Blocks of the Month (BOMs)

Hi there!

Okay, even though I'm not feeling 100% A-O-K,
I managed to do some fabric sorting,
ironing, fondling/feeling my fabrics,
AND sewing our NEW BOM.



My friend Susan, in Australia, sent me some GREAT ideas!


Thanks to Susan, I now know what I'll be doing with these blocks....
but it's a secret for now. *grin*

I also managed to finish LAST month's
house BOM....

I decided to take a group picture of all
my houses that I've finished, so far.

No, they aren't "squared up", yet....

Will do that, once I've finished all the blocks.

*grin*

Sunday night and it's only 9h10 p.m.....
and I'm starting to get tired...

Rosa

But Doc, I'm NEVER sick!!!

Hi there!

Well, I'm hardly EVER sick -
I guess this is what's SOOO frustrating!

Actually, I suppose I shouldn't be complaining,
when you hear or read about other people's illnesses -
I'm not really all THAT sick...

:-(

Anyhow, 'bout 2 weeks ago, I started getting a sore LEFT arm....

After the first few days, I figured that it must be arthritis.
*shrug*
(NOTE: I'm hardly EVER sick, right?)

What's a little arthritis, right?
I can live with that and besides....
it'll soon go away, right?!?!?

Well, arm pain did NOT go away.

Yesterday morning, my LEFT thumb started getting real sore.

By yesterday evening (SATURDAY),
the LEFT thumb was definitely swollen
And EXTREMELY SORE!!!!




(NOTE the left thumb? Skin is not as wrinkled as the right one?)

At this point, I'm saying to myself,
"Self, you might wanna go see your family doctor, on Monday."

Well THIS morning - we're now Sunday, BTW....
Gilbert and I are having breakfast,
when he tells me,
"Did you realize that your eyes are swollen
and that the white part of one of your eyes
is now red?"

No, I DIDN'T realize that my eyes are swollen
and that one of my eyes was actually red....
and by then, I'm startin' to REALLY get worried.

Soooo, to make a long story short,
Gilbert and I quickly finished breakfast and
scooted over to the hospital.

While waiting for the doc to check me out,
Gilbert took a couple pics of me,
with this cell phone.

I told him, "Take a close-up picture of my eye."

I had taken my glasses off, to see my swollen eye better.

Well, Gilbert was chuckling to himself AFTER
he took this picture.

He said to me,
"Hey, you look like those cats or dogs with the
BIG NOSES and BIG EYES!"

LOL

Well, for those of you that are interested,
I now have TWO medical problems - as per Emergency Doctor's prognosis.

I have tendinitis and my eyes are infected -
I forget what fancy medical name he called
the eye infection, but it IS contagious.

And apparently, I WILL survive....
I just need to take some meds and
take care of myself...

*s*

Rosa

More Gifties - I am SOOOO Blessed!!!

Hi there!

Friday, I received a LOVELY package from my friend, Helen Marie!

I don't think I had any of these fabrics, my friend!!!

INCREDIBLE!!!!!!
Just when you think you have every color or design possible, you get to see some different ones, yet!
*VBG*




They are all so cute and adorable!!!

I especially love the bottom one here,
where the names of the animals or items are marked!
Isn't that ADORABLE?!?!?! *grin*

Here, she even sent me her leftover (scrappy) binding!

What a friend! I get to see (up close) her technique
for scrappy bindings!!!

Once again, thank you SOOO MUCH,
Helen Marie!

I feel soooo blessed, to have such good friends!

And YES, we DO share more than just fabric....

" FRIENDSHIP "

Rosa

Elly's Christmas Fabrics!!!

Hi there!

Guess what I got in the mail, yesterday,
from my dear friend, Elly?!??!

Some GORGEOUS Christmas fabrics,
with gold "threads" in it!!!

I've already got 2 blocks prepped,
from my own Christmas fabrics....
just need to get my 2 "Eye-Spy's"
out of the way!




Gorgeous reds!!!

Elly had written to me and asked if I liked purples.

I had replied, "SURE! as long as there's gold in 'em!"

I just wish my photography skills could show
the beautiful RICH colors, of these fabrics!

And look at these scrumptious greens!!!

Tks Elly!

Stay tuned - I will be uploading my
Dear Jane (DJ) Christmas blocks,
as I finish them!

Oh... another thing...
I've been asked if this will be a complete DJ quilt.

And the answer is "NO!!!!!!!!!!!"

*VBG*

Probably a wall hanging, or a lap quilt,
if I get REALLY ambitious!

LOL

Have a great quilting weekend!

Rosa

Moose on the Loose - in May!!!

Hi There!

Okaaaaay, I'm not the fastest gun in the west,
but keep in mind that I DO work during the week
and that I'm GREAT procrastinator! LOL

Anyhow, January, my friend had send me a
BIG parcel, with a lot of nice gifties in it....

Here's my BLOG about her gifty...

Anyhow, Gilbert's been (gently) bugging me
about this cookie kit that's been hanging out
in our china cabinet.

*VBG*



Well, yesterday evening, he says,
"Okay, you tell me what to do and I'LL MAKE THEM!"

Well, I'm no dumb bunny, you know!
You don't haveta tell me twice!!!!
LOL

I washed dishes while he made up the dough.
Actually, it was fairly easy....
it was just me and my procrastinator,
that was the problem... *s*

Okay, (see above picture) - you know when you're
at the last bit of dough?

Well, Gilbert and I had a few good chuckles,
on this part....

Some of the moose are handicapped
and that big round thingy?

Well, we called that the
Super Duper Moose Dropping!
LMAO!!!

Well, after supper, Gilbert and I decided to eat
the last bit of our rhubarb crisp,
with a bit of ice cream, on the side.
I quickly grabbed a "Moose"
and had him stand up!

Of course, I needed to take a picture!

And YES... once again..
we had a few good chuckles!!!

Thanks, Elaine - you and your
generosity were with us,
yesterday evening!

*VBG*

Rosa

BOM - Block #7 .... Need Advice

Hi There!

Remember the BOM (Block Of the Month)
that I subscribed to, at our local
quilt shop?

Well, I just finished block #7 and
will be picking up #8, tomorrow.

I'm still not crazy about the colors...
I find them too "blaaaah" for my tastes.

*grin*

Anyhow, I thought I'd ask you folks,
out there, what you suggest that
I do with these, once all 12 are done.

They're about 12 inches and
if I were to sew them
side by side,
it certainly wouldn't be
big enough for a bed quilt.




Sooooooooooooo,
obviously, I'm gonna need some kind
of "fillers" or "spacers" or
"what-cha-mah-call-its"
in between, right?

Any suggestions?

Even after 3 or 4 (or is that 5 or 6???)
years quilting,
I still find myself floundering
and wondering,
"What tha heck do I do NOW?!??"

LOL

Rosa

H2H (Heart 2 Heart) Blocks - FINALLY ARRIVED!!! PART 2

Hi there!

Here's pictures of my H2H
(Heart 2 Heart) swap blocks
that I received -

PART 2



(always, from top left and clockwise):
Brigitte Baierl - LOVE your fabric choice, Brigitte!!!
Its actually a burgundy flower, but it looks like exploding fireworks!!
Beverly Sherman - Love the fabric and the (excellent) hand work!
Betty McPeck - I'm sorry, but I'm a sucker for hand sewn blanket stitching!
*VBG*
Barbara Perry - What an ADORABLE cute little "Heart Person"!!!
(still studying your block, trying to figure out that embroidery stitch!!!)

(always, from top left and clockwise):
** DUNNO ** - Such a gorgeous fabric and a paper-pieced job, well done!
Marianna Bergkamp - Marianna, what can I say?!?!? *grinning*
(NOTE: Marianna had previously sent me several different heart blocks, done in this fashion..)
LOVE your choice of thread, too!!!
Lorianne Walker - Love your fabric choice, Lorianne!
Liz Morgan - Liz... I LOVE a scrappy quilt - scrappy hearts are even better!
*VBG*

(always, from top left and clockwise):
Elaine Petrik - LOVE the pink fabric and I just noticed - HEY - the WOW background has hearts in it, too!!! How cool is that, eh?!?!?!?
** DUNNO ** Another scrappy heart with different kind of muslin... unfortunately, the maker didn't give us her name. :-(
Debbie Albers - LOVE your fabric choice!!! Reminds me of a sailor, for some reason! I'll call it my Sailor's Heart.
Deborah Schultz - Such soft, pretty pink fabric! And the machine stitching - OH MY!!!
I've never seen THAT stitching, before!!!
It's too die for!!!
*VBG*

(from left to right)
LunaSea (Anne Tomanelli) - LOVE the hand sewn blanket stitch AND the cute little heart button, too!
** DUNNO ** - Cute heart, lovely fabric.. looks like (very well done) machine'd blanket stitch but once again, the maker didn't give their name, unfortunately.

(always, from top left and clockwise):
Kerry Fondren - Love this heart, Kerry!
Katie Sherman - Once again.... love this one, too, Katie!
Kathy Kirby - WOW! Another original idea! LOVE this one!!
Center piece reminds me of a band-aid.... *grin*
WAIT A SEC! I just re-examined this one!!! It's NOT an extra piece!
Kathy went and fussy cut the middle heart!
WOW! this heart is just TOO adorable!!!!
Kathy Sherman - Fabric choices - LOVE THEM!
Embellishments? What can I say!?!?!
*VBG*

Now, just because.... I took some extra pictures,
to show you closeups of some of these blocks...

Once again, this is Kerry Fondren's block....
Love her fabric choices and it almost looks as if the
pieces (gently) overlap each other....
But no, they're simply paperpieced and then,
the heart is appliqué to the background.

This one is from Kathy Jones.
I loved the funky (and different) shaped heart...
Loved her 2 fabric choices and the cute
little bow-tie rose embellishment, on it!

Katie Sherman!!! You did EXACTLY what I was trying to
wrap my brain around but couldn't quite design it the way
I wanted!
Mind you, yours is 100 times better than what I
wanted to do!!!!
LOL

Isn't it the neatest thing about swaps???

You get to examine a girlfriend's work....

To admire, to question (how did she do that?),
to learn and to hold it close to your heart and
cherish it!

Thanks to everyone that participated!

'' The Heart that Gives, Gathers ''
by Mrianne Moore

Ain't that the truth, now, eh?!?!?
*VBG*

Rosa

H2H (Heart 2 Heart) Blocks - FINALLY ARRIVED!!! PART 1

Hi There!

Well, if you've been following my blog,
you MUST know how hard I worked on getting MY hearts mailed out
and how anxious I was, to receive my swapped blocks back...

And then... how crushed I was,
when I received sewing patterns,
instead of gorgeous hearts...

We had a Swap Mommy that went
waaaaaay above and beyond her
"job" requirements...

*VBG*

Anyhow, here are my swapped heart blocks,
for our H2H (Heart 2 Heart) swap.

I've divided up the bundle in half,
and will be blogging twice, on this topic.
(easier for me...)

Soooo, without further ado,
I'd like to present to you...

My H2H blocks!!!!
*applause required*
*VBG*




(always, from top left and clockwise):
Karen Bryant - Love the soft pink hearts!
Hope Kirk - Amazing batik!
Jo Spindle - Perfectly done hearts, Jo!
Helen Stanaitis - Love the "home" fabrics! I'm a sucker for plaids and such!
*grin*

(always, from top left and clockwise):
Cynthia Hague - Bling and sparkly fabric!!! *VBG*
UPDATE!!! Cyn Forrest - LOVE the dotty fabric!!!
Cindy Temple - Wonderful choice of coordinating fabrics, Cindy!
Cindy Boring - Another excellent choice of fabrics,
with a cute little purple bead, at the top!!!

(always, from top left and clockwise):
Paula Marks - Such dark, rich fabric!
Paula, you did a LOVELY job with your embellishment!!!
Patricia Steapp - These blocks must have taken you FOREVER to do!!!
UPDATE!!! Pat Harrell - I think this is what they call "Fairy Frost" fabrics.... GORGEOUS!!
Norma Schwieterman - INCREDIBLE machine embroidered heart!!!

(always, from top left and clockwise):
Wenche Martinsen - Incredible appliqué work!
Lovely dark, red fabric and
I ESPECIALLY love that little "twist" to your heart -
gives it a saucy look! LOL
Shannon Linde - Cute little hearts, Shannon!
Sandra Bolender - What can I say?!??!
I've never seen this heart design, before....
The fabrics are INCREDIBLE.... including the "Love" fabrics....
and the 2 added charms?!?? Tks for swapping, Sandra!
Ruthie Davis - OH MY GOD!
Here's what Ruthie wrote:
"I found my heart in Shipshewana" made for you with love by Ruthie Davis -
Fabrics from Lolly's, antique doilie from antique store next to Farmstead Inn.
This block is INCREDIBLE!!!!
Love the shiny, gold burgundy fabric, too, Ruthie!

(always, from top left and clockwise):
Rosa Robichaud - That's mine. *grin*
UPDATE!!! - Renée Porlier did these 2 hearts.
Rebecca Hunt - OH MY GOODNESS, REBECCA!!!!
I've never done machine embroidery before,
but your work is INCREDIBLE!!!
UPDATE!!! - Penny Deckhard - Love this cute, machine embroidered heart...

Okay....
it's early Saturday morning and I don't want to spend
ALL my morning, blogging!

Will try and upload the rest of these
gorgeous hearts, later on...

Have a great Saturday!

Rosa

Lots of HAPPY MAIL!!!!

Hi There!

Got a bunch of "Happy Mail", this week!!!

My friend, Diane, decided to divide her (leftover)
Civil War fabric, in half, and
send me 1/2 of it!!!

I was stunned!!! And even more so,
when I realized that I think there's only
ONE of hers, that I have!
Otherwise, it's all "new-to-me" fabric!!!!

Plus, I also received my Heart 2 Heart Blocks,
AND my 30's "Apron" swap blocks!!!

That was in YESTERDAY'S mail....

Today, I received a WONDERFUL book,
from Elaine!!!

I purposely took a picture of Diane's CW fabrics
and Elaine's book... 'cause I've decided that
I will be making these scrumptious blocks
with Diane's fabrics!!!

What a great "marriage" this will be!!!



And HEY!!! Speaking of great marriages....

This is the book that Elaine sent to me!!!



It's got AH-DOOR-AAH-BULL blocks!!!!

And she also sent me a cute little card....

*VBG*

Remember the package that got chewed up,
by the US Postal system?

The Heart 2 Heart swapped blocks and
the 30's (apron) fabrics?!??

Well, Swap Mommy had promised to send me
ANOTHER bundle.... got them, yesteday, too!!!

She even went and GENEROUSLY added
a few extra pieces from her OWN personal stash!!!

Will post pictures of the H2H swapped blocks, another evening...



Gettin' pretty tired, tonight...

Tks a bunch, everyone!!!!

Rosa

Gifties from Cyn!

Hi There!

Well, you know when you belong to a chat group and someone posts something about something that you don't have and you know you'll NEVER have?

Well, apparently, on our Dear Jane group, the members were chit-chatting about these special needles, a few months ago. Once again, since I knew that it didn't concern me and probably wouldn't, in the future, I used that special magical button on my keyboard...

Yep, the "Delete" button!

LOL

Anyhow, Cyn and our friend, Elaine, apparently met up with Judie Rothermell... IN PERSON!!! picked up this cute tin of needles and asked a special favor from Judie...



Here's a close-up pic, of these needles. Haven't tried them, yet, but apparently they're EXCELLENT for pinning and aligning seams together, sewing machine friendly and are EXCELLENT for appliqué'ing, too!



Here's a picture of the special favour that Cyn and Elaine requested from Judie Rothermell!!!!

*VBG*

I was "stunned" when I read what was on the back of my tin!!!!

Aren't these 2 pals, EXTRA SPECIAL!??!?!

*VBG*

Tried to explain to Gilbert, the importance of the signature on my tin....
till I had to explain it in HIS terms...

ME: Okay, imagine that one of your internet buddies had lunch with Bill Gates, okay?
HIM: Yaaaaaah..... but I don't have any internet buddies. At least not like that.
ME: Okaaaaay... but just try and imagine it, okay?
HIM: Okaaaaay...
Me: And he snail mailed you an External Hard Drive, with Bill Gates, himself, autographing it - with YOUR name, ON IT!!!
HIM: *his eyes lit up* Oh, I see....

*VBG*

Remember my episode with my lost Heart 2 Heart (H2H) blocks,
along with the 30's fabric swap?
Well, Cyn sent me 2 pieces of 30's fabrics and 1 CW fabric piece....
to try and make up for what I didn't receive.
She also has the cutest cards, too!

Hey CYN!!!!
The Swap Mommy has since mailed out a 2nd set of Hearts,
along with a bundle of 30s fabrics!!!!

You really didn't need to do that -
but you're NOT getting them back, either!!!!

*VBG*

Once again, thanks a bunch, my friend!!!!

Rosa

Women over 40!!!

Hi There!

Got this in my email box, today,
Not sure if Rooney wrote this, but I sure agree with the author!

(Thanks Barb!!!!)

*VBG*

*************************

In case you missed it on 60 Minutes, this is what Andy Rooney thinks about women over 40:




As I grow in age, I value women over 40 most of all. Here are just a few reasons why:

A woman over 40 will never wake you in the middle of the night and ask, 'What are you thinking?' She doesn't care what you think.

If a woman over 40 doesn't want to watch the game, she doesn't sit around whining about it. She does something she wants to do, and it's usually more interesting.

Women over 40 are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course, if you deserve it, they won't hesitate to shoot you if they think they can get away with it.

Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved. They know what it's like to be unappreciated.

Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess your sins to a woman over 40.

Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over 40 is far sexier than her younger counterpart.

Older women are forthright and honest. They'll tell you right off if you are a jerk, if you are acting like one. You don't ever have to wonder where you stand with her.

Yes, we praise women over 40 for a multitude of reasons. Unfortunately, it's not reciprocal. For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed, hot woman over 40, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of himself with some 22-year old waitress. Ladies, I apologize.

For all those men who say, 'Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free? here's an update for you. Nowadays 80% of women are against marriage. Why? Because women realize it's not worth buying an entire pig just to get a little sausage!

Andy Rooney is a really smart guy!

Sparkling Jane

Hi There!

Well, that's it!

Call me nuts and paste
a "Certified" sticker, on my forehead!

LOL

I've started a 3rd DJ quilt....

Okay, okay... calm down, before you all have a heart attack!

LOL

Last year, with our Dear Jane (DJ)
Christmas swapped blocks,
I decided to make a table runner
and 4 placemats....

Since there were too many blocks,
I decided to remove the ones that had
gold or silver sparkly fabric
and do a Dear Jane Christmas wallhanging.

I had a few pieces with gold or silver threads
in it.

Anyhow, here are some of these blocks,
that I will be making my
"Sparkling Jane".

F-2: Kaleidsocope
I finished this one, last week.
It has gold colored polka dots!

A-7: Dad's Plaids
This one, I just finished yesterday evening.
I couldn't resist making "Dad's Plaids",
with this gorgeous fabric! *grin*

Now, the other ones, that follow,
are from the DJ Christmas Block swap.

If yours is here, please accept my
heartfelt "Thank You!"

*grin*

B-1: Batchelor Buttons

D-6: Challenge

D-7: Meeting Place

D-9: Uncle Richard

K-5: Passing Through

L-2: Stephanie's Snowflake



Cyn's red, sparkly (heart) fabric....

My friend, Cyn, sent me this wonderful fabric!

Yes, I KNOW it's got hearts in it and normally
I'd say this fabric would be ideal for Valentine's day...

But, I'm going to make a Christmas block with it
and add it into my Christmas
"Sparkly Jane"!!!

Rosa