine Mountain designs.. cathie will put the pillow form in when she gets it back for the store..

and... i've been working on Tim's quilt for Christmas.. he requested earth tones/neutrals.. and brown... i used the Cappuccino Bali pop to make it... it's called Strip Stacks by G.E. Designs.. i just need to get the fabric for the borders and.. it's ready to go to Cathy for quilting..

and i pulled out a quilting UFO to work on too... i'm working on the Laurel Burch Challenge Christmas quilt that i'm doing with Patti, Nicki, Elaine and Christine.. we're to have it done by July 2010.. so.. best i finish it up.. i'm taking all the papers off from the previous round... then i'll put a small solid border around it.. and finish up with a braided border of all the fabrics used in it... Hopefully.. i'll have a picture or that for you next week..

shey..

no picture updates this week..

well.. as much as i would love to show you all the progress on my Murky Manor cross stitch and the quilt i'm working on for my nephew.. i can't... my poor little laptop caught a virus and is at the doctors for some work.. and this pc.. for some reason... just will not let me download my pictures from my camera... so.. you'll have to wait till next week.. i didn't really do a whole lot anyway.. i spent a few days over the weekend with my mom.. and went with the Stepping Stones guild to Rainbows End in Dunedin... OMG!!!.. what an amazing store.. room after room of gorgeous fabrics.. i had a very very hard time controlling myself in there.. lol.. but i did make some good purchases.. and i plan on going back!!.. it's not that long a trip.. only a few hours.. it was fun with the guild tho.. everyone.. taking bolts of fabric from the others.. those ladies are going to have some wonderful quilts... i can't wait to see what they all come up with..

last nite was my other guild's meeting.. Patchers of Time.. i somehow managed to get myself elected to be the Program chair : i'm still not sure how that happened.. lol.. we have a whole new slate of officers this year and we're gonna try to get the guild so it's doing more.. and more active... so far .. it's going good.. they seem to be interested in some of the new programs we're adapting.. and we should be able to make quite a few quilts for charity this year.. we're having an auction next month... and have decided to donate the money we get from that to charity as well this year.. from what i understand... they do quite well at this auction.. but.. i won't be there for that meeting.. that is when my sister comes down for a visit and we and mom.. are going on a wonderful cruise to the Eastern Carribbean.... omg.. i can't wait.. 7 days of sunshine and laughter.. :D

well.. i'll post again next week.. hopefully by then my laptop will be back from the doctors..

shey..

cross stitch updates..

well.. this blog is supposed to be so i can keep track of what i'm working on.. wip's .. ufo's and new stuff too.. so.. in keeping with that.. i'm going to try to post updates of things i'm doing.. i've been working a lot on my Murky manor cross stitch.. so.. here is what i've done on it this week..

..

it's coming right along.. and the more i do on it.. the more i want to do.. it's fun.. i had originally planned on completing this picture by Oct 1.. but.. i think i'll have it done much faster than that.. so i'm gonna shoot for the end of April.. then i want to do Sleepy Hallow (also a Glendon Place design).. and hopefully get that done by the end of the year.. i've done enough Halloween i think.. so next year.. we'll have to do something else..

i've also done a quick and easy cross stitch picture.. this is.. Eloquent Christmas.. and it's a ByGone Stitches design.. all the cross stitching is done on it.. i just need to "decorate" the tree.. the pattern has some beading on it.. but i want to fancy it up some.. with more beading and stuff.. so i need to go shopping for more decorations for it..

shey..

cross stitch

i've been doing a lot of cross stitching... so i'll show a few that i've recently finished and some in progress..

this Merry Christmas picture was so so much fun to do.. it's bright and colourful .. the pattern and it's picture do not do it justice... it's just yummy all stitched up.. and i can't wait to see how cathie frames it up... this picture will be entered in the osceola county fair next month..

i've also found that i love quaker inspired pictures... this croaksworth was quick and easy to do.. i'm going to do quacksworth as a complimenting piece..

i'm currently working on Murky Manor .. by Glendon Place.. i love her patterns.. i also have Pretty pumpkins by her in progress too.. and plans to start Sleepy Hollow in the fall.. i'm doing Murky Manor as a stitch-a-long with my friend Patti in Kentucky.. this is the 3rd or 4th thing we've stitched together.. we've also done.. Monster March (also a glendon place pattern)... Rosy Radient star (linda myers pattern) and.. Deck the halls.. (just nan pattern).. altho.. my deck the halls isn't quite finished.. it will be soon tho...

i have 2 more that i'll be starting soon.. both will be very large pieces.. one will be.. Ink Circles.. Cirque des Carrreaux... http://www.inkcircles.com/IC/Carreaux.html and the other will be.. by gone stitches.. a quaker Christmas.. http://www.123stitch.com/cgi-perl/itemdetail.pl?item=BGS03 but trust me... the colours and fabrics i've picked... look nothing like the pictures... i just LOVE to shake things up a bit.. now i just have to wait for the fabrics and threads i've ordered to come in..
will (again).. try to do better about posting..

shey..

quilted finishes for christmas 2009

ok.. so i suck at keeping this current.. sorry about that.. i have all good intentions too.. but life seems to get in the way..

so.. lets see.. what's been going on the last few months... hmmm... sadly.. we lost our furbaby just before christmas .. she'd been a family member for 14 1/2 years... and we all miss her terribly...

i did manage to get a few things done for christmas.. i've already shown my son's quilt and my sisters.. but i also managed to get one done for my daughter..

this is the mini i did for trish for her christmas mini... i LOVE pineapple quilts and i loved how this one came out.. i plan on making myself one... one of these days... lol..

and this mini i made for my quilter... she is such an amazing lady.. and always manages to squeeze me in if i need to get something quilted in a hurry...

i'm sure there are others that i'll find later to post.. next post will be about some of the cross stitch i've finished and some wip's i'm working on..

shey..

been busy...

hello all....

ya i know .. it's been a long time since i posted on this.... i have been busy tho.. my wonderful hubby took me on a fantastic vacation to Vegas in August.. we had a blast and plan on going back again next year.. unfortunately i got sick.. when we got back.. and it just drained me for a few weeks.. just had no energy at all... but.. the last week or so... i've been working hard to get things caught up again.. and i have finished 2 quilts... which will now be sent to the quilter...

first is a fall quilt that i put together using blocks from a F8 block swap from 2007... i used the BQ2 quilt pattern for it... and i love how it came out.. you don't often see that pattern using sampler blocks.. but i think it came out just fine... i plan on using that layout quite a bit more..

then i finally finished my surf, sand and snowflakes quilt.. this was a challenge that Penny quilts put on the board last year... i LOVED the fabrics.. but only did about 4 blocks at the time... then my son decided he wanted a blue and brown quilt for his Christmas present this year... so i thought this quilt would be perfect for him and finished putting the quilt together... to use up some of the fabrics i thought the braided border would be perfect.. (i still have lots left tho... lol)... i like how it came out.. i think it looks great for a guy.. not tooo florally or "pretty".. i think he'll like it...

the only quilt i have left to make for Christmas this year is for my daughter... and i pretty much know what i want to do for that one.. and have the fabrics for it... so it shouldn't take to long to do.. i'm planning on having that one done and sent to the quilter by next month...

well back to work for me... i'll try not to let to much time lapse before i post again..

shey..

some completed things..

hello all..

well i had a fairly productive week this week.. i managed to complete the lizzie-kate christmas flip-it.. this was so much fun to do.. she has a new one coming out for this year that will be out soon..

and i finished the peppermint twist cross stitch as well..

and the last set of the native placemats..

i also sent a mini quilt to trish.. in australia.. it has the colours she loves in it.. and a summery feel to it.. she said it's perfect and she loves it... we're gonna be partners again for the autumn mini swap too.. this is the quilt i made for her..

and the back of it... i loved this butterfly fabric.. and i have a bit left that i'm hoping to make into a miranda bag..

and this gorgeous mini is the one she made for me... isn't it just darling??!!... i love it!!..

that's about it for this week.. i have lots to work on this coming week so .. hopefully i'll have something to show next week too..

shey..