A Few Things To Sell

I told you that I would have a few things to sell. 

 I have been going through bins and have come up with a few things I thought others might like. 

 If you are interested please either leave your Pay Pal, 

message me or email me at mamaspark@gmail.com

All items are the cost plus shipping (which matters where you live)  Here we go.

Happy Holidays (1) by Nancy Halverson.  Each panel is $7 plus shipping

Happy Holidays (2) a different colorway, by Nancy Halverson.  Each panel is $7 plus shipping

Christmas X-Citement panel is $7 plus shipping

Coordinating half yard of Christmas X-Citement fabric $3.50 plus shipping

Pieces of my Heart by Sandy Gervais panel is $7 plus shipping

Bundle up by Sandy Gervais panel is $7 plus shipping

High Tea by Sandy Gervais panel is $7 plus shipping. 

 It is really cute.  

The middle says "Kitty and Me invite you for tea".  

I have 2 of these available.  

One yard of Cabin C Christmas fabric $7 plus shipping

Snow Bunnies (A) by Pat Yuille.  2 yard piece $10 plus shipping

Two 2 yard pieces of this Snow Bunny (B) print $10 each piece plus shipping

Snow Bunny Stripe (C) 2 yards $10 plus shipping

Adorable bunny (D) print 2 yards, $10 plus shipping.

This is it for the moment.  If you see something you "have to have" just tell me in the comments which one and leave your Pay Pal info.

Happy Shopping!

~XOP~

WIP Wednesday

I am working away on the second Bee Positive 2 quilt.  

This is my very messy process.  You can see some blocks stacked on the fabric mess!  

If you are interested in helping please see this post with information.

I did manage to finish a few, so thought I would show you the money shot 

before I headed off to bed last night.

Yesterday was a good thrift shot night too.  

Two of my purchases were this amazing creepy angel.  

She lights up.  

She. lights. up, you guys!!! 

 Also that blue vintage sheet you see her on. 

 My goal is to make a few elastic waist skirts using some pretty vintage sheets for next summer.  Wish me luck with that!  

I am hoping to link up to WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced.

Have a great day.

~XOP~

Weekend Update

Sparty lives with me now.  

No...not *THE* Sparty, 

but THIS Sparty. 

I found him on Craig's list and picked him up Friday night.  

Isn't he handsome?

Then on Saturday morning my sweet hubby decided that I needed to try his crepes.  

He made them from scratch and this one was fantastic!

Fatty McFatty, was on my lap for most of the MSU game (except when I was yelling).  

I managed to wash all the bedding so Autumn decided that she just had to re-initiate it.  

Which reminded me of this dishtowel I saw recently

"Cat hair, both a condiment and an accessory"

TRUTH!

 The rest of the weekend saw several walks and these trees that looked like they were on fire!

I did some sorting so have a few things to list for sale.  

If you like Sandy Gervais, you may want to check out my next post!

I hope you all had a great weekend.

~XOP~

I Need Your Help (Again)

I hope everyone had a great weekend!  

Mine had some good and some bad.  I lost a dear friend to cancer over the weekend.  

I knew it was coming and yet it did not soften the blow.  

I now have yet another friend (our priest) to add to the list of quilts to make that also has cancer. 

 His cancer is terminal.  

He is going in for a bone marrow transplant to buy time, but sadly there is no cure.

  I would love to repeat the green and gray cross quilt for him to use 

as he goes through this time in his life. 

 I also know that it will be difficult for me to make all the blocks that I need for this. 

 I am putting out a call for help once again, to all my generous friends for help making the blocks.  This is a photo of the finished quilt from last time.

It turned out so amazing and the man I made it for uses it all the time (even better).  

So here is the deal. 

I am asking for greens in the kelly, lime and forest color way as well as ANY gray from dark to light. 

The gray should be in the more clear gray not tending toward brown or blue.  

Light, medium or dark are fine, keeping to modern, more manly fabric,

 not girly or novelty. 

Solids or prints are GREAT!  

Square, pieced, wonky, single, multiple skinny or fat, that part is up to you.  

The only consistent part is the height needs to be 9.5".  

This means the finished size in the quilt will be 9.0", and the width is up to YOU.

Want to see a few examples?

I made a double block up in the left hand, top, corner.  

So smaller blocks are ok as long as when combined they equal 9.5"

Don't even worry about trimming them, just send them and I will trim them.

Gray on gray, green on gray or gray on green, 

As you can see I made some with a gray background and green crosses, 

and some with gray crosses.  

I made some with green backgrounds but only gray crosses.  

I'm trying to get an equitable distribution of gray and green but as I learned on the purple and gray wedding quilt, the color very quickly overwhelms the gray.  

**I need the blocks mailed to arrive by November 6th.**  

If you are willing to help, please email me at mamaspark@gmail.com 

I will send you my address.

Here is a recap of the block details:

• design: cross / plus (wonky, squared up, pieced, single, multiple) Like in this quilt here
• size: 9.5″ high (9.0″ finished) and I’ll leave the width up to you (so that it looks like the cross blocks in the quilt shown above).
• fabric colors: masculine greens and grays
• fabric style: solids and prints (anything but feminine or juvenile prints).
• deadline:November 6th or sooner
• If you are on Instagram please post your photos and include the #beepositivequilt2

Just in case you need a tutorial you can find one right here on Mrs.Schmenkman's blog.  

If you are on Instagram I am using the #beepositivequilt2  

I love the fact that we are making this an online "Bee".  I know why people do bees.  

It is so great to have all that *positive* energy all put into one quilt!!!

I realize it is a short turn around time but I certainly appreciate any help you can give.  

I am also hoping to get someone to quilt it at a discount as now that it is just me bringing home the bacon, these things add up!

So, thanks in advance to all of you for listening, and never fear, even if you are unable to send me a block or two, all prayers are GREATLY appreciated!

Have a blessed day!

~XOP~

Finish It Up Friday

I have a little project I thought I would share with you. 

 First a little background.  

To the right of my sewing machine on my table is a very small space that seems to become very cluttered. 

 It seems like I am always bumping things off of this area. 

 Oh sure, I've put some things there that I thought would help, but I always end up piling 

more and more there.  

You can kind of see what I mean behind the light and to the right of my machine.

Not too long ago I happened to be in Hobby Lobby and saw this.  

BINGO!  

The light went on. Perfect storage for that area! 

 I could "build up", have twice as much storage in the same little area and 

still have some usable space under it if I needed it. 

 But that color, UGH.  

A little bit of Aqua spray paint later and voila!  

My new sewing caddy is all set to be loaded up and put in my space! 

 It sure did de-clutter that space and it's pretty to look at while I sew too.  

What neat sewing space saving tips have you done? 

 I'm always looking for new ideas to keep my space a little more organized.

Linking up to Finish it up Friday.

On a side note, thank you all for your kind words about Mosen. 

 I really miss him but am glad he is not suffering any longer.

~XOP~

Bee Blocks

First a Mosen update.  I got him to eat a bit of diluted wet cat food and take some water. 

 He is still exhibiting painful behavior, crying when I touch him and not moving much.  

I will ask the vet his opinion and if there is something I can do I will do it.  

I'm 90% certain this will not be the case as he is looking just like Jack did at the end,

 but I have to at least give it a try, right?

I just spoke with my college roomie, the vet, and she said to trust my instincts.
I should make him a comfortable as possible and make the decision that's right for him.

On the weekend, before all the cat drama, I finished a couple of Bee blocks.  

I actually liked making this block so much I am considering making some out of some hoarded fabric and making an entire quilt out of these.  

Yep, that much!  Love to know what you think.  

The block directions can be found here at Fresh Lemons.  

It is called Antique Tile.  

These are the two blocks I made.

This is the second one.  I love the pops of navy in this one.

I see so many possibilities in this block. 

 It was super easy to construct. 

 I am even considering cutting into some of my most coveted fabric (my Tula stash) to make this.  

What do you think?

~XOP~

Mosen The Cat

Let me tell you about Mosen. My big, handsome black and white boy.

 He came to us with his sibs, Autumn and Aiden. 

He got his name from a James Harriet book called Moses the kitten. 

When my oldest daughter was little she would ask us to read her the story of "Mosen" 

(Moses and kitten combined). 

In the book, Moses was a black and white kitten, so when we brought him home, 

I immediately knew what his name should be.

He has been a great friend to me and even more so since Jack passed away almost three years ago. 

He is able to say "mama" and frequently demands my attention by calling for me. 

He climbs onto me every night for a snuggle and then sleeps next to me every night.

He is 14 years old now and showing signs of his age. 

I tried to ignore it for as long as I could. I know what this means and 

I don't want to have to make that decision. 

It's too hard. I'm not ready, but this morning I realized he is ready.

He could not figure out how to drink out of his glass. 

He was not interested in his favorite food. 

He cried when I picked him up. 

I may not be ready and wish with all my heart it was not true, 

but I don't have the heart to hold on to him just so he doesn't have to go.

I will call today and make that appointment.

 The one none of us ever wants to make. We will spend one last night together, being friends. 

We will comfort each other as we both understand this will be our last night together. 

Tomorrow, he will go to the rainbow bridge where I know he will be waiting for me 

when it is my time to cross over.

I love you Mosey Man! Tell Jack I miss him too.

~XOP~