Children and family Museum

Bridges

So, Honeyman was off over the weekend and since it was to cold to camp BOO he said he had seen a new exhibit at the local Children's Museum! Our kids are getting just about to the point they are to old for this museum. But we are trying to keep them little for a minute anyway!! Here in the Quad Cities we have several bridges that span the Mississippi River. Each is unique and beautiful in its own way! The exhibit had bridges you could walk over,

My Big kid!!

Boat Races

It had a huge water table to play in (guess who had the most fun with that???)


 Honeyman stood at the whirlpool thingy for the longest time trying to get it to the top of the tube! I love that man!! The kids raced the boats (and ducks) down the water!!

Card Table!! HA!!

Honeyman and the Boy worked together to try to pick up pieces and build a bridge together! Turns out it was a three man operation! One was in charge of up and down, one had left to right and the Girl came and hooked the block into the hole! They worked well together and I had a ball just watching them!!

Honeyman and the Boy sat down to play a game of checkers! Let me tell you Honeyman takes no prisoners when it comes to Chess and Checkers!

Have fun with you family!! They are a blessing!
Josie :o)

Meeting of the minds

Rowing Along

Love a pile of scraps! Says something is happening!

OK, so I will acquiesce that it is Rowing and NOT Stripping! LOL I got row 5 done! Flying Geese! Angry little critters that they are! They were only 1 1/2 x 2 1/2 inch geese!! But now I have to wait two more weeks til the next row! Somehow I thought that it was every week!  I need another block a day challenge I tend to loose my ~~~~ Oh look at the pretty shiny objects over there! LOL FOCUS!!!

Row 5

I would love to say tonight I am working on something quilty! Or even stitchy related! But I will be hanging with a dear friend of mine. My friend's marriage is not going so well. Without going into detail I just ask my friends to pray that they both find the light to guide them out of the darkness they are in! A family hangs in the balance.





Tonight I will work on getting to know a little more about Project Twelve! And sharing it with my friend! 
Unless my kids decide they DON'T want to watch TV and then maybe we will chat on the couch and I can do some binding on a guild charity quilt I am working on!

AnyWhoo!

I pray for my friends on the East coast and hope that Sandy is not as strong as they have predicted!

Where ever you are tonight I do so hope all is well in your little piece of heaven!

Josie :o)

Do you ever check your stats??

I really don't! I just do this to kind of keep myself saine, and to chat with amazing people. I am not out to realize my demographic or enlarge my audience! If you want to visit me come and check me out, if you don't want to well there are some pretty amazing people out here! So, I hope you are checking them out! LOL So, I have been reading my blogs on my Kindle Fire (love that I can do that because we are down to just the laptop and it seems to be in use at ALL times) so I am very rarely on the actual blogger interface! This is also the reason for my lack of blogging lately! I cannot for the life of me figure out how to post a blog from either my Kindle or my Smart(er than me) phone!

Crazyness! 1/2 inch

Anywhoo!! I popped on the computer and all the sudden from my home page realized my life time page views were up to 10,000! I said holy crap!! Well, come to find out my little blog that might get 15 hits to a post (unless I am on a blog hop) had over 1,000 hits on my Brother post!!! It seems that EVERYONE was looking up price for that bugger!


Charity tie quilt

Can I tell you, however, am kind of disheartened right now. The guy from my sewing center said he would call me. He took down my name and number... It is now the end of October and I have not yet gotten a call! I did talk to a dealer about a Babylock (which of course is like a sister to a Brother,  ha I crack myself up!!) He did say that the two machines were VERY similar! Plus, I have to say the Babylock is NOT blue! Man I hate blue! LOL SO, now I have to decide if I want to look into the Brother V or the Babylock Crescendo! I know I have spoken with a few people and it also comes down to... you not only buy the machine, but you also buy into the dealer! Well, the Brother dealer is right here in town! Less than 10 minutes from my house, but he has not bothered to call me back. Maybe he has not gotten any in?? I don't know! On the other hand the Babylock dealer is about 45 minutes away and has been VERY good to our guild! They DONATED a machine to raffle off at our show! They were so very kind to me and let me play on their machines at the show, they did NOT have a Crescendo at the show, and said when I was interested to come and check them out and they would be glad to help! So, I am up in the air! To be honest it will have to wait till the beginning of the year, but I would love to check them BOTH out and get a little clearer on the subject!

My Lillian this year at the Quad Cities Marathon

I have nothing else to say I just wanted to throw that out to all of you and see what bounced back!
I do hope y'all are staying warm! After 3 days above 75 the temps have dropped to 35 this morning and only supposed to get to 42 and windy today!

I am stripping rowing again today wish me luck they are... you guessed it Flying F#%*$*G Geese!!
Happy Stitchin!
Josie :o)

Miss Ella Grace's Qulit

Ella's Quilt

OK, so I did get this one done the other day, but I have had a nasty head cold and really felt like doing nothing! Couple that with the new addition to our house this week and you have one worn out crazy Mama!! Just sayin! So, I know I have mentioned before that I watch some of my friends children. My dear Amanda spawned 11 weeks ago! I hold myself personally responsible for the conception!! LOL and she agrees with me! OK, I have to back that up for a moment! She and her Husband were trying to get pregnant! I hosted one of my crazy Mama Girls nights and delivered her... very happy and Baby Oscar-Daisy was the result! She decided NOT to know what she was going to have so her daughter Ella Grace (who is now 4) and I named the yet unborn baby Oscar-Daisy! And that is what we called 'it' all throughout her pregnancy! Anyway! Luke Joseph was born into this world and he has begun to come to my house with Miss Ella Grace!! They are just the nicest people you will ever meet and I am very blessed to know them!! Now I am getting very sidetracked and I apologize!




Pink for the back!

Onto the quilt! LOL Ella LOVES purple! (and a little pink she says!) So, I decided to give her purple! She made a trip with me one day to the fabric store and I let her pick out the back fabric! That was all her with NO direction from me! I did have to attach the label so I have not given it to her, but she has petted it all week as I have been binding it with brother laying under it and she says "oh, Mama Jo I just love my quilt so!"  She knows how to butter me up for sure!! I am so very proud of myself! Oh, wait I forgot to say this is the second project in SMQ! This quilt is a twin sized and I did FMQ all over it! ME, all by myself! on a TWIN!! man were my arms ever tired after mustering this beast though my little machine! How in the name of heckfire do y'all do it?? I even free motioned Ella Grace into the spine of the quilt! I have to say the pics were taken on an overcast day and really don't do the purple any justice! AND the wind was blowing so we fought with that! I was just glad Honeyman was home to hold it up! LOL


I FMQ Ella Grace!!

I also have to admit this is one money saving gal here! I just have to tell you that form the start! The purple...is a sheet I bought from the salvation army for $1!! I do have to say you really have to look them over, but this one was in great shape and it felt so nice and soft and thick! I love it and where in the world can you get that much fabric for that little a price?? The rest of the fabrics are just left overs from other projects I have done, And right off hand the only ones I can tell you are the deep teal are from Lil Miss (and I think the orange strip is too) some kind of Kimono collection that MAN I fell in love with those bright teals and REALLY wish I had gotten more because I think I only have a small 2 1/2 inch strip left!
I think I will run for now! Have a productive day!
Josie :o)



One small Basket!

Show of hands how many of you have purchased Sunday Morning Quilts?? ME!! ME!! I HAVE I HAVE!!  I follow both Cheryl and Amanda Jean's blogs! I love the projects that they share and they also share so much of themselves with us! I do hope someday to get to go to a signing and get my book well, signed! LOL

One side

The other side

OK, so here's the thing! Where do you even start with a book that you love EVERY pattern in?? Well I guess you start at the beginning! If you do NOT have this book I tell you it is all about using what you have, which for a newer quilter like me is kind of, well, trying! They talk about how to separate your scraps and how to organize them! The very first pattern in the book is the Quilted Storage box! Now I WILL make more of these, as I have more scraps to make them! A while back I did a charm swap and my colour was yellow! So, I had PLENTY of yellow scraps! I followed the slab instructions and made the box! I will say the one thing I did differently was to use a basic muslin on the inside because #1 I have a whole bolt of it #2 If I lined it in yellow all of my beautiful yellow scraps would just kind of disappear! I also do not have any fusible interfacing so I skipped that! The only thing I would change... I like the little 'lip' of muslin that is brought to the outside of the box and the pattern does not call for it this was. Therefore my inside is just a little short! Shhh don't peak inside! Next one I make I will add 1/2 inch to the height to accommodate for this! Again this is only my personal preference! But, I love making the scrap basket and I WILL make more! (as I get the scraps to make them! LOL

I currently have half of my quilt bound! Wait, what quilt?? Silly, I said I love like EVERY pattern in this book! So, The next pattern is Daydreams! Stay tuned! I do hope to have it fully bound tonight so I can throw it in the wash! I'll be back then!
Thanks for stopping by!
Josie :o)

Trip to Galena

The day started like this!

I had never been before!! Galena is about an hours and a half away and over the weekend our dear friends KayCee and Ryan (who is a fellow fireman) asked if we would like to day trip with them! A call to Granny Kim to see if this was the day she wanted to make Halloween stuff with the kids... and we were off!! (oh, I forgot to mention, if you come to Illinois the roads are no longer safe! The Brat got her license two weeks ago! AAHHHh If my hair was not already grey!!)
The day started off a little dreary!!

My yummy lunch!

We ate at lunch soon after we got in town! Well after a quick run through one of the wine tasting rooms!! Vinny Vanucchi's! Very yummy and oh, so cute!

I know it is hard to tell in the stone walk pic, but that thing goes straight up and it is ROUGH!! We did not walk on this ! LOL really you don't there are stairs on either side! But I thought it was cool!

 I did walk through a 'fabric shop' called Phat 1/4. It was cute, but it seemed more like a Bernina sales shop than a fabric shop and nothing really jumped out at me so I walked out empty handed :o(

We played a little shuffle board at the end of the strip!

What would a trip be without a tin celing?? I just love them! Man people look at you like you are NUTZ when you are trying to get a good photo of the celing! But... do you know how many people start to take note of it when you are trying to get a pic! It makes me laugh!! LOL

Ryan, Kaycee, Me, & Honeyman



I think we must have been under a blue light or something! All the pics I took we turned out blue! My friend Kathie dubed us the Blue Man Group! LOL

 

 On a very serious note NEVER walk into a cheese store and say 'Man it smells like Anis in here'! Because the cheese monger will NOT like that! But it DID! It DID smell like anis! He very sternly said 'It's pronounced anEEs!!' Seems they had gotten a tea in with anis in it and man I tell you that is all you could smell in the whole shop! Poor KayCee was laughing so hard she had to go out of the store! At any rate, I am not a fan of that smell or the taste, so ... the only greatful thing that came from the cheese store was this very cool quilt they had hanging on the wall!!












close up

 When we got home it was still fairly early! Only 8 and we all decided that we were having WAY to much fun and it had been to long since the four of us had been out together! SO! We went Karaokeing! And closed down the bar! It has been a day or two since that has happened! But we all had a great time and KayCee already said we can't wait that long to do it again! 
Have a great day all! Go have fun with a friend! Plan something! Do something! Me... I am gonna try to get some stitchin done!
Thanks for visiting!
Josie :o)






I've been striping...

Well first things first!! I was supposed to get on last Saturday and write about my epic fails!! ummm Here in lovely Illinois/Iowa area Media Com Internet was down ALL DAY son Saturday! No joke! We were all chillin I was sewing (and watching NetFlix), Honeyman was playing his on-line game, and my Son was in the other room also watching NetFlix and then all the sudden nothing!! It was down for the count! OK let me quit my whining, because I still sewed all day long!
So, I really have been working on a few things! Let me show you....

Flannel tie charity blanket for my quilt guild. I cannot take credit for the piecing only the binding, but man I love this one! And the flannel was so darn soft and amazing to work with!!

Row 1

 I have been stripping rowing!!! LOL I just hate Love when someone sucks me into another QAL! Wee this one is over at Bee in My Bonnet and when I saw the first two rows I just had to join in! GGRRR darn it all to heck!! LOL   She has a new row each Wed. I came in a little late, but have now caught up. I did make a small adjustment... See I have lots of 4 inch squares and the apples called for 4 1/2 inch squares. I used the 4 inch and added an extra apple into the row! Y'all  know me! I cannot follow ANY rules! Darn I'm a rule breaker! But I do LOVE how fun this is! I have More to show you that I am working on... but I will keep you guessing and hope that I get a little better at chatting with you again!

Half of row 4

Other half of row 4

Half of row 2

Other half of row 2

 

Row 3

Come Strip Row with me won't you,
Josie :o)

My Day to Hop! Day 5

I had fun!

Little leaves

Hi all! Thanks for joining me today! Whew! I got it finished! I was kind of sweating it because well, come back Saturday and see my epic fails!! LOL




My big pumpkin!

Anyway, I have a very dear friend who decorates beautifully for each holiday and she expressed interest in different table runners! I said well I can try that!! :o) She knows I am still new (ish) and still learning but she is amazing and tells me that even errors are beautiful! I love my Kathie! So for Fall I came up with this little guy and I am sure she will be pleased with it! This was my first project that I did FMQ on! (well, besides practice sandwiches!) I think it turned out well and I am pretty proud of myself! I know that the pics of it sitting outside it looks wonky, but I assure you this is the grass! I just had to take a pic outside! I placed it on my (fake) fireplace to snap a quick pic!  After it was done my daughter and her Boyfriend (whos Monther is in quilt guild) with me each had their own critique for me!! Sheesh they can be harsh! LOL I didn't follow a pattern, but I did get the template for the pumpkin here. it did call for more pieces, but I really liked the look of just the one fabric so I stuck with it! I am after all a rule breaker!


Until I deliver it...

Those little teeny tiny leaves on the outer border are only about an inch and a half long! What in the world was I thinking?? I am a nut! I did have a great time!

Be sure to go check out the rest of the lovely projects on todays schedule!

 

 

 

 

 

Friday 5

Insanity Defense (that's me!)

Michelle May and the Bunnies

Sparrow In Flight

Quilted Delights

Quilting With a Marmalade Cat

Traveling Quilter

A Stitch in Time

Cherry Blossoms

Tea Time Creations

Moose Stash Quilting

Stitchin By The Lake



Blog hop day 3 & 4

Oops, I put the dates down wrong for when my stuff was supposed to update and post! Have no fear I have fixed it!! Don't forget to come back and visit me on Friday and check out my Leaf project! Until then please visit these inspiring projects!



Wednesday 3

Plum and June

The Recipe Bunny

VroomansQuilts

It's Sew Kiki

PigTales and Quilts

Quilting fiesta

GrammieQ's

Nancy

Just Let Me Quilt

Selina Quilts

The Learning Curve~Quilts and Such

Thursday 4

Debby Kratovil Quilts

Patchouli Moon Studio

Freemotion by the River

Quilt Doodle Designs

Apple Avenue Quilts

Jane’s Quilting

Spoilt Dog Quilts

Ramblings of a Quilter

Deborah

A Passion For Appliqué

Gracie Oliver Arts

See Y'all Friday!
Josie

Leafs Me Happy day 2

Welcome! Lets hop

 

 

Tuesday 2

Mrs.Pickles Garden

Gingersnaps Quilts

Petit Design Co

A Passion For Applique

Annie Oak Designs

Michelle's Romantic Tangle

CherrysPrairiePrimitives

Krislovesfabric

Scrapbook-ChickADoodle

 

 

 

I also want to leave you with a few more pics from our guild! There was a challenge to make an art hanging using a marble 'water' fabric and it had to be inspired by the Mississippi landscape!! I do not have the individuals names for each of these, but they are my favorite out of the bunch (and there were 50 or so of them!! I think that the two with the bridges are my favorite! Here in the Quad Cities we have three very different bridges that cross between Iowa and Illinois. They are all very visually stunning (even if they are sadly in need of repair or replace!!)

 

 I love all of the different activities that take place on the river!! Fishing, we camp at some VERY lovely campgrounds on the river, and OH the fire work displays every year! I think that the sparkle over the water is just so spectacular!!

 

The last one in this bunch has so much texture! She used the 'water' fabric and scrunched it up! It was all I could do not to touch it!! (Truth be told when I was on white glove duty I did touch it... but it is just not the same!!)

 

Oh it really was a great show! And tonight at guild all of the winners are going to bring in their quilts and talk about them! I can't wait!!!

 

I hope y'all have a lovely day (it is supposed to be almost 80 here!!!)

Josie

 

 



A few pics from the quilt show and Day 1 Leafs Me Happy

Today's the day!! Day 1 of the Leafs Me Happy Blog Hop!! I love fall and the changing colours! Be sure to check out all of these lovely ladies (and come back to see me on Friday!!)

 

Monday 1

Fuzzy Hat Quilter

The Cuddle Quilter

Quilts My Way

Country Cabin Thoughts and Crafts

Dream quilt create

Why-Knot-Kwilt

Needled Mom
Quilter in Motion

Sunshine Girl

Meadowbrook

 

 

Now over the weekend my Quilt guild had a show!! WOW is all I have to say!! Such beautiful inspirations!!I took SO many pictures and I don't want to bombard y'all with them! But I will leave you with a few!!!

 

                                                                                              This won best Hand quilting and voters choice! It is Victorian Florals & Stars Pieced and Quilted by Marilyn Galley. The stitches in this just melted into the quilt and those applique JUMPED off of the quilt!

 

 

                                                                                              HA HA this one made me laugh! It was in one of our Challenge categories (but for the life of me I don't know what the challenge was! LOL) It still made me giggle!

 

                                                                                         Bonnie came and spent a weekend with our guild! We had a 3 day workshop and they worked on THREE DIFFERENT quilts! (Sadly I was only able to make it to her trunk show and none of the workshops BOO HOO) Any who, she inspired an Orca Bay the Floridian Way from one of our guild members Shirlee Peterson.  There were SEVERAL of Bonnie's patterns in our show (but this is the only one I think I snapped a shot of! I was there to work, too friends!! LOL)

                                                                                                All right one more pic for today! The last one was Best in show and First place for Quilting Computerized/Digital Long-arm Machine. It was Pieced and Quilted by Guild Member Deb Spencer (who I have to say SWEPT 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in that category!! Just saying!!!) Beautiful job!!!

OK friends! I will check in on y'all, but for now I have to go sew! I have something I have to get done for Friday! Leave me alone now and go check out all the other hoppers!!

Josie :o)