HALLOWEEN 2008

WHAT WOULD HALLOWEEN BE WITHOUT A SPOOKY TALE? When I was young we told spooky tales on Halloween and it is the thing now that makes Halloween Halloween. I know there are no haunted houses, or spooky tales or witches pictures in schools anymore but to tell you the truth I think that kidS are really missing out on a most fun Holiday that is second only to Christmas. All the evil in the world cannot be due to a little spookiness on Halloween. Evil people create evil and there will be evil as long as there are evil people. Think about the movies we watch. What makes them interesting other than the romance? Of course!! It's the bad guy, the mean dude. Without evil characters we love to hate, there would be no need for the good guys that we all love to love.

So paint your face green, put on your long fake fingernails and your pointy nose. Oh yes, the long black dress and that hat that makes you look like you starred in the Wizard of Oz and give out that delicious candy to all the little goblins in the neighborhood. Make them need guts to come up on your doorstep and then reward them for their courage. One year my boys Trick or Treated a lady that was dressed as I described and when she opened the door and spoke to them in an evilish voice they screamed and ran back to the car. She graciously turned on her porch light, yanked off her fingernails and called out, "Come Back, I didn't meant to scare you. It's just me, Mrs. Hancock. I have some homemade pop corn balls for you, darlins." Of course they went back and we have laughed about it for years. My boys will never forget that Halloween. That and the house next door that had gravestones and the Hunchback of Notre Dame walking in the yard. Don't ya just love hearing about Halloween in Small Town Texas.

When I was a teenager there was a story of a boy and girl that went parking and narrowly escaped a mad mans rage. I found the story by Schlosser here. Of course the version I always was told was a bit different, but essentially the same. This site has other Texas Scary Tales and Folklore. Very Interesting, I thought. Then you can also travel to Scary Tales of other States. You can spend several days there, believe me.

OOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHappy Hallween----Have a VERY VERY SPOOKY

HALLOWEEN AND HOPE YOU GATHER TONS OF CANDY. SAVE SOME FOR ME! PLEASE!

TIPS AND TREASURES

TIPS--and TREASURES--

Tip #1--More or less just a discovery which I guess is what a tip is, huh. This large acrylic envelope is the exact width of a clothes hanger. It closes with a Velcro. Just close over the hanger and store in a closet or on a hook. Pretty neat stuff. I got this envelope in a class, but I imagine they are readily available in office supply stores.

Tip #2 came to me when I emptied a foil roll box the other day. I thought how neat it would be if the box would fit a roll of stabilizer. Then you could pull out the stabilizer and tear it off just as easy as you do the foil or plastic wrap that originally came in the box. I went into my sewing room and began searching for a roll to fit and low and behold, it fit perfectly! I tried tearing it off and it worked just as well as the foil.

I put the information sheet from the stabilizer on the box and covered it with sticky laminate paper.

You can see here how exactly the roll fits into the box. The box is from a 200 yard roll of foil.

A lovely surprise, (not really a surprise) came in the mail yesterday. I ordered some hand dyed embroidery floss from Ebay. This lady does beautiful Antique Sampler Reproductions and dyes her own floss. I had to have some. The variation and gradation in color is really pretty. And they are such lovely antique colors: Russet, Celery, Pumpkin, and Heather are just a few of the color names. Next time you need floss you might try Ebay! She gave me free floss for being a new customer.

SCRAPPY DAPPY DO--ONE MORE--WOO-HOO

Kim has inspired me to do another scrap quilt. I have cut and organized SOME of my scraps. This subdivided Christmas ornament organizer works for all small pieces and it is stackable so that strips can be placed underneath. Kim's quilt is this star block. It is a 12 1/2 inch block and I love the way it looks, but I am thinking of changing the corner half-squares as in the bottom picture.

These blocks can be easily made when your scraps are cut in 2 1/2 inch squares for the star points and center 4 patch, 4 1/2 inch neutrals, and and 5 inch or nickle squares light and dark used to make half squares for the corners.
The braid you see in the above photo I plan to use for the border. I also am planning a basket block asan alternate block and I will applique and embroider in the baskets. The is all in my mind right now and I have attenpted to put it in yours. I am on my way to a retreat with the Wackies tomorrow. Come back on Monday and possibly I will have photos of more blocks for you to see.

All you bloggers who take time out of

your day or night to visit my blog are just so special. I have to say that I know I get so much more out of my blogging than any of you do, but I do hope you leave with more than you came with. Thanks so much for visiting and I would love for you to follow my blog so that you can keep up with when I have a new post. Thanks again!

Pincushion Give-away!

Girls--go visit Aunt Daisy and you might win one of her precious pincushions. She is celebrating her 100th post. I promised I would send you all over there, so skip on over right now and maybe you will be the lucky winner. (Maybe not--maybe I will !)

Today was a "GOOD" Day--Welcome Fall

Well, temperatures dropped in my part of Texas today. It is now 56 degrees. The high today was near 80 so as you can see once again--"IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE WEATHER IN TEXAS-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------JUST WAIT A MINUTE.

As I sit here blogging, I can hear the wind howling and the wreath on the front door bumping. Rain did fall for a short time this evening before dark, so all all my plants got a much needed drink. I ran out onto the porches and put all my plants out into the rain and then put them back into their places after the rain. The electricity keeps popping on and off---

I love it when the seasons change and so does your mood. Kinda like God's way of keeping you motivated about living. Always something to look forward to. All the memories of days gone by come flooding into your mind triggered by the sights, smells, and feelings around you. Halloween was a real special time for us all as children. I lived in tiny town USA where I attende d 2 room school house. Halloween meant a carnival where we bobbed for apples, won tiny plastic prizes at a fish pond and were scared out of minds in the haunted house. I have walked our dirt streets "Trick or Treating" with my friends, unchaperoned. We knew everyone in town and they gave homemade goodies or storebought choc0late candy (I am sure that this and the fact that my dad owned the general store were the start of my weight problem.) Enough of this-------

My box of goodies from Quilter's Club came today. It includes the first of 3 issues of Easy Quilts by Fons and Porter. A charm pack of Madder Red's and a spool of thread from Connecting Threads., a DVD of Tips and discount coupons from some other companys. A pretty cool collection. I got a really good offer through the mail to join, it actually cost me only about $30. A year's subscription is worth that. Hey, just the programs are worth that and then I got a charm pack on top of that!! Hey I am happy~

My embroidery is still progressing. I have been searching the web for stitchery blogs. There are some fantastically talented people out there who must stitch constantly as they have produced some fantastic work. The heart pincushion you see here is my own design. Again, I stitch just as I quilt. I would rather do my own thing than follow directions and produce a duplicate of someone elses design. OR--maybe I am incapable of following directions. I think that might be the case. But whatever the case, I am what I am and I will continue to beat my own drum (so to speak). You cannot tell from this photo, but this pincushion is attached to a glass heart shaped dish that I found at a garage sale.

I did get my yard mowed today before the "norther" hit. Actually, I finished just before the rain. My DH and DS came home from a trip to West Texas where they were visiting their deer lease. They went to clean, put up feeders and stands, and generally get things ready for the year's hunt. I will never understand the love, but hey, maybe they don't understand my love for quilting and all it's aspects. To each his own, I always say.

I knew these hunters would be hungry when they got home--not really but eating fast food for days always makes them look forward to getting home, sssssssssoooooooo. I cooked. I am an "old fashioned", "country" cook. No gourmet here. I cooked turnip greens, cream peas with corn on the cob, Meatloaf patties with peppercorn gravy, and hot water cornbread. I was not going to fry hot water cornbread, but when DS came in and saw those turnip greens he started begging me. OKKK ----For those of you who do not know about hot water cornbread. It is cornmeal that is cooked by pouring boiling water into meal. Then patties are patted out and fried. The result is something soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. So delicious that you cannot eat just one and not two. Many, many, many--that is how many you eat. This is the reason I hate to cook them. I eat too many. This recipe came from my DMIL. She was a fantastic country cook. I think some people put baking powder in thier HWC, but not me. I mean you can, but you get a differnet product.

Sorry, I didn't mean to make you hungry----LOL. I also cannot believe I have rattled on and on and it is now 12.20 am! OHMYGOSH! I must go to bed. I do love this weather. GGGOOOOODD sleeping weather. Sleep tight! See ya tomorrow~

THE COWS ARE HOME

Block #3 is fini'. I am not as happy with it as with the first two, but it will have to do. I did not use a hoop. Maybe that is my downfall, but it is hard for me. To those of you who visit me, give me your insight to "hooping". To hoop or not to hoop, that is the question. I will certainly appreciate the tips.

Next come the elephants! Now where would we be without the elephants. I am not as on fire as I was for awhile, but will finish them all. Looking forward to the next block and hopefully I will be finished with the first 8 before 9 comes out (who am I kidding). Cheer me on, girls. I can do it.

PUT YOUR NAME IN THE HAT!

The Catering Quilter is having a 100th post give-away. You get to expose your roots in quilting and in return you get your name on a sheet of paper hopefully to be drawn from a hat. If you win this is what you get------------YUMMY!

She ask that I pass the word, so I am trying to help out a fellow quilter by sending any visitors that I might have over to her blog to sign up and hopefully win this wonderful pack of STUFF. We all NEED stuff! Have a great day, ya'll!

Noah's Ark Block of the Month

Well, my stitchery is still on top of my "what I am doing today" list. I am enjoying it so much that I find myself thinking about it whatever I am doing and trying to figure out when I can get in a few more stitches. The pincushions are on hold and I have shifted to the Noah's Ark BOM from Lynette Anderson. I have been anxious to get at least one block done so that I can say that I at least got started. Actually I now have 2 blocks done.

I decided to do white bunnies instead of black or dark brown as most I have seen. My background is on the dark side, so I could get away with the white. The back stitch around the edge is all 6 strands. I like the thick look of it to give the block a nice frame.

I veered off into "doing my own thing" on this block as I tend to do in all areas of my life. Two sides of the frame are green to represent the tree and the other two brown sides represent the bark of the tree. I did a back stitch and then random stitches on either side to resemble bark. The leaves in the corner are also an addition I made.

Thanks for visiting and taking a look at my blocks and let me say "THANK YOU" again to Lynette Anderson for sharing her ideas and her talent for designing beautiful stitchery blocks.

Another One!

Finished the one with the medication bottle base. I tried some stitch combinations. I need to go shopping to buy some seed beads. That would be a nice addition. GREAT STITCHIN DAY!!

Another Stitchy Day?

What a great day, OUTSIDE! And all I want to do is stitch. I think I will take it all outside. If you have been following you know that I have been having fun with hand embroidering pincushions. Here is #2------with #1 in the background.

I have been searching for more base containers. A garage sale turned up a heart shaped glass container that I think would make a great base. Sorry about the picture. You cannot tell how pretty it is. The felt is cut and ready for stitching. I cut down two medication bottles and also found tops of hair products would be good. Bigger than cola bottle caps, but still small. The larger ones would also be good as the insert could hold the top up into place (I have been stuffing with quilt batting).

I have to get my blocks from Lynette's BOM transferred to fabric and begin on them so that I can get on her blog list of people who have actually DONE something. So check back and see if I have----done something that is. Seems telling YOU that I will do something makes me do it. How crazy is that. I guess I don't want to let you down, my friends. Most of you I don't even know. How is that for closeness of quilters/stitchers. Thanks again to all who visit my blog. I love it when someone in interested enough to do so. My Wacky Pac friends and I have talked about the "Blogger Followers" and have made sure that we at least "follow" each other (see "Followers" on my sidebar. We have said that it is very embarrassing to only have 1 or 2 "followers". I now have FIVE. with one NOT being a member of our group (but is one who we have retreated with). Oh well--I know that you all are visiting. I can tell by the numbers and that is all that matters. I just do not know if you are the SAME visitors. LOL

I am doing more quilting stitching these days. Since I quit my part-time job, I have had a hard time not feeling guilty quilting/stitching. I guess I feel I am wasting time. I don't know---I have just never had the time to just do what I want to do. I guess "work" is what I have always done and it is hard to change habits. I am relaxing a bit these days. Staying up late is what I love and then of course "sleeping in"--I know--not good.

Have a great Sunday, my friends. Keep Stitching--and stitching--and stitching. It's good for the soul-------------------~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Addition to this post----just made this tiny pincushion from a cola bottle cap. I swear I made it in 10 minutes with a felt bottom, trim sides, and fabric top. It took me longer to take the picture than to make it---truth!! (I must purchase a new camera!)

Another Pincushion

AFter finding these darling embroidered pincushions here, I wanted to try my hand at one. These are made of 2 liter bottle tops which means they are very tiny. I wanted to make a larger version. I went shopping in my kitchen and what I found in the shape I wanted was a Kool-aid canister that single servings came in. The canister was about 2 inch in radius and about 7 inches tall. I cut the bottom and top and had a base for two pincushions. It was a perfect shape. I used the same instructions, just enlarging the pieces. I stayed up until 1 a.m. this morning. No, I couldn't stop. I already have pieces for another one cut out for tonights TV watching session.
Here is my masterpiece. They look better in a group and I can't wait to get #2 started.

FREE STICHERY BOM--SO CUTE!!

TINY STITCHERY IN A YEAR LONG BLOCK OF THE MONTH AND IT'S FREE! Lynette Anderson is rewarding her viewers. The title is Noah's Ark and it is just darling. Not too much to be intimidating. Several blocks are already up and the rest will be showing up one each month. I am going to attempt this one, girls, and I thought if you have not been to her blog, you might at least want to trot on over and at least look at her beautiful work. Thank you to L. A. for this calorie free treat!! (click on the post title or the Noah's Ark BOM stamp on the sidebar)

Pincushions and Daddy's Ties

Working with ties that I have had in my closet forEVER! I decided to retrieve them and at least get them in a condition to consider making something with them. Some were my dad's and some were bought at garage sales. I clipped the tacking threads and they actually came apart fairly easy. Some are silk and some are poly blends. HEY--the pincushion swap that we have coming up for Christmas------maybe I could experiment with the ties-------. First I will get the ties pressed and organized.-----
THEN--my first attempt at a pincushion~~

Can do better next time--the word PINS needs to be bigger--

Another try at a pincushion--this time with felt and cotton fabric and trims:

I think I will remove the button trim and do some embroidery. At any rate, I am on a roll. I will post more progress later.

Here is another Paper pieced block using the ties.

Another Award This Time for My Ugly Mug

After receiving The Primitive Award from me, The Bitchy Stitcher got a bit bitchy. She did not understand why she received this award and proceeded to do research to find out exactly where it originated. Because of broken links, she was unsuccessful so she designed her own award--------------THE UGLY MUG AWARD.-------------


I am not sure why I received this award, I mean, my mug is ugly, but not THAT ugly. I have decided to just accept this award with the intent it was given and pass the torch to 3 lucky people who tend to also be a little bitchy at times. And that could be any of you but I have chosen the following who I do know are new to blogging and I want you all to get to know them and find out that their blogs are really terrific.

The Button Counter

Kath's Creations

Jerri's Journal

A DAYTIME QUICKY!!

A spur of the minute, quick, got an email about Cheddars and Poison Green fabric, trip to a quilt store about a hour away happened yesterday. Three Wackies on a Road Trip was what happened. We were "In the Mood" and NOT for sex. What was really on our minds was FABRIC and lots of it! The email on the previous day mentioned a new shipment of poison Green and Cheddar reproduction fabric. We have a weekness for Common Treads Quilt Store anyway and this is all we needed for the chips to fall into place. We shopped furiously for about an hour and a half and then went to lunch. The Dove's Nest was the place of choice and CLOSED at 2 pm---BUMMER. We chose another nearby sandwich shop. It was good, but not as good as Dove's Nest. If you are ever in Waxahachie, Texas, you must try it!!

Then-----uuhhhhhhh---uuuuhhhhhhhhh--BACK TO THE QUILT SHOP! Refreshed and nourished we decided to go at it again!! Nothing like a repeat "fix" I always say. The pics posted here are of my rewards. Some great western fabrics, shirtings, Poison Greens and Great Repro Cheddars, a light blue paisley that is one that, in my eye, would make a quilt look delightfully old and loved, a great background, and last but not least a large print Poison Green to use as a sash or backing for my antique reproduction of an applique museum quilt. I wish you all had been there----it was great. You can visit online here. Denise will wecome you with open arms.

A surprise from DH's very generous cousin, among other things was a grocery sack full of pieces. Pieces and patches that are the makings of her first unfinished quilt. As I glared into the sack, I was astonished at all the pieces. I could not tell how much of a quilt was in there. It actually looked to be scraps. After she left I dumped the sack out onto the floor and began to organize the pieces and patches into piles and peaches (sorry, I got carried away with "P" words LOL).

Actually, for a very first quilt she had done very very good. She had made at least half of the half square triangles and the rest were cut, paired, and ready to sew. Several blocks are completed and they are the right size with all their 1/4 inch seam allowances in tact. I am very impressed. I really hate that she quit, as she was doing just great.

I pulled one western fabric that I think would be a great with the solid and small print. I am thinking of combining these blocks with some other block for a 2-block quilt. EQ will come in handy for this project. I think I will see what I can come up with. I will post any progress.