Feeling the Love....

I could not go on the outing today, Mr.O' and the little O' grands needed me...Missed the lunch and missed the fabric, but I did not miss the love!!!!  Look what I found on my doorstep when I came back from picking up Evan from school.....love for sure....Thank you MP and Muggs and Margaret and Sherry!!!

And, I can hardly stand not showing this.  I do not even have it yet...but my daughter sent the pix to me last night...the finished top photographed on the Irish coast.  My friends made the blocks and my girl organized it and assembled it....Love all around.  Pattern is Scrap Vomit from I'm a Ginger Monkey.

Handmade Holidays

I just love our Charlotte Modern Quilt Guild!!!   Thank you Elizabeth for handing out a list of the following sites for Handmade holiday ideas!!!  I did not check them out yet...but I cannot wait to do so.

Sew Mama Sew   21 pages of handmade gifts

One Pretty Thing  Use drop down box for category--many different gift categories

Everything Etsy  101 Handmade gifts  or Everything Etsy sewing tutorials

Everything Etsy for men

The 36 Ave Handmade Gifts under $5

The Crafty Nest

Martha Stewart  Handmade gifts for her and browse around, there are also categories for kids and guys.

Then, I must say, I am thrilled that little Julianna...3 pounds at birth, enjoys the changing pad that I made her!!!

Vintage Hippos

Just sayin' how hard it is to cut up 50 year old vintage hippos from my grandmother's collection(: 

 Been loving it so long.   As you know, there is no trailer hitch on the hearse...and I am getting older...so.....

Plus, Mr. O'Quilts says that if I die first, he is calling the Goodwill and they will NOT remember that it was Grandma's apron fabric from forever ago(:

 Neither will the child who gets this at the hospital.  But, it will send good vibes and lots of love to someone who may need it.  I think that my friend MT would approve...

PS... What is this with advertising noise every time I check a post or blog???? 

Grrrr

Ooooo  Someone is totally crabby tonight.  Himself does not want to hear it. 

 His only answer for me is to get into a project...blah blah.....

My red and white string is off the design wall and ready to be basted.  My block of the month is done and nothing is ...well..just..ugh.

Then, I realized that I do not have a cuddle quilt for the hospital ready for Guild next week.  Since the BoM was using 4 " squares, I started there with a leftover block.  I had thought that I was ready with my four inch drawer full , but somebody had put plenty of 3.5 inch strips there(: 

 Who could that be????  

 I started making random strips for four patches.   Here we have a beginning of a playpen quilt...Oh, wrong again.  No one uses playpens any more.  Sigh...Tomorrow is a different day...TBTG

Do NOT tell him, but Mr. O'Quilts was right.  Having something on the design wall makes me happy.

The Saint Louis 16 patch

The block of the month for The Charlotte Modern Quilt Guild for October is The Saint Louis 16 patch from  Sew With Sass.  This block is so easy, I did it in 16 seconds with my eyes closed.  I took two random fat quarters like she suggested...voila, two blocks...done, done, done!!

My guess is that the person who hand pieced and hand stitched this lovely antique of mine, took a lot more time than that!

The humming along day..

Fun finishing the back for my red and white zigzag quilt..  Sad though to use up my newspaper fabric(:   But, then... Gone to a good cause:)

 I love my Janome 8900 and I love my Janome 6600, but when it comes to backyard travel...I really love my Kenmore (Janome) 11 pound 3/4 machine...I call her "Little Blue".   Here Evan helps Grandma turn fabric things right side out.  A beautiful fall day in Charlotte.

 Helping Granddaddy under plant Pansies with Tulips and such for a spring surprise.

All the Hummingbirds have long gone through the Gulf of Mexico to Mexico itself for the winter.  The Squirrels are making a terrible racket gathering nuts.  Zoe is going crazy trying to catch the squirrels....Squirrels 1000...Zoe...ZERO!!!

Silly String Top

Just finished this top.  Gotta love red and white..  Gotta love scraps..

 Found this old goodie in the stash...perfect for the back.

 It all started like this.   I found a tute from Rachel on making Chevrons with legal size computer paper.  In May, I decided to just use ordinary computer paper with my red and white string scraps.  Bad!!  I did not like tearing off the paper and I did not like the Chevrons, so I put it away.
 I almost threw it away or donated it.  Taking it out months later, I chose to play with it... medallion style to see how I could make it work.
I am glad I did.

Time to pull a bit of holiday fabric for tissue covers...Time to relax and get ready for the season with little things with great love..

A Good Day

Mr. O'Quilts had a grueling three hour doctor appointment today.  Making the most of it all, the Mrs. finished her needle turn applique for the hexie political quilt.  Seems like forever that it has been on the design wall.

 I see that I am late for the very important date...but, since I have not done needle turn in like 20 years...I am pleased with myself.

 We celebrated surviving the appointment with...still another date:)  ....our favorite Chinese restaurant...Tonight I am turning my "silly quilt" into the "experimental quilt"...Progress, I think.

Smoke got in my eyes....

Yesterday, smoke got in my eyes.  So, I found myself in William Sonoma...hmmm  this Winter Frost candle beckoned me as it smelled so good in Debra's house.  Because my eyes were impaired, the price was ignored...The candle in the bag, I could not afford a healthy lunch, so I found myself at Bojangles...not my fault..The sun started shining:)

Despite the calendar reading September, I decided to burn my new candle just for me.  Turning Pandora to a Nana Mouskouri mix, the cobwebs cleared.

 I even found my angel candle snuffer from a trip to Mexico...gotta do things right.

 Tonight I am messing around with this silly quilt.  Silly, but fun.

This morning Himself and I went on a date to the apple orchard and out to lunch.  TBTG lunch was first as I tripped on a wire at the orchard and fell flat on my face.  We were a scene..my man on his cane and me all bruised.  I decided that it was still a date, but an old folks date!!  Still smiling on a pretty good day.

This Lemonade is made how????

Working on the Charlotte Modern Quilt Guild block in the box...Cindi, you chose beautiful fabric.

The IQ block in the box exchange teaser photo:)

Sharing a link.....

Penny Poppleton on a scant 1/4 inch seam

At the Queen Bee the other day, friend Beth had some great ideas...First of all she was doing a free technique class on Pile O Fabric.  It was awesome.  It will take some doing for me to catch up with quilter Beth now, after that class!! 

 Then she was using a glue stick for everything.  She was using an Elmer's school glue stick that she said turned to starch upon ironing and comes right out in the wash!!  Nothing like hanging with quilting friends to learn stuff.

I visited my mother today.  She had a new poem hanging on the wall.  How did she do that...well, she wrote it in her head and dictated it to the caregiver.  Here it is:

Overlooked

It was only a little thing, only a little thing

She sat in her wheelchair for hours!

In a conspicuous place, it's true

Very few people stopped to say how do you do

The world is a busy place.

And each has struggles of its own.

But why should we ignore loneliness

When soon it will be our own.

                              Alice Burt

Himself dropped by later in the day to find her at the computer herself pecking out another one...Life never ceases to amaze me..

I should have titled this post..."Getting a Grip, number 3,569"........

The Queen Bee

Charlotte, North Carolina is often referred to as the Queen City.  

(Nicknamed the Queen City, Charlotte and its resident county are named in honor of Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who had become queen consort of Great Britain the year before the city's founding.)

So we have named our daytime bee, The Queen Bee!!!

 I almost did not go on Monday as I had preferred to stay home and wallow...but...remembering my latest slogan...."Just Show Up"..I went...and had the very best time ever!.  A big thanks to hostess Debra for making it so special.  Check out her quilting room...Believe me, I could never be Debra...so very organized...:)

 Her design wall reflects her loves...applique, and of course Elvis.

 She was at an Elvis concert at age 18 where she caught this scarf...right off the dear  man's neck...love..:)

 Served in her E-bay dish...hummus with chopped cucumbers and Feta...so much to love at Debra's house..

 Karen's show and tell...A brilliant quilt...latticed and backed with the softest flannel.  And filled with scraps that I recognized from my own stash...

Once I was fed up with so many scraps that I gave them to Karen...that was the best idea.....

 Monday was a very happy day.

The Day

The noise is loud...The boogie man???  Oh, no just Mr. O'Turtle knocking at my front door.

 I guess he came to visit Great-grandma's turtles that I saved from forever ago.  He knows we are turtle friendly in this family.

I am thinking of using the PUL I found at Tuesday Morning for snack bags.  Has anyone heard negatives on that?

Tips for working with PUL or laminate
I found this comment on the Janome user support group.  This lady said that her husband fixed up a bench in the car for when they would take long drives.  He would drive and she would sit with her sewing machine on the bench over her lap,  plugged into the cigarette lighter and sew away on their 6 hour trip.

Speaking of support groups.  I went to one for Motor Neuron disease today. I was taken by the steely resolve in the souls of others.  When I was given gifts, I think they were mostly on the sewing, thinking , feeling side.  I got the gift of gab for sure and the online fabric buying skill...but...steely resolve, I missed that...I had better check in with my mother on that one...

Since the grans swooped off poor Liberty Lawn from the design wall, I decided to work on this instead.  This was an experiment which I did not like....I can see why now...I think I have lost my touch...

Keeping on....

Still working on my Liberty Lawn quilt from the stash Ann brought from London.  An enjoyable work in process.  At first I was looking for more lights, but now..I am thinking the darks are more comfy.

 Although summer is over, somehow I am still on the roller coaster.  Just when I am enjoying the view, there is a sharp turn which is, unfortunately, no longer a thrill.  It is a good thing that my daddy taught me to keep my seat belt on!!  And working at the airlines too!!  "While seated, please keep your seat belt on at all times in case of unexpected turbulence.." 

 Yup...I got it...

 In the long gone, weed filled garden, I found new life today.  I mean without rain and at the end of the season...look who keeps on...keeping on.....Eggplant and Sage.  Their persistence encourages me...

 The Hummingbird from my screened in porch in a tree that we almost cut down.

I was going to do something fancy with Liberty Lawn, but now I think simplicity is best.

More Good Stuff

Julianna...I had saved this quilt as it has been one of my favorites.  I think it was because it was for someone special.  Today, I give it to you...a lovely brand new 3 pound fighter...you go girl!!

 Two blocks for Quilts of Valor..easy and done.

 Passing it on, learning skills from Mr.O'Quilts.

 Nancy, Thank you so much for the almost 3 hour brunch this morning...for your support from your garden and your heart!!

Yesterday,I was a Tigger wannabee!!  Today is much brighter.

When Evan looked at his new pencil bag, he was pleased.  I told him that he could draw all over it himself if he wanted...He could draw boats, etc.  He pulled himself up..all 8 years of him...and said, Grandma, I am not a baby, I do not draw boats.  Well, then I said...what do you draw?   I draw puppies, cats and dinosaurs.  That's my boy!!  All grown up.

The Pencil Case

7:00..Bedtime for Evan.   Grandma, I need a pencil case for school tomorrow!!!  I really do... It is a bit late Evan, but I will try.  Because I keep everything...I found an old pair of his father's jeans with one of those big, over sized pockets.  I cut down the pocket.  I used the new polka dot elastic I just got from Tuesday Morning to zigzag shut the bottom.  I used fabric markers to put his name on, set it with the iron.

 I really love the colored Velcro..again from my trip to Tuesday Morning.  Now we will see in the morning if he likes it.  He might when he realizes that he too can draw all over it.  He is the kid who tells me to please be quiet on the morning drive to school, as he needs to draw!!!

 I was working on Guild Quilt of Valor blocks when I was interrupted by the pencil case crisis!!

The Good Stuff

I cleaned my dearly devoted sewing machine tonight.  She thanked me mucho by whipping along this pillowcase for Evan's bed.  I do not know why it took me so long to understand this tute...it is really amazing and sooo quick.   Pillowcases

 Since my sister took away the ancient sleeper sofa left over from my mother's place, I have been able to put in beds and entertain myself by fixing up the room.  The blue four patch is one of the quilts I made forever ago from my father's shirts.  Two grands down, one to go.

 This painting of Evan was gifted to us by our friend  Tatyana..when Evan was born.  I have put it above his bed with the photo she used in order to remind myself of those sweet days.

 

Mr O'Quilts and I went out to dinner tonight which was a very good thing.  My son and daughter-in-law came over for a bit and moved around some furniture...so a good day today...gotta celebrate the sunshine on a rainy day.