I am sewing and telling on paper piecing!

For this Friday's Sew and Tell, I'm posting a picture of a block.  Several of which I've finshed.  I timed these bad boys out and they take me 1 hour each. Do not assume that paper piecing means faster piecing. :)  The pattern called for 16 for a wall hanging and I've got those done but I have more than that to do for a king size bed.  I am posting this as a finish b/c I broke these out into mini-goals and I've met one.  The block is awesome, though, isn't it? I can't wait until I can show you them all together.

Oh, and a nod to last week, I did add a border. I was feeling "country-ish" given our new home is in farm country so instead of a dark brown border which could have made this top look a little more contemporary, I busted out some fabric from the stash and went more subdued and country to me.  My DD doesn't like it but I find it has some sort of appeal. It's not a normal style for me but as soon as I put the border on, I also knew that quilting this one would be simple straight lines and cross hatching.

There you have it. For more refined projects and finsihsed this week, hop over to AmyLouWho's Friday Sew & Tell with the linky to the right.

Cheers! Beck

Are you ready for some football?!

For this week's favorite Friday, pictures say more than words so here you go.  I'm looking forward to a great season! (Don't forget to check out others' favorite things by linking to Quilting in my Pyjamas blog through the button on the right.) 

My two boys playing last year.

My favorite college team. GEUAX TIGERS!!!

Cory Proctor of my favorite NFL team.... please God, let us do well this year. :)

CHEERS! Beck

Weird Wednesday

A nod to my blogging friends who have themed days, I'm adding "Weird Wednesday" to the theme list.  Write about any weird topic or experience you may not normally write about and do it today. Post a comment letting us know, if you did so we can go read. :)

My first Weird Wednesday post... Ghosts/Spirits/Poltergeists... whatever you want to call them. Do you believe they exist?

Well, I do. I've had too many unexplained things occur to allow me to think they do not exist. However, I know many don't believe this but I am not writing this to debate it.  Just to say that on my new property, there is a little cemetary we know of and there is reportedly another one somewhere which was a slave cemetary. I thought nothing more of this except that it was neat to have so much history so near to us for the kids and I to talk about (for instance, we know there is a confederate soldier in the marked cemetary).

That was, until one night out of the blue, I couldn't sleep and well into the night, I kept hearing footsteps.  Only, the footsteps were in the closet.  Huh?

So I listened, I knew no one was in that closet, kids were asleep, hubs was gone in TN but footsteps started and stopped. Then started again, like pacing. 

Do you know what I did? I fell asleep wondering what the hell that could be.  I heard the same thing the next several nights. Just when I was thinking it might be neat to scare the crap out of my SIL with this when she comes to visit, I am outside one day and see a couple birds fly off from the house.

The vicinity of the birds starting point was the side of the house where my bedroom and closet were. Now I must go see if there's a nest in there and figure out how their noise could be mistaken for footstep sounds.

Or, maybe I'll just stick to my original plan to freak my SIL because she's so easy to spook. :)

And that, is my Weird Wednesday post. 

Cheers! Beck

Sew and Tell Friday Finish

It's been a while since I've done one of AmyLouWho's Friday Sew and Tells (see the button on the side bar) but I'm in just under the wire at 9:48pm on Friday. I've finished a lap quilt top.

This started as a hand work only quilt. I measured, cut, and started sewing by hand but the summer went by (without a sewing machine) and I never got around to it.  When I had my machine back, I couldn't resist this quick top I envisioned.

However, now that I look at it, I see it needs something else.

No, not that. (My son, always trying to get on my blog. This time, by imitating what my dogs normally do, lay on the quilt while I'm taking a photo.)

Perhaps a border so I'll pop one on soon. Thicker on the long ends and thinner on the short ends.

I'm still counting this as a finish since it is finished to what I originally intended, though.  I need the "finish" in my pocket this weekend.

Cheers! Beck

Favorite Things Friday

Hello all... I have moved into our rental 2 weeks ago. I was unpacking, not allowing myself to sew until I had all boxes in the living room unpacked and not posting until I finished the living room AND my bedroom. 

I did it last weekend. I was ready to sew and post pictures of the top I whipped up but a variety of events only allowed me to get the rows done but not put the rows together. Another post, under the dogs category will explain why soon. 

Anyway, even though I wasn't able to bring some quilty goodness to in this post, I will be able to do so tomorrow. For today, I thought I'd share some of my NEW favorite things. You see, my friend Shay at Quilting in My Pyjamas has decided to do a Favorite Things Friday.  I've added her button to the sidebar so you can link directly there.)  She's been a good blog friend so I felt I owed her a plug.

Okay, not really on owing her a plug but I do think it's a good idea to reflect on the good things in your life so I will be participating in this little weekly fav fest.  Today's favorite things are new.  (I preface these by saying we are generally suburb people who now rent 47 acres in farm country.)

1) Walking out at 9pm, glancing at the sky and the word, "wow" slipping out of my mouth to see the blanket of stars and nothing else.
2) Dragging the kids out so they can see the same and hearing them exclaim their words of awesomeness at the site. Even better, going inside and the kids staying out well after to star gaze themselves.
3) Walking out in the morning to see a gaggle of turkey in the openning to the back pasture.
4) Walking out the next morning to see a family of deer walking in the side pasture.
5) Standing on the deck at any given point and hearing the ducks and geese in the neighbors pond.
6) Watching the kids go pet our friends' horses and just share space with them.
7) Enjoying the dogs enjoying the country.
8) Scense like these:

9) Creating and enjoying a new recipe Caramel Peach and Apple Pie (recipe coming soon) when an unknown neighbor drops off fresh peaches and tomatoes on move in day.

10) Learning to can with all the fresh veggies and fruits I'm going to buy from the stands on the sides of the road around here.

What are your favorite things today? 

Cheers! Beck