Earlier Than I Thought

Oh my goodness, the morning started out just a wee bit crazy...I woke up, looked at the clock and was certain that it said 5:10...but it was odd, Andy was still in bed...that NEVER happens...he's up and out of bed every morning not a minute later than 4:30, and usually earlier.  I didn't give it another thought, went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth and in the meantime he got up, started the coffee and didn't even realize I was out of bed.  I came out looking for my coffee and he looked at me like I was nuts...I couldn't figure out what in the world was wrong...then he said, "Up a little early?"  My response, "Well a few minutes"...he then pointed to the clock...by this time it was not quite 4:20...Lesson learned...no major decisions, like getting out of bed, will ever be made again without my glasses!

But getting up early I did get to meat a night visitor to our back deck/porch...

I think he wanted to come in and have coffee this morning.  Love the little suction things on the end of his toes!

I also got out early for a short ride on Miss Pink...it was a beautiful morning and I had a lot of think time...I feel another post coming along...life related...oh I love when I open my ears...such clarity comes...I'll be back to share my insight from this morning.

I'll close for now with a little top I finished from a Primitive Gatherings club...I'm really enjoying this...a sweet friend gifted this to me for Christmas last year...it's the gift that keeps on giving...very, very fun...thank you sweet friend...I think of you often but especially when I work on these little cuties...

This and That and Maybe a Little Something Else....

I'll bet you're scratching your heads, saying "What in the world is she talking about today?  She's for weeks and weeks and then twice in one week...."  Well I had lots of questions about the 2 baby quilts...requests for pattern sources and pictures of the whole quilts...so here you go...

This is the quilt for my friend...The pattern name is Candy Shoppe Quilt by the Clothe Parcel...I think I originally saw it on Pinterest and then just Googled it...came as a PDF pattern...love that...instant gratification.  The other one...

the one for the baby is my creation...easy peasy...lots of 2" squares for the 16 patches and then more 2" squares for the 4 patches...the white strips around the 4 patches are cute 2"X3-1/2" and 2"X6-1/2"...set on point so you need setting triangles and corner triangles...I cut 9-3/4" squares and cut those twice for the side setting triangles and 5-1/4" for the corner triangles...those are both a bit overcut but I prefer to do that, add them to the quilt and then cut them down.  Make as many blocks as you want to make it the size you want...remember the formula for how big the blocks measure when on point is finished size (which is 6") X 1.414...that's exactly what I did to determine how many I needed to make.  This is a really easy, fun quilt to do...great way to use up tons of scraps...make as many blocks as you want and when you're done, you're done...FUN!

Those of you that have read my blog for a while know that I am the queen of steam...love that steam in my iron...well, look at the setting I've been using for some blocks...

yes your eyes are not deceiving you...NO steam!  I know I am still not believing it, but in this case it made the biggest difference in these blocks.  The blocks are from the Penny Candy pattern by Primitive Gatherings...the strips are cut 1-1/4"...lots of seams in these blocks...I've been having problems with them getting a little wonky so I thought I would give this a whirl and it worked...

dry iron, spray them with Magic Sizing and press...oh my goodness they came out sooooooooooooooooooo much better.  Now don't get me wrong, big blocks I'll be back to my steam...but these little blocks I'll be no steam until the very end when the block is done...

give it a good steam press...Can you tell I'm a happy girl?

And I just have to share this new cute girl that came to live at my house...

I saw her on Nicole's Facebook page (Raggedy Old Annie's) and it was love at first sight...I commented "I NEED her"...a few days later she was on my kitchen table...her dress with all those dogs on it and the dog tag in her hand...Yup, she needed to live at my house!  Thank you Nicole!  

I think I've remembered to tell you everything...Have a great rest of the week and a fabulous weekend!

Fun Weekend

It's Monday already...I don't even work anymore and the weekends fly by...it sure was a fun one.  Mr. Brown Quilts and I went up to the bike shop on Saturday morning to buy me my very own bike.  No more trying out the neighbor's...I'm in and I'm loving every minute.  They didn't have the color I wanted so I had to wait until yesterday to pick it up...it was worth the wait. 

Howie has already asked if he can ride in the basket...he has some body image issues, he has no clue that he's a bit to big...by about 80 pounds...LOL!

I was doing a little gardenia trimming on Saturday morning before we headed up to the bike shop and this sweet lady came flying in...

the kids think of my mom every time they see a ladybug...one seems to appear at every major event and mom promised them that she wouldn't miss a thing...hmmm!  Well after she flew in she crawled up on to the gardenia blossom...

which just happened to be mom's very favorite flower...hmmm again!  She stayed a long time...long enough for me to take several pictures

and to finish all my trimming.  As soon as I finished she flew away...Hmmm!

Back in February I showed you the beginning of this baby quilt for my friend's daughter...

I finished the binding yesterday so I'm all ready for Cooper to arrive...he's due July 6th...I can't believe I'm ahead for a change.  I also finished the quilt for my friend...

this is her first grand baby and as I say, every grandma needs a quilt at her house.  These quilts were so much fun to do...several of my friends shared their 30's stashes with me so I had tons of variety.  There were lots and lots of pieces of fabric cut for these 2 quilts and I can honestly say that there were many of these fabrics that I had never seen in my life...thanks girls...it sure was fun and you all helped make these really special!

That was our weekend...Happy week everyone!