Slowing it Down for Sunday

It's a gorgeous day here in middle Tennessee!!!  

A little warm still, but the humidity we were suffering from Isaac is thankfully almost gone.  The sun is shining and the birds are singing... the poor little hummingbirds are working themselves silly trying to store up enough fat to make it across the Gulf of Mexico here in a month or so :*)

And I got a wonderful surprise yesterday afternoon - my daughter and granddaughter came up for a quick visit!  They wouldn't let me take their pictures, but I did get a good shot of one of the newest members of their family.....

This is little Addie - short for either Adeline or Adelaide, I can't remember which.  Does that make me a terrible grandmother?  LOL!!!  Isn't she the sweetest, cutest little thing you ever saw?  Well, not counting your own babies of course :*)  She has a brother too, but he was not in any mood to sit for a photo session.  They are about six weeks old and a bundle of energy & fun =^..^=

Today, I'm thankful for all these wonderful gifts from my loving Father!!!  What are you thankful for?

I'm joining Kathy at Kathy's Quilts today, doing some slow stitching.  As always, working on my Promises & Borders blocks keeps my mind and heart centered on my Father =^..^=  Here is my current block.....

I've gotten quite a bit done.  Just getting the lettering done is always a milestone for me, since it's my least favorite part of the stitching.  I love the way the trees seem to form the shape of a heart!  Jenny is a very talented designer and I'm really loving this project.

As promised, I spent yesterday working on my scrappy Rainbow Pineapples.

Here are the 2 aqua blocks, all done and looking mighty fine, even if I do say so myself :*)  Not sure if I'll work on the orange ones today or not, we'll just have to see how the day develops.  That's what Sundays are for... just going with the flow, easy and gently, just like riding a float on the waves.  Hmmmm, close your eyes and you're there!

No activity in the stash this week, but you can go over to Patchwork Times to see what wonderful things others are adding to their stashes =^..^=

I'm wishing you all a blessed Sunday and hoping that you will slow down 

and just enjoy the gift of the day :*)

 Source:  Pinterest

Hugs & Blessings!
Teresa
=^..^=

Scrappy Saturday =^..^=

Orange is one of those colors that just makes me HAPPY!!!!

And ORANGE is the color this month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge – Yay!!! 

I’ll be jumping into these yummy orange scraps today and making some more pineapples to add to these cute little blocks I’ve already made.

I still have to make my AQUA ones from last month too.  

So pineapples are definitely the order of the day today at my house :*)  See what others are making with their orange scraps ….

I hope you noticed that I now have a Watermark on my photos?  Yes I'm so happy!  Thanks to Connie at Freemotion by the River who is posting some marvelous tutorials over on her blog!  So please go give her some love - and tell her I sent you :*)  

Click HERE for the link to the watermark tutorial

Now SMILE & have a great day….

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

=^..^=

BlogHop Giveaway Winner!

Thanks to everyone who came by and commented during the Back to School Blog Hop Giveaway!  And a SUPER THANKS to Michele at Quilting Gallery for hosting the Hop!  I hope you all had as much fun as I did…. And I hope you won some good stuff :*)  Remember to go by and check out Quilting Gallery often, because Michele is always up to something good!

Quilting Gallery

I’d also like to shout out a big WELCOME to the new followers who decided to join me on my journey here at A Quilt and A Prayer!  Welcome to each and every one of you!  I’m really looking forward to getting to know you all better.  Making friends and connecting with others who share the love of quilting is the greatest benefit of blogging, and I value each follower more than you know :*)

So, to announce our Blog Hop winner, Mr. Random Generator did his thing and chose a number …..

It looks like Comment #4 is the Big Winner!  And our #4 commenter was Denise from Count it All Joy!!  

                             4.  Denise :) said...

                                          Love the Kaffe Fasset book -- incredible stuff!
                                          And....of course I'm a follower! :)

Congratulations Denise!  I hope you enjoy this book and find some fun projects to fill your dreams and inspire your creativity!

Denise is one of the sweetest bloggers ever and I am delighted to send her the beautiful copy of Kaffe Fassett’s Quilts en Provence….. Be sure to go over and share your congratulations with her.  I promise you'll end up loving her as much as I do =^..^=

Wishing everyone a wonderful week filled with some fun quilty things :*)

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

=^..^=

Slow Stitching & Stash Enhancement

It's a beautiful new Sunday, and you know what that means....  a wonderful day to reflect on our many blessings and spend some sweet time with the Lord =^..^=  Today I am especially grateful for the rain we are getting here in Nashville - boy did we need it!!!

For me, Sunday also means a lot of sports on TV which I love!  Today on the agenda is the Golf Playoffs and maybe some preseason football.  One of the things I love about Sundays & sports is that I usually get a lot of relaxing hand work done :*)  

Here is my progress on the 8th block for Promises & Borders BOM.  Jenny  just released the latest block pattern today, so I am now officially 2 blocks behind :*)  There is only one more block to be released - it's unbelievable how quickly time has flown this year!

Please go by and visit Kathy at Kathy's Quilts to see her gorgeous Slow Stitching finish!!!  And you can link up to show us the slow hand work you been doing also =^..^=

Yesterday was a great day for Stash Enhancement!!!  I was invited to join a couple of great friends on a day trip to Franklin & we had so much fun!!!  It had been quite a while since I was able to visit some of the quilt shops there, so I jumped at the chance to go :*)

In my last post I shared my dilemma about what to start for my September NewFO (you can read about it HERE).   So I’ve made a decision…. ****Drum Roll***     I’m going to do BOTH!!!  Well, at least I’m going to start both LOL!!! Yep, I can’t help it – they’re both calling my name =^..^=  And of course, the objective of the NewFO Challenge is just that you START a project, you don't have to get any further than that.  Just sayin' :*)

Several blog friends are either already working on Hawaiian Sunset or plan to start soon, and it will be great fun doing it together! 

Besides, I have the perfect dark blue on my shelf for the sashing – is that a great omen or what?!? This is a Jenny Beyer fabric.  The blue is a bit more navy than this picture shows.  I will have to fill out some of the other colors, especially the pinks, so I can’t work on it too much right away. But I can start playing with the flying geese and the four patches for the fun of it, right?  They will make great leaders-n-enders!

And then I simply have to start this Butterflies quilt! I’ve been in love with them since I first saw them a few months ago. The patterns are ordered and should arrive later in the week.

I picked up these batiks yesterday for backgrounds and sashing/borders – aren’t they just scrumptious??? YUM!!!  The deep blue fabric on the bottom of the stack is for the sashing & perhaps an outer border.  The others are backgrounds for the various butterflies.  The black & white dot is PERFECT for the Monarch’s wings ....

                                              ............  am I right???

A few readers have questioned whether the Butterflies are applique or panels. They are applique! The designer is Debra Gabel of Zebra Patterns. You should click on her name and check out her site sometime – oh my does she have some amazing patterns!!! I plan to do these using Beth Ferrier’s Hand Applique by Machine technique. She came to the Music City Guild a few years ago and taught us this technique, and this project will give me the perfect opportunity to practice it. Hopefully I’ll be able to share some of that with you as I work them.

As for the Stash Report – I have a HUGE amount of fabric to count in my “Used” column from all the destashing I did this past week - YOOHOO!!!  You can read more about that process HERE. I was frankly shocked when I added it all up and saw the totals…... Wow! So here’s my report for this week:

Stash Enhancement Report - September 2, 2012 

Used/Destashed this week: 93.00 yards

Used/Destashed YTD 2012: 195.75 yards

Stashed this week: 12.50 yards

Stashed YTD 2012: 192.00 yards

Net Used for 2012: 3.75 yards

Woohoo - finally in the black!  And even though I did not sew up all that fabric, I did accomplish a much needed reorganization of my stash to make it more workable for me and the projects I want to focus on in the future.  I'm a happy camper!!!  Have you done any stash enhancing or destashing? Share it with us by linking up with Patchwork Times!

Happy Labor Day holiday everyone! Stay safe & keep a lookout for flying geese :*)

Also linking up with the following really fun blogs! ......

Hugs & Blessings,
Teresa
=^..^=

What Will it Be?

Have you been joining in the fun of the NewFO Challenge over at Cat Patches?

I love this challenge because it gives me the freedom to start new things without guilt!  Yep, I love being guilt free!  So what did I start this month?

Well, I started (and finished) my niece’s graduation quilt, Raney Days & Mondays….

And I also had a blast starting my Twister Trees projects, which are completely pieced but not yet quilted…..

Now I’m trying to decide what to start in September for the Challenge, and it’s really hard to decide because there are a couple of quilts calling my name!

Let's see....Will it be Hawaiian Sunset? 

I just love the colors in this quilt, but I’m not sure I want to start on something so piecing intensive right now.  SoScrappy - who is NOT starting hers yet – sure is tempting me!  She’s already stitched up a block – just to make sure she’ll enjoy working on it of course.  But she’s not starting a new project yet… she’s really not … *wink*  And Jo over at Jo’s Country Junction has started working on hers too, and is inviting us all to join her.   What an enabler!!!! =^..^=

Or maybe I’ll start this….

Oh my gosh!!!  Have you seen these Butterflies by Debra Gabel?  

My fingers are itching to start this quilt!!!  I think it would be great fun to stitch with a group – maybe we could have a quilt-a-long?!?  Oh yeah – that would be FUN!!!  If you're interested let me know.... I’m ordering the patterns, but not sure if I should start it just yet….  Hmmmm….

And then again, I may just start something small and sweet, like the September Calendar Quilt…..although I have to say this is not one of my favorites of her quilts and I may skip this month and just try to finish up the August quilt instead (which I like much better) :*)

Oh dear, I just can’t decide!  I’ll be plenty busy this month working on my Dots on Dots blocks. But I’m taking a week off to go on to Runaway Quilters Retreat too, so plenty of sewing time there – yippee!!!!

Are you thinking of starting something new in the coming month?   Join the NewFO Challenge fun and share it with us at Cat Patches!

Linking up with ......

Hugs & Blessings,

Teresa

=^..^=

Cleaning up the Ivory Tower…..

Do you ever feel like you need a magic carpet to make your way through your quilting room?  

This is what I’ve needed this past week to get through my sewing area! 

I don’t know about you, but I just can’t work in a messy, disorganized environment.  It’s okay to turn the room on its head pulling out fabrics to start a new project…. Oh yeah!  That’s FUN!!  But once it’s planned and cut and I’m ready to sew, I have to put things back in order before I start sewing! 

So, not much sewing has been going on the past few days because I’ve been very busy taming the stash!  It had seriously begun to get completely out of hand, and I found myself wasting a lot of time just looking for fabrics because they were not where I thought they should be.  A few days ago my studio looked like this….

Pulling out fabrics to give away.....

Flannels.... Wow! These are like dust bunnies,  multiplying while my back is turned!

How many greens do YOU have?  I obviously have more than I thought :*)

Stuff just shoved onto the shelves... not good!

Now all these piles have been neatly organized...........

............ and put in their proper places on their shelves….

I remember when my mom would view my room after I had cleaned it (under protest of course!)  She'd always say, “Now, doesn’t that look better?”  Yes, Mom, it does!!!

I’ve also pulled out a LOT of fabric that no longer works for me. 

TONS of fabric being pulled out!  These are fabrics I bought or picked up on the “free” table at guild when I first started quilting, and I know I’ll never use them.  Tastes change, and I only have so much room, so I’m getting a lot more picky about what is allowed to remain in my stash!  I’ve pulled out some that I’ll sell at our guild’s yard sale, but most of it I’ll put back on the “free” table or take to Goodwill. 

I'm sending out a HUGE Thanks to my good friend Dar over at Dar's Patchwork Garden who reminded me that I can count destashing older fabrics like this as MINUS YARDAGE on my Stash Report!  Yoohoo!!!  And it’s a lot of yardage too!!!  More room for new stuff, right ;-)  Thanks Dar for reminding me to count this!

So, as I said, not much sewing getting done.  Lots of Plotting and Planning though!!!  =^..^=    

Planning as in picking lots of DOTS fabrics out as I’ve been reorganizing. 

Why?  Because my day on the Dots on Dots Blog Hop is September 17, and I’m really looking forward to showing what I’m planning on doing with all my happy little dots :*)

And Planning my next Promises & Borders block for slow stitching. 

I just LOVE these sweet little blocks!  Each stitch reminds me of how wonderful my Father is and how much I love Him!!!

I’m also doing a lot of Plotting …. What will my September NewFO Challenge project be?  Hmmmm…. So many quilts, so little time!!!  I think I’ll explore those options in tomorrow’s post.  Be sure to come back & see what I decide!  =^..^= 

Today I am keeping those in the path of Isaac in my prayers!  It looks as though it will miss us all the way up here in Nashville.  Although we may get some of the outer bands of activity.  My friend Norma took this picture while on her morning walk - is this spectacular or what???

Red sky at morning, sailors take warning!

Later in the morning, this was the view from my back porch....

......... the cloud bands can be clearly seen but it is only the very edges of it, so no rain or other types of weather yet.  We’re keeping our fingers crossed though, because we sure could use some of that rain!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

=^..^=