Some Recent Purchases

I haven't had much time at night to blog and catch you up on some of my goings on so
I thought I would take a minute on my lunch to share some recent purchases. 
When we were driving up to GR I asked DH to stop in Mason so I could go to Kean's. 
They are a candy/general store with fabric!! 
They usually have things I can't find at the shops near my house. 
More modern fabrics. 
They didn't disappoint. 
They had gotten in some FMF so I bought a little, no really, just a little.
 Seeeeeeeee...

Oh and the orange? 

 AMH Innocent Crush. 

 I love orange lately! 

Believe it or not, there is another shop right around the corner, although it is an actual quilt shop.

 It is called Yards of Fabric. 

 I couldn't find a web address for it but it carries a lot of more traditional fabric.

 Just look at this beauty I found for a quilt for my daughter, the peacock breeder!

There were companion fabrics that I think I will stop back and check out tomorrow when I drive back to GR to see my dad.

 I was going to make the

 "My Tweets" quilt by Erin Russek.

 I kept hemming and hawing about how I wanted to do that and I think I will use these colors and maybe some purples. 

 That quilt is on my list but kind of far down the list, LOL.

I did finish binding a quilt last night but need to get photos. 

 I will be spending the day at my dad's tomorrow cleaning and running him around.

 I hope it's a nice day tomorrow!

 Have a wonderful day!

~XOP~

The Frogs Are Hopping Off To The Quilters

My life is about to change. 
My dad had a bad fall recently which necessitated my traveling to see him this past weekend.
 My DH and I drove the 2 hours to his house and
we did some cleaning but I can see that I need to go there on a more regular basis.
 My dad is 85 and my handicapped sister lives with him.
  He barely cooks and never cleans.
 His light above the dining room table needs to be replaced as do both toilets and his kitchen faucet.  Everything needs to be cleaned and painted and he has soooo much "stuff" all around,
it is so cluttered.
  I am going to be taking every other Friday off to go there and
start the arduous task of beginning the de-clutter. 
I can't really clean much until I can pare down the "stuff" that is there. 
We managed to clear off his kitchen counter
(which is piled right back up every time I go there) and one desk.
 OK, so wish me luck!

Now on to some more fun stuff. 
I did manage to get some sewing done on Sunday.
 I got the borders on the froggy quilt and made the back.

I tried to make the back look like a frog pond. 

(forgive the laundry in the photo, I hung out the wash, which I love to do when I can)

It is now off to the quilter!! 

 Oh and for anyone interested in the pattern, 

it is now available at Crazy Quilt Girl's online shop here.

~XOP~

Swappin' Mama

I just LOVE to do swaps with my fellow bloggers.
 Have you done any swappin'?
 You can get some great stuff and I mean GREAT
 by swapping something you are not in love with for something you can't wait to work with.
I "met" Lisa online and we just recently did a swap.
 I sent her a ton (several pounds anyway) of vintage buttons.
 My LAQ, Liz, contributed about half of them I think.
Mine were in a tin in the basement not being used so I thought
why not let someone that will use them have them, right?
I got the greatest package from Tasmania from Lisa.

Love those mermaids, I just can't seem to get enough of them!

 I am still ISO a few prints in that line though if anyone has some to swap!!

When I opened up the package this is the first thing I saw, a card that said,

"Porn for Women"

Thanks for a great swap Lisa.

Oh and for the chuckle too!

~XOP~

Giveaway Winner!!

 Before I tell you the winner of the charm packs
I want to take a minute and let you know how much fun this Blog Hop was!
I sure appreciate all your comments on things to make this blog better.
 I received a lot of good suggestions, some of which are already in the works and
some of which I will give some serious thought to.
 I am grateful to all of you that decided to follow me as new followers and
 I always appreciate my regular followers!
 I hope you all find inspiration and maybe a little fun when you visit me!

OK on to what you probably came here to see, who won the charm packs!

I got up this morning and made nice with Mr Random Number generator and
 the winner of the two gorgeous charm packs is

#138 Cherise who said,

"Thanks for such a great giveaway! I'm a new follower of yours. I really don't know what you could add. I'm still checking it out. Have a Happy Day! :)  "

Congratulations Cherise!!

Send me your mailing address and I will get the charm packs out right away!

Hippity Hoppity Froggy's Almost Done!

Lest you think I have been slacking in the quilting department
 I did manage to plug away at the frog quilt. 
I had some time and slowly made the blocks.
 There was a 6" and 9" of each block.
 I did a little every night and look what happens when you do that!











I haven't made a block like this before
and I have to say I really like this block!
I may have to make some of these in the future.

The one with the frog in the middle was my favorite.
 Maybe because I altered not only the center but the actual block on the 9" one.
 Now I am thinking that you may like to see that one in a table runner?
 Anyone?
 It is similar to the one I designed for the FQ Star QAL here.

So on Tuesday, after my root canal,
I decided to see if I could put the whole thing together.
 I got the entire top pieced, it just needs the borders.
 I am hoping to get to those tonight or tomorrow night.


I love the little guy diving in at the bottom. 
And the girl in the middle embroidery.
 She is so sweet!

If you are interested, this is the block I want to use to do a tutorial on.

I did it in a new to me way and thought you might enjoy the experiment too.

I think this will be "coming soon", sometime after the blog hop is over.

Have a wonderful day and keep those comments coming on the giveaway post right here.

I am listening and

 I am thinking about how to improve my blog so I hope you come back to visit soon.

Have a wonderful day!

~XOP~

Crazy Rail Finish

 I finally got the binding and label on the crazy rail quilt.
 It's made up of a lot of left over flannels and is so warm ad snuggly. 

It measures ~58" x 72" The quilting is stars, so cute, just look at that little giraffe peeking out!

I used this adorable 2 by 2 animals print for the back.

For sale in my ETSY shop if you are interested.

I also got a root canal today so kind of tired and have a sore jaw! 

 The nerve pain is gone now though so hopefully the dull ache of my jaw will be gone soon too.

~XOP~

Quilter's Blog Hop GIVEAWAY!!

COMMENTS ARE CLOSED, THANKS FOR PARTICIPATING!

Today is giveaway day!!! 

 The very wonderful and amazingly generous Cori of Crazy Quilt Girl's online fabric shop 

donated these 2 adorable charm packs, both by Aneela Hoey, for my giveaway.    

There is A Walk in the Woods and Little Apples. 

 Both great lines. 

If you need anything additional to go with them when you win them,

 please stop over to Cori's shop and place an order.  Her customer service is the BEST!  She is also participating in the blog hop and has a layer cake and pattern for her giveaway over on her blog.

This giveaway is a part of the Quilter's Blog Hop party over here. 

 So be sure to stop over to the Quilter's blog Hop page

on Saturday for a list with links to all the giveaways going on.

Now for the fine print, you knew there would be conditions right?

 First, I need to tell you I will ship internationally, 

so if you don't live in the US you can still play along.

I will draw a winner using the Random number generator on March 23rd.

 I will notify the winner via email so if you are a "no reply" blogger 

and don't answer my email I will have to draw another winner.

 So if you are unsure, put your email in your comment.

Here's what I want you to do for a chance to win the charm packs:

Leave me one comment telling me what you would like to see more of here on this blog.

 That's it, one simple thing.

 If you are struggling, you could tell me something you really like about my blog.

 I'm always looking for ways to improve my blog so now's your time to tell me!!

 Be as specific or general as you want.

 Have you seen something I made and you want a tutorial? 

Tell me.

 You want more funny cat photos? (You know you do)

 Tell me. 

Quilt-A-Long? 

 Stitcheries?

 Travels?

 Whatever it is?

 Tell me!!

Oh and don't forget to go over and visit Cori too!!

~XOP~

COMMENTS ARE CLOSED, THANKS FOR PARTICIPATING!

Quilter's Blog Hop Party

Just a quick check in to invite you to come back tomorrow for the  

Blog Hop Party

It's going to be a lot of fun!

Many blogs linked up 

ALL with GIVEAWAYS

Can't wait to share mine with you tomorrow!

~XOP~

Geese In A Ring Swap

As you can see from my new banner I have received my geese in a ring from the swap I was in.  Mosen is shedding his black fur all over them  guarding them with his life!

Oh Cats...gotta love them!

Here is a quick pic of them all together

I have to decide how many more I want/need to make in order to make myself a quilt from them. Aren't they great? 

 I am so happy with them all!!

 Thanks fellow swappers for such beautiful blocks!!

I am thinking about starting a Bee group with my friend Jeannette.

 We both love the Mod Mosaic block (Oh Fransson) so we were thinking about doing that block. 

Have you participated in a swap? 

 Or an online BEE?

 If so what did you like or dislike about it? 

What things would you include and not include?

Any runners out there? 

 I can't say I like to run but I do like to walk on the treadmill or outside. 

 I found a great game/running aid. 

 Right now it is available for your iPhone with an Android version to be out sometime this month. 

 It's called

Zombies, Run! 

 It looks like great fun!

This is part of what they say on their website:

"You’re Runner 5. Hundreds of lives are counting on you. You've got to help your base rebuild from the ruins of civilization by collecting critical supplies while avoiding roving zombie hordes. Can you save them and learn the truth about the zombie apocalypse?"

You complete missions, and you collect items and 

when you are finished you give them to the doctors or survivors that need them. 

You actually build a base and interact with it. 

 I'm thinking this might actually get my sorry butt exercising on non-Zumba days! 

Anyone out there already using this app?

~XOP~

March Madness Go SPARTANS!!!

It's time again for March Madness!!! 
This is a special time of year for Spartans and
our awesome basketball team coach by Coach Tom Izzo.
 We are coming off a HUGE win yesterday against Ohio State that made us Big Ten Champions
 and one of the four number one seeds in the tournament. 
Go STATE!!

Now if you are not a basketball fan here is something equally as exciting,
maybe more so if you don't follow college basketball.
 Modern Madness. 
Yes you read that right Modern Madness. 
Go over to the Fat Quarterly blog
and print yourself off some brackets (just like the basketball ones, but with fabric). 
You fill in your brackets
and then go to the Fat Quarterly blog to vote as they post the divisions for voting. 
This will probably follow the progression of the basketball games,
ie sweet sixteen, elete 8, final four
and then the winners.

Who will you choose?
 I printed mine and filled them out.
 It'll be fun to see how well I do. 
It's a lot of fun so get going,
print out the brackets,
choose your line up, before anything is posted,
and go and vote (when it's available to do so) 

Here's what I chose.

I found the lower right the most difficult from the 4 choices on. 
It really could go to any of those.

Opinions?

~XOP~

Lazy Saturday

I got a lot of nothing much done today.
 I did some cleaning and vacuuming, laundry and going through some stuff. 
Then I decided that I needed to bake.
 I love to bake.
 Today I made these
To Die For Blueberry Muffins

Just in case you want to try them too here's the recipe.

I have some other exciting things to share but

 they will have to wait until Monday

as the photos are on my work computer.

Let me know if you decide to try them.

 You really should!

~XOP~

Yesterday Was The BEST Day EVER!!

Although the day didn't start out as the best day ever it certainly ended up that way.
 My van had been acting up and as I suspected it was the transmission.
 UGH
We just put a used one in it 2 years ago.
So we decided to buy a different car.
 Our van was a Honda and it had over 225,000 miles on it
so we figured a new Honda is in order.
  We test drove several and decided on this Honda Civic.

Actually that exact car! 

 They drove it off the showroom floor for me and it only had 7 miles on the odometer!!

 I LOVE it!! 

 Improved gas mileage, no more soccer mom car, a cute little, gas efficient vehicle!! 

 WOOT WOOT!!

 It has leather seats, a moon roof, a navi system and Sirrius radio. 

*sigh* 

I'm in love with it!!

But wait...it gets even better!!

 I drove my new friend home and got the mail 

and

 lookie what was waiting for me in the mail!!!

My new iPhone case!! 

I went to Quilt My Phone 

and uploaded a photo of the quilt I wanted put on the case, 

paid the $$ and voila, here it is. 

 Isn't it a beauty too?

 I adore that quilt and since it lives somewhere else I can always have it with me now. 

 Sweet huh?

They also do this with covers for your iPad and lap tops.

Edited to add, if you go directly to Zazzle (who actually does the cases) and use the code

FFHSCASEDEAL

 

you can order yours for 50% off until 4PM pacific time today!!!

Life is good at my house this week!!

~XOP~

Another Top Finished

I had a pretty productive weekend.
 I did a LOT of cleaning, but not enough if that makes sense?
 Every time I cleaned something I found something else to clean.
 A friend of mine referred to it as "Job Creep".  
I have been kind of unmotivated to sew recently so cleaning seemed like a good alternative.

I was just about finished with another of the Halloween tumbler quilts
when Mr MS called me for dinner.
 I left my stuff and went to eat. 
When I got back this is what I found.

Mosen had made himself quite comfortable on the top! 

I booted him off and finished up the top. 

 I ran down the basement to look for the backing and guess what? 

 Not only did I find it but I had already sewn it together!! 

 I brought it in to work today and will hand it off to Liz for quilting.

This is the second of 3 of these quilts. 

I am making one for each of my children, using up all my Halloween flannels!

Two down one to go!!

I also did a little shopping at Crazy Quilt Girl's online fabric shop 

and picked up a yard of all the colors of Pezzy Prints. 

MMMMMMMMM...Pezzy goodness!! 

If you haven't done so yet hop over to Cori's shop and pick some up for yourself too.

I was struck with how nice this fabric feels. 

 It is soooo soft! 

Cori has also ordered the Lush, Running Stitch in all the colors on order so look forward to that soon!

I leave you with one of my very favorite candies. 

 Cadbury mini eggs.

 OMG I could eat the entire bowl!!

Happy Monday!

~XOP~

Modern Mini Quilt Challenge

I just stumbled across the Modern Mini Quilt Challenge at Ellison Lane's blog.
 I see there is a mug run option so I am going to enter this cute little mug rug I made.
What do you think?

I think there may be voting at some point so hop on over to Ellison's blog and check it out!

Have a Happy Saturday!!

~XOP~

This and That Friday

I sure do have only this and that to talk about today. 
Yesterday I went with D1 to look at 2 perspective houses for her. 
As it turned out neither one fit the bill so she will keep looking.
 On our way though, we dropped Liz off at her farm. 
She has a quilt from a good friend of mine that I have been dying to see, so I went in to take a peek.  Let me just say that I was totally blown away by this quilt.
 I didn't happen to have my camera to take any photos
 but if you go to her blog here you can see 2 of the blocks. 
I have seen a LOT of embroidery stitching, a LOT and I have a good friend who's work is excellent, but Dianne's embroidery is perfect.
 There I said it, perfect!! 
Amazing, incredible.
 It looks like it was done on an embroidery machine, it's *that* perfect.
 Then she made the setting her own, even more amazing.
 I can't wait to see it all quilted up and bound.
 I promise I will link to that when she posts some photos. 

Now on to another cool thing that happened recently. 
My BIL was invited to ring the closing bell on Feb 29th at the NYSE!!
He is in the cetner in the blue tie.
 WTG John!!

Lastly I found a couple of Japanese books that are not OOP. 

 I would love to get my hands on them if anyone happens on a copy, please let me know!

They are by Kumiko Fujita

Patchwork Patterns 318

And ABC Patchwork Lesson

So there you go!

 If you are a thrift shop person add those to your "find for Pam" list!! haha. 

 If you have something you are looking for please let me know,

when I am thrifting I would be happy to look for you too!

~XOP~