A very Special Show and Tell to Share with Everyone!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas with Family and Friends.  

I thought I would share some pictures and the story of a quilt we made for a baby gift.  Gene's daughter Kathy wanted a special quilt for her best friends soon to be new baby boy.  She found out the theme in the nursery and we went to work.  We picked out the fabric, Gene picked out the embroidery designs and started doing the blocks.

Then as some of you know my dear sweet husband Gene had a very bad stroke on May 19th.  At that point all attention was on his recovery and spending many many hours at the hospital.  After getting him home I had to learn a lot of things on how to take care of him so we neither one would get hurt.  After working through everything and some melt downs, I finally decided it was time to get back to some sewing.  I rolled my sewing cabinet in the room with Gene's lift chair and set right beside him sewing.  I think it made him as happy as it did me.  He doesn't talk yet but he would let me know daily I needed to finish the quilt. 

Here is the quilt, and below are some pictures of some of the blocks.

The next picture is a  very surprised Mom and baby Cash when seeing the quilt for the first time.

Gene, Deidre and Cash

The reason this is a very special quilt is this was the last embroidery work Gene did before the stroke.  We don't know if he will be able to embroidery again but I am going to work with him.  Kathy and I can't talk about the quilt without crying our eyes out.  I have more quilts he did, one he did all of it from cutting out the fabric to piecing the blocks together and oh yes there is embroidery involved.  I am planning on sharing them with you at a later time. 

I have one last picture, Gene sporting his new hat he got for Christmas.  Santa thought he needed something to keep his head warm this winter.

That's our little Christmas story and my second blog under my belt.  

I hope everyone has a very Happy New Year!!

Judy & Gene





Blog Hop Giveaway Winner!

Good afternoon everyone!  I know I'm a little slow in announcing our winner and I apologize for that.  I'm still moving rather slow but it's great to be home.  I think I can actually say I don't have any leg pain!  What a great feeling since I've had continuous pain and numbness in my right leg since March!  I told my husband all I wanted for Christmas was a new back and I think I might have gotten my wish.

I'm so not ready for Christmas in one week!  How did that happen?  I haven't even really done any shopping.  Yikes...I think I might be in trouble.

Okay okay I know you're all dying to know who won.

Our lucky winner was...

MoeWest said...

I like you on FB.

December 9, 2011 12:54 PM 

Congratulations MoeWest!  I have notified you via email.  Please respond within 72 hours to claim your prize!  I wish I was smarter than my computer but I'm having trouble showing you all the random.org number generator that spit out lucky number 32.  I hate it when I'm not smarter than my electronics!

A big thank you to all who participated in the blog hop giveaway.  I hope all of our followers, new & old, will continue to check out what's going on around here.  I hope to be sewing again in the very near future.  I have too many ideas to be sitting here doing nothing.

Merry Christmas!
Vicki

P.S. Didn't my mom do a great job with her first blog?  I love her so much!  She's quite the lady!

An update on Vicki's Surgery!

Good evening to all, I'm Judy Vicki's Mom.  This is my first time blogging, I hope this goes well it could be my last! 

I thought I would let all of our friends and followers know everything went well this morning.  She is going  to spend the night in the hospital because things were far worse than they thought.  The doctor is sure he got it all cleaned up and everything looks very good now.  I have been speaking to her on the phone and texting her and she sounds much better than she did all week.  The one thing that makes all of us crazy is when our kids are sick or hurt and we can't make it better.  I feel much better after talking to her, even though I'm not sure she is going to remember all of the conversation. 

She is looking forward to getting back to her everyday pain free life.  Thank you for all of your well wishes, it is very much appreciated. 

Merry Christmas!
Judy

A very brief post of the eve of surgery!

Yes...that's right...I said surgery.  I'm scheduled for back surgery tomorrow morning.  I've been putting it off for months in hopes that steroid shots would help.  But unfortunately, they have not.  This week has been filled with trips to the ER for severe pain and I've finally realized it's time to just do the surgery and feel better.  It must have been meant to be because Tricare approved the surgery within minutes.  It normally takes 3 or 4 days to get approval so I'm very lucky it all worked out for me.  I'm rather nervous but I know life has to be better once I get fixed.  I haven't been able to sew for more than a week!  That's terrible!  I feel lost when I can't sew. 

This post is going to be short and sweet as I try to relax and get a little sleep before my early morning appointment at the hospital.  I have lots of fun stuff planned for next year and I hope you all will stick around and be patient with my recovery.  It should be fairly quick and I should be up and running in no time!

Oh, the giveaway items will still ship out but maybe not Monday.  I will be relying on my wonderful husband to make my post office trips.  Good luck to all who have entered!

Merry Christmas!
Vicki 

Blog Hop Giveaway!

It's a wonderful day around here because it's time for the Blog Hop Party Giveaway! 

This blog hop is to celebrate the 4th Anniversary of Quilting Gallery.  What a wonderful way to celebrate!  A big thank you to Michele for putting this together.  The Quilter's Blog Hop Party with Give-Aways list will be posted Saturday December 10th on Michele's blog!  There are 226 participating blogs from 20 countries so make sure you do a little exploring!  I know I will.

Are you ready to find out what we're giving away to one lucky winner???  I've put together a little bundle of quilting joy.

The lucky winner will get the following items:   

The prize package is valued at $32.00!

• Strip Tube Ruler
• Aurifil Thread ~ 1422 yard spool of 50 weight 100% cotton thread
• Frixion Pen {your choice of pink, purple or black}
• Fiskars Scissor Sharpener

You can click on the links above to learn a little bit more about each item.  The only one we have not demonstrated or blogged about is the scissor sharpener.  We just got these sharpeners in stock.

You must be follower of our blog to be eligible to win. 
 

~Here's how to enter~

Leave us a comment and tell us what your favorite notion is and why

(one entry)

Become a follower of our blog...make sure you leave us a 

comment so we know that you did

(one entry)

 

Find us on facebook and friend us...make sure you leave us a 

comment so we know that you did

(one entry) 

The giveaway ends on Saturday, December 17th at 11:59 PM (CST).

The winner will be randomly selected and announced on 

Sunday, December 18th.  The winner will be contacted by email.

Please make sure you leave a comment for each entry.  For example, if you friend us on facebook and follow our blog you should leave 2 separate comments.  If you already follow us on facebook or here on our blog...just comment that you currently follow.  Also, it is important that we know who you are.  If you leave an anonymous comment we won't have a way to notify you.

Good luck everyone! 

A Little Show & Tell

Good evening everyone!  I thought I would take a moment and share a very special quilt with all of you.  But before we get to that I want to remind everyone of the current giveaway we are sponsoring at World of Charity Stitching.  You could win a great Jelly Roll just in time for Christmas.  Check it out!

The quilt I want to share with you is a very special quilt I made for my mother in law last Christmas.  This quilt was made before my blogging days so I thought I would share it now. 

I wanted to come up with something special that I knew she would love.  Like any grandma she loves anything her grandchildren make.  I came up with the perfect idea that the whole family could work on together. I wanted all the grandkids to color blocks for the quilt.  Sort of like coloring book pages.  Each block is significant in one way or another.  For example, she loves Betty Boop so we did a couple Betty Boop blocks.  My son loves Spongebob so we did a Spongebob block.  Each grandchild is represented in the blocks.  Here's s a few close ups.

She loved her quilt.  I was very proud of how it turned out.  I used a wonderful zebra print fabric for the back because she loves animal print.  I also made sure the label included all of us and each block is labeled with who colored it.  

I know she will treasure this quilt for a long time!  

Here's a few pointers if you would like to make a quilt like this.  It's actually quite easy.

• I ironed freezer paper to the back of the white fabric to help stabilize it for the drawing and coloring.  It peels right off when you're ready to sew.
• We used a permanent pen {Sharpie} to draw the pictures on the fabric.
• We used Prang crayons to color the blocks.  You can heat set these crayons to protect the color.
• I cut the white fabric bigger than necessary.  Then I squared everything up before piecing.
• Each block is labeled with the name of the person who colored it.

This is such a great way to make a keepsake for a loved one. 

I hope you all enjoyed getting a look at one of my favorite quilts!

Don't forget we'll also be hosting a giveaway here starting Dec 9th!  I haven't decided what the prize will be...any ideas??

Vicki

One of my Favorite Things ~Aurifil Thread Plus a Giveaway!

Hello all!  What a day I've had.  I was on my way to Wichita Falls to see if I had finally found the solution to my broken down back and BAM...flat tire!  I had to call my hubby and very nicely ask him to come and rescue me.  Then off to the tire store I went.  Several hours later I was able to head back home.  Had to reschedule my back appointment for tomorrow.  It just wasn't in the cards today.

Let's move on to more fun topics...my favorite thread ever ~ Aurifil!  I just started using Aurifil about a year ago and I absolutely love it.  It's a 2 ply 100% cotton long staple mercerized Egyptian cotton.  Boy that's a mouthful.  
 

The 50 weight thread is perfect for piecing.  Aurifil comes in a multitude of colors and weights but I've only used the 50 weight.  And I'm addicted!  I'm not sure I will use anything else for piecing ever again.  This thread is fine enough that it doesn't take away from my scant 1/4" seam allowance.  I've never had it break on me while I was sewing.  Not even once.  And I have emptied three 1422 yard spools in the past couple of months.  I've been sewing A LOT!  

The thread is sold by the spool and also in collections.  All the beautiful mouth watering colors in the collections will have you drooling before you know it.  This thread would also be great for applique.  I've also recently discovered that they make the 40 weight in cones so I'm pretty sure I need to try it on Roscoe {my Gammill}.

If you haven't tried Aurifil you should.  I'm not going to lie...it's kind of expensive but I think it's worth it.  Like anything else in this world, you get what you pay for.  I would much rather pay a little bit more and not get frustrated with problems.

I do have a couple of Giveaway announcements.  First up, we are sponsoring a Giveaway over at World of Charity Stitching!  Make sure you check it out.  

Click on the above link and then go to the Giveaway tab at the top.  This is a great blog and they love to have giveaways!  Who doesn't love to win something especially now at Christmas time.

We're also participating in the Blog Hop Party that starts Dec 9 and runs through Dec 17.

This will definitely be a great way to enter lots of giveaways!  There are going to be tons of participating blogs.  You can also click on the link to register your blog if you would like to participate.  Don't miss out on all the fun!

Happy Sewing!
Vicki

Finally Getting Back to Work

It's been a crazy couple of weeks around here.  As some of you know I was sick over Thanksgiving and then managed to give it to my hubby.  By the grace of God our kids were spared.  I'm not sure how that happened but I'm super grateful they stayed healthy.  Needless to say, I really haven't done much lately.  I just didn't feel like it.  I'm finally ready to get busy again. 

I'm quite disappointed that I got sick because I was on a roll before Thanksgiving.  I was actually finishing projects!  Now I'm stressing out because Christmas is growing closer and closer and my list of things to do is getting longer and longer.  Man I hate it when that happens.  I promise myself every year I won't wait until the last minute to finish things.  And every year I'm scrambling at the last minute trying to get everything done.

My list of things to get done is quite ambitious.  I have 2 quilts that have to get done and I was hoping to finish 1 or 2 more.  I'm just not sure I can pull it off.  I guess only time will tell.

Next week we should be getting some really awesome pre-cuts from Moda.  Here's a sneak peek of what's on the way...

I really love all the colors in the Good Fortune collection! I think this layer cake will be loads of fun.   

Good Fortune by Kate Spain

Cherry blossoms are in full bloom as you take a leisurely stroll through this springtime water garden. Waterfalls of color energize your creative spirit as you meander along through raked sand gardens in the calming shade of bamboo trees. Discover the collection’s tranquil blossoms, dragonflies, lotus ponds, and geometric expressions of the harmony of nature. Good fortune and happiness await you!

Salt Air by Cosmo Cricket 

 

Make a big splash with Salt Air from Cosmo Cricket! This vintage beach line is filled with warm summer colors and sea-inspired patterns that are perfect for picnic quilts, sundresses and beach bags.

Ten Little Things by Jenn Ski 

 

Let’s count along with Ten Little Things, Jenn Ski’s debut collection by Moda. The main panel is made up of ten illustrations with numbers and pictures - great for a child’s quilt and will be featured in an adorable project for a softy book for kids to practice counting and writing their numbers. The coordinating prints feature complementary patterns inspired by the main design - numbers, owls, toy trucks and other objects of whimsy. Jenn’s designs are inspired by natural textures with a retro esthetic, and have a fun, playful quality that children of all ages will enjoy.

I have to say I just love the Ten Little Things collection!  I think it's rather hard to find collections for little boys.  This one is full of trucks and all things boy.  I can't wait to get it and make something for Jake. 

I'm very excited to get the Ten Little Things and Salt Air collections.  They aren't scheduled to be in stores until March 2012.  Keep an eye on our store for these great products. 

I think that's it for now.  I need to go cut more HSTs for the infamous Pepto Quilt.   I managed to sew all my strips together yesterday so all I need to do today is cut and press.  Then I can start piecing everything together!  I can't wait to get to that point.

Have a great weekend!

Vicki @ Quilting Lodge