Sunny Monday.....

and not too cold outside. It almost feels like we have a thin slice of Indian Summer. It's a season in the midwest, that falls after the first hard frost, and before the big freeze up. Usually it's warmer than this year, and usually it hits in early October. But hey, we'll take it whenever we get it and be happy it came *VBS* I haven't sewn, quilted or bound for over 2 weeks now, so I'll show you some of my "finds". These are part of my loot from the birthday shopping trip with Betsy. Only the yellow has been washed. I'm doing wash today, and I realize I hadn't done a pic of the new fabrics...so here are a couple. The yellow will probably be a background for a childs quilt. The dragons are for another dragon pillow case, the strips are for binding(only got a half yard) and the candy?? well...just because I like it *G*
 With these, the darker polka dot will be lattice and/or borders. The middle blue is part of the Happy Train line, and will be borders and binding. The small piece of blue is a 'just because I like it' piece, a quarter yd I think.
 And here's one of my treasures from last weeks thrifting with friends. I really like this guy...he's so happy. No wet mittons at my house anymore, but that's ok, I'll hang something else on the pegs.
 And this is my big find, the American girl doll, in good shape with a nice dress for just over $30-/ She is one of the earlier AG dolls, named Kirsten, from the Revolutionary War period. I have a couple more, purchased on Ebay, and one new on in the box. I bought them before I even had granddaughters...how about that??

Always room for one more...

I'm a firm believer in that. A comment was left by Colleen, formerly of South Africa, yesterday...regarding the Challenge.Did she still have time to join and try to finish up some UFOs before we roll into 2010??? Of course she can join us *VBS* No limitations here...go for what you think you can accomplish and you may surprise and surpass yourself before it's over!! Welcome aboard Colleen ! And also to Stephanie D. who finalized her challenge amount last week! You can do it...we all can *VBS* Happy stitching! And if you have a moment pop in and see what our challengers are up to. Just last Friday Purple Pam met a goal who wasn't sure she could make...but she did, and I'm just thrilled for her!!

Finished, finished, and more to come...

These are Ann-Maree's finishes. She joined us in the New Years Eve UFO Countdown Challenge, despite not having a blog. Which is always fine with me, *VBS*  I promised to post her finishes and I received these yesterday.
 I think she's doing just grand at finishing up UFO's! Way to go Ann-Maree, keep up the good work.

Just Booooo-tiful *VBS*

A day and night for spooky happenings...all in good fun, nothing evil or truly scary please! If you have a black cat handy, you're all set. If not, here's one for you *VBS*
 A costume is good,and little spooks from days gone by were witches, goblins, scarecrows and ghosts and much, much more. You were only limited by your imagionation and your budget.
 If happy haunting was to your liking, there were lots of characters to imitate...Mother Goose is a happy choice. As for me?? Well, I've managed to procure an invisiblity cloak much like Harry Potters. I can hand out treats without being seen!
 On the sewing and finishing from, not alot to report. No new finishes, still haven't found the vanishing red fabric. Maybe it's under my invisiblity cloak? I did begin a new project with a scrap bag of Moda cut-a-ways that friend Julie sent me. I saw this idea over at Mary's Making Scrap Quilts from Stash. It's perfect for 2.5" strips. I have nearly all the blocks made and found a nice red for a border. Happy Halloween to All *VBS*
Oh yes, a **Post A Note** When Janet reported her finish yesterday, she mentioned that it might not be at her Quilting with Janet addy. If not, try looking here.

Life in the slow lane....

guess that's not news to anyone who knows me *VBS* I've always been 'about' the road less traveled. Breaking a trail to where I happen to be wandering. At times I find myself thinking about a life of discipline, but my natural instincts seem to take over an move in a different direction. Serendipity isn't always the easiest Master. Here's that old tutorial table runner. I was so happy to be finishing it up. And I had such a good start. Backing made, runner quilted,but I've managed to mis-place the dark red fabric I used, and of course nothing else pleases me. So the search continues, and the binding is on "hold" until I find it. Darn! And I was doing so well on 'finishes'.
 Here another UFO you've seen before. I have no less than 4 completed strippy quilts that need a backing made and machine quilting before I can bind them. And don't tell anyone, but there are 2 more in the nearly finished stage. One from plaid flannels and one that is a Cowboy Strippy. I'm shameless, I know...bad Finn!
 This is the one that should have been being worked on this past 2 weeks, but I'm busy looking for the dark red to make binding...bah humbug on me! This ones backing is made, and with straight line quilting, it will be ready for binding fast! Once I get to it, that is *VBG*
 

Now along with our gloomy rainy, snowy weather...you'd think I'd be depressed...but not too much to show some Happy Halloween spirit! Hugs for all *VBS*

And the Oscar goes to.......

the best looking, almost ONE year old in town! Remember Baby L's first birthday??
 And you can see he takes his job of keeping Mommy happy very seriously....and is very, very good at that job. Now he has a new job....
 spreading the latest news to the whole family *VBS* What a lucky Granny I am!

Tuesday's Tally....

yes, the days are getting shorter. That doesn't necessarily change the amount of time we have to sew, quilt and bind...but it's good to pause for a tally of how we are coming on our New Years Eve UFO Challenge. You gals are doing super well! We began on September 18th, and as of Oct. 20th we have managed to finish 39 of aging UFOs!! I think that is marvelous since each finish is a victory we couldn't quite manage to meet before. There certainly is strength in numbers!! So stitch on brave challengers...stitch on. And if you find a few minutes pop in and see what the gals are up to. I'm nearly the finish on my project #3. I had hoped to have it done last week,but....well, you know how that story goes..*VBS*

Potluck today.....

abit of this and a dash of that *VBS* And as promised, birthday loot! These are the 8 FQs from DD#1. A really nice assortment. The kittens are just darling. A couple of autumn tone pieces, some dots and spots and even on Christmas fabric. She really loves fabric shopping, and there is a quilt shop in Forest Lake, MN. That's the city in which she works. You did great babe!
 And my lovely surprise gift from my friend Julie, of Julie Quilts. I absolutely LOVE the autumn quilt and will enjoy the magazine. Thank you so much Julie, you touch my heart in so many ways *VBS*
 My second finish for the UFO Challenge. I've put off binding this little quilt from Prairie Children book. Not sure why, guess I just couldn't make up my mind. It's a small victory, but a "win" none the less. In the UFO Challenge department we are doing very well. We've finished week 2 of the challenge, and 12 projects have been finished. We've had a couple of new gals join us this past week. If you get a chance, pop over and say "hi" to Kathleen and Janet. Or any and all gals on the list...we love your support in reaching our goal. My friend Carol, of Scraps and Pieces of Our Lives, is leading the pack with 6 donations quilts bound and finished and going out the door tomorrow!! Way to go Carol *VBS*!!! Come on Michele...she's set the pace in reaching the goal of 19 finishes!
 And last, but not least, welcome to my corner of WI today *VBS* If you've forgotten last winter, Mother Nature is here to remind you. It's a huge storm, reaching back all the way to the Rockies and as far south as Nebraska. Hope you don't get it too Amelia!
They say it should be 2-4 inches before it ends. And we've had the temps in the low 30s and high 20s to go with it! Time to dig out the soup kettle I think.

Birthday + 1 ...

Yup, it's that time of year again. Geese flying south, dry corn stalks rustling in the fields,the coming of the pumpkins...and my birthday. To this picture, taken October 1940, you can add 69 years. It hardly seems possible to me that this is a reality. I must have taken a wrong turn or missed an exit...I can be HERE already, can I?
 But yes, I can, and I am and it seems to be o.k. this year. The day was a very nice one. Calls from good friends and family, a lovely surprise gift in the mail *VBS*, DD#1 arriving after work and with our supper. New fabric to share tomorrow, etc. It was a good day.
 My youngest son finally has court order visitation with his daughter, Baby A. Born on Feb. 10th, he's seen very little of her over the months. These are only pictures I have of her, taken back in March. She's 8 months old now, and sitting up. He got to spend 3 hours with her on Saturday, and it went well. Until she's used to him, he will be seeing her in her mom's apartment. Not the best situation, but apparently they manage to make it work, at least the first time. After a few months, he will be able to have her at his house every other weekend. At least that is what the court has ordered.
 And so the day ended, as each day must surrender to the coming darkness. Twilight lingered, the birds did their nightly chatter. Planning the migration, no doubt. The days are ending so much earlier it seems, and that accompanies the season. Another day, another birthday, another year. How lucky I am to be able to say, "God's in His heaven and all's right with the world". At least I can be sure of the first part *VBS*.

Drip,drip,drip.....

yet another rainy day in the Valley. Not exactly what one hopes for in October. And the weather guy is making it sound like this will be an all week rain. That plus temps in the 50's, well...a good day to sew or bake cookies I say! I've been trying to decide what my next UFO to finish will be.
 Back in Dec. of 2007, I posted a super simple utility table runner. It's made from very little fabric, and works up quickly. I've made alot of them over the 14 yesrs I had the directions. This one happens to be 14 yrs old. It only comes out at christmas to use under something or another. You can find the directions and pictures on my sidebar, down under labels. It will say A tutorial for a simple utility table runner.
 This is the one I started along with the directions, so I could take you through it step by step.
 By Dec. 7th, I had it to this stage. Square vs. rectangle(which is easy to do) and then I just "quit" with it. Its one of my bad habits. I'm not proud of it, but I do acknowledge that I have a tendency to "set things aside" at a certain point and have difficulty getting back to them. Well, it's high time I did!! I had made quite abit more of the stratas than I needed. So I decided to enlarge this square to become a runner for my coffee table. I made 12 more of the sub-sets you see in the middle picture and added them to the ends in the correct order *VBS* I'm now to the point I need to find something in the Christmas fabric drawer for a backing. The binding will be either the nuetral background color or the dark red, I haven't decided. Next time I show it, it will be finished *VBS* and that feels sooooo good!

*** In the picture of the parts not sewn together, what you are seeing is 8 sub units. Each unit is a rectange which you join to another, getting a square.

It's October...and it's raining

 Little Boo says "BOO", can I frighten you into giving me some treats?"
 Ebby says "not a chance buster, I've met your kind before and you don't scare me...but you did disturb my nap"

Tuesday in the Valley....

with a tale to tell *VBS* I have this little helper. She's got my time schedule down pat. She knows when and where and what I'm likely to be doing.  She's Queen Ebony, in charge of all she see. That does NOT include the quilts I'd like her to stay OFF OF. Doesn't everyone appreciate cat hair? Taking a picture of a quilt has become a challenge!
 Innocent as the driven snow, right?? Well, only if I'm watching ALL the time..
 and put the quilt on the couch for the picture. My first UFO Challenge Finish!! I got the last of the binding sewn down this afternoon. This a donation quilt and not one that really needed finishing in the "true UFO" sense....but, it's a finish and I'll take it!
 The last time you saw this one it was blocks. It's also the one that I made to fit the backing fabric...LOL. All those little green frogs are accounted for and will help keep some little one warm and snug.
I wanted to mention also, that Auntie Em has created a New Years Eve UFO Countdown and is willing to share it with all of us in the challenge. Hop on over and check it out *VBS*