A Winner!!

I am so excited.  I have entered an occasional Blog Giveaway over the years, but have never won a thing.  Last week I had an email from Becky(Civil War Quilter) of the Etsy Shop, Orphans of War.  I had won her pattern, Civil War Images, and a set of precut images from CW prints to go in the center of each block on the quilt.

Thank you Becky!!!  I am thrilled.

Last week Pinewood Studios opened their first studio in the United States just a few miles away in Fayette County.  If you aren't familiar with them, they are the producers of James Bond and Harry Potter movies, located in the UK.  SIL Rob's company, Estes Landscape, was responsible for all of the landscape on the property…..a great honor.  

He and Christi attended the Grand Opening, and if I do say so, they were looking sharp.

I realized as I was scrolling through family photos that I had never posted SIL Matt's birthday photo from back in November.  Not sure how that happened, but here are he and Ashley on his birthday.

GRATITUDES:

Sunshine and blue skies.

Blogland.

Kids with good work ethics.

Take care,

Jennie

After all these years…...

Got the binding on Amish Stars, circa 1990.  Fabric came from a quilt shop, but is obviously poly/cotton blend.  I remember searching everywhere for solids.  Some of them are drapery sateens.  It languished in a box for a long, long time.  Funny, some things from years ago are so dated, but I still love this quilt.

After Christmas I was in the mood to do something really simple…..and I wanted it to be from stash.

I had bought this older Kim Diehl stripe at Red Hen Quilt Shop a few months ago and decided to use it as a border and to draw the other fabrics from.  I also decided to do a simple 8" Churn Dash block with plain setting squares.  Here is the result.  Tonight I will make binding and backing and it is ready for the quilter!

On Sunday we celebrated Christi's 43rd birthday.  I cannot believe that I have a child that age.  She chose Chicken Enchiladas, black beans, rice and Mexicorn for dinner with my six layer white cake with chocolate frosting and ice cream for dessert.  We were stuffed!!

GRATITUDES:

Birthday celebrations.

Oldies but goodies.

Loving from our silly new doggie.

Take care,

Jennie

Blessings

We are so blessed today. Rob had his second MRI following his second cycle of chemotherapy. The results were "Great, clear, clean". We are so thankful. You can read about it on their Caring Bridge if you would like. The link is to the right on my blog.

This is a photo of their family on their recent trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

We have also been blessed with a new family member. Buddy was picked up by the local animal shelter over a year ago, extremely frightened and timid, with a healed fractured and deformed left front leg for which he had never received treatment. He spent the next year in foster are with a wonderful family who loved him dearly. But he never found the right Forever Home, perhaps because of his fear or his disability. When I started thinking of adding a younger dog to our mix, I went online to the local rescue groups, and there was his sweet face. The rest is history. His foster mom thought we were the right family for him, at last, and we knew we wanted him. Despite his old injury, he is totally mobile and can run like the wind. Still quite timid, but boy does he love some loving.

Take care,

Jennie

Comfort & Joy

Because of the positive influence of friend Debi, Block 1 of Comfort & Joy is done!

I am pretty pleased with the way it turned out. The appliqué is fusible (my favorite Soft Fuse by Stacy Michell) with black machine buttonhole stitch. With Debi's encouragement, I learned to use the Flying Geese ruler that has been in my possession for a very long time......what a difference that made.

It will be nice to have a night in my own bed tonight, then back to babysitting the grands for a couple more nights. DD1 and DSIL say that the weather in the Dominican Republic is lovely, accompanied by photos of them lounging by the pool......really?????  And we are freezing here in the Deep South.  Honestly, though, I am happy they could make this trip and more wonderful memories.

GRATITUDES:

Warm gloves.

Seat Warner's in our car.

No frozen pipes.

Take care,
Jennie

On my way....

To getting my monthly list under control....despite the fact that I will lose most of this week on the stitching front while I babysit Robert & Sara Ashley so that their parents can enjoy a relaxing week in the Dominican Republic.

The baby quilt is ready to layer and quilt.  I think it is pretty cute.  The pattern is called "Pattern Play", but I can't recall who the designer is.

What makes this quilt so cute is this darling Michael Miller focal fabric.

On Friday quilty friend Debi came over and we started working on our BOM, Comfort and Joy by Silver Thimble.  We both had this pattern, both loved it, so it was a perfect choice for us to work on together.  We pulled fabrics, cut the backgrounds for all of the appliqué blocks and fabrics for Block 1, the cabin in the upper left corner.  All of the piecing is done on mine and I am ready to start the appliqué.  Debi, on the other hand, had hers completely done yesterday.  She is incredible!!!

 Fabrics for Block 1

Last year Debi participated in the Country Threads 2013 BOM.  The plan was to make a 6" and 12" block of each pattern.  Debi thought you were supposed to make two of each.  Guess who she gave the extra set to???? Am I a lucky girl, or what? 

This is Debi's completed top:

I have made the setting pinwheel and 123 half square triangles to set my blocks.  Hope to get that done next week.


Country Threads is starting a new BOM for 2014 if you would like to join in.

GRATITUDES:

Warm clothes.

Sleeping late.

Clear blue skies.

Take care,

Jennie

Welcome 2014

2103 was a year of blessings and challenges for our family.  We learned a great deal about the value of life, loving one another and living each day, one at a time, treasuring each irregardless of what that day brought.  Some days were very difficult, some quite rewarding.  I can't say that I am not ready to see the New Year roll in.  I am more prepared for whatever God has in store for us.  I pray that you are looking forward to a year of grace and love, also.

On the quilting front........I have a 2014 Finish!!!  Woohoo!!!  Granted, it is only a binding, but is nice to have a UFO finish at the top of my 2014 list.

This is Holiday Inn, which was part of Jo's (Morton) Little Women Club back in 2009 (see this post).
I always liked it and I don't know why I didn't finish it.  Now I don't have to wonder.

I always thought that the wools in the center of this quilt actually glow.

In the spirit of the New Year, I reviewed my "Finishes" list from 2013.  There was a surprising total of 65 finishes of various types of needlework....some large, some small.  And there were actually 13 UFO finishes, along with lots of charity items.....both of which make me feel pleased.  My 2012 total was less that half of that, 31 projects.  I hope to keep up the momentum for this year.

The monthly TO DO list seemed to work well for me, so I will use it again this year, but with a somewhat different approach.  Last year it seemed that I had so many varying items on it at the beginning of the month that it was overwhelming.  This year I will start with just a few things, and add more as I accomplish the ones on the list.  And that doesn't mean that others might not get worked on without finishing what was on the list.  You know how that goes!

January's list:

I do hope to focus on using up stash and finishing more UFOs, though not exclusively. Going through my stash reminded me of the many great projects that I have on hand.  Things I really want to do.  I guess that cleaning the sewing room accomplished more than revamping my sewing space!

GRATITUDES:

A new year with a clean slate.

Traditional NY's dinner of pork, collards, black eyed peas and cornbread.

A 3# weight loss when I went to the doctor on Tuesday....how did that happen during the holiday season?

Take care,

Jennie