Monday, November 23, 2009

Giveaway day

Sew Mama Sew is having another Giveaway Day! It's December 2nd & I have decided to join in the fun! Check back here on Dec 2 to enter my giveaway! & be sure to check out Sew Mama Sew that day too for lots more giveaways to enter.

Friday, November 20, 2009

prayer quilt finished...

I finished the prayer quilt & delivered it to Pastor Kelly this week! I really like the way it turned out. I mentioned before that each block is a disappearing nine patch. There are four blocks. All I did was make a nine patch using 8 inch squares (I like to put a dark one in the center). Cut the nine patch through the middle horizontally and vertically. Twist & turn your blocks. There are so many different patterns you can create, I like this one with the pinwheel effect in the middle. Then sew the four patches back together into a new block! So simple, yet looks so complicated.
Here is the back of the quilt, with some extra 8 inch blocks used to make the fabric wide enough And the label, which I printed directly onto fabric from my computer!
I've been busy getting Christmas gifts sewn & wrapped. This bag is going to some special relatives filled with gifts
Happy weekend everyone!

Monday, November 16, 2009

First Prayer Quilt

I've been working on my first prayer quilt for my pastor, Kelly's, mom, Kay. Kay is going through some difficult chemo treatments for cancer right now. She will be the first, hopefully of many, to receive a prayer quilt from our congregation.

Kelly said her favorite color is blue. I did most of this with blues from my stash, plus a couple of extra fat quarters. It's my own variation of a disappearing nine patch.....Yesterday I took the quilt to church & everyone had an opportunity to tie it. When each person took their turn tying, they offered up a prayer for Kay.
Even the little girls got in on the act...
You can see that the men tied too. Here are Pastor Kelly and her daughter Kelsey (hidden, you can see her pink sleeve!) signing their names after they tied...

And my son Steve....
I think everyone really felt good about participating. Several women offered me fabric and a couple offered to help sew! So a new ministry is born. Today I am finishing up the quilt with binding. I will show you how it turns out later in the week.

Monday, November 9, 2009

New Pattern!

My printer is churning away today, printing out my new pattern! It's called the NYC Hipster bag. A great little bag to sling across your chest to keep you cash & odds & ends close to you while shopping in the city (or anyplace else for that matter!) The best thing about this bag is that you can make it out of three coordinating fat quarters! The finished bag is 9 1/2 inches square & about 1/2 inch deep. There are pockets on the inside for your phone & cash, a big pocket on the outside, a magnetic snap & a cool little hook for your keys....

a fancy patchwork back and straps....
you're going to want to make a bunch of these! I use mine (this one!) just about every day. I need to make one that's a bit more fallish I guess! Email me at ellynsplace.sbcglobal.net to order the pattern. I'm selling them for $8 plus shipping.

ok, I'm off to Walmart to buy more paper for the printer.... Happy Monday!

Thursday, November 5, 2009

a treat...

By now you may have guessed what my favorite color is! I love RED! & for those of you who have been getting dizzy lately because every time you check my blog, it looks different, I promise this is how it's going to stay. For now. Ok, for a long time!


We've been in our house in Texas more than seven years now. Wow. That went really fast! All this time I have been adding touches (ok, more like big splashes!) of red to the kitchen. Let's take a little tour, shall we? Here is my wonderful IKEA cabinet (with a tiny bit of my IKEA light fixture poking into the photo). Isn't it pretty? When I saw it, I knew it needed to hang out on this wall & house all of my teapots! There are lots of little red things all over my kitchen.....
And cherries.... I adore Mary Engelbreit's cherries! Here's her wallpaper border, and a pieced valance I made a long time ago....

The only problem was that the dishes we brought with us from Colorado were not red. Not a speck. They were pretty.... pastel greens & yellows with Debbie Mumm watering cans & flowers on them. They did not go in my Texas kitchen at all! Oh, & they had no serving pieces either. I had a mish mash of different bowls & platters.

Those of you who know me well know that I am also quite clumsy. I, ummmm, how shall we say this gently? I tend to break things. A lot. Well, less now than when I was a kid, but still a lot! So we were down to 6 plates (2 of them chipped) & 4 bowls.... fine when it was just the four of us for dinner. No. Not really fine.

So, today, the UPS man came!
And I had the best time unpacking boxes!


Twelve place settings of beautiful red dishes! They were on sale in the JC Penney catalogue & I was so tempted by them. & then I got a coupon in my email for free shipping. And well.... I couldn't help myself!

And get this! There was a completer set of serving pieces too! Two platters & three bowls! YAY!


I guess now I need to go empty out my kitchen cupboards & wipe them clean so I can put these pretty dishes away! Or maybe I will just leave them out & look at them for a few days? I'll bet our dinners will taste so much better now!

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Like my new look?

A big THANK YOU! to Lisa who has been working on giving my blog a new, snazzy look. Pretty awesome I think! Don't you? I told her, no fluffy, pretty, feminine stuff, I'm more a colorful, whimsy, contemporary kind of gal. Now don't get bent out of shape if you are one of those fluffy gals, I totally enjoy you (and your blogs!), it's just not ME! I think it's kind of cool how we're all unique. Makes for a much more interesting world, don't you think?


So, I am working away at lots of Christmas gifts, which I don't dare put pictures of on here! You never know who might be reading along. Surely there are ways to track that? Hmmm another question for poor Lisa, who is way smarter than I am about these things! I am also polishing off my NYC Hipster bag pattern & will debut it here very very soon. There were some recent computer issues at our house. In a house with only four people and five computers, you wouldn't think I'd have a problem! Apparently only 2 of those computers have publisher on them, which is what I use for pattern writing. One is my laptop which has recently become turtley (is that a word?) slow. The other is Ally's laptop, which, until this weekend, was not attached to a printer! This problem has now been fixed! Yay! On with the pattern writing!


So, while I am chatting away with no lovely photos to share, I will direct you to the new blog of my darling daughter, Leigh Anne. If you are/ever were/wish you were a dancer, or if you just enjoy watching dance (that's me), check it out. She is reviewing Fox TVs So You Think You Can Dance every week, giving her viewpoint on the dances/outfits/judges. Her writing style is, like her, quite bold & sarcastic & I for one am enjoying it.


I promise pictures (of something?) soon!