Piecing it all together...

My newest little gb is now 2 months old...

Man! Time flies when you are having fun!

(he's frowning cause he wanted to come

go to the ranch with us this weekend...)

This weekend is our finishing touches 

on our kitchen counter tops!

 My sweet man is bound and determined

to get them finished and have my sink in

by the end of the long holiday weekend!

 Bless his heart, the first laminate he 

bought broke on him while

he was unloading it from the truck...

Needless to say,

He was DONE

at that point. 

But as you  can see, his second

attempt was successful and our

little island now has a top!

It's my job to finish up the edges...

Rhut Rho....

not sure he knows what he's asking...

On to other news...

I have been busy making

blocks for my swap partners...

Here is one that I made for Ann.

It's a paper pieced block.

 I am a little dyslexic, so I have

to sometimes do weird things

so I can picture what patterns

are telling me to do.

So I just colored one of my paper

pieces so I could see where 

this was going...

 I am not gonna lie...

this was a little mind-bending 

especially since I had never 

made one before!

But in the end, it

all worked out!

Can I get an

AMEN 

up in here????

I learned a lot about 

paper piecing...

#1

Don't USE COPIER PAPER!

It's too hard to remove when

you are done!

It was a lot of fun and it taught me 

a lot...and I am ready for my next

paper piecing...

Sew...what do you use

when you paper piece?

I don't want to make the 

same mistake twice!!!!

Table Running

I have been playing with a new gadget of mine...

A triangle template.

I figure everyone has one already...

but I didn't and I kept seeing

all these cute little quilts 

being made out of triangles...

well...I got a little envious and

decided to go in search for one.

It didn't take me long to find one at 

JoAnn's Fabrics...and then I was 

home before I knew it working on

this little table runner.

It isn't finished yet, but will be this week...

then it is off to a friend of mine 

that loves these colors...

and it is LONG OVERDUE!

What is your favorite template?

What did you make with it?

In the Garden

I have a friend at work that just finished 

building herself a really cool potting shed.

As soon as she told me about it, 

I had the idea to make her 

a gardening tool belt of sorts...

I used remnant fabrics from my mother-in-law's stash of

upholstery fabrics she left me- those seemed to be a little

more durable than what I had in my little stash.

 I added two small tool holders for either her 

gardening tools

or for keys, gloves..

however she wanted to use them.

 There are two belt ties and 

it is divided into three

sections with one accent 

pocket on the outside.

 And the labels I used came

 from my Label Crew Club

collection from Sweetwater Fabrics...

They were just the icing on the cake!

 

 I should have modeled it, but ran out of time!

It only took a couple of hours to make and

although I didn't have a pattern, I think it

turned out pretty well!

 

Just another fun way to

use up some odds and ends

in my stash from Miss Mary...

I think she would love how I have

 recreated her fabric stash!

What are some items you 

have made out of fabrics

given to you to re-purpose?

 

Mailbox surprises!

When I came home today I found these lovelies in my mailbox...
For the first time ever, I had the same Block Swap Adventure Partner as I did for my Block Swap group....

Ann Babillis! 

For the Block Swap Adventure, she made me this beautiful log cabin block so I could finish out pillows for my sweet man's quilt....

I LOVE IT!  

But she wasn't finished!  This beautiful block came for my Block Swap...

For some reason, I couldn't get this to rotate!  But look at that beauty!!

Look at all the fabrics! The handiwork...and it is ALL HAND SEWN! 
I mean seriously! So much TALENT!

I hope she likes what I made her... These just BLEW me out of the water!!!!

Ann, you are so gifted and I absolutely adore these blocks! You really outdid yourself!!!!
Hugs my friend!!!



Just a little update....
My newest little grandson is doing so GOOD!
Thought I would share the latest photos of him!

Happy Saturday!
Lana

It's about time...

My sweet husband has been waiting a year...

and Thanks to my sweet and wondeful Block Swap Adventure partners,
he is finally going to have one!!


THANK YOU LADIES SEW MUCH FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK!
Mr. Bill is VERY excited!!!

Riggins Everett

Just one more...

Riggins Everett

Our little baby grandson has arrived!!!!!!!
7 Lbs 10 ozs  21 inches born @3:46 pm CST
Pictures to come!!!!!

Ready to go...

No news on the grand baby yet...
but his mama has his room all ready!

AND... I have been busy finishing up 

his little bedding. I added a skirt for the 

crib along with a set of bumper pads.

(Bumper pads...sew EASY!)

We are packing it all up today and will hopefully

head out tomorrow...the plan was to 

wait until they either called or the 

doctor induces on Wednesday...

but I am a basket case just sitting here

and my sweet man decided to

take me to see my baby before she

has her baby...

Playing the waiting game...

This is the week....and tomorrow is supposed to be 

the day...but I don't know if it will happen...

My sweet daughter Jen and her man are awaiting the 

arrival of their first little one...

We have been sticking close to home in 

anticipation of the newest GB's arrival

since they live 8.5 hours away from us 

and we will make the drive...

 Did I mention that I am EXCITED????

Sew...I have been keeping busy with lots 

of work...and some fun items to pack

up and take with us!

This is finally the finished little quilt for 

my sweet baby grandson...

Remember this is the little quilt that I didn't have 

a pattern - I only had the picture

of a doll quilt to go by...

 I restarted this quilt and the second time 

was the charm!

That stitching was something new to me..

Didn't really know what to use.

I ended up just using embroidery thread-

all six strands doubled.

 I was a little worried when I washed it - 

I wasn't sure it would just bleed all those

glorious colors all over that brilliant white.

I threw in a couple of color catchers and it did just fine!

 I think all in all, this took about 50 hours to finish...

but it will have a lifetime of wear for my little man...

I have to say, I did become a little addicted to the hand

stitching and am excited to do more in the future!!!

My Jen wrote ever so lovingly on her twitter account

the following sincere message to her unborn son yesterday...

"Dear Riggins, I mean this with all the love in my heart:

Get Out. 

Get out get out get out get out get out

getoutgetoutgetoutgetoutgetoutgetout!"

and GiGi said 

AMEN!

A selfish pleasure

 

I usually don't make anything for myself...

I don't know why, it's just that I have 

other things on my plate.

Tonight, I took a little break from 

those and decided I needed something...

 Just like the little tutorial for the Easter Basket,

I cut this out the same way.

 When I cut the corners for the squared bottom,

for this one, I cut 3 inches in and 3 inches from the bottom.

On the liner, I stitched up the sides, and about 2 inches 

in on the bottom, leaving an opening to use for later.

 The other difference is that when I put in the liner,

I attached my straps and button holder at the top

of the canvas bag, right sides together

first and stitched them using a scant 1/4 inch line.

Once I had those in place,

I slipped the liner (right sides together) over the 

outside of the bag, pinned it at the top

and stitched 1/4 inch all the way around the top.

Then I simply pulled the inside (canvas) bag out 

through the bottom and tucked the liner inside the bag,

and stitched the opening in the bottom of the liner closed.

Don't you just love that liner fabric?

and I couldn't believe I had a button that actually 

matched perfectly!!!

 Once I tucked it all inside nice and straight and snug, 

I stitched around the bottom of the bag to give it 

the permanent boxed bottom shape.

I used a canvas and it was so forgiving when 

it came to hiding the actual thread line.

Now, instead of carrying two bags to work

everyday...(a purse and a lunch box) 

I can just place it all in this one.

Win-Win!