...our feathered friends

Penny and Scot-the wrens - are busy at it....with all the wind and rain we had this wkend, they weathered the storms better than some of the plants. the nest appears to be complete and Penny & Scot have taken up full time residence....have named the wrens after the Penobscot River in Maine - (my parents had a beautiful place there on edge of river w/tons of birdfeeders, etc.....). We should have eggs within the next week.......I'm working on getting my husband to help me move my sewing space into the FL room by the window so the activity can be enjoyed. I used to breed lovebirds and it is sooo much fun to 'share' the nesting experience....the hatchlings are some cute! for those that may be interested in following the antics of Penny & Scot, i'll be updating..........sort of a birding journal. Will take pics if lucky.....

Memorial Day

Good Morning Everyone,

I hope you are all having a wonderful Memorial Day. I will be spending the day with four of my favorite Veterans, Bert - Marines, David - Navy, Douglas - Army, and Becky - Air Force. I will be missing those that have gone on but they will be with us in spirit. I am very proud of our Military Men and Women. Thank you for serving. Deb

Dear Jane Blocks

I just wanted to let everyone know that I have finished my first Dear Jane Block. At first I didn't understand the directions.... Called Deb and left a message.... turned the stupid TV on but kept looking at the pattern sitting there on the table. Told myself it can't be that hard. Remember the V-8 commercials?!? Well I did just that... hit my forhead and asked myself what was I thinking before. However my block turned out to be a 5 inch square and not 5 1/2. Did I do something wrong??????

Happy Sewing !!

City News

I took this class last Saturday. I have it pieced. Yeah! Of course, I had help deciding where to place each block. Ren and I did that last night. It took about two hours. But I am pleased. What do you think Ren? Now I'm ready to go back to The Quilting Station and pick out some borders and backing. Yeah!!! Deb

I am so blessed.....

Last night Deb and I went to visit her Mother, Doris, I just love that woman. She shared some of her wonderful quilts with us and after cleaning up my drooling over them. I ask her to do me a really......really.....really.....big favorite. She said she would. I am not going to tell you about it till "DEB" (please please please) takes a picture but I want you all to know how thankful I am to have all of the STITCH AND RIP GANG in my life. Thank you! Have a wonderful weekend and God Bless America!
Ren

Special Quilts

Here are a couple of my favorite quilts. There is nothing special about them. The one is just squares sewn together. The other is a maple leave design. What makes them special to me is they were both quilted by my Great Grandmother. My Dad was going to burn them. I couldn't believe him. But they've been rescued and live in my house now. Both my sons know these are special quilts. They will have to fight over who gets which ones when I'm dead and gone, but I won't have to worry about them being burned. I just wanted to share them with you. Deb

Not Enought....TIME!

As Deb mentioned in her last note, what a great time we had at sit and sew. I was having such a great time, that "TIME" just flew by and I had to leave. It was like I was only their for a moment and then it was over. We talked over our Dear Jane possibility (project), Anne went to the Home Machine Quilt Show in Utah and brought back such great pictures, WOW! awesome quilts and she did a great job taking pictures. Several of the ladies are taking classes at the Quilting Station (I am jealous) today, as a matter of fact. Hopefully Deb will post pictures! (hint hint). Terry brought her new baby with her (Jem Gold sewing machine) and we played with it. Rebecca was busy in the corner sewing on a project and I did not get to find out what is was all about, if you read this Rebecca let us hear what you are working on? Of course we laughed and laughed and talked "quilting". What do you do at your sit and sews? Oops, I forgot, we also stitched some on projects. LOL. I hope you have as much fun at your sit and sew as I do at mine.
On a different note, I am having a busy week with family responsibility's and not enough sewing time. Do you find that happens to you? When do you find time to sew? knit? cross stitch? or whatever you find relaxing? I would love to hear from other's maybe you will have the solutions to my problem....NOT ENOUGH TIME. Gotta run...............
One stitch at a time,
Ren

Mom's Quilts

My Mom, Doris, doesn't do computers. So I thought I would show you a couple of her quilts. The first is a Disappearing Nine Patch. Isn't is gorgeous. The other is a French Braid. Also Gorgeous. She hand quilts most of her quilts and they are just beautiful. To think this woman didn't want to quilt. I had asked her to work on a quilt for each of my two sons. I wanted them to have a quilt that their Mother and Grandmother had worked on together. She complained the whole time. When we finished those two she asked me to cut her another one out. She liked the piecing, but that was all. It wasn't long before I couldn't cut them out fast enough. I bought her a rotary cutter, mat and ruler and said have at. She is always doing something and she finishes her quilts. She's on vacation this week. She called just a few minutes ago to say she has another top ready. She is amazing. Deb

Bags, Bags & More Bags

We had a very nice lady by the name of Shirley that came and taught us a quilted bag class. It was so much fun and not too difficult. A couple of the ladies got a little carried away. I won't name any names. Mom got carried away too, but she was too quick to be caught on camera. Deb

Baby Quilts

These are three baby quilts that have been finished and delivered before the babies were born! Yeah! The pink quilt is a Disappearing Nine Patch that was so much fun. The backing is Alabama. The father is a huge Alabama fan. The other two are Trips Around The World. I love making these quilts. The one at the bottom was done all in flannels and the one on the right was not. Both were for boys. Deb

A Completed Quilt

I've actually completed some projects. This is a rag quilt done all in purples. It was very hard to part with as purple is my favorite color, but my niece is a lover of purple so it wasn't too bad. Deb

Sit N Sew

We had another great Sit N Sew tonight. I just love getting together with the girls. We discussed taking on a Dear Jane Quilt project. I like the idea. I wasn't too keen on it when we first started talking about it, but now I'm excited and can hardly wait to start. Ren, what have you started?

Deb

I have Problems!

Hi Ya'll,
Well......I had two projects to complete last week and......and.....and.....you guessed it. I only completed one, my next project is still sitting their. You know when you plan something and organized it and your all excited about it, fired up to complete it and......and......things happen. Well that is me, my life, so move on. This week, no project to complete, taken care of family but next week will start on project 2. This UFO, PIG, WIP, etc are about the experience, the knowledge, the doing, the completion. Not the speed or the how many I can cross off my list....O who am I kidding it is about getting these projects done so I can go shopping for more projects. I am hopeless.......welcome to hopelessville, home of me. Come join me, stay a while finish one of my projects...ya'll come back, here or is it hear?
Ren

Happy Mother's Day

I want to wish all my friends a Happy Mother's Day. You are all so special and I am very lucky to have friends like you. Enjoy your day.

Deb

WIP's

Now that I've listed my top five UFO's I thought I would list my top five WIP's.

1. Circle Challenge with PQG. Due in June. (Why did I do this?)

The next three are crochet projects

2. Wedding gift - name in crochet Due in June.
3. Reunion - auction item. Due in July.
4. A different reunion - door prize. Due in July.

Something fun to work on.

5. Souvenir blocks for quilt show. Due whenever I get them done. I needed one with no stress.

Deb

LOVING THE NEW MACHINE

Hi Ya'll,
Hope this finds everyone doing well. As you know my sewing machine was electrocuted a while back..................(gee, I miss it) and I have been looking for a new machine. So........checked out Bernina (that was my last one), checked out Viking (oo la la), checked out Janome (loved it but was very loud) and checked out Brothers.........fell in love with a Innovis QC1000, so I brought it home to live with me.....and.......and......I am loving it. I bought it at the Quilting Station in Pace and using it is so easy, I have not had to take a class, yet.
I have also started cleaning out the sewing room, making a pile of get rid of, and I am making a UFO, PIG, WIP, WHY DID I EVEN START THIS PROJECT, oops I forgot I had this project and WHAT IS THIS PROJECT SUPPOSE TO BE "?" pile. My number came in bigger than the national debt (don't tell Sweetie). So I have challenged myself and Miss Deb to start finishing up those......will you know.......would anyone like to join in. I will be posting a picture of each project I finish....maybe.....would that be another project? Well lets hear what you think of my plan !
Have a great day.
Ren

UFO's

I have too many UFO's to list, but I thought I would list my top 5 UFO's and maybe this would encourage me to finish them. So here goes.

1. Sticks & Stones - The easiest one. Prepare backing and take to Quilter.
2. Orange Basket Weave - Bind. (I love to bind so why don't I have this one finished?)
3. One Block Wonder - Add borders, quilt & bind.
4. Blue Trip Around The World - Add borders, quilt & bind.
5. Double Wedding Ring (That I absolutely hate to work on.) - Finish piecing.

That's my top 5. The worse one is the Double Wedding Ring. If I can just get it pieced, I'll be happy.

Deb

Patchwork Hearts

This is a quilt I actually finished. Yeah! I took this class at Timpoochee in 2008, but I was using purples. It was very easy and fast. I decided to switch to oranges because I had someone in particular for this quilt. Don't look too close at the quilting as I did it myself on my little Mega Quilter. Deb

What better way to spend a Saturday

I spent a lovely day at The Quilting Station taking a class. It was wonderful. I have a baby quilt almost ready to quilt. Made some new friends and saw some old friends. Bought more fabric. Signed up for another class. I can't think of a better way to spend a Saturday. My day was good.

Deb

Jacob Aaron

It's official. Nana Jaye has another grandson. Jacob Aaron was born May 1st and Nana Jaye is on her way. Congratulations to the new parents, Molly and David. Now Erica has a playmate.

So Much Going On

Good Morning Everyone, So much going on, since our last sit n sew. Jaye has become a grandmama again. Adam and Tonya welcomed baby Kenneth Billy into this world on April 14th. He's adorable, of course, he has Jaye for a Grandmama. Or I think she prefers Nana Jaye. Now she's waiting anxiously for her daughter, Molly, to deliver the third grandchild. Another boy. Any day now.

Our Saturday sit n sew at Sheila's was lots of fun. I completed one of the star souvenir blocks that I didn't like at all. I talked a lot. I think Ren, Annie, Catharine and Paige actually got some work done. Sheila being our hostess really didn't get much done. She was making sure everyone was comfortable and well fed. Then we went out to dinner afterwards with our spouses at the Blackwater Bistro or Grill. Something like that. I believe everyone had a great time. I know I did.

I've decided to start on my UFO's. I started by cleaning out my sewing room and taking all the UFO's and putting them under my husband's pool table. I quickly ran out of room there. I would like to try and finish a UFO a week. Of course, that's not going to happen. If I finish one a month, I'll be happy. I need to stop taking classes. With that said, I'm taking Ellen's Puzzle quilt class this Saturday. I'm really excited about that. It is so cute and will make an excellent baby quilt. With everyone having babies now I needed a different pattern. Hopefully this one won't become a UFO.

Remember starting this month we will be at The Quilting Station in Pace on May 14th from 6 -9 pm. See you all there.

Deb