My New Hat!

Going to Target is usually dangerous for me. I usually find lots of things that are NOT on my list. I just love seeing what new things they have. I found this hat calling to all my quilt pins. I, of course had to put my new Quilt Diva pin front and center in the photo! Quilting pins look much better than fishing lures don't you think?

My Other Job

It is calving season and I love getting out in the sun. Rain and snow...not so much but sun....YES! It is always good to stretch my legs from that crouched, hunched position at my sewing table. I check on them throughout the day and my husband John does the early morning and bedtime checks. I just love to catch when the moms are having their calves. I try to stay at least 50 yards away using my binoculars so that I don't stress them out. It is so amazing how they do it all by themselves. No epidural. No drugs of any sort. No doctors in white coats. No male pacing the pasture. They just lay down and have their baby and then jump up and clean it off. I am in awe every time!

When the calves get older they play around with each other like puppies. They run around the pond and around their moms chasing each other. It is fun to watch. When it is nap time one or two of the moms babysit all the calves while the other moms graze.

This is spring calving season so the next time you drive down the road be sure to look for babies out with the herds maybe you can catch some out playing and chasing each other.

One Lucky Follower Gets My New Pattern!

We had so much fun with the last giveaway, we decided to do another one. This time it is my brand new pattern and the winner is ....mysistersusan. Thanks so much for following! I love to read your comments. Let me know what you think about this pattern and if you have any suggestions for other patterns or gift items you would like to see.

My "Happy Halloween" pattern was so successful for us that I thought I would follow it with "Merry Christmas". (48 1/2 x 62 1/2) My mom came up after I had the patterns all drawn for our usual fun. This is where we pick out fabric for the new pattern, watch tons of movies and eat carry out while we cut, fuse and stitch. I absolutely love this time with my Mom. We hope you like the color combination. We thought it looked like winter colors but you can do it in traditional colors too. Rosie my friend and quilter quilted candy canes in the border. The quilting is AMAZING!



I used the penguin block over and over again, nine to be exact to make this 48 1/2 x 48 1/2 wall-hanging. We bought a package of 1 3/8" buttons and then matched fabric to the buttons to make their coats. You could do this in any color combination with the black and white penguins.



I was so excited to do the nutcracker the same way that I also made two more nutcracker blocks to make it more fun. I know there are a lot of people out there that collect nutcrackers. I had fun using all my black and whites and the background could be your favorite color. I just love red. My couch is red. My car is red. I also think they would look wonderful in traditional nutcracker colors. You could even do them all blue and white. I just wish I had time to do all the color variations!



I did have time to make a pillow out of wool felt with the black and white stripe as a border. Of course this could be any of the Christmas blocks....nutcracker, Santa, gingerbread man. This makes a quick gift.


I almost forgot...we also put a placement sheet in the pattern to make the middle block say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas for those who might want a choice.

We wanted to get it out now so there would be plenty of time to get it made for this next Christmas. We hope you like it!

Quilting Day Giveaway Winner

Thank you all for your wonderful comments, we picked a winner by random using http://www.random.org/integers/
And the winner is....drum roll.....fcrowthe
Thanks again for following me and I hope everyone had a wonderful quilting weekend!
Amy

National Quilting Day Giveaway!

In honor of National Quilting Day this Saturday March 19th I am having a giveaway!
To enter to win, sign up to become a Follower of my blog by clicking on the Follow link on the sidebar. If you are already a Follower you will automatically be included. I will randomly choose one winner from my Followers list and announce them on Saturday March 19th. You have to check the blog on Sunday to see if you have won. These are some of my most recent patterns from left to right Fabric Addict wall hanging, Snow Day Sew Day, My Alphabet Quilt, Happy Halloween, Traveling Turtles, and Fabric Addict Doll. The retail value is $195.00. I'm planning on celebrating National Quilting Day with a day of sewing, movies, and chocolate. What are your plans for National Quilting Day?

I love these pins and you will too!

When Nan at Quilting Bits and Pieces www.eudoraquiltshop.com told me about these pins I was skeptical. The price of the pins were so much more then what I usually pay for straight pins. She told me once I use these I will not want to use anything else. Nan was so right! I love these. If I grab other pins by mistake they now feel like nails in my fabric. These wonderful pins are so smooth and thin. I don't use these on thick fabric like canvas or jeans because they would bend but they are perfect for all my quilting projects. Sometimes it is the small things that make you happy....these pins make me happy. I highly recommend these pins!

Antique Sale Fun!

Wind up wooden horse that I bought.

Twice a year I look forward with great anticipation for the Pilot Antique Sale. Why you say.....because of great antiques and homemade pie! I love walking booth to booth and looking for treasure. I am there when the doors open. It is wonderful to find all these dealers under one roof and one car ride to get there! What made it really special this year was that Kathie got all of us quilters (Terry, Nan and I) to meet for lunch. We laugh because we see each other every year at the same time. Show and tell is a lot easier sitting at a table then digging through sacks in the aisle. I have just recently started collecting unique pincushions in the last few years and I only get ones that make me smile.

I also take home pie for all my family. At $2.00 a piece it is a steal especially since I do not make pie. This is one way my family forgives me for adding to my collections. One woman bought 18 pieces of pie for her college son and his dorm friends. I am sure she will get a Mothers Day card this year.


This pincushion had a bell boy hat so I put two of my hotel don't disturb signs behind him.



I already had the dog pincushion on the left so he now has a friend!



I put a few of my other clowns together for this photograph. I just love that if you pull his nose you get a measuring tape.