Merry Christmas - Gleðileg Jól

Merry Christmas, happy Yule everyone, everywhere.

Memory of MOM

In memory of my mom that passed this Sunday.

Anna Guðlaugsdóttir

22. December 1932 - 4. December 2011

 

Mamma, Amma, Langamma VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Mamma

Mamma thank you for who I am, thank you for all the things I'm not
Forgive me for the words unsaid for the times I forgot
Mamma remember all my life you showed me love, you sacrificed
Think of those young and early days how I've changed along the way

And I know you believed and I know you had dreams
And I'm sorry it took all this time to see
That I am where I am because of your truth
And I miss you, yeah I miss you

Mamma forgive the times you cried, forgive me for not making right
All of the storms I may have caused and I've been wrong dry your eyes
Cause I know you believed and I know you had dreams
And I'm sorry it took all this time to see
That I am where I am because of your truth

And I miss you, I miss you
Mamma I hope this makes you smile, I hope you're happy with my life
At peace with every choice I made how I've changed along the way
Cause I know you believed in all of my dreams
And I owe it all to you , mamma

by Andreas Romdhane

December is here

Well, well, well December is already here. It’s just a few days since it was February it seems. I can see I am running out of time to do all the the things I was going to do this year and haven’t finished. Well there is always next year.

The 3rd part of Orca Bay mystery is up so I can work on that in between everything else I need to finish. It’s simply not enough hours in the day.

Cat picture of the day:

Stringing along

Just finished my string blocks yestarday for the Orca Bay Mystery and they are so fun to make and cute. They are 3.5 inches. I used doodle paper from the dollar store to sew them on and it's so easy to take the paper of the back and they are perfect.

I finished sewing a couple of wine bags over the weekend, no pictures yet, going to give them away and cut out a extra special Christmas stockings for 3 cats and a dog. Ohh the things you do for your pets. Looking forward to sewing them when my back allows, sitting with a heat pad on it now and took some pain killers, hope that helps.

Sewing on

The first clue in the Orca Bay Mystery quilt came out the Friday before last and it was 224 hourglass units in 2.5 inches. That means cutting 4 x 224 triangles and sewing them together, oh my that is a lot of triangles. Well it wasn't so bad when I found out how to use the companion ruler and layer the fabric so it was easier to sew it afterwards. So all weekend and last week I sewed these little darlings and 2 Christmas stockings and 3 tea wallets. Yes I know I can't really just have one thing to sew at a time, can I.

Here they are so beautiful and finished

Still a mystery

I have finally decided on the fabric for my mystery quilt.

I will probably have to get more white but that´s ok, I love buying fabric who doesn´t. I signed up for 3 Christmas swaps and already sent 1 in Swap Bot and really looking forward to doing the other 2. They are the NYE in the  yahoo group Scratching Post and the Christmas Stocking swap. 
I went to the quilt show in Palm Beach last weeken and there where so many beautiful quilts there I finally got my mojo back. I was very frugal though and just bought a few things. 

Mystery Quilt

Ohhh the mystery is on. Bonnie at Quiltville has just posted the fabric suggestions. Who-ho can't wait to start sewing, but first to find the fabric.

Halloween

Ohh Happy Halloween. It's here already. 

Where did the summer go?

Well it's over and no hurricanes this year. No sewing either so I have a lot to catch up on. Lot of quilts to quilt and bind and maybe sew some new ones too.

Aunt Pitty Pats Swap

I have received the most beautiful things in a package. The sewing machine accessories swap from Betty Ann. I opened the box and I was just speechless it is so beautiful and so me. The beautiful colors and the cat theme oh I love it.

 

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I have sent my package to Laura Who is hoping for a new sewing room soon with flowers, in pink and soft colors. I tried to make her things in that theme.

 

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I hope she likes her things as much I love mine from Betty Ann.

Happy birthday to me, lol

Well I have been busy working on all kinds of sewing stuff for the various swaps and now I am trying to finish everything for the summer. My daughter will be here and I don´t want to have a million things to sew while she is here. It has been fun doing all these swaps and getting fun things in return, but I can feel I have to take a break now. I am just about finished with the big APP swap and hopefully will get that in the mail this week and then I can post a picture of it. I haven´t been good a taking pictures just sending things along, but the last thing I sent was this bag and it was really fun to make and I am surely going to make more of them.

                                                                                                                                                    

 

 

I had a lovely birthday today with a country club full of red hat ladies and it was really nice. We had good food and fun. I can see I have to make me another hat, mine is kind of boring compare to some of the awesome hats there today.                                                                                                                                 

The ”show must go on” or so to speak

Well now that the quilt show is over and my quilt is back home I am ready to do something new. By the way I love my quilt on my bed it´s awesome. And the cats love it too, lol  especially Bast. The ribbons are safely in my sewing room. I am definitely  going to enter more quilt into a show even though I will probably do a smaller quilt next time, lol, it was so cool to get the comments from the judge.

 

 

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Lots of things to do but……

Sewing binding on a quilt for a show and my fingers are like a pincushion, lol.  I have so many things to finish but this show quilt must be finished first and then I can maybe finish some of the quilts waiting to be quilted.

Happy Valentines

 

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Alda

Birdie

I finished the first block in Birdie block of the month. I used Garden song fabric as I have lots and love it. I matched the thread to the fabric and I think it came out nice. I am really looking forward to seeing the rest of the blocks and sewing them. I used my Go cutter to cut the strips and blocks and love how easy it is. I am glad I have it it is easier for the arms to rip 1 strip and let the Go cut it into 3 strips for me.
I also took a picture of my cup-a-Joe swap cups. We get 1 a week and I just love them and am looking forward to have 50 at the end of the year, how cool is that. I have not decided how I am going to put them in a quilt but I have 11 months to figure  that out, lol.

Weekend

I spent the weekend going through my embroidery disks. When I bought my Designer sewing machine I got a whole lot of embroidery designs with it. I had never done machine embroidery before that time and didn't know how. So I read all I could find on the net and copied lots of information on what to do, stabilizer and hooping.  Since then, it is about 6 years, I have not done any of the many embroideries I have and maybe I was a little afraid of trying it out. Anyway I have been seeing people making beautiful labels for their quilts on the embroidery machine so I decided it was about time I tried it out. So know I have the customizing program in my computer, that took a couple of hours just to get that up and running, it is old and has a dongle that had to be coached in working, and I even tried sewing a few designs and it wasn't that hard at all. From now on I am making my labels embroidered and maybe I will even do some more blocks.

I also worked on my butterfly quilt. It just needs a border and I can't decide on the fabric. I am going to put some buttons on the prairie points. It took a long time to decide what to do in between the butterflies but I think it came out great.

 

RRCB

 

Hurray for me, I finished my RRCB mystery quilt top. I already bought the backing fabric because I don´t want to piece the back as the quilt is really heavy. I bought a fatback on this website, http://www.christianlanequilters.com/widebackings.html  they have a lot of cool wide backing fabrics for a good prize.

I have been working on doing all the swaps I am participating in so they are ready to send out.

On the family side my oldest came home this weekend with lots of dirty clothes of course, lol. They are ready for him for Monday when he has to drive up to Gainesville again. It has been a little strange to be 3 at home now and I think it will be even stranger when my DH goes on his next work trip and we will be 2 at home.

Dutch Treat top

I just took a little step back from the RRCB mystery quilt. It was getting to much to handle, literally to big to hold. I need to iron the top to put on the border. Instead I have been working on my Dutch Treat top and as I didn't have any pattern just the picture it took probably a little longer to sew. I need to put a border on the top then I am ready to finish the RRCB.

I think it came out ok and I would have made it bigger but ran out of the background fabric and couldn't find it anywhere.

Progress

RRCB part 7-2

I made it. Finished clue 7-2 Thursday night just in time for the last clue and spent all day yesterday and this morning finishing the top so I could begin clue 8. This is a beautiful quilt but boy it has been a lot of sewing. I really look forward to seeing it when I have finished the border.

RRCB part 7

New year

UHUUUU it´s a new year.

We got the older son SOH safely to Gainesville UF this weekend. Oh I am going to miss having him around. AKH, my youngest will have to step in his older brothers shoes and help his mom holding up quilts and picking up needles and pins from the floor, lol. SOH´s quilt isn´t finished yet, just have to quilt it and bind and then he can have that to remind him of mom.

On another note I finished step 1 of clue 7 of the mystery quilt on Saturday. I am sad to have to cut down the strip blocks for step 2, they came out so beautiful, but that is next on the list to do. 

Part 7-1 of the RRCB mystery

The list of things to do is getting longer no matter how hard I work on everything on it. Why I wonder, maybe it´s because I am always putting new things on it, lol. I also sent 3 swap letters yesterday in the Scratchingpost  group, 1 weekly Joe and 2 birthday cupcakes. I am really excited to see my Joe´s when they begin to arrive. This group is a swap group from Sindy of Fat Cat Patterns. I also signed up for APP´s  next swap, I think I am addictive to swaps, they are so fun and it´s so cool to get a surprise in the mail, love it.