Kela's World

Third time is the charm..... so they say.

2012-02-18T09:53:00.003-06:00

This is my 2nd and third try at the sock monkey water bottle holder. I modified the pattern by using a hdc and adding rows and re-designing the handle. The one to the left I felt needed an extra row of red on the bottom. The one on the right I am much happier about. Too much fun. Now what's next??? Maybe a hat.....

Sock Monkey bottle holder

2012-02-11T10:38:00.005-06:00

My first attempt at making this. It definitely needs improvement. But that is ok. My cousin has made me a couple of sock monkeys and I thought this would be cute to make for her. I'll probably make a couple more before I get it right and will send her the BEST one of them all. I don't like the bottle showing through. I might use a half double crochet and see how that works out. Here is where I got the pattern.
Have a nice day until next time......

Be a Friend Shawl

2012-01-31T15:05:00.007-06:00

It is ALWAYS a GREAT FEELING to finish a project. I just fell in love with this pattern when I saw it, but wasn't sure I could re-create it. I just jumped in and it worked out nicely. It is a change from the rectangle and straight ones I've been making. I found the free pattern here. It took 3 skeins of Fusion TLC Essentials that I got at an excellent price;-). This is one I will probably make again. On to the next project.......

Butterflies

2012-01-22T12:00:00.002-06:00

A Good Sunday Afternoon to you! I've found lately I've been spending too much time on Youtube.... So many wonderful idea's and I want to try them all!!! Today I watched video's on making safety pin , rubber ban, Hello Kitty and soda can tab bracelets. Too fun. Sooooo in the future you just might see some here. OK, I was suppose to be watching a free motion one, but never got there. The afternoon is young, so I just might get to it and have something to show some of my practicing. Here are some crocheted butterflies I've been making. Not sure where they will be used yet. Maybe on a hat(bunch of them. lol) or might put one on a shawl I give away. I've working on making them just a tad smaller to make a brooch or hair barret. I used Sugar'n Cream yarn. The white one is made with a heavy thread. Here is where you can find the video I used to make them. Until next time...... Have a Wonderful Day!

Angry Bird Crochet hat

2012-01-17T09:25:00.006-06:00

Fun, Fun, Fun! I'm limited in my crocheting abilities and wasn't sure I could make this hat, but I DID!!! Now don't ask me how long it took me. The directions say it takes about 3-4 hours.
I slowly played the video (I'm a visual learner) and crocheted along..... still making mistakes because I also had the written instructions in front of me and thought I could do it before watching the step. Needless to say, I took out a lot and redone steps, but that's ok. I'm pretty determined to accomplish new skills and projects. Well, most of the time. lol This hat brings a smile to my face and makes me laugh. Michelle would be proud! LOL OH, here is where you can find the video and pattern. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQGuTAa5cDo&list=LLlsrKcYqInwxAiGPhAiHm0g&index=1&feature=plpp_video

Free Motion Quilting Practicing (FMQ)

2012-01-12T13:49:00.006-06:00

Ok, here is my Free Motion Quilting (FMQ) practice. Needs ALOT of practice. What I learned while practicing here.... 1.) Stay focused on the "Plan." When I strayed from the plan, I got in trouble. (confusion) 2.) Needle in down position when stopped is important. 3.)It helps to use two different threads on top and in bobbin to check ones tension. 4.)It's ok to "drive like a Sunday driver" to maintain some control. ;-) 5.) It's ok to stop and start up again. That was something I had a problem with when I first started fmq some time back. 6.) Breathe.... no holding ones breath. Not sure I was holding mine, but a good thing to remember. lol 7.) The "lobster claw" technique is my best friend right now. 8.) PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE! I'm off to practice right now. Until next time, Happy FMQ.

second try at hair bow for gd

2012-01-08T10:03:00.003-06:00

This is my second try. I took off 2.5 inches. She likes it, but isn't just right yet. She is shooting for a certain look that we haven't found a pattern for and I'm trying to make that look. Not quite sure what that look is, but I'm getting the process of making the bow down if that counts. LOL Until next time, have a GREAT DAY and thanks for stopping by.

The Crochet Dude and Jo

2012-01-04T11:10:00.007-06:00

Jo and The Crochet Dude, Drew Emborsky. Michaels carries Drew's crochet line now. Michaels had an event for "Gold" Members recently where Jo interviewed Drew. I LOVED it! Especially since I was one of 7 who won a door prize. The bag contained one of each of Drews crochet items... alittle over $200 worth plus a $50 gift card from Michaels. YEAH!!! I get lucky once in a while;-)The Michaels gift card went pretty fast once I decided to use it:-) We made some cute items, which I will post later when I photograph them. Until next time.... hopefully sooner than later (lol) take care and God Bless.........stay safe.

and more pictures

2012-01-04T11:03:00.003-06:00

Made for my aunt. reversible

Made for cousin. She likes purple and animals. lol

practice large bow for granddaughter. She wanted big and big she got..LOL I made it to learn process. She has ideas for other ones. Not sure what I will do with this one.

prayer shawls and stuff

2012-01-04T10:57:00.005-06:00

I made 6 prayer shawls last year and gave them away. I'm working on one right now for a niece. I also made a number of fleece blankets with about 5 to go and I hope that will be it. My arthritis was acting up while tying the last one. Also made some jewelery and odds and ends. Here a a couple of pictures.

Learning Free Motion Quilting

2012-01-04T10:02:00.005-06:00

I'm hoping this will be the year to learn Free Motion Quilting and get some of these tops finished. I have some baby quilts waiting to be quilted and will be great projects for beginning free motion quilting.... I CAN DO THIS, I CAN DO THIS, I CAN DO THIS! Wish me luck.

January 2012

2012-01-03T15:18:00.003-06:00

I noticed it has been a while since I last wrote;-) Looking at the picture of Kahlu below, I thought I should give an update on him. Over a month ago we found out since his 6 month blood sugar check, his blood sugar was way out of control. We are in the process of getting it under control. I'm wondering if this will be his last year with us. I wish he could talk to let us know when his is feeling bad. He had gunk in his eye and I took him in to "nip" it in the butt before it got bad. They do a blood sugar test whenever he goes in and found it to be VERY high. He just turned 10 in November.

Take time to smell the flowers....

2011-04-02T12:35:00.005-05:00

Remember to take time and smell the flowers..... This is Kahlu. Poor fellow has diabetes and is blind. He is such a sweetheart. He is always at my side... follows me around, but I'm sure he gets tired of it cuz I don't sit still for too long at times.:-) Until next time...... Stay safe and God Bless.

Arturo's Quilt

2011-01-06T19:15:00.005-06:00

It's been a little over five months since my nephew, Arturo, was diagnosed with cancer. He is still fighting the fight. Please continue to keep him and his family in thought and prayers. I made this quilt for him with this note... May this Quilt bring you comfort when you need it most, knowing that prayers of hope and healing were stitched into each seam and bound with the love of family and friends.

Time to try and catch up.... well, maybe

2010-12-29T14:44:00.010-06:00

Wish me luck that this will look nice and not all jumbled when I press "publish post"

And then we come to Christmas......We had a very beautiful and white Christmas. Christmas Eve we left to go to mass and the roads were clear even after it snowed all day. When we came out of church, the roads were snow covered and slippery and it continued to snow. My husband had to drive very slowly home. The main roads were clear in the morning so we were able to go to my daughters to celebrate Christmas. Dinner was GREAT and we went out with our grandkids, Ryan and Raven, to build a snowman and for snowball fight. Needless to say, they wore us out. lol Raven turned 14 years on the 26th, so we went out to eat at TGIF, which was her choice. I can't believe how my grandkids have grown. It seems like yesterday they were running around in diapers. lol
They are GREAT kids and we are quite proud of them. I hope you all had a Wonderful Christmas. Next for the New Year 2011. What will it bring?
Here are three bracelets I made. Two are for cancer awareness and will be given away. I still have TONS to learn, but hopefully I won't go too"wild" with this new craft. If it counts, I always buy on sale:-) lol It still adds up fast.....During this time, before Christmas, I made a couple of fleece blankets. My daughter and I had found a cupcake fleece pattern and just had to have a blanket made from that fleece. Now we will probably crave cupcakes everytime we use it. I also finished two shawls. Worked on a quilt, which I hope to finish in the next couple of days. Raven and her friend came and made some cookies. I worked quite a bit and time flew. I also took up a "Dangerous" new craft I tell people. Why? It can be very expensive. Here are a few I have made. I did make a necklace for my dear graddaughter, but I didn't take a picture of it before I gave it to her.After Thanksgiving, it was time to get ready for Advent. This is my wreath that I made. When I saw the big purple flowers from Michaels, I just couldn't resist. I hope everyone had a very nice Thanksgiving. Ours was really nice. My daughter and son-in-law made an early lunch since I had to go to work. Gobble, gobble:)

I hope these make you smile:-)

2010-08-30T10:33:00.005-05:00

Fun with yo yo's. You can go to Arlette's blog and get lots of idea's. She is such a creative person. She amazes me with what she comes up with. I wanted to make some cute pins to wear to work. One can't always smile, working as cashier, that I let me little guys do that for me. ;-) If they make one person smile, it makes my day and I'm sure theirs too.
Have a Happy Day and smile! Hugs, Kathy aka Kela

Remember.......

2010-08-30T10:29:00.004-05:00

Remember the crochet blankie I made Austie and he refused to even walk on it??? Well, I think he likes it now. lol

Please keep in prayer/thought.......

2010-08-17T11:15:00.003-05:00

Please keep in prayer and/or thought my 19 year old nephew, Arturo, who was diagnosed with a rare lung cancer. He is on a respirator and has had 5 days of chemo. His xrays show some improvement. We appreciate all prayers/thoughts.
Thank you and God Bless
Kathy

Snapdragon patterned shawl

2010-06-28T16:06:00.004-05:00

I finished the shawl using the rectangle snapdragon pattern by Trish. I used Red Heart Fiesta "Buff". It has different colors intertwined that one can only see in person.:-) A shell stitch is used. Very easy pattern. I do think, for prayer/comfort/friendship shawls, I should probably use softer yarn. Live and learn.... Trish had made me a shawl and it is soooo soft and comforting. I loved the yarn, I used, when I saw it. I also learned, that with this pattern if you want the pattern to stand out, you need to use a light colored yarn. The one I have started is a very dark violet and you can't see the design from a distance. I had this yarn and forgot why I bought it....LOL... so thought I would use it for a shawl especially since I have 3 skeins;-) and I just wasn't thinking about comfort. lol

Austie's crochet blanket?

2010-06-24T13:40:00.005-05:00

I had bought a skein of yarn for $0.50. I thought I'd make Austie, my granddaughter's cat, a blanket while practicing a crochet pattern called the snapdragon. I thought I couldn't beat making a blanket for 50 cents. Now everyone knows cats like to get into/on EVERYTHING. I make quilts and he is all over them. Now who would think a cat wouldn't have ANYTHING to do with a crochet blanket? Austie would not lay on it for days! He usually lays above my head while I sit on the couch and when I put the blanket there, he would not lay there. Last night he finally laid on it, but today is avoiding it. What's up? I wish he could talk. I just don't get it. Is it the color??? LOL I think cats are color blind.
I have two Snapdragon shawls started. One I've used 2 skeins and need to get another, so I started another shawl. I'm on my second skein of yarn with that one. It is a cool pattern. I'll post pictures when I'm done.

Have a nice day! Hope all are out of harms way with the bad weather hitting.

Hungry for cupcakes?

2010-06-10T13:51:00.006-05:00

You might be hungry for the edible kind of cupcakes, but when you see these, you'll hunger to make one. lol Just hop over to Arlette's blog and see the delicious looking cupcakes she has made. She also has direction there on how to make them. I LOVE her blog. She is one very talented young lady! Thanks Arlette for inspiring me to give them a try. This is my first. I have 3 more in the workings.

Rag Fur Purse

2010-06-02T08:58:00.009-05:00

So what do you do when you have some of that rag fur left over???? ya make a purse! I just threw this together.... no pattern. The zipper was the hardest. I need some practice in that area:-( but, I now have a matching purse to go with my jacket. yay! I had enough rag fur for the front of the purse, with a few left over, but not enough to do the whole back. That is ok, because the back showcases the fabric used. I made a braided handle, which I'm quite proud of myself, since I figured it out all by myself. lol I wanted to braid it to give it some strength and wearability. I couldn't resist posting the one picture.

Have a SUPER day!

Rag Fur Jacket

2010-05-31T16:38:00.009-05:00

I finished another project on my list. I was going to wait until fall to make it, but had it started and decided to "just do it". Would you believe it has been on my "to do" list for at least 4 years.... probably more. lol So, while cutting this fabric I checked, checked and checked again before cutting into it. If I made a mistake, I wouldn't be able to find this fabric again. I had bought it way back when also. This pattern is by Ami Simms and you can find the pattern on her sight when you click on her name I have highlighted;-) And see lots of other Rag Fur Jackets. Now, what did I learn from doing this project? I would have loved having Ami right beside me so she could have guided me through some of the directions I had trouble comprehending. Not that the pattern was difficult. She has lots of pictures....it just takes ME time to figure out even easy things. The next thing I learned, was that if you use a fine point marker, have something under your fabric that you are marking. I won't go into what happened. lol What I hated was putting the cuffs on. There has got to be an easier way. I love it now that it is done. And I love the way it feels to complete yet another project on my list. I got my granddaughter, Raven, to model my jacket. Her hair even goes with the jacket, but the jacket is MINE!

Have a Great One!

Comfort/Friendship shawl

2010-05-07T09:57:00.004-05:00

Have you ever looked at a pattern and said, "I'll never be able to make that."? "That looks to hard." We'll, I have said that so many times, but that doesn't make me not try it. The lesson I learned with this project was to take "baby steps". I hadn't really crocheted in sometime, so making dishcloths got me "practicing" crocheting again. Then I sat down and practiced starting this project with yarn I wasn't using for this project. It took me MANY times of starting over before I finally got it. I started the project and all went well, but I was worried that I wouldn't be able to do the edging. It looked just to complicated. But taking "baby steps" I was able to figure it out..... easy peasie. LOL What a wonderfer feeling to have finished it. I used the pattern from "The Prayer Shawl Ministry" from Leisure Arts. And used Homespun Nouveau by Lion Brand Yarn. I have a practice piece, I've done, for a Snapdragon pattern I want to do next. Another pattern that looked just too hard..... it's not.
But.... it is on my "to do list" that is pretty long. We shall see......

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

2010-03-17T20:33:00.002-05:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day! This is a pin I made to celebrate the day.

To Market, To Market

2010-03-04T13:53:00.017-06:00

I decided to try out another "bag"pattern I had bought. I was excited about my fabric choices and "almost" fabric choices. I was describing the tote project to my granddaughter and saw this look come over her face like she wanted to say, "Nana, Are you CRAZY??" (Well, YEAH at times! lol) I then said to her, "Oh, but I'm sure you wouldn't be caught dead with it." We laughed. Below is the yummy fabric I was excited about using, but found I was short the banana and "cutie" fabric.:-( so sad.... I just learned about those small tangerines being called cuties. Hummmm...... I guess they are cute.;-) LOL
I used the pattern Six Pack Tote by Susan Marsh. It is a reversible tote with 4 pockets. Below is what it looked like before I stuffed one bag into the other.

Below are the bags front and back. It takes 6 fat quarters. Finishes about 14" X 18" x 4" As always, it took me a while to comprehend the directions and make it, but that's just me. The pictures helped alot. I'm sure the next ones will go much faster. Don't you just love the fabrics I used? LOL

Glad I read the directions through before starting. Actually, I read them through a number of times. She stated the fat quarters HAD to be 18 X 21. Yes this is very important for the fabrics used for the pocket and handles because 2-6.5 plus 2- 2.5 pieces equal 18 inches. I guess if short some, you could make the handles narrower. The problem I came accross while picking the fabrics is that, I wash my fabrics first and they shrink making alot of them shorter than 18".

Lessons learned: Don't get too excited about fabric choices until you make sure you have enough of that fabric. lol

Pay more attention to the sewing process than to the TV. I had to do some "frogging" even when I had made a mental note, to self, to not forget to topstitch after appling fleece and before sewing the bottom and sides.... sigh....

Be thankful your daughter decided to bring pizza home for dinner so I didn't have to stop sewing to make dinner:-)

Thank you for stopping by. Have a Wonderful night and God Bless you....

Kathy

Fabric bulletin board

2010-02-23T10:52:00.007-06:00

Well, I've been needing one of these, but didn't get inspired until I asked my dear granddaughter, Raven, if she wanted to make one. I needed to see if I could make one first so I could help her. I "googled" fabric bulletin boards and got a variety to choose from. I decided to put foam board on top of the stretched canvas so the thumb tacks would stick (stay) better. I love my fabric and the pictures of course;-) Thankfully, I had all supplies on hand. I might need a new heavy duty stapler before we make hers though. ...sigh....

President's Day....one day late:-(

2010-02-16T08:19:00.003-06:00

I made up this pin yesterday morning. It's nice having all the materials on hand. I had made up some pins years ago and had some flags left over.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

2010-02-14T09:50:00.005-06:00

Happy Valentines Day! And Happy Birthday to a very special friend of mine, JoAnn, born on this day! She is a "sweetheart". I'm thankful the Lord brought her into my life about 16 years ago. She lives in the Dallas area where they got lots of snow this last week. It is snowing here right now and I have to go to work soon..... Anyway, yesterday I spent time making these pins. I started out just making the center part, but felt it needed more, so I made a large yoyo to put behind it. Lettie from Polka Dot Pineapple gave me the original idea. She is such a creative person. She amazes me with what she comes up with. The center pin is from the scrapbooking section of Hobby Lobby. Shhhhh don't tell anyone I went there, since I work at Michaels. lol What can I say, I was in the area when the idea hit me;-)

Have a Wonderful Day!

This one... that one... hummmm

2010-02-02T14:23:00.016-06:00

I wanted to make a "grocery bag" for a friend at work. She admired the ones I made and used to bring my "stuff" to work. She also had given me some cotton yarn to get me started on making cotton wash cloths. I found some fabric I really liked and thought she would also.... that's a good start, right? I had bought a bolt of both fabrics, at a very good price, on an online store a few years back. I've used them for a quilt or two. I THOUGHT I would add some fusible fleece, that I had, to give it some body. I made it and said, "Naw" too much body. lol I'll keep it to use on trips. This is how it looks:

And then I made a bag like the ones I carry to work. It looks like this:

But..... I always wanted to take a plastic bag apart (make a pattern)and try to make one to resemble the bags we get at the grocery store, but never got around to it. but..... the other day, after I made the second bag, I read in an e-mail about this sight DIY BAG LOVER and guess what I found??? Yup, the grocery bag pattern I wanted to make myself. Yippee! It has directions to make a pocket to fold itself into when not in use and I did make it....(I took the picture with pocket showing) but I might just make the pocket for the sake of having a pocket. It is just too hard to fold the bag into the bag:-(. That's ok. I don't need to fold it up. I REALLY LOVE how it turned out and will make one for myself. This one will go to my friend.... I think. lol

After I took pictures of the first two bags, I put them on the bed. Austie, I believe, thought I put them there for him to "try"them out. I think he liked them because he slept on them all afternoon. Isn't he sweet? I just wanted to mention that I'm never sure how these pictures will show up on my blog because they seem to arrange themselves for some reason. lol I just can't seem to figure out how to make them STAY where I put them. lol

Have a Wonderful Day! More later.....

Kathy

dish cloth

2010-01-12T10:39:00.006-06:00

A friend at Michael's was making a bunch of cotton dish cloths for Christmas gifts. So, I thought I'd try my hand at crocheting again. I bought some Fily Sugar'nCream 100% cotton yarn. I used a G crochet hook and chained 40, then used a double crochet stitch to get a 10 X 10 dish cloth. It took almost the whole 2ozs. It looks uneven, but it isn't. Actually, I am quite proud that I finally learned how to get the ends straight. I think I'll make more.....

Quick and Easy??

2010-01-11T08:15:00.004-06:00

Hummmm..... it said for beginners.....I was beginning to doubt my abilities....... Well, I was looking for a quick and easy pattern to satisfy my craving to do something quilty and finish it quickly. A new magazine had a hot pad that said for beginners and looked easy because I already knew how to make a 9 patch and knew how to applique. It was just a matter of picking my fabric. I even had insul-bright to sandwich inbetween layers to keep hands and tabletops from getting too hot:-) I had my plan to cut 2" strips, (experienced quilter kicking in. lol) sew them, cut and sew them together(again to make 2 nine patch) to make a 9 patch instead of cutting 2" squares and sewing them together(like pattern said to do) PLUS for my applique I was going to sew fusible interfacing to applique pattern (turn)to avoid raw edges or hand edge turning. I had a plan, until the directions said my 9 patch, sewn, before adding triangles, would be 4.5". hummmm.... mine measured 5", 2+2+2-1 in my book is 5. That threw off the applique fitting right(the heart shaped part).... so after alot of ripping out and sewing over and over, because I was determined to get this right, I figured it out and was able to make the adjustments to the second one to make it work. The first one is ok.....I finished the second one the next day. I was determined to NOT have anymore UFO's. My cousin Gails voice was playing in my head to make sure I finished it. She is my inspiration to try and finish what I start because she does so much and finishes them before moving on. So, quick and easy for a beginner?? NOT!! Not for me anyway. lol The first one is always the hardest for me. Now I could probably whip one out alot quicker since I have it all worked out. I put notes on the pattern so I'd remember the changes if I was to make it again.... and I just might do that.

Until next time..........

Have a GREAT DAY ALL. Stay warm...

Afternoon with Raven

2009-12-23T21:19:00.006-06:00

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

2009-12-19T22:25:00.004-06:00

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

2009-12-17T20:07:00.006-06:00

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

2009-11-16T22:13:00.005-06:00

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.....

2009-10-20T08:59:00.003-05:00

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......

2009-10-11T16:15:00.006-05:00

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

2009-09-01T19:56:00.005-05:00

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.....

2009-09-01T18:52:00.005-05:00

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

2009-08-29T15:15:00.007-05:00

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

2009-08-11T16:24:00.003-05:00

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

2009-08-06T14:28:00.009-05:00

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

2009-08-06T14:13:00.006-05:00

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:-)

2009-08-02T18:47:00.004-05:00

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

2009-08-01T09:11:00.017-05:00

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

2009-07-15T16:26:00.005-05:00

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

2009-07-02T10:42:00.006-05:00

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

2009-06-23T21:18:00.004-05:00

4th part of mystery......

Step 3 of mystery

2009-06-19T09:58:00.004-05:00

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.......

2009-06-14T19:16:00.003-05:00

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

2009-06-07T21:15:00.006-05:00

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

2009-05-15T13:46:00.004-05:00

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

2009-05-15T13:39:00.005-05:00

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

Bonnie and Clyde

2009-05-04T12:24:00.007-05:00

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;-)

2009-05-04T11:50:00.004-05:00

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

2009-04-09T14:39:00.007-05:00

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

2009-03-18T08:30:00.003-05:00

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

2009-03-04T13:30:00.006-06:00

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

2009-02-22T17:06:00.006-06:00

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?

2009-02-22T16:37:00.004-06:00

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:-)

2009-02-13T11:22:00.004-06:00

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!

2009-02-02T20:56:00.003-06:00

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

2009-02-01T19:16:00.004-06:00

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

2009-01-19T10:33:00.005-06:00

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

2009-01-12T18:01:00.005-06:00

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

2009-01-10T19:56:00.008-06:00

(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

2009-01-07T18:33:00.006-06:00

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

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

2008-11-27T08:27:00.007-06:00

Good Morning and Happy Thanksgiving! I believe Thanksgiving should be everyday. It is a time to pause and remember our many blessings and to give thanks for them. May you have a very safe and Blessed day!

Tom Turkey was made by a very special cousin of mine. I'm always amazed at the work she puts into the many "treasures" she sends me. She has to have a lot of patience. She doesn't make just one, she makes lot's to sell and give away. She has an assembly line going when she whips out her projects. I wish she lived closer.....sigh.

God's Speed
Kathy

fleece...Oh, so warm..... fleece

2008-11-08T13:15:00.009-06:00

My gd Raven decided she needed a fleece blanket. She wasn't crazy about fleece and prefers her "cool" memee that she made a few years back, but she said it is kinda cold in their house and a nice fleece blanket would help her go to sleep. The light blue backing brings out the blue that is in the top fleece. Notice Austie who just happened to get into the picture.
Raven made two blankets for herself , but she favors this one that she made first. I've repaired it a number of times for her.

Of course I had to make Kahlu his own fleece blanket. He loves laying on ours, so what the heck....I found this wonderful wild animal print that I thought was just perfect and quess what? Kahlu wouldn't lay on it. I think he was afraid of it. After taking a picture of the blanket up close......I can see why he might have been afraid of it. As you can see, he finally claimed it as his. Ah, so warm. Isn't Kahlu a cutie? He is Lhasa Apso and Poodle. He is such a sweetie.

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

opps, I forgot....Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T21:54:00.001-05:00

HOPE YOU HAD A FUN TIME!

November BOM

2008-10-31T21:47:00.002-05:00

Here is my November BOM designed by Carol Doak. This is going to be a cute BOM series. They consist of scenic blocks set on point.

Burrrrrrrr............

2008-10-28T20:08:00.004-05:00

It's time to wrap up in a fleece blanket. It is cold.......I love quilts, but find fleece blankets to be so warm. I've made quite a few the last few years. Everyone has their own and then some:-) Here is a picture of my sister's significant other, Hershel. I made this fleece blanket for him. He has helped my mother so much and is very good to my sister. He is family.

Thank you Hershel for all you do! It is deeply appreciated. Hopefully you will feel the warmth of our embraces as you wrap up in this blanket.

Triple Treat Challenge

2008-10-28T19:09:00.013-05:00

Electic quilt pattern

We were given three blocks, designed by Carol Doak, that we had to use in the challenge. I designed this quilt in an electric quilt program. For some reason it doesn't look like the quilt I designed. Hummm.......looks like I need some more practice. LOL I think I might have to print the foundation pieces using the mirror image feature. I still like it. I just need more practice.

October BOM

2008-10-21T14:30:00.007-05:00

Carol Doak has started a new BOM with her Yahoo internet group. Here is my October block. You can join her group by clicking here. It is a very easy block. If you want to learn to paper piece, this is the group to join.

Yo Yo Pumpkin

2008-10-19T13:47:00.006-05:00

I really enjoy what one can make with yoyo's. While at the Madison quilt show, I picked up this pattern by Indygo Junction. It has a pattern for a spider, but that one will have to wait until next year. The spider takes about 170 small/xtra small yo yo's.

35th Wedding Anniversary

2008-10-10T09:27:00.025-05:00

35 years....hummm.....where did the time go?

My husband, Fernando, and I got married October 10, 1973 in Mons, Belgium. We were both in the Army stationed at SHAPE, (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe) Belguim. I worked at the hospital as a Medic and he as a Communications Operator in some other building. It was during the Vietnam war and when Tony Orlando was becoming popular. He performed at the club for the troops. We hung out with the same group of friends. I met him at the bowling alley. Bowling was something we both enjoyed to do. We made a couple trips to Paris.....ahhh Paris. Shrimp salad on french bread was one of my favorites.....with fritz(fries) and mayo of course. My mouth is watering for one right now:-

I'm from Waukesha, Wisconsin and Fernando is from Alice, Texas. Our lives wouldn't have crossed if we hadn't been in the military and stationed together.

I'd be lying if I said married life has been easy. I don't know of any that are. It takes alot of work to intertwine two lives. We had lots of ups and downs. I look back at those times now and see them as stepping stones to the greater love and respect for each other. Through The Years by Kenny Rogers pretty much sums up our years together. (Video of us with song)

I thank the Lord for bringing us together. We have been very Blessed.

Kathy

I won AGAIN.....YAHOO!!

2008-09-22T16:24:00.006-05:00

OMY Goodness......I can't believe it!! I won The Perfect Caddy!! Remember I told you, when I went to Wisconsin, my aunt and cousin wanted me to go to a quilt show in Madison with them? I put my name in for a lot of give-aways and I was called today by Hinterberg Design
that my name was drawn to recieve The Perfect Caddy. I had put my name in for the drawing also when I was in Nashville. I guess the second time is the charm. lol Anyone want to rub elbows with me...hee hee
It will be shipped out to me in about a week. Make sure you check out the Hinterberg Design sight. Maybe you'll want to design your own Perfect Caddy.

World Alzheimer's Day September 21st

2008-09-17T15:53:00.008-05:00

There are 26.6 million people worldwide with Alzheimer's disease. More than 5 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease. And, there are a group of quilters who are trying to do something to find a cure. Visit the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative:http://www.alzquilts.org/ Ami's mom has the disease....this patch is in honor of her. Check out this link to find out how you can help and to help spread the word.

I'm back from Wisconsin

2008-09-15T21:45:00.010-05:00

It is always nice when your plans work out. I was going to be in Wisconsin for only 4 days and had lots to do, so it was nice that I got all in and then some. I hadn't planned on my brother having open heart surgery, but he did and I was able to see him twice. He is doing GREAT!

Now to accomplish what I did was a challenge because there is a lot of distance between EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING that was on my list. Think farm country. I wish I could have spent more time with one friend and that I had seen a couple more friends..Geri & Diane, we will get together...next time I hope. I live 6 hours from there.

My aunt and cousin wanted me to go to a quilt show in Madison, WI with them. (Friday) That's about 1.5 hours from them. I really enjoyed spending the day with them and saw a great show.....even though I didn't win anything. Lots of drawings going on. I'm sure that Mystery Basket will be the last for a long time.lol The quilt above caught my eye. There were lots of beautiful quilts.

Ever see and taste a chocolate (covered) cherry tomato? Darn, I forgot to taste it.....well, I was going to bring it home and left it at my sisters:-( At least I got a picture. lol Above is a picture of it ....

Hope you all had a nice weekend.

Kathy

MY Wonderful Mystery Basket Arrived!!

2008-09-08T16:48:00.004-05:00

The Mystery Basket that I won from A Legacy of Stitches arrived today! What fun it has been going through all the cool fabric and patterns. Sandi did a great job of "stuffing" the basket. I love the basket too. Thanks Sandi!! Check out her sight......she has another Give-Away. She is having too much fun with these Give-Aways. Good thing she has Brown Bear and friends to help her out.

Puppy Love

2008-09-08T09:38:00.003-05:00

Being a quilter and animal lover, I found this video too cute and can relate since my furry friends like to help too. Enjoy Puppy Love!

4000 Member block

2008-09-03T15:30:00.006-05:00

This is what I've been working on.....the 4000 member block that Carol Doak designed for our Yahoo Quilting Group. I used three shades of my favorite color plus the brown. The color is Aqua, not blue as it appears. I'm pleased with it. Thank you Carol for yet another wonderful design.

August BOM

2008-08-30T18:27:00.007-05:00

I finished my August BOM designed by Carol Doak. I like the way it turned out. Now I have to catch up. This was the last month of the 12 month series. I have too many projects started........ I have the 4000 member celebration block to make also and.............the list goes on. Oh, but it's fun!!

Hope you are having a good Labor Day weekend.

Yahoo!! I just recieved a Blog Award

2008-08-29T08:12:00.015-05:00

My Comadre, Michelle, sent me a blogger award which was Created by Ms. Javablu. My dear friend Michelle and I met back in 1999 over the internet. (if you are down and need a good laugh, she is the one to call. She is a RIOT!) They were then transfered to, Scott AFB, the base I lived at. It was back when she was a quilter. Now she is a Paper Crafter mostly. She does BEAUTIFUL work!! Check out her blog. Anyway, we belonged to "The Chicken Swappers." No, we didn't swap chickens..(I got strange looks when I meationed the group I belonged to)...LOL we swapped chicken quilt blocks. It's funny, neither of us were or are chicken lovers. We had so much fun in that group. I'll post a picture or two later. I have to finish this post or I might forget why I started it. LOL No, I couldn't forget. It is an award that is greatly appreciated and comes at a time when a could use a little "pick me upper". Thanks Michelle! You're the best! If I could give you this award AGAIN I would.

OK, Here are the Rules:

The winner can put the logo on their blog.

Link the person you received your award from.

Nominate at least 5 other blogs.

Before listing the nominees give a brief reason why you chose them.

Put links of those blogs on yours.

Leave a message on the blogs you have nominated.

Here are my favorites that I check each day:

1.) Polka Dot Pineapple Talk about inspiration! Arlette is so creative. I am in Awe of her creativity. I want to be just like her! lol I always look forward to checking out "what is new" at her web sight. She has some wonderful tutorials.

2.) Hazel at Sewcrazy has a inspirational blog also. I met her via internet about 2 years ago at Carol Doaks yahoo group. She does beautiful work and is very active with making quilts for charity. Thank you Hazel for all you do!

3.) Tracy at 'Tis the Gift has a blog I enjoy reading. She makes me remember to be thankful for and to share the "gifts" that we are so blessed with. Thanks Tracy!

4.) Bonnie at Quiltville's Quips & Snips is chalked full of interesting facts and fun stuff! I love checking out her sight! She does alot of charity quilts and furnishes tons of free (well, not tons, but you know what I mean) patterns so one can use up all those leftover scraps we tend to have. You can find those patterns at Quiltville. Thanks Bonnie for all you do!

5.) Lauren at My Time, My Creations, My Stampendence has a great blog that I have spent a lot of time on......reading it and enjoying her card creations. She is one very busy and creative lady. Thanks for all you do!

Make sure you check out these blogs. I'm sure you'll enjoy them as I do.

Tequila 1989-2008

2008-08-28T07:57:00.003-05:00

Our cat, Tequila, of 19 years was put to rest yesterday. As other pet lovers(owners) know, it was very hard to do, but we didn't want her to be in pain anymore. She lived a good life. She was one fiesty lady and our other cat and dog knew you didn't mess with her. She was the Queen. But yet, when I cut her nails or we pet her, she would always purr. She was very friendly with people.
She will be deeply missed.

Smooth Sailing Block

2008-08-27T09:47:00.003-05:00

I made the Smooth Sailing Challenge block for the Carol Doak yahoo group. It was due by the 29th Aug, so I didn't get to make it like I had done in the EQ program. That isn't saying I never will :-) Now cross your fingers that I win a prize. I know, I'm greedy. I just won a mystery gift basket, so how can I expect to win at Carols? Well, I could be on a roll ya know! I really want to win 60 fat quarters at Carols. I'm not sure what the prize is for this block if I get picked. I've only been trying to win at Carols for a little over 2 years. Check out this group. It's Great! We just hit 4,000 members and she added a free block in celebration. Now I need to get the August BOM done for another chance to win. lol

I won, I won!!

2008-08-27T06:56:00.004-05:00

WHOO HOO!! I won a mystery basket filled with 25 quilting and stitching items from A Legacy of Stitches! Yippeeeeeee! Isn't it fun to win?? Yup, it is! I'll post a picture of the items when I get them. It has turned a sad day into a much better one. Hop over to Sandy's and check out her blog.
I feel like Tiger, from Winnie the Pooh, right now.

My Weekend

2008-08-25T16:36:00.003-05:00

Well, I went to Nashville this past weekend. My dh and I had a wonderful time with a nephew and niece. It was nice spending one on one time with them. When you're with the whole family, everyone is talking and one doesn't usually get that time. My nephew and niece are a great couple and we very much enjoyed our visit. While there I went to the Nashville Quilt Expo. You are probably wondering where the pictures are...........I left my camera at my nephews:-( I didn't realize it until I wanted to get a picture with Eleanor Burns:-( I complained for a time,but I survived. I do have pictures of me with Eleanor from other shows and I can view pictures of the quilts on line, so I don't feel too sad.

Just a note

2008-08-19T15:52:00.007-05:00

These are close ups of half of each side of the quilt.

Whew I'm done

2008-08-19T14:02:00.011-05:00

I know, I was working on the "Trips Around The World" quilt, but I needed a quilt quick and that one wasn't going to be done in time, so I made this "quilt as you go" reversible quilt. I just finished with time to spare. I just have 5 more blocks to do for the other quilt and will work on that one when I get back from Nashville. So here are a few pictures of the quilt. I really like how this one turned out. Hope the recipients do too:-)

Help from my furry friends

2008-08-13T17:59:00.005-05:00

I'm sure if you have pets, you know they try to be very helpful when help isn't needed......well, not from them anyway~~~

Picture #1 Kahlu: "Hummm........., not sure I like these blocks here"......#2 "Nope, don't like them here".....Austie: Nope, I don't like it either"......#3 "Well, aren't you going to give me some other blocks to check out?" Austie, looking uninterested: "Whatever."
The quilt is the "Scrappy Trips Around the World"

Beautiful Fall like morning

2008-08-12T08:27:00.004-05:00

Good Morning! It's a beautiful 61 degrees this morning. I've been busy working on my "Scrappy Trips Around the World" By Bonnie of Quiltville. It's coming along. I might post a picture later.
I've been at Announcements To Ponder and loved it so much that I thought I'd share with you. With the holidays coming up, I'm sure Jessie could come up with some pretty unique cards. I have not used this service or personally know Jessie. I just visited her sight and was in awe of her work. Enjoy the creativity and while you're at it, she is doing a giveaway at Bloggy Giveaways.
Enjoy your day! Kathy

Friday already

2008-08-08T19:04:00.015-05:00

Where has the week gone? It seems, for some reason, when one retires that time just seems to zip right past you. The thing is, I don't remember what just zipped past me.....lol

Today I've been working on a "Scrappy Trips Around the World" quilt by Bonnie at Quiltville. I'm using cat fabric. I love Bonnie's sight!

Only 27 more blocks to make.LOL

Today, Carol Doak presented our group with another challenge called "Smooth Sailing". She gave us a paper pieced boat to play with. As always, there will be a random drawing and a prize given the end of the challenge. I was playing with EQ5 and came up with this 15X15 inch block with the sail boat in. I am using the monkey wrench block from EQ's block library. I want to paper piece it, so I have some figuring to do. I think if I put a pre-made four patch in the center, I should be good to go....we shall see. This will have to be put on the back burner for a while so I can get some other things done. Hopefully, I'll get it done in time.

Don't let the weekend pass you to quickly without you enjoying it.

Kathy

Wouldn't you know it.........

2008-08-05T10:07:00.010-05:00

Wouldn't you know it, once I put out a post for help, I figure out how to do what I asked about??? I've only been trying to figure it out for a gazillion days! Well, maybe not that many. hee hee. Now you are wondering what I am talking about. I asked for help to be able to print a name or sight and have it linked up to the sight or persons sight that I was talking about. My dear friend (Comadre) Michelle said she would explain how to do it when she got settled in..... she is in transit to BeaverCreek, Ohio with her new move, it will be a while yet. Before I lost contact, she mentioned the earth link and I tried to figure it out, but no such luck.....until today when I decided to highlight the word I wanted to LINK. YaHOO, it works. She is going to be sooooo proud of me when she sees I figured it out all by myself!!! Yippy, yippy, yippy......this has made my day! Doesn't take much. hee hee. Now I can direct you to a gazillion..lol...well maybe not that many.(295 at present)Blog giveaways. Bloggy Giveaways Have fun and good luck. Until next blog. Have a GREAT day! Kathy

My Quilt Blog

2008-07-31T09:20:00.004-05:00

Last year I started a Quilt Blog....I just remembered. lol I just visited it again and thought instead of transporting everything over to this one, I would post the link. http://www.myquiltblog.com/Kela52/ I used it pretty much for just quilting stuff. Check out the other wonderful blogs on that sight, while you are there.
Enjoy your day! Kathy

Armed Forces Tribute

2008-07-30T09:03:00.009-05:00

Make sure you click on "Armed Forces Tribute" above to see a beautiful video.

From another Yahoo group I belong to, I found this link http://www.loveboxesforourtroops.com/ I spent some time on it this morning. I plan on putting a box or two together and sending them. Can you imagine the "feeling of love felt"by the troops, if all reading this sent just one box? I don't have too many dropping by, but we could spread the word and any amount is greatly appreciated. I do appreciate all who do drop by. I've donated quilt blocks for quilts to be made for our troops and donated items, but feel I need to do LOTS more. I hope you'll consider sending one box. Gods Speed

Kathy

p.s. yes, the block is another Paper Panache mystery block.

Best Friends

2008-07-28T22:04:00.003-05:00

I thought I'd better not let another day go without posting. I've been busy with the everyday things. Threw together some "bags" to put the Wii steering wheels and controls in to protect them when transported from house to house. Nothing great. Just made them out of fleece left over from my grandkids robes I made them for Christmas last year. We got some Wii time in too. It's nice having them close by. I can't believe they will be back to school August 21. Hopefully tomorrow I can get some time to work on a BOM.

Here is a picture of a mystery I did from Paper Panache called Best Friends.

Have a good night. Kathy

Where do eggs come from???

2008-07-25T07:28:00.000-05:00

Good Morning to you on a raining Friday here in S Illinois. My granddaughter said she read the post about eggs and asked if I put the answer some where, so I thought It only fair to post one. My simple answer is that when the egg is laid, it is of a rubbery (tough) consistancy making passage into the world easy, so when it hits the ground it won't break. Then it hardens rather quickly. If you want to read more about the formation of it, you can check this article...

http://www.blurtit.com/q240100.html It's a very interesting article. I didn't know it took so long to make the egg. I even learned something new. Boy, I love the internet. I just googled "how eggs are made" and lots of stuff came up. You'll never look at an egg the same way after reading the article. lol

Above is a block from a swap hosted by Sindy Rodenmayer. Check out her Great sight. http://www.fatcatpatterns.com/

Have a Wonderful Day! Kathy

Eggs

2008-07-24T08:48:00.000-05:00

In our house, we love egg salad sandwiches. While peeling the eggs yesterday, I noticed something interesting. I always thought that if you peeled the eggs while still kinda warm, that the shells would come off easily. That was what I had determined from experience.......or I thought. What I found interesting yesterday, was that I had cooked 2 eggs from one carton and 4 from another together and proceeded, when still slightly warm, to de-shell them. As you can see from the picture, 2 are smooth(shells came off easily) and the other 4 have craters from chunks coming out when "trying" to take the shells off nicely. So, my theory flew out the window. Why do some shells come off easily and others not? I kinda think it might be according to the freshness of the eggs. So if that is the case, are the fresh eggs the ones that de-shell easily or the ones that are very difficult? Gee, for sometime for now, I've had eggs that peel very easily.......I sure hope that means they were fresh. lol

Question: Have you ever wondered why birds don't lay cracked eggs? Living on a farm and having chickens, I know why......but those who haven't had the experience that I have.....have you ever thought about it?

Kathy