QUILTING LION

Another Great Inspiration

2012-01-29T08:48:00.003-06:00

As allot of my followers know I do like to dabble in Altered Art. It does give a nice break from Crazy Quilting but in my mind compliments CQ in many ways. I do look to Altered Art for inspiration in many ways. Maybe not for the stitching but for the ideas. For a great idea for the 2012 CQ Journal you might want to check out this post: http://sugarlumpstudios.com/?p=2944&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sugarlumpstudios%2FxOSh+%28Sugar+Lump+Studios%29 .

Sugar Lump Studios is one of my favorite blogs to follow for inspiration. The Love Me Altered Tag Book is an awesome inspiration. I do make CQ tags as do many in the CQ world and this idea can translate over to the fabric medium very easily.

Here is a CQ tag that I made a while back.

This tag is a small one but you can make it bigger and put what you want on it. Think about it. What would you do to make a tag journal or a tag book of some kind? Would you use family pictures? How about real vintage silkies? What about using your grandmothers buttons? Or Lace? How about just to showcase all of YOUR different stitch ideas?

I hope that you enjoy your inspiration for the day!

TTFN
The Lion

New Year, New Round Robin

2012-01-25T16:11:00.000-06:00

It is a new year and I am trying to put my quilting back in my life as a #1. It has been a long time since I have been a Round Robin that I signed up for one that caught my attention on the Yahoo group Crazy Quilt International. I have been trying for days to get my RR blocks uploaded to the CQI Yahoo site and they just won't upload! So I decided to put them up on my blog today and show everyone what they look like. the RR I chose to join is the Midnight Fantasy Garden. This is a triditional RR so I would need only one block but I had this purse pattern that was just too awesome that I have been wanting to make a purse out of. I would need two sides. So I made both sides and am sending them both. I am hoping that the ladies will find inspiration for stitiching on one block or the other. It matters not to me which one that they stitch on.

So here is the first block:

Here is the second block:

Okay I should have rotated this picture since it is on it'sside but you can see how cute it is anyway. My inspiration for these blocks is a mens tie that I found. See the cute little peacock on the first block? That is what cought my attention at the thrift store. I had to beat Debbie H. to the store for that jewel! I am excited to see what the ladies do with this block.

Kerry, If you are reading this HELP! Yahoo won't let me upload!

TTFN
The Lion

Take A Look At This!

2012-01-23T18:31:00.000-06:00

I was looking and reading in my blog land and found this: http://sugarlumpstudios.com/?p=2904&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sugarlumpstudios%2FxOSh+%28Sugar+Lump+Studios%29

Sugar Lump Studios has a GREAT fabric journal! SO AWESOME! Thank you for sharing this inspiration. I love it!

I hope that my followers enjoy her post.

TTFN
The Lion

My First Journal Block

2012-01-22T17:35:00.000-06:00

I have emerged from my sewing space with a beautiful first block for my Journal. What do you think? I thought that I would start with my grandmothers favorite flower the daisy. I have picked out the floss and silk ribbon that I am going to use on it. I can't wait to start.

My friend Shari suggested a really complicated name for my journal "Homage to Myrtle Jane." I am thinking of a simpler name of "My Grandmothers Flower Garden." I am very lucky that I had the privilege of having Myrtle Jane Wagner Painter in my life up until a few years ago. I miss her terrably. Lucky me though my mothers mom is still alive. I treasure her even more now that Myrtle is gone. I will have to do another journal for LaVerne Heilscher Wallace.

I hope that you will follow this journey of love. The love of flowers and everything that grows in a garden and the love for my grandmother.

TTFN
The Lion

Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2012

2012-01-22T10:45:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I was thinking about the CQJP 2012. WHAT WAS I GOING TO DO? I have been trying to figure that out since the first of December last year. I was puttering around my little quilting room I picked up the fairy fabric I bought on one of my lunch time jaunts around San Antonio. The fabric has the flower faries on it. I started thinking about my grandmother.

Myrtle Jane Wagner Painter she is the one that gave me my love of gardening and stitching. I thought to myself why not do a journal with the flower faries that represent the flowers that I remember in my Grandmothers flower garden. Wow! Now that was an idea!

Just you wait and see what I am going to so with this project! Did you sign up for this project? What are you going to do?

TTFN
The Lion

Cleaning Out the Clutter

2011-11-25T11:52:00.000-06:00

Since the fire I have cleaning out the clutter so to speak. If I don't need it or can't use it I am either throwing it away or giving it to St. Vincent De Paul. Being a quilter I am a pack rat. The majority of the human race are pack rats. Some are extreme about it and some are not. It goes back to our dark past when we use to roam through the continents and kill our own food.

For what ever reason I have started to clean out my nooks and crannies. It is feeling good to do this. This morning I got into my dresser to two drawers of clothes that I have not worn in heaven knows when and threw them into a plastic garbage bag bound for the charity shop. I did not even look at the clothes just threw them in the bag. Making room for the clothes that I am actually wearing. The next stop is my closet. Not today though. I am doing this in little bursts of "this has got to go!"

As I am cleaning out my clutter physically I noticed that mentally I am feeling better and better. I am not sure what is going on but I am enjoying a clutter free life. I also think that the old man is also.

Feeling a little more free.

The Lion

Wishing To All

2011-11-24T07:25:00.000-06:00

As I sit here thinking that I really need to get up and make the greenbean casserole to go over to my grandmothers house I am looking around and thinking of all the things that I am thankful for. This year especially the people of Bastrop have so much to be thankful for. As for me getting right down to the point of I am just thankful we all have our lives! This Thanksgiving we still have our home and the others around me who lost their homes in the fire? They get to rebuild. It will be rough going but they get to do it together.

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving? What do you get to do today?

TTFN
The Lion

Crazy Quilt Journal Project

2011-11-20T10:23:00.000-06:00

I would like to talk to my followers about a great project that is going to take place after the first of the year. It is the Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2012. Some of the particulars are:

Participants will complete one crazy quilt block each month. Size and shape can vary but it should be at least equivalent to 6" square.
Participants who want their blocks published can submit their photos to the committee email to: chairperson@cqjp.org.
Complete rules and registration information about the CQJP2012 is at the website http://www.cqjp.org/.

I would also like to announce that the CQJP2012 is honored to have JM Michler, author of The Magic of Crazy Quilting as our Honorary Chairperson this year! How awesome is that?

I would like to encourage all to participate in this project! I will!

TTFN
The Lion

The Lion's Stocking Swap

2011-10-05T15:38:00.000-05:00

Let's talk about the swap. Is it still happening you ask? Why yes it is! All who follow my blog know that we have had a little excitement in these parts. We are recovering quite nicely. The pine woods will never be the same but they will recover in the way only nature can.

I am pushing all of our dates for the swap back two weeks for all the slow pokes and those of us who have something unexpected come up. I cannot wait to see what everyone has come up with! Please email me privately so that I can send you my snail mail address.

TTFN
The Lion

Some Thoughts

2011-09-25T11:54:00.000-05:00

As the recovery here in Bastrop, Texas continues we are all wrestling with our demons that were unleashed from the fire. Some of us have had our homes taken from us in a matter of minuets and some of us are lucky enough to still have our homes.

We are witnesses to the best that human nature is and we are witness to the worst that human nature is. Believe it or not there really was people going into the fire evacuation area through the hot spots and stealing from the people who have lost everything. Believe it or not, there are really people giving their homes that they have thought of selling, and moving closer to family in another part of the state or country, to people who have lost their homes to the fire. We are also seeing everything else you can imagine in between these two extremes.

As my family and I recover from the physical affects of the stress of having been evacuated, I have thought allot of my next post to my blog. I do want to stress yes my home was still standing when we came back but we still have been through allot of "what ifs". You know the kind the biggest is: What if the house is gone? there are allot of families around us that are dealing right now with that "what if" right now.

Here is kind of a description of what we all went through here when we were told to evacuate:

First they were cutting the power off ahead of the fire so your power was cut. Then the Sheriff or State Troopers came through your neighborhood telling you to get out, get out NOW. Okay, do you have time to grab anything? What do you grab? Clothes? Your dog/cat? Photo albums? What about the hand prints from Kindergarten that you got for Mothersday/Fathersday from you children? Their christening gowns? Your grandmothers quilt? Your jewelry?

What stays to be fire fuel what do you get to save for the future?

What if the fire was on you so fast, you did not get the warning from the law enforcement officers. What if the only thing you could get out of your home with is just the clothes on your back? What if you get to the end of your street and the fire has already beat you there and you just in the nick of time turn down the road to safety? What if you did not beat the fire out?

What would you do?

The recovery here continues.

TTFN
The Lion

Special Alert

2011-09-14T17:58:00.000-05:00

For my followers in the Bastrop area I just recieved this email from one of the local ladies. I don't know if it is true or not but if it is true then we are in real trouble here. Let's stay alert I think that we have lost enough!

For those of you who have people in the field, or at home, or on the roads, please pass this on to them:

If you are not aware there is an arsonist in the area. He or they (not sure how many individuals we are looking for) are setting fires in this area but we are not sure they are limited to this area. Attempts have been made three times on Watterson Road and once on Goertz Road and I’m sure there are more. My sister who runs the mail route in Red Rock just spoke to a DPS Officer and he asked her to keep an eye out for a white Ford Explorer, license plate number BLK-155. The vehicle was sold and never re-registered hence the reason they don’t know who the culprit is. If you see this vehicle or any suspicious activity in the area please call Robert Thorp (DPS Officer) at 979-716-0526. Mr. Thorp is currently camped out in Red Rock.

Bastrop, Texas Stash Replacement Efforts

2011-09-11T18:11:00.002-05:00

As many of you ladies know by now I call Bastrop, Texas my home. From my previous post everyone who follows my blog knows we have had a devastating fire. There are lots of quilters and ladies who do the needle arts have not only lost their Stash but their homes also.

This first picture is of my friend Debbie H's home. Debbie not only lost her home but her stash she is a sane quilter and a crazy quilter. She also lost all of her Christmas ornaments, Christmas stockings, her award winning quilts.............All her memories.

This picture is of my friend Mary Nelle's home. Mary Nelle is a sane quilter. Mary Nelle lost her quilting stash along with her home. She has lost Christmas Ornaments, Christmas Stockings, her award winning quilts...........All of her memories.

These are only two of the quilters here in the Bastrop area who lost everything. A friend of mine in Colorado has taken over relief efforts for all of Bastrop County quilters who have lost their stash in this huge fire. The following is written by Kathy Shaw:

My friend Shari Jensen, in Colorado is organizing a needle-art donation effort for ladies in Bastrop, TX that have lost their homes (and therefore their stash of needle-art supplies). We are only concentrating on helping to replenish their sewing rooms...not their home. This is being done through Shari's Yahoo Group...StitchMAP. I personally vouch for Shari and know that these things will go to the ladies in Bastrop.

Shari's husband will drive a huge trailer down to Texas once the donations are all in. She and a couple of other members will be going along...and meeting up with the Texas members of our group that are available. All donations will be organized at a local spot (coordinating with the local churches and Chamber of Commerce to obtain a suitable location...large enough, and free of course!). Once the known members that lost their homes are helped...the other donations will go to any other stitcher in the area. Coordination with local guilds, needle-art shops, and the Chamber are underway to identify these folks. After this group has selected items from the donations...the remainder will be given to area charities to be distributed through their venues.

We hope to make this a huge effort!

Please contact Shari at: LadyJSpice@aol.com .

As I know more about our area quilters I will post. Thank you for all the support that my blog followers have given to me and the Bastrop County quilters.

TTFN
The Lion

Bastrop, Texas

2011-09-10T10:01:00.000-05:00

I know that many of you have heard about the Bastrop fires. I am about to tell you the story from my point of view.

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

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Dave and I woke up like we always do. We had our big Sunday breakfast and talked about going to WalMart. We did a few things and went to WalMart to get a few things about 10:00am. Came back home Dave took a nap and I cleaned my kitchen. You know one of those really good scrubbing cleans. The things that women do when we can't stand it anymore. Dave woke up and went to the store to get a soda and cigarettes. When he got back he said I think that there is a fire. Really? Wow I hope that they get it under control. I did not think more my daughter came in and said that her and Christina her friend were going swimming in the river to cool off and that she would be back later.

Thirty minuets later she is calling me stating that Thitian Village is being evacuated. The fire is on its way to Thitian and her and Christina are coming here with Christina's dogs. I go outside to something that looks like this over in the area of the Thitian sub division.

Only the smoke was closer as Thitian is only five miles from my home. Lora gets here with Christina and they are really upset. Dave and I try to calm them down.

I continue with my day. I am making enchilada casserole for my son who wanted it for his birthday. Our friends Juan and Michele call. They are being evacuated. Dave told them that they can come here that we are in a safe area. They have to leave their subdivision and drive up 21 to 290 go to Elgin then come down 95 to get to our house. We have dinner when Michele and their daughter Sugar get here. This was one of the longest nights that we have ever spent in our lives.

Out over the trees where the fire is we watch the glow of the fire and listen as the propane tanks explode. The explosions just keep getting closer.

All of us adults sit up until 2am worrying if the fire is going to get here and about all of our friends who may or may not be homeless at this time.

The next morning arrives and Juan goes into town to get money from the bank so he can go to Bryan to get his travel trailer from his moms house. They are going to hole up here until it is over. I am cooking breakfast for all. Juan gets back from town and he comes saying that the fire has kicked back up and the fire is headed this way. The electricity goes out. (The power company was turning out the electricity ahead of the fire.)

The word comes that we need to evacuate our home. David and I grab everything that we can that means anything to us and clothes, bedding, the cat and her kittens and our three dogs. We head to mom's house. We are headed down 21 to San Marcus to her house in Dale and we pass through smoke. Thick smoke. Okay we are about 12 miles from the Bastrop fire now why is the smoke so thick?

There is another fire. The Union Chapel Fire. This one threatens to run us out of my moms house. Where will we go after that? Dads? Houston with my sister? As the sun goes down on Monday with us not able to get back into our house at least until noon on Tuesday. Is our house still there even? There are many Bastropians who are still going through the thoughts and emotions that my husband and I were going throught Monday night.

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

David gets back into our subdivision at noon on Tuesday and calls me..................Our home is still there, there is no power, but it is still there! We will take no power!

The house smells like smoke and we happily lived until Thursday at 10:30pm with out power. We were lucky.

So many homes gone. Allot of my friends homeless. Allot of quilters have not only lost their homes but their stash. I have talked to quite a few of them. They are happy that they have their lives. There is so much destroyed here. I know that we have not lost as much as some of the flooding up north. You have to think just like them we have lost part of our town.

The people of Bastrop have been on an emotional roller coaster since Sunday, September the 4th. We are watching the Texas government and the National government play "pass the buck" with our lives and emotions.

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

The world has to know that Bastrop is still here. We will rebuild! Any day that you are standing on this side of the ground you are doing okay!

I would like to share more pictures with my readers:

If any quilter out there wants to donate to help the Bastrop quilters rebuild their stash please stay tuned to my blog. I will set up with our local quilt shop a donation station. I will give more details in a later post. If you want to contact me please email me at glynpg@yahoo.com .

I would like to thank BENOLINE.com, Holly B. photography and all the others who took the above pictures.

TTFN

The Lion

A UFO Finished

2011-08-25T18:34:00.002-05:00

Today I worked on a quilt that I started for my darling daughter about 5 years ago. I think that it is about time that I finished it since she is now 16 yo! I have to let you know something about this daughter she loves Halloween. She thinks that Halloween is the best holiday of the year. My youngest has always had a sense of adventure. I remember when she was six and seven years old we would sit and watch bad B sci-fi movies. You remember them. Who can forget Them or Tarantula or how about Abbott and Costello Meet the Wolf man. One of her favorites is The Ghost and Mr. Chicken. You can't beat Don Knotts!

Here is her quilt:

Done in all Halloween fabric. She loves it!

Now I have one less UFO sitting around my house!

TTFN
The Lion

The Lion's Stocking Inspiration

2011-08-25T10:00:00.001-05:00

I have had a request for some stocking inspiration. I have dug up some pictures of stockings from past swaps for your inspirational pleasure!

Well was that inspirational or what? I can not wait to see what everyone in this swap comes up with this year! I know that I am working on mine!

TTFN
The Lion

Sneak Peak

2011-08-25T09:49:00.001-05:00

I am working on an extra special project that is WAY over due. I decided to give a sneak peak picture of it to prove that I really am working on it.

Just wait until I get it finished. Not too long now I am adding silk ribbon flowers and beads then it gets put together.

I do have a news flash! We got some rain here in Bastrop, Tx! It was not much but we will take all we can get at this point!

TTFN

The Lion

I Am All Set

2011-08-24T09:39:00.000-05:00

I took this week off from work to recharge. I have been doing allot of that this year. The most frustrating part of this year is my inability to find my happy medium. Which brings up the question of why can't I? Am I looking too hard for it? Am I not trying hard enough? All I know is it feels like I am starving for something and I can't find it. That just brings on a depression.

So I took this week off as a Birthday gift to myself. Yes, my birthday was Sunday I am another year older. I cleaned the house from the top to the bottom. Cursing the old man the whole way. He took two weeks vacation the later part of July and all he did was just mess the place up. That probably added to my depression. Between him and my youngest daughter I almost gave everything to them and moved. I still might do that since they both want to work my nerves. It is hard to be positive when you live with two negatives. I digress.

Today I am to call my friend Shari then start on my quilting. I tried to call her yesterday but she did not answer. She was probably out buying more stash. I hope to do that Friday as well as mail some coffee to Connie. Mail some things to Shari and mail out a gift to Angela. I digress again!

Becky, I received your Birthday Card. Thank you! I love it! It gave me some inspiration and I have got out "Seanes" and am going to work on it!

I am also working on my stocking lesson. For all of y'all in the Central Texas area I will be teaching it at our local quilt shop. I am done with breakfast and ready for my day! Shari are you home?

TTFN
The Lion

The 2011 Lion's Stocking Swap

2011-07-16T09:24:00.000-05:00

It is time to announce the annual Lion's Christmas Stocking Swap! I am all excited about this years swap as I have picked a theme that I think everyone will enjoy. This years theme is...................................Birds!

I remember the Christmas crafts that my mother did one year with the bird theme. It just seemed to make the holiday so much more magical and sparkleing. Sometimes I wish I could frame my memories of that time and hang them on the wall for everyone to see. My mother does not have the time for crafts and needle work these days. She works for the University of Texas and is busy with her duties as the High Priestess of the Ben Hera Temple. I hope that she will find some time during her retirement to do some. She is a very talented lady!

Now on to the guidelines!

Height: Stockings should be no taller then 11 inches high and no shorter than 8 inches high.

Width: Stockings should be no wider then 8 inches wide and no narrower then 4 and 1/2 inches wide.

Attention: Please, line the stockings in case your swap partner would like to use them for more than decorations!

You can send up to 4 stockings, stockings are to be hand embellished.(please no glue)

This swap will be a centralized swap. Stockings are to be mailed to me no later than October 15, 2011. I will mail them back to you on November 1, 2011. Sign up will be from now until September 1, 2011. Please do not forget the return postage, Swapers from other countries can send a bribe goodie and I will pay your return postage.

You can email me privetly for my address at glynpg@yahoo.com.

Please, remember to swap onto others!

TTFN
The Lion

Let's Talk

2011-07-10T16:26:00.000-05:00

Today I had one of the best phone calls that I have had in a long time. One of the best friends that I will ever have (and I have never met her in person) gave me a solution to a couple of long standing projects that have been stagnating. She completely took them off of my hands. This is one of the biggest reliefs that I have had in a long time. After our conversation I sat down and cried for ten minuets. That is how big of a relief this is.

I have been having some problems in my life that have prevented me from doing what I would like to be doing. Slowing me down so to speak. This lady has been one of my biggest supporters and not judging. I don't trust easy and it is easy to judge someone when you don't get to meet them face to face. She has the same problem and it is amazing that we have become such good friends. I wish that everyone could know her in the way I get to know her. I have a feeling that if we do meet in person that we would create so much havoc that our husbands would divorce us. I think that someone knew what they were doing by placeing us so far away from each other!

We in the stitching community know each other by our postings and emails and by pictures of our work. Most of us get to know each other pretty well even though we live on the other side of the world from each other. It is that communication thing even though it is through email. We also have to remember that by not ever seeing a person face to face we can also damage that person through the email.

I remember one year I participated in a swap. It was one of the best swaps that I had ever been in. It was awesome and it almost did not finish. One of the more respected members of the stitching community that we have on line put out on some of the Yahoo lists that this person was not trust worthy. It was a mistaken identity so to speak. It crushed this nice lady who live life through the Internet due to health issues. Six of us stayed in the swap. Due to health reasons she did not mail off the swap like she had wanted. She had been in the hospital when the mail out date came around. I did have to wait to receive my swap. I did get it and I am still using stash from that swap. Beautiful trims and lace.

After the swap this lady being crushed and her reputation ruined in the on-line stitching community she started losing passion for her Crazy Quilting. She dropped off the lists. We had become friends and I kept up with her through email. She passed away last year. I got to enjoy a friendship by just sticking it out with her and reaching out to her. I think that I am richer for it.

During my time of having problems my friend has stuck by me often finding solutions to the immediate problems. Others have not. They have been quick to judge. Sending terse emails. Claiming that they are leaders. But are judgements and terse emails what leaders do?

My question to you is: Did you throw your nose in the air and judge? Did you say things that were not very nice? Is this what makes a leader?

WHAT MAKES A LEADER?

Did anyone ever think to contact me to ask what in the world is going on? Do you care about others as a leader should or are you out for your own gain? Your own fame and recognition? Even if you are not a leader do you see something that is not right and judge or do you even think to reach out to see what is going on and ask if you can help? Are you a doer and thinker or do you just want to follow gossip and judge others thinking that is your right?

In writing this post I am putting the past behind me and with the help of a friend am completing two long over due projects. I am looking forward to the future and where my art will take me.

TTFN
The Lion

Do You Ever Think About Letters?

2011-06-12T10:12:00.000-05:00

Do you ever think about letters in your embroidery?? How about just a monogram on your crazy quilt? I know that I have many books that have been published by our favorite authors. Like Judith Baker Montano and Marsha Michler. There are many other authors that have great "alpha inspiration" but have you gone to a site or a blog that offers free vintage photos and other things and looked at their "alpha offerings" and just passed them up? Have you ever looked at them really close and said this vintage alphabet would look great on my crazy quilt? Can you see it embroidered with flowers and beads on your crazy patch? I do. I see these alphabets dressed up all kinds of ways.

I frequently spot really great vintage alphabets that come from other sites and are free for you to use for your inspiration. One of my favorite spots is The Vintage Moth. (http://www.thevintagemoth.blogspot.com/) Here is the alphabet I found this morning:

This french alphabet is so elegant and feminine. It is easy to see this one dressed up with embroidery flowers and beads.

If you are looking for alphabets you can practically find them every where in antique shops, you library. It is very easy to find the alphabets on the web. I found these real quick this morning:

This one is from http://www.frenchknots.com/ they have a beautiful site full of inspiration.

These amazing Victorian letters are from http://www.freevectorgallery.com/ . Can you just imagine what you can do with this alphabet?

This alphabet I found at http://www.funphotoeditor.blogspot.com/ . I really like this one it is very artistic and elegant. I really can see all kinds of ways all of these alphabets can be embroidered on our crazy patch blocks.

Now I pose this question to you: How do you see these alphabets on your crazy patch block?
Just take a minuet and think about it. How would you embroider and alphabet on your block?

This is the challenge I make to you: Take one of these alphabets and embroider a monogram on your crazy patch block.

How will you embroider it? With floss? With perle cotton/silk? With silk ribbon? With a combination of all? Will you embroider flowers with the letters? How about beads?

What possibilities! Please take up my challenge! Let me see what you can come up with. Please come back and post a link to you creation. I would love to see it!

Have a wonderful Sunday!

TTFN
The Lion.

Let's Talk Stocking Swap

2011-06-11T09:34:00.001-05:00

I have a new computer. Yes, I broke down and got one while my PC is in the hospital for computer STD. My darling son the apple of my eye decided to go on porn sites with my hub of the Crazy Quilting world. So my poor computer is infected. On the up swing of it all I decided that it was time to get my lap top that I had been thinking of getting. Now I can carry everyone to work with me and "play" at lunch! I am working on adding all of my printers and cameras onto this computer so that I can add up-to-date photos of all my work. In the mean while................Let's talk about: The Lions Stocking Swap.

I promised myself that I would not take so long to announce it this year so that all my cyber friends from other countries can plan on being in on all the fun! Now I am thinking on the theme this year. HHHHUUUUuuuummmmmm............

The first year it was good old Santa Clause. Last year it was Angels. There are many, many more things that we think of when we think of Christmas. What do you think of when you think Christmas?

I have been toying with several themes. One of them is birds. I remember one Christmas my mother made glass balls with birds on them. She found paper Christmas napkins with birds on them. She kind of rough tore the picture of the birds out and glued them to the Christmas balls. Then she glued clear glitter on them and made them look frosty and snowy. She also made center piece candles that way also.

AAAHHhhhh the memories! Christmas is a magical time of the year. I LOVE Christmas!

So what do you think?? Are there any suggestions on the theme this year?

TTFN
The Lion

My Time Away

2011-06-05T11:37:00.000-05:00

No, it was not work this time that has taken me away from my art. To begin with my mother was in an accident in Dallas. She went to stop at a red light and the guy behind her did not. She thought that she was okay but started feeling faint. She was transported to the hospital where we found out she has an enlarged heart. She is home now but she is on a heart monitor because her heart rate keeps dropping below 50 beats per minuet. She is fighting the prescribed treatment. She of course wants a quick fix that will never happen. Mothers gotta love them!

One other big thing that happened is I lost my best friend of 15 years. He was blind and old and I knew that the day would come........ My cocker spaniel Minnie Me left for heaven and I just have not been right since. Every time I think that I am better I break down and cry again. I know that I will be okay but in the mean time I am going to pick myself up and get back into the game again.

My plans are to get pictures taken of my blocks that I have done for The Lost Pines Crazy Quilt Group and get them posted. I will finish up a swap project and get it out next weekend. I have a couple of other blocks that I need to get embellished and put into the mail. OH! Lets not forget the Lions Stocking Swap! I will be announcing that within the next month. Also if you live in Texas and in the Bastrop area, I will be planning a weekend block party. It is going to be a retreat of sorts. I will be making plans for that.

Here is the next thing that I am going to be doing. I will be writing a couple of posts for K.N.A.S.S. the StitchMap blog. You ought to take a peak at it. You just might want to join Map!

TTFN
The Lion

Flavor Stitches

2011-02-05T08:45:00.000-06:00

In the month of January The Lost Pines Crazy Quilters worked with "Flavor Stitches". I know that most of you are asking what are flavor stitches??? Flavor stitches by The Lions definition are stitches that can be used with other stitches to build your seams and add interest. These stitches are: Fly Stitches, French Knot, Lazy Daisy and Straight Stitch.

These are the only stitches that are used on the block for this month. The next two pictures are of the example block that I did for the LPCQG.

Using many different combinations of just the Fly Stitch, Straight Stitch, Lazy Daisy and French Knot you can create a very beautiful block. In working on this block I also learned some things. The biggest one is that as an "encruster" I can encrust with nothing but stitches. As you can see from my picture there is nothing but stitches, as a friend of mine says, my fabric can't breath.

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

Now here is where you learn what you are to use your composition books and map pencils for. As you can see from my pictures I have a book not a composition book but a journal. I have quite a few of these laying around the house that I use for notes on anything from crafts to designing a Crazy Quilt. I pick up 4 or 5 at a time when I find them for a dollar a book.

I chose to use one of the nicer journals for the making my "Study of Stitches" book. In this book I am taking the one stitch a month for the rest of the year and making notes on how to build my seams. As you can see I have already started with the "Flavor Stitches".

As you can see from the pictures of the pages I mixed the colors to define the different stitches you will use for the seams. Under the map color drawn "seam" you can see that I described the seam for future reference.

In the many books that we purchase there are the author's favorite seams that they use. We might use them and we might not. This is where this book of seams comes in handy. This book is of the seams that YOU use or have used written down for future reference. You might have a seam in it the you use only once but it is a seam that you have used. You never know when you might use it again.

Feel free to explore all combinations of seam treatments. Take notes on them. Enjoy your crazy quilting!

TTFN

The Lion

Putting Together A Block

2011-01-16T10:50:00.001-06:00

Let's talk about putting blocks together. When I learned how to put together crazy patch blocks I was a young woman and my grandmother taught me. To begin with she told me that they were very easy. Which to find out they really are easy to put together. She said start with a piece of fabric in the middle and go around and around until the block is filled. A little vague right? I did figure out how to put them together a little better in my old age! There are times that I put together a block just like she taught me. Is it wrong? I don't think so. There are so many crazy quilts out there where the maker did not follow today's rules or even yesterdays rules, they just picked a piece of fabric and put it in the center of the block and just sewed around and around until the block is full. Many antique crazy quilts follow a pattern that is not crazy patched, they are patched in some of the traditional quilt patterns of the day with some of the most wonderful stitching that has ever been seen.

There are many ways to put crazy patch blocks together. As many as there are teachers out there. Even my rules and methods will differ from others. Many teachers will get down to business with you and teach you right. Others will tell you there are no rules. Well there are a few rules that you will need to know in order to make your stitching easier.

So lets take a look at piecing a block.

First I figure out how big I want to make the block. Lets say I want to make a quilt out of blocks 8x8inches. I will measure out a square block on "backing fabric" that is 9x9 inches. (Backing fabric by The Lions definition is the base fabric that you will crazy piece on.) After I cut it out I will take my ruler and measure an inch into the block and then draw my "guideing lines". To the Lion guide lines are lines that are put on the block so that I can stitch a little further out so that when the blocks are stitched together there are no gaps on the block that are bare of stitches. (When we get further along in the year you will see what I am talking about when I start putting this quilt together.) As you can see from the picture below I have already done this with my backing fabric

Now here is where the putting together the block gets more interesting. You need to find a small piece of fabric to put in the center of the block. It should be anywhere between 2 to 3 inches in diameter. Now lets talk about the center piece. I usually start with one that is the shape and color and texture that "tickels my fancy". This goes back to my grandmother and her put a piece of fabric in the middle and sew around and around. Some times this piece has four sides sometimes it has five sides.

Lets now talk about sides and today's standards. Today and maybe even in my grandmothers day the standards say start out with a middle piece that has five sides. As you can see from all my pictures I sometimes start out with a four sided piece. That is my bad habit from my grandmother. Is it wrong? I am not going to debate that but for all purposes in today's CQ you will need to start out with a five sided piece. One day when we do have CQ standards and guidelines for show quality quilts they more than likely say that your middle piece needs to have five sides. So DO NOT get into my bad habit in picking up a piece of fabric with four sides. Start out right and choose one with five sides.

After it is in the center of the block that is where you find another piece of fabric and sew it on the edge of your center fabric. You can see here in the picture what I am talking about.

As you follow the pictures you can get the idea on how you should just keep sewing around the center piece. Just like my grandmother said just get a piece of fabric and put it in the middle and sew around and around until you fill up the fabric. She was so very right in that description even with todays standards.

Now let me get you to put out the idea that you have to search through your fabric pile or you have to cut "just the right piece" of fabric. You can find the fabric in the next color and texture that you want and sew it on the next edge. You can find a larger piece of fabric to sew on the block. I actually prefer to find a larger piece of fabric to sew on. It helps to keep "gaps" out of the fabric. As you can see from the picture below where I did sew a larger piece of fabric then I found another piece and stitched it onto the block over the top of it.

Now here is the trick every beginner needs to know.........take you scissors and cut off the excess fabric at the seam. You can see what I did from my picture below.

As you can see from the picture below the excess fabric has been cut off and the pink piece of fabric is ready to be pressed into place. The orange piece takes on a whole new shape after this process.

The excess fabric needs to be cut off. If you are asking why, the reason is you have the backing fabric and the top fabric to go through when you start your embroidery. If you leave excess fabric you will have that layer to go through also. This makes it rough when pulling your needle and floss through the block. It also makes it harder to get your stitches the way you want them. Another reason is some fabrics you can see straight through. Like that orange piece that I cut off, you could have seen that straight through the pink piece.

You just continue in that manner until you block is full. Then you have a crazy patched block that looks like the picture below.

Turn over your block and with a rotary cutter cut off the excess fabric from around your base block. As you can see from the picture below my guide lines. After you cut the excess fabric off you want to stitch those guide lines. You can do it by hand or by machine. I stitch them by machine.

After it is all done you have a perfect block for stitching. As you can see there really are just a few rules in piecing a block. They are there to make things easier on you and your stitching.

For my next post you are going to find out what you are going to do with the composition book and colored pencils!

Please if you have any questions on the post just ask. I will be happy to answer them. You can either post them here on the blog or email me privately.

TTFN
The Lion

Happy New Year!!

2011-01-02T09:35:00.001-06:00

Happy New Year!!! 2011.......WOW! Just thinking about 2011 and how fast 2010 went. In the year 2010 I had many, many changes in my life. When things started happening they happened really fast. At the beginning of November I started thinking of the coming year and all the things I would like to do and where I would like to end up at the end of 2011. Not only in professional life but in my stitching life as well.

I decided in both places that it is time to go back to basics. To go back and work from the beginning. My motto for the year is: "To go forward sometimes we have to take two steps back." In that with every thing that I am working on for the year as of January one I am in the "two steps back" mode.

Now in moving forward with stitching I am concentrating on the just basic stitches and how to build on them. There are two blogs that I find inspiration on. One of them is Kathy's blog Shawkl. She has the TDiTM. That is short for Twelve Dozen Stitches in Twelve Months. It is the most AWESOME inspiration that you can get for your stitching. Here is the address to her blog: http://www.shawkl.com/ .

Now the next blog Kerry Kati Cakes has not only great eye candy but the BAS, that is short for Build A Seam. Kerry not only puts up a seam to build on but she has tutorials on how to make the stitch. She will also show pictures on how she builds on it. You can take her great inspiration and then go from there! Here is the link to her blog: http://kerrykatiecakes2.blogspot.com/2010/12/ahh-moments.html .

Now I don't want to leave out the books that I look at for inspiration. There are three of them that I will be working from this year. The first one is Dorthy Bonds little brown book entitled "Crazy Quilt Stitches". I have had this book for years. This book is the best for a quick reference for a basic stitch.

The next book one that I absolutely treasure. I carry this book everywhere! Is the Carol Samples book "Treasury Of Crazy Quilt Stitches". I have said this once before and I am writing it down for posterity right now. You will have to pry this book out of my cold dead hands! For those of you who do not have this book let me just say you HAVE to get one!

The third book that I am taking my inspiration on this year is a book from Judith Baker Montano. It is entitled "Floral Stitches". For those of you who have never owned a book from JBM I have to let you know that everyone of her books are full of inspiration and she goes into great detail on techniques and methods for any crazy quilt project you would like to tackle. All of her books have a stitch dictionary in the back of them. I own five of her books and they are main staples of my CQ library. I do have to let you know that "Floral Stitches" is my favorite inspiration book for many of my floral stitches. In this book she shows you how to take inspiration from the flowers around you.

I can't count how many times I have heard from beginning CQ'ers "I just don't know what stitch to use" or "how do I do this stitch", or "what stitch do I put here?" Here are my plans for the year for The Lost Pines Crazy Quilt Group: We are going back to basics. We will take one stitch a month and explore it. I am going to show everyone how to "build your own" stitch dictionary. With drawing the stitches you want to use to taking a picture of your work and posting it in your on stitch book. This is some of the basics in which I speak. If you have this type of basic book with which to reference you will have the best inspiration of all! It is one that will never end. You can have a book of inspiration that interests you.

I have also thought on what about my blog and the followers. I know that some of you have expressed that you wish you could be here to attend the meeting of The LPCQG. This year I am going to bring The LPCQG to my blog. I think that the topic of going back to the basics is of interest of all. So for my blog followers I am going to help you go back to basics also. Now is when you will need to go and grab a paper and pen I am going to give you a list of items you will need to go back to basics and be the master of your own inspiration!

Here is your Back to Basics list:

spiral or composition notebook
crayons or colored pencils
10 8inch blocks crazy patched
needles and floss
camera
glue sticks

The colors of the blocks and floss I will leave up to you. When the year comes to an end we will all have a beautiful basic crazy quilt to show off to all our friends!

See you in the next post.

TTFN
The Lion

Landscape Progress

2010-11-28T10:11:00.000-06:00

On this beautiful Sunday morning in central Texas I decided to take pictures of some of the projects that I am working on. One of them is my landscape. I was looking around the house for a great spot to photo my project and I could not find a really good spot. So I I decided that outside was the best. It is 49 degrees outside! (I know, I know to the majority of y'all this is a heatwave but in central Texas that is pretty chilly!) In order to get the right place I tough the great out doors!

Now on to my landscape.....I have been working on this one off and on for about 8 months now. I have had other projects in between but for this year this is the big one. The story behind this is one day I was in our local quilt store. Just looking around, the store and there it was just sitting on the shelf! It was a really great tree panel. At that time images started popping in my head on how this panel would look and of course all of them different! With those ideas and plans in mind I bought several panels with matching fabrics.

I took these great cotton fabrics home and started putting together my first of several landscapes. After that I started working on the one that I am showing you today.

This top picture is of the whole project.

Here are close ups of the different parts of this CQ.

As y'all can tell I have been working from the top of the piece down. When y'all get to these pictures y'all can really see where I am putting in more trees around the house. I have started on the trunks with a chain stitch. Y'all can also see where I have drawn these trees in so the vision of what the trees will look like when I am finished can be seen.

I still have a long way to go on it but I am thinking that this is a great start!

Here in the past year I have been playing a little with quality cotton fabric and silk embroidery floss and silk ribbon. I have got to let y'all know that I really like the way this combination is working for me. Oh, I still work with my fancy fabrics but I think that I will keep playing with the cottons also. It also helps that the owners of The Lost Pines Quilt Shop are very supportive of all types of quilting. I have to let y'all know that she brings in some great Crazy Quilt supplies also!

I hope that y'all enjoyed this trip into my imagination! I will be back later with some more!

TTFN
The Lion

Inspiration On A Sunday

2010-11-21T09:30:00.000-06:00

This Sunday I am planning to just sit and stitch. We all need that type of vacation from the world. Where we never leave the bed, just stay in our night gown, turn on the TV and watch old movies and stitch. I have a couple of stockings made to stitch on for The Lions Christmas Stocking Swap and have writers block so to speak. Well anyway stitchers block! So as I am browsing through my blog list just reading along I came across my friend Kathy's blog. http://www.shawkl.com/ Kathy has the Twelve Dozen Stitches In Twelve Months. Awesome inspiration!! If anyone is having stitchers block I recommend going over to Kathy's blog and take a look at her inspirational stitches!

In addition to all those great stitches she is one super stitcher herself, ans she has some of her great eye candy put up on her blog also! So if you are looking for something to do this Sunday go and check out Kathy's blog!

TTFN

The Lion

A whole New Look

2010-11-14T18:51:00.000-06:00

I have had a bee fly into my bonnet so I changed the look of my blog again! I am hoping that y'all like the new look. This look is going to take me into the new year. I do miss posting to my blog, so I am going to try posting at least once a week to show everyone what I am up to. I do have a ton of things to share with everyone.

First I need to let y'all know that I am having to borrow my daughters laptop. My computer caught a virus. It has to go to the geeks to get fixed. I am thinking though I need a laptop like this one as this one is just too cool! So with that I am going to leave everyone for the night.

I hope that everyone has a good week I hope to get in a blog post this week.

TTFN
The Lion

The Lion's 2010 Christmas Stocking Swap

2010-10-26T19:23:00.001-05:00

Here they are the guidelines for my Christmas Stocking Swap. I hope that everyone has a chance to join in! I am hoping to start this swap and have a new one every year! Sssoooo, here is this years theme: Angels.

Remembering in to my childhood I could not wait for Santa to come! Remember the whole week before Christmas day you always tried not to make your mom yell at you? But you always wanted to smack your sister in the back of her head just because she was annoying you? Oh! Wait a minuet! That was me! That particular sister is now a correctional officer in McAllister, Oklahoma! She is able to annoy a whole new group of people!

The stockings:

Height: Stockings should be no taller then 11 inches high and no shorter than 8 inches high.

Width: Stockings should be no wider then 8 inches wide and no narrower then 4 and 1/2 inches wide.

Attention: Please, line the stockings in case your swap partner would like to use them for more than decorations!

You can send up to 4 stockings, stockings are to be hand embellished.(please no glue)

This swap will be a centralized swap. Stockings are to be mailed to me no later than December 15th. Please, send along with you stockings return postage. I will mail them back out to you no later than December 20th.

Sign up for this swap will close November 15th 2010.

Please, email me with any questions at glynpg@yahoo.com. Also please make sure I can get in contact with you so that you can get my mailing address to mail your stockings to me!

Remember to swap unto others!

TTFN
The Lion

It Is October!

2010-10-10T11:26:00.000-05:00

Yes, Yes I know it has been three months since I visited everyone! I am still trying to make a happy balance in my life. Of course now I have added in teaching CQ classes in the mix of everything!! I have my first course under my belt now! That took up the month of September with a couple of trips to Dallas in between.

Now we have October! WOW! What a month! It is GREAT this year in Texas it is actually pleasant this month weather wise! Makes me think that we are going to have a humdinger of a winter though but I am ready for it! Just bring it ON!

I have lots and lots to show everyone so hang on to your hats! I think that y'all will be sick of me posting before too long! I am going to start with the Halloween pillow that I made for my youngest daughter. It is pretty AWESOME even if I do say so myself!

Here it is:

What do y'all think? My daughter really likes it! So here is the story on how this pillow came about.......

One of the local groups that I belong to came up with a challenge fabric. the challenge fabric is the black one with the swirls on it. I received it and thought.........What is a crazy quilter going to do with this?? Even my sane quilts are not along the line of this fabric! I tend to stick with Civil War Reproduction fabrics in my sane times! So I showed my oldest daughter the fabric she said that is nice what are you going to do with it?

I said: I don't know! What do you think??

She came back with a shrug and an I don't know.

Like that was a surprise, I showed my youngest daughter the material. Out of her I got: That is really cool fabric.

HHHUUuuuummmmmm..........................

This one likes Halloween. So the idea for the pillow was born! I asked her if she would like a pillow.

I got a: Cool Yeah! With spider webs?

I said: Okay with spider webs.

She said: With those roses?

I said: Okay with those roses.

Now the skulls are an interesting part of this pillow. My friend Renee was out bead shopping and found them. So she mailed them to me. My youngest wanted to open the envelope that they came in and I told her she could.

She found the beads and said: Cool mom can you put these on my pillow?

Of course I can......

The rest is stitching history.

She now has a pillow that reminds me of Jerry Garcia!

TTFN
The Lion

July 2010

2010-07-17T10:14:00.001-05:00

Here we are in July. It has been a long,long while since I have posted on my blog. I can tell y'all that I have thought about posting but just did not. I can make any number of excuses but none of them will amount to anything. What was just getting in my way was me and my inability to figure out how to manage my life.

I recently went to a self help class for my company. It is Millennium 3. I do have to tell you that it was an eye opener! I met quite a few really wonderful people there and the majority of them went on the journey that I did. The class did lift a lot of weight off of my shoulders. Well rather my chest. My chest just does not feel tight anymore. I can actually see my life clearer now and what I want to do with the rest of my life and I did put allot of things in a new priority.

My quilting and my quilting groups are now above anything else in my life. Well except for my children! Then comes my work. I also found out that my husband is just a part of me. Looking out through clearer eyes I see new and more possibilities opening up!

So now I bet that you are asking yourselves what I am working on. I have PICTURES!!!!!

Here are pictures of a fall landscape wall hanging that I am working on for my office wall:

These pictures are of the tip top.

I must say that I absolutely love my spider web! I really love to make them. No two spiderwebs are alike. They are all different.

Here are pictures of the middle:

I am outlining the tree branches and trunk to give more of a textured effect. I have a couple different shades of orange and some red ribbon that I am going to use for the leaves. Just wait I will make this tree pretty yet!

As you can tell I did start out with a panel. I found it at our local quilt shop. (Just for the curious people the name of our local quilt shop is The Lost Pines Quilt Shop. The owner Linda is wonderful! She does like crazy quilting also. She also supports it and tries hard to feed my need for CQ items!) The co-ordinating fabrics were also found at the quilt shop. Yes, yes The Lion is working with all cottons. Except for my embroidery threads. Those are all silk as is the ribbon. I am just loving how the fabric and the thread is contrasting.

Now for the bottom!

As y'all can see I am working on a house. The detail that I am going to put in the house is not quite finished yet as y'all can tell but I think that everyone can get the idea. I am going to sit down right now after I finish up on this post and finish the lower part of the house not quite sure what I am going to do with the roof but I will cross that bridge when I come to it.

So now for an important question.......... What colors of flower do we find in the fall?? I know what I can find here in Texas but other parts of the country or the world in the fall??? Let me know as I am going to be working on my lawn next!

This is just an aside for the ladies of my StitchMap group.................Ms. Mischief is back and will be posting Mischief on someone............Now who is her next target?????? HHHHHUUUUMMMMMMMMM Could it be you?

TTFN
The Lion

The Awesome Tag Swap

2010-05-02T12:40:00.000-05:00

Okay everyone. I know that y'all all have been wondering........What happened with the Lions Tag Swap???? Well it happened. I received some beautiful tags that have been swapped and are now on their way to the new owners.

Here are the tags that were done by Kathy:

Here are the tags that came in from Scotland made by Val:

Here are the tags that came in from the Netherlands made by Ina:

Last but not least here are the tags made by the Lion:

It was a GREAT bunch of tags! I feel very privileged to have been able to swap with these VERY talented ladies! Thank you for entering this swap.

I hope that y'all like your tags as much as I like mine!

The Lion

Kathy Shaw

2010-05-02T06:54:00.000-05:00

Just a quickie post here before I go take pictures to put up and show y'all. My CQ friend Kathy Shaw is having a blog giveaway. She is celebrating the opening of her new CQ web site. If y'all would like to see some GREAT eye-poping stuff y'all might want to check her out! Here is her blog address: http://www.shawkl.com/ and here is here new web site: http://www.shawkldesigns.com/ .

The Lion

I Am Back Again

2010-04-18T14:10:00.000-05:00

It has been a long time since my last post. Let me let everyone know what has been going on. Since January I have had 2 promotions. I went from being a lead tech to phlebotomy manager in San Antonio. The changes that came with the promotion to phlebotomy manager were a whril wind! I have been settleing in with my job.

Also it is anniversery month for StitchMap. I have been causeing all kinds of mischief! We have been giving away prizes galore!

It is now to finish my give away here before I go on to the other mounds of things that I would like everyone to see!

I had my daughter Steph pick out two names this morning. The winner of this cute pink Tussie Mussie is ..............................Shari! Yeah, Shari!

The winner of this wonderful Tussie Mussie is.....................................................Lesley! Yeah, Lesley!

I will get the addresses and send these out next week!

TTFN!

The Lion

A Tussie Mussie Sunday

2010-03-24T13:37:00.001-05:00

This past Sunday I played with the making of tussie mussies. I had read several on-line tutorials on how to make tussie mussies and kinda played around with them. First I started off with circles.

I cut circles out of poster board and fabric. I glued the fabric to the poster board and started following several directions. I hit upon one that really worked for me.

Well I did modify it a little. Everyone should know by now I usually make a pattern my own!

And here is the finished product:

Well what do y'all think? All anyone has to do is remember the bigger the circle the bigger the tussie mussie!

Now for the fun of my post. I am going to have a drawing for these exp. tussie mussies. Two lucky people will get one of these. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post. Don't forget I will need your address to send the prize on. So if you would contact me with a way to get in touch with you I will be able to send your prize on. My email address is glynpg@yahoo.com .

TTFN
The Lion

Tussie Mussie

2010-03-13T05:30:00.000-06:00

I am in a swap.
It is a tussie mussie swap.

I have think that I have found my inspiration!? Well maybe........... A Swap For All Seasons put up a great tutorial link on how to make them. Let me show it to you:
http://nanasgiftnook.com/projects/the-making-of-tussy-mussy

Tell me what y'all think. What would you do with a tussie mussie? What would you use for your inspiration?? What a GREAT spring idea!

Now to go and make it and fill it.................................

TTFN
The Lion

What I have Been Up To

2010-02-21T07:23:00.000-06:00

Hello to everyone and a big GOOD MORNING!

I know that everyone has been wondering what has that Lion been up to lately?? I have been up to quite a bit actually! Most of it has been behind the scenes stuff for StitchMap. I needed to organize quite a few Angels here up late. Last week I did take a few days to work on some projects that need to go out to some wonderful ladies! When they get these they will be surprised. I also have my tag swap. Today I am sitting down at my sewing machine to stitch up some more blocks. No, no advance peek on these yet……… But I will share what I have been working on for the last few days!

Here is a 100% cotton wall hanging that I will be working on through my Lost Pines Crazy Quilt Group:

Here is a finished tin top, all I need to do is sit down and put together the tin.

Here is the tin top that I am stitching on currently:

I know that this one is not finished yet. Do not worry I will show it after it is finished.

There is a third that I need to stitch on I just don’t have a picture of it. I am wanting to glue all three at the same time so after I finish the third I will show all the finished tins!

This is also not the last post for the day. I am heading over to the Mischief Blog to tease my fellow mischief’s!

Here is a final hint for the day. I would not go very far as I am going to put up another “Catch My Star” teaser!!!

TTFN
The Lion

A Peek At The Past

2010-02-20T10:36:00.001-06:00

Recently on my StitchMap group one of the ladies had been web surfing. She had found this really cool blog of a fellow CQer. She quickly shared it with the group. (As everyone knows we ALL love eyecandy!) When I visited this blog and started to scroll down she had put up this block:

I quickly went back to the group and posted that that is my block! I am the lucky person to have her talented fingers all over my block. This ladies name is Laurie. I also told everyone on the group that I would put all the pictures of this RR for their enjoyment. So here they are!

This block Cobi worked on for me.

This block Leslie worked on for me.

This block Simona worked on for me.

This block Ati worked on for me. This block is a treasured block as it has a button she added from her grandmothers button box.

And this block Leslie worked on also for me.

So there they are! My Magic Moments RR revisited!
I would like to thank the ladies from this RR all over again!
The Lion

Stop The Press!!

2010-02-07T06:08:00.000-06:00

Okay, I have been reading my blogs, and I came across a post. It said that she could not exclude her friends from out of the country. Well that piked my intrest. I clicked on the picture indicated. It went to her give away post. Here is the link: http://treasuresfromtheheartgifts.blogspot.com/2010/02/pink-saturday-teabag-roses-and-giveaway.html .

Check out the pin cushin! What I would like to know is how it is made! WOW! Now who would not like one of those as a birthday gift????

The Lion

It Is A Challenge Swap!!!!!!

2010-02-06T16:42:00.000-06:00

It is a challenge! It is a swap! It is a challenge swap! Yes, you heard right! We will be swapping something great and wonderful! I think that we will start of with tags! Yes, a tag challenge swap! So, here is where the challenge comes in..................

I will challenge each of the ladies who sign up for this swap to make three tags each. (Yes, cross stitchers are welcome!)
One will be in red. The second will be in blue. The third will be in lavender. The tags should be no smaller tha 5x3 inches and no bigger that 6x4 inches.
We each will get a swap partner and exchange our masterpieces! Mailing date will be April 12th 2010.

So, now everyone is asking themselves what do these tags look like???? I just happen to have the pictures right here!

This one was received by me from Hideko in a tag swap.

This one was received by me in a tag swap from Gail.

Now that everyone has the inspiration.................... I need the willing participents to come and play with me!!

After you comment on this post please email me you address for the swap! My email is glynpg@yahoo.com .

Any Questions??

The Lion

Beaded Tree

2010-01-31T12:10:00.000-06:00

I know that everyone has been wondering what I have been up to. I have not posted any pictures of any work in quite some time. Wweellll, the reason is.............. I am in this RR you see. One from one of my groups. I have been working on Sue W.'s block. She had wanted bling. Bling to me is lots and lots of shiny things and beads. Tons of beads! Speaking of tons of beads............here is the picture of the tree I made for Sue:

I have been wanting to do a beaded tree for a while now. Since a good cyber friend of mine posted pictures of a awesome beaded tree she had done. If you ever need tree inspiration stop by Leslies blog. Here is the address: http://pinyoncreek.blogspot.com/ . You will see why she is the Queen Of Trees!
This block is off to its next stop!

TTFN
The Lion

I Need........

2010-01-24T06:00:00.000-06:00

For all the ladies who commented on my give away post. I need y'all to send me your addresses so that I can send you your fibers I have them cut and ready to go!

Please, send them to glynpg@yahoo.com.

TTFN

The Lion

Look What I Found

2010-01-16T16:47:00.000-06:00

I went to Hobby Lobby yesterday and look what I found! I have been told that they are not making this great stuff any more. That is what the ladies of my N' Stitches group are telling me. I was really dismayed! This is the best fiber stuff to add to CQ! So I bought these two off the clearence rack.

Ultra cool stuff right? Since there is so much of it................... It would take me a years worth of Sundays to use it.................... It has been a long time since I have had a blog give away or teaser.................... I am in the mood for shareing.

Any one who leaves a comment on this post between now and Friday January the 22nd, will get a yard of each of these fibers!

TTFN

The Lion

Way Back Week

2010-01-15T13:48:00.000-06:00

It is way back week on Facebook. Everyone is changing their profile pictures to when they were young. I thought that I would share the picture that I put up on my profile.

This picture is one of my many school pictures. I was right around 7 or 8 when this was taken. Of course the actuall picture is one out of my grandmothers collection. She just had to have it back!

TTFN

The Lion

A Weeks Adventures

2010-01-10T06:13:00.000-06:00

Hello to all! This week has been very interesting at work. I was given my own office. I did not know why. I work at night and had shared my supervisors office for any work I may need to do. Come to find out my hours are changing to 4am to noon. Then found out that my supervisor is going to start traveling to other company locations. So........I needed my own office to work from. The first thing that we needed to do was locate the key for the office. It has been locked since my sister moved to Houston. (My sister and I work in the same company. She is an MLT and she is the GM trainer/clean up person.) A call was put into my sister and she said that she had the key. She would bring it when she came into Austin. My sister finally got here the middle of last week. We got the key from her and I had to clean her stuff out of her office.
She moved to Houston set up another office and left everything she had up in Austin in the office. Knowing that she would not be back. To her defense she is a busy woman. So I packed up her things even her Ginsu knife. (I don't know why she had a Ginsu knife in her office. Those type of things were keeping me up at nights 'till I stopped worring about them.) So the last part of my week I spent getting my office in order. Whoo-Hoo! Exciting things are starting to happen!!

Now in my last post I told y'all that I would describe the torture of a friend. I am a member of several yahoo groups. StitchMap being one of them. I thought it would be nice to do something for the owner Shari. The first anniversery of the group is coming up. (Her daughter Moon is also a owner, but Shari bosses her around so..........)(Have I got that right Moon??) I wanted the whole group in on it so I created a help wanted post. I asked for help from everyone. From the tatters, cross stitchers to the CQ'ers. Everyone was welcome to help with the project. Even the new to the group. Not only are we having fun creating the item. It is being created in waves as this is truly an international project, but the tourture of Shari has got to be the most fun! The ladies are getting to pay her back for all the torture she has delt out from being the teaching master she is to the teasing she has done from the teasers! (The teasers are a trivia game where the ladies of StitchMap get to win prizes.) Shari, I know is having fun with all the banter. We are having quite fun throwing out false clues to see if she can really guess what is up my sleeve!

For my final note on this post, yes it is COLD here in Texas. Right now it is 19 degrees outside. It is a little warmer tonight. Last night was 13 degrees. I know, I know. There are alot of people out there a lot colder than this. As I keep saying when you are use to 30 or more days in a row of above 100 degrees..............13 degrees is too cold!!(That is Farenheit)

I am also hopeing to show y'all that beaded tree that I have been working on also. I am so behind with work and all.............. The trunk is almost done though!

TTFN
The Lion

It Is All Silk!

2010-01-03T06:18:00.000-06:00

I don't think that I have posted on these yet. As many of y'all know I live in the town of Bastrop, Texas. It is a lovely little/big town. I say little/big because Bastrop is really growing. We have lots of new businesses here! It has come a long way from when I was growing up here. Today we have a huge HEB grocery store, when I was a child we had Longs on the corner of Main St. and Farm St. That really was not that long ago! But to get back on track with the story. We are growing but still we have that great small town atmosphere! Main St. Bastrop you can still park your car and walk up and down it to do a little shoping. At the one end of down town Main are a couple of great antique stores. I visit them every once in a while to see what I can find to put into my quilts. I have found many GREAT things! But the two items I am going to show y'all right now are I think the geatest yet! I found some really great silk scarves! Here let me show you the first one.

It is so big I had a hard time finding some place with enough light to take pictures of it. Is it not awesome??
Here is another picture. One of the corners:

I LOVE the colors! Here is another corner!

I alway loved the trick horses in the circus! Here is the next corner:

Its kinda upside down but it is the acrobats. Here is the last corner:

The elephants!! I am still loveing the colors in this scarf! Here is the middle:

This is a great scarf right? Hard to believe that I found it! It is also ALL SILK! If you let your imigination flow can you not just see this as a crazy quilt??? Would that not be awesome? A circus crazy quilt? I am seeing it. Now just to take the time to plan it out!
As I was checking out with this little gem, the lady who owns the store asked me did see the one with the birds? "Birds?----No. What Birds?" "The scarf with the birds on it." she said to me. "Uh, No......Where would it be??" She started to look around her store. She then showed me this one:

(Sorry it is not ironed)
WOW! No I did not see this one! Of course I said that I would take it on just a glance! If you were in my place is that not what you would have done?? Upon closer inspection of the scarf, it is also silk. Look closer........The birds and flowers are hand painted! WHOO-HOO! Jackpot! Right??? Let me show you the close ups of the birds.

Just awesome! Here is another corner:

The colors came out just great in the pictures! I think that the scarf faided with age. Here is another corner:

What can I say? I am still in awe of this jewel! Here is the fourth corner:

Who ever painted this scarf was very talented! The birds are just so...so...well for lack of a better phrase. They are just AWESOME!! Now I bet you can see THIS one in a crazy quilt!

The plans for so many crazy quilts are just stacking up! With the years getting shorter and shorter, well I can tell you I will have so many UFO's in the closet my darling daughter is just going to die when she has to clean it out when I finally pass away! Hopefully I will leave her with smiles!

There is my entertaining story for the day! Just wait until the next post. We are going to talk about the torture of a great friend!

TTFN
The Lion

A Brand New Year!

2010-01-02T06:35:00.001-06:00

Here it is a brand new year. I did not post yesterday as I had left the computer and started puttering around with my sewing machiene and just did not get back on the computer until this morining. I am very happy to have spent the first day of the new year dreaming up projects.

Just wait they are coming in the new year! I have so much to do and the years are just getting too, short! I have finished up on a project that needs to be sent off! I did not want to chance it getting lost in the Holiday mail. It is a RR for CQI. I will put the blocks in the mail on Monday for good measure.

Below is the block that I did:

I am now finished playing with my roses. On to another flower! There are so many flowers out there to choose from. The ladies of CQI are going on to pansys. I am ever the rebel, so I want to play with another.......... The things I have to ponder! Today I think that I will finish beading that tree that I started for another RR that I am in so that that block can go into the mail this week also!

I hope that your new year is getting off as well!

TTFN
The Lion

N' Stitches Christmas Party

2009-12-27T05:32:00.003-06:00

Like everything this year I ran late on making a gift for my N' Stitches Group. I was literaly down to the wire on this project! I am hoping for better time management skills for 2010. I did manage to get this project finished for the party even though the glue was still a little wet!

Every year one of my local groups has a great Christmas party! We do a Chinese gift exchange. This year I made one of my tins with a pinkeeper inside. It was one of the gifts that had got stolen for the limit. Of course Debbie H. just had to steal my snow globe! Wendy just had to steal my homemade toffee. I could go on but no need. I wound up stealing something that was better. I got hand dyed silk velvet, in purples, pink and purple beads and some fluffy stuff for my imagination!

I always enjoy the Christmas party! I also enjoy the group through out the year! like my cyber groups this one has great people and support in it! I would like to thank all my groups and wish them a Happy New Year!

Now the eye candy:

Here is the top of the tin.

A picture of the side.

The inside of the top with the front of the pinkeeper.

The back of the pin keeper.

The inside of the bottom of the tin.

Now for the construction of many more!

TTFN

The Lion

Crazy Pal Gift

2009-12-27T05:24:00.002-06:00

I have to show y'all my stocking! One of my yahoo groups Victorian CQ ers has a "Crazy Pal" program. This is the first month that we sent out our items. For my first gift from my Crazy Pal I got this really neat stocking full of things! I have them pictured here.

Well nearly all. She also sent me a 2 year planner and I am at this point using it! Thank you, Crazy Pal for all the awesome stuff!

TTFN

The Lion

Another Christmas........................

2009-12-26T12:58:00.002-06:00

Another Christmas has come and gone! Here we are the day after Christmas. The December meeting of the Lost Pines CQ Group has ended. We had a great meeting with the few members who had shown up today! Next Christmas we are doing something different! Whoo-Hoo!!

This New Year there will be some changes in the way that I am doing somethings. I have made a priority list and will stick to it! I know, I know many people have done this and about two or three months into the New Year the list gets lost or ignored. That is why we all have UFO's!

Well, I want to stick to it! So I guess we will see what happens. On the top of this list is my blog I want everyone to see what I am doing and get helpful information from my blog and I have in store many more tutorials!

The next thing on my list is FINISHING a full size CQ quilt! That is my UTS quilt called "Seanes". That is why there is all the under the sea things surrounding me! It keeps me focused!(I hope!)

The rest of the list will come out in the New Year!!!

TTFN
The Lion

A Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T09:53:00.002-06:00

It is Christmas day and it is a cold 29 degrees in central Texas! I am wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas today. May everyone have all their family around them and may y'all get everything that y'all want for Christmas!

Big Texas Hugs!

The Lion

Here I Am Again!

2009-12-23T07:51:00.005-06:00

Well, here I am again! I have tons of things to do and tons of things to show everyone but have not quite got to it yet! It just seems like the old daily grind has gotten in the way of my "play" for way too, long! One day I will be able to balance my work life to my CQ life!

This week I had planned to play "catch up"! We were not able to go to Florida to spread a little cheer to my husbands side of the family so............................."catch up" it was!!! I had planned on making two or three posts a day but life has got in the way of that again!

Sunday, it was over to my mothers. HO, HO, HO Merry Christmas-ing!! Then Monday after my husband and I got back from Wal-Mart getting tires for my daughters car, the girls begged to go to the mall. DH said yes we could go.............................. Into Austin for the rest of the day. Really it did take the rest of the day. Funny thing the mall was not as crowded as I thought that it would be........

Yesterday................yesterday morning was spent doing errands and then when I got home and settled down to work on my Christmas Stocking I wanted a color of ribbon that needed to be ironed. Yesterday afternoon was spent ironing out all my silk ribbon. I did not know that I had that much of a build up on silk ribbon that needed to be ironed! Well, at least it got done!

Of course in between getting ALL that ribbon ironed I also walked my blind dog, fixed lunch and dinner, yelled at the teenage girls for spilling a coke on my brAND NEW TWO MONTH OLD COUCH! Did I happen to mention that THE COUCH IS ULTRA SUEDE?

Yes, that last part still upsets me! OH! This part is going to make ALL of y'all giggle! I had to take the spare key to my son for his truck. He locked his keys in the truck again!

Those are just the highlights of my last three "vacation" days I just did not get to the details of EVERYthing that I did! But everyone can imagine what those consisted of!

SIGH...........................................

I should have taken two weeks off!

TTFN

The Lion

Middle Of December????????

2009-12-21T07:33:00.004-06:00

Here it is the middle of December, almost Christmas really. Where has the month flown?? I have not been able to accomplish anything that I should have done with this month! Have y'all ever had one of those months??? Well, this is mine! I have the week off so I am going to try to get allot of things done! I have tons of images of things I have done to show y'all so hang on to your chairs and get ready for a eye candy week!

The first of the pictures that I am going to show everyone is of the altered cabinet card swap that I had entered. This is the one from "A Swap For All Seasons". The top card is the one that I had received. The bottom card is the one that I made.

Great for decorating the Christmas tree!

I had really enjoyed doing this swap. Actually both swaps that I participated in for this lady were fun! These swaps are giving me a chance to explore other art forms and help with inspiration for mine.

I am hoping that in this way I can keep my ideas fresh.

TTFN

The Lion

My Dolphin

2009-11-25T18:11:00.002-06:00

This next block for "Mini-Seanes" is embellished by Laurie. I was so excited when I saw that she had beaded me a dolphin. What under the sea world would be complete whit out a dolphin! as you can see that this very talented lady beaded the whole of the dolphin. She stated in my book that she had used a new to her stabilizer, so that the backing of the beaded dolphin would not buckle. She does not state which kind that she used as I am curious to which kind that it is.

The lace that she chose to put on the bottom of the block is just perfect for the bottom of the "sea floor".

Here is the beautiful block:

"Mini-Seanes" is going to be just beautiful when I get finished with it! My next post will have a special request so keep your eyes open!

TTFN
The Lion

A Block By Karrin

2009-11-23T10:24:00.002-06:00

Here is another block for "Mini-Seanes". This one is done by Karrin. Karrin is a very talented lady that I have had the privilege of being in a couple of RR's with. On this block as you can see she gave me a treasure chest. Also another jellyfish. At the bottom the really cool "fluffy" plant she made is from a piece of upholstery trim that had unravelled. It just goes to show you that you can really add anything to a CQ block!

Here is the picture of the block:

I cannot wait to see both my under the sea quilts finished! I hope that y'all enjoyed this block!

TTFN

The Lion

Another Under The Sea Block

2009-11-22T05:31:00.004-06:00

The joys of the Internet are many! Among the joys you get to "meet" so many people you would not get to in the course of your life! One of the many reasons that I joined the Crazy Quilting groups on yahoo. I have learned so much in the years that I have been in contact with the many ladies that I have met around the world!
That is one of the reasons that I chose to do the "Mini-Seanes". This next block was embellished by a really good Internet friend of mine. Pam. Pam lives in England. The talents that she has are many but the one that I most admire is her beading! She does BEAUTIFUL bead work!
Here it is the block that Pam did for me in the Under The Sea RR from CQI:

I hope to maybe one day to go to England. I would dearly love to meet Pam! I am so sure that we would tear up the town, so to speak!

TTFN

The Lion

Small "Seanes"

2009-11-21T10:03:00.002-06:00

Here it is! The post that everyone has been waiting for! Really I am not procrastinating again! I am trying to work out a "happy balance" between my "play" and my work! I might have to give up that promotion! I am tired of not having time to "play"!

I thought that I would start out by showing you my blocks for "Mini-Seanes". Here is the first one. This one my friend Rose Anne embellished for me.

The reason for "Mini-Seanes" is this will be a wall hanging for my wall. I thought that since I was in a UTS RR through CQI that I would make it out of blocks done all by my cyber friends. Y'all know all the talented ladies that I know through my online groups. It is going to be something that I will treasure for the rest of my life! That is because the large "Seanes" after it has made a show circuit I will be gifting that one to my sister Kara.

Kara is the "Tom Boy" of us three sisters. She was also a steel worker in the Sea Bees. Right now she is in Oklahoma working as a prison guard. So "Seanes" will make a great gift for her!

I hope that y'all will enjoy the up coming under the sea posts!

TTFN
The Lion

My New Background

2009-11-04T13:48:00.002-06:00

I have to tell y'all why I have a new background up! My new background is to motivate me to finish my "Seanes" quilt! I am almost finished with all prior obligations and am wanting to get this new quilt done. Well..............it is not really a new quilt as I have been working on it off and on for about a year and a half now!
I AM TIRED OF PUTTING IT ON THE BACK BURNER!
I will now in the next few months be solely working on my "Seanes" quilt! I am hoping that everyone will enjoy watching me refuse to have another UFO in my closet! In the next few days I will start posting the blocks that I have already done for this quilt.

In the meantime I will surround myself with all things "sea like"! I hope that y'all will enjoy this journey!

TTFN

The Lion

They Have Come And Gone

2009-11-03T16:46:00.003-06:00

The 2009 Lion's Christmas Stocking Swap is officially over! I received the last three stockings and have sent them out. My beautiful Stephanie hand picked the swappers and I mailed them all off on Monday!

Here are pictures of the last three stockings.

I hope that all the ladies are as thrilled with their swap stockings as I am with mine! We had a GREAT bunch of stockings this year! All were very BEAUTIFUL! As y'all can tell by the pictures!

I hope that the participation for next years swap is just as wonderful! For all those early birds the theme for next years swap is Angels. Stay tuned I am thinking that another kind of swap is just around the corner!

TTFN

The Lion

Have I Shown You This Yet????

2009-10-25T17:25:00.003-05:00

As all who have been following my blog know I am crazy about the altered tins! Absolutely, LOVE them! I think that they make a GREAT gift! I had been following a blog for a while now called A Swap For All Seasons. I enjoy seeing the multi-media art that the ladies and also the owner Linda makes. Just beautiful stuff!

Last season Linda had a altered Altoids tin swap. Seeing as how I love working these, I entered it! At the end of the season I sent my tin off to its new owner Becky. Here is a link to Becky's blog: www.whosies.blogspot.com

Becky made me this BEAUTIFUL tin! I think that it is absolutely darling! The little bird on it made me smile! It still does!

The nest that was inside of it made my day! When I need a pick-me-up I always pick this tin up and look at it again!

Becky also sent me some fodder for my CQ! These treasures have been assimilated into my stash for "Catch My Star". I am hoping to get started on "Catch My Star" here in the next year! First, I have to finish "Seanes" .

Theresa, a 19yo who goes to the N' Stitches meetings has me hooked on the multi-media art! Well.........her and Linda. Thanks Linda for letting me "play" on your blog!

I have entered into the Linda's Altered Cabinet Card Swap! I am very excited about it! I have found the card that I am going to use and inspiration is starting to hit!

For those who want to check out A Swap For All Seasons here is her link: http://aswapforallseasons.blogspot.com/

Off to stitch.......................

TTFN

The Lion

The Lion's Stockings

2009-10-25T17:13:00.002-05:00

Here they are! My stockings for the swap! I was able to get two of them done. I had other visions for them. I have had the Santa pictures for a while. They are the cutest Victorian Santas. A friend of mine sent them to me. I really cannot call them silkies as they are a kind of hard cotton! But that is okay I figured out how to use them any way!

Here is stocking number one:

Here is stocking number two:

So................... What do y'all think??

I hope that everyone is getting ready for next years swap! The theme for next year is going to be Angels!

TTFN

The Lion

First Arrivals For The Lions 2009 Stocking Swap

2009-10-25T16:59:00.002-05:00

Hello, everyone the fun is afoot! The first arrivals have arrived for The Lions Stocking Swap. Here are the pictures for the first three arrivals:

The first one is a picture of Gerry's wonderful Victorian boot! Gerry's boots are just Drool making!

Here is a picture of both the front and back of Karen's stocking! I wanted to show you the back as she has a beautiful picture of a Red Work Santa on it! Absolutely beautiful!

And last but not least is Ruby's cheery stocking! Just too cute! Ruby, WOW!!! How can my stockings even compare to your cool stocking???

We are still waiting on the USPS to cough up the last of the stockings! Hopefully they will do that soon!

TTFN

The Lion

Other Making Memories Quilts

2009-10-18T07:11:00.003-05:00

The other quilts for the Making Memories Foundation where just as stunning! The exhibit was a real "show stopper"! I thought that y'all would like to see a few pictures of the quilts there! I am going to use these for inspiration!

So? What did y'all think??

TTFN

The Lion

The Big Reason

2009-10-18T06:59:00.002-05:00

As most of y'all who follow my blog know I am part of CQI. I in the past made some blocks for the Making Memories project through this group. I am also in the process of making some for the project this year. I will have those blocks up for y'all before to long.

The big reason that I made it to this years Houston Quilt Show is to see the quilts that CQI had made for the Making Memories Foundation.

Here they are:

I am also putting up a rare picture of myself as I don't like taking pictures!

I hope that everyone at CQI is as excited about seeing these pictures as I am! Well of the quilts not me. I am surprised the camera still works!

TTFN

The Lion

The Houston International Quilt Show

2009-10-18T06:42:00.003-05:00

I went this year! Who-Hoo!! I went with my sister Brandi, her boyfriend Alex, and my nephew Tyler. I took many pictures but here is a sample of the AWESOME quilts that you could find there:

This first quilt my nephew spotted and he said Aunt Lyn take a picture of this one! It is so cool! So I did he wants a picture sent to him.

This second picture is just on of many quilts that I took pictures of. I LOVE the Hawaiian quilts! I took a picture of every one of those. I thought that they were just stunning! Maybe one day I will attempt to make one of these.

This one is just too cool! I thought that this quilt would be great inspiration!

Here is the next one that my nephew fell in love with! He thought that this one was just a poster. When he got up next to it he was just stunned to learn that it was just another awesome quilt! So he was saying once again "Take a picture Aunt Lyn"!

Here is another great inspiration quilt.

My sister who does not usually like to go to things with me as they really are not interesting to her, really enjoyed herself! Both her and her boy friend. I think that she just might go with me to next years. I hope so as she lives there in Houston!

TTFN

The Lion

Karrin's Summer DYB

2009-10-16T12:56:00.003-05:00

We are coming down to the last on this RR. Karrin's block is the second to the last. I have proudly finished my block for this RR and have sent it on! I thought that you might want to see the three blocks previously done by others so that y'all can get where my inspiration went!

Here they are:

Karrin's blocks are going to go into a wall hanging called "Summer Days and Summer Nights". So she made three blue blocks and three yellow blocks. I chose to work on a yellow block. I love the color yellow it is so bright and lovely........................

I went along with the silkie theme. The silkie that I chose to put on this block reminds me of a cottage on a summer day. Of course I encrusted the block. Sorry, but that is where the inspiration led me! Roses! I had to put on roses, what is a summer day without them!

Here is my block:

Karrin, I hope that you like it! It is now off to its last stop on the way home!

TTFN

The Lion

Cobi's Landscape

2009-10-15T12:33:00.002-05:00

Finally!! After "Stitchers Block" I have Cobi's landscape block ready to go home! I hope that Cobi likes what I have done for her. When I got this block the only thing that was not stitched on was a little corner of the block so..............I made Cobi a flower field. I "played" with some SRE flowers that I have been wanting to attempt.

Here is a close up of the corner "flower field" that I stitched for Cobi.

Here is the whole block.

I am going to mail this block out tomorrow. Thanks Cobi!

TTFN

The Lion

WOW!!

2009-10-04T16:42:00.002-05:00

I am starting to get in blocks from the replacement wedding quilt! They are so stunning! I cannot wait to see this quilt put together!

I have blocks from Kathy(Shawkl), Amber R, Eileene G, and Angela W. Each of the ladies have done a wonderful job on them!

Here in the first picture I have four blocks put together. Kathy's, Eileene's, and Amber's.

Here is Angela's wonderful block. Angela, sorry but your beautiful shell did not make it through the mail system. I will re-attach it for you.

Thank you to all the ladies y'all have done a wonderful job! I could have not done it with out y'all!

TTFN

The Lion

Journal Winner

2009-10-02T08:49:00.003-05:00

There is a winner! There is a winner! From the sweet fingers of my darling Stephanie comes a winner! The winner for my "Journal Giveaway" is: Karen!

Karen could you email me your snail mail address??? I will get it right out to you!

The Lion's BIG Adventures

2009-09-27T16:47:00.003-05:00

OK, here is the post where I tell all about my week! The week started out normal, so to speak. At work where I got my promotion, we had the owner come in and stir up things there. Needless to say it was a long working week. I did manage to get two more trainees, trained and out on their routes. I also found a valued former member of the team and talked her back into working with us again! I missed Bridgett as much as I missed Sonya! It is good to have them back on board! I am hoping that things start running more smoothly!

Friday night was a big night for my Stephanie. Stephanie is a Senior in high school this year. I don't know if I had posted this but she made captain of the color guard. This past Friday was senior night for the band. I wound up having to come home from work and getting some sleep so that I could have enough rest so that I could go to the game and escort her on the Senior Walk across the field. I almost started crying. Another of my children almost out of the house! Why can they not just stop growing?!?

Saturday, now that was the fun day! I also forgot to bring my camera along or I would have had pictures! AAAHHH, well! Saturday I got to go to Warrington, with my CQ group. For those of you who don't know Warrington/Round Top, Texas once a year holds the biggest Antique fair that the world has ever seen! We spent about 8 hours there and did not get through even 1/3 of the vendors. That was just in Warrington! There is also Round Top!

You do have to be real careful when you go to the fair there though, there were ALLOT of reproductions! One of the items on my list that I was looking for was Silkies. There were not many there. The ones that were priced reasonable were not what I was looking for, the others that I found were WWAAAYYY over priced! Still other vendors had not a clue what I was talking about! Hard to believe they were antique dealers! (Right Renee??) By the way, Renee and I were a "stroll team" at Warrington. Renee, found a GREAT solid oak cabinet for stash storage! It is real nice! If y'all talk to her real sweet she might tell y'all all about her find! It came out of a 1920's hardware store.

The lace and buttons and other things were everywhere! You also had to be real careful there also. Some of those dealers were real proud of their items even though the quality was not there! The you ran into others that had more reasonable prices on their items.

Here are the pictures of the things that I did pick up:

Not too bad for an afternoon of baking out in the Texas sun! I am looking forward to this week as I am to be home early. The big boss at work has said "NO OVERTIME" WHOO-HOO! Vacation! I still have more posts but I am looking forward to getting them up this week that way all of y'all can see what I have been up to!

TTFN

The Lion

The Lion's Question

2009-09-27T11:01:00.004-05:00

Happy Sunday to all!

It is good to be back blogging again! Last week was a busy week! I will tell everyone about that in my next post but first I wanted to get this contest up! It is a full week over due!

As everyone who follows my blog knows I have been having the "Catch My Star" Teasers. In my own special way I have been telling everyone about a quilt that I am going to make. I have sat down and planed several blocks and now have started gathering the embellishments and other things that I am planning to use in this quilt.

Here are several items:

Picture 1
Picture 2

Picture 3

Picture 4

Now here is the contest. I would like for you to post a comment and tell me what you would do with each of these items.

Friday afternoon I will have a drawing for a prize and when I post the winner I will tell you what I am going to do with each of these items!

Now here is the prize:

I have taken a multi-media art class. In that class I made myself a journal. I am using that journal right now. I use journals all the time to record my ideas. I refer back to them for inspiration. I have journals for each quilt that I am doing or have done.

I have made this "Pretty In Pink" journal for the lucky winner of my above contest!

I want to wish good luck to all! I am looking forward to your answers! I hope to get some good ideas from you all!

TTFN

The Lion

Basic CQ Course

2009-09-13T11:15:00.002-05:00

I have them done finally! The blocks that are to be stitched for the basic CQ course on StitchMap. I am a mentor on a Yahoo Group called StitchMap. I have 2 apprentices, and am taking the course right along with them. I have had so much on my plate that I have just now gotten around to piecing my blocks for this course. I am an experienced CQer so I had to make this course a challenge for myself. I know that everyone is asking: How do you make a basic course challenging?????? Well, I asked myself that same question! The answer is all in the colors that are chosen to work with!
To make anything harder on yourself you choose colors that you normally would not work with or lots and lots of prints! So I kinda mixed it up in the colors and the prints that I would not normally work with!

Well here they are!

I think that when I get finished with them that they are going to be very striking! Be sure to follow the progress of these blocks! I think that everyone will get a surprise!

TTFN!

The Lion

Making Memories Blocks 2009 - The Start Of My Stitching

2009-09-07T09:06:00.006-05:00

Last year I participated in the Making Memories project on the Crazy Quilting International Yahoo group. The theme last year was hearts. and the blocks were to be stitched in pink and white. A little bit of green was allowed.

Just to refresh every ones memory here are the pictures of the blocks that I stitched for the project.

These quilts put together can be found at this link: http://pinyoncreek.blogspot.com/2008/12/making-memories-quilts.html

Leslie, bless her soul worked hard at putting these beautiful quilts together! These quilts were chosen by the Making Memories foundation to go on a nation wide tour and be exhibited at some pretty large venues! One of them is coming up here in October. The Houston International Quilt Show. My old man is going to take me to the Houston International Quilt Show to see them in person! I sure hope that they allow pictures!

My sister who refers to my beautiful CQ as "crafts" is going to go with me also. (Yes, my baby sister does need strangling!)

*****************************************************************
It is now 2009 and we have a new Making Memories project going. This years theme is butterflies and dragonflies. The seams are to be stitched and the only motifs on these blocks are to be either butterflies or dragonflies.

I put together these blocks this morning for the project:

This year I am stitching three of them. I have some hand dyed lace butterflies and dragon flies that I am going to be adding to these blocks. These blocks are to be stitched in jewel tones. So now I am off to complete the tons of projects that I have going!

I hope that everyone has a good week!

The Quilting Lion!

TTFN

A Big Project

2009-09-07T03:10:00.006-05:00

I belong to a Yahoo group by the name of StitchMap. I am the moderator in charge of StashAngels and our group teaser. I cannot for get the blog but I do share the responsibility of that one with Moon!

One of our members posted a "help post" last week, her Aunt's house burned down. One of the things that burned in the fire was a CQ wall hanging that was done by her Aunts mother for commemorate her wedding. It was a cherished item. Since Donna is the only one in the family to have an interest in CQ the family was looking at her to replace this heirloom.

Donna is new-to-CQ and felt a little overwhelmed. So Shari and I stepped in and made this a group project. I had tons of bridal fabric so.......................

Contacting Donna, I was able to get some details but not a lot of them as there are no pictures of the original wall hanging. So we cannot really reproduce it but we can make a replacement. In a time of crisis sometimes it is something like this project that comes as a comfort!

Calling for volunteers from the group I was able to get 13 Crazy Quilters and two Cross Stitchers to volunteer for the embellishing of the blocks and the making of labels to go on the back of the quilt.

Yesterday I finished the blocks up. Here they are:

16 blocks in all! They are done in white and pink. The pink may not be the original pink but it did come from an really ugly 1960's bridesmaid dress! (How many of y'all were bridesmaids?? Y'all know what I am talking about when I say ugly don't y'all?? Most of the bridesmaid dresses really are not flattering! What were those designers thinking???) The stitching on the original quilt was done in white pink and green. Donna knows that this is a replacement not a replica we have been given a go on a lot of things. The family remembers motifs on this quilt like birds, Doves for sure, sheep, butterflies, bees, a brides head with a veil. All the pictures were outlined which will make it all easier on all for sure! Lace and beads and SRE we are able to put on the quilt! So as these blocks come back in I will put up the pictures for everyone to follow along!

Most all of my volunteers are new to CQ so I tried to make these blocks easy to work on. (SitichMap is a learning site) I am going to enjoy seeing this project develop! Out they will go tomorrow to my volunteers!

TTFN

Cobi's summer DYB

2009-09-07T03:00:00.002-05:00

Okay, here is another motif done from "The Silk Ribbon Embroidery Bible". I told myself that I would look for another source to get ideas from then Cobi came along and wanted a summer garden. Complete with flowers, rabbits and Birds! I thought that this is the perfect motif for this summer set!

It has a little bird house, a bench to sit on, and two little blue birds! There is nothing like sitting under a tree in the summertime and listening to the birds sing!

My next RR block is to get Cobi's landscape done and mailed out to her! Cobi, on this block I have inspiration from a new book! Only one question: Do you like "Bird of Paradise" flower?????

TTFN

Rita's Autumn Block

2009-09-07T02:49:00.002-05:00

Sometimes being the last one to work on a block is good and sometimes it is bad. This time around I just could not get this block to "talk" to me. The block had a top clearly marked so I came up with the idea of a kinda vine border for the top of this piece. Complete with fall like flowers. Fall here in Texas there are still all kinds of green going on. Except when we are in a drought. When we are in a drought everything went brown long ago! Normally............green!

That is why Rita's vines are green! Plus the green I chose showed up better on the colors of her fabric. So with a little space left for Rita to fill in I am sending this block home to its owner!

Rita, here is hoping that you like your block!

TTFN

The Last UTS Block

2009-09-04T13:39:00.002-05:00

Here it is the last block for the Under The Sea RR for CQI. This block belongs to my friend Pam in Cornwall.

The reasons I like Round Robins:

I love meeting people from around the world.
I love the challenge because everyone wants something different on their blocks.
I love the different colors and fabrics that everyone uses on their blocks!
Meeting all those new friends!

Pam and I would have never became friends without these Round Robins! Would have never know each other ever existed. Right now? Right now I cannot imagine not having her friendship! One of these days I know we will meet in person! But right now ..........we still have our computer world!

Pam I am hoping that you like what I did on your block!

Love and Hugs, your friend Lyn G, The Quilting Lion!

Happy Birthday To Sugar!

2009-08-22T15:48:00.004-05:00

For all of y'all who have been following my blog y'all know that I did some altered CQ tins for a swap a few months back. As you know that as you are creating something the realization always kicks in and "HELLO" these really make GREAT gifts! This is one of those ideas. I figure my family will be getting one of these for Christmas. I know that my Grandmother will like hers. My sisters they act like it is not a big deal but...................I do notice that when they move whatever I make them usually moves in the first load.
*******************************************************
Now for my best friend and her daughter. My best friend Michelle ALWAYS likes what I make her and is not afraid to let me know that these items make her day. She even shows them off to all her guests! Her daughter Sugar, well she is the same way. Actually she expects something hand made every year for her birthday. It really is a challenge to come up with something different every year.

This year I did a altered CQ tin for her. Complete with a fairy silkie. Sugar loves fairies. Everything that I do for her I put a fairy on it for her.

I had met up with her and Michelle at one of our favorite thrift stores and I Sugar pick out a tin that she liked. Sugar does have to be a little different and sometimes difficult! The tin that she picked out for me to fix for her birthday..........*SIGH*.............I had to go the drawing board and do some brain storming!

As you can see from the pictures I did not do too bad!

What did y'all think of this tin?????

Here is a picture of my sweet Sugar with her new decoration for her Fairy Palace room!

TTFN

Cindy's Block

2009-08-22T14:05:00.002-05:00

Her is the challenge of the Autumn RR. Our friend Cindy made a pumpkin for the autumn RR for every one to stitch on. As y'all can see from the picture she put it all together so that she could get the seams done for her also. I was the third person in this RR to work on this "block". The easier sides were already done. I got the middle of the pumpkin to do. Let me tell you it made for some interesting stitching! I think that I even stood on my head to stitch on this one!

I can not wait to see this pumpkin all put together! I am betting that it is going to be beautiful! Well anyway this pumpkin is off to Rita for her beautiful stitching!

The picture of my work:

By the way the Lost Pines Crazy Quilt Group met today and Debbie H. is working on a pumpkin of her own. I can't wait to see hers done she was working on a sunflower when I left her. She is doing it out of the woven picots! I am betting that Debbie's will be stunning also!

TTFN

Arlene's Summer DYB

2009-08-22T06:49:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone! I am back. It has been a very busy past month! School is almost in and have been getting children ready for school. I have also had some guests. Three children who have only their father to look out for them. Well.........He went to jail on some outstanding traffic tickets and they came to stay for a while until he got out. I had them to buy for also. So as they say I have been busier than a one armed wall paper hanger!

Now that my guests have gone home and my computer is all mine again I will be able to post like I should. When School starts I am hope for some peace also!

I am going to start posting the work that I have finished.

The first one is Arlene's Summer DYB block. I finished it and mailed it out earlier this week. Here is the picture of it:

I wanted to go for a different look. I am also hoping that Arlene likes the block as it is different! I wanted to make a landscape scene with only flowers. How did I do? I am also hoping that this block says "Summer".

Well, off for now I have a class to teach!

TTFN

Simona's Landscape Block

2009-08-03T17:40:00.003-05:00

I have this book. It is a really neat little book with lots and lots of inspiration in it. It is called The Silk Ribbon Embroidery Bible by Joan Gordon. About mid way through this book is a section called Motif Library. The past few blocks that I have stitched on I have really worn out this section. This block is no exception!

I found a motif that I adapted to Simona's block. Complete with snapdragons! (If you will scroll down my side bar you will see that the snapdragon is the flower that I am!) I really liked how this turned out all except for the rather large pink flowers at the bottom. I thought about taking them out but then stopped. Maybe Simona would like them?? If you don't like them Simona it will not hurt my feelings at all if you remove them.

I also have some butterfly and bee beads to add to the block, I am going to send them along to Cobi and let her attach them. I did not want them to be in her way when she started with her inspiration!!

Here is a picture of Simona's whole block so far.

Here is a close up on the SRE that I added to the block.

I hope that you like it Simona!

TTFN

July Teaser Winners!

2009-08-01T04:13:00.002-05:00

Hello, and good Saturday to everyone! I have The results to this months Teaser.

They are:
First place squishie and silkies of this months actress:
Once again for the second month in a roll...........Ann F. Yeah!

Second place winner for the silkies of this months actress:
Skye

Now for the bonus winner The lucky lady who gets the Super Duper squishie:
Skye, Yeah!!!

Here are the answers to the Teaser:

1)1898-1909
2)Persian Maltese cat named Popham and a pair of doves named Romeo and Juliet
3)Shakespeare
4)any four of her plays would do.
5)The Pride of Jericho and Dorthy Vernon of Haddon Hall

Now for the answers for the bonus:

1)Suicide is Painless

2)Benjamin Franklin "Hawk Eye" Pierce :Alan Alda/Donald Sutherland
John Francis Xavier "Trapper" McIntyre: Wayne Rogers/Elliot Gould
Franklin Marion "Frank" Burns: Larry Linville/Robert Duvall
Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan: Loretta Swit/Sally Kellerman
Walter Eugene O'Reily: Gary Burghoff played both parts
Henry Braymore Blake: McLean Stevenson/Roger Bowen

3)Brigadier Bradley Barker/The dukes of Hazzard/Boss Hogg

Here is another interesting fact of Sorrell Brooke: He was a veteran of the Korean War.

Ladies, I hope that you enjoyed this Teaser!

TTFN

July Teaser

2009-07-26T11:34:00.004-05:00

Here it is the July Teaser! It is hard to believe that the year is now over half over! Before you know it it will be Christmas! Here in central Texas it is still HOT! I mean really HOT! So I have up my sleeves, well no one wears sleeves here in Texas these days, but if I had sleeves............Some really great prizes for the winners of this months teaser and bonus question.

This months actress is Bertha Galland. This lady was a wonderful Shakespearean actress! The prizes for answering the questions for our wonderful actress this month are as follows.

The person who answers all the questions for the teaser right first gets silkies of Miss Galland and a squshie.
The person who is second gets silkies of Miss Galland.

Here are the questions:

1) What was the year of Bertha Galland's stage debut? What was the year of her last appearance??

2)Miss. Galland had pets. What kind of animals were they and what were their names?

3)From who's plays did her pets names originate from?

4)Name 4 plays Bertha Galland acted in.

5)What 2 plays ran twice.

Good Luck!

Now for our bonus for the month. My bonus questions are on my favorite series! Yes, it is M*A*S*H! This month for answering all the bonus questions right you will get a Super Duper Squshie! Get ready M*A*S*H fans here they are:

1) What is the title of the opening song for M*A*S*H?

2)The M*A*S*H series came after the movie. Name the actor/actress who played the character in the movie then the actor/actress who played the character in the series. The characters are:

Benjamin Franklin"Hawk eye" Pierce

John Francis Xavier "Trapper" McIntyre

Franklin Marion "Frank" Burns

Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan

Walter Eugene "Radar" O'Reily

Henry Braymore Blake

3)Sorrell Brooke appeared in the M*A*S*H series as what character? What other T.V. series did he play in? What was his characters name in that series?

Okay ladies that does it for the questions for July! As usual email me the answers to the questions.

Good Luck!!!

TTFN

My Daughter Says.............

2009-07-20T10:38:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, my beautiful little girl got her heart broken. Well maybe she is not so little any more she is 17 years old. It was some green haired boy who did it! (Yes, he has green hair!)

She came to her mother for some "motherly advice". It is hard when you cant just mend these tears with a Popsicle anymore! As I listened to her and told her all the same things that my mother had told me after my first serious boyfriend. I went one extra and told her a story about how a boyfriend of mine did what hers did. Of how we met up years later and really saw what he was missing.

That seemed to do some good as I got a big laugh out of her! I got up and got on the computer and started going through my emails and I asked her a question about face book. She said I don't know. I am on My Space.

Here is what came out of her mouth after that:

Steph: Anyway, you don't have a life.

Me: What do you mean, I don't have a life??????

Steph: You spend most of your time in the house and on the computer.

Me: I do not spend most of my time on the computer! I do other things like, clean house and stitch on my blocks.

Steph: Well you never go out and just "hang out".

Me: Yes, I do! I have my sewing meetings, and I meet friends for breakfast, and meet friends at material shops, go with friends to thrift stores and quilt shows.

Steph: That is not really "hanging out".

Me: What do you mean that is not really "hanging out"?????

Steph: "Hanging out" means going like out to the river and doing nothing but maybe swimming. Lets face it mom you d-u-l-l. The only interesting thing you do is "hang out" and talk to me.

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

After that bit of reality from my teen, I was in shock and maybe a little depressed! I cant believe that I am d-u-l-l! I still listen to rock and roll for heavens sake!

I just did not know that I was d-u-l-l........................................

TTFN

My Sewing Basket

2009-07-19T09:07:00.005-05:00

I have to tell y'all about this extra special gift that I received in the mail this past week. A few weeks ago I started up a friendship with a lady who needed help with her blog. She knew what she wanted but did not know how to make this blog thing go her way! So I offered her my help a meager as it is. Her blog is up and going now. She has the BEST tutorials! The link to her blog: http://sunshinedesigns-carolynphi.blogspot.com/

Yes! This is Carolyn! Carolyn also paints the best silkies! Yes, I said paints! She hand paints some extra wonderful silkies! I received one from her in the mail last week. It was a "thank you" for my help. It is just beautiful!! After the rough last couple of weeks that I have had this was one of the best up lifters that I have received!

Carolyn, I just want to say thank you for the gift!! I LOVE it!! I also know that I will enjoy it for years to come, and I will never forget you!

Here it is the beautiful Forget-me-not silkie!

I wanted to use it on a special project. One where I could see it all the time. One that others would see this beautiful gift and be able to enjoy it! So the thought process was on!

What to do......What to do.........What to do............

As I was out yesterday on my round of yard sales and thrift stores I happened on that special project! A picnic basket!! I found it at the Methodist Church yard sale for $1.00. They were trying to wrap up the sale when I got there and had everything half off! Here it is the picnic basket that over the next few weeks that will be transformed into that special something! My brand spanking new sewing basket!!!

This particular picnic basket is plastic. I don't know if I would be able to spray paint it or not. Does any one have any suggestions?? I don't mind leaving it this color though. Although it would be so nice to have it a different color.............

As y'all can see the top is flat, it I do believe it is a thin "press board". Perfect for the method of attaching a CQ top, using the method that I put the tops on the CQ tins that I made for the CQI swap.

So..... I traced the top on to my muslin material.

Then using my silkie as a color guide I pieced together my top to embellish. I am seeing SRE flowers. I want to practice ones that I found to do on Simona's landscape block on my basket top. I also want to do some of those cute daisy's that I embroidered on Rita's block! Roses of course lots and lots of roses! I can just picture it in my mind!!!!

Now here is the hard part. How to finish off the inside of the basket! Below is a picture of the inside of the basket. If y'all would please leave me a comment on how to finish the inside. I would welcome any and all suggestions!

TTFN

Under The Sea Heaven

2009-07-19T08:50:00.003-05:00

My love for the Under The Sea blocks has no bounds. There is so much you can do with this theme! I cannot wait until I show everyone my finished quilts!

I have finished Karrin's UTS block and have to show it off. Everyone who worked on these blocks did such a wonderful job of using beads that I was a little intimidated! But then inspiration hit!!

When you look at all the already finished blocks you will see why I came up with my block. My block is a pearl garden!! I used some fresh water pearls on it. I have had them forever just waiting for that extra special block to use them on!

Here it is my block for Karrin:

I have this wonderful book called The Silk Ribbon Embroidery Bible. I found in it a UTS motif. That is where I got the inspiration for the "pearl flowers". This of course in my fantasy land is where they grow the pearls for the castle and treasure chest! Of course you have the mermaids go and pick them!

(Okay, Okay I will come out of my fantasy world and finish this post!)

I thought that everyone would like to see where I got my fantasy from. Here are the blocks that were completed before they got to me:

Quite awesome are they not?? I hope that Karrin likes what I did for her!

Next up and on their way to me are my friend Pam's blocks! I cannot wait to get my hands on them!

TTFN

Pay It Forward

2009-07-15T10:55:00.005-05:00

I recently signed up as one of the first 5 for Lady J's, Pay It Forward. I have not received my giftie from her but I thought that now is as good a time as any to post and start my Pay It forward! So if you would like to get one of my little gifties please be one of the first 5 to sign up for my PIF!!

Here are the rules:

1-You MUST do the same... post this on "Your blog" and pass on to FIVE folks as well.

2-You will receive this gift within the year.

3- I'm getting ready to start stitching my gifts to the 5 people.

4- If you don't want to Pay It Forward please leave the space for someone who would like too.

5- It MUST be something handmade/created by you in your favorite technique. It doesn't have to be a large gift, just heartfelt and it would help if you would be happy to receive it yourself.

(I copied the rules from her blog!!!)

TTFN

Rita's Summer Block

2009-07-14T16:56:00.004-05:00

The first Summer DYB blocks I had to work on were Rita's. Her blocks were so beautiful! They reminded me of all the summer time clothes my grandmother made for me. Then they reminded me of daisy's. Daisy's were my grandmother's favorite flower. So that is what I thought I would do for this project.

I found this motif in one of my books and thought that I could modify it for this project. Of course I had to order some supplies for this project. (The fact that I needed to order new stash really broke my heart!)

Here is the finished block:

What do y'all think?? I hope that Rita likes it!

TTFN

Meg's Autumn RR Block

2009-07-13T16:06:00.002-05:00

Here is Meg's Autumn RR block. Meg's block is a stunning block with the most gorgeous, most luxurious fabric! The fabrics originate from Kosovo. Meg is a lucky lady she is a "world traveler". I like to live vicariously through her blog!! She has gone to the most wonderful places!

So I tried to come up with something special for her Autumn block. I thought that an Autumn block needed a spider web. So I emailed Meg to make sure that the spider web did not "creep" her out, it did not, then proceeded to work on her block. Since I was working at the top of the block I made some tree branches "hanging down" into the block. The spider web attached through the branches. I could not help it I had to add some "falling" flowers onto the black.

Here is a picture of my work:

Here is a picture of the whole block:

Cobi, was the first to work on this block. Cobi's work is stunning! I always try to pull out my best to follow her up and I always feel that I fall short trying to measure up! Ladies, Cobi's needle lace toadstools are to die for!! I wish everyone could see her work in person!!!!

TTFN

The First In A Long Line...................

2009-07-12T15:26:00.002-05:00

Hello, everyone! I am glad to see all of y'all! First off I want to tell everyone that I had an auto accident on Tuesday. It actually rained in this part of Texas............Well Lockhart any way! I hydroplaned off the road. My car went through three lanes of traffic(with out hitting any other car!). Down a bar ditch sideways the rear tire hit a covert(that is what finally stopped the car). I wound up sitting in the parking lot of The First Assembly of God Church! At that point I knew who I needed to thank!

So, I am just letting everyone know that I am a week behind in everything that I am doing here at the house. Ladies who are receiving prizes from my blog teaser they will be mailed out on Monday God willing! I took this weekend to try and catch up on my Round Robins and am almost there! I have two that I will be posting on this week well maybe three as I don't think that the third that I started this weekend will take me very long! Inspiration has HIT with that one!

I also started work on my Basic Quilting class for StitchMAP. I am mentoring two ladies through this class and taking it myself.
I had thought to myself how am I going to make this class a challenge for myself. It is a BASIC class after all..........
Then it came to me, color! Pick out colors that I would never pick out and learn to work with them thought this class.(I have to find a challenge in everything that I do. That is how I learn all the different things that I learn. Who is to say that I wont need to know how to work with these colors later?? I will already be ahead of the game!) Here are the pictures of the material that I picked out for the class:

What do y'all think?? Great colors, huh?? I cant wait to show off how these projects are coming along! I think that the finished projects will be stunning! When I get finished piecing them I will put up the photos!

TTFN

Happy Birthday To You..........

2009-07-04T18:42:00.002-05:00

I am wanting to wish my baby sister a great big HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! My little sister was born on July the 4th 1976! She has always had a very special birthday. Her DBF has taken her off to Cancun for a great vacation! My sister is one of those workaholics! I am happy that she has finally taken off on a great vacation.

(Brandi, remember putting my picture in the company news letter??? You know the one. One of the really bad ones taken in the 1970's???? Well here is some payback. Look what picture I found of you! Naa, Naa, you are in Cancun and can't do anything about it!)

Happy Birthday, see you when you get back!

To everyone else................Happy 4th of July!

TTFN

June's Teaser Answers And Prizes!

2009-07-02T16:52:00.003-05:00

Here it is! The moment everyone has been waiting on! The answer that has had everyone stumped!

Here are the answers to the original 5 questions:

1) The Tango
2)I have Vanity Fair but she was also on many others.
3)A Star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame
4)Donald Brian

The original number 5 answer: Oh, Kay, it ran from 1926-1928.

New number 5: Any three that he recorded. There were many to choose from!

Now for the prizes!

I have two squishy winners this month! They are:
Ann and Ruby!

Second place is: Susan R.! Susan please be expecting a "Mini Lions squishy".

And all the runners up:
Amy
Shari
Connie
Kerry
These ladies should be expecting replica silkies of our actress!

I think that I have all your addresses but please resend them to my private email so that I can get your prizes out to y'all!

As this months Teaser was especially hard I thought that this would be a fair prize disbursement!

Ladies, if there are any questions please email me! glynpg@yahoo.com.

TTFN

The Lion's 2009 Christmas Stocking Swap

2009-07-01T15:53:00.003-05:00

Remembering in to my childhood I could not wait for Santa to come! Remember the whole week before Christmas day you always tried not to make your mom yell at you? But you always wanted to smack your sister in the back of her head just because she was annoying you? Oh! Wait a minuet! That was me! That particular sister is now a correctional officer in McAllister, Oklahoma! She is able to annoy a whole new group of people!

The stockings:

Height: Stockings should be no taller then 11 inches high and no shorter than 8 inches high.

Width: Stockings should be no wider then 8 inches wide and no narrower then 4 and 1/2 inches wide.

Amendment: Please, line the stockings in case your swap partner would like to use them for more than decorations!

You can send up to 4 stockings, stockings are to be hand embellished.(please no glue)

This swap will be a centralized swap. Stockings are to be mailed to me no later than October 20th. Please, send along with you stockings return postage. I will mail them back out to you no later than October 25th.

Please, email me with any questions at glynpg@yahoo.com. Also please make sure I can get in contact with you so that you can get my mailing address to mail your stockings to me!

Remember to swap unto others!

TTFN

Debbies Landscape Block

2009-06-29T15:15:00.002-05:00

When I received Debbie H.'s landscape block I immediately thought Saguaro cactus! It has colors that lend themselves to a beautiful desert landscape. Karrin's tree reminded me of those beautiful Ponderosa pines! So this block has went southwest. All the way to the Sonora Desert! That is where I got all my inspiration from is the pictures of the Sonora Desert. I googled them and the rest is history for this block!

I wish I could do more but it needs to go to the next person! I added the stitching around the desert floor and little desert pond. I also added the Saguaro Cactus of course! The little flowering vine. This plant can be seen in the Sonora Desert of course! BTW the Sonora Desert has hundreds of beautiful flowers to choose from! Also added the beads of which I am passing on to the next people on the list to use if needed!

I hope that everyone else enjoys this block as much as I did!

TTFN

New Number 5

2009-06-27T06:10:00.002-05:00

In my quest of making my blog teasers more challenging and entertaining, I try to come up with questions that make y'all really look and learn about these great early actresses! These ladies the fore mothers of the modern day actresses had a hard and challenging life! They lived and worked in a time and era where the actress was looked upon as a tramp or worse! Yet there were a few who broke that mold!

My original question number 5 for Julia Sanderson was a challenging one, that everyone came close to but could not quite find the answer. So in the sense of fair play and a happy teaser, I deleted it and made a new number 5.

The first person who answers this question right will win the squishie, second person right will win the 2 replica silkies.

Question No. 5:

Frank Crumit, was married to Julia Sanderson in 1927. He had some popular phonograph records. Name 3 of his songs.

Good luck ladies!

TTFN

Update On June's Teaser

2009-06-23T14:29:00.003-05:00

Here is an update on June's teaser. The squishie is still up for grabs! There is one question that everyone still seams to be having trouble with. I have checked and rechecked my facts and I am still looking for the correct answer to question number 5.

The tin was won by....................................................................... Ruby, YEAH!!! Ruby, the tin will be out in the mail in the next couple of days. I will wait to see if you want to try for the squishie.

TTFN

June's "Catch My Star" Blog Teaser

2009-06-21T05:17:00.004-05:00

This months "Catch My Star" teaser is on a very "ground breaking" actress. Her name is: Julia Sanderson. Her father was also an actor. By the name of Albert Sanderson and he was famous on Broadway in his own right.

So I wont give away anything I am going to start my teaser questions!

June's teaser questions:

1)Juli Sanderson introduced what dance to the USA?

2)She appeared on the cover of what magazine?

3)What was she awarded for her work in radio?

4)Who did Julia sing the song "They Didn't Believe Me" with?

5) Frank Crumit married Julia in 1927. He had some popular phonograph records. Name 3 of his songs.

Bonus questions:

1) In 1912 Julia Sanderson was in a movie and played an "undetermined role". What was the name of that movie?

2) The director of that movie also had a role in it. What was that directors name? What role did he play?

3)Two famous sisters had a role in this film also. Their mother was also in this film. What were their names and what roles did they play?

The prizes are as follows:

The person who answers all the teaser questions first and gets them right will win a squishie, along with a replica of the two Julia Sanderson silkies.

The person who answers all the teaser questions second and gets them all right will win a replica of the two Julia Sanderson silkies.

The Bonus Question:

Here are the pictures of what you will win if you are the first with all the questions right.

Please email me the answers to my email glynpg@yahoo.com.

Good Luck!!

TTFN

Birds And Bees ~ Debbie S.'s Block

2009-06-20T16:44:00.002-05:00

Another Birds and Bees block is stitched on! Debbie you had a wonderful block and the go ahead to encrust, well.................. I had a hard time stopping! I could have just kept going! The thing that I really liked about this block are the bird pieces in it! It gave me the opportunity to turn them into 3D pictures by adding some silk ribbon. The birds them selves to make them stand out I out-lined them in gold thread. I also took some silk floss and outlined the lace flower. I gave Debbie a spider web.(Sorry about the spider Debbie you can take him off when he gets to your house if you don't like him there. You cant have a web with out one of those. Plus it gives your birds another meal!)
I also put in around the web those pretty purple roses, the lace around the connecting block looked a little plain so I added those blanket stitch flowers and that field of flowers with the pretty blue butterflies!

I could have added so much more like SRE flowers along the vines so the ladybugs can play on them and beads to the lace motif, and , and ,and.................

I hope that you like it Debbie!

TTFN

My New Tea Pot

2009-06-20T16:30:00.002-05:00

Look! I found this really cool tea pot at our local thrift shop. I paid $2 for it. I thought that it was a steal!
When I brought it home my Darling Teen Daughter told me that it was the ugliest thing that she has ever seen!
What??? I did not think that it was ugly I thought that it would look nice in the corner with my carrot and strawberry pitchers!
This has to be the best Shabby Chic tea pot out there! What do y'all think?????????

TTFN

Lauri's UTS Block

2009-06-15T16:28:00.003-05:00

Here is the next block finished for the UTS RR. It is Lauri's block. Lauri had some wonderful blocks to choose from. The two ladies ahead of me chose the softer colors to embellish. Some beautiful work that they did on them, too!

I went ahead and chose the "brightest" block that she has in the bunch! I had bought some obnoxious green fluffy trim at a yard sale and decided that it needed to be sea grass on this block! Of course an octopus coming out of the grass is a must on this block! I have to have my signature squid on any UTS block that I do!

Now that this block it is finished it will be off to England and my friend Pam! Lauri I hope that you like it!

TTFN