Tuesday, January 29, 2013

New To Me!

I love this idea! Especially since seeing a pillow in a sweet local shop that seemed to taunt me, asking: "When was the last time you did something for the first time?" OOOOOH! I thought that hurt, until I got home, talking about it and thinking about it...and now this linky party to show off just what I've done for the first time!!!!



Now, I know this isn't a pretty, but having been married to a carpenter lo these many years, I am proud that I have finally used a drill press! For the first time! I drilled all these holes! (They are for gymnastics equipment we build for a national supplier who happens to be local for us...any gymnasts out there?)

And I made these by foundation piecing...for the first time! New to me! It was fun...they aren't finished in this pic, but have since been finished!

The fabric is Sand Hill Plums, by Kansas Troubles... I won a big box of ends and strips a year or two ago :)

I hope to do something new, for the first time next month too!!!
Linking up with Celtic Thistles Stitches


Saturday, January 26, 2013

Saturday Something...


"You are blessed of the LORD which made heaven and earth!" Psalm 115:15


Friday, January 25, 2013

Husbands say the darndest things...

So I am enjoying aloud the chocolatey brown color of our desktop(behind this picture)

and my hubby absently says this, aloud: "The whole color thing is weird to me."
Splutter...Chuckle...splutter, again. What can you possibly mean by that?

His reply: "People agonize over just the right color, when they would more than likely be just as happy if they threw a dart at the color chart."

So I am envisioning a Modern Quilt Guild Challenge along these lines....take your color card and throw a few darts for your palette and see what you come up with!

And if you are wanting to paint the guest room, take your dart to Lowe's and you're all set!

Still laughing out loud! I do love 'im! The pathetic personal part for me is that it would probably work, and with so much less headache and second guessing! Now if only I could throw worth a darn!

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Saturday Something


Amazing Grace

"For if by the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift of grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many!" Romans 5:15

Friday, January 18, 2013

A Finish!

All right then!
They may be simple grocery totes, but they were on my list of sorts, and they are finished! There is too much of a story for what they are...but this fabric was a gift from a gal in Montana before we moved...she gave me yards and yards of it! I had forgotten all about it, and was happy to dig it out from the bottom of my fabric tote to make these!



These were based on this tutorial from The Life of Riley. I adjusted the size to accommodate a paper grocery bag. And they are unlined, the bag providing the "lining".

And a "first" for me...I am linking up with Finish It Up Friday at CrazyMomQuilts!

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Liebster Love!


Thank you, Miss Gina, for this Liebster nomination!
And Thank you, belatedly, to Elle, who nominated me during a time I was not blogging....although her Liebster looked alot different from this one!
"The Liebster Blog Award is an award given by bloggers to up and coming bloggers, most of whom have less than 200 followers (or have been blogging for less than 6 months). It is to show newer bloggers that they are appreciated, and to help spread the word about new blogs. It was created to promote appreciation and recognition among the blog world. Liebster translates to “dearest” (or favorite/best) in German. It is also known as the Love Blog Award."

Along with this award come a few rules:
1. You must post 11 random things about yourself.
2. Answer the 11 questions given by the nominator.
3. Create 11 new questions for those you nominate.
4. Choose 11 new blogs (less than 200 followers or blogging for less than 6 months) and link to them in your post.

First the 11 questions from Gina:
1. What is your favorite thing about blogging? I like to share pictures...with my family and with bloggy passersby, and I like to look at my pictures against a blue background(?!).

2. What is your biggest sewing accomplishment so far? My greatest sewing accomplishment, hands down, was finishing my Anniversary quilt!

It is hand pieced and hand quilted, and I started it shortly after learning there was such a thing as a quilt!
or what is something you have mastered that you once dreaded sewing?
Participating in Jeni's Block of the Month has helped me with one of my all time favorites, Half Square Triangles...I could be happy the rest of my quilting life with nothing but HSTs, really! I've never dreaded them!

3. Why did you start a blog? I've started 3 blogs, and all for different reasons. The first "Prairie Patchworks", was started to showcase my barn quilts. The second "Zimmermans West" was meant to relieve me from having to write separate emails to family with pictures of our life in Montana. A one-stop shop for family and friends. "Here We Are" is still taking shape, but mostly snippets of my sewing, such as it is, and whatever takes my fancy in the mean time. I also keep track of songs I like to hear over and over on my sidebars...I don't have an Ipod or MP3 or the like.

4. Do you currently work in the field you were trained or studied to be in? As a stay at home mom, I guess the answer is yes...My Mom was a great teacher!

5. What is your favorite month of the year and why? October. My birthday, my husband's birthday, hunting season, pumpkins, fall colors, and the baring of the woods, always welcome to me.

6. What is your favorite color/color combo? Orange is my favorite color. Blue/Green is hands down my favorite color combo.

7. What do you like about where you live? I love a farm, with plenty of outbuildings, fields and hardwoods, old lilac bushes and a yard to mow. I love the familiarity of the southern Indiana hills and hardwoods, and the Ohio River and it's history and communities.


8. How long have you been sewing and why did you learn to sew? I have been sewing since 1986. My Mother In Law invited me to a quilting class at "Margie's Country Store" here in Madison, IN. Prior to this class, I was literally unconscious of the existence of quilts, with zero ambitions to sew! Of course at 23 years old, I was still unconscious of lots of things;)

9. Have you lived in other places (cities or countries) than where you live now? Yes, lots! Both growing up and as a married person. Born in Kansas > Madison, WI > Bozeman, MT > Williamsburg, VA > 20 years in and around Madison, IN > Collins, MT > Winnett, MT, and now Vevay, IN.


10. What is the best thing to happen in your life so far? Oh gosh! Being born again into the Body of Christ! Second best...marrying and loving my husband for 27 years! Cliche, but sooooo true!



11. How long did it take you to write your Liebster post? Inquiring minds want to know!?! DAYS! Most of the time just think, think, thinking!




11 Random Things About Me

1. To me, popcorn is a staple, not a snack.

2. For 15 years I owned and loved a horse named Dobie. A 26th birthday present from my hubby.

3. I much prefer "sounds of the day" to "background noise".

4. It was a "life moment" when I realized I just don't like carrot cake, and I can stop trying to!

5. Of my 8 pair of shoes, 4 are boots! Hmmm...

6. I went to camp with Julia Roberts and her sister, Lisa! And the year I was a counselor, she was one of the girls in my cabin! I will try and dig up a picture!...found one!



7. I love my slipper socks!

8. Good times with my mother usually involve cappacino and Pepperidge Farms cookies!




9. My vehicle of preference is a Jeep Cherokee.

10. My favorite M&Ms are the orange ones. When in high school, there was a group of us girls who would divide up any bag of M&Ms by color...I still remember who got what color!

11. I'm left-handed, too!


Now for 11 questions for 11 other bloggers....
This will take a little more doing, because I don't get around that much.......seriously!

****pssst: If you would like to receive the illustrious Liebster Award, please email me...It is fun! First 11 get the award!

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Saturday Something


"He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us." Psalm 103:10-12

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Reminders

Reminders, rather than resolutions.
I would like to have these done by the end of May...as I've said before, a priority!

These may well be in order of importance, but that is accidental. My BOM. There are so many fun finishes and reveals in the In Color Order Flickr group. Check them out!

These sweethearts are getting married, and I simply must make them something! Haven't quite decided what, but I am narrowing it down...No date yet, but I suspect sometime in June.

Same old same old...it will be fun to finish this...it is still here!

Ditto for this one!

I've long admired Jewel Box quilts and would LOVE to use all my "old" fabrics in one! Wouldn't that be great?!


And if I can, and I WILL, get my hands on a layer cake of Honey Honey...this is what I will make from TraceyJayQuilts.

And while I am wish-listing...Color Me Retro will become this Flagged Quilt.

I would also like to make myself a couple of grocery bags..."just do it!"

I don't think I need any reminder for coasters...they are part of any plan for a while to come yet :) I may try my hand at some different styles....eventually :)

I also have a couple barn quilts in the works....
Immediate attention to this one. Different colors, to be sure:)

And probably Spring before we get an accurate compass reading (!) for something like this!

That should be more than enough to keep me busy for much of 2013...if the world as we know it holds together....eesh!



New Day, New Year

I have never been one to make resolutions for the New Year. I know how lousy I am at keepng track, and keeping them. I don't go about setting myself up for needless failure:) And so I was pleasantly surprised at the effectiveness of linking up with TraceyJay for 3 December Things. Which is not to say that I accomplished what I listed, but I did accomplish!

So, by way of a recap, here is what I had listed:
1. Prepare my "Awesome October" quilt for hand quilting.
I did not even look at this quilt top during December! I seem to operate under this delusion that I will indeed get to a Joann's for a larger selection of colors for the fleece than WalMart's.
2. Assemble one quilt top from my Great Grandmother's dresdens.
I assembled all five quilt tops!
I found that I was short on the sashing fabric, and will have to procure some facsimile to the original for 2 of the tops.
3. Assemble the Block of the Month top.
I have assembled the blocks and sashing. Again, I must get me to a fabric shop to buy borders and backing!

And in addition to those "three things", I made 3 sets of coasters! One set for my Dad, one for my sister, and one for my niece!


So, all in all, a wonderful December's sewing! Thank you Tracey!