Thawing and Stitching

We are in the low 40s now so there's some thawing going on and we do appreciate that sunshine. Our hearts go out to those north and east in the country who got this storm and lost power and had even more ice and snow than we did. It's hard to see the trees breaking with the ice and people suffering with the cold and difficult travel. I hope the sunshine and warmer temps will spread north and east as well.

I finished two of the BOMs I had planned. The Christmas Wish stitchery was fun to do and I'm pleased with it.

This is such a pretty pattern. You can find it by clicking on the button on the right.

The Country Calendar BOM was a little more difficult for me since I decided to do it by applique instead of embroidery. I have put off learning to applique for many years so I thought it was time to learn. This is my attempt...actually it's the third attempt since I redid the snowman part of the block three times!! The first two attempts were pretty wonky and I wanted to do it right. This one isn't perfect but I'm content with it. I did something different with the borders...it's a little busy but it makes me happy so I'll go with it. That's preprinted patchwork fabric on the borders.

Last summer I bought some quilt block kits on sale at Hancock's Fabrics and some of them are appliqued blocks with simple shapes. I think I'll be practicing my applique skills by making those...it's going to take some practice :)

Thanks for stopping by for a visit. Wishing you blessings today. Karen

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Dreams of spring and garden goodies were buried under several inches of ice and sleet the past few days here in the heart of Oklahoma. Sweetheart had big plans to finish his work this past weekend preparing the garden soil for spring planting but it was too cold for him to be outside...even bundled up. The wind was blowing and the temperature was just above freezing.

Then our winter storm hit mid-day Monday. Here's the view from my back door yesterday.

That's about 1/2 inch of ice topped by close to 6 inches of sleet...no snow...the sleet is that thick! The freezing rain started on Monday and then about 3 am Tuesday morning, we were awakened by thunder and what sounded like hail on our roof and windows. But, it wasn't hail...it was sleet!! It sleeted all day yesterday. Sweetheart went on to work but Monday night the drive home took 2 1/2 hours instead of the usual 45 minutes. Yesterday the drive was 2 hours each way and he called from one end of our country road to tell me he was almost home but was having a hard time making it up the hill. About 20 minutes later he drove in the driveway but couldn't open the garage because of the sleet piled high against the door. It took a little while to move the sleet pile and get the car inside.

We are fortunate this time since the December 2007 ice storm ruined trees and left us without power for a week. Our rural electric coop did a wonderful job cutting trees away from power lines during 2008 and this time our power didn't even flicker.

Today the sun is out but it's 19 degrees. Not much thawing will take place today but the sun is so cheerful. Here's what I saw this morning.

I've been working on my BOM blocks and the Valentine charm pack surprise. Pictures of my progress will be coming soon. For now, I'm enjoying the sunshine!

Wishing you a beautiful sunshine day!! Karen

Sewing Tuesday!

It was a busy weekend but now the garden spot is ready for a little more new topsoil and the final tractor work and I can already taste the green onions and tomatoes!!! Hurry spring!! I'm really not wishing time to pass too quickly but my sweetheart is reading the garden books and talking about what to plant and my mouth waters at the thought of home-grown veggies! He has also fixed a small area along the back deck to be my herb garden and I'm looking forward to that as well. I've never grown herbs but I read many of your blogs where you use the fresh herbs and freeze for later and I'm anxious to try my hand at it.

This will be a great day with a Lord of the Rings dvd marathon followed by the two Narnia movies and lots of sewing! I just need to put the flowered border on this quilt and it will be ready to prepare for quilting!

I'm also going to use these charm packs to work on two gifts. I can't do more than give a sneek peak of the fabrics.

I was thrilled to be the winner of Rose's giveaway. She was offering her own beautiful set of BOM patterns for Tender Moments along with some threads and needles. It is a gorgeous pattern and I'm thinking of making it to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary later this year.

If you enjoy stitcheries, please visit Rose's blog Threadbare Creations. She generously offered a complete free pattern you can download called Life's Treasures. It's lovely and would be special for yourself or as a gift. Quilters are so generous with their talents!! Thank you, Rose.

I'm off to sew. Enjoy your day and happy stitching. Blessings to you! Karen

Whirl Into Winter Giveaway

A huge thank you to all of you who left comments telling what you love about quilting or quilts. Most comments mentioned the creativity that quilting allows, the love of fabrics, the enjoyment of the process from choosing fabrics to the final quilting, and the joy that comes from giving quilts to those who will treasure them. There was also overwhelming appreciation of the fellowship and friendship that comes from meeting and sharing with other quilters even those who will never be met face to face but who become very dear across miles and even oceans because of a shared love of quilting. I feel so fortunate to visit blogs and share a few minutes with quilters whose tastes reflect my own and those who venture into new areas I can only appreciate!! I hope you will return again and visit with me and brighten my day with your comments.

The winner of my giveaway (randomly chosen by my sweetheart from a bowl full of names) is Barbara, who said that "being creative is my favorite thing about quilt-making." Barbara, I'll email you and will have your package in the mail quickly.

Thank you again to everyone who participated in the giveaway and thank you to Debi for organizing such fun!

Have a happy day of stitching, Karen

Ready to Sew!

Whew! The house is clean, the closets reorganized, furniture moved and I'm ready to sew :) It's such a good feeling to get things in order for the new year! Of course, we're planning some painting and carpeting but I won't think about that just now!

While cleaning out drawers and boxes in my sewing room, I found some "projects under construction"...some from many years ago. So, I started by finishing one of those pieces. This was a practice block from one of the first quilting classes I took (more years ago than I care to tell). It isn't perfect but I really like it so I hand quilted it and made a little table topper for next Christmas.

This morning I cut out the pieces for this quilt. I loved the colors when I saw it at a shop during the quilt shop hop last June. The pattern can be reused for fat quarters or 5 " squares.

Thanks so much to all of you who left comments on my giveaway as part of the "Whirl Into Winter Quilt Bloggers Giveaway." I set noon CST tomorrow, January 14, as the last time to leave a comment. The winner will be annnounced on January 15. I'm overwhelmed at the number of comments I've received and the kind and gracious words. I visited every blog represented and found some wonderful quilters and crafters. Hopefully some of you will visit here again and some new friendships will result.

For now, I'm off to my sewing room! Happy stitching, Karen

Happy New Year!

The year has begun with a bang! Yesterday was very busy as we helped clean and paint at our daughter's new home. The house is almost new but they are adding touches to make it very much their own. They will be moved in by the end of the month and we'll all happily settle down.

Thanks to everyone who commented on my giveaway. I visited the other giveaway blogs and there are some lovely gifts out there. One problem I've encountered is that some of you who commented have your blogs set to "no reply" so I have no way of contacting you! I don't want anyone to be left out so please be sure you have an email address on your blog or that you put your email on your comment! Thank you so much!!

I visited many blogs and, by visiting Simone's blog, I found Ellie's blog with a lovely stitchery BOM pattern. If you enjoy stitchery or applique, check this out! It's so cute!

Hoping your new year has started well and wishing you many blessings!