Friday's Favorite Blog #9

Tempus Fugit and it is Friday once again. Nancy from With Thread in Hand is my choice for blogger of the week. She has a great blog, with nice photos of her quilts and other projects. It is easy to see that she loves her children and grandchildren. I think you will enjoy your visit with her. Click here to go there.

Pity Party

I have been having a pity-party for my self this week. I went to see a specialist about my back last Thursday, and he said that I was healing and that it could take up to a year for it to be back to something like normal. Take calcium meds and supplements, yada, yada. Then he told me that my lungs were s**t. Yes, he said that word! He did get my attention though. On Monday I decided to quit smoking. I know I should have quit long ago, and I have made the attempt several times. Have made it a couple of months before, and then something very stressful comes along and a cigarette is in my hand again. It is my only vice, and very hard to give up. They need to start a re-hab program for smokers. If I had a bad drug problem, I could get all kinds of help to get off them. If I could be locked up in a padded cell for a couple of weeks with out cigarettes, maybe that would do the trick! I have tried all the products that are supposed to help you quit, but they cause a rash or make me sick to my stomach. So……I guess using will power is my only choice. I am trying. Have cut down by about 80%, which isn’t good, but it’s better than nothing. Anyway……..my week has been all about not smoking, and it makes me irritable and nervous and edgy and not interested in anything. I have managed to do a little bit of embroidery. It’s just something to keep my hands busy. My back is getting better and I hope to be able to get back to my sewing machine soon. Please excuse the ranting of this post. I will try to be more upbeat in the future.

I managed to get the July installment of the Noah's Ark BOM finished.

This is a little embroidery I did and colored it with colored pencils. I still have to go over the colored pencil with some textile medium. I am trying the method called colorque, by helen of hugs and kisses. I don't have her link handy, but will add it to my list soon. I am not sure if I like the look of it. It seems to take away from the old fashioned feel of embroidery.

This is a larger stitchery that I am doing. The fabric is unbleached muslin. I used Paint Shop Pro trying to get the green of the trees to show up better, but it made the whole thing more green. Oh, well. I am going to make a pillow out of this one. It is about the size of the bed of my scanner. If it turns out to be as pretty as I hope, I may give it away when I get to one hundred posts. That is a long way off so I have plenty of time to finish it..........God willing, of course.

Friday's Favorite Blog #8

I can’t believe it is Friday already and time to pick a new blogger of the week. This week’s choice is Kieny from the Dutchlady blog. She lives in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. She has an interesting blog, with lots of pictures. I really enjoy the pictures of people and places in Taiwan. I love the quilt she is making called “magic moments”. It shows what a great quilt you can make with 2 different blocks. I may have to make one like it. She is involved in a siggie swap. She has siggies that have been sent to her from so many different countries, and she puts lots of pictures of them on her blog. I think you will like visiting her blog. Click here to go there.

The Closer

Just a reminder to make sure you know that the new season of The Closer starts tonight. It has been my favorite show since it's first season. If you haven't seen it before, you might want to give it a try.

I Have Been Given an Award

A couple of days ago, I got a really nice surprise from Arlette at the Polka Dot Pineapple blog. She was given an award and passed it along to me. It was given to her by Alicia from Curiosities 808. I am passing it along as required by the following rules:

1. The winner can put the logo on his/her blog.

2. Link to the person you received your award from.

3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.

4. Put links of those blogs on yours. (The links are in my side-bar)

5. Leave a message on the blogs of the people you have nominated.

I am passing along this award to:

1. Finn at Pieces From My Scrapbag

2. Sweet P at Coffee Time Quilt Studio

3. Stina at Kviltstina

4. Marsha at Threadbender

5. Cathi at Quilt Obsession

6. Pat at Bits and Pieces

7. Kieny at The Dutch Lady

PS........I had to take Myra from Tactile Pleasures in Fabric off my list because she has just been given the award from another blogger! Ditto with Nancy from With Thread in Hand!

I am so grateful to these bloggers, and many others, for the fun I have when visiting them. They have helped me get through a lot of trying days by getting my mind off of my problems. Like it says in a song, a little bit of sugar helps the medicine go down. They are my little bits of sugar. Did that make any sense? Oh, well, I have never claimed to be a good writer, but I hope you know what I meant.

I am going to wrap this up with a little note to Arlette. Your blog is a cheerful and fun place to visit. You have made so many of my days with your friendly comments to me. Thinking of me as your long-lost Aunt was so sweet. "Mahalo nui loa" for the award.

Friday's Favorite Blog #7

Stina is my choice for this week’s blogger. She has a very pretty blog. Always has nice pictures and she is so funny! I really have a good time reading what she has to say. She lives in Sweden. Blogging has allowed me to talk to people from so many different countries. It is like a world tour I can take sitting in front of my computer in my own home. I would rather go to these places in person, but my check book says I must do it this way!! I hope you will take the time to visit Stina. Tell her I said Hi. Click here to go there.

Stitchers' Angel

It has been a few days since I have found anything to post about. Today while blog-hopping, I found this. Helen at Hugs and Kisses Blog has a new project called "The Stitchers Angel Project". Click on the Stitchers' Angel in my side-bar and it will take you to her blog where you can learn all about it. She has several designers that are going to provide a free patten. You can sign up to be involved in a swap, or just visit there each week to get the free project. Sign up ends the 15th of August for the swap. I have never joined a swap before, but I am going to do this one, God willing. I am going to try to talk my sister, Kathy, into doing it also.

Happy Fourth of July

Today I am not going to have a favorite blogger.

Will pick it up again next week.

Have a fun and safe Independence Day!

God Bless America

Another Giveaway

While blogg-hopping today, I ran across this lovely blog. It is by Helen Stubbings and she lives in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. She is the designer of a block of the week program called Nice People, Nice Things. The picture is a little snippet from her quilt. It is adorable! I don't think she will mind that I am sharing it with you. I hope!! She is offering a giveaway, but she is not sure what it will be. I love the sticheries on her site, so am sure whatever it is, I will be happy to get it if I am the lucky winner. Oh, yes. You must leave her a recipe for something chocolate in your comment to enter for the prize. Click here to go there.

My Muslin Quilt

I know it has been several days since I have made a post. I have not been very productive. I will take this time to show you another of my quilts, or rather one block from it. I don’t have a picture of the whole quilt. Must remedy that one of these days. I don’t suppose it really matters, since it is a one block quilt. The blocks are 10 inch finished squares of unbleached muslin, front and back. The design is a quilting motif I had used in one the blocks of William’s quilt. It is hand quilted using three strands of DMC embroidery floss. That was not a good idea. It was hard to thread the needle, and hard to pull through the quilt. I used a different color on each block. It is a small quilt, 5 blocks by 6 blocks, but I was sure sick of doing those blocks by the time I finished. Boring!!!! Glad I finished it though, because this quilt I made for myself, and I have used it nearly every day for the last 10 or so years. My sister, Kathy, made one like it and she uses hers all the time also.

Friday's Favorite Blog #6

This week’s blogger of the week is Arlette, at the Polka Dot Pineapple. She has a wonderful blog. It is so colorful! Cheers me up to go there. She has some great tutorials I am anxious to try. You will just have to go have a look to see for yourself. Click here to go there. As soon as I get this posted, I am going to try to make a folded hexagon yo-yo. They are so cute! In her latest post she showed a tea bag tote she makes. I hope she will have a tutorial to make those. I could go on and on, but I want to go make something!

Kangaroos and Giveaways

This is a picture of the latest stitchery from the Noah’s Ark BOM. I think the kangaroos are so cute, and so Australian. While blog-hopping this morning, I came across a couple of giveaways. One is on Natalie Ross’s blog. She is going to giveaway a set of her FAIRY MEADOW BOM patterns. They are fabulous. She is another Australian designer. Click here to go there. The next giveaway is from the Pumpkin Patch Primitive Quilt Shoppe. She is giving away a Patch Abilities Sandcastle quilt KIT! Looks like a fun project. So Summery. Click here to go there.
On another subject...Has anyone noticed that the blog list is not updating the posts of the bloggers you have listed. That is really ticking me off. It worked fine for a bit and now it doesn't. I thought it was working correctly until I went to one of the blogs and found I had missed a couple of her posts. I am going to see if I can find a place to let them know about my problem..........Edited to say...........
Now if that doesn't beat all! I looked at my blog after I made this post, and what did I see? Yep, the blog list had updated!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh well, if that will "get her done", I will post more often.

William's Quilt

When I started this blog I called myself a quilter, but I notice that of all the pictures I have shown on here, there is not one quilt! I am going to show you one today. I wish I had better pictures. This quilt is the first one I made. I see that it was 20 years ago that I made it. Gosh! It doesn’t seem like that long ago. Time does fly! I look at this quilt now and I wonder what I was thinking when I made that big of a sashing and how much better it would have looked with some corner stones, and why didn’t I…….so on and so forth.. I made this one with cardboard templates, cut everything out with scissors, pieced the blocks on a cheap old machine, and got all my directions from books from the library. I hand quilted it one block at a time using the first Georgia Bonesteel book, also from the library. It is amazing to me to think of how my life has changed since the internet became a part of my life. I will save the rest of that thought for a future post. Any hoo, I was really proud of this quilt when I made it, as was my husband. He is so proud of it that it is hardly ever used. It is folded nicely in a drawer, and I guess it will stay there till one of us croaks.

Friday's Favorite Blog #5

My pick for this week’s favorite blogger is Myra. She is a very interesting person and has a great blog. Lots of nice pictures of quilts. You have got to go see the whole cloth sample she made. It is gorgeous. She seems to be quite fond of her 2 pug puppies, Ruby and Dora. I got a kick out of reading a post she made on June 15. I wonder if it hits home for anyone else? Hope you will drop in and visit her. I think you will enjoy yourself. Click here to go there.

Oh, My Aching Back

Good Morning,
I am taking a moment to tell those of you reading my blog, why I have not been making many posts. I managed to mess up my back on May 21. Won’t go in to all the details, but after seeing the Dr and having a CAT scan, I found that I had 2 compression fractures. It is getting a little better day by day. Thank God, and I mean that literally. I want to tell you women of a certain age, to pay attention to your calcium intake. I didn’t, and they tell me that osteoporosis is the reason for my fractures. Well, enough about pain and sickness! I want to get back to the fun stuff, so I am off to check up on a few of my favorite bloggers, and maybe mess around with my blog for a bit. The picture on this post is of a little stitchery I did a few years ago, and gave to one of my sisters. Have a great day y’all.

Friday's Favorite Blog #4

My choice for blogger of the week this time is Serena at Embroidery Treasures. I won the machine quilting gloves from her giveaway last week, and I thought this would be a way to say thank you. She is having another giveaway this week. There is still time to enter to win some nice looking batiks. She has lots of tips for machine embroidery on her site, among other things. Go on over and check her out. Click here for the link to her blog.

Friday's Favorite Blog #3

Catherine has a very nice blog. Lots of neat pictures. She shows a cute needle case she made. I love the blue and white quilt she is making. She says she is going to make a quilt with 1/2 inch hexagons. It is called the "insanity quilt". They got that one named right!! She is also owned by a couple of cats. Pop on over and visit her. I think you will enjoy it. Click here to go to her blog.

One More Giveaway

Quilty Gal is having a giveaway on her blog. Looks like a very nice assortment of "quilty stuff". I just found her blog this morning and the drawing is Sunday, the 8th, so you don't have long to get over there and sign up. Do it now! I hope she doesn't mind that I used her picture to show all the neat things she is giving away. Click here to go to her blog

Another Giveaway

Embroidery Treasures is giving away a pair of quilting gloves. I have wanted to try these for a long time. Maybe I can win a pair. Click here to go to the site where you can sign up also.

Another Little Stitchery

I finished this a few nights ago. I loved doing the flowers, but the gate itself was a bit boring. I am going to have to decide pretty soon what I am going to make with all the little embroidery pieces I have been making. Or not!!!!!! They are mine so I could just trash them if I wanted to. Like I ever throw any thing away! When my back gets well I think I will make little quilts out of them. Then I want to get those really cute hangers for them.

Friday's Favorite Blog #2

I am choosing Marsha's blog, Threadbender, for this week's favorite blogger because she was the first person, other than my sister, to leave a comment on my blog. She has a very nice blog and right now has beautiful pictures of her tree peonies. She also has pictures of the downy woodpeckers that are nesting in her yard. She has lots of interesting things in her older posts. You should see the picture of her PURPLE SINGER. Click here to see her blog for yourself.

Pat's Birthday Giveaway

Pat at Bits and Pieces is having a giveaway in honor of her birthday. She is giving away "Quilty Things". I entered my name for the drawing and so can you. Follow this link to the page for the details. Good Luck to............ME!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday's Favorite Blog

Chooky Blue

Every Friday, unless life gets in the way, I plan to feature a blog that I enjoy visiting and feel you might enjoy it also. This week it is Chooky Blue. The following is from her profile.

Chookyblue......
NSW, Australia
I am married and have 2 children (Book Worm and Fairy Girl ). I live on a property with sheep and cattle, chooks, dogs etc.....love it. I enjoy sewing, quilting, stitcheries, gardening, cooking and photography (now making some photos into cards etc). Also chatting and entertaining.......lol...(just please don't tag me....)

Victoriana Quilt Designs BOM

I finished the May block for this BOM yesterday. I am not thrilled with it. I don't like the colors I chose for the paisley, and I wish I hadn't used so many purple fabrics. If I had listened to my sister, Kathy, I wouldn't have made the fabric boo-boo. She told me I needed to mix them up more. Oh, well, I had fun doing it, and Kathy can have the satisfaction of knowing she was right once again. I will try to redeem myself on the next one.

Strawberry Freezer Jam

This is the result of my work this morning. I haven't made any freezer jam in forever. The strawberries were on sale when I went to the grocery store. They didn't have any sure-jel there so my daugter, Amanda, got me some yesterday and today I made the jam. It doesn't make much, but it is so good!

Noah's Ark Block Three

I finished this block last night. I think it is just precious. I love all of Lynette Anderson's designs. So glad she offered this free pattern. Can't wait to see which one she will have next month. I think I may start putting the fabric borders on each block, but haven't decided yet which fabrics to use. That may require an emergency run to my LQS. We will see. I have said I am not going to buy any new fabric, but that doesn't sound like much fun!

May German BOM block

I finished the May installment of the German BOM yesterday. I used a couple of fabrics that I wish I hadn't, but I am not taking it apart to make a better choice. I changed the block layout a bit, but I think it turned out rather well. The square in a square blocks are 2" finished. I don't think I have made a pieced block that small before.

Eva's First Block

A few months ago, my son Tim's wife, Eva, bought a sewing machine. I think she said she got it to repair the clothing that her boys keep tearing up. Then she made some curtains, then a pillow. Now she is quilting and going to quilt shows and fabric shops. I think she has the bug! The picture is of the center of her first block. She couldn't get the whole thing to fit in her scanner. I think she did a great job. I really like her color choices. I will keep you up-dated on her quilting journey.

Another bird done

I finished this little bird stitchery last night. Someday I am going to make a wallhanging with birds and bees and flowers and trees. Sounds like the title of a song, doesn't it? I saved this image in a larger size than some I have put on this blog. If you click on the image, you can see the larger one. I went to Lynette Anderson's site and she has added the third installment of the Noah's Ark BOM. I will start working on it soon.

May German BOM block

I went to Jutta's site to get the May installment of her BOM, and found I didn't like her design. It is cute I guess, but it just didn't appeal to me. I am going to use the pattern shown above for the embroidery. Today I added a picture to my profile.