Happy Halloween!

Just a short non-quilty post to say Happy Halloween!

My girl just received the sacrament of Confirmation this morning. Congratulations K!

My eldest son (12) decided he didn't want to dress up and trick-or-treat but wanted to decorate so he and my younger son (9) went at it with the fake spiderwebs.

We will be picking up 2 pumpkins to carve this aftenroon to add to the decorations.

My younger son wanted to be a quilt for Halloween. Isn't that a hoot! So, we used the quilt he made and the quillow I made as a tutorial a while back, pinned em together and voila! His costume is done. I didn't want a bar to make it look like a hanging quilt, he wanted to have it drape like a poncho. Here's what he'll be walking around in tonight. I love this kid!

A picture of the newest mug in my growing collection.

Finally, a photo of each the dogs who take up so much of my time these days.

Buddy (6yr old Cocker Spaniel)

Jo-Jo (21 mo. Viszla)

Sasha (19mo. Viszla/Lab)

Remember, have a happy and safe Halloween!

It's a love/hate affair

Yes, yes it is.

Bags, purses, totes... my nemesis (wait, would it be nemesies?).

I love the idea of being creative and having a tote/purse/bag for whatever mood I'm in. I love the unique designs I see and the endless possibilities one pattern can provide.

But I hate them. I hate them all and I'm not exaggerating. Pardon my french here, but bags suck. They do. Don't let anyone tell you differently, don't let all those bloggers out there who make em and post how easy they are fool you.

They LIE. It's not easy, there's no quickie you can put together... realize it now, if you want a cute bag for your mood, you will have to shell out the $ for one. And now I KNOW why all these folks say they are so easy and then charge $50 a pop for a bag... because they AREN'T easy. By the time I'm halfway through a bag (I've quit on a few) I'm ready to spend the $.

Do you feel me yet?

I say, Do you feel me yet?"

I thought a kit I purchased would be easier to do than the others I've flubbed and tried along the way (with only 1 success). I thought it would be good for my football fleece blankets and LOVED the idea it was almost completely done for me.

The pockets were sewn on, zipper sewn on, piping sewn on. All I had to do was sew the 2 lining pieces together, the two shell pieces together, then sew the interior, exterior and handles together.

That's all.

I hate bags. I hate bag instructions.

After too many hours reading the instructions, looking at the pictures, reading instructions, trying to sew the shell and interior together and failoing miserably, I tore it all out and called my friend.

She's started sewing bags, you see. She does a great job, too. She says they are easy. She thinks quilts are awful but bags, they are fun. So I called her. I mean, I've helped her with some sewing items here and there (ps, she's the friend who conned me into doing this for the school secretary) so she owed me, right?

Graciously, she said yes, and read the instructions, looked at pictures, read the instructions, tried a few things, read the instructions, pulled out instructions from her other bag projects, and figured it out. The instructions weren't incorrect, just not as precise as they should be. Our problem was I sewed the handles on wrong.

Rip-it, rip-it.

Here she is, my now known as, "Friend, Goddess of Bags." She sewed it almost all up and I was able to finish the other few sections.

I hate sewing bags but I do love my finished bag. so much so, that when another year passes, I may try again (probably with the same result!)

Thank you, Kim, my Friend, Goddess of Bags!

Here are the finished pictures.

I want this chair!

This chair is on sale in a little shop in Occoquan, VA for $500 and I want it. I'm 5'2" and it's the perfect height for me to be able to sit in and bind quilts. It's super fun to look at but, alas, it's $500.

A Halloween decoration break

A quick break from my current projects to whip up 4 placemats for Halloween decoration (which is about the only decoration I have going this year!)

These are double-sided so I can have all ghosts & trees showing or all skeletons showing.

One giant spiderweb became my quilting motif. Kids love them b/c they are fun so I'm pleased.

One week quilt marathon - Part 2

My second quilt of the week is my aunt's quilt. For her 70th birthday the family is surprising her this weekend. I won't be able to attend so I was determined to finish this quilt on time to get it to her.

It's a memory quilt but in a gentle way. "Memory light," if you will. I call it such because it's not full of memories, just random ones from family which can remind her of fun or silly times. There's not really one serious thing in there except her committment to service.

I was going to make it puzzle-like, with clues to the memories but I just wasn't feeling it, even after my friends at my OST Yahoo group and my family assisted. So, more straight pictures/print outs. I like it so no complaints.

I did a simple meandering but also threw in some feathering (a first!) for practice.

Finally, instead of a label, I wrote directly on the back of the quilt. I felt it was more in line with the fun theme on the front.

I hope she likes it!

One week quilt marathon - Part 1

I have been needing to get 2 quilts done for family members for a party on Sunday, Oct. 4th. Life interrupted again and before I knew it, it was Sat., Sept 26 and neither were started!

HOLY CRAP!

I quickly loaded the easy one onto the frame. This was a no sew kit I bought for my soon to be 4-yr old niece, Savannah. Otherwise known as "Bananas."

I promised her a monkey quilt for her birthday 2 months ago when I saw it and yes, she remembers these things! So here it is. A few hours after all the kids' football games to whip it up and bind it and one quilt down!




I'm finishing the next quilt for my Aunt today, quilting and binding and sending them both overnight to my sister for Sunday delivery. Pics of that one tomorrow.