A CGQC November finish.

I have to agree with Joan, Where did November go?  At least I can say that I've finished 1 of my projects for November.  I'm just so excited with how it turned out.  Thanks to Kelly, I have this wonderful wall hanging for many Christmases to come!  I hope to finish the mini me sometime this week.

Well, I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Check list

I don't know how many of you will be doing the Black Friday event but I thought I'd just do a quick reminder/suggestion list:

1. Take your ads/print outs
2. charge your cell phone
3. contact wearer's - take your eye drops
4. a couple of asprin/advil

If anyone has something to offer please leave me a comment.  I will be checking this post around 8pm (CST) tonight.  I plan to be in bed around that time because 3am will be here in no time.  Monroe, LA is about 2 hours away and the FUN (LOL!) starts around 4-5am, depending on the store.  The funny thing is, I'm pretty much finished all of my Christmas shopping.  I'm just going for the fun, food & girl time!  Hope everyone has a good day tomorrow! : )

To Everyone...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I can't stand it!

Ok, I got these a couple of weeks ago...

Nice, huh?  They weren't in the budget but ya know - it's Christmas time.  Anyhoo, I got them from the Fat Quarter Shop when they first came out.  See, I was thinking one for me, one for you (?) and the other would make a few nice little 'happy' bundle gifts.  My 100th post is coming up & so is Christmas.  With all the festivities starting, I didn't want to forget & I want to make sure the winner gets it by Christmas.  So, I figure I would do my 100th post giveaway after Thanksgiving...even though I've only posted 88 (?) times, at the rate I'm flapping my gums #100 should be here in no time!  Hope everyone is having a great week!

Ahead of schedule...

by a week!  I broke down and put up our Christmas (not 'holiday'...can I get an Amen?) tree & decorations.  And as we were going through the boxes and putting out the Santas and tons of other Christmas figurines, I found this...

I got this wall hanging a little over 10 years ago.  Before I left CA, I gave myself a day of shopping and I found this.  I've seen Mary's things before but this tapestry spoke to me.  It's our theme for Christmas & pretty much throughout the year.  And look at me now, I'm using her fabric to make quilts...LOL!  Who would have thunk it?  And last year I added a little bling to our collection...

Is there anyone else out there that has put up their tree yet?  If you don't want to say, I don't blame you.  Who wants to be called a freak? : )   I sure hope the next three days go by fast!

BLACK FRIDAY! It's on!

It's the SUPERBOWL version of the best shopping day of the year...and if you haven't seen some of the deals going on, and your into the event, you really need to go check out www.bfads.net.  For example, Jo-ann's is having one heck of a sale...like 50% off of quilting notions - thread - all batting, 40% off of quilting bundles and they also have a Rowenta DX6900 Duo Iron for $39.99 (reg. 79.99).  I can feel my heart pounding from all the anticipated excitement to come!  Oh, and then there's Target, Kohl's, Michaels & Hancock's...too many stores to list them all.  If you want more infomation, you really need to go check out the website.

DISCLAIMER...Prices & discounts are subject to change so make sure to check/verify the vendors ad to see what they will have on sale.  I don't want anyone mad at me for a misprint.  LOL!  This website is supposed to have all the black Friday ads listed on it's website - www.bfads.net.  Even though it's about a week away, it doesn't hurt to start planning ahead!

Katherine

She is one hip chick.  She had her 300th post giveaway a couple of weeks ago and - yep - I won!  And I would have posted a picture a couple of days ago but I wanted to be able to take the picture outside.  This is one beautiful quilt top and the cool thing is, Katherine also sent me matching material for the binding!  After looking over this quilt, I need to learn how to iron better.  I don't 'press' very good, maybe it's my iron - that I inherited from my Mom 20 years ago.

I also got a bonus surprise...

How cute is that?  Since I was already having problems with my Thanksgiving wall hanging, I put it aside and put this one up.  I really am one lucky gal to have won this prize! Katherine - Thank You!!!

CHRISTMAS MUSIC!

If you have DISH Satellite - they now have Christmas music!  There are 4 channels to choose from:

1. 091 (AUD20) Holiday Music
2. 093 (SIRI) SIRIUS Holly
3. 094 (SIRI) SIRIUS Holiday Traditions
4. 097 (MUZ) Christmas Music

I happen to be off today & usually when I'm home alone, I turn on one of the music channels.  And wha'da know - Christmas music! LOVE IT!  I love it so much that I have about 25 - 30 cds in my collection.  One day I will have to show you.  Anyhoo, just wanted to share the info.

Hope everyone is having a great day!!!

CGQC November Tag...

Kelly has tagged us and since Thanksgiving (in the US) is coming up, she is asking us to list what we are grateful for & what other hobbies do we have.  So here it goes, I'm grateful for...

• My family & friends.
• Our health.
• Our house.
• This blog because I can talk about quilt stuff until my jaw hurts (work with me) and nobody is going to ask me to hush.  I'm a private person so I don't talk or post pictures about my son or family too much but I still feel like I'm connecting with all of you because we have something in common.  And I just realized if I want to share personal pictures with you - that's what email is for...DUH!
• And knowing what goes on in the world...I catch myself thanking God for the life I have and the people in it.  When I feel down, I just turn on Fox News and it reminds me how lucky I am to have the life I have.  That's why I put 'Life is good...quilting just makes it better' in my blog title, because it's true.

As for other hobbies, I really don't have any.  Way back, maybe 15 years ago I did some crafty wood stuff but I wouldn't say that was a hobby.  But now that I have one, I'm just so freakin' excited to see what the future brings & by being in this club it's just going to make the ride much more sweeter.

Next...

I'm so glad I have finally found a use for the crystal cake stand my aunt gave me.  You can't see in the picture very well but I'm going to store fabric on it and use it for picture taking.  Well, I put that Thanksgiving wallhanging on the side (don't want to talk about it) but thanks to Katherine I don't feel so bad about doing so.  I will explain more tomorrow (I can't stop giggling!).  So this is what I'm going to start on until my thread gets here.  When I went to Little Rock over the weekend, I got many quilting supplies I needed but it's the thread I need to quilt my quilts.  So hopefully it will be here in a couple of days, until then...this is my next project.  Happy sewing!

Mini Road Trip!

We are going to Little Rock, AR tomorrow. I'm excited because I am hoping to pick up some much needed quilting supplies.  Since it's an all day event, my husband & I list what stores each of us would like to go too.  This go around, I'm claiming Joann's, Salvation Army & Target.  I'm hoping to squeeze in Michael's.  I don't have to claim Sam's or Tractor Supply because I know he will.  I just need to make sure I have my 'need to get' list in my purse.  Before I do forget, I'm going to go do it now.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Cotton Charm Quilts

Over the past month, I've watched some ladies do the 'Year in Schnibbles' thing.  And some of those patterns are just adorable!  So I went ahead and order these from Cotton Charm Quilts, Kelly's store...

and when I got my package, this is what I got...

Kelly is just a kind & generous person (I bet she never raises her voice).  Well, personally - quality is much more important than quantity.  And that is what I appreciate about Kelly and her store and it's not about the - once in a blue moon 'happy' in my package.  Her prices are almost, if not, better than most stores out there.  I know - because I have to watch my budget, not that I can follow one but that's beside the point.  Anyhoo, if you haven't shopped with Kelly before you should at least go check it out and if you have...you already know what I'm talking about.  And here I'm thinking, if you found a nice store or product, wouldn't you want to share it with your friends?  So that's what I'm doing.  Happy Friday!!!

CGQC - Secret Santa!

HO! HO! HO!

There's about 6 more weeks til Christmas!  Where does the time go?  Well, Joan (our co-leader) is hosting a Secret Santa...I'm lovin' it! Thanksgiving hasn't even happened yet and for some odd reason I can't wait for Christmas...maybe I'm going through a phase?  Anyhoo, you have until the 22nd to let her know if you would like to join the fun.  More info. is on her blog so go check it out.
 

Veteran's Day

God bless America and the men & women that have served this great country.

I KNEW IT!

My mini swap partner was Peggy.  And this is what I received in the mail today...

(I hope Peggy doesn't mind that I used her picture.)  If you look real close those blocks are like mini log cabin blocks.  AMAZING! And it's mine! (giggling)

Peggy,
  I would have sent you a personal email but you don't have one listed.  So I would like to say 'THANK YOU!', I just LOVE it!  And thank you for making my first mini swap - fun.  I can't wait to put this up after Thanksgiving.

Michelle : )

Thread

I thought I would be able to get the kind of thread I needed at wally world to start quilting my Half Pint with but they only had hand quilting thread in stock.  Since I'm about 2 hours south & north of some fabric stores, I went ahead and ordered some online yesterday.  Hopefully I won't have to wait too long.  So instead of working on the Simplicity quilt - I started on a runner.  After I finished the center, I had to put that on hold because I need to get some fabric for the border.  So I went ahead and started on my Thanksgiving wall hanging.

And the funny thing is - that's normal...to have several projects on the fire (right?).  

I can't wait to get these quilted!

Mini Swap Quilt - waiting...

I'm anxiously waiting to get my mini quilt from my partner.  I thinks it's coming from a different country but she will neither confirm or deny that she has my name (giggling like a kid).  I really feel like a kid on Christmas Eve.  Good things come to those who wait - right?...maybe tomorrow.  : )

The Mini Me Half Pint Quilt top...

is DONE!  I finished it last night.  I would show you a picture of it but you'll have to wait.  I want to be able to take a picture of it outside and that won't happen until Saturday.

Hope everyone has a great Friday!  Is it 5 o'clock yet?

Joan

A couple of weeks back, Joan (who was hosting our CGQC club last month) asked for recipes from us Charming Girl's and for those who submitted one - she had a giveaway.  And my name was picked...whohoo for me!  Well, I got my prize the other day.  It was like Christmas...but different.  Anyhoo, the book was signed by Karen (AWESOME!), I can't wait to have some alone time to enjoy each page.  Then there is The Quilter's Angel kit.  Joan even labeled the material in the kit!  I'm looking forward to completing it.  Then she sent me the neat towel.  I'm going to hang it in my sewing room.  And then of course, the card - it's a picture of The Quilt Taffy quilt she made.  Joan has the most elegant hand writing.  To Joan, thank you for such a sweet prize.

CGQC November Projects

I can't believe we are less than 2 months away from Christmas!  So with that in mind,there are only 2 items I want/need to finish and that is the Dinosaur Uproar & Simplicity quilts.  I prefer to get those done before anything else, since they are Christmas presents.  So for November I would like to complete the following:

1. Fix the quilting boo-boos & bind Simplicity.
2. Quilt & bind the Dinosaur quilt.  This might be a little tricky because I changed my mind and now want to find a flannel backing. It's not like we have a quilting store near by so I either need to go to Monroe, LA, Little Rock, AR or shop on the net.
3. Quilt & bind Half Pint.
4. Make a Mini Mini-Me Half Pint wallhanging (for my work).
5. And a table runner - just for ducks.

I wish I was one of those people who only need like 4 hours sleep. The things I could get done. Well, I'm looking forward to seeing everyone else's projects. I also can't for us to finish Half Pint. :)

Half Pint Quilt Along - Top

It's done!  And I'm just lovin' it!  (the picture doesn't do the fabric any justice)  I love the pattern, the fabric, the little square borders - EVERYTHING about it!!! But the most bestest part is - I'm making this quilt with a bunch of talented ladies.  I can't wait to get this quilted.

It just keeps getting better...

There is a tad bit of sarcasim when I say that.  Well, as I was arranging my blocks and started to sew the rows,  I noticed that some of the colored blocks looked a smidge smaller than the solid blocks.  But I kept sewing.  When I started to sew the rows together...just out of curiousity, I measured some of the smaller blocks - they were approx. this much off, my thumb & pointy finger are touching!  Needless to say, as I was sewing the rows together, at the same time I was redoing sections of the row so they would line up.  I'm done with the center and am pretty much happy with how it turned out.  There are a couple of squares that are not matching up but I got over it.  The inner border is a saw tooth border and it's not speaking to me (not really my style).  But have you seen Kelly's?  - it looks beautiful!  So I still have some time to figure out how I want my border to look like.  This is going to be a wall hanging so I really don't want to have a big border.  I'm just hoping I don't hit anymore speed bumps with this quilt.