Merry Christmas Everyone!

I hope you all had a fabulous day! We went to my parents' home and came back yesterday. Since we had to come back the day of Christmas, mom chose to cook Christmas dinner the day before. This was great cause we had leftovers while we were there, but when we got home there was nothing for dinner. I picked up Chinese. I totally felt like Ralphie from A Christmas Story! We just needed a crazy relative to give my son a pink bunny costume!

Everyone was pleased with their haul and it was nice to see my family. We do have a couple of returns (hubby's George Foreman grill had a big crack in the top when we took it out of the box, and my pj's don't fit) but otherwise most everything went over well. There are some cards to spend, and my aunt who passed away recently left each of us a little money. I almost hated to take it cause I know my other aunts could use it but I also know there was no arguing about it. So now I will think of something cool to get with it that I wouldn't have bought myself otherwise.

So what did Santa get you for Christmas? I got a new rice cooker (my other one was disgusting because we used it so much), an ice cream maker attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer, some pj's, slippers, boots, and a cute set of measuring cups in the image of Matroykshka dolls. How cute are these?

I hope Santa was kind to you all and that your holidays are wonderful. I hope to get back in the sewing room tomorrow. I'm currently working on post Christmas laundry and taking down some Christmas decorations, then I'm off to pick up a black printer cartridge so I can print the return paperwork for the grill. Pretty sad when you don't even have enough ink in your printer to send something back!
Happy Holidays!

Off For the Holidays!

And we're off to my parents to spend Christmas. Hopefully when I get back I will be more than motivated to get back into my quilting. I'm doing my best to OD on crochet right now so that I'm sick of it and will want something different to do when I get back. My plan is to work diligently to finish my Carpenter Wheel quilt so I have something for my bed!
Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

I Want a Colonoscopy for Christmas!

Now, doesn't that just have a ring to it? And no, I'm not talking about me. I'm talking about hubby. We spent the whole morning at the hospital while he had a colonoscopy. His older brother had an appointment at 12:00. Lots of preventative testing being done since the brother who is my age had the big C diagnosis. I have to admit that I knew there would be a little humor with the measures taken prior to the procedure (I'll leave it to your imagination what they make you go through to clear everything out!), but I didn't know he would be quite so loopy coming out of the anesthesia. At first he couldn't put words together and only one of  his eyes was open. That part was a little scary cause I've never seen him like that. Then as his speech slowly got a little better he got downright silly! At one point he looked up at me and said, "My wife has a purse just like that." I thought he was kidding, but undoubtedly his vision was still blurry and he thought I was the nurse!  After he finally became coherent, he asked when the doctor was coming by. I told him he had already been by and he had actually talked to him (although his speech was hardly clear!). After a long morning, the doctor told us he did remove a tiny polyp but he wasn't worried; he has had similar polyps removed himself. It was sent to pathology to be safe. My brother in law should be finishing up his procedure as we speak so hopefully he got similar results!

No, I Have Not Disappeared...

Today was our last performance of Madeline's Christmas so one crazy aspect of my current life will now change! I am still in the crazy Christmas mode and still haven't finished my shopping! I have a few things coming in on Tuesday from Amazon, but they may not be the last. I have a few things I'm sewing/crocheting and hope to finish. I also just found out that my mother has the flu. Poor mom! All medicated up and feeling cruddy. Hopefully she'll be better and we can visit for Christmas. I plan on getting some sewing done tomorrow if I can possibly help it!

On a more somber note, I wanted to take a moment to send out my prayers to the families of the victims in Connecticut. I believe that the media has got to stop sensationalizing the killers in these situations or this is not going to stop. Our thoughts and prayers should be concentrated on those that were left behind, not on the person who tried to make a name for themselves by performing such a horrifying act of violence. I found myself in tears as I read the names and ages of the victims this evening. Those children were my son's age. I just can't fathom it, can't put my head around it at all. I just pray that those left behind find some comfort from all the love and thoughts that are sent their way during what can only be the most trying moment in the life a parent, a husband, a wife, a loved one.

Christmas Stress Countdown...

Are you finished with your shopping? Me? Uh, no. Not even close. I've got some things for my daughter but nothing for my son yet, and one thing for hubby. ARRGGGHHH! I don't like being this behind! I haven't even sent out Christmas cards yet! Every year I plan on doing the picture Christmas cards and it never pans out. The closest I've come is sticking a picture of the kids in with the cards. But the elves have still been busy.
Some acrobatics with a stuffed duck...

Hanging out with a snowman...Jingles is a little scared of heights.

They got in a bit of trouble for feeding the snake candy...one had to write lines while the other rubbed his tummy to make him feel better.

And today they were found in my kitchen yucking it up from some joke cards they brought with them.

Do you have an elf on the shelf at your house? Do they like jokes? (Need something to stretch things out?) Check out these great printable joke cards.
Gotta do some shopping today but hopefully will get some sewing done as well!

Sew Mama Said There Was a Winner...

Let's DO this thing! So the winner of the Nest panel is...

who is...

 KellyS said...

I follow you through your RSS feed. Thanks for the giveaway! Nest is one of my favorites!!

Congratulations to Kelly! I am emailing you this morning Kelly!
Thanks everyone for playing!

WiP Wedn..., What? It's Thursday?

(Don't forget to check out my last minute giveaway for the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day here!)

It has been VERY hectic around my household lately. The play I'm in (Madeline's Christmas) opens this weekend so it is tech week. That means I have practice almost every night this week (off today, thank goodness cause I'm EXHAUSTED!). I have actually gotten a bit of sewing done, though not nearly what I should have. So let's take a look at the week so far, shall we?
Block number 8 (?? I think) for Carpenter's Wheel...

I did a last minute revamp to my son's Diddy Kong Halloween costume to turn it into a costume for the organ grinder's monkey in the play...

the elves have been VERY busy...

and my daughter got to walk in the local Christmas parade Sunday as one of the Madeline girls for the theater because not all of the girls could be there. She had a blast. She has walked as a Girl Scout before and always enjoys giving out candy to the kids. She's actually giving some to her brother and my neighbor's daughter here.

When we got back to the theater, she was goofing around with one of the other costumes.

Does this mean she would be Madolph or Rudeline?

Giveaway Day... A Little Late but Jumping In!

Things have been so insane around here and I missed getting in on the beginning but I just thought I'd tag on at the end. How's that? What's being given away? Well, this panel:

It's Nest by Valori Wells. Here are closeups of the birds.

Sorry I cut the bottom off in the picture but I promise it's there. The panel is approximately 12"x 44". 

I will probably add a little something extra, I'm just trying to squeeze in under the deadline! Interested in winning?

1.  Just leave a comment below for a chance to win. Need some ideas? I do too. I have an 11 year old girl and a 6 year old boy....any Christmas ideas?
2. if you're a follower leave a second comment for another chance to win.

OOPS! Forgot to add, make sure you are not a NO-REPLY BLOGGER or I can't get in touch with you. If you are or think you are, make sure you leave your email address in the comment so I can reach you!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED.

This giveaway will close Friday evening, December 7th. I will draw a name and post it ASAP Saturday. We have two shows for Madeline's Christmas that day so don't freak out if you don't see it right away! I may just need a moment to calm down!

Good luck!

Elf Invasion

Well, it's that time again! The elves are back so I thought I'd let you in on their escapades. They actually came back a little early (hubby's hiding place was not that great!) but I didn't think to post those pictures. Yesterday they were found hanging out with some of the nutcrackers in my daughter's collection.

One appeared to be "carried away" by the Rat King...

while the other appeared to have accepted a piggy back ride from the drummer.
They had been hanging in the stairway garland the other day but my son sent them off with a letter to Santa so they stayed gone a few days.

WiP and Black Friday Happiness...

I have done some sewing but I've mostly done some crocheting. I tend to be a bit OCD and I have shifted back into crochet which quickly eats up my time, so I have to MAKE myself carve out time to sew. Of course, when you're not paying close attention things happen like this.

Something's really not looking right there on the sides. I'll be fixing that in a bit.
As far as the crocheting goes, some I can't show cause they're gifts but here are a few.

Ruffle scarf number 1...

ruffle scarf number 2 (love this yarn; hard to see but it has pink, brown, and orange in it and it's very soft!)...

and a basket weave scarf. I may add some fringe to this one.

Did you come across any cool deals for Black Friday? I hit my local LQS and picked up some Thomas Knauer Pear Tree and some Amy Butler Soul Blossoms for $5 a yard. I'm doing well for backing fabric right now.

Love that Pear Tree; it has a pretty sheen to the fabric. I also picked up some yarn and some Simply Color charm packs from Craftsy but those aren't here yet. Can't wait! As far as Christmas items go, I picked up a few things from Amazon only to get them here and realize I ordered the wrong thing on one of them. So that one will have to be exchanged for the correct thing (video game for the kids).

And how sweet is this? Kelly over at Live.Love.Create had a giveaway on different pins used for fabric. I didn't actually win the pack she was giving away but she dug around and found a few duplicate pens to give me and another follower.  Bloggy friends are great! Speaking of bloggy friends, I'm linking up!

Did You Do It? Did You Dare?

Did you brave the insanity of Black Friday? It was crazy out there people! I was completely happy and comfortable sitting here in my home in front of the computer doing my shopping, thank you very much! Caught a couple of deals on Amazon's lightning deals so I did okay. We went to my MIL's for Thanksgiving and I thought I would throw a picture out there of how she decorated her bedroom with my Bottled Rainbows quilt. I'm always interested to see how people use their quilts in real situations. I love how this looks at her house!

The kids decorated the tree and I did the house tonight so it has officially changed from Thanksgiving to the Christmas season! I have actually done some sewing as crocheting as well but I'll post that later.

Hope you're starting the season off right!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone...

And remember you are blessed...

WiP and a Winner!

And the winner of my Traveling Stash is...

Number 4, Ella from ThrowAWenchInTheWorks!!! Congrats to Ella! I have sent you an email to get your deets!

Now, as far as WiP goes....I've been doing a little crochet , working on completing my Mystery Mini Round Robin...

Working on my Quilt U Be Mine block for the month (only hints here!).

and I desperately need to hit the store for some Kona white to finish up my Carpenter's Wheel blocks. It's going to start getting cold down here and we desperately need a quilt for our bed. I had made the Bottled Rainbows for that but when I washed it, shrinkage was just enough that it was no longer wide enough for my bed. My MIL really wanted it anyway so it now resides on her bed. So we are now without any top bedding because I got rid of the old one when I put the Bottled Rainbows on it. Sigh.... oh, what it would be like to finish something!

The kids are out for the week so we hit the new skating rink yesterday as a source of fun. My daughter asked if I ever skated when I was her age. After I picked myself up off the floor from laughing I told her that I skated EVERY DAY. I had my own skates and my neighbor had a paved driveway he let my sister and I skate on all the time. When we went to the rink it was fabulous cause we had a huge area to skate in! But I want to know one thing: where were these things when we were learning to skate?

That PVC pipe is some fab stuff, is it not?

What am I thankful for this holiday season? That my family is safe and healthy (BIL is responding well to his chemo), and for friends like you who come visit me and inspire me not only craft better but to be a better person!
Linking up at Lee's!

Last Day for Traveling Stash!

Today is the last day to enter for my Traveling Stash giveaway so head over there and get your entries in now. I'll post the winner in the morning.

I actually have been getting a little bit done, though it hasn't been a lot of quilting. I have been whipping out some crochet items for gifts, so I can't really tell you what everything is yet.

I'll be sending a few things off in the mail soon. Hopefully I'll have a few more things to report in tomorrow's WiP as well! Stay tuned!

Modern Mini Mystery Round Robin Reveal!!!

Wow, that's a mouthful and almost a tongue twister! I'm so excited you're here and that I get to show you my Mystery Round Robin! I love how it turned out. This event started back in March and went til November. My piece did some traveling; of the participants in my group, one was from France, one from Australia, and the rest from the good ole' U.S. The fellow bloggers who participated in my group were Jane from Jane's Fabrics, Deonn from Quiltscapes, Wendy from Why-Knot-Quilt, Pippa from Pippa's Patch, Kylie from My Addiction to Quilting, Bea from Beaquilter, and the Mystery creator herself, Michele from Quilts From My Crayon Box.

Need a reminder of my original 6" block? Here is what it looked like to start with.

I'm not sure which way I would have gone with it if I had done it all myself, but I had no idea it would look like this with a little help from my friends!

I love it! I didn't have any of these colors so I'm not sure I would have come up with this combination, but that's funny because the combination is pulled right out of my original block! I messed around and took pictures late so the lighting could be better but I really love it. I've already started quilting it so there are a few pins in it as well.

From my list, it appears that the first border (the tape measures) were done by Jane, the brown with polka dots by Wendy, and the red/yellow blocks with the four patch corners was Bea.

The aqua with the red spool corners was done by Deonn, the mixed row by Michele, the orange by Kylie, and Pippa finished it off with the bird houses!

If you come by here very often you might remember my visit to one of our LQS's where they had encouraged their employees to clean out their own stashes and had a sidewalk sale with the results. I picked up this orange and red floral fabric without any real use for it, but when I saw my block I knew ex-ACTLy what I wanted to back it in. Having never done this type of thing, I also didn't realize that it would make sense to create a signature block for everyone to sign, so I decided to add them after the fact as applique. I just did basic rectangles this time.

I'm just doing basic straight line stitching that echos some of the rectangles and outlines some of the borders. I did add some FMQ to the original block so it looked like the sewing machine had a needle and thread on it. If I'd thought of it, I would have stitched the word 'Singer' across it but I may still be able to handstitch that later.I know the yellow is a little hard to see.

Overall I am very pleased with how it turned out and mine will definitely be a wall hanging.
Make sure you go check out everyone else on the list to see how their blocks turned out!

Melinda - Tilda's Twisted Life (that's me so you're one down!)

Deonn - Quiltscapes

Kylie - My Addiction to Quilting

Wendy - Why-Not-Kwilt

Bea - Beaquilter

Jane - Jane's Fabrics, though her reveal will be posted here on my blog

Pippa - Pippa's Patch

Madame Samm - Sew We Quilt (hasn't received her quilt back home yet, so stay tuned)

Annie - Annie's Musings

Diane - The Cheshire Quilter

Vicki - Sew On and Sew Forth

Lisa M- A Day In The Life of Raising Six Munchkins

Renae - revealing here on my blog

Kathy - New2Quilting

Charlotte - revealing here on my blog 

Celine - Espritpatch

Lisa C-revealing here on my blog

Edy - revealing here on my blog

Ella - Throw a Wrench in the Works

Rachel - Suz Made Me Do It

Samantha - Sami's Quilts & Crafts

Karen - K's Quilting Korner

Leslie - Les Quilts

Ann - Orange Crumpled Napkin

Sharon - Dancing Through Threads

Doris - Made By a Brunette

Margaret - (also hasn't received her block back yet, will be posted on QuiltsfromMyCrayonBox)

Tiffany - Pink Sweet Treats

Janet - Caribou Crossing Chronicles

Michele - Quilts From My Crayon Box

Tomorrow is the last day to enter my Traveling Stash giveaway so make sure to get your name in the hat!

It's Ba-a-ack!

Guess what's coming back on Dec. 3? Giveaway Day at Sew Mama Sew! Love it! Put it on your calendar and get some goodies ready if you're going to do a giveaway on your blog!

And speaking of giveaways, don't forget to enter my Traveling Stash Giveaway. Only a few more days left as it closes on Tuesday so get your entries in!

Stay tuned tomorrow for the Mystery Round Robin Reveal as well! I'm headed back into the sewing room to get a little more work done on it before tomorrow's reveal!

Hey You! You're a No Reply Blogger and You Don't Even Know It!

I get very upset about no reply bloggers. Primarily because a lot of them don't even realize it (my own soon to be sister in law was commenting on my blog and didn't realize she was one until I told her that I couldn't reply to her). And then these individuals enter contests and wonder why they're never picked. It's because we can't get in touch with you! I hate drawing a name for a giveaway and seeing the name is a no reply blogger. It means I have to draw again because there is no way to contact that winner! So far this time I've only caught two on my Traveling Stash giveaway (deadline is Tuesday if you want to play!) but I wanted to give you guys a heads up so you can do something about it. So here goes:

Crafty Chrissy

Cindy Sharp

You are both "no-reply bloggers"! Please check out one of the following instructional posts on how to change it. There are tons of them on the internet but I wanted to post links to a few so you'd have a direct route!

Anyone can decorate

Jenniffier's Sometimes Creative Life

Quilts from my Crayon Box

If you are using Google +, check here.

The Tattooed Teacher

Don't forget to check back Monday morning for the reveal post for my Mystery Round Robin!! I can't wait to share it with you all, and Michele will be hosting from her blog over at Quilts From My Crayon Box. She has a list of the participants and I will also have that list of links to all of these blogs so you can make sure to check out what everyone did and how their blocks ended up.

Look Out Foxy Loxy

If you're looking for my Traveling Stash giveaway, you can find it here. Come check it out! Deadline for entries is Tuesday, November 20th!

I was going to get some sewing done and post some more here but Little Man had different plans. Right after karate yesterday, he was complaining about his head and stomach. He ended up with a fever of 102 and got sick in the middle of the night as well. So guess who's staying home with me today? Hopefully the worst of it is over though!

Now, what is all this about Foxy Loxy? Well....
It seems that when society encroaches on the habitat of wild animals, wild animals sometimes don't pay heed to the boundaries. We have seen many a deer in our neighborhood (I've seen as many as 5 in our backyard at one time), and we've seen squirrels, rabbits, and chipmunks. You know, the usual crowd. But then there are those animals you don't usually see. Well, sometimes you might see some of them as roadkill (armadillos, raccoons, etc.) but we have started noticing a few "friends" in our neighborhood that we haven't seen before. Foxes. And I don't mean the cute kind like those that appear on Aneela Hoey's A Walk in the Woods.
These are real foxes and they have gotten really brave. They started out just being seen in the backyards around here but this is what I found when I came home today.

He was sitting in my driveway. And he really didn't offer to move until I almost ran over him. Oh joy. Now I have to be worried about more than my son getting hit by a car when he's outside playing...

You Too Can Win the Traveling Stash!

Today is the day! I won the Traveling Stash from Julie over at Distant Pickles, dug around and found what I wanted, and now it's your turn! Here's a view of all the goodies I found when I opened it up! Fabric and notions and goodies, oh my!

Now, what did I find when I went shopping in there? Well, let's just see, shall we?

I picked up 4 fat quarters (3 of which came from Julie...thanks, Julie!)... 

and a little four pack of Christmas fabrics. I already had some of that white fabric! 

And what did I put in to replace it? Well, I thought it needed some brightness since I took some away so I added some fat quarters...

and some more brightness including some Riley Blake Christmas fabric. 

And since I was feeling a bit Christmas-ey, I decided to go above and beyond and add more than I took out. I included a project book called Fresh Fabric Treats, and two more pieces of fabric.

I added a few more fat quarters and a book. So what do you have to do to win? Well, first you have to follow the rules.

Rules:

1. Be an active blogger. Post about receiving the box and the giveaway on your blog in a timely manner.

2. There's a note in the box that logs where the box has been. Please add your info and place the note back in the box.

3. There's a list of Rules and Guidelines in the box. Please read and follow these and return the list to the box.

4. You may take anything you like from the box. Just replace every item with comparable quilt shop quality items equal to the amount taken.

5. Ship the box to the next person in a reasonable amount of time.

6. Due to the amount of postage shipping is only within the USA.

Are you in? Want to play? Here's what you need to do:

1. Leave a comment on this post. What do you see in the pictures of the stash that you'd like to swipe for your very own?  Any ideas what you might do with it once you get it? I'd love to hear your ideas.

2. Followers, old and new, get a second entry. Just leave a separate comment telling me that you are.

3. For a third chance, blog, facebook or tweet about this giveaway, then leave a separate comment telling me that you have.

This giveaway is now closed

The giveaway ends at midnight EDT on Tuesday, November 20th . I will draw the winning number on Wednesday the 21st. It looks like we're home for Thanksgiving so I will try to get it to the post office by the weekend. If you are a no reply blogger, please be sure to leave an email address so that I can get in contact with you if you win.

Good luck!!!