Look what I got!

Hello!  :)

I received the most wonderful Valentine surprise from Donna of Donna's Lavender Nest.  :)

Donna's a real sweetie and she sent me lots of Valentine goodness! Don't you think?! First she sent me this awesome vintage Valentine. I love it!  :)

Here's a close up of the beautiful heart shaped pin cushion. I absolutely love it!  :)

I love roses, pink and rick rack of course! Did you see the pins in it? Here's a close up of them . . .

Aren't they awesome?!!! Then I found some chocolate goodness hidden inside this awesome Valentine wrapper.  :)

She also sent me a couple of vintage sheets, which I love!  :)  Great job Donna on all of it! It was a very pleasant surprise! You should check out her blog, Donna's Lavender Nest, it's full of lots of vintage goodness!  :)

Check this out . . . 

It's the sewing machine I've had for over 20 years. It's been with me through lots of projects and has served me well. It's very basic though with only 9 stitches.

For Valentine's my hunky dude surprised me with a new sewing machine! He's so awesome!  :)

It's not as fancy as the machine's a lot of you have, but it's definitely an upgrade for me and I love it!  :)

It has 100 stitches!  :)  It also came with the table extension, 10 feet including a walking foot and a free-motion quilting foot. It has lots of fun stuff for me to play with. It kind of makes me nervous. I've gotten it out of the box but haven't played with it yet. It kind of intimidates me. I know it's silly. Maybe tomorrow I'll get busy with it for the Friday Night Sew-In. Wish me luck!  :)

Until next time . . .

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hello!  :)

I hope you have had a wonderful Valentine's Day! I did! The hunky dude and I had a steak and lobster dinner for two at home. I've never purchased or cooked lobster tails before but they were on sale so I picked some up. They were delicious! A very nice treat!  :)

I finished a stitchery I've been working on today.

Isn't he cute?!!! It's a little late to make something with it for this year but that's okay. I had no idea what I wanted to make anyway. Now I have months to decide.  :)  I got the pattern from Sarah at Gingerbread Cottage. She traced it from a vintage valentine. Isn't that cool?! You can find it here. She stitched it up herself and made the cutest Gingham Valentine with it! You should check it out!  :)

I just love vintage Valentines! Don't you? Maybe I can find some that I can trace and stitch up. Here are some awesome ones I've come across . . .

Until next time . . .

Swaps

Hello!  :)

Last week I told you I had joined a Valentine's apron swap. I made one for me and one for my partner. Gail received her apron, so now I can share it with you.

First here is the one I made for me!  :)

I love it!  :)  It was a new pattern for me and went together pretty quick.  :)

This is the one I made for Gail . . .

Here's a close-up of the details . . .

Don't you just love the kitties and pink hearts?!!!  And how about the pink mini pom-pom's on the pocket and of course the extra large rick rack! I hope she likes it as much as I do!  :)

I received my apron and goodies from Gail today. She sent me a two-sided apron, one side Valentine and the other for every day! How cool is that?!!! She also sent me some Valentine socks, cupcake liners & picks, and a set of heart cookie cutters. I'm a lucky girl! I love it all!  :)

Here's the Valentines side, full of hearts, and the goodies.  :)

Here's the reverse side . . .

I love it! Check out that awesome apron fabric!!! OMG!!! I love it!!!  :)  She also used the same heart fabric from the front and some black rick rack! Did I tell you I love it?!!!  :)  Thank you so much Gail! You rock!!!  :)

I have one more swap to share with you. Remember this Snowman block I made?

My partner Nettie received it!  :)  I received this one from her . . .

Isn't it adorable?!!! I love it! It's all appliqued. She did a wonderful job! Thank you Nettie!  :)

That's all the swaps for now. The only other swap I have lined up is making two heart blocks for this month's block swap. Not quite sure what I'm going to do yet. Can't wait to get started on them. I love hearts!  :)

Until next time . . .

Birdies Top is Done! . . . I think . . .

Hello!  :)

When I last left you I had gotten the sashings and cornerstones on my Birdies Quilt.

I also had decided that I wanted it bigger than originally planned. The original plan called for one border which was going to be this . . .

So I got out my Sophie stash . . . Yes I have a stash of Sophie for another project! I love it that much!!!  :)  I decided to do three borders. Hope it's not too much!

I came up with this as the first border . . .

What do you think? I love it!  :)

Then a second border, the same size as the sashing . . .

This one looked good when I just laid the fabric next to the quilt but I'm not so sure with it attached. My original idea was to bring some of the stitchery color out to the border to balance the colors out. What do you think?

I went ahead and added the last border. I wish I had a better picture. I took tons of pictures but this is the best of them. It's hard to take pictures of something so big by yourself.   :(

So what do you think? Please let me know. I need some opinions here. Sometimes I look at it and I love it. Other times I just don't know. Is it too much? I am happy with the size now.  :)

I will be using this for the binding . . .

And this for the backing . . .

Looking forward to your comments and opinions. Thanks so much!  :)

Until next time . . .

Remembering Mom . . .

Hello!  :)

One year ago today, February 4, 2011, my mom, Toni Louise Smith, lost her long battle with breast cancer.  It has been a long difficult year, but I made it through it. I miss her terribly. My dad, my sister, and our families, are getting together today to visit my mom, have lunch together, and comfort each other.

I want to share some of my favorite pictures of my mom and my family with you.

My mom was born on October 19, 1948. She was an adorable baby!

She grew into a beautiful woman!

My mom and dad met and fell in love almost immediately.

They were married for 46 years.

I was their first child and a pretty big baby.  :)

Here's my mom, my sister Tammie and me in pigtails.

Here are the four of us. The happy family photo.  :)

This one was definitely taken in the 70's.

Another photo from the 70's. My mom was always dying her hair. This is one of my favorite pictures of her. 

Here she is with her family. Her only brother Rick, her dad, her mom, sister Verna and her sister Teri.

This one is the four of us, Christmas 2009.

Her she is with her father who survived her.

And the last one is of her and my dad. Happily ever after.  :)

Miss you mom! Please watch after us all.  :)

Thank you for sharing with me.

Until next time . . .

A Full February 1st for Me!

Hello!  :)

I didn't get any sewing done over the weekend like I had planned. The hunky dude, the boy and I did go bowling though. I hadn't been bowling in over 20 years. I was pretty darn rusty . . . skills and body . . . lol! I've been paying for it ever since. We did have fun though!  :)

I had joined a Valentine's apron swap over at Country Pleasures. I thought the due date was February 15th for some reason, which is pretty odd since Valentine's Day is the 14th. Anyway the mailing due date was actually February 1st. So I got busy picking out the pattern and getting the fabric. Then I managed to get the apron plus an extra one for me sewed up pretty quick. Of course I can't show them to you yet but I will soon. I mailed it out today so my partner, Gail of Faithfulness Farm, should receive it soon and then I'll share both of them with you!  :)

I had a pretty productive day today. I finally got the two Snowman Blocks I made for a January Block of the Month Swap mailed out to my two partners.

I also got the charm packs mailed out to the giveaway winners from Monday. So Jennifer and Gail they are on the way to you! Enjoy them!  :)

While I was at it, I got the I-SPY charms mailed out for the charm swap. I'm ahead on this one as they're not due until February 15th. I know I'm shocked too! I'm never early!  Lol!  ;)

That was the end of the mailings today. Whew! It was nice to get those items off on their way!  :) I did manage to make two mini blankets for Doobie today but forgot to take pictures of them. :(  I did take a picture of him earlier today all swaddled up in my blanket though (he was cold).  :)

He's so cute and sweet! Isn't he?!!! He looks like a puppy here but he's not. Do you see his new license? I finally went and got it so he's legal now!  :)

I was even able to make some more progress with the Birdies today!  :)  I managed to get all the sashings on. I decided to go ahead and add some cornerstones where the inner blocks meet using the border fabric. What do you think? How's it looking so far?

I'm loving how it's looking but it's a little too small for me. I know it's supposed to be a lap quilt but I think I want it a little bigger. So far there's only one border to add. Tomorrow I think I'll play around a little bit and maybe add two borders instead of just one. Next time you see it the top should be finished. I hope so! It's not that I'm trying to rush. It's just that I've been dying to see how this one turns out. It's for me! I'm so excited! :)

And if that isn't enough . . . Today the mailman brought some goodies to me!  :)

It's one of my Snowman Blocks for the swap! Isn't it cute?!!! My partner Toni also sent me 4 fat quarters of snowman fabric, some sewing machine needles and thread! I'm a lucky girl!  :)

Here's a close up of the block. She designed it herself! I love it!  :)  Thanks Toni! You did a great job!  :)

Until next time . . .