Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween to all ghosts and goblins out in blogland!  :)


Design Wall Monday

No change to the design wall.

Minnesota Hot Dish by Atkinson Designs.


Sunday, October 30, 2011

Stash Update Week #44

No sewing this week!  :(   I did manage to shop a little.

fabric added this week:  +6 yards
fabric added this year:  +216 yards

fabric used this week:  0 yards
fabric used this year: -240 yards

net fabric for the year:  -24 yards

What I accomplished this week:

no sewing   :(   (can you tell I am sad?!)

Goals for next week:

sew :)

Saturday, October 29, 2011

My Week...

...and no sewing.  :(

Well! What's been happening?!

Pumpkin carving.

Pumpkin seed roasting.  I'd share the link but these are going to hit the garbage.  :(












The Christmas card mock ups.

DD's

Mine

Chocolate chip cookie making...

...and tasting.  :)   I just drank coffee as I was sampling as they came out of the oven.












In this school district the kids go to *camp* in the 7th grade~this year for DD.  My son went in 5th grade when we lived in Michigan.  The *camp* group is having a bake sale fundraiser on November 1 and 2 in conjunction with the 8th grade play and the 7th grade parents were asked to donate 4 dozen chocolate chip cookies.  Since it has been like forever since I baked a batch~I thought I better have a dry run to *see* what tweaking to the recipe needs to be done!  DD was very surprised that I owned a cookie jar~what does that tell you?!  and it 'HAS COWS! MOM! C'MON!'  Her words not mine...DH has worked in the dairy business for the last 24 or so years...we have lots of stuff with cows on it. :)

Thursday, October 27, 2011

WIP...

...I'm not sure what DAY it is!  Does that ever happen to you?!  Way too often, maybe?!

I made a few really cute Halloween cards~I'd show you a picture but I, er, mailed them without a glamour shot.  :(

I made a few Thank You cards for the FAB's.  Er, they got mailed without a glamour shot, too.  :(

I made another Thank You for Great Grandma. 

Here is it's glamour shot.  :)

I did shop.  More blues and w.o.w.'s.

+6 yards.

DD hurt her Achilles tendon about 10 days ago. It was still hurting so it was a trip to the orthopedic doctor today.  She came away with a boot and a *no gym* note good until November 14th!  Let's hope her soft tissue injury heals by then!



Daisy dog has been holding her left front paw off the ground and not putting any weight on it.  Since it is her 6 month *old lady* check up time...off we went to the vet today, too.  Diagnosis~soft tissue injury...just like DD!  She came away with a *no gym* note good until November 7th and potty on a leash.  We normally just let her wander around the yard to *find a spot* but since we have wild animals close~the doctor doesn't want her chasing the deer, rabbits or squirrels and re-injure her leg.  No boot for Daisy Dog.  :)

Hopefully some sewing will be happening in the new future.  :) 

That's my story and I am sticking to it! :)

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

My FAB-ulous Birthday PAR-ty

This year, my online sewing group, The FAB's,gather for FAB-ulous Birthday PAR-ties and sewing!   We meet close to each member's birthday online where the birthday FAB opens gifts we have given to her and sew a pattern of her choice.  (or sometimes, one is *pardoned* from the group pattern as *she* might have something else *she* needs to sew!) 

Last Saturday was MY DAY!  :)

My gifts:

From Cher: this wonderful winter wall hanging!  I'm going to add a sleeve and hang it in my family room in a new spot for quilts just this size.  And it co-ordinates beautifully with the winter wall hanging for my kitchen.  Come January~I'll show them both.  Cher also sent a ton of other goodies in her box that I didn't take pictures of...a cool tote bag, a baggie full of candy bars to share, cathedral windows notecards, fabric and two shop samples for me to practice my quilting on!  Thanks, Cher!  It all is wonderful!

From Linda: this awesome wall hanging!  with all the elements Linda LOVES and I appreciate! (ie: applique!)  November 1st it will be hanging in my family room!  Linda also sent my some yellow scraps as I mentioned the yellow was running low ?!  She also sent a bin full of trail mix with M&M's, nuts and candy corn.  yes! candy.corn!  soon the trail mix will only have M&M's and the nuts!  lol

From Norma:  are you ready?!  this tote bag! made out of FAB purples and the batiks Norma loves.  My guild notebooks will be traveling in style now.  to the right~a bag of coffee crisp nuggets.  talk about yummy!  sinful! I need to be careful or my weight will be off the charts at my Doctor's appointment next week!  but watch out after...lol

From Pam:  my glamour shot...not!  Pam's gifts were cupcake theme.  This adorable apron~check out the ric rac and a cupcake hot pad.  Pam also sent some cupcake sprinkles and liners in her package.

The pattern we worked on is the Minnesota Hot Dish, shown here.




Thanks my FAB-ulous friends for a FAB-ulous Birthday PAR-ty!  Miss Norma is next in November!

Monday, October 24, 2011

A Patriotic Give Away

Joanne at Everyone Deserves a Quilt is hosting a Patriotic Give Away!

If you are interested in making a QOV to donate~this prize package would be a great jump off point! 

Need more inspiration for QOV's? Check out Joanne's 15 Honor Flight quilts she donated.  Totally Awesome!

Design Wall Monday

Started a new quilt at the sew-in with my FAB friends on Saturday to celebrate my birthday!

Minnesota Hot Dish by Atkinson Designs.  One source here, here or here.  I didn't see it on the Atkinson Designs website.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Stash Update Week #43

Fabric added this week:  +4 yards
Fabric added this year: +210 yards

Fabric used this week:  -9 yards
Fabric used this year: -240 yards

Net fabric for the year: -30 yards (used)

What I accomplished this week:

finished Halloween place mats and tablerunner
quilt and bound Kitty Staggered Bricks~a NICU quilt
quilt and bound Balloon Pinwheel w/ Ribbon border~a NICU quilt

Goals for next week:

continue piecing blocks for Minnesota Hot Dish

note:  the +4 yards was background for the Minnesota Hot Dish but it didn't *play nicely* with the border fabric.  :(    but I will find another home (or maybe homes!) for the yardage...

Thursday, October 20, 2011

A Couple of NICU Quilts

I finished the two NICU quilts just in time to be donated tonight!

The first one, orginally blogged about here, used the *ugly* fabric of the green.  Right?!  I didn't think it was ugly at all.  I did change the border out~trying for more of a contrast. The pattern is Staggered Bricks from my friend, LindaJ's blog.

The curly heart panto.

The next one...ummm...I was going to rip out the inner border and put *something with more contrast* but DS said that he liked it the way it is.  He liked that the border flowed into the quit center. :) 
My goal in this quilt was to use the balloon fabric~given to me at guild~ and try the ribbon border.  Tutorial found here.  I originally blogged about it way back in June, here.




One more time, practicing the curly heart panto.  :)

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

My Halloween Finish

and Halloween is 13 days away!

The place mats inspiration found here.

The table runner pattern:  Frame Up from Pieced Tree Patterns.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Design Wall Monday

Not exactly a design wall but this is what I am currently working on, My Halloween place mats.  I finished the straight line quilting today and made/applied the binding.  Now to do the hand sewing!

Pattern inspiration found here.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Stash Update Week #42

whew! just had a finish late last night while I was listening to the Milwaukee Admirals hockey game! yeah~the Pesky Ads won in a shoot out!  :)   3 wins and 0 losses in this young season!

fabric added this week:  0 yards
fabric added this year: +206 yards

fabric used this week: -6 yards
fabric used this year: -231 yards

net fabric for the year: -25 yards

What I accomplished this week:

completed Simba's Rainbow

Goals for next week:

continue working on Halloween place mats
quilt and bind NICU/Ugly fabric quilt

Hop on over to JudyL's Patchwork Times to check out other bloggers' Stash Updates.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

A Quilt for Simba

Just in time for this week's stash report.  A quilt for Simba to, ahem, be on instead of the carpet when out of his cage.

I'm making a dent in the scrap bins...orange and purple are low while the reds are boring~more of the same fabrics~if you  *know* what I mean!  :) The yellows are more gold than yellow.  Tons of blues and greens. Moderate amounts of black, grey, white, brown and beige.

The popcorn quilting.



The buck-a-yard backing.  fungly in it's glory...the fabric is kinda growing on me...  :)

Friday, October 14, 2011

Hockey Season!

Tonight the puck drops for the Milwaukee Admirals! First home game of the season!





I was asked to make the hockey lace bracelets.

DD suggested the pink hockey lace bracelets for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. :)

and since I refer to my blog to refresh my memory...some facts about the hockey lace bracelets...








Supplies needed:

small cut at 6.0 inches
bigger cut at 6.5 inches
3/8 inch braided black elastic cut at 2.0 inches
thread to match hockey lace
fray check

blue=11
black=12
white=11
yellow=8
pink=12

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

WIP Wednesday~100 Quilts for Kids Link Up

Today's post is the 5th quilt I have sent to Margaret's Hope Chest.  Carol emailed me and said that their November 5th date is a *go* because they have enough quilts to share that day but they would love more for future prison dates.  I think I can find some more *kid friendly* fabric in my stash for another quilt! 

I'm linking up with Kate from Swim, Bike Quilt for her 2011 100 Quilts for Kids.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Oh NO!

My retractable scissor lanyard broke this weekend!

Well, Lori, I used it sooo much that it gave up the ghost!  :(

It was a gift from Lori when I first got my longarm.

Thanks Lori! It was wonderful!

Monday, October 10, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving Canada and a Give Away!

Linda at Stray Stitches is having a give away~hop on over and check it out!  can you say, 'Fat Quarter Shop Fat Quarter Bundle' three times, real fast?!   Linda has some interesting facts about Thanksgiving, too. (and this totally cool graphic that I stole...:)...sorry, Linda~I couldn't resist.  Hurry over to Linda's and check out her give away...

Happy Thanksgiving to all Canadians!

Design Wall Monday

Halloween place mats and table runner are on my design wall to start the week.

Place mats inspiration found here.

Pattern for the table runner found here.

Hop on over to JudyL's Patchwork Times for more Design Wall Monday inspiration.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Stash Update Week #41

I finished a few projects and I added a little bit.

fabric added this week:  +3 yards
fabric added this year:  +206 yards

fabric used this week: -5.5 yards
fabric used this year:  -225 yards

net fabric for the year: -19 yards (used)

What I accomplished this week:

completed Construction Bricks (and it's at Margaret's Hope Chest!)
Packer flag

Goals for next week:

continue work on Simba's Rainbow
Halloween place mats and table runner
hockey lace bracelets
make a few birthday cards~someone I know has a birthday soon!  :)

Hop on over to JudyL's Patchwork Times to see other Stash Updates

Saturday, October 8, 2011

A Finish is a Finish!

I sewed the binding back last night during the Brewers' game and added the tabs this morning.  I suppose it should be a Milwaukee Brewers' flag as they have advanced to the next round of the playoffs~yea, Brew Crew!  The Crew will be playing against LindaJ's favorite team, the St. Louis Cardinals. But, I didn't have a Brewers t*shirt that I wanted to turn into a flag~maybe next season!  :)

This Packer t*shirt is a reject from this quilt here...with the rejected t*shirt and the final quilt.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

WIP Wednesday

Doing what I put off for way tooooo long...sewing on labels for a few of the Margaret's Hope Chest quilts.  My quilts are added to the totals for the 100 Quilts for Kids campaign at Kate's Swim, Bike, Quilt blog.  See my donations here and here.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Why 'Bell Creek Quilts'?

Dawn at 'As Sweet as Cinnamon' is hosting a give away. 

All you need to do is: post why you named your blog it's name then link up with her. That's easy!

I named my blog Bell Creek Quilts because:
  1. I grew up close to the Bell Creek branch of the Rouge River in Michigan
  2. Creeks usually are a place of peacefulness and calmness to me
  3. Quilts...well, I started out making quilts to post about but my *real* life filters in every now and again as well as some of my other creative endeavors~like card making and scrapbooking.
I was Google searching for a cool picture of Bell Creek but I couldn't find one I liked.  :(

Instead, a picture of the Bell Creek in my mind.  :) 

from Google Image Search

100 Quilts for Kids~Part 2

I finished the Construction Staggered Bricks which I will link to the next 100 Quilts for Kids Linky Party in mid October over at Kate's Swim, Bike, Quilt blog. I just missed the deadline for the first Linky Party.

Thanks to my friend, LindaJ for helping with this pattern.  It really is easy breezy and goes together fast!  I love the staggered bricks look! :)

The Inkblot quilting.


I found this fun backing for it with all sorts of street signs in the stash.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Design Wall Monday

The start of another rainbow crumb quilt, which, by the way, was not on *the list*!


This will be for Simba to use rather than a quilt my son received as a baby shower gift 21 years ago. :)

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Stash Report Week #40

I brought a little for future projects but had no finishes.  :(  I am getting close to a finish, though. :)

fabric added this week:  +3 yards
fabric added this year:  +203 yards

fabric used this week:  0 yards
fabric used this year:  - 219.5 yards

net fabric for the year: - 16.5 yards (used)

What I accomplished this week:

pieced and quilted Construction Bricks

Goals for next week:

bind Construction Bricks

I did hang my last year's birthday gift from LindaJ~this wonderful Halloween Wall Hanging!

I LOVE IT TODAY as much as LAST YEAR!