And I got a SEWING MACHINE!!

Whoo hoo. The hubby is good. :D I got a new Singer Confidence sewing machine AND a proper sewing table with a drop down spot for the machine. The machine is a little too big for the drop down part, so we're going to get a new table, but yea.. the hubby is good. AND he let me get some more fabric. Not too much, but just a little bit, enough to make a girl happy. :D He got me a fat eighth pack of polka dots which is just too cool.

I'm re-charging the camera from JellyBeans 2nd Christmas, so there will be pictures soon, and there will be pictures tomorrow of my new play toy.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. :D I'll be back tomorrow with a new installment!

Mons Christmas Candle Mat

Just me again.

Showing off the candle mat that I finally finished quilting for Mom. It's got the heat resistant batting so she can double it as a pot-holder too if she wants. The quilting's not perfect, but I'm just happy that I got it finished before Christmas!

I haven't abandoned anyone!

I've been so busy creating for Christmas, and having JellyBeans 1st birthday - I've been busy!

Here is the birthday girl eating her Elmo cupcake:


She got a little tired near the end, and just shoved her face right onto the cupcake.

This was the original cake I tried to make. It was from a Build-A-Bear mold, but the frosting was too heavy and it collapsed on itself. We did eat it anyway - and it was good!


A Christmas Gift for my grandmother:

Made for my grandmother for Christmas (Sorry the picture is a bit blurry) it's an eyeglass case at the top part, and a pen holder at the bottom. There are spaces for 2 pens/pencils. Nana keeps misplacing her pens and she almost always needs her glasses to write, so I figured why not get both in one!

A cute little fabric postcard for a swap on Flikr:

Here is my fabric postcard for the ORB postcard swap! :) I'm not sharing who it's going to. Because of the snow it's in the mail on Monday (hopefully!!) It's actually in an envelope to protect it from the snow, and it's waiting in our mailbox to be picked up!

And my re-send to Karol-Ann for the stitchers angel swap:

The only thing you can really see clearly (I want her to have a surprise or two!!) is the rose fabric bowl.

And just so anyone knows - my mother in law mailed us a painting on 19 October 2009 from England. We just got it on 18 December!! So maybe the first parcel is still winging its way to Karol-Ann.


And...
My gorgeous STUD mini quilt from chocolate_is_the_best_medicine on Flikr:

Look at this hand embroidery:

And more

Thanksgiving has been here and passed.. and I'm still no where near more ready for Christmas. Mom and I went out shopping on Black Friday, and did most of the shopping then (I was in Kohl's three times!!!) and got most of my gifts. Now they're all hidden all over the house (so Bean doesn't find them, or the hubby) and I have to get them wrapped. Now all I need is more time! :)

Here's more of what I've been working on (instead of wrapping!!)

For Dee, only a little sneak peak: Yours is in the mail on Monday. I finished part 2! :)


This was the mini quilt that I sent to Maya for the Four Seasons Holiday Quilt Swap. She did receive it (so now I can post it!), but was away for Thanksgiving so it took her a little bit to respond.



This is the beautiful Mini I received in the swap from the extremely talented Sara:



Would you believe she said this was her first time doing embroidery?? It's too perfect, and already hanging up on our walls.

This was one I was late on, it was for STUD October to Kathy: (She did receive it in November, I just got around to uploading it.



And...
I conquered Triangles!!
I'm still nervous about making them, but I'm no longer scared.

We have a winner! and there's more...

And the giveaway winner is.............


Anne-Lise

I went to Random.org and clicked "get a number" and drew #3. So I went and double checked who was post #3 in the Giveaway, and it was Anne-Lise.

**HOWEVER**
Since there were only 10 people who signed up for my giveaway, I'd like to make a little thank you to everyone for participating - so if you could all email me your snail mail address, I'd get a little giftie to you all in the post soon (by the 2nd week in September - I need to make them!) My email is terryandjennifer4ever AT yahoo DOT com - so just give me a little time. :)

Thank you to everyone for participating! I really do appreciate it, and I hope you like your little gifties.

Winter Quilt Progress

I've started on 3 different winter quilts, because I really don't know what I'm planning on doing yet. I'm considering making an applique snowflake too, but right now I'm really liking the look of this Snowflake Print Dresden Plate:


And then with some leftovers of the snowflake prints, I've made some coin strips that are 4.5 inches wide, and 2 inches high. You can't tell from the photo, but there are 4 strips here, each measure about 18 inches tall. I've got a gorgeous white on white fabric that would look lovely between the strips, - so I might do that as the holiday quilt.. I'm just not sure. Oh the possibilities!


And for my Aunt Janet - I got the idea while doing the other Dresden plate. Aunt Janet recently found out that she is in remission from Ovarian Cancer, and she absolutely loves flowers. So as I was looking through my scraps of fabric I found awesome brights - and the scraps were the perfect size to make into another Dresden Plate. See?

This is the photo of it not sewn together yet, but I've sewn the blades together, and I'll have to applique the center in, but I just love the way it's looking so far. I'm thinking that I'll make it into either a wall hanging or a table topper. And I'm thinking a white or cream center, with a nice purple border/binding.

I'm still handquilting away on JellyBeans quilt, but every now and then I just need a break. So far, it's the largest thing that I've hand-quilted.

Di - I love the idea of the pillowcases, I'll probably make some for the nieces and nephews.

And - Don't forget my Giveaway - Just leave a comment here!

Christmas is Coming... and I have nothing..

Typically, I start shopping and making things for Christmas as of January 1. I'm usually done shopping and crafting by mid to late July. I do this because of all the great "after Christmas" sales, and Mothers and Fathers day sales. I also figure that if I spend a little bit at a time it doesn't hurt as much at the end of the ear. And then I can buy something when I have the money for it rather than putting things on a credit card. This year, I haven't even started shopping or making things. I actually don't have anything made, and only 2 gifts purchased, one for my mom and one little giftie for JellyBean. To make things worse, JellyBean will be turning 1 on Dec 15th! I'm not so worried about that, but in my family Christmas is a huge deal. I mean, everyone spends a ton of time on decorating, and thinking about giving people gifts. I inherited the shopping and making early from my mom, who learned from my grandmother. They're both almost done with their shopping, but I'm not. I do think I have a pretty good reason though - I had JellyBean last year so I've been caring for a baby, and Terry and I moved into our new house. So ya.. but it's really no excuse.

My mom, grandma, aunt and I are similar in a lot of ways. We all love Snowmen (I LOVE them!!!), Penguins (Love) and Gingerbread men/women (feel the love!). None of us do the overly religious decorations. There's so much else that we love too, but those are the big ones for decorating for Christmas. I really want to make something for everyone in my family for Christmas, but I don't know how on Earth I'll be able to get 35+ gifts handmade. And to me, that's the whole purpose of Christmas - giving of yourself.


So here's my potential list of gifts to make:
Mom - candle mat (with snowmen?), she does needlepoint
Nana - maybe a new eyeglass case? (anyone know of a nice free pattern?) I mean, Nana is 86 years old - what do you make her? (I've already made her 2 quilts and 3 bags)
Aunt Janet - _______________________ (she loves cats, prim.. any ideas for free patterns), blue and white
Terry (the DH, he's English but moved to the USA to be with me - so I was thinking something with the Union Jack?)- he loves all things computers, video games, but I don't know what to do that I haven't already done :(
Sandi - one of my best friends - she's a stitcher, she loves cross-stitch, so I was thinking a pin-cushion or a needle keeper?
Autumn - she's my 8 year old niece, do you think a crayon keeper would be good?
Aunt Missy - I have NO idea! she loves cats, and going to yard sales.
Elizabeth - my cousin. She's a teachers aide (I'm a teacher, so I've already done all of the school stuff) and she's super eclectic, plus I already made her a quilt.
Amanda - cousin. she plays bagpipes - and I have no idea!
Ronnie - 10 year old nephew. I have no idea either.
Aunt Peggy - my godmother and a nun. She's Irish and she's already gotten all the Irish gifts I can think of from hats, quilts, totes to flip flops with shamrocks. So it can't be something that's Irish, I think she needs a change of pace. :) LOL

I think for the rest of the people on the list, I'll make a tote or purse since they haven't gotten one from me yet.

I've got the perfect idea for the Stitchers Angel Swap. In fact, I've already made one mini project for it, and I've got part of the pattern cut out for the Holiday Quilt Swap Mini Quilt. That one is my own pattern and I'm so super excited for it. Though, once I find out who my partner is for the HQS, I may change up my idea.

I'll come back later and update if I get more progress on any of my projects and any more ideas.