Quilty Fun Progress & Fun Recognition too!

This weeks block is called Fall Leaves...

I'm thinkin' mine are a bit more on the Springy side!

SEE!  I haven't just been watching the Winter Olympics and Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show!

I've been playing catch up and keep up on the...

First of all I'd like to send out a Thank You to The Fat Quarter Shop for selecting my little Tulips block as one of their 3 winners from last weeks tulip block photos posted on

The Quilty Fun Flickr Page.

I'm looking forward to receiving two, count 'em!, TWO spools of Aurafil Thread!

I've been and still am behind in getting some of the blocks sewn together but have been doing a bit a catch up...here are some I hadn't shared yet.

I also did some revision on one of my favorite blocks that needed a little more OOMPH!

My mug block has gone from this!

TO THIS!

Ahhh.....I feel better now...

the body of each mug is the same but now my handles show up better

and they're actually recognizable as mugs from a distance!

Okay, gotta dash! 

Westminster has come on in the other room

and I'm missing the Sporting Group!

Hey Zinnie!  I'm rooting for the Golden Retriever!  Love you sweet girl!

In case you haven't met,

Zinnie is the World Famous Quilt Testing Assistant

to Lynn Wilder at Sew'n Wild Oaks.

She enjoys posing for pictures with her Moms quilts

and making sure her Dad has a clean pair of socks each morning.

signed,

 Zinnie's Self Appointed Auntie...~Nancie Anne

******* Postscript*******

The Golden didn't win Group but did come in Third Place!  Still a darn good showing!

No Golden Retriever has ever won Best In Show at Westminster...yet, but that never stops me from rooting for them!

Congratulations to Skye, the beautiful Wire Fox Terrier

2014 Westminster Best In Show

Snow Outside...Bloomin' Tulips Inside...

There's leftover Super Bowl pizza in the fridge, a new skiff of overnight snow on the ground & I proclaimed today a sewing day last night!  In other words, Mama's not making Fettuccine and Chicken Cacciatore tonight....but maybe tomorrow! 

Block 12 of the Quilty Fun Sew Along was introduced this morning at Bee In My Bonnet, Fat Quarter Shop & Sew Take A Hike and I'm already growing Tulips!  They are so cute (there I go being modest again) and were really fun to make!

 

I sure am looking forward to seeing real tulips, daffodils & hyacinths blooming...

Now!  On to the next project!

 

~Nancie Anne

 

Necky, Heaty, Thingy ~or~ Mom vs the Dachshunds!

So, the other day I was reading The Patriotic Quilter's post about a retreat she attended recently.   A couple of the attendees had each brought along a heating pad designed just to go around the neck and shoulders that was very popular!  PERFECT!!!!  I promptly shared the post with hubby, who intelligently agreed that this was something I really need! 
I spend nearly 10 hours a day in front of a computer on workdays, then come home to catch up with my bloggy friends.  On non-work days I'm in front of the sewing machine, hunched over my cutting mat, or catching up again with all those inspirational blogs out there!  Eureka!  This is what I need for all those twinges and tweaks in my shoulders and neck! Details here!



I went to my local W Store yesterday, not the one that ends in "Mart", the other one, and ta-da! there it was, my own little necky heaty thingy!  I tucked one under my arm, along with a light to stick up by the back door so I can see the keyhole in the dark and a Valentine gift perfect for my sons leopard lovin' girlfriend!

I came home, unboxed my little find, plugged it in and sat down to test it out.  It felt great for a few seconds, although the magnetic closure makes in a titch tight, around my short pudgy neck, but that's easy... closing it isn't altogether necessary.  But then, I kid you not...in under 60 seconds our little doxie, Shooter, was insistently climbing his way onto my shoulders, followed immediately by Maecee who piled on top of him!  What a sight we must have been, me looking like a hunchback with two dachshunds stacked one atop the other!  It brings to mind that Igor in Young Frankenstein may not have had a moving hump on his back afterall...just a devoted dachshund under his shirt...afterall, burrowing into warm places is what they do best!

Lesson learned.  Don't plug in the necky heaty thingy without first plugging in the electric throw blanket that I keep for days when the leather couch is chilly to distract the cuddle puppies!  Necky Heaty Thingy is not as effective and somewhat painful with the combined weight of two dachshunds pressing down on your shoulders!

I think I'll be going in to use it on the kink between my shoulder blades shortly, provided they're done using it...

Dachshund Endorsement:

Maecee says: "Mom's new Necky Heaty Thingy is perfect for foot cleaning time or for naptime!

Either way, We Love It!!!"

 

Shooter says: "Mom has managed to get all the way to the end of her post without Maecee running in to be lifted into the desk chair with her!!!  Unheard of!!!"

 

 

 Anyhow, Thanks Patriotic Quilter for your great tip off about these heating pads!

I'm sure it will help warm those kinks out...when I get to use it...someday...

 

~Nancie Anne

Sunday Quilty Fun Cuteness

 Just Had To Share My Sunday Baskets! 

This block could so easily be repeated for valances in my kitchen! 

I love my little fussy cut egg shaped chicken print basket!

Patting myself on the back here a bit...sure hope I don't dislocate my shoulder!

Here's the group as it's coming together, minus the 4 patch blocks I posted yesterday.

I'm going to love the mugs too...

once I replace the handles with something that shows up against the background print a bit better!

 

Happy Sunday Stitchin'!!!

~Nancie Anne

 

 



Quilty Fun SewAlong Week 10, Homecoming (and a wee bit of excitement)

I'm still behind on the Quilty Fun SewAlong,but the center of Homecoming (for my husband) is set together, sort of.  I'm probably going to be ordering online or traveling a couple of hours to get the fabrics to complete the borders, or both.
 

I spent yesterday afternoon cutting out blocks for Quilty Fun that I haven't completed yet...I'm behind, but there's time to catch up...sometimes we have to choose our priorities, dontcha know!

But here's this weeks block!  TaDa!!! In just under the wire!

These little four patch strips will be part of the framework around the Bee.

And hey...I'm thinning the stash down...one little block at a time!

It's never too late to join, especially considering I'm doing a block here and a block there, not in order...this Quilt Along doesn't wrap up 'til the end of March and it's broken down into really manageable bits...provided one doesn't suffer from intermittent ADD!

 I'm completely guilty of looking & drooling over numerous other Quilt Alongs and BOM's and Mystery Quilts that are floating around out there in the Blogosphere and coming to me in well intentioned quilt shop emails!

 As I mentioned above, I partially succeeded in my goal of presenting my husband with a completed quilt top for our anniversary!  I had the completed portion of the quilt hanging on the wall with a pitiful little handmade Happy Anniversary sign pinned to it when he arrived home the other night. I have a little wonky thing to fix before I go further on it that will drive me to distraction if I don't fix it!  Now, don't look too closely!

There's also that wee bit of excitement thing I spoke of earlier???

(Not to be confused with the huge excitement regarding Lynn's extraordinarily wonderful news about being asked to teach Patchwork Math in a 2015 episode of The Quilt Show)

 

Did you see Fat Quarter Shops post last week about the Jaybird Designs wonderful quilt Night Sky?

And they were having a giveaway?

And 1329 people left comments?

 

Well guess who's doin' the Happy Dance?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

ME!!!  I be so HaPpY!!!

Thank You Sew Much Fat Quarter Shop!!!

I couldn't get Maecee to put on her dancing feet for this picture, so this'll have to do!

I should be getting the Pattern, Fat Quarter Stack and ruler to make this stunning quilt sometime late next week!  I'll be hovering in close proximity to my mailbox for sure!!!

 

I declare today "Happy Stitchin' For Everybody Day" with Chocolate On Top!!!!!

 

~Nancie Anne

 

 

The Secret Is Out!

Congratulations Lynn! 

It's your turn to be in the spotlight!

 

I'm so glad you finally shared your news cuz I was about to burst!

Our wonderfully talented Lynn Wilder over there at Sew'n Wild Oaks has been asked to share her Patchwork Math Component information on Alex Anderson's Quilt Show!

Lynn has been so excited and nervous over the past week that it was felt clear up here in Idaho!

I was sitting at my desk at work when I got the news!  Work immediately went right out the window and I was emailing her back!  By my 9:00 break I was so excited for her that I was on the phone sharing the news with my husband!

My words to Lynn were " Is there anything I can do to help you, other than cheer you on and be excited with you & trying to help calm the butterflies in your stomach the night before Alex is sitting in your class!  Teach those butterflies to fly in formation darlin'!  You can do it!"

 

I am so thrilled for her!  She has invaluable information to share, which, as I have told her, has been somewhat skipped over in today's quilting world.

This is the foundation of quilting.  A couple of hundred years ago when I took my first quilting classes we began with math and graph paper, drafting our own templates, adding quarter inch seam allowances and hand piecing every step of the way.  There were a few books, a few patterns, but it was not the industry it is today, with much of the planning taken out of it for those of us who aren't math wizards!  We dreamed up and made our own.  For better or worse.  We had successes and plenty of fails!  Certainly nobody at that time was making 12 quilts a year, applique made most quake in fear.  As for piecing a quilt on a sewing machine?  Sacrilege!  And nobody had heard of a longarm quilting machine!  We were all looking around for groups of little church ladies who might foolishly agree to handquilt for us!

 

We've come a long way baby... but to maintain an appreciation for the effort that went into the creation of quilts that are now part of museum collections, we need to share this foundation of knowledge with future generations.

 I believe it's essential to revisit our roots in order to move forward as continuous learners.

 

I'll be pulling out my copy of Patchwork Math very soon for a self guided class, because I'm certain that Herself, Madame Instructor, will be sending out a test very soon!

 

~Nancie Anne

Shh! I Have A Secret!!!

Well, actually more than just one secret...one that I can share...and one I can't!  But the one I can't share will be shared before long...but not here...nope not by me!  I'm not gonna tell and you can't make me...but soon you'll see!  Someplace else...designer-y!

not being shared by me! Nosirree!
 

The secret I can tell (because hubby Never-Ever touches the computer) is what's been on my design wall hiding behind my Christmas Country Sampler so someone special doesn't see! 

He knows I started it...several months ago...but he doesn't know it's been taken back out and being worked on currently! 

 I'm trying to get it to completed flimsy stage before Monday...our 35th Wedding Anniversary!

 

My hubby saw and fell in love with the original Homecoming Quilt when we first visited The Quilt House in Gardnerville, NV in 2011.  Every visit since he has walked up to it and said, "I really like that quilt!"  I'm thinking that he is concerned it might never happen if he doesn't remind me!

They were so nice and actually tracked down a copy of the pattern somewhere in the back of the shop for us to purchase because the spot they were supposed to be hanging was empty.  We didn't realize at the time, that this had been the quilt pattern they submitted for publication when the shop was featured in Quilt Samplers special edition of revisited shops in 2007.  I also referred to the magazine version of the pattern, as it has beautiful graphics that make it easier to assemble. 

I have the cute tulip corner blocks that drew him to the quilt to make next.

 

I'm keeping my New Years goals on track this year using the KISS method...

"Keep It Simple, Stupid!" 

I'm going to try to finish at least one UFO during odd numbered months and give myself permission to start something new in even numbered months!  No pressure. 
 

Oh, and just by the way...my youngest daughter called last week and asked to have a girls day...something we used to do all the time, but rarely anymore...she was my velcro baby growing up.

On the designated day, we decided on a layout for her butterfly quilt...I hemmed 4 pair of work pants for her that she'd already worn holes in the hems of walking on them!  Baaaad Girl. 

But first, we started the day with a fun breakfast out and then hurried across the parking lot to the theater and watched "Frozen". 

This is not a paid advertisement for Disney...

but there is a reason this movie has been topping the charts since it's release!

I'm here today to freely admit that I have never been a huge animation fan...but this movie is such a beautiful breathtaking work of art that I had a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye before the opening credits were done...the snowflakes just took my breath away...the story made me think about the struggles my daughters have endured and persevered through individually & collectively with such determination, always supporting one another, and again, I was mopping up tears.

The words, "Do you want to build a snowman?" carry a special deeply felt meaning now,

 between my youngest daughter and I, as we've faced our own, so,metimes scary, trials together.

When it's released on DVD, I'm planning to send it to all three of my girls...with a love note attached.

Mamas & Daughters, Grammies & Granddaughters, Aunties and Nieces,

go see it, I think you'll hug each other a bit tighter after you do. 

I've been getting texts containing these from my 22 year old baby since that day...

 

 

Your Stichin' Sister!

 

~Nancie Anne