A Snowstorm Equals Progress

I have made good progress on my Hello Luscious Celtic version of  Bonnie Hunters Mystery QAL.  Very glad to see that there will be enough contrast in the fabrics and I can see the circular pattern developing.  This has been a fun QAL, even if I was sick and fell behind a bit :)  I made the green and red block segments at Christmastime and now, with all the red and pink...I can think Valentines!

We, along with a lot of the country, were hit squarely with lots of snow (around a foot) and very cold temps this last week.  I think the low was around negative 20 degrees F.  We have a half mile gravel drive and it was a struggle to get "out" this time around as the old plow truck decided it needed a new distributor...my poor long suffering hubby at one point had to use a walk behind snowblower to clear about a 1/4 mile of said driveway in order to get out to get parts for the truck.  Fun times...I haven't gotten as much sewing done during this fun weather diversion as I would have thought as I am still fighting the remnants of a rotten cold and my son has been out of school all week and has had other plans for me :)  We made a snow igloo, a snowman, and a snow dalek...all are in danger this weekend though as rain is predicted tonight and tomorrow.

Snow Dalek

Linking to http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2014/01/mystery-monday-link-up-part-6.html

Last Minute Christmas Sewing

 I decided to use today to play with a pattern I bought from Wendi at Shiny Happy World...you can find it here...

 She turned out pretty good, the pattern was easy to follow although with my newest cold my sewing has been slow going...

 Her tutu and wings are removable and sparkly...

I also have been plodding along on my hst's for Bonnie Hunters Mystery QAL...many more yet to go...

Hope you all are having a good day and finding time to sew...it's very foggy today...raining and our white Christmas hopes are melting away. 

Quilting Along in Between Getting Ready for Christmas

I am sorely behind on quilting projects but there has been an abundance of Christmas cookies flowing from my kitchen...so I'm going to give myself a pass :)

These are for the Quilty Fun QAL...find all info here...

And I am most of the way done with the geese...but..ummm...I'm supposed to be working on chevrons for the QAL this week!!

 The thing is, I started another QAL to use up a fat quarter bundle of Hello Luscious by Basic Grey that I have had for quite a while.  It told me it needed to be made into a quilt...NOW!  I won it from the wonderful Fat Quarter Shop during another QAL so it seemed fitting to use it for Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice QAL...the thing is...this seems to be fairly ambitious for a Christmastime QAL.  I am doing the small 75 x75 version (her large is a KING size!) and I have found it to take a day to cut and a day to piece for each week's installment which is a bit more than I have been able to shoehorn into my schedule.  Oh well, here is where I am right now...all pieces are cut for week one and week two...

 Funny enough, chevrons are this week for this QAL too and I have 10 of the 100 needed done...I like that these have a red and green Christmas theme though it wasn't on purpose.  I changed Bonnie's suggested colors from Orange to Pink and Yellow to Red because that was what I had in the bundle to work with...the other two colors are blue and green and I am using those as Bonnie suggested.

 And I have week one's triangles using the Tri Recs tool done...there are 188 of these...

Another clue (yes, this is a mystery quilt) will be out tomorrow so I may be officially behind on this QAL as of tomorrow unless I sew like a fiend :)  If you want to do this one, you can find the info at Bonnie Hunter's site here (look under Celtic Solstice).  It is only posted on her blog for a limited time, so be sure to print it out soon so as not to miss out.

On another note, I joined the DQS14 and this is my start...my partner's taste of colors and style are my inspiration but it seems to be universally popular within the swap group so I'm glad I picked well.  Hope to get this done soon after Christmas, it's due in January...it will probably be a 4 x 4 mini.

Having A Bit Of Quilty Fun

So I have been a crazy lucky girl this week...I joined the Quilty Fun SAL hosted by Lori Holt of Bee in My Bonnet and The Fat Quarter Shop...the link to the Flickr group is here.  The first block/section and probably my favorite in the whole quilt was the Apples

 You need both the pdf download and the book to get all the info for making these sections as this quilt along is making a Sampler Quilt which is a bonus quilt not included in the book. You can order the book here and the free pdf link with the additional necessary info is on Kerry's blogpost.

The Fat Quarter Shop is hosting great giveaways every Monday as we go through completing this sampler and your entry for each giveaway is posting your sections in the Flickr group.

I was lucky enough to win the first giveaway...I know, so lucky...Thank you, thankyou Fat Quarter Shop!!!  It was a Rolie Polie from Lori's Gracie Girl line and I was thrilled to find it in my mailbox yesterday...The Fat Quarter Shop has amazing quick shipping!!  I was really pretty stunned at how quick it came!

 This strip set contains  3 1/2 strips of the Gracie Girl collection...I was planning to use my Polka Dot Stitches fabric from Lori's earlier line for this Sampler and adding this Rolie Polie to the mix will give me lots of Lori Holt fabric goodness to choose from.

So late last night I got straight to work making my stars for this week...care to join us?  If you get your stars in the Flickr pool by Monday maybe you will be crowing about your win next ;)  Good Luck!!

So Let It Snow Already...I'm Gonna Quilt!

 I guess it's November so I shouldn't complain about an inch of snow...just play with triangles instead of rake the leaves, eh?

I think I like where this is headed...

A Little More Doctor, Please!

So I skipped to block 9 in the Doctor Who Along hosted and designed By Soma and Caroline...my, I am still many blocks behind...

 Meet a far from perfect but well-loved Cyberman...I skipped to this one because I am behind anyway and my son made this for Halloween...

 Yes, he carved the word UPGRADE into his jacko'lantern...

Also, somehow I was the lucky recipient of Soma's giveaway...well, let's say it like it is, lol...my son is the recipient...Soma even wrapped it fancy!

A Dalek keychain/LED flashlight and a River Song Tardis journal...fantastic!

These are my other Who Along blocks so far...

For the Boys Hop - My Day

Thanks to Amy and Mdm Samm as always for including me in another fun hop.  They are so good to keep offering up fun design prompts and keeping us organized and on the proper days!!  And the inspiration, ah, well...you all know what fun it is to see all the different projects on these hops...

So, onto mine...

First off, an apology...I had visions of 9 18" finished blocks in a finished quilt top...it.didn't.happen....I only have 4 blocks done and life got in the way...unfortunately.  I hope to show it soon but it's just not in the cards for today.

So, I have a fun project to show you instead that I think little boys would find to be fun to play with...if the way to a man's heart is his stomach...the way to a little boys may well be through pretend food!  You can find the pattern and directions here. 

 As you can see, I have a little bakery box to put this felt cherry pie in...

And the lattice crust adds an extra fancy touch.  I have made many of these for nieces and nephews and took to reducing the pattern down so that I could put them in mini metal tart pans purchased at the store.

P.S. this makes a fun pincushion too!

I hate to say anything because it looks like she's shut her business down from the search I did but this pie originally comes from this lovely business and below are a couple other things made with her patterns...I suppose you could still make them with your own inspiration as she has beautiful pics here....I wish I had bought more of her patterns while she was in business.  I've made boxes of this type of play food for nieces and nephews and it has always been a hit.  The boys especially like the pancakes, bacon, and fried eggs, I've found :)  Another special request I have had is Chicken Mcnuggets which I suggest if you make these to get a container from McD's to put them in as they look like something else otherwise....ummmm, nuff said!!

 Peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a slice of cake...

Peanut butter and jelly sandwich!

Thanks for letting me show an oldie but goodie from my past crafting!

And, please visit everyone else who is posting today...

November 7^th

Amy's Crafty Shenanigans

Ridge Top Quilts

Creatin' in the Sticks

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Meadowbrook

Malinis Quilts

Just Let Me Quilt

Kris Loves Fabric<---you are here