July Christmas Through the Year

And here we are again, closing the door on on yet another month. I'm thinking we ought not to be this far into the year yet, but as I have no say in the matter, the calendar keeps flipping at break neck speeds despite my complaints. Thankfully Darlene and Cheryl are keeping me focused and I am faithfully adding to my Christmas box every month. 

So hop over there and see what everyone else has been making for their boxes. I'm betting you'll find something that inspires you. It's not too late to jump in either. When Christmas rolls around, you'll be kissing the ground they walk on when you realize that you have handmade gifts complete before December 24th. Then you too can be snug in your beds with visions of sugarplums dancing in you heads instead of rushing around like a wild woman. Hey, it's worth a try! :)

It was fun to work on these little fellas during the  heat of summer. Yesterday we had yet another sweltering 100° , but I'm thankful we are not having a repeat of last summer where 110° was the norm. Ugh. We're still desperate for rain, and it's keeping us on our knees, but we're holding strong to God's promises.

So, these little frosty men are ready to brighten a few stockings and mailboxes and brown trucks and feed store counters and gift baskets when December rolls around. 

They will all be sporting giant Hershey bars, but I couldn't take the temptation of having that much chocolate in the house and have it just sitting there until December. As much as I would like to say that I have that kind of will power, I cannot sit here and tell you that with a clear conscious...or a straight face. It would be an out and out lie and the chocolate on my face would just give me away.

I found this little pattern a few years ago and stashed him away for the following year. Last year I made a few and I just think they are so cute. This is a Laurie Furnell pattern that she was sweet to share and she has all kinds of fun projects on her blog. Here is a tutorial on You Tube.

You can whip out a herd of these cute snowmen in no time.

Binding Olympics

I love the Olympics! I love the competition. I love the stories.
The other day, my long arm quilter, Jackie, called me and told me my Western Many Trips Quilt was ready. Well, what she really said was, "You might want to bring a crane to haul this monster back home." :)  She said I get the gold medal for piecing the biggest quilt ever! LOL. I'm blaming it on Saska though. When I debated making more blocks, she said, "Make it bigger. :)

'Bigger' is 123x135.

Let the wrestling begin:

So, as the London Olympics kick off, I am excited to sit down and watch the events and stitch on what just may be the never-ending binding:

Let the Scrap Jar Star Stitching Commence!

Staci and I have been incognito when it comes to our Scrap Jar Stars, but, never fear!  They have not been abandoned to the land of UFO's.  After a week of no sewing, I was eager to get back behind my machine. Cities and crowds stress me out. Now that I am back on the dirt road, I can breathe and  after some time with DH, and the lawn mower  - big news! It rained almost an inch here at headquarters and I actually have something to mow! - , the construction of the Scrap Jar Stars has once again commenced:

And you too can join in on the craze right here at Amber's .

 The hst's were paired up:

 the corner units were next on the list. 120 corner units to be exact. So Staci and I rolled up our sleeves and dug in.

Pop over to Staci's and see her progress. Seeing  her  flat seams on everything she stitches made me twist her arm and share her secret. Her piecing is perfection and I have now discovered the magic of Aurifil thread and open seams.

Makes for crisp, flat seams so I bow to the Flat Seam Queen in gratitude.

Yes, I know. They are not very exciting to see, but they are a vital part to the block and having them all stitched and pressed means that we are now in the home stretch for SJS and watching these happy stars come together will bring me much joy.

 Joy is something I need in my life today. I have spent too many days on the phone with tech support for our Internet service. We;re going on 4 weeks now and I don't know if I am getting anywhere. I finally have Internet access although it is 3 am. At the moment I have a new modem that has been shipped to me free of charge because I was so pleasant (or so I was told) which I am now being told I don't need. I have been in touch with India and Florida on multiple occasions for long hours. I have used up all of my cell phone minutes. I have been told time and time again that my patience and sweet disposition are greatly appreciated, but the sweet disposition is reaching it's limit. Hence, these:

are no more. 

Today I was told that I am a precious, delightful creature. I don't feel like a precious, delightful creature today, but let's just go with that.

Stitching on Saturday with Jimmy Buffet

Around here, weekends are pretty much the same as  weekdays. The cattle don't care that it's a Saturday and if there is a leak to be fixed, it gets fixed, Sunday or not. But sometimes, a free day rolls around and sometimes it falls on a Saturday. Like today. We still chore and check some water and tend to the garden and chickens and water, but that's a free day around here.

This morning DH is off playing and I am choosing to ignore the kitchen floor and play with fabric. DH called right after he left and said he forgot  coffee and was turning around so I filled his mug and met him out in the drive. When he drove up I grinned and said, "Now where are you gonna get service like THAT?!" He chuckled and handed me this:

  and said, "Not that that's all your worth, but it's all I got." :) That's ok. I'll take a kiss and a rain check. ;)

Gosh! I almost don't know what to do with a free morning! I don't really want to trim blocks for the gypsy quilt, but I do really want to get it pieced so that goes to the top of the list. So I trim a bit and sew a bit...all morning and I make good progress

 even though I get sidetracked by the precarious stack of fabric on the cutting table.

 New projects! No. stay focused.

I would love to finish this up, but I still need a backing. Last week we made a day trip to Texas to take a few head to the packer and drop off a trailer that needed a new floor and rewiring. We took the opportunity to whisk college girl away from her veterinary diagnostics and take her to lunch - a treat for all of us!

And I coerced DH into stopping at a quilt shop for a few minutes so that I could begin my search for a backing. I am not a blue person, but lately I have been drawn to teals and turquoise and azure. Perhaps I've been listening to too much Jimmy Buffet. He's keeping me company today too....I'm growing older, but not up... sing along!

A few years back, college girl had to take a test with lots of odd questions that was supposed to gauge her aptitude  for various careers. Stay with me for a minute. :) She came home excited, saying that she was supposed to be the captain of a ship and she said, "Hey! I can be a pirate! How cool is that?!" Still makes us laugh. The kid's weakest subject is geography and her sense of direction is a bit skewed. However, as I am typing this, I am beginning to think this piece could be a nod to her her inner pirate. Pirates are a kind of gypsy, aren't they? And even this desert rat has a bit of salty sea in her.

I picked up this piece, but they didn't have much of it.

The good news is that it is a new line and I can get lots more if I choose to use this for the backing. But, I don't know if it's a good choice. What do you think?

Should I go with something else? There is so much going on on the front that I don't want to make the back too busy. However, the sea is calling me...

Crossing State Lines and My First QOV

Last week I was down in Texas spending some time with my Mom. I'm exhausted. Can't keep up with the lady! Her social calendar rival's the Queen's. However, we had a really good visit and I was able to catch up on all the business accounting in between brunches and lunches and meetings.

I did sneak off to Memories by the Yard in order to take my sewing machine in for a tune up. It has been stitching beautifully so I really hated to let anyone touch it, but it was past due for a cleaning. I warned the technician to 'be prepared', but he didn't charge me an arm and a leg so maybe it wasn't as bad as I feared.

On the way down, I barged in on Doniene and her husband and she fed me a delicious lunch. I think she tends to do that with strays. The food and the fellowship was greatly appreciated and I enjoyed my visit so much. I was tickled to meet her husband who may have uttered this sentence when I left, "Wow. It sure is quiet now." She almost had to scrape me off the porch. Their home is just gorgeous and they built it by themselves! Even though we met through the magic of blogging, we have some amazing real life connections that make you realize just how small of a world it really is. Their home is filled with love and charm and each time I turned a corner, there was something to delight in. I should have taken pictures, but that probably would have been strange and I didn't want to confirm their suspicions. I finally got a real life look at TWQ and it is stunning. In fact, I fell in love with several of her projects. Thank you both so much for a wonderful afternoon!

A few weeks ago, DH and I went to a Wounded Warrior 3 Gun Shoot that he participated in.
It was over 100° that day, but it was great fun and over $4000 was raised for the Wounded Warrior Project . I took my QOV so that I could work on the binding:

But I didn't get very far so I took it to Texas last week and worked on it in the evenings and now it is complete!

I'm so excited! And I'm working on getting it to it's rightful owner. They are having a Marine Family Day here in town at the end of the month and I've offered to volunteer. I'm working with the recruiter to present this quilt to a local Marine if that is who is supposed to have it:

I've been trying to make contact with a local QOV group, but it appears that there isn't one and I live too far out to lead one.

I cannot tell you how much love and how many prayers went into these seams and I pray that the recipient is blessed as he continues his journey:

Thank you to all of the men and women who have served and are currently serving in the military. Our prayers are with you:

Iron Man

Iron Man Woman.

Sleep...press
laundry...press
chickens...press
garden...press
laundry...press
bed...press
breakfast...press
walk...press
dishes...press
press...press...press

Making progress!

HST Progess Report

I'm having so much fun watching this project come together and stitching with Staci! I love how blogging has allowed me to meet so many amazingly, talented people and where else can you stitch with someone who lives in another state? 

Her 16 patches are gorgeous and once we both  stitched those little squares  into place, we both tackled the stack of hst's...the never ending stack of hst's and after what seemed like forever, they were conquered:

I think we wore ourselves out over these little rascals. Hop over and take a peek at  Staci's progress. She's making me covet that Vintage Modern Line. Next up: corner units although don't expect them tomorrow! That thing called 'life' is going to keep me from whipping those out for just a bit, but I need a break from the iron and rotary cutter. After all of that pressing and trimming, I was feeling my age. :)

So, how many of y'all are itching to make some Scrap Star Jar's along with us? Amber has made it easy for us. She has a tutorial for this super fun block here. 

Edit: I neglected to fess up to the fact that I had to press these twice. I was still partially sleeping when I wrote this this morning. Reading Staci's post, I was reminded. I must have really, really wanted to forget that part! See why I should never stitch alone? I need constant supervision! So thanks Staci! And she thinks SHE'S confused. I think she needs a Super Hero cape!

A Taste of Summer

.99 cents/lb

Someone's going to have a tummy ache.