All of our children were home for Thanksgiving for the first time since 2003--the six of us had a wonderful day with my in-laws, a sister-in-law, and two nieces also in attendance! After the dishes were done and put away I decided to start on some Christmas gifts for my older daughter's roommates.
Happy Thanksgiving!
I hope you all have a wonderful day! We will have eleven for our Thanksgiving dinner! Along with cooking and eating and cleaning, I'm going to try to find a few minutes to read some of my favorite quotes from William Bradford. I read a lot of his writings in college before I knew he was my direct
One Button
Yesterday I made my first fabric-covered button. I tried to show several members of the family; they were mildly impressed. I, on the other hand, was thrilled--I immediately wanted to keep covering more buttons with fun fabrics! Such a simple little process...but what great results! I'm definitely
Little Bits of Time
First things first...the giveaway results! For my last giveaway I had my daughter choose a random number; this time I decided to use the "random number generator!" So....congratulations to....Jacquie of Tallgrass Prairie Studio! Jacquie, please e-mail me your snail-mail address, and I'll send the
A Little Bit of This and That
First, I have to say "Thank You!" I have absolutely loved reading every comment and all of the lovely ideas you have shared with me for preserving my little vintage finds! I also need to send a giant "Thank You" along to Jodi at Simply This That and the Other for featuring me on her blog yesterday.
A Little Vintage
Yesterday Stephanie posted about some wonderful wooden spools she was able to buy from an antique mall. I went looking for wooden spools of my own since I have some of my great-grandmother's sewing things and also my husband's grandmother's sewing box. In my husband's grandmother's sewing box
Pomegranates!
Yesterday I had to interrupt my "regularly scheduled quilting"--but for a VERY good reason! A dear friend dropped by with nearly a gallon of pomegranate juice...just for me! Growing up in southern Nevada, I was no stranger to pomegranates (pomegranates, as defined by Websters, are "a thick-skinned
“My Heart Leaps Up”
One of my favorite poets is William Wordsworth. The first phrase in his poem "The Rainbow" describes my feeling each day as I enter my little sewing room--"my heart leaps up!" It is the perfect description of how I feel when I'm able to sew, even for a little bit. This weekend was busy, so I only
More Cabins and More Christmas
I had a lot of fun working on the log cabin quilt I shared in my last post; while making that quilt, I discovered that the log cabin really is one of my favorite blocks. Of course I love the intricate designs of some of the more difficult quilt blocks, but I find that I really do have a fondness for
Cabins, Cottages, and Christmas
Last week I showed you some strips ready to be sewn. This was a project that wasn't on my list, but when a great opportunity comes--you don't pass it up! A friend arranged for a fantastic teacher to come to our little town and teach a class on super fast log cabin piecing--of course I signed up.
Wonderful Blessings Come in Small Packages!
Friday I arrived at the post office just before closing--and just in time to receive a package. I knew my Stitcher's Angel package would be arriving soon, and so I had been checking the mail every day! A lovely parcel arrived from Maya in The Netherlands. Little did I know what was tucked inside!
Shop Hop!
Today I went with Dawn and Gail (no blog) to the annual Las Vegas Shop Hop (Gail was our driver for the day...Thanks Gail)! We had a great time. First stop was at Fiddlesticks in Boulder City, Nevada. Fiddlesticks is located in Old Town Boulder City where there are many quaint and wonderful
Just a Few More…
Here are a few more Christmas quilts and "quilty" things. I love the patchwork stocking--it's just the perfect size for decorating. My little "Joy" hanging always hangs from the knob of a curio cabinet. And here is a Christmas table runner from a couple of years ago. This log cabin Christmas table
Here They Come!
Wow, thank you for the positive response on Christmas quilts...I was really hoping it wasn't too early. And I have to confess that I have a slight problem with Christmas quilts...I can't resist making them. I think I'll be able to post 6-10 a week from now until Christmas! At least I'll be able
Tuesday Thoughts
This is what I wore to school on election day 1972! I brought it down from the attic this morning and carefully ironed it using my "Best Press" cherry blossom starch; what a lot of memories it brought back. I've never been able to give this away--I remember wearing a ruffly white blouse under this
One Relaxing Weekend
I finally put the border on my quilt, "A Quilter's Journey" designed by Leanne Beasley. I'm not sure why it took me so long--I actually finished this quilt at the end of May. I'm still trying to decide whether or not to hand quilt this one; it's not a really big quilt, so I just might tackle the
It Just Wasn’t My Day
Yesterday I headed into the sewing room with plans to make several table runners. I've been going over my lists, and while I think I'm making lots of progress on the Christmas gifts, I thought it wouldn't hurt to make a few more runners--just in case. I imagined easily being able to make three or
Playing With Fabric and Give-aways Won!
The other day I gathered some of my Christmas stash and started to play! I've been wanting to start on a Christmas wall-hanging called "A Christmas Story" by Anni Downs. You can see part of the "Christmas Story" quilt on the header of her blog. It's always fun to have a Christmas project to work
Unfinished Projects No More!
On Saturday I had a plan: DH was going to be at work, younger daughter was taking the ACT, younger son was on a twenty-five mile bike ride through the Valley of Fire...I was going to start some new projects and sew, sew, sew! One look at my sewing room, though, and I knew I had to clean first.
My Own Place
I finished the little bag I was working on the other day...and I absolutely love it! It is the perfect size--not too big, but big enough for all the essentials. Best of all, I made this bag with scraps from my stash...some of them were pretty small, too! I even had the cute buttons in my button box;
Happy Birthday!
Today was my older daughter's birthday! She was nearly 5 weeks pre-mature and had to stay in the neo-natal unit for ten days (I had to go home without her). Thankfully, she was able to completely recover from the pneumonia she had at birth...and now she is a talented, bright amazing young adult.
There’s Always More to Do!
Here is what I did with my Amy Butler "Daisy Chain" charm pack. I wanted to use a simple setting so as to be able to see every individual print... I love this fabric! It's retro and modern at the same time...the cool colors remind me of the ocean and sea glass...and I also love daisies. The white
Hello, My Name Is Sherri…
Hello, my name is Sherri. You already know that I make a lot of these baskets and these cottages. But today I realized that I truly have an addiction--I am addicted to making Heather Mulder Peterson's "Crossroads Table Runners" from the book Charmed and Dangerous. Above is one made from the line
Football? And a few quilts, of course!
This post had an interesting beginning...my younger daughter has had fun good-naturedly teasing me about my blogging since July. I started to realize, though, that she secretly wanted to appear on my blog! It's her senior year, and she was very much looking forward to the annual powder puff football
Once More…
I know I posted pictures of this quilt while I was working on it...but I have to post once more about this. Yesterday I got the quilt back from my amazingly talented long-arm quilter. She is a true artist, and she always finds a way to compensate for any of my flaws in workmanship or design to make
I “heart” Sewing!
This weekend I got caught up on a lot of works in progress and things I had been wanting to do. For one thing, I made my first pincushion! I used this pattern from Heather Bailey, and since I was using Heather's pattern I also decided to use her fabric (Pop Garden and Bijoux). I had a bit of ribbon
A Few More Finishes and a Give-Away!
Last week I made a "Crossroads table runner" from the book Charmed and Dangerous by Heather Mulder Peterson. It went together like a dream, so this morning I made another one using some fall charm squares. I think I will be making a couple more of these as well! My Christmas cottages for the
The “To-Do” List is Getting Shorter (Maybe)
I spent a little time yesterday working on my blocks for the Christmas Cottage block exchange. (Thank you Nanette and Terri)! I have eight completed now in three different styles...just four more to go. They actually work up very quickly as I mentioned before, and they really are a lot of fun. It's
More Progress…
Last week I finally spent a couple of hours cleaning and organizing my sewing room...it's amazing how much that motivated me to get some things done! First, I finished the above table runner out of a "Harvest Home" charm pack by Moda. The pattern is Heather Mulder Peterson's "Crossroads Table
A Few Finishes
I love starting new projects--the planning, the creating, even the cutting--but there is nothing that compares to finishing a project! Yesterday was a finishing kind of day. First, I completed two more of those little baskets; I used some of my fall scraps and a few squares out of a charm pack I had
The Best Laid Plans…
Yesterday was Monday...and I had some plans...there was nothing on the calendar...DH had work and younger daughter and younger son had school. My plans were to do a LITTLE housework and then get some sewing done. I didn't just want to sew--I wanted to FINISH something! The day started out
Some stitchery…and Sunbonnet Sue!
I've caught up with my Noah's Ark stitcheries...here are the seven of them (I already showed you my first four about a month ago...but they look so cute all together)! Thanks for the free patterns, Lynette!Today I also wanted to chat a little bit about Sunbonnet Sue. My grandmother loves Sunbonnet
Blog Goodness
Three months ago I would never have known the term "blog goodness," but it is a phrase I love now! I also like the phrase "I heart..." Anyway, today was a "blog goodness" kind of day! Today I went to the post office, and this is what was waiting for me...I won a give-away from Anna last week. Anna
A Few of My Favorite Things
Fall quilts are some of my favorites--perhaps because I can use the beautiful ranges of oranges, greens, browns, and golds found in the beauty of nature (or maybe just because when I get them out each year I know cooler weather is coming). I had fun making this pumpkin quilt last fall but didn't get
I’ve Been Thinking…
I've been thinking about what a wonderful sight it is on holidays when the flags are flying in our neighborhood. Today is Labor Day, a day that reminds us fall is right around the corner here in southern Nevada. As a child, I always started school the day after Labor Day--and starting school was
First Day of School
Yesterday was the first day of school for my two youngest. I always love the start of a new school year--it seems like such a good time to get organized and set new goals...and it means the start of my favorite season, FALL, is near. I spent the day recovering from all of that driving last week, and
Back Home…
This will just be a quick post--I'm happy to be home after about 18 hours of driving in four days! I'm glad I went--I didn't get to spend much time helping my daughter get settled at school last year; this year I enjoyed helping her move in, walking around campus, looking around the town and
Almost Fall…
Okay, so this is NOT how my cutting table typically looks. What has been going on??? Well, my two college students are home and are both getting ready to go back to school (both moving into new places as well). Along with all of this, I have been watching the Olympics until the wee hours of the
Rain…and Quilting Stuff too!
I just had to take this picture from my front porch the other night (Wednesday August 6th to be exact). I love rain, and since we rarely get any it seemed like taking a picture of it would prove to me that it really did happen. I was so excited for the rain that I didn't even mind losing power for
Great Day!
I got this quilt back from my quilter today...I had just stopped into her shop to pick up some thread, and she had it ready for me. As soon as I got home I got the binding sewn on by machine; I hope to do the handwork and have it on the wall by tomorrow! This quilt is a Teri Christopherson pattern