Really?  A month?  I can NOT believe that April is on it's way out and I haven't updated my little spot on the web for a whole month.  I wonder if any of my readers are even still out there.  I hope so!

I've been taking advantage of our nice weather these last few weeks and done a bit of planting.  We just have a small garden and some flowers so not a whole lot of maintenance.  Our summers are normally so hot that it takes everything I have in me to get outside and water when we have triple digits.  I praying for a mild summer this year since we've had a nice spring.

On the stitching front, I'm still plugging away on Houses of Hawk Run Hollow.  I'm nearly finished with Block #8 and plan to start something new after that.  I have a few new samplers that are SCREAMING loudly at me.  :)  I will share pictures of what I decide to start.  I'm still trying to make up my mind. 

I bought a new "baby" last week!  I've been wanting this machine for quite some time and finally bit the bullet.  It's a Viking Diamond Deluxe sewing/embroidery machine.  She's so purdy!  I named her Helga.  There is a lot to learn, but so far I've found it to be very user friendly.  Here a few pictures of what I've made so far with it.  SO FUN!

This is a floppy hat that I monogrammed for my niece.  These are so popular right now.  I've already had quite a few people order them after seeing hers.  I'll be busy!! :)

 

This is Carter Joe's beach towel.  I had a blast making this one, but I have to admit that the letters took quite a while to stitch out.  Love it and I hope he does, too!

 

 

 

 

This would be Kayla Ann's beach towel.  :)

 

 

Here is a sweet pillowcase for Princess Kayla.  The one I have started for Carter is baseball.

 

Speaking of pillowcases, I need to head into the sewing room and finish Carter's.  I want to get their summer box ready to mail off.  They LOVE getting mail.  :)

Thank you all for your sweet comments and emails.  I appreciate them all so much.  I had to put on the robot thing on my comments because I've been getting TONS of spam. I'm going to take it off and see what happens.  I may have to put it back on. I know it's a pain, and I'm sorry.  :(

Have a great "rest of the weekend" and a wonderful week ahead.

Bye now,
Carolyn  :)

Happy Easter....almost

Hello there, friends~

Oh what glorious weather we've had here in South Texas for the last week.  I almost hate to even talk about it knowing that so many of you are still being hit hard with winter storms.  I would dearly LOVE to have snow, but not what y'all are being blasted with.  The temperatures have been in the 60's-70's during the day and cool at night, but along with these wonderful temperatures come the influx of pollen. OH.MY.GOSH.  The pollen is KILLER!  It wouldn't be so bad if we'd get a bit of rain.  I'm praying that some will come this next week.  That's what Mr. Weatherman is saying, anyway.  It will definitely help those of us with allergies.

We finally have everything put back together from the water leak, so I've been doing a bit of crafting.  I have two small quilt tops ready to be quilted and bound.  These were so fun and the colors so bright and cheerful.  As most of you know, I love anything red, anything with polka dots and love cherries, too, so the fabrics in these were right up my alley.  :)

(all pictures are clickable for a larger view)

  

Pattern from "Back to Charm School" by Mary Etherington and Connie Tesene

Pattern from "3 Times the Charm" by Me & My Sister Designs

These are two of my MOST favorite books to use for quilting with charm packs.  They are so fun!

I've also done a bit of stitching in the evening.  I finished this little Easter project that I started last year and had totally forgotten about until I was pilfering through my stitching basket and came across it. 

"Easter Peep" by WTNT

I haven't decided how I will finish it off, but I'm thinking a little pillow for my basket.  :)

The two WIPS that I've been rotating are "Houses of Hawk Run Hollow" and "And They Sinned".  I started HoHRH back in 2004.  Pitiful.  I'm going to finish it this year if it kills me.  I really enjoy stitching on it and don't understand why I put it down to begin with.  Here is where I am as of today:

Houses of Hawk Run Hollow

March 28. 2013

And They Sinned

March 28, 2013

I haven't stitched on ATS in a couple of weeks, but plan to pick it up next week.  I've just been having too much fun with HoHRH.  :)

I've still been working on my stash sale list.  I have a TON of 28 count fabric that I'm wanting to sell.  If there is anything in particular that you might be looking for, email me and I'll see if I have it before adding it to the list.  I plan to try to have the list posted by the end of next week.  

I would like to take a second to tell each of you how much you mean to me.  It amazes me how "small" our world becomes when we are able to be in contact with people from all over via the net.  So many of you I would never have had the pleasure to know had it not been for this little, ole blog.  Thank all of you for your sweet comments and emails.  I appreciate each of them so much!  I just love all of my "blogging friends".  :)

Happy Easter to each and every one of you.  I hope your day is blessed.

Bye now,

Carolyn  

And the winner is.......

Rita in Alaska  is the winner of the giveaway!  This gorgeous fabric will be traveling a long way, but hopefully the pretty colors will brighten the cold, winter days.  Rita said that she would like to make a scattered circle quilt with these fat quarters.  I would LOVE to see this! Rita, I will be sending you an email with the details.  Thank ALL of you for entering and for sharing your creative ideas with all of us.  It's always so fun to hear what others would make.

There is still construction going on around here, but I'm seeing the end of the tunnel....I think. LOL  I haven't done much stitching and I'm having withdrawals.  I'm hoping to spend MANY hours this weekend in my chair stitching the day away.

Have a great weekend, and thank all of you for visiting.  Please come again!

Bye now,

Carolyn  

It's Time for a Giveaway!

Good morning friends,

Spring is just around the corner and I'm ready!  Even though we haven't had much of a winter here, I'm ready to add some flowers to my yard and some color to my fabric stash.   Fort Worth Fabric Studio has generously donated a beautiful  fabric bundle for one lucky reader to win.  What do you think?  Pretty, huh?  I say this every time Jodie hosts a giveaway, but she truly has a wonderful eye for putting colors together.  Thank you, Jodie!!

"BLOOMING COLOR is a 16 piece bundle chock full of all the blooming colors we see in Spring! Colorful & very, very happy! This bundle features the Calypso line by Red Rooster!   Fabrics are from Red Rooster, Riley Blake, Quilting Treasures, Windham, Michael Miller, Robert Kaufman (Kona Cotton), and Timeless Treasures".

To enter this fun giveaway, here is what to do:

Mandatory:

1. Leave a comment telling me what you might like to make with these fabrics. I love hearing your ideas. :)

2. The giveaway is to thank those that follow my blog.  Leave another comment letting me know that you do.

3. Scoot on over to FWFS's online catalog and tell me what your favorite fabric bundle is. :)

Extra:

4. "Like"  Fort Worth Fabric Studio on Facebook and leave a shout out. Leave another comment telling me so.

You have 3 mandatory entries and 1 extra for a total of 4 entries.

This giveaway will end midnight CST on Wednesday, February 27th, and I will announce the winner on Thursday the 28th.  Please make sure I have a way to get in touch with you so I can contact you.  In the meantime, why don't you hop on over and visit Jodie.  While you're there you might want to sign up for her newsletter so you won't miss a thing.  :)

Have a wonderful "rest of the week", friends.  I look forward to hearing what you will make and your favorite fabric bundles!

Bye now,
Carolyn 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hello sweet friends,

I hope this finds you all healthy, happy and warm.  We are still experiencing our typical weird Texas weather, and the last few days have been beautiful.  I don't complain about cold weather because I love it.  Besides, we don't get much of it here and our summers are so very hot and last forever.  I do hope those of you that have been experiencing all of the horrible blizzards and tornadoes are finally settling down a bit.  It's so hard for me to imagine what you must be going through.

There are lots of things going on in our home right now.  Unexpected remodeling, to say the least.  We had a water leak after getting our new refrigerator, and the laminate flooring and carpet were ruined.  We are now walking on concrete until we can get it fixed.  MEGA damage. Then, a week after that happened, the heat and AC unit cratered.  Poof.  Gone.  The whole thing had to be replaced.  Soooo, the last two days I've had the AC people here pulling out the old and putting in the new unit.  Oh my, our front yard literally looked like Sanford and Son lived here with all of that old stuff piled in it.  LOL Thank goodness they hauled it all off and we now have heat and cool.  The joys of home ownership, right?  ;)  At least I HAVE a home, and I'm very, very thankful for that.

I haven't done much sewing or quilting lately, but I've been stitching every evening.  I have kitted up quite a few samplers and started a new one.  Would you like to know what is in my "kitted up ready to go" basket?  Okay, I'll share.  I haven't started any of these, but would like to start them all.  I love them!  Here is the list (in no order):

1.  Kind Fond Love sampler - Brenda Keyes
2.  Fruit of the Spirit - Plum Street Samplers
3.  The Melicent Turner Sampler - LHN
4.  Ann Rayner Reproduction (this one is screaming at me!)
5.  Mary Roe 1808 - The Scarlett House
6.  Jane Hopkins 1801 - The Scarlett House

Have you stitched any of these?  I have about 5 more on my table with the fabric pulled, but I need to kit up the floss.

Guess what I started on January 25?  "And They Sinned"!  I've loved this for a very long time and was recently gifted the chart. :)  I couldn't wait to get it kitted up and ready to go.  The first few days I worked on it I messed up on the colors and ended up ripping out every stitch I put in.  Normally I would have thrown it across the room, but for some reason she was still calling to me.  So I started over.  Here is where I am today.  

(click for a larger view)

"And They Sinned"

Started January 25, 2013

Fabric:  36 ct. R & R Days Gone By

Fibers:  Gentle Art Sampler Threads

This is what the finished design looks like (obviously not my photo):

Beautiful, huh?  Tonight I will be finishing up the cloud while watching a bit of TV.  What a fun stitch!  What are you working on?  Do tell!

Do you have special plans for Valentine's Day tomorrow? My Bob has to work late, so we will celebrate at home.  That's what we normally do, anyway.  I plan to make him some "sweeties" cookies and haven't decided on supper yet.  I'll think about that tomorrow.

Well, it's time for me to pull out my stitching for a bit.  I will be having a giveaway sponsored by Jodie at Fort Worth Fabric Studio next week sometime, so be on the look out.  She always puts together the prettiest collection of fabrics for us.   :)

Have a great rest of the week!

Hugs,

Carolyn