And The Winner Is...

I want to thank everyone who left comments and sent emails for my 100th post celebration drawing! Hubby assisted in the drawing. I have enjoyed meeting new bloggers, reading comments from those who do not have blogs and emails I have received. If your blog is new to me and I haven't visited yet, I will be soon! So, I guess you want to know who has won the little quilt? Ok!!
It is Lori (Mountain Woman At Heart)! Congratulations! Lori send me your mailing information please! Once again I would like to thank everyone who took the time to leave a comment or send an email. It is so much fun to read all of them. I try to email a comment back but if you have the noreply setting of course that is impossible! I did write quite a few emails and hit the send button to only realize then there was a noreply setting in place. Yikes!

Born Free!

Yes, the critter has been set free! When Hubby got home tonight from work he got right to work getting this raccoon ready for transport.

We drove for over a half an hour to the perfect wooded area for this critter to roam free. Hubby used long boards to open up the trap. I stayed in the truck and took the photos...someone had to stay in the safety of the truck!

The critter is seeing it's first glimpse of freedom. Boy did it take of fast! I couldn't get a photo of him taking off out of the trap.

If you look closely at the middle of this photo you will see the striped tail. I was able to get a photo of the raccoon waddling off into the woods! As the raccoon disappeared from view Hubby and I sang "Born Free!" If you are old enough to remember the movie about the lions you will know what we were talking or guess I should say singing about! Hubby is setting the trap again tonight just in case the raccoon had a buddy!

The Critter has been found!

Look what was in the live trap this morning!

Hubby had been putting peanut butter and marshmallows out at night and in the morning the bait would be gone but the trap not sprung. We didn't know which kind of critter was enjoying it's nightly feast, but something needed to change! I had so many fellow bloggers offer baiting ideas to catch this critter but A Simple Quilter actually did a little research and found a list of foods that attract different kinds of critters. It seems that the spice Anise has a very strong pull for raccoons but not for skunks or other furry pets. Hmmmmm...sounded good to me. I bought some yesterday and look what happened! Hubby also worked on getting the trap to spring a little easier, so I guess the two combined did the trick! The raccoon is now sleeping away the day under the tree where it will be in shade all day. Tonight after Hubby gets home from work we will be relocating this critter to a wooded area where it will be much happier. I will be too!

Don't forget about my 100th post give-a-way that I mentioned in my earlier post!

100th Post!

Wow! This is my 100th post and I am celebrating with a give-a-way!

This is a small wall hanging that I made with 30's reproduction fabrics. The picture doesn't quite do this little quilt justice. I used two different cameras, natural sunlight, shade and indoor shots to come up with photo that at least showed the fun colors of this piece. Some days it seems like I can't take a good picture no matter what I try! So, back to the give-a-way! All you have to do to be entered into a drawing that will be held this Saturday (August 30th) is to leave a comment on this post or email me. Feel free to mention this give-a-way on your blog. Let me know about it I will enter your name in the drawing five more times!

I am now off to sew for a couple of hours in my Summer Palace. Nice weather is almost over here and I am trying to take every advantage of being out in the Palace that I can. I have been working on some log cabin blocks that I will be posting about soon. Thanks again for helping me to celebrate my 100th post!

Is There A Critter Around?

We are on the Critter Patrol around here. I picked up this live trap the other day in hopes to catch that rascally raccoon that paid my Summer Palace a visit a while back and gave it some extra ventilation. If you are new to my blog or have no clue to what I am talking about you can read about it here. We have had evidence that the raccoon is still around, so maybe we can relocate this critter to a wooded place that it will be happier in. This morning Hubby reported that he caught something over the night. It was a cat. Hmmmm wonder if that same cat will be back to get more tuna? Time will tell!

Aside from quilting away on The Monster I was able to get a few more Civil War Diary blocks done this past week. I am disappointed in the green and purple block. Is is the top right block. The photo doesn't show the true colors. I tried three different locations to get a clearer photo of the blocks but this was the best I could come up with. Anyway, there isn't enough contrast between the purple and green fabric to do this block justice. Oh well, I doubt if I make it over again.

I will keep every one up to date on the Critter Patrol! Keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't become a cat fest out there!

As The Quilt Frame Turns,,,,

Yes! I was able to turn "The Monster" down in the quilt frame this week! I always feel that it is an occasion to celebrate when ever I can turn the quilt down the frame, but this time it was even more fun then usual. I can finally see the border heading my way to be quilted. Yippee!

I had quite a bit of time to quilt away on the Monster this week. Tuesday evening I was quilting along when the power started to fade in and out. That happened a few times and then the power went totally out. I realized that a thunder storm had moved in, and quickly. I had been watching/listening to a DVD and didn't realize we were in a storm watch. I went to the door and was amazed at the strong winds blowing the trees, the constant lightening and the neighbor's recycling garbage flying down the street. Dear Hubby joined me in watching the storm. When we saw the sky turn green we decided we should be down in the basement. We stayed there a little bit and headed back upstairs to watch the storm some more. At midnight a tornado warning siren woke us up and we headed to the basement again. In the morning we were still without power, and to make a long story short, a tornado touched down about two miles away from us, and there were many downed trees just a few blocks away from us. The tornado destroyed about 20 homes and damaged at least 300 more. Some people had their power restored just yesterday. Aside from loosing power for about 15 hours the only damage we received was the power supply in our main computer was fried. That can easily be fixed. For this I am very thankful! While our power was out I had to stick around home and babysit our generator that was keeping our freezer and fridge going. What was I to do? I quilted away on "The Monster". I didn't need power to do that! If life gives you lemons - make lemonade!

Yesterday was a beautiful day. I was able to spend some time in the Summer Palace and sew on my Civil War Diaries quilt blocks. This photo does not do the fabrics justice, but it was the best I could come up with today.

So, three more blocks down. I refuse to even think about the number of blocks left to be made. I just want to enjoy the process and not worry about when the finish will happen.

Look What I Received In The Mail!

Oh look at what I received in the the mail the other day! I had signed up for Linda's PIF (Pass It Forward) challenge and this is what I received. Should I make you scroll down to see what is in this cute package?











Maybe a little more?








It is a adorable folder or a binder cover. I just love it! It is even better that it came from a blogging friend who took such care to make a beautiful gift. I have a Linda original and I love it!
I have been having fun thinking of the different ways I can use this.

I will need to get a binder that better coordinates with the cover colors, but I just couldn't wait to try it out. Thanks again Linda! Now to buckle down and get my the PIF gifts made and sent out. I have given the gifts much thought and have changed my mind as to what to make just as much! Not good!

I received this neat award from Nancy Rose the other day. Such an honor! Thanks Nancy Rose! She felt bad that my Summer Palace was ruined by a pesky critter and wanted to give me a little boost. It worked! I am to give this award to those who I believe deserve it too, but it is very hard to single out fellow bloggers. There are too many out there! If you are reading this, and have your own blog consider this award yours also!

I have been working and working on "The Monster" lately. There have been two main reasons to account for the progress I have made on this project. Number one, dear Hubby was out of town so that gave me more free time to spend on it. Number two, I aggravated an old knee injury and that has kept me from doing the other things I wanted to do while Hubby was gone. Oh the plans I had...they will just have to wait now. I have been propping my leg up and quilting away. If I can't do much walking or standing I can at least quilt! I have about 1/4 more quilting to do before I can turn the quilt in the frame. Oh I can't wait for that! I will post another picture of "The Monster" then as you should be able to see the border. Yippee!!!

Back To The CW Blocks

It was a beautiful afternoon here, and I was able to totally enjoy it by sewing away in my Summer Palace. I have been working hard on "The Monster" so I felt like I deserved a break and treated myself to a session in the Palace. It has been quite a while since I worked on blocks for my Civil War Diary quilt. I have one row completed and you can see the post about it here. Since there are so many blocks in this quilt I decided to sew the rows together as I went along. I thought it would help with the fabric selections for the blocks. In other words, I will be able to tell if I have two or three blue blocks next to each other, or if I need balance out the colors I have used. The block you see on the table is actually the second block in the second row. I decided that for the first block I wanted to use cheddar and blue fabrics. Well, the cheddar I want to use is one of the newer pieces I have purchased recently and it isn't prewashed yet. Did I want to take time out from sewing in the Palace to wash, dry and iron it? No way! So, on to block number two. I was able to work on the third block today too, but that picture didn't get taken. Guess you will just have to wait on that one. It was nice to work on this project again today, especially since I was able to sew in my favorite place.

Monster Report & My Blue Heaven

Yeah! I finished the borders on "My Blue Heaven" today! I enjoyed working on this scrappy quilt and taking a break from my much loved reproduction fabrics. I threw the top over The Monster for lack of a better place. (More to come about The Monster!) This pattern is from Bonnie Hunter's web site Quiltville.com She is one of my favorite sources for quilt ideas and patterns. If you haven't checked out her web site do it soon!

On to the "Monster In The Living Room" now. As many of you know this pink and green quilt has been in the middle of my living room floor for a while here... okay...for over a year (aside from a month long break at Christmas). I won't bore you with the original details. I will just give you this link to read my first posting about it here. This baby is wearing out it's welcome. I can happily report that I have two more rows of blocks to quilt and then it will be border time. Yep, the next time I turn the quilt the border will be showing. Yippee! Along with a heat wave that we have going on right now that is keeping me out of my Summer Palace, my dear Hubby has a long "Things To Do" list coming up so I have decided that this is the perfect time to work on this baby. This will be on top of my "To Do List" now, or at least for the next week! I have checked out a DVD set from the library of the television series "JAG" and will be happily listening/watching the DVD as I quilt away and enjoy the comfort of the air conditioner.

Oh No!!!!!!

I walked out my back door today to check on my flowers. I was met with this sight. We believe a raccoon decided to have some fun last night. Well, the raccoon may have had fun, but I sure didn't! There are holes ripped in each screen panel all around my gazebo, a.k.a. Summer Palace. A week ago this same animal tore two small holes in the screening. I decided not to patch them because that way maybe the animal wouldn't make more holes, he could just use the ones he already made. Well, guess two were enough. Every time I look at it I just get upset.

We were going to retire this palace at the end of the season anyway so I guess I shouldn't be that upset, but the season is far from over. The screen mainly kept the cotton wood that flies through the air and the big bugs out. I guess I should try to be positive and look at it this way, I have windows now. I may look into getting a live trap so this animal can be relocated somewhere else. It would surely be more happy in a wooded environment instead of a city one. I know I would be happier!




Since I was outside with my camera I thought I would share some photos of my flowers. They are prettier to look at then holes in the Palace screens. I grew some of these flower from seeds.I posted before about that here. The Sweet Peas are the flowers in front. This is the first year that I have planted them. The seed packet said they were mounding flowers and perfect for containers. Well, they are perfect for containers, but they are not mounding. They like to climb. When I saw that the plants were climbing over each other I placed a small trellis in the flower pot. They are now much happier and booming beautifully. Guess you can't believe everything you read?

One more photo of a few more of my flowers. I love them!

Stash Busting UFO

This is the quilt that I have been working on lately out in my Summer Palace. I wanted to work on some of my UFO's (unfinished projects to all of my non-quilting readers), and decided this is the one I would work on. I began this project last fall while on vacation. I talked about starting it here. It is to large to spread out on a floor for a photo, so I just laid it across the couch and took a partial photograph. It will end up being a queen size quilt in the end. I added the blue border earlier today and will be adding a border of hour glass blocks next. It is a Bonnie Hunter design called My Blue Heaven. I am liking what I see so far. My fingers are crossed that the hour glass blocks will fit. This has been a stash busting quilt, which means I pulled the fabrics for it out of my stash. Okay... I bought a few more blue fabrics to go into this quilt, but not many! So, I guess I had better rephrase my statement. For the most part this has been a stash busting quilt. It didn't make a huge dent in my stash, but it did make a small one. I am beginning to think about how I want to quilt this baby. Such decisions!

Happy 4th of July and UFO's

Happy 4th of July!

I hope all of my American friends have enjoyed a Happy 4th Of July celebration today. My hubby had to work today so I spend the afternoon in my Summer Palace and sewed up a storm. I've almost got the "My Blue Heaven" blocks sewn together. Then it will be on to the borders.

I was reminded the other day of the deadline for entering items in the county fair. I entered for the first time last year and was awarded five ribbons. That was so much fun I was looking forward to this year's fair. Well, when I started to think of what I wanted to enter I realized I only had two finished projects. Wow! I have done a lot of piecing of quilt tops this year, but that is as far as the projects got. Bummer! It really isn't worth my while to just enter two items when I think of the entrance fee and the cost of the gas (It is about a 40 min. drive one way to get to the fair grounds). I will just have quit kicking myself for the lack of finishes and get on the ball so to speak. UFO's had better watch out!

Fruit Slush

There is a favorite Summer treat around here. It is called Fruit Slush. I thought I would share it with you as it is such a good for you treat and so refreshing at this time of year.

Here are the ingredients:
40 oz. canned fruit cocktail packed in light syrup (I love the Del Monte Very Cherry brand)
10 oz. sweetened frozen whole strawberries
12 oz. frozen orange juice concentrate
20 oz. canned crushed pineapple packed in it's own juice
3 med. bananas (sliced)
10 oz. maraschino cherries (I cut mine in half)
22 oz Mandarin oranges (this is the only fruit I drain before adding)


You basically add all of the ingredients together. Make sure to use a very large bowl! I put the frozen strawberries in the microwave a little bit to thaw so they can be broken up easier. Sorry the color is off in this photo - I have never claimed to be a great photographer!
I then package up the fruit mixture into one cup servings and put them into the freezer. Like my mixture of container types? If you are a Weight Watcher like I am, or try hard to be, I have put this through the point finder and came up with a one cup serving as three points. In all reality we can never wait for them to turn into a "slush" as we start eating them right out of the freezer. If you want the juice to be slushy, just let it thaw some before digging in. I ended up with fourteen one cup servings. You may be wondering why I drain the Mandarin Oranges while I don't drain any of the other fruit. Well, I guess it is because I couldn't get them in a light syrup, and I shaved some calories by draining them. Hope you give this a try some time. Let me know if you like them!

I Am Back - Finally!!!

Wow! It is hard for me to believe that I haven't posted in over a month! Okay - break over!!! Life got really crazy here very quickly and it took a while for it to settle back down. Once life seemed to return to normal I found that I had lost my quilting mojo. I didn't have a desire to pick up a sewing needle let alone turn on my sewing machine. What???? Is that possible? It was for me, and I never thought that could possibly happen. I kept myself busy planting flowers and playing some games on the computer. I didn't keep up with the quilting email lists and got very behind on reading my blogging friends posts. I can't explain it, so guess I won't try. I will blame it on hormones as that seems to be the answer for everything right now. I finally started to miss the "old world" as I had known it. I went out of town with my hubby for the weekend to celebrate our birthdays and I went to a couple of quilt shops. Hmmmmm...was it the smell of new fabric or the samples on the walls? I don't know but I started to feel my mojo coming back. Believe it or not, I only bought 3 1/2 yards of fabric and that was after visiting two quilt shops! My Hubby was quite surprised, and wondered if I was ill. The new fabric was enough to get things rolling though and I have been back at the sewing machine and have done some hand work too.

The weather has been wonderful lately and I have spent a lot of time in my gazebo (a.k.a. my Summer Palace) with my Featherweight set up on a folding table.

I have so enjoyed sewing away and enjoying the outdoors at the same time. You can see some of my flowers too. The shadow you see inside the gazebo is me sewing away.

I have finished the blocks for "My Blue Heaven", a Bonnie Hunter design. Now to get them sewn together! I will be catching up on my blogging friends posts and keeping this blog more up to date from now on! I promise!

My friend Char has been wondering what was wrong with me too - thanks for the encouraging words and gentle (big smile here) push to get back into the blogging world Char!

A Give a way

Check out Carolyn's neat give away at Ohio Quilter's Journey. I found this neat blog through Paula - thanks Paula!

Back Again

I guess I have taken a break from the blogging world lately. We went away for a short vacation and I have had a hard time getting back into the swing of things as far as the blog world is concerned. We visited a few of our State Parks. We saw beautiful waterfalls, many different types of wild flowers, butterflies and birds. We had hoped to see some wild life, but the only thing that we saw that I can't see in my own back yard were Wild Turkeys. Not one deer! That seems unusual. On our hikes we only saw one deer track in two different parks. The State Park Inns that we stayed at had Internet access so I was able to read a few blogs here and there, but boy do I have a lot of catching up to do! I am looking forward to seeing what everyone has been up to lately. Some of you were surprised when I posted my photos of my trip to the AQS show in Paducah a couple of weeks ago. While I had bought patterns, notions and thread I had bought only one yard of fabric. There were three reasons why only one yard was purchased. Number 1: I only had one day at the show and I wanted to see the latest quilt designs and notions available so I didn't spend a lot of time looking at fabric. Number 2: I didn't want to have to carry the fabric around with me all day. That fabric can get very heavy quickly! Number 3: I knew this vacation was coming up and that I would have more time to look at fabric at quilt shops along the way. This is what I bought along the way! Lots of neat reproduction fabrics!

I guess I got the new patterns and notions out of my system as I only bought fabric on this trip. Not one pattern, spool of thread or needle. Patterns for tote bags and purses caught my eye, but I put them back on their pegs or in their baskets. I need to make some of the ones I recently bought before I buy another such pattern. I was able to visit three different quilt shops and enjoyed each one as you can tell.

I picked up one of my UFO's (unfinished objects for my non-quilting friends) and worked on it while on our trip. It is an apple core wall hanging. I forgot to measure the individual patch but it small! I am hand piecing this as the curve is not a gentle one that would easily be pieced on the machine. I am planning on making this little quilt have 12 rows of 10 patches each. I guess I have 9 more to go! I had only cut a few of the patches before my trip, and had a pile ready to be cut. I cut many of them while Hubby drove. I then was able to piece in the evenings and again on the way home. There are some things I can do in the car and not become carsick and sewing is one of them. Yeah! When there isn't beautiful scenery to look at along the way, sewing and listening to an audio book makes the time fly.

I will post a few photos of the trip soon! Now to catch up on all of the blogs that I have missed!

More Great Quilts

As promised, here are a few more of the great quilts that I had the pleasure to see at the AQS 2008 Quilt Show.

This beauty won the blue ribbon in the Bed Applique category. The quilt maker happened to be standing by and I heard her say that she did this with the quilt as you go method. She completely quilted each block separately before adding them to each other. I haven't tried this method yet, so I can't say how easy or difficult it is to do. This sure is a beautiful quilt!

This beauty won a blue ribbon in the Pieced Quilts category. Wow is all I can say!

I think this quilt deserves a close up photo so that you can see the detail a little clearer. Think of the time that was put into the creation of this beauty!


This quilt did not win an award, but I thought it was a fantastic quilt.

I love the nine patch blocks she used for the sashing. It has a fantastic border too! Are you tired of seeing photos of great quilts? I hope not because I have a few more to share at another time!

P.S. Marlene you left me a comment on my last post asking that I email you as you had some questions. I am sorry but I can't, you have the no reply marked in your preferences so I have no way of contacting you. You can email me direct if you would like. I like to sent a comment or reply back to everyone who is kind enough to leave me a comment. If the no reply is in place that is impossible for me to do so. I also have trouble at times sending email to people with AOL accounts. I have no clue why...could they still be mad at me for leaving them? I doubt that!

Here They Are!

I really didn't intend yesterday's post to end up being a tease about photos, but that is the way it ended up. My photo to the left here just disappeared by the time I was ready to write about it, so here it is now! This is my Mother and I showing off the totes I made. I talked about the tote I was making for me but didn't post a photo of it because I didn't want to spoil the surprise when she received her gift. Since I won't see my Mother on Mother's Day I gave her the present early. She likes pastels where I like the darker reproduction types of fabrics. As I made hers I added a little button flap on her bag. I didn't like the way my bag gaped open as I used it so I thought this might help. I will probably add one to mine as soon as I come up with a nice looking way to add it now that the bag has been completed. I think I know how I will do it, now to get it done! The Spring wall hanging behind her was part of a Christmas present I gave her two years ago. I gave her four wall hangings for the different seasons. Seeing her wallhanging on the door reminded me that I don't have mine up. Wait a minute - I might not even have mine finished! Ugh! I had better check!




Here are a few photos from the AQS Quilt Show this year. The first is Diane Gaudynski's quilt that won Bernina's Machine Quilting award. I wasn't able to get a better photo of the whole quilt. There were too many other admirers around to maneuver to a better angle. I have also included a close up look at her fabulous quilting. I love her style of machine quilting and have been fortunate enough to be able to take a couple of classes with her. She is a wonderful teacher and I so enjoyed her classes.


This photo is of the Hand Workmanship award winner. Yikes! What a beauty! The Feathered Star is on my list of quilts I want to make. This was a must have photo for me. What an inspiration! I have a couple more photos that I wanted to share, but blogger won't let me download any more photos right now! Honest! Yesterday my photo disappeared, and now it says I don't have a Internet connection. Weird. So, guess I have left you with another unintended teaser. Sorry! I will try to post the other photos soon!

Trip to Paducah

I had a fantastic time at the AQS Quilt Show! My Mother and Aunt went with me so that added to the fun. To the left is a photo of one of the quilt vendors, Quilts Plus from Indianapolis, IN. I love what they have to offer - reproduction fabrics and quilts that have an antique look to them. There were so many quilts to look at and to dream of making someday. The actual quilt show was fantastic as usual. There are always quilts that stop me in my tracks and make me say, "Wow!". My favorite domestic machine quilter, Diane Gaudynski won top honors for her quilt. I had seen photos of the quilt before as it had also won an award at the Houston show, but to see it in person was so much fun. I will post some favorite quilt photos of the show soon.

I didn't buy as much this year as I did last year, but I only had one day this year to do it in. I bought just ONE YARD of fabric. When I told hubby the news that night he said, "Well you bought some patterns or something else didn't you?" Of course I did! I wanted to focus on new patterns, quilts on display in the booths and new products so I didn't spend a lot of time drooling over fabrics. As you can see I did find things to buy. One of them was a new thimble. I decided to try it out and liked it. It fits my finger a better then the one I have been using so maybe my quilting will improve and be faster. I did play with it tonight and I like it, so that makes me happy! The cute stitchery drawings for the days of the week with the sunbonnet girls called my name. I like to do some embroidery, but it isn't my most favorite thing to do. My Mother does wonderful embroidery and she volunteered to do it for me! Yippee!!! Sounded great to me! I bought the blue thread for it. Now to trace off the designs and pass it off to her to complete. Thanks Mom! A fun thing happened when I passed by the Supreme Slider booth. I told the gal demonstrating it (the gal who came up with the product I believe) that I recommend her product to my machine quilting students and they love it. She thanked me. When I asked about the Little Genie Magic Bobbin Washers she gave me a package to try as a thank you for recommending her product. How fun is that! They are supposed to eliminate the backlash in the bobbin when changing directions at high speed while doing free motion quilting or machine embroidery. I am looking forward to giving them a try. I will talk about the other items I bought as I try them out.

Well, I downloaded a photo that has now disappeared from my post. Wonder where it went? I couldn't have hit the delete key that many times! Dear Hubby is on the main computer where the photo is stored, so guess it will have to wait until another time. It is a photo of the tote bag that I made and the item that I couldn't post about in my last post. I guess it will have to wait a little while longer now! Sorry!

I'm Off

I thought I would make a quick post to say that I am off on a trip to visit my parents. Sweet Hubby is keeping the home fires burning while I get to go and have some fun. My parents live within a few hours drive of Paducah, KY. That means I get to go to the big AQS quilt show! Yippee! I will drive in for one day of the show. Last year I drove in for two days, but with the cost of gasoline I think I will be able to survive with one days visit this year. I will be packing in a lot on that one day that is for sure! I have been busy making a cute tote and a surprise that I can't post yet. I will be posting photos of both soon.

In hunting for a past project yesterday I came across a couple of UFO's. Some of them I had forgotten about. Bad quilter! I will try to keep those in mind while at the quilt show. Maybe that will help keep the credit card in the purse a little easier. Maybe!