The midnight creation

I took a nap today..a crazy luxury at 3pm.  Just crawled into bed with my Milito and slept till 5.  Well that was the end of my early to bed night.  Here I am cleaning my quilting room at midnight.  Since cleaning is not much fun, I hit on the idea of a small ironing stool.  Below is an old stool of my mothers.

I put the stool upside down on the Insule-brite, traced the circle and taped it to the stool.

 I found in my gifting drawer a potluck bowl cover which perfectly fit right over the Insule-brite.

 Just so clever at midnight!

 Back to the cleaning...just move everything into the office..ha ha..Monday is a while away:)

The frugal mister.....

When we moved to Charlotte from Miami 17 years ago, new warm clothes shopping was in order.  I found for my husband this flannel work shirt for $5 at a Dillard's sale.  For some reason, he really took to the shirt and wore it almost every time he worked in the yard.  It became a joke...I would say..."sure like your shirt".,.the same shirt all the time!!..This shirt lasted 17 years.  In November he brought it to me to repair with this rip down the back.  I just couldn't fix it. It was certainly the best $5 I ever spent.  I picked out a replacement for him from his closet and pondered the beloved shirt.

Here it resurfaces in his Christmas present...a mug rug for his tea:)

 A five dollar shirt for a million dollar man:)

Love is never late..Thank you Honey..xxoo

My girl is the best!!  I should say..".Oh, you shouldn't have done it!!"  That is what mothers say.  But, oh how this present made me happy today:)  Thank you Honey with all my heart!!!

 Homemade with love...a hexie tree:)

 And for Daddy, a calendar right from his hometown...!!! Perfect..

Thank you Thank you Thank you

xxoo  xxoo  xxoo  

Red,white and black animal quilt..born in the USA!

It is always nice to have a few quilts tucked away in the proverbial closet for the perfect gift.  I have always liked this quilt but there are few in America now who do not know the sex of the baby before it is born.  Today this quilt found its perfect home:)

The New Year's Day

Trying to relax today and start the New Year right when my dearest Mr.O'Quilts decided to take down the tree, etc. HE was taking down the tree so why did I get crabby??  And he was putting the ornaments right where I was putting the things I was doing.........Then he handed me the angels.  The big one was the angel on the tree for my first Christmas when I was a baby.  I mean a real baby!...not the baby I am now(:.  It was my reminder that someone thought I was an angel once upon a time...ha ha...It is going to be a good year after all:)

Goodbye 2011 and Hello Happy New Year

For you, maybe this saying is a bit trite, but for me, it says it all...Some green tea with local honey and a message I could wear on my forehead..my hope for me for the New Year.

 I decided that in saying goodbye to the old year, I should be saying goodbye to some old blocks. So after our foray out to our annual Mexican food New Year's dinner, I scrounged around for some UFO's.  It was not hard to find these, that is for sure.  All in pieces, several years old, were these Ohio Star blocks.  I hurried   to make them at least into recognizable blocks.  Delighted with myself, I counted them....19...Hello...is this my old year or what???

 So I decided to be creative and whipped up this 20th block..yup..this is me..new and old..

 I put them away and had more plans for myself this old evening.  I then took out some red blocks...when low and behold what do I see, but a red Ohio Star staring at me:)

 Old and new,my favorite way to work is like in Rayna's book.  I always thought I was making strips into "new" fabric...Rayna has coined the phrase, "therapy sewing" and that is the truth. Today I enjoyed this book in a spirt of "self care", sitting in the 60 degree weather on my cool and awesome deck.  Heaven!

Now, this New Year's post would not be complete without a review of the highlight of this past year... my mother's wake.  It was fun and scary and sad and joyous.  Visiting with family and friends and my mother...we had the best time.  And the joy of it all is that my mother "missed the train", in her words, and skipped the funeral.  Today when I visited, she was sitting in her wheelchair with her hair newly done, enjoying her 90 year old life.  The lesson I learned and learn again and again is that I am not God.  My mother learned it too....and I know that the doctor who gave her 48 hours to one week to live has also learned that lesson.  A liberating lesson if I do say so myself.  Happy New Year!

January cuddle quilt done

This donation quilt is such an easy scrap sew.  The original one on Moda Bake Shop was for one solid charm square sewn to half a layer cake.  I have an entire drawer of 3" strips that I routinely cut from scraps. I cut 6 inches from these and then added 3" squares of a random blue solid I had.  Then I chain sewed them together.

 Mollie always has to steal the show!

 I wanted to use a darker thread for the channel quilting here, but decided instead to use up a thread I had bought on sale.  I must learn that every time I buy a thread other than Aurefil, it is a mistake.  Look at this thread..says 50 count but it is thicker and look at the amount of thread on it...I mean, really...the size of the cardboard middle gives the illusion that there is more thread there than there is...ugh...See the inner cardboard I have marked with green marker..ugh again.

Merry Christmas

The cycle of life...and being positive...

My mother is sick again! Please tell me how modern medicine cannot cure C Diff.  This is the 4th bout of it she has had in two months.  The minute that the two week course of meds is over, bam...back it comes.  How long can a 90 year old last with this???  Grrr..I feel so helpless.  So, on this rainy day, I decided to get out my grandmother's 100 year old cast iron pot and make a pot roast.  The look and and smell has lifted my spirits as I feel the essence of my grandmother here and realize that my mother at 90 is becoming part of that cycle of life. My grandmother is here to help me now...a blessing today.

Needle books for Christmas...

From Rosey Corner Creations comes an awesome needle book tutorial.  It was fun and easy enough to make for my two quilting groups for Christmas...Lots of gluing...but fun and relaxing and adorable.

De-stressing....or sometimes called quilting....

All my holiday presents are done.  I had planned to do baking tonight, but stress is upon me again.  Much like age, stress creeps up.  Therefore I decided to make January's cuddle quilt...de-stressing....wish it was de-aging too:)

 Scrap busting..so relaxing until I realized that I had made a mistake on 10 blocks..watching sappy channel 23 movies.  I had not realized that a person could make a mistake on this kind of quilt.  I was wrong.  It is now undone and corrected and peace is here again.

I will bake between clients tomorrow.  Nice to have a home office.

Small gifts of love

A scissor holder for my birthday handmade from my friend Sherry.  I love the fabric.  I love the button.  I love the feeling.  Thank you Sherry!

 Block of the month for the Guild breast cancer donation quilts. Thank you Karen for giving us a choice this month.

 For Barbara who had surgery...a gift of love for cuddling! From the Heart quilt department at Guild.

Small gifts with great love.

The birthday bowls

My husband has been working in the garage on his lathe forever.  Every night after work he has been out there listening to his classical music and woodworking away.  He said that he was relaxing and creating which I certainly understand.  Today is my birthday.  This is what I found all wrapped nicely on the table when I got up.  From Poplar and Red Oak, my man made me this beautiful set of wooden bowls.  He said he had thought of Tiffany's but decided on bowls instead.  Much better...Thank you honey..you are the best.  I love my birthday bowls and I love my man:)

Happy Birthday Isabella

Isabella turns one soon.  Here is the dolly quilt that I made her.  Happy Birthday Isabella!

Pet food bags

I had no idea how popular these bags would be...They are really sturdy...Yesterday I took my poor old Milito for shots and had one for the vet for a Christmas present...Lordy, was he over the moon with it.  I can understand the vet...but...others?  Well, I do get attention when I go into Aldi's with these bags for carry out.

First, I take the bags outside, squirt dish washing soap inside and wash out with a brush.  I turn them upside down to dry.  Then I smooth them on the rotary cutter board and slice 2.5 inches twice for the handles.  I try to position the animal in a good spot.  Then proceed like any bag without lining, using a zigzag stitch most places for strength.  When finished, I usually wipe the bags again inside with the sanitizing wipes.  The bags that are lined with paper are not good for this project.