Afternoon with Raven

I spent the afternoon with Raven baking. She made the pies.... sweet potato, pecan and peanut butter. Then she made Florence's pecan fingers and white chocolate covered pretzels. I supervised and did the cleaning up afterwards. She then did some decorating and even found time to play the Wii with her Papo. We had a very enjoyable day. Here are two pictures of her with the pecan fingers. She will be celebrating her 13th birthday on December 26.




Wishing you All a Very Merry Christmas and Blessed New Year.
Have fun and Be safe.

Kathy aka Kela

Carol's Holiday Gift Challenge

Carol Doak posted a challenge on her Yahoo group. We were to make a gift using one of her blocks in it. I decided to make a lunch bag. It was a REAL CHALLENGE because I didn't have a pattern. I put fusible fleece on one piece of fabric to give it some body. I made the block from the 4500 member block using colors from the main fabric for the bag. I decide to use the block to make a pocket on the bag. I backed it with the light purple fabric like that in the center of the block. I used velcro for closing the bag. It folds over and catches onto the other piece of velcro. I am quite please with how it turned out. I love butterflies!

Snowman Wreath

Raven and I finally got together for some crafting and she made a snowman wreath. We got the idea from the Michael's web sight. Hopefully this weekend we will decorate some glass ornaments. I forgot to take a picture of some I made before sending them off to Fernando's family. So here is Raven and her wreath.......

Happy Holidays.... Merry Christmas to All! Be safe and God Bless,

Kathy aka Kela

Table runner

Here is a table runner I just finished. I made it for a challenge. Here is a better picture. We had to use at least one block of Carol Doak's and make a tablerunner. I like the way it turned out.

Talk about a Senior moment.....

I think I told you all I work at Michael's. The other day I was coming back from break and noticed the lines were getting long, so I tried to hurry up and signed in at my register. I yelled, "Next VICTIM in line." Need I say more? LOL The customer said, "Oh, do we get tortured in this line or something?"

A little bit of this and that......

Hello my dear friends! So sorry it has been soooooooo long....... I started part time work right after I got back from Wis on September 6th. It is just seasonal work at Michaels again....my third season:-) I did a few things during this crazy time. Crazy because my body doesn't want to do much while working part time. Let's see...... I made a tissue holder as a challenge using a crayon pattern of Carol Doaks.

I made another fleece blanket.... throw, or whatever one wants to call it. It is a wedding gift for my dear niece and her soon to be husband. I'll let you guess what state they live in. lol

And had fun with the grandkids and my girls carving foam pumpkins. Raven made bannana pancakes to fill our bellies before the pumpkin carving.

And no, I'm not spending my whole paycheck at Michaels. I knew you were wondering about that. I do enjoy seeing all the creative projects customers come up with.

That's it for now. Have a great week!

Pillowcase

I made this pillowcase for my nephew, Keegan, who I'm going to see this weekend. I hope he likes it. It was another one of those directional fabrics, so I had to cut it differently. I had to add fabric to make it large enough for a pillow. The red makes the red cars "pop". I wanted green or yellow to make the other cars to stand out, but didn't have that fabric. I think it turned out cute.

It is finally finished.....

YAHOO!!! It is finally finished.....I am so glad I didn't rush to put borders on. As I've mentioned before, I find it very helpful to audition fabrics and don't rush the process. I made a letter out of bright red and that just didn't do. If I would have used it, all you would have focused on was the word SUDOKU. I enjoy doing sudoku puzzles, so this quilt was lots of fun. I took a puzzle I finished to use as a guide to place the picture squares. Cute, cute, cute. As I've said before, the patterns are from Carol Doak's Foundation Factory CD.

Goodbye My Friend, Michelle until we meet again

My dear friend Michelle was laid to rest today. She lost her life on Monday while jogging, in the early morning, to get ready for an Air Force Marathon the end of September. She and her husband always went jogging. She was hit by a suv. Her husband was with her during her final moments. She was only 44 years old.

I met her about 9 years ago, when her husband was stationed at Scott AF base. Actually it was before that.....we were both on an Internet group called The Chicken Swappers. It was later changed to Mary's Henhouse. They then got orders to Scott. We had in common the love of quilting (crafting) and that our husbands were in the military. Our first trip to the Paducah Quilt Convention, was a time to remember. Remember I said we belonged to the Chicken Swappers? No, we didn't swap chickens.... we swapped chicken quilt blocks:-) I told her we needed to make a chicken hat to wear at the quilt show so our buddy chicken swappers wouldn't have a difficult time finding us. We had never met them before....just chatted on the group. So, Michelle said if she made the hat that I would have to wear it. lol So, she made the hat and I WORE IT! Now I am basically a shy person, so this was REALLY not me. We never laughed so much. We found out there were a lot of people out there who loved chickens (so many pictures taken) and our chicken buddys HAD NO PROBLEM finding us. We had a blast!

After a few years, her husband got orders to Germany then DC then Ohio. Thankful for the Internet, we kept in touch. When back in the states, we talked on the phone too. I saw her in March when her grandson was born. She was traveling through and we had lunch together. She would had made an awesome grandmother or Bella, as she was called. She was a fun loving person that is for sure. She knew how to lift my spirits when need be. We laughed so much. I feel quite blessed to have had her in my life. She will be dearly missed. My thoughts and prayers go out to her family. You might know Michelle at this blog. She was a VERY talented young lady.

Eternal rest grant unto Michelle, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her. May her soul and all the souls of the faithfully departed, rest in peace. Amen

June and July BOM

Yeah, I finished the June and July BOM for Carol's Group. Now to work on the August BOM. Then the September block and we will be done.....well, except for putting it all together ect. lol

Picked Peaches Today

Raven and I went to pick peaches this morning. They look ripe, but they are still pretty firm and not quite ready for a pie or cobbler, so Raven and I made pancakes with peaches in them. I cooked up some peaches to put over the top with cool whip. yum yum! These peaches were huge! It will probably only take one huge one for a blender of peach dacari. lol Next month Raven and I will go pick apples. The Honey crisp are the sweetest and the ones we pick. Here is where we go http://www.eckerts.com/

Here is my granddaughter Raven......

Weather

I know I shouldn't complain because our summer weather has been beautiful. Just a little to rainy and cool for us to get good use out of the pool. Maybe August will be warmer and with less rain. But look who has enjoyed the pool some. I haven't seen Bonnie and Clyde lately though. Clyde would come early in the morning and Bonnie would come in the evening.

One more bag:-)

What can I say???? I was on a roll.......... The red color is the lining and underside of the strap. The top part of the strap is the same as the body of the bag. Easy, easy, easy.......I didn't even make an "oppsie" today. I just referred to the pictures when in doubt.

Grocery Tote

Hello, hello!
I did finish the July BOM, but I won't post it until I have the June BOM done. Not bad, I'm just one block behind. I need to JUST DO IT! Maybe tomorrow. I just get a little side tracked....lol Talk about side track.....yesterday I was organizing some patterns and found a pattern that was on my "to do list" and decided to just do it.....I did. I found some cat fabric just sitting there....my granddaughter isn't a fabric cat lover any more, so I have lots of cat fabric. I picked out MY favorite one. Cute HUH? Well, there is one problem with it though........ I found out the hard way that you don't use directional fabric.....nope, nope, nope, unless you want to cut it differently and waste (not necessarily waste...goes in container for a scrap quilt;-)), I CUT THE MATERIAL.....looked at it....discovered the "opps" I thought about it for a while and said "What the heck?" Who will notice? hee hee. ( ME ) Notice the blue "mice" are directional too:-) The bag to the right is the "cat" bag I made for my granddaughter years ago. I love that pattern from Lazy Girl Designs. It has 6 outside pockets. Only problem is I keep forgetting what pocket I put what in....no biggie,. When in doubt, just check all six. lol

Opps, I got side tracked again;-) I'm sure that doesn't happen to anyone else...lol. I got the super easy Grocery tote at http://www.spoolsewing.com/blog/ click on the link on the left side. This is my kind of pattern. It has written instructions on the front and on the back PICTURES. I found myself flipping back and forth to put a visual with the words. Now I need to whip out a few more. Then I have to remember to bring them with me when I go shopping. That is the hard part.

Have a GREAT DAY and make yourself a few grocery totes........but don't forget to use them;-)

Kathy aka Kela

Mystery solved

Well, I finally put together the mystery quilt I was working on. I love the pattern, but feel my choices of color could have been better.....but then, that is why it's a mystery. You don't know what the final layout will look like until the end. Now it's on to catching up on the block of the month from Carol.

mystery step 5

Here is step 5 of Carol Doaks Anniversary mystery. It is the last step and now I am putting the quilt together.

Step 4 of Mystery

4th part of mystery......

Step 3 of mystery

Step 3 of Carol Doaks mystery pattern. One more block then the layout. It's still not too late to start your mystery:-)

It's a mystery.......

Carol Doak is presenting us with a Mystery quilt to celebrate her 3rd year on Yahoo Groups. The first two pictures are of the first 2 steps. It's never too late to start. The quilt above was her last mystery, so you know this one is going to be Beau-ti-ful! Now, my colors could have been a better choice.....two oranges are too close in color. One should have been lighter. I chose colors for a child and stuck with material I have, so what I have is what I get....lol The last mystery I did use material I had also. We shall see.......after all, It is a mystery as to how it will turn out:-) I hope you'll join in the fun.

New Background and Header & a mystery

My friend Michelle has a beautiful background and header on her blog and I've always wanted one of that style. I went to the sight ( DebsCraft)where she got hers and found this real cute one. I put my own lettering by using a program I have.....the lettering isn't real good, but it will do.

I've had a busy week doing outside stuff. I still have lots to do, but little by little I will get it done. I have also been working on the Sudoku quilt.....I know, I should have been done a long time ago, but.....I have all the paper off and inside border on....does that count? lol I have also started a mystery quilt with the Carol Doak internet group. If you are looking to do a mystery, swaps and recieving lots of new patterns, this is the group for you. It is a paper piecing group that has alot going on. As soon as we hit 5000 members, about 15 to go, Carol will be giving us a new block to celebrate.
I hope to post pictures soon.
Have a good day/evening.
Kathy

9 Patch Block

I made the Wisconsin block found in Carol Doak's Simply Sensational 9-Patch Stars. I used violets in it because they are Wisconsin's state flower. I hope to make a block for each state I've lived in.

May BOM designed by Carol Doak

Here is the May BOM. It turned out alittle more "busy" than I had thought it would.

Bonnie and Clyde

We have these two ducks that spend some time in/outside our pool in the spring. For the last 3-4 years they have come by to enjoy our pool in the Spring. I swear they are the same ones. I named them Bonnie and Clyde. Sometimes Clyde comes without Bonnie. I wonder if she is laying on eggs somewhere? We are still waiting for "Mudslide" to come out from hibernation.

I'm back for a few;-)

It looks like the Blogger has changed things again. I'm not sure how this will post. As you can see, I've been busy making rosaries. I've been dying white twine different colors. My favorite color is Aqua and I was able to make 4 different shades with one batch of dye. My daughter wanted her two favorite colors, purple and lime green, made into a rosary. That was a challenge since I hadn't made one before. I read about how to, but hadn't made a complete one. So, this is what I have mostly been up to. When I watch tv, I'm usually tying a rosary. I have the callause on one fingure to prove it. lol I have the May BOM and a mystery plus the Sudoku quilt on my list to do very soon. Hopefully I'll be back soon...... Until then be safe and God Bless.
Kathy

April BOM

Spring is trying to make an appearance...... kinda hard with weather in the 60's-70's then in the 20's and 30's plus snow. This is the April BOM from the Carol Doak internet group. So much fun and easy. If you want to learn the basics of paper piecing, this is the group to join. Now I have to wait to the next month....sigh.
Have a wonderful Spring!

Sudoku 1/9th of quilt

I'm working on too many projects at one time, so I don't have the Sudoku quilt done yet. I hope to finish attaching the rows today, but who knows:-) Life just seems to get in the way at times.
The picture above shows each block and is 1/9th of the quilt. The patterns are from Carol Doak's Foundation Factory 2 CD.
Thanks for stopping by.....
Kathy

March BOM

I thought I'd better upload something new for you all to look at:-) It is the March BOM from Carol Doak's designs. I wanted to use my shamrock fabric since St. Patrick's Day is this month.
It was a challenge. lol I had to undo part of it and redo it. I'm happy with how it turned out. I want to be able to look at the block and tell what month it is made for. This is block number 6, so that means I have six more to go.
Have a nice St. Patrick's Day!......I know, I'm early....again:-)
Kathy

Sudoku

I just wanted to clarify my sudoku quilt. It is a picture sudoku quilt in which I substituted pictures for numbers. I've seen alot of sudoku type quilts done with different fabrics substituted for the number and thought, why not do that with pictures.

Sudoku anyone?

click on picture to enlarge..... I decided to post part of the Sudoku quilt I am assembling. I finished all 81 blocks and have put together 27 of them. I'm a sudoku lover.....I love the challenge of this game, so I'm really excited about this quilt. It is all paper pieced 4 inch blocks. I started the blocks a few years ago and decided I really wanted to finish this quilt. It's kinda good that I've set it down for a while because I've gotten a lot more practice in paper piecing through the years. Waiting has made the more complicated blocks easier to put together. The bocks are from Carol Doak's collection of patterns. I have a number of her CDs that I took them from. So, what do you think? I'll post a picture of the finished quilt when I get it done.
Hope you are having a Super Day and thanks for stopping by............
Kathy

Happy Valentine's Day...umm tomorrow:-)

I'm a little early, but wanted to get this up while I could. To all you sweeties out there, I wish you a very happy Valentine's Day! This block, I made from Paper Panache's #50 mystery. I love doing Linda's mysteries. The umbrella with the rose, at the top of my blog, is from a mystery of her's years ago. Check out her site .

I've been working on a quilt I started a few years back. I have 18 blocks out of 81 to go. I am determined to complete it, so off I go to work some more on it...... I'll post a picture when I get the blocks assembled.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Kathy

Happy Groundhog Day!

This is Mudslide, the groundhog that lives under our shed. Last spring he brought a lady friend and 3 babies home with him. It was cute watching them sunbathe by the shed. For some reason they disappeared, but Mudslide returned in the fall. Before we let our dog Kahlu out, we would look to make sure Mudslide wasn't near the door and if he was, we'd make noise so he would run to the shed. Kahlu would run to the shed everytime we let him out. Too cute!

If Mudslide would have come out today, he would have seen his shadow and so there are six more weeks of winter.....so it is said:-)

February BOM

At last, it is February 1st. Carol Doak had uploaded the pattern for the Feb. BOM about 2 weeks ago. I made it up right away and felt I couldn't post it until the 1st. of Feb.....it seemed like forever! It is here and here's my block. Yeah....I think it came out rather cute:-) Now I have a whole month to wait for the March block:-(

Carol's 4500 Member Celebration Block

WOW Carol Doak's internet group has reached 4500 and is still growing. It's not a surprise, since she is such a talented designer and wonderful person. She is very generous with sharing her talent. This is yet another wonderful block she designed for us.....I re-drew it in EQ5 (quilting program),resized and planned the layout (using 4 of the blocks)only to find out that Carol had already suggested the layout with the block. Oh, well, I hadn't peeked before I came up with a plan. LOL I chose my fabrics for the block by picking out colors from the border fabric I wanted to use.

Three Baby quilts

The pattern is called "Super-Sized Nine Patch" by Anita Grossman Solomon. Found in the Quiltmaker May/June'06. I've been wanting to try this pattern out since....ahhh 2006? My daughter, Trisha, wanted to make a simple baby quilt for her friend. It says Beginner, so it could'nt be that hard right? Since you had to fold and cut it a certain way for it to work, we decided she would "practice" with some other fabric than that she bought for her friend. We cut it perfectly, so we were ready to go on to the fabric she got for her friends quilts. Now remember 3 fabrics, 3 quilts...... We were thrown off some because the fabric was too short. She bought 1 yard of each fabric as stated, but it didn't say "if you are going to wash it first, buy a little more:-(" (I always wash my fabric first)It's ok, the directions said we could adjust the cutting line if need be, but cut all the fabric the same. We cut the first fabric.....went to cut the second and it was too short in the other direction. Sooooooooo we were off to the fabric store praying they had some of the same fabric left. Meanwhile, I thought I'd make some baby quilts with the same pattern so I could practice free motion quilting on them. My goal for this year is to learn free motion and get some of my UFO's done:-) So, I cut my fabric ever so carefully.....I thought.....only to find out that one of the fabrics I cut 1 inch too short. I couldn't believe it. I was able to fix that after I laid out all the pieces and made the adjustments. What the heck! I'm not planning on entering them in a show or anything. lol And I don't think anyone is going to take out a tape measure and measure everything, so I'm good to go. After Trisha got the new material and washed it, she cut it just perfectly.

Lessons learned : 1.) Always buy a little more fabric than what it calls for if you are going to wash it first. Then again, extra is good incase mistakes are made. 2.) Double check your measurements before cutting. (I thought I had, but at my age, it's hard to really remember if I did or not.lol) 3.) No matter how many years you have quilted, you still make mistakes. 4.) Nothing has to be or really ever is perfect.

The pictures in this post are the quilts I made. I have quilting on them yet to do. I'm not finding free motion quilting alot of fun. One would swear I'd been drinking while doing free motion.(I did some on one, but need to practice more first) Actually, I'd probably would have done a better job if I'd had a drink or two. LOL It's not as easy as it looks.

3 new fleece blankets

(Tonia in picture.)

Elli's

Tonia's & Ryan's....

Tonia is the one who said she never wanted a fleece blanket because the blankets are too warm. She asked me to make her one too. Now everyone is covered;-) I have made 3 for Ryan. He loves his blankets and still wants more.........

Happy New Year....a little late

Hello my dear family and friends. I know, it has been a long time since I wrote on this blog. I worked part-time for Christmas and have been working on small projects. Above are my December and January BOM designed by Carol Doak.

Happy Belated New Year! I hope the New Year will be all you want it to be. Happy crafting!

Kathy