Under the Wire.....

Well, I only finished one entry for the contest but I still consider myself a winner. I never would have gotten this far on my Hidden Stars quilt if Kelly hadn't "forced" me to get off my butt and get something finished. Thanks, Kelly! Here is the Cheri Christmas quilt. I'm changing the name now officially to the HoHoHo Quilt.

I'm not too sure on the Santa face yet. It is machine appliqued with the blanket stitch in black. Fortunately I turned under the edges with the starch method and glued the pieces with Roxanne's glue. Until the minute before I layer and baste it, I can still change my mind, take out the black stitching and hand applique it down. His eyes and the ball at the end of his cap are missing but they need to be added after the quilting (buttons). The Santa face came from Cheri's 301 Country Christmas Quilt Blocks.

This is a picture of what I have finished on the Hidden Stars......


And the border that is pieced so far......


I have to do 16 of those half-star units plus 32 of other unit before I can put on the border.


Now for my list of excuses for not finishing.....it's required.

1. I went with 3 other women from my church this morning to visit the famous MaryJo's. One lady had just moved to town and we HAD to take her. I wish they would have picked a different day but....

2. TurfBoy is on vacation starting today. He drove from Clemson this afternoon and is spending the night before heading to Myrtle Beach in the morning for a week. Being that he is still single and hence I am the only woman in his life, I HAD to cook for him. So I just spent the last 5 hours making brownies, breakfast casserole and three full meals for him and 6 of his closest friends. Otherwise they will just eat beer and pizza all week! What can I say, it's a mother's job.

3. One of my co-workers died Wednesday night from bone cancer. His visitation was tonight and funeral tomorrow. Dear Hubby and I went to see him Monday night but I don't think he could tell I was there. This is the second co-worker that has died of cancer since February. When there is only 18 people in the entire office, I'm just saying.....


Well, I'm off to comment on Kelly's blog that I have finished. Click on this link to see all the finishes for this month. Now to start thinking of my challenges for next month.....

Blessings, Cathi

A giggle for today.....

I really am making headway on my Charming Girls Challenge but I have a feeling I will be posting at midnight on Friday! I finished the Cheri Christmas quilt late last night.....too late to take a picture. The Hidden Stars is coming along just fine although I don't think that one will make it. The border is pieced. That may take a little longer.

But to brighten up your day (and mine), here is a little giggle that I have had for quite some time.



Blessings, Cathi

A Sneak Peak .....

Here's a sneak peak at how much I have gotten finished on my Charming Girls challenge.


The top is finished and the applique is part way finished. I want to applique "Ho Ho Ho" next to Santa's face but I'm not sure I want to turn under those little letters. I might just "wonder under" those suckers down and machine applique.


Dear Hubby, the Wild One and Computer Geek are all going away this weekend! Did I sound excited? I didn't mean to *snicker, snicker*. So I hope to get the Hidden Stars top pieced. That will just give me until Friday to get the applique finished on the Christmas quilt to meet Kelly's challenge. I know I can do it!!

Blessings, Cathi

Charming Girls Update.....

In spite of my whining, I have made some headway on my 2 projects.


Not much to show on the Hidden Stars yet. I did finish cutting out all the blocks and put all the half-square triangles together.


But I do have a picture of the Christmas quilt. It's called Christmas Morning and can be found in Cheri's My Christmas Best.


As you can see, I have 11 rows finished.....6 rows to go. Then it's on to borders and some applique.


I really need to find a better way to take pictures. I lost my design wall when The Wild One moved back home. This way works as long as Dear Hubby doesn't find out how many straight pins I put into the side of the house! This is one time I am glad we don't have vinyl siding. Dear Hubby just spent two summers repainting the house. Looks good with the quilt, doesn't it? I'll have to show before and after pictures someday.

Blessings, Cathi

Heck, let's throw a few more WIPs onto the pile.....

Here a few more projects that I am SSSSOOO close to finishing. I worked on both of these during the Texas trip.

This is the Annie pattern that I bought back in May. Her face is finished now. The arms, legs and body are sewn and turned. Just need to stuff and make a cute little dress for her.



And this was a free pattern from Blackbird Designs. It's stitched on 30 count linen over two threads.....in a moving truck.....going down the interstate at 75 plus mph......wow.....no wonder I didn't finish it!


Blessings, Cathi

Deleting the term UFO from my vocabulary.....

So I was thinking.....here is where Dear Hubby rolls his eyes and mutters something about hurting my brain too much.....what does UFO really mean? For most of us crafters and quilters, it means UnFinished Object. Or to some it is WIPs (Works In Progress) and some even use PIGS (Projects In Grocery Sacks).

But isn't just about everything covered under UFO's.....including patterns, books, a magazine picture, random ideas rolling in the muddy mess of my brain? When I look at a picture magazine and say to myself (cause nobody else in my house listens to my ramblings). "Boy, I'd like to make that soon", doesn't it then become a UFO? It's unfinished, it's an object that I want. But it hasn't been started yet. Something started is a WIP.

I'm going somewhere with this....hang in there.... So what the heck was I thinking the other day when I chose a WIP AND a project that I hadn't even started yet for Kelly's challenge? I have at least 15 WIPs already started. Why didn't I just pick one of those to FINISH instead of starting something new?

Well, choose them I did so shut up, Cathi, and move on.

I finished cutting out the 20 something blocks for the Hidden Stars quilt and I cut out all the pieces for the Cheri Christmas quilt.



But so I don't fool myself again into thinking a UFO is the same as a WIP, I am erasing UFO from my vocabulary....and from my sidebar. From now on, they are all Works In Progress. And if they aren't, they are just piles of fabric and stacks of papers waiting.

Blessings, Cathi

Did you know I'm a Charming Girl.....

I just found out about this little club this afternoon. It's a group that was started by Kelly at Charming Chatter. The deal is that we post our UFO's or WIP's on our blog by the 7th of each month (note the date today!! I better hurry). If we finish whatever we blogged about by the end of the month, we are entered into a drawing.

>

And the best part is.....if you don't finish what you said you would, the quilt police don't come to your door and arrest you! You just aren't entered into the contest.

Well, I'm going to be brave and enter two. I don't have any plans for the rest of the month.

The first one is a class I took back in February. I have finished 36 of the 63 blocks. So just 20 something more to do plus the border, quilting, and binding. Piece of cake!


The other one is a quilt I have been wanting to make for quite a while. And since this is CIJ - Christmas in July (see my explanation just under the header), I thought I would give this a shot. It's a Cheri Saffiote-Payne pattern. I haven't even picked out the fabric yet but I KNOW I have them all so it shouldn't be too hard.


So wish me luck! And if I don't blog for a couple of days, it's because I am lost in a sea of green plaids!

Blessings, Cathi

John and Abigail Adams.....

.....what a true love story. All the correspondence between John and Abigail can be found at this website.

"I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more."

excerpt from letter from John Adams to Abigail Adams, 3 July 1776

Have a safe and Happy 4th of July.

Blessings, Cathi

And now back to quilting.....

Or at least back to using a needle and thread. I had planned to post just about quilting originally on this blog. But I really like prim decorating, too. And then again, I just love being out in the yard and garden (in the spring and fall when the humidity is low...LOL). But it seems I have gotten away from any quilt posting. But then again, it is MY blog and I can do what I want.

Okay, enough rambling. I have been working on some things. I am caught up with Gail Pan Christmas Wish blocks. Her 7th one should come out on Tuesday.

I had worked on them in the car during the Texas trip. Anyone that is working on them will notice that "Believe" is missing some stitches. I have decided to do something different but need to wait until the entire quilt (or wallhanging) is put together.

I think I like the "Peace" block the best so far. I love them all but there is something about all the stitching on this one that is so sweet.

I'm starting to get an idea in my head of how I want to finish this. I'll wait and see Gail's finish first but I'm getting ideas.......!

Blessings, Cathi