Undeserved and unexpected

"An undeserved and unexpected gift is the most pleasant to give and to receive " this quote was on my calendar  and this morning I received a most pleasant gift from my swap angel! I love it!  There fabric is fabulous - there's a placemat (quilted AND  embroidered)  a coffee Cozy - with rick rack, heart head pins and the cutest fabric!  I am swooning!  Valentine's is my favorite.  The Embroidery reminds me of a picture of my sister when she was little  - I love embroidery but don't want to do it! I've been working on a project for my mom  since 1998. But I sure love it when some one else does it!  Thank you thank you thank you! (if you walk by my window you may see someone dancing around with a placemat)
Today I am making a list of all the projects I am working on and need to do.   I probably should make a list of blog posts too. I decided I need a white board in my studio so I can cross things off and remember others.  I started my list and got distracted by my squishy package.  I had to go to the door tho get the mail because I am painting my mail box and it's lying in the grass.  I should have videoed the look of confusion when the mail lady realized the mailbox was gone.  :) I will post a "from this to that" picture as soon as I have a "to that"
Have a great Monday 

Update! Today must be angel day!  Remember the person dancing around the room with a placemat?  Well now she's dancing around with a fat  quarter bundle and a mini quilt! I couldn't believe my eyes when the DHL truck stopped next door (no one lives there, it's under construction)  and proceeded to my house!  This package came all the way from Malaysia!   The lovely fat  quarters are  Zoey in lemon chiffon -  gorgeous!  And a mini quilt  that even matches my studio. I'm astounded at the generosity of our angels!  Quilters are good folk! 

OXOXOX

Happy Valentine’s Day! Once again Madam Samm and her cheerleading squad deserve lotsa Hugs and Kisses for putting together a fabulous hop for us! Jane has done a great job of keeping us organized!
        Before I share my block, I have a short story. My Sunshine Boy, Nehemiah was about 6 years old and just learning to read. It was close to Valentine’s Day and we were all at Nana’s (Nana also loves Valentine’s Day and always has great decorations,) Miah looks up at me and says “Aunt Bobbie, why do all the Valentine’s decorations say Ox Ox on them?”   I had no idea what he was talking about “Ox, Ox?” Then he pointed at Nana’s tablecloth which had hearts and hugs and kisses (XOXO) on it. He was looking at it upside down and sure enough, XOXO upside down is OXOX.

 As I was thinking on Hugs and Kisses for this hop, I knew I had to incorporate this story into my project. So here is my OXOX block- which I will turn into a pillow case for My Sunshine Boy.

 

I used the pattern from Debbie Mumm’s

Quick Country Quilting to make the Ox (ok ok he really is a cow)

and CaMom had sent me the longhorns fabric in

one of her moo-velous stash enhancing boxes.

I was going to make just one thing for this hop but- when we went shopping I asked EmmaBean to pick out some fabric for St Patty’s Day and she picked the ladybugs- I just had to make something for her and then Jayme over at finding sweetland reminded me of  Rachel's ( ps i quilt)  cute little friendship bag- I used some of my gazillion 2 inch squares and tweaked the pattern a bit – her strips were a different size and I wanted a two tone handle.  I made EmmaBean this cute little bag- it worked up in less than two hours (not counting the fabric choosing.)

I added a fussy cut laddy bug and some rickrack too

the back

inside

EmmaBean loves her new bag!

Then Amanda over at Jedi Craft Girl used her Jedi bloggy tricks and *forced* me to make this little guy- He took less than 10 minutes! I will be making more for sure!

I didn’t even have to add eyes-
 my fabric just happened to have O’s in
just the right places!  

Be sure to check out all the fun hugs and kisses over at

Thursday February 14th

Dachsies with Moxie

From This to That 

Sew at Home Mummy 

Everyone Deserves a Quilt 

A Geeky Crafty Life 

Charlottes Creations

The German Mom

Debby Kratovil Quilts

NorthHills Quilter

The whole schedule can be found over at Jane's

 

Wishing you a Valentine’s Day
                           with lots of OXOX!!

Abraham Lincoln's Birthday

Today in honor of Abraham Lincoln's Birthday the Residents and I built a log cabin- We were going to use Lincoln Logs but I couldnt get over to my sister's house to borrow them. So we used pretzel rods instead- our chinking is Peanut butter and our shingles, doors and windows are saltines. We had a lot of fun building our cabin- our engineering needs some tweaking but The cabin *is* standing (albeit a bit crooked.) After the building was finished we enjoyed the leftover "logs and Chinking"

We added a pond with a fisherman

and a stack of firewood

Today is not only Honest Abe's Birthday it is day 2 of the Hugs and Kisses Hop




















Check out what these ladies have made!


Tuesday February 12th

Just Let Me Quilt

Quilt Monster in my Closet

Nati's Little Things

Kwilty Pleasures

Cherry's Prairie Primitives

Pig Tales and Quilts

the tilted quilt

Sew Much 2 Luv

Sew Incredibly Crazy

Freemotion by the River

Marjorie's Busy Corner

Hugs and Kisses anyone?

It's Here It's Here

 the Hugs and Kisses bloghop is HERE!

 There is alot of Pink and red showing up all over blogland and the best of the best happens over at SEWWEQUILT! Be sure to check out all of the Valentiney goodness!

Monday February 11th

Jane's Fabrics and Quilts

Sowing Stitches

The Fuzzy Hat Quilter

Quilts and Dogs

Ninis Patchwork

Mrs. Pickles Garden

Patchouli Moon Studio

Life in the Scrapatch

Meadowbrook 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a sneak peek of what I have planned for Thursday!

I am rather excited about my projects- I found my mojo again!I had one project planned and it became 2  and then 2 became 3 and it's only monday..... who knows what else I will come up with before thursday. Sherman is getting a workout!

 

Have fun Huggin and hoppin

Special Edition Teacup Thursday- on Friday

I have been impatiently waiting to post this teapot! It is one of my absolute favorites! My sweet Mommie presented it to me for Christmas a few years ago and I enjoy using it for Valentine's Decorations. 

I had a little bit of fun playing with the pictures in Picnik.
They are closing and until they close,
 all of the premium features are free to all!
Way too much fun!

Valentine's Day is one of my Favorite Holidays- What a nice reminder in the middle of winter that Someone loves us. If you don't have a Valentine, find one- I don't mean rush out and pick a boyfriend off the street, but find someone who needs a little TLC- be a friend to someone who is down,  - visit the residents at the nursing home, take cookies to the staff. Hand the Mc Donald's or Walmart cashier a flower or a silly Valentine, you can get the kind that the kids give out or make some. Just Smile at someone. You'll be amazed at the reactions!

Have a Happy Valentine's Day!