Lucky Me!

Sharon had a giveaway recently, and I won! Her store, Daisy Cottage Quilting, reached 1500 fans on Facebook! The giveaway was to celebrate. Lookie what she sent me!

 

Holbear really enjoys the string!

Thanks Sharon, I love the charm pack, the colors are so pretty and I can't wait to make something with it! Maybe some more Treasure Box bags! And the pattern is soooo cute, I am definitely going to make this!

I want to wish everyone a happy, healthy, and safe Thanksgiving! Eat, drink and be merry!

♥ Jen

Bag sewing time!

I love sewing little zipper bags. They're fun, useful, relatively easy, and you can get really creative. Plus they make great gifts! The two patterns I use are Abby's Treasure Box and Pink Sand Beach Designs Little Glam Bag. These are the Glam bags...

I thought I'd add festive zipper pulls.

 The upper left one from a Whimsy jelly roll, and the other two are from my Lakehouse stash.

 Here are the three Treasure Box bags...this pattern is a bit more work but I love the cute bag shape.

All three use Bliss fabrics from one charm pack. My favorite is the first one I made...

This particular color combination really gets to me. I just love the bright red and clear aqua. Plus all the seams lined up like I knew what I was doing or something.

I made a wallet for my daughter yesterday using fabrics that she picked out from my stash.

This is the third wallet I've made and I think I'm getting the hang of this too! Turning this one inside out is a bugger though. Ugh, that stiff interfacing is very stubborn.

I've still got the itch to make more bags...it's very relaxing! My morning was interesting...I took my car in for a checkup and it needed some unexpected work; lots of $$ and 2-1/2 hours later I was out of there. I went to DD to get a pumpkin muffin and a coffee, and they gave me a gingerbread muffin instead...blecch! It tasted like it had a full bottle of ground ginger in it. Then I went to Christmas Tree Shops and it was absolutely mobbed, so it was not enjoyable. I hate shopping in crowded stores. Oh well, I shouldn't complain over minor issues. I'm going to put on some nice music, get some chores going and enjoy the rest of the day!

Have a good one!

♥ Jen

Max's quilt

I love this quilt. My sister (Max's mom) said it well, I think...the fabrics are cute but not girly; sophisticated but not stuffy. I think they are well-suited for a 10-year old boy. The pattern I chose is from Amy Butler, it's her free Lotus Brick Path Quilt. I liked this pattern because it shows off the prints; it's very angular, not frou-frouy; and I had a 1/2-yard bundle of fabric that fit the requirements perfectly. Anyway, I laid it out on my guest room bed, along with the coordinating pillow. Here it is...

I hope you like it. I tried to get a photo of my quilting (with the red/white/blue variegated thread), but there's not much to see when it's in the ditch. Amy suggested this quilting method and I think it worked out well. I considered stippling but thought this was more masculine, if that's possible. I tried to get some pictures of the whole thing at once on my wall...that failed, but at least you can see the backing. I got 5 yards for $2.99/yd of this yummy Roses de Noel fabric from Desperate Quilters. They're sold out of this particular one but there are plenty others.

So that's it. I'm glad it's done and even more glad that I get to give it to my favorite nephew! Love you Max!!

On a side note, I got that comforter and sham set at Target on clearance. I had my eye on it for awhile so when it went on sale I snatched it up! Yaay!

♥ Jen

My constipated goldfish

Bet you've never seen that for a post title, have you? Well it's a funny story. A few days before Halloween, Annabelle asked, "Why is Bubbles floating upside-down?" I was all prepared to give the Bubbles-has-gone-to-the big-fishtank-in-the-sky response. But upon closer examination, he was just hanging out. He would try to right himself, but always go back to being belly-up. He looked fine otherwise...breathing (or whatever fish do), eating, etc. He'd go between being right-side-up and upside-down for a few days. Then on Halloween, while I was in-between answering the door for trick-or-treaters, I thought, you know, you can find anything on the internet. So I did a search for "goldfish floating upside-down" and I found answers. It was either (a), Bubbles had  a problem with his "swim bladder," or (b) he was constipated. Seriously. The suggested cure was to take some frozen peas, soak them in cold water, remove the tough outer layer, mush them up and put them in the bowl. Hey, I had frozen peas, so I tried it. And lo and behold, the next morning there was...uh, evidence that Bubbles wasn't constipated anymore and he looked fine!

Bubbles and Waterfall

This happened the other day too. Got out the peas, and same results. I guess as fish get older their systems slow down. So that's my funny pet story of the day.

Over the weekend, we went down to PA to visit my grandma. It was great, my younger sister, brother-in-law and niece came too, as well as our dad and his girlfriend. I am so glad Kathleen moved further up north...we can see each other so much more often now! The kids loved seeing their cousin.

Mason, Annabelle and Rebecca

Grandma and my dad

BIL Steve and sister Kathleen

Enjoying the spread...including kielbasa, oh YUM!

Kathleen gave me the cutest little stakes for my plants...I'm going to put them in the porch planters. Thanks Kathleen!

By the way, those Pecan Pie Bars I made came out soooooo good! I brought them to Grandma's and everyone really enjoyed them. Easy as pie! Ha ha! Ok, lame joke, I know. Anyway, I forgot to take a picture. I'll make them again for sure!

I've been busy making Christmas gifts...can't really show them yet, but I do have good news...I finished my nephew's quilt! It's bound, labeled, washed and dried! I will take pictures of it and show it on my next post...until then, here's the matching pillow I made.

I quilted the top so when you remove the cover, you won't see any raw seams. Love this throw pillow tutorial, I've made lots of them, with and without trim and piping. Of course I pieced the front, using a block from Miss Rosie's 4OT pattern. But the pillow instructions are from that tutorial.

OK, I'm off...I have a registered mail parcel that I need to pick up...wonder what that is?! Anyway have a good one!

♥ Jen

Gotta get cozy

Oh my, it's a rainy, chilly day! I got all my errands done...including picking up this cute cookie platter at Target...

...and now it's time to get some coffee, do some sewing and cooking! Today I'm making Pecan Pie Bars from Gooseberry Patch. The recipe looks super-simple, and delish! It came free in their November eLetter...have you signed up yet for yours?

Pecan Pie Bars
Wonderful little pecan pie bars you can't stop eating! Great for a church social or holiday cookie exchange.

1-1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. plus 3 T. brown sugar, packed
    and divided
1/2 c. plus 2 T. butter, divided
2 eggs
1/2 c. light corn syrup
1 t. vanilla extract
1/2 c. chopped pecans

Combine flour with 3 tablespoons brown sugar; cut in 1/2 cup butter until coarse crumbs form. Press into a lightly greased 11"x7" baking pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. While crust is baking, beat eggs in a large bowl and add remaining brown sugar, 2 tablespoons melted butter, corn syrup and vanilla. Blend in pecans and pour mixture into hot crust. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Cool and cut into bars. Makes 2 dozen.

GP's photo from their November newsletter

OK, I'm off! Keep warm!

♥ Jen

Moving right along

Hello there! It feels like it's been a long time since I've posted! Well last Friday I got sick so all bets were off for a few days there. It was either a bad virus or a "mild" flu. I don't know, but I felt lousy and needed to sleep whenever possible. Of course it had to happen on a holiday weekend! But I got everything done that I had to...moms can't really call in sick, can we?

Halloween was CHILLY here! There were even times when it was snowing during the day. But we're a hardy bunch in central New York. I made the kids wear their winter coats (boo!) when trick-or-treating. Our friends come over and we all go together. Although this year I stayed  behind and gave out candy since I was still under the weather.

"Toad" from Super Mario Bros. and a cute little monkey

Monster Princess

Another Halloween over...and time to move on to the Most Wonderful Time of the Year! Yaay!

In crafty news, I am just about done with my nephew's quilt! Just one length of the binding needs to be stitched down. Then the label, a matching pillow, and that's it! I love, love, love it. I can't wait to show it to you! I've also been working on some Christmas projects, and I made two flannel pillowcases for the kids, using this tutorial (thanks for the link, Jen!). Easy and fun!

Have a great day!

♥ Jen