How is THIS for a great surprise?

My good blogging friend, Sandi, is a real sweetheart. She and I hit it off as soon as we "met" online. She asked me to be a moderator of one of her Yahoo groups (although I feel that I don't really do much to help her.....but she knows I'm there if she needs me and I guess that's what counts). Anyway.....she told me she was going to send some Christmas charm squares. One day, recently, I received a card and package and I opened it to find this:I was really happy and said to myself, "Wow....Sandi didn't send me charm squares....she sent me YARDAGE of a very nice Christmas fabric!!!" (and one I don't have yet, I might add). So I happily started to open up that piece of fabric, thinking about what I might make with it, and I found this:YUP...yardage of a SECOND Christmas fabric that was also one I don't have!!! How happy was I? VERY happy, I can assure you. I then unfolded that green fabric and......look at this....

LOTS of charm squares of Christmas fabric and, amazingly, I don't have ANY of those fabrics in my present stash of Christmas fabrics. (Funny how different fabrics can be found in different areas!) You can certainly understand my surprise and happiness with this great package! Thanks, Sandi.....you are a really kind and generous person!

A start to a red, white, and blue quilt......

Recently I had a chance to become part of a "no-sew" block swap using the colors red, white, and blue. Since I don't have a red, white and blue quilt yet, I jumped at the chance. (The swap is closed now...in case anyone was wondering.) The rules were for us to choose a 12-inch block from among a list provided to us. We were then to cut out the pieces for that block 9 times and put each set in a baggie. We were to keep 1 baggie for ourselves (to make our chosen block) and send the rest to the swap organizer. I chose a block called Carrie Nation and here is a picture of it after I assembled my pieces. I am excited at the thought of getting 8 baggies back with pieces to make 8 other blocks in red, white and blue. I hope the other 8 swappers like making this block as much as I did.

NOTE: this explanation is being added to answer one of the questions posed in a comment below about why this was called a NO-SEW-SWAP (as I guess my prior explanation wasn't clear). It was called that because we just cut OUT the pieces for all the other participants and put them in baggies and sent them off to the swap organizer....we did not SEW them for the others. The swap organizer then takes one baggie from each of us and sends that collection of different baggies with different pieces in them to each of us. Nobody sews untl those baggies reach them and then they look at the name of the block on each baggie....find the directions for THAT block on the site we are using...and use the pieces someone else already cut out for them and THEN sew. So...you don't sew until AFTER you swap!!!

Fun coming up for February.....

Several months back, I signed up for a cottage block swap with 11 others. (We didn't start at the beginning of the year.) We now have several blocks that have been made and sent to us and I've shown them as they arrived. I was signed up to make the cottage for February. I have 4 of them made so far. They all have the same "roof" fabric, "window" fabric, "sky" fabric and "door" fabric, but then I varied each of them a bit for the walls, chimneys and wonky borders. All the fabrics reminded me of Valentine's Day and that is why I chose them for my cottages. I am going to send each gal in the swap a red heart-shaped button for a "doorknob". (Figure it's best for them to be put in place after the quilting is done.) I think the cottages are so cute so far.....what do YOU think? I'll be excited to send them on to their new owners at the end of the month!

UFO Challenge # 1

See the "flying saucer" to the right......where it says UFO challenge??? Well.......you can click on there and find out about the UFO challenge for which I signed up in 2010. The gal who organizes it (Nancy at Patchwork Penguin) has us select 10 UFO's and assign a number (from 1 to 10) to each of them. She then announces a number each month (Jan. - Oct.). We take the UFO with THAT number and work on it that month and aim to finish it before the month is over. Number 4 was chosen for January and that is my Christmas candle mat I'd wanted for this past Christmas. To the left is a photo of it before it was started. Now I hope to get it done in the next couple of weeks as part of this challenge. Anyone can still sign up for this UFO challenge, if they wish....just click on that flying saucer and it will take you to the right spot on Nancy's blog!

I was asked.....

I was asked to show you all my Jim Shore figurines, so here are several photos. I notice a few are blurry......wish I was a better photographer....but you will get the idea. If you didn't see my post from yesterday, you can look there to see the two I got for Christmas (the 3 little pigs and the sewing box) as I didn't post them again here today.

The snowlady was the first one I got.....bought it for myself. I also bought the Santa. I got both of them on sale after Christmas year before last.
Then my good friend, Linda (no blog but she does quilt) gave me this angel for my birthday. The photo isn't so good....but trust me, she is a very pretty angel with nice details....flowers in her basket, etc. and she has blue eyes like I do. (Sorry for another blurry photo when you enlarge it.)These next two are ornaments I got on clearance......one is a teacher ornament holding an apple and pointing at the blackboard (since I'm a retired teacher) and on the blackboard it says......"Education is the road to success".....I leave this out year-roundAnd here we have a very blurry (UGH....sorry!!!) photo of a kitty cat ornament....that I also leave out year-round. Trust me when I say this one is cute, too....although you'd not know it from this photo!!!This pelican caught my eye when in one of the "beachy" stores with hubby and it came home with us awhile back. The snail which holds a candle was a gift last Christmas from hubby. (He works from a list of figurines I've admired and then chooses from that list.)This Easter basket I got for myself. The eggs are removable and the detail on the eggs and the basket is wonderful and can only be appreciated if you click and look closely. (And hopefully, it's not too blurry with the picture I took.) The Easter rabbit holding the egg was my best "find" as I got it for just $1 at a yard sale last spring!!! WOW.....was I excited THAT day!!!!And this is the scarecrow I bought while on my quilting retreat in November in the Amish area of Pennsylvania. He even has a crow FAMILY in his bucket!!! (Click to see them closer!) The detail on Jim Shore figurines from all angles is wonderful. He makes a lot of other artwork, but I prefer the figurines that have little quilt patterns worked into them (as do all these I've shown today as well as the two new ones I showed on yesterday's post). I'm sure I'll add to the collection as time goes by as they are such fun pieces. I hope you enjoyed seeing them!

Additions to my Jim Shore collection....

I was happy that hubby added to my collection of Jim Shore figurines on Christmas morning. Here are photos of my two new pieces. Of course, you probably recognize this is the 3 little pigs. There are actual pieces of straw in the one pig's bag and the middle pig has actual twigs in the bag that is behind him. Aren't these 3 cute? (Click on them to seem them in greater detail.....sorry if my photography is a bit blurry!)

Next is a small, hinged box with a tiny sewing machine on top of it (with a teeny tiny spool of thread). The photo below that shows the box opened up with another spool of thread and teeny tiny scissors fastened to the inside of the lid. I am sure you will agree that this is just the perfect Jim Shore piece for a quilter!!!

HAPPY 2010 to you and your loved ones!

As we begin a new year with all the promises of "fresh starts" that it brings, I decided to start the year off with a cute picture (that does have a message behind it). May our world become a better place soon.....no time like the present to start, right? I wish health, financial security, happiness, and peace for all of you and your loved ones....and I thank each of you for being such wonderful blogging friends to me throughout all of 2009. Thanks to Myra of TACTILE PLEASURES for this photo. (click on it to see it in greater detail) Go visit her blog if you don't "know" her already. She is a fun quilter from Canada! Oh, yes....the title for this picture is.....

HUNDREDS GATHER TO PROTEST GLOBAL WARMING