A child is black.....A child is white.....

hiyall!
I have joined an online challenge! Its called the Black and White Quilt Challenge Project.
http://bwquiltchallenge.blogspot.com/ I encourage any and all quilters to accept the challenge.
In a nutshell, you use black and white fabric with one extra color. My choice is Turquoise. For the next year we will work on any quilting project using black and white fabric and 3rd color choice. It not restrict to one quilt, it can be many projects as long as we use black,white and 3rd color. many have already joined. Care to come along with us? See that pretty picture of the black white red quilt on the sidebar? just click on it and it will take you directly to the challenge.

Tomarrow is turkey day, I will be going to Beloved Monkey Boy's house aka Manland and cook a feast for him and his roomates past and present. I have boiled the eggs for deviled eggs and the pies (the best that Mrs Smith and I have to offer) are in the oven. In the am I will pack the car with the foods and go to manland to finish the cooking. We shall sup at 2ish. I am not the worlds bestest cook, but 2 things will never happen at my dinner table. One.....you will never leave hungry, there will always be something for you to munch on. Two......you will never leave my table in a body bag! My cooking aint gonna kill ya. The menu is as follows:
Ham
Turkey
devil eggs
mac and cheese
garlic taters
green bean casserole
gravy
martins patatoe rolls
corn bread
dessert: pumpkin pie, coffee ice cream
I will have my prilosec as my am appitizer, oye, Im gonna need it!
Have a safe traveling day, great turkey day! If you are one of those Black Friday shoppers, I amy see you at my job at the big orange box. I will be running register 10 (snicker-snort)
Keep On Stitch'n On!
(mauh) Liz

(singing rather badly) just like a yoyo......

http://sewthankful.com/blog/2008/09/quick-and-easy-sew-thankful-fa.html

hiyall,

its been a yo yo past couple of days! it started out with the sewthankful link above. I saw the yo yo key chain and I knew I had a little gifty to stuff in a cmas card to my quilty friends. I have everything I need and plenty of stash to dive into. of course I modified the original pattern to suit my needs. mine is smaller, uses gross grain ribbon, and my template is 3.25'' I use the lip of a spool'o ribbon to trace it on fabric. I make yo yos the old fashion way with card board templates and ink pen. this is gonna be a great project to work on during my lunch hour. I can whip up some yo yos in no time. I have it down to a fine art!

the red and white thing next to the key fob is a fons and porter stitch ripper. I have been meaning to write a product review on it since I bought it several weeks ago. I highly recommend it for any sewing kit. it has a weighted handle that fit nicely in my fluffy hands and has a nice sharp ripper head. of course I put one of my dingbat stickers on it, marking it as MINE....all MINE....keep your mitts off! They retail for $4.99 at the local Joann's who carries the whole fons and porter line of sewing notions, I did use a coupon on the purchase that made it about $3 bucks. Its very affordable that way and would make a great stocking stuffer for your favorite seamstress or quilter (hint-hint). If you cant find it at your local Joann's, check the fons and porter website.

www.freepatterns.com

this adorable little beauty was made by my quilting buddy Arlene. Is that not stinkin' cute? look real close and you can see a pretty gold chain used like garland running thru the tree. I love it! and the pressies underneath look good too.

one last yo-yo website to share. http://bizarrequilter.blogspot.com/ there is an smackyourgrandma cute as can be little yo-yo gift bag. the template used were dishes! dont ya just love it? ok....enough yo-yo cuteness for now...... enjoy!

Keep On Stitch'n On!

(mauh) Liz

online block exchange etiquette

hiyall,
I have an interesting entry for my blog today. Its call Online Quilt Block Exchange (OQBE for short) etiquette. Today in the mail, I received a Log Cabin Block from a member from my online list. On the envelope it stated it was Oct LC. I'm thinking, its about time I got one from THEM since I haven't gotten one since Sept and here its Nov. I open it up and guess what? It was a block I had sent to THEM last summer! How do I know this? I make at least 10 blocks each month, I went thru my block stash and found its twin! To ad insult to injury......They signed it with THEIR name! I don't sign mine because who would see it? Can yall see why I am so pissed? I have Dec blocks already, I be damned if I am gonna waste another stamp sending a block to THEM, only for THEM to send it back to ME. I was gonna send a nasty email to that person but I opted to bitch about here and to post some unwritten rules about Online Quilt Block Exchange.

There are 2 basic block exchanges:
Centralized: everyone on the list (number of people on the list will vary) sends a number of blocks to one person with extra postage due by a certain date. if you dont send your blocks by that date you are left out of that months exchange. that person will redistrube the blocks to all on the list that sent theirs in on time.
Decentralized: A list is sent out each month with names and addys. Its kind of a honor system that you get your blocks made and mailed out to each member on time. you have a whole month to do it.
Both exchanges I am in (9 patch and Log Cabin) are decentralized. Each month I make my blocks for each one on the lists and send it out. Their are a few on each list that have gotten behind. No worries, life gets in the way of our quilting and when they have time they will catch up. that is the chance you take when you join a decentralized exchange. I have gotten as many as 6 at one time from a person from the list.
Here are some general rules/etiquette to follow when you join a OQBE.
~be on time! joining a OQBE is a commitment.
~if something happens, email all those on your list or exchange mom and let them know that you may be late or not able to partipate for that month. life happens.....
~sign your blocks (I learned my lesson today about that!)
~do not cover your commitment ass and send out a block that you did not make. not only is that lazy, but disrespecful and just plain RUDE ( especially if you SIGN it!!!)
~be prepared to send out blocks outside of the united states. I have sent and recieved from canada, it is fun to see what fabrics are in the stashed of friends outside of the states.
~OQBE are meant to be fun and to make new friends. I have had a blast doing these exchanges and I will continue to do them.
Thanks for reading this and letting me bitch
Keep On Stitchin' On!
(mauh) Liz

Let it snow....Let it snow....OH HELL NO!

hiyall!
I know, I know, long time between posts. the picture above is the ALQS2 mini that I sent to my swap partner in Canada. She emailed me back and was quite happy with her quilt. I am very glad she loves it, the pattern is called Virginia Reel. I chose it cause it was a popular pattern post Civil War and since I live in Virginia and she likes Civil War repros I thought it was appropriate. I fused and buttonhole appliqued the leaves and reel. I chose to hand quilt a shadow stitch around each block. I used all CW repros for the fabric.


This is a wall hanging I am finishing for a client. Its a 1997 Debbie Mum cheater panel. She had started it with some hand embrodiery and I have machine quilted a simple straight stitch around the frames, free motion around the angel and added black tradional binding. all I have to do now is put a sleeve on the back so she can run a dowel thru the back to hang it on the wall.


Remember the pink,white and blue baby quilt that ended up being a wall hanging I did for a co-worker back in July? well momma has decided that Lily Reese needs a quilt. I told her, you supply the materials for one and I will make it for Lily. Mommy got all excited, so excited she got enough fabric for 2! The picture above are the colors mommy chose. Apprently butterflys is a running theme in the nursery. The center fabric is the focal and the fabrics on either side will the co ordinating fabric. I will be keeping it simple, I plan on using this pattern http://shop.knotsandbolts.com/products/Pinata_Booty_Pattern_by_Suzanne_Earley-607-73.html
its a FREE pattern from knotandbolts.com. the original pattern is 55 by 65 but I will modifly it to make a 40 x 60 crib size. I will use the med purple butterfly print as the center and frame it with the other cordinate fabrics. I will use the focal fabric for the corner stones and outer border. I plan on using the quilt as you go method when I assemble the blocks. of course I will post pics when I am done.

as far as the title of this post is concerned..........we were to have SNOW today. OH HELL NO!!!! I dont like snow, people in my area are transplants from all over the US, they cant drive in it!! It did snow in the upper attmosphere but it was gone before it hit the ground. thank you grannies! It has been cold and windy which is unusual for our area this time of year.

I found this website for a cute ass key chain. I plan on making bunches for gifts. It will be a great lunch hour project to work on! http://sewthankful.com/blog/2008/09/quick-and-easy-sew-thankful-fa.html enjoy!
Keep On Stitch'n On!
(mauh) Liz

get out and vote!

hiyall,

If'n ya already have, good for you! If'n ya hadnt, what are you waiting for! I got up at 5:30am to be at the polls by 6am. It was raining, dark and cold. I went to my polling place and saw over 300 people in line and in the rain. I thought.....shit.....I aint standing in that line for 3 hours. So I came back around 7:30ish am. Im thinking, give it a hour and 1/2 and go back. again, the line had over 300 people in the rain plus about another 100 was lined up IN the church. I said to myself, go to wally, get abby some dry food and treats and try agin. the line will go down and the rain will have stopped. I am driving by for the 3rd time, the line is still over 200 deep outside but the rain has stopped. OK, I tell myself park the car across the street and get your batbutt inline and vote dammit! that is what I did, 2 hours and 15 mins later, I cast my vote. I stood in that line for an hour and a half in the drizzly rain, another 45 mins once I got into the church to actually get to the polling booth. My ears and throat hurt. I have a headache, but it was worth it. Im glad I had the day off, since it did take me over 4 and a half hours to vote. I came home, changed out of my damp clothes and turned on the heat. I got my "I voted in Chesapeake'' sticker and will wear it proudly tomarrow at work. I took pictures with my camera phone, once I figure out how to get them out of there, I will post them.

I did get my new purse done~the pattern is from this website.http://www.jcarolinecreative.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=JC&Screen=HOBO_BAG

I tweeked it alittle bit. Machine quilted with a med stipple and used a magnet snap closure. dont ya love the sassy self making bow? enjoy!

Keep On Stitch'n On!

(mauh) Liz