I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

For the first time since I moved to this part of Texas 35 years ago we have a White Christmas. A Very messy, slick, icy White Christmas! It started to rain the night before Christmas Eve and on Christmas Eve morning it turned to sleet and ice and then to snow. The wind was blowing 45 miles so mostly it was snowing sideways. We were not supposed to get this much. People began to get stranded on the highways. Our small town put up over 400 people in the Jr High and in 2 Church's. The Electricity was off at our house for 3 1/2 hours. Burrrr, it got cold. Lots of people could not get to their families on Christmas day. We were very lucky because the kids live across the street. This photo was taken on Christmas Eve during the snow. I was peeking out the garage door. I could not take pictures out the front or back because the camera lense got covered with snow.This photo was taken by the front door. The Christmas lights are on the shrub (under the snow).

This is Steve at the side of the house 2 days after the snow started. People up north probably don't go outside without coats on but here in Texas we don't know any better.


The trail from the front door is not the side walk, the snow was too deep there to walk so we went through the yard around the snow drifts caused by the wind. You can see my shadow in the photo and no I do not have a coat on either.

During the day the snow started to melt and make a river of water down the street, and at night it freezes up and it is now a solid sheet of ice. This photo is of the street in front of our house. The cars are sliding down the street on the ice. It started melting during the day but at night it froze up again.

I'm not sure if I would like another White Christmas. The deer are coming through the yard and eating all the shrubs they can find. Pretty to watch but very annoying. Merry Christmas Yall!

I bought 2 Pumpkins this weekend and put them on either side of the porch. They were so pretty and Fall looking setting there. My husband went out to get the paper this morning and they were gone. He looked all around expecting to find them smashed in the street. Surprise, Surprise, there they were decorating my Daughters house across the street. My Grandson, Son in Law and Daughter were "Pumpkin Swipers"! They laughed and laughed so I made a little wanted poster and put it up in front of their house right by my pumpkins. Guess who is laughing now!

A Fall Memory

My Husband and I were driving through the country one day so I could get some pictures. We came across this field where his cousin farms and I just had to get a picture of this really old tractor that was left in the field. I blended the photo into the background paper which was perfect for the picture. It was a lovely Fall day.

New layouts

I'm back from the Scrapgirl's Convention in Salt Lake City. I had a blast while I was there and really learned a lot in the Classes. Here are some of the layouts I made in class.

I really like how this one turned out. We made silhouettes from a photo and used it in a layout. I used a photo of Layne and Clayton from an Allstar game. I'm looking forward to trying this again.

This layout was supposed to be a really fast one I had to make with one of the layout templates that the instructor provided. I wasn't as fast as I was supposed to be.

Computer Art

This photo was taken by our daughter when we were on vacation. I have so few photos of my husband and I together because I am always behind the camera. I feathered the edges of the photo and it made it blend really nice into the paper. I made this layout to go on a new mouse pad. I love the way it turned out. I've been working with photos on the computer a lot lately and the more I work at it the better I get. I guess the old saying that practice make perfect is really true. Back to my practice because perfect is a long way off.

New Tote

I've been on a sewing binge sense I returned from the Quilting Retreat. One of the things I've made is this really great tote called the Charm Party Tote. The pattern is by Penny Sturges and is a really nice tote that you make with a charm pack (pack of 5" squares).

This is the inside of the bag. It has pockets on both sides. The padded handles are real comfortable. The cute guy wearing Texas Longhorn Orange and holding the bag for me (windy day) is my favorite grandson.

I Won a Prize!

I Won a Prize! I received this wonderful stack of fabric goodness in the mail from Let Me Sew Love. I entered a drawing on her website and visited her online Etsy Store and I WON. It is 12 half yard pieces of fabric that came beautifully wrapped and look so pretty stacked together that I haven't been able to cut into them yet. I fondle them when I walk by and dream of what to make with them. I keep changing my mind. They are so pretty. It is a fabric from Paula Prass' new collection, Summer Soiree. I may fondle for another week and then the scissors come out.

Quilt Retreat

I'm getting ready to go on a Quilt Retreat in a few days. I've got the pieces cut and ready to sew for 4 different quilt projects. I'm not sure if I will get this much finished. I might have to do more stitching and less talking this time. A retreat is always so much fun!

New Tote

I made this really cute tote. It is the larger one on the pattern. I think it is more the size of a large purse that a tote. It was quick and easy. I did put a lining in it that wasn't on the pattern (Hot Pink!). I really like the outside pockets. If I make another I will definitely make the straps a little wider.

Cell Phone Pouch

I finished two new cell phone pouchs. These are easy to make with leftover scraps from other projects. I wrote about the pattern in a previous post Cell Phone Pouch.

My Bag

This over the shoulder bag turned out really cute. I will make more of these.

Quilt Along

I have all my blocks put together for the "Quilt Along Quilt" that I've been working on. I really love how the fabrics look together. It is so bright and fresh looking. I need to decide if it needs a border or not and get it quilted. I never look forward to quilting in the summer.

Here is a close up of the quilt. This was really a fast fun quilt. Beautiful fabrics like these look great even in a simple quilt. I will definitely make another sometime.

Summer In Texas

It was 109 degrees today! Hot, Hot, Hot. Too hot for many flowers to bloom. But the Sunflowers are surviving. Thank goodness for air conditioning. I'm going to stay inside and sew.

Dresden towel

I've been seeing a lot of Dresden Plate quilts on Blogs lately. Most are using the Easy Dresden Plate ruler. I looked in my pile of rulers (I'm embarrassed to admit how many I have) and sure enough I have one of those. So before I made a quilt I thought I would try it out on a kitchen towel and see how well it worked. Well it was really fast and easy. So I now have a pile of Dresden plate wedges ready to sew.

Cell Phone Pouch

I found the instruction for this really cute Cell Phone Pouch on the Blue Moon River Blog. She has the instruction with pictures in a PDF file that you can print out and use. I loved the way it turned out and will definitely make more. I made this one with the left over scraps from the Red and Brown quilt I am working on. I think I need one in black, pink, blue and beige, maybe green. I girl's got to have one for every outfit doesn't she?

Quilt Along

I'm making progress on my "Quilt Along" Quilt. I have all the blocks made and arranged. Now I just have to get them sewn together. It is making a very pretty Girly Quilt. The kind that when my Husband looks at I know he is thinking, "I hope that's not for me!".

New Fabric!

I went to the Oklahoma City Quilt Show last week and got some great new stuff (like I need anymore projects!). I found this great book "Sugar Sack Quilts" and there is a quilt in there that I'm dying to make. It even uses Rick Rack. I found some great fat quarters and a red border fabric so I am ready to go.



I also got these great fabrics at Oklahoma Quiltworks for a Red and Brown quilt that I have be wanting to make. I love this quilt shop. They have everything in the world there. I like to support the small quilt shops in my area, but sometime you just need a print that they don't have. I better get busy on all these projects. Maybe I should give up sleeping?

Quilt Along

I saw this post a while back at Old Red Barn Co. Where she is having a Quilt along. There is even a Flickr group where they post the pictures. Most are using big, bold, beautiful fabrics and the results are wonderful. I just had to make one. It is a very easy strip quilt. Took about 30 minutes to cut out. Sometimes you just need to make a quilt that is fast and will give you that instant gratification.




All cut and ready to go. I can hardly wait to see how the strips look together.

This is one of my truly favorite things. My husband gave me the lotion a few years ago and got me hooked, it smells so good. When I ran out I went to "Bath and Body Works" to purchase another bottle and realized it is one of the more expensive lines in the store. I swallowed hard and bought another bottle. I usually get more for Christmas which helps ease my guilt a little. I discovered that Bath and Body Works is an evil place. You go in there when there is a really good sale, and when you buy something they give you really good coupons to get you back in. Then when you buy more you get another coupon. It is an endless circle that you never truly escape from. The Tiger Lily is from my yard. They are almost finished blooming for the year.

Cottage Garden

My Cottage Garden blocks are slowly coming along. The background is a really nice Brown with vines of green leaves on it. Doesn't really show in the picture. I've been collecting fabrics that will look nice with it. and I loved the way the reds, greens, golds and oranges show up on the brown. I don't usually use orange. I probably have about a tablepoon of them in my fabric stash so this is a nice stretch for me. I do love how the violet color gives it a spark.

This is the quilt I making. Looks lovely in every color. I'm still in my "red" phase so all the vases and some of the flowers are red. I'm not crazy about the center house block so I will probably change that.
The pattern is from Quilting in the garden. It is a really wonderful book. Lots of great quilts. I think I will make up a center block with some of the flower shapes. Maybe make a wreath. I'm not looking forward to quilting that dark brown!

Yummy

I got these really yummy fabrics last week and I need too make something with them. They are really busy fabrics so I need to find a simple pattern that will show them off well. I already have a lot of quilts going right now but sometimes fabric just calls to you and you have to drop things and just do it, or it drives you nuts.

Friendly

This is one of my favorite Scrapbook pages. I thought this was such a cute picture of my grandson and his cousin. He's at the age where I doesn't like to be hugged in public. He doesn't complain, but you can tell what he is thinking by looking at his face. This Photo always makes me smile.

Summer

I took this picture in May. The Photo is a little blurry but it was windy that day. I love the beginning of summer when everything is green and starting to bloom. Once the Summer heat sets in the blooms vanish. We've had to kill 6 rattlesnakes this year. You really have to watch where you step outside.(Ah, the joys of living in Texas) We moved into this house 2 years ago and the garden is slowly filling out. I add a few more plants each year. Some of the roses were already here.

Cruise

We are back from our first Cruise. Nassau was just beautiful! The water is such a gorgeous aqua blue. The plants and flowers are so different from what we have. So lush and green. Money worked the same as in the USA so it was very easy to shop. We had a wonderful time and would love to go on another cruise.

We were so lucky, only the backyard burned. A wire got loose from a pole because of the wind and sparked the fire. Lucky for us some neighbors called it in fast and other neighbors hooked up hoses to their own house and sprayed. The firemen got there really fast and sprayed the whole yard down. The only thing that burned is grass, the trees and shrubs are pretty scorched but it could have been so much worse. Thank goodness for good neighbors and firemen. They are the best.

FIRE!

Fire is getting very close to our old house. I heard there was a fire in the back yard so we had to run over there and help put it out. I didn't get to the house thank goodness.

The fire is getting closer to town. The wind is blowing so hard that the firemen are having a hard time keeping it under control. They have been working for hours.

We had a real scary day yesterday. It was very windy and dry and grass fires started kicking up all over. This one started about a mile from our house. This is a picture from the alley.

This is an experiment with Threadpainting. I cut all of the pieces out freehand with no pattern, fused them on and stitched with thread (lots and lots of thread!) to shade everything. Learned a lot doing this. Especially what not to do!

Well, I have to say I'm very happy with how it turned out. I just need to put a binding on. I really need to work more on the face shading next time. I think she will look very nice hanging in the sewing room. I will definitely try this again.

I've got the stitching done now. Doing the face was very hard. Did I say very Hard? I'm happy with how it is coming along for a first try. I'm still a week behind.

I've got the fabric all fused on and now I'm ready to start stitching. I'm going to need to practice first! It is going really well. I was afraid she would turn out ugly but she is kind of cute. I just need a name for her. I think she will hang in the sewing room.

I'm taking a class from
http://twocreativestudios.com/ . The Class is "Faces on Fabric". We are learning to draw a face of our own and make a wallhanging with it. There are step by step instructions and the class participates in an email group so it works like a regular class but online and you work at home. This has been so much fun and you get to watch the rest of the class work along with you. Best of all you work at your own pace. Which is great for me because I'm going a little slow with this one. I had to stop and practice freemotion some sense I haven't done it in a while. This has been so much fun. It really gets the creative juices going. Now I have dozens of new ideas (just what I need).