Weekend with the grandkids.....

I have two grandkids this weekend. Mommy is on an all girl float trip and daddy is ?, I don't remember what daddy is doing...probably in a fishing tournament. We have already had two problems and they have been here for 2 hours. First, daddy forgot to leave the car seats and I will NOT be stuck here without them....then grandson opened the door and let the dog out. He (the dog, not the grandkid) trotted off up the street and I had to go running (well, more like a fast walk) up the hill all the while hollering "STAY OLIVER"..... After paging daddy at Bass Pro Shop (no cell phone and at least he told me where he was going first), we finally have the car seats installed and as soon as granddaughter wakes up from her nap, we will head to the LQS to pick up Christmas quilt #3....I will have to lie to the grandkids and tell them it is Pop-Pop's so they don't know it is really the other grandsons.... Gotta keep those Christmas secrets. I hope to get the binding on next week and then will post a photo... Winfiled had another levee breach last night so most of the east side of town will be under water by tonight. They have closed off the highway north of us. We are seeing lots of Red Cross and National Guard units. Helicopters flying over head and media trucks everywhere. We are 7 miles west and not directly affected. Hopefully my video uploads soon so I can do dishes....yea right!!

Well, I sat here for an hour and my video still hasn't uploaded. Not sure if it is too big or I was doing something wrong...oh well, now no one will see how cute granddaughter is..lol

Happy Sewing,
Nancy

Can you spell T-I-R-E-D???

It's barely 3 days into the week and I am TIRED!! Monday was spent with daughter #2 and grandchild #3 in Forest Park. We went to the Planetarium, the Science Center and had a picnic in the park... What a fun day we had!!






Tuesday I watched Biddy Baby all day. Did we have fun?? We walked, we sat on the front porch and gurgled at the grass, we(she) napped, we ate and then all too soon, mommy, daddy, sister and brother came home. They were wiped out. They spent all day at the zoo doing anything and everything....

Today will be housework and SEWING!!! YEA!!! Have some pressing, some mending and then will work on the next Christmas quilt. Yep, I have all the blocks ready to sew together and Friday I get to pick up CQ #3 from the quilter and hopefully get the binding on this weekend. Oh no, I just remembered we have grandkid #3 and grandkid #4 Friday to Sunday....seems that grandkid visits come in spurts!! lol

Happy Sewing,
Nancy

Biddy Baby and a Giveaway Alert.....

There will be no blogging (or reading) for me today. I have biddy baby, AKA Abbie all day today while the rest of the family goes off on a vacation day to the Science Center, the Zoo and a picnic lunch....sound familiar?? lol

Brenda is having a GREAT giveaway. A complete quilt kit for the cutest sandcastle wall hanging....

Run over there and join in.....

Happy Sewing,
Nancy

Fresh Cut in Fresh Air.....

Daughter, grandson and I are off to the St Louis Science Center, the Zoo and a picnic lunch today....Yesterday I finished the latest Christmas quilt top. It went together so fast. I think I have decided to make me one of these. Just have to decide the colors.

Any hints on photographing these quilts? They look better outside, but I need to know whether to have the sun behind me or behind the quilt or where??

Happy Sewing,
Nancy

Fresh Cut, Freshly Cut......

I got all the blocks put together yesterday. This pattern goes together so quickly. I love it. The pattern is called "Snapshots" and can be found in the book Happy Hour by Terry Atkinson. It is a smaller version of the cover quilt. (find the link in yesterdays post). I made 36 blocks from 12 FQ's and have very little scraps leftover. Terry really knows how to use all of the FQ's without waste. I found the fabric in Paducah during the quilt show and wasn't even aware of the line until a couple of weeks ago. Most of it is Fresh Cut by Heather Bailey for Free Spirit. There must be another line in there as I couldn't find all the prints at that link. I just picked some I liked together. This is Christmas quilt #4 of 6. Number 3 will be back from the quilter soon and this one will go to be quilted.

Tomorrow is a big day. Daughter #2 and her son are meeting me and we are headed to the St Louis Science Center. They have an Omnimax theater and Dinosaurs is showing, we will also see the zoo and have a picnic lunch. I'll be taking the camera, so be assured you will see pics....lol

Happy Sewing,
Nancy

I get to sew today......

Granddaughter is home again and happy to be back with Mom, Dad, sister and brother. On the way to meet mom yesterday, we stopped by the quilt shop to pick out the panto for my quilter to use on one of the Christmas quilts. We had to be very secretive as granddaughter was there and the quilt is for brother. Pat Two Borders said she will start the quilting this weekend so I need to get another one ready....

This weekend I will be making this pattern with those fabrics on my header....

Happy Sewing,
Nancy

Sweet P is at it again....

Sweet P has two blogs and over at Coffee Time at Home she is renovating her pantry. I left the comment that she wouldn't EVEN want to see my mess of a pantry and she challenged me to post it. Yesterday I gave the camera to the granddaughter and said "go take a picture of Grandma's pantry, please". Ok, first I had to explain what a pantry was and then show her where mine was. Her words "oh, the food closet".... HA HA...

um...only three people eat here and from the looks of this pantry we are set for a good while. What a mess. This is the first house we have lived in that has had a pantry and I love it. It's so nice to have all the packaged food in one place. Well, other than spices that closer to the prep area... I try to keep canned foods separate from boxed and cereal at the top and dog food and trash bags on the floor, but it looks like it needs a good cleaning and rearranging. Maybe next week.

Granddaughter got homesick last night and after talking to her mom on the phone, we have decided to meet halfway and let her go home. We got all of our projects done. Here are her pillowcase, finished quilt and sundress. The sundress has straps on it after running to Wal-mart early this morning for ribbon. We even found a "I miss you" present for her to give her brother. The binding was finished late last night and she was already in jammies by picture time.




Happy Sewing,
Nancy

my last two days in photos.....

using the design wall....

I like this one, Grandma...


Watch the fingers.....


Birthday break for brownies....


www.pbskids.org


GG (great grandma) took us to lunch....


This is NOT a river, it is the flooded farmlands in Winfield, MO...we are 7 miles west of here and in no danger...


After two hours of sewing last night, the quilt top is done and ready to be finished today...


Happy Sewing,
Nancy

Happy 16th Birthday to the ROCK STAR....

Fathers Day Auction goodies.....

Yesterday found DH and I running into town to get his car washed and pick up a few groceries. On the way, we spotted and stopped at an auction. We LOVE auctions and usually are willing to hang around til the very end. Yesterday was too hot to stay, but we didn't leave until I had snagged a couple of boxes of goodies.

First up is the linen box. The box was full and it was a big box. I saw some terry cloth and some printed tea towels, but didn't really have a chance to look into the box. Of course, that won't stop me from bidding and I won it at $7....
I got
11 tea towels some still with tags, but none of them had been used.(you can't see them all here)

5 hand towels that still had tags on them

a Vintage 1950's Christmas tablecloth that will fit my dining room table

a Vintage 1950 tablecloth that will fit my sister's round table

and various other "stuff" that I threw away.
The second box I bid on I won for $8
all kinds of glass. I am not a big fan of glass doodads and such. What I really wanted in this box was the square pyrex refrigerator containers. It's the one in the lower right corner. I have a few of the small glass squares, but had never seen the large square one before. It is about 8 inches square and very unusual. I would love to know what kind of price it would get at a antique store. Oh, btw, the meat is all packaged up and in the freezer now. It only sat there for a few minutes so I could take the photo. So also in the box was a 3 footed glass bowl, a matching sugar/creamer, a candy dish and those two corning ware casserole that have to share one lid. lol


I have decided to use the unusual large square refrigerator dish as a sewing box in the family room. I can keep some redwork in there to work on....and it will look pretty....This is the official Sewing Container for Sweet P's Challenge.

No sewing for me today. I had plans to make a charity quilt for guild, but don't have any suitable fabric, so I will get some tomorrow when I go into town. Scheduled for today was quilt guild, but it had to be cancelled because of flooding. The church were we meet is only 2 blocks from the Mississippi River and Modot (Missouri Dept of Transportation) has been sand bagging with help from local prisoners so we can't get through. So today I decided to clean out all the cabinets in the kitchen to make room for my new treasures. Send me luck!! They are packed full so something will have to go....

Happy Sewing,
Nancy

there's a give away every where.....

Here's another one.....

Canton Village Quilt Works...visit this great blog and enter to win the GREATEST PRIZE!!!

Happy Sewing,
Nancy

be back tomorrow with some great auction finds....

Is this the last container day??

I think this is the last day of Sweet P's container challenge so here is entry 6....

I found this at a local discount store when I was Christmas shopping a couple of years ago. It was on sale for a couple of bucks and I knew it could hold something in the sewing room. It sits on my bookshelf right next to the wipe off board and holds the markers and eraser. The grandkids love to draw on that board when they visit...

Happy Fathers Day to all!! The Rock Star made his dad blueberry muffins for breakfast and we will grill steaks for dinner..

Happy Sewing,
Nancy
PS...keep your fingers crossed today....my sister put in an offer on a condo yesterday...

excitement x 2 and my 5th container.....

ok, before we go any further let's look at container #5....

Contest is going on over at Sweet P's.

This is the container that I load up for retreat. It will carry 4 projects and everything I need to finish them. The top opens up and has a removable tray for small items and room for fabric, etc. The upper section detaches and the bottom section will hold anything I possible need, including a to-go cup for coffee. It has a yellow outside pocket, a pull handle and it's on wheels. DH bought it for me from Home Depot a couple of years ago. He was thrilled to be able to do my Christmas shopping there. He didn't feel out of his element at all. It came loaded up with extension cords and a surge protector. (it also had a nice GC in there for the LQS).

and this also came from Home Depot...It holds all my embroidery thread.

Originally sold for holding nuts, screws and bolts in the garage, it hangs very nicely over my cutting table.

Excitement #1 -
Last week my PC died. After calling HP, they also decided that my hard drive died, but they had my warranty expiring May 15th. Now I knew this wasn't correct because this laptop was my birthday present and it was purchased July 12, just one day prior to my birthday. And I know this because I got it from DH and he doesn't do shopping until the last minute. HP said they would send an email to update the warranty, but please keep looking for the receipt as they would probably need that.
Judy at HP called me every morning for the next 3 days to tell me that the warranty had not been updated and had I found the receipt? no...I hadn't....
Last night DH decided he was going to play around with the computer and see if he could figure something out. He turned it on and lo and behold the screen came up. He quickly hit F11 (it says to on the screen, he isn't quite that smart) and sure nuff the dang thing starts up loading Windows files. Well, what the hey...
He gets the dang thing working!! So the hard drive it working...well I'll be...

HP calls back today and I get to tell her the good news - the hard drive is up and running....and the bad news...the DVD/CD drive won't show up as connected. dang...

Judy (HP) says a new DVD/CD will cost $139, extended warranty which will cover the DVD/CD and anything else that goes wrong with the hardware for the next year will cost $148. unless of course I find the receipt.

Ok, I go search ONE MORE PLACE....my junk drawer of my dresser where I throw everything that you need to keep but that doesn't actually have a place to live. You know all the extra buttons off new clothes and your passport and homemade cards from your kids and the booties they wore at their christening....you know all THAT stuff. And what do I find?? THE RECEIPT!!

So now, I have a working computer and the receipt. I hurried and ran into UPS and faxed the receipt to HP. Now they can update my warranty and hopefully everything is right with the world... Oh, and guess what? My DVD/CD works again too. I loaded my camera software and the wireless printer...
Tomorrow I'm buying a lottery ticket...It's sure to be a winner....

and on to excitement #2..

My sister is buying a condo!! She found one she really likes and I am meeting her tomorrow to look at it. She is going to try and talk them into throwing in the stackable washer/dryer and fridge... I am so excited for her...she will finally get to have something other than white walls cause she can paint!! Well, I can paint and she can pick out the colors...with some nudging by me...she will want to be safe and go all pastelly and I think she needs some true color in that there house.....

Happy Sewing,
Nancy

Another giveaway....

Lynette is having a give-away.

Good Luck,
Nancy

Container Number 4.....

Here is my favorite container of all.... I actually have two of these, one is more "folk art" looking using ticking and tan fabrics. This was my second and made from a yard of Dick and Jane fabric that I purchased for $2. Such a great deal. This container carries my embroidery to club, quilt guild, car rides and doctor offices. I can carry my project, hoop, scissors, needle, needle threader and finger protectors along with my thread. I keep each one filled with a different project. This one has my Winter Wonderland project in it and it sits next to me on the couch every day and night just waiting for a few stitches to be added...
It is an adaptation of this pattern by Pat Sloan.

Do you have a favorite container? Blog about it and then go tell Sweet P.

I have such exciting news to tell you tomorrow, so make sure you check in early...

Happy Sewing,
Nancy

The next cutie.....

My lime green lunchbox... Right now it doesn't hold anything special (actually it is empty). It sits on the shelf in my sewing room waiting for that special project.

Don't forget to go see Sweet P and join in the contest.....

Happy Sewing,
Nancy

Cute Containers and a Contest.....

One of the many things I lost was all the feeds with automatic updates to all of my favorite blogs... Yesterday (using DH PC) I got on Sweet P's blog and saw she was having a contest....A CONTEST?? ok, that does it..
To DH's PC
I added feeds for my favorite bloggers
I installed my camera software

Do you think he will notice??

Anyway, back to the contest.. One of the many things we quilters and stitchers have in common is fabric, thread and CUTENESS.... we love cute containers and more so, we love to fill them....

So here Sweet P is my entry for yesterday....(go read her note from today...she is aptly named)...


This container holds my patterns, thread, needle for all the Noah's Ark blocks I am working on from Lynette Anderson.

AND here is my entry for today..

Isn't this a cute gift bag? Love green and pink. And what do I keep in this one?



Selvages, for a future project... Do you keep these. I keep finding bloggers that make things with these. So far I have seen a purse, and a small quilt and key fobs. Sorry, I can't link to them, cause remember I lost all my STUFF..



Well, guess I better go and get something done... I can sew all day and night as DH won't be home. He is on his way to Indianapolis. To visit prison...it's his job.

Happy Sewing,
Nancy

dead, dead, dead as fred.....

My pc died last night. I will be off line for 2 weeks, need to wait for new harddrive and then recreate. It wouldn'nt be any fun for you to read about my boring life without any boring photos.....lol

ADVICE -

Back up your PC today..
I lost all of my photos, recipes, bookmarks, favorite blog list, email address. EVERYTHING.

See you when I get back..

Happy Sewing,
Nancy

What's for dinner....

Sweet P. asks "how do you tell your family what's for dinner". She posted about her cook book stand and recycled chalk board.
In this house, the Rock Star is the one who asks everyday after school. See, if he doesn't like what's for dinner, he will fill up on snacks and then won't be hungry at dinner. He doesn't realize I am on to him (and he wouldn't care!)
This is how I announce dinner....and what's for dinner tonight....

I bought the chalk board fabric about 6 years ago when we found out we were going to be grandparents. My good intention was to make a travel chalk board for Grace with pockets for chalk and eraser. I never did it. So last fall or so, I sat down and drew a pattern for this chalk board. It is fairly simple with pockets along the bottom edge for chalk and eraser. It hangs right inside the back door and now everyone knows what's for dinner. (sometimes even I have to look,lol)

So, what's for dinner at your house and how do you let your peeps know???

Happy Sewing,
Nancy

My talented hubby.....

The wall by the front door BEFORE....



The wall by the front door AFTER....


Yes, my hubby MADE this with his own two hands.

Jealous?? lol

Forgot to mention that this is a key wound clock with a pendulum.... yea...now you are really jealous....




Happy Sewing,
Nancy

Do you like applique???

If so, head over to Sentimental Stitches where she is having Make-Up day for the Sally Post sampler quilt. All the patterns are free for personal use.

Look around the blog, there are other great free patterns also...

Happy Sewing,
Nancy

Two by Two.....

Lynette has updated her blog and given us block 4 of her wonderful Noah's Ark series. If you haven't started the series yet, all the blocks are available for download. Click on the link on the left sidebar.

Here are my two kangaroo's.




Each one of these gets cuter than the last. I have decided to start another set. Will get them transferred this weekend and start. I think my oldest daughter would love these....

Happy Sewing,
Nancy

A long time ago.....

In the faraway land of redwork club, there was what we called the "boobie" prize. It was something ugly and was won by some unfortunate soul that had to take it home....
Three months ago Wanetha was the winner of a horrid red and white fabric baskets made up of stuffed hearts sewn together. It was the most ridiculous thing I had ever seen and didn't take a photo of it for fear my camera would break....
Two months ago, she issued a challenge. She had taken the basket apart and handed us each one stuffed heart. She said "go forth and embellish". They were due today.

Here are the results. I will show you all the photos and then you can guess which one won the prize.....voted on by secret ballot....










So, did you guess? Did you guess the potholder with the butterfly? You are right! Know who made it? ME!! LOL How fun was that..... All the hearts were great and I got the best prize. Wanetha hand crocheted a needle case. Here it is....


Aren't I lucky?? I love it...and it's red, my favorite color...

Happy Sewing,
Nancy