In Loving Memory

On October 10, My MIL Angela passed away at her home, in the care of her family, after a 6 week battle with pancreatic cancer. She was a loving mom to her two sons and DILs, and her extended family. Angela's greatest passion was for her family and home, and she always made you feel like family, even if she had just met you! She was a lively and spirited lady and will be greatly missed...

If you would like to learn more about pancreatic cancer, or make a donation to research, visit here!

I can't believe it!

Would you believe that I forgot to post about my finished mini? It's been finished AND hung up on my sewing room wall for about 2 weeks now! What was I thinking? LOL

So anyway..here is it all done! I think it came out great, and it really adds to my sewing space! Now to get moving on mini #2 ;)

A Giveaway and a NEW Free BOM!

NO, I'M not giving anything away..and NO I'M not publishing a new free BOM, but Dorothy Baker is!! So please follow THIS to her giveaway or use the button on my sidebar to see her new BOM! I am SO into embroidery lately and I will definitely be doing this BOM!

More finished BOMs...

Here's a few more finished Block of the Months! This is block #2 in the Berry Picking BOM and it's just as pretty as the first one, but alot quicker to stitch! LOL

Here's the first 2 blocks joined together! I am just thrilled with how this one is coming out ;)

Here is block #3 of my wonderful wool Vintage Halloween BOM! All that buttonholing was a tremendous amount of work, but definitely worth it!

And here is block #4 of that same BOM! Love how it looks, but that cat gives me the willies! LOL Two more blocks to go still on this BOM and I intend to have it finished before THIS Halloween!!

A beach weekend and a birthday!

Last weekend we went to visit my dad in MA for a little beach getaway to celebrate his 75th b'day! My sister owns a condo at Hampton Beach, NH and we borrowed her digs while she's away on a Mediterranean cruise! We had a great time even though Hurricane Bill did cause some high waves and rough surf ;)

here's my 2 favorite men!

And my dad's neighbors, the Pimentals, set up a little surprise for his 75th b'day while the rest of us were up at the beach..they gifted him with a 50" LCD TV and snuck into the house and set it up for him! Brian Pimental owns The Home Theater Company and did a great job of planning this wonderful suprise for my dad! I think he got the biggest b'day surprise when he walked into his own livingroom after our trip back from the beach, to find his neighbors in his house and watching his new TV! LOL They had a great cake for him too! I think having neighbors like the Pimentals is the best gift my dad could ever have IMHO ;)

So here's the youngster and his new TV!

Many thanks to Brian and Kirstin for being such great neighbors and really helping to make my dad's b'day super special!

The Girlies are having GIVE-AWAYS!!

Quickly...get thee to Peg's blog and Michelle's blog and enter their give-aways ;)

A couple more "almost" finishes!

They're "almost" finishes 'cause one is a mini top that's not quilted yet and the other is a single block of a new BOM! I am just so proud of myself for finishing this embroidery block BEFORE the next one arrives! woohooo! Liz, Peg and Michelle are all doing this BOM with me too..the more the merrier! I am just thrilled with the embroidery and the beautiful fabrics!

And the other finish is a little montly mini which Michelle and I are doing through Temecula Quilt Company. Each month features a mini in Civil War repros..this month was a Lori Smith pattern! Again I am THRILLED that I got this one done before the next one arrives! Well almost done..I still have to quilt it ;)

Webshop Grand Reopening!

Angela of The Country Cellar is having a grand reopening party! Who doesn't love a party??? She's a very talented prim artist..so go check out her website!

Another Saltbox Village block!

Here's my latest Saltbox Village block from a BOM offered by Farmhouse Woolens! It came out really cute and worked up fairly quick! It has bits of wool on it, so that fed my wool addiction very nicely ;) LOL

I have a few other projects I've been working on this week so as soon as I have 'em finished I'll be posting about 'em!

Hey Good-Lookin'....Whatcha Got Cookin'?

Well we got cornbread and meatballs cookin' here today, let me tell YOU! LOL Our block party is this afternoon and that's what we're bringing ;) Take a gander at that cornbread..and lemme tell you, it is about the best darn cornbread I have EVA tasted! I got the recipe from a friend at work, so thank you Ada Mcleod for a tremendous recipe!!





Are you hungry yet? Glad I made 2 pans, one for the party, one for us!! LOL

here's the recipe too!

1 14 oz can creamed corn

1 14 oz can whole kernel corn, drained

1 16oz container of sour cream

1 stick of butter, melted

3 eggs

3 packages of Jiffy Corn Muffin mix

mix all ingredients thoroughly and pour into a greased 12x9 pan. Bake at 350 for 1 hr and enjoy!

And of course I can't forget the meatballs! Bill does the mixing from his own "special" recipe and I just prep the cookiesheets and help him roll 'em. Oh and I eat 'em too..that's an assistant's job, isnt' it? LOL

Here's the results of all Bill's hard work! Yummmm!!

It's almost party-time, so you all have a great day..there's still a whole lot of summer left to go!!

The Queen and Her Castle...

Ok..so the Queen is the one taking the picture, so all you're gonna see is her Castle..her SANDcastle that is ;) This was a groovie little suprise summer kit that my BFF Peg, hooked me up with! It came with that great hanger AND those terrific buttons too! It was super-fast to put together, since it's fusible applique AND the buttonholing doubles as the quilting! You gotta love a quicky kit like that! I think it took me 2 nights and a little hand time for the binding, embroidered grass and attaching the 3 buttons ;)

So now the Castle is on the door of the OTHER Castle! And it's finished before the summer is, so how great is that! Thanks Peg for providing me with this fun project!!

Halloween in August!

Ok..I know you all know about Christmas in July...I hearby declare this month to be HALLOWEEN IN AUGUST!! So start stitchin' up those halloweenie projects so we'll all be done well before Halloween this year! I have my little list of projects to work off of for the next 2 months ;)


I recently started a new wool Halloween BOM through Farmhouse Woolens and have completed the first 2 blocks out of 6..the next 2 should be in my mailbox sometime this week! After doing these blocks, I find I am TOTALLY ENTHRALLED with wool...Like I need to be totally enthralled with ANOTHER thing LOL. The blocks are working up beautifully and I cannot wait to have this complete for this Halloween!











So grab a Halloween project or two and come and join me for Halloween in August!!

Flora and Fauna

Here's a little front-yard flora for you! Just a pretty pic of my purple coneflower and my portulacas ;) I love portulacas and find them to be a very underrated flower! They're part of the succulent family, grow great in the ground or containers and are very drought tolerant. And they come in a rainbow of colors! The main draw-back is that the flowers only last a day or so..but it blooms all summer long ;)

And of course what better fauna than another shot of those baby birds! LOL They're alot bigger now and will be leaving the nest by early next week!

Dino Chicks!

I think someone stuck some Velociraptor babies in where the cute hairless chicks were! This is a pic from this past Monday...ooooo scary babies! LOL rather Jurassic park-ish! They are sure keeping Mama and Papa robin busy with the worms and bugs and all! They should be fledging by early next week so I'll keep you all posted!!

Oh and for some quilt-worthy news, I have finished my first Christmas-In-July project for the month! Peg, Michelle and I are doing a little challenge for this month with Christmas-related projects and Peg is in the lead! LOL So here's my teeny Thimbleberries tree quilt, jingle bells and all!

The Chick Cam

Still pretty featherless, but getting cuter!!! ok...maybe not that much cuter LOL but still entertaining! LOL