I'm So Excited..I Just Can't Hide It, I'm About to Loose Control...

Yup, there is a package I am showing you! It is actually ready to go; just needs a label and off it goes! In this box is a gift for my Stitcher's Angel! I hope she is going to be happy with what she receives..she loves greens, naturals, and oh I can't tell you the rest or you might know who you are! It will go to the post office on Monday...and since it is INTERNATIONAL..hint hint...it will take 6-10 days to get there! I hope six days and no more! My Angel lives where the Koalas and Kangaroos are! Lucky her..I love Koalas..I am so excited I had to share that the box is ready to go!!!

My Stitchers Angel Gift Arrived!!!

Thank you Cecilia! What a pleasant surprise to see a package for me!! I opened it and was in awe! Cecilia lives in Northern Sweden! She and her family live in Skelleftea on the east coast of Sweden! She is married and has two little boys, ages 1 1/2 years and five months old!

Cecilia sent me multiple items, such as a block roll, a bag (both have stitchery), a needle case (her own design!), a brooch ( you can use it to pin on you, and then put pins there instead of the blouse, shirt or jersey you are wearing!), some chocolate (which is not pictured because it was already devoured!), and a necklace with the cloudberry on it, which is called "the gold of the forest" there, handmade by Cecilia's mother, who is also a quilter! I will tell you the chocolates had cloudberry in them and omg, yummy! I have a little angel notepad to write down my notes...oh oh and a specially made measuring tape, it is a little bird, a crow!! Little did she know I love those little measuring tapes...and the bird is so adorable!! I just pull the birds tail and out comes the tape to measure! What is also nice is now were are emailing each other, so I have another online friend!

Thank you Cecilia!! Go visit her blog and say hello to my Stitcher's Angel! Thank you to Helen also who is in charge of this fantastic swap!

Erin

I Am Working On ......

Our grandson turned 3 recently! I made him a twin size quilt with all firefighter fabrics..He loves to play with trucks, cars, firefighter trucks, etc...so I thought this would be just perfect for him. You really can't see the fabrics too well, but you can get the gist of what I am telling you! Our little guy loved it, so did his mom but she wants to put it away and not use it! I told her this is to be used, abused, and used again...it will last...not to worry! The pics are not that good...but you get the idea of what I did here~

I am a participant of the Stitcher's Angels...so I am going to finish up my projects for that this week and send them on their way to a place far off....to someone who is very talented....and in following her blog she is an inspiration to me! I can tell you that this has been fun...learning about new quilters, stitchers~what they are up to and what they like...I also made this pillow (shown below)! A little boy named Jacob was looking for something for his mother for her birthday! I decided to let him trace and color his hands on fabric, let him do what he wanted..on another piece of fabric he wrote and drew some things....then I made it into a pillow for her! It is very simplistic, yet just perfect! Jacob was so proud of making this! His mom, Cherrie loved it! I was so happy for them..Have a great day! Erin

A Big Thank You to Katherine of Quilter Going Bananas!

Wow is all I can say! I was so thankful to Katherine of Quilter Going Bananas of Canada! I had a very nice surprise in my mailbox today! I won a give-away from her blog! Katherine thank you so much! I love the wall hanging, will hang it later on, love the fabric, the magazine, the labels, the book, everything!!! I wish you all the best!! If you have not visited Katherine's blog, I urge you to! Katherine has a great sense of humor and is a lot of fun to follow...
Erin

Quilter Going Bananas is Having a Give-AwAy!!!

Quilters Going Bananas is a great blog to read! She is having a give-away in honor of her 100th post! Go on over and wish her congratulations!!!


Erin

My Great Pumpkin Block One!

This is my first block for The Great Pumpkin Quilt I am doing! I love fall colors so this is fun for me to do! I also love to decorate with fall items so I am headed out today to 'shop for fall' !

I ordered some needles from Colonial Crafts! I love Colonial Crafts! I cannot wait until they come. I am not happy with the needles I have to do stitchery and am hoping I will be happy with what I ordered.

Have a great Labor Day weekend!

Erin

My New Layout

I am changing my blog template so please be patient..I am figuring this all out! I am tired of the same old page..I get like that, change room layouts in my home, try new foods, etc. Maybe that is why I like to quilt...we can make new things, and it doesn't have to be the same thing...I will post pics when I am done with this template of a pumpkin block I made for my group~Great Pumpkin!

Farmyard Crafts is Having a Give~Away!

Farmyard Crafts is having a give away in celebration of her 50th post! Head on over and visit her blog! I love it! I especially love the picture in her header of the lightening! What Mother Nature can do is phenomenal!

Erin

Block #1 Finished

I finished block #1 of Judy's Star BOM! Here is a picture of it! Thanks Judy for doing this BOM! I am loving it, looking at other blocks and seeing everyone's accomplishments! Sorry the picture is a little crooked! I hung it that way!

Erin

August Already!

Where has half the summer gone? I cannot believe it is August already! I have been having fun with my grandchildren! It is a joy to have them come visit, use the pool, and watch them learn how to swim! Other than that, we have been hanging around. We had Jenna here with her son Sy, who is going to be 3 in September Wednesday night...he loved swimming and playing with his grandpa! Today two more grandchildren are here...we went swimming, now they are playing, where you ask? In my sewing room..hehehe....



I did 'straighten out' the sewing room again...does anyone else have to do that once in a while? It if gets too messy I end up not wanting to go in there and sew! I cannot stand a mess and it does get real messy! I do realize that is hurting myself by not going in there, not doing something I really enjoy, but just swish that thought out of my mind and read a book...I just finished Danielle Steele's book, Rogue, it was OK...Years ago I loved all her books. Now I am not that interested in them for some reason...they do not have the zest they used to as far as I am concerned..they seem a lot alike..one book to the next. I did make another quilt top using Firefighter fabrics...I had fun doing it...now I will quilt it.



I am going to start on another project..have to decide what...I have to be 'in the mood' to do it...I am doing Judy L's Star BOM that started today! I also am looking for fabrics that are country and fun at the same time...to use in a stitchery project....when I find it I will let you know what it is..One thing that is great is because I am not able to drive for a long period or walk at least I enjoy being here and sewing, quilting, doing stitchery or reading...maybe next time I post I will show some pictures of what I have made so far...not much but it is nice to have pictures isn't it!!

Watermelon Table Runner is Done!

I hope you all are having a wonderful week! I finished my table runner! Perfect for July I think! We love watermelon here so this is a perfect runner for our table..











I also started another quilt using sangria fabrics by Thimbleberries...the center is done..now onto the borders, then quilt it and whoopee...I will send it to ...hmmm don't know yet...

Have a wonderful week everyone!

Erin

Star BOM~These Are My Fabric Choices

These are my fabric choices for the Star BOM that Judy is doing for us! I was not too keen on the background fabric being a Kona Bay Snow but I am pulling from my stash and am determined not to purchase fabrics! Thank you Judy for your color chart because that helped me immensely. Now off to press the fabrics! I had washed the fabrics previously so that is why they need a good pressing!

Thank you Anne Sutton!!

Look what the mailman brought me today! I am so happy! Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill Designs posted on her blog that she was sending magazines to Julia in Germany! She asked if anyone wanted to join in, which I did graciously! Today I received this nice package as a thank you for doing so! I was so excited..I cannot wait to start on this new pattern!

Happy Fourth of July to Everyone

Happy Fourth of July everyone! Have a safe holiday weekend! I will be staying put but hopefully doing some stitchery or sewing! Fireworks are awesome this time of year aren't they? I hope you get to enjoy watching some!

Nutbud Quilter..

Faith from Nutbud Quilter is in need of some cheering up! Her dog Scratch had to have his leg amputated a couple of weeks ago..which Faith was attending to very well..and really caring for Scratch when she had an episode of no feeling on one side of her body! Faith was rushed to the hospital, had multiple tests, and was diagnosed with MS. I have her address and would be more than happy to email it to you..even if you can send a card, or postcard, or a little something to cheer her up it would be appreciated..
Erin

Last Weekend in June!

Last weekend in June can you believe it? I wonder where the time goes? I finished my Lap Quilt, with the Strawberry Lemonade fabrics...it is just to have around the house, or use at a picnic...what a fun quilt to make!

I purchased this Thimbleberries Melon TableRunner Kit from Keepsake Quilting in 2006 on sale! I didn't realize I had it until I was rearranging my sewing room...so I figured I would make it to use for the summer...I do not like fusible things...do not want to do that as a staple in my quilting life...I do have to quilt it..maybe just an 'in the ditch' and bind it.

Have a great sewing weekend everyone!

Strawberry Lemonade ~ Woody Loves IT!

I am making a quilt with fabric I purchased from the Fat Quarter Shop..Strawberry Lemonade is the fabric line....Woody loves the bright colors so he gave me such a hard time while sewing this...he was always right on top of the fabric...I would lock him in the bedroom and he would find a way to open the door. Well the top is done...and here is a portion of it...with him on it..it might just be his little quilt because if he is not locked in the bathroom, when I have this out to work on, he is snuggling up to it! This is what I have been doing. I will post a picture of it when it is completed...all by it's lonesome self...as long as Woody is held by my hubby...so he won't be in the picture...cats...love them but pain in the butts....they love fabric!

Happy Stitching!

Jackie is Having a Give Away!!!`

Jackie is having a give away! Go check it out!! See the bag she made also and read about Rolo her cat!!! She does gorgeous quilting...so ..if you want to enter a contest go girl go!!!

What Have You Been Up To

I made some pillowcases, standard size, with Thomas the Train fabric! Boy, was that fun! I have two grandsons and they both love Thomas. A friend of mine from Texas sent me the fabric and I knew right away what it was for! I also made some other standard pillowcases, what my granddaughter would call "pretty" pillowcases...so two will go to the granddaughters..I enjoy sewing and with the weather so hot here this past week it was tough to get up the energy to do anything! At one point here in Nashua it was 102 degrees last week. I am hoping this week stays cooler, yes in the 70's is great!

My husband is still out of work, he was laid off in January of this year. He was a retail manager. June 24 his unemployment runs out and here in NH there are no extensions on unemployment! He has tried to find work in stores, calls every day, asking if they are hiring, and the answer is no all the time...so I am asking for prayers! He will take anything for a job and still can't find one. I believe we are heading or in a recession...Times are tough for a lot of people I guess..so if you can keep us in your prayers I would greatly appreciate it!

And The Winner Is............

The winner of my first Give Away in celebration of my new Internet business, Hannies Annies, is drum roll please...Chris...so congratulations to Chris! Stop by her blog...it is very nice...and Chris, send me your full name and address and this cute adorable doll will be sent to you this week!!!

I would like to thank all 35 of you for posting nice messages about the website..this is the first of multiple give-aways to celebrate a new fun enjoyable business in our lives...

I hope you all had a great Memorial Day Weekend!! We did! We relaxed...sat by the pool..the pool water was just too cold to even put your feet in...but that was okay..

Until tomorrow,

Erin

Memorial Day Weekend...

I hope everyone has a safe Holiday weekend and takes the time to pray for all our men who served our country and are continuing to serve! I am very thankful for all they have done for us.

JoJo is having a give away and will draw next Friday, May 30th! Go check out her blog..and link back to yours, comment on hers and you are entered my friends!

I will draw a winner for my Blue Check Annie ~Handmade by me...on Monday, May 26th! I will wait until evening to give more people a chance to enter...so good luck! Just check out my site..HanniesAnnies..by clicking on the Annie Doll icon on the right of the screen..keep checking back on my blog too! I am so sure there will be more give aways in celebration of my website up and running!!!

Until tomorrow!!

Erin

Candle Making..Princesses..fun fun fun

4 Year old Hannah is on the left, 2 year old Shelby on the right! My grandaughters had a princess sleepover at my house Friday night! They made their tiaras!! We also watched "Enchanted", had bubble baths, and more..Saturday we all went to the park, and on and on I could go..we dropped them off at their homes Saturday night..and today I felt like what the heck am I going to do now? My knees were bad, but I hate to give in to the pain. My husband watched the Red Sox game and then the Celtics game..and I did something new, never tried before!

I made candles..what a blast I had..My dad made candles with me when my brother and I were young...memories of those candlemaking days are great! We used milk cartons to fill up with the colored wax and decorated them with glitter after they were hard...around the holidays..they were ours and we loved them! So I had a strawberry margarita and made some candles..we will see how they come out...one mixture I call `Chill Out' made with lemon, lime, eucalyptus, and lavender.... the other was vanilla and lavender...Yvonne has agreed to try one and see how it is, how long it lasts and whether the scents are ok...

yes I used empty cans..and they seem to be fine..hey recycle right?

Don't forget my post of May 16th! My give away! Leave a comment on that post and I will enter you in the drawing for Miss Blue Check Annie!

Thanks for stopping by..take care..Erin

Celebration of Opening~A Give Away!

My website, HanniesAnnies is now up and running! In celebration of this wonderful journey I am going on, I am giving away the Blue-Check Annie I hand made pictured above!!! Just visit my site by clicking on the HanniesAnnies Icon at the right and leave a message on this blog! I am praying that the website is going to operate without glitches..but if there are glitches I am sure they will be worked out! More dolls will be uploaded and other items within the next week! The winner will be announced on May 26th in celebration of Memorial Day! Pass the word around please!!!

Hope Everyone Had a Nice Mother's Day

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day! I did. My husband and I went to our daughter Jennifer's for a cookout, (picture of Jenna and Sy, our 2 year old grandson on the left. We were blessed with three of our five children there, and the rest of their families! It was wonderful! We then left Jennifer's and visited our other daughter and her family! We will see our youngest (son) tomorrow! This is the first time ever I will have seen all the kids on Mother's Day or around it! I feel very lucky and blessed. We all had a wonderful time.

I finally finished our daughter Kate's quilt top! It is 84x93. It was just too big for my husband to hold up to get the entire quilt in the picture! But you can see how I bordered it! Now I have to layer and pin, then quilt it! I am looking forward to it. I have no idea what to do for quilting..maybe circles in the squares, or something funky, or just stippling..I am using the red as a backing so I need to pick threads too. I will definitely use red in the bobbin so my mistakes won't show!!

I mentioned in a previous post I went to the Hannah Dustin Quilt Guild Show! I won a basket, Pamper Yourself! I entered some raffles and was pleasantly surprised when I received a phone call to pick up my fantastic prize! Many thanks to the Guild members, they put on a wonderful show and I was so fortunate to win such a nice prize!!

Hannah Dustin Quilt Guild~19th Annual Quilt Show 2008

Last night was the opening of the Hannah Dustin Quilt Guild Quilt Show~ Hudson NH ..went along with friends. What a wonderful time! I am posting some pictures of the quilts that won prizes..the very first one at the top is hand quilted! Talented people for sure!!

I could not believe the pieces involved in making this quilt! It was absolutely stunning!

Below are the blocks and label that go on the Home of the Brave Quilts that are made for soldiers who have died for our country in Iraq and Afghanastan..sad..I am now going to be involved in making labels for the Massachussetts Chapter..as well as piecing the blocks for the NH Chapter. I thank Linda Heminway for her help!

In the center of the block is the stitcher's name

and town/state of where she is from.

I would have taken more photos but unfortunately my batteries in my camera died..sigh...but the memories are in my mind..quite and experience and met a great group of people!!!

MOTIVATION FRIDAY!!

I read LA Quilter's post today and Vicki mentioned motivation Friday! Well what a great idea to have Motivation Fridays!

My Friday is so far NOT motivated at all..I am sitting here watching an experienced rug cleaner fix my rug! We brought home groceries, placed the bags on the carpet in the living room and what a surprise we got! A bottle of Clorox Clean-Up had leaked into the bag, and onto the carpet, and bleached a circle in the carpet! We learned a valuable lesson, put the grocery bags immediately in the kitchen, on the counters on floor!

This nice gentleman, Len, is going to do some spot cleaning for me too! Now that we have no 'visitors' with us~ we are back to setting up our little abode for the two of us and the rugs will be clean..when you have your two sons here to 'visit' at different times you are extremely happy to have them~ and also do a happy dance when they leave as you can see what you have to do to clean up! One was into Kool-Aid, nachos and salsa, chili! The other was into Red Bull~Italian sauce and meatballs...next place is having tile everywhere so if we ever have 'visitors' we can wash the floors!!!

I have accomplished nothing this past week! Sad but true!! My sewing machine is at the cleaning doctor..getting its' yearly cleaning/tune up. I have another machine to use as back up and can pull it out...so I am going to go do that now! Have a great day!!!

Give A Way ~Yes a Gorgeous Quilt!!!!

I suggest you go to Camille's site, Thimble Blossom's, to see a gorgeous quilt!! Read her blog and enter to win the Bloom Quilt!! I suggest you go to her site and you will drool, yes sit there with your mouth open and say to yourself how gorgeous her quilts are!! Camille is an inspiration for sure!!! I better get working on my UFO's for sure!! Have a great day!!

Whew What a Week!

Our prayers were answered this week! Above is our grandson ~ Sy~ he is 2 years old, will be 3 in September. He caught that nasty virus that is going around. This past Monday he was so sick, and after going back and forth to the emergency room, and his pediatrician, he ended up in the hospital for three days. Our little guy came home tonight and is doing better! Of course as grandparents, seeing your children upset and grandchild so sick is heartbreaking. Now we will all get some rest and hope he remains stable and improves daily. The great thing is the weather is warmer here in NH and we saw some sun! We have had more rain, snow and clouds in the past month or two! It is depressing!

In between having friends and family over I am also knitting another dishrag. I think the patterns I have are too big. The finished size of the rags are 8.5x8.5. I am going to make them smaller from now on. Maybe the ones I am making can be used as wash cloths hehehe!!! Anyone have any thoughts on that?

Woody has been his pesty self too! He has tangled the yarn numerous times by climbing into my knitting bag. If I do not put it inside a cabinet, behind closed doors, he will get at it. He will be 2. When do cats stop this antagonizing? No kidding..we love him and know yarn is fun for him!

Well off to bed for me ... until another day..when I can show a picture of the funky quilt..Erin

Happy Birthday Ethan!

My grandson turned 2 today! Ethan Christopher! So little man, Happy Birthday to you!!! We will celebrate next weekend!

This is my first dish cloth I have ever made! Yippee!! I knitted it, yeah I did. For me that is an accomplishment! It is a huge dish cloth. The pattern called for size 8 needles..to make a 10.5 inch cloth. Well next time I am using size 7 needles and having a finished size smaller. I do not like large dish cloths. I have not knitted since my daughter Keri was born 29 years ago! I couldn't remember much. I learned how to bind off last night from a book, thank God, or Yvonne would have received a phone call at 9 PM!

Let me introduce you to my new bunny! I designed her with my previous bunny makin experience from years ago when I owned Country Crafts in Massachusetts! I had a lot of fun making her...she is 16 inches tall and has printed fabric on the outer ears to match the dress! Let me know what you think!

This is Matty, or as my hubby calls her Matilda! Sewing Matilda! She is holding an old heirloom sewing spool. She is antique looking and has stitchery on her little pantaloons! I didn't get a good picture due to rushing to take one. I have fun making the dolls. Matty is 12 inches and made with medium tea stained fabric! I know you cannot see her dress but it has a little ruffle that goes around the lower half of her that is adorable. I designed the dress also; Matty is my own pattern too!

That is what I have been up to lately! Having fun making dolls and knitting. I would love to know what everyone else has been up to!

Top Of Ole Morning!

I just want to wish everyone a Happy St. Patrick's Day! Gary and I are going out to lunch with friends today for corned beef and cabbage! I also will be having a Platinum Margarita..I just found out I absolutely love them! Now we usually do not drink but what the heck it is St. Patrick's Day so a drink to celebrate will be fine. With irish names and heritage...we will be happy today!

Fun Time

Just wanted to say hello to everyone! I cannot believe St. Patrick's Day is going to be here already! Time is going by so fast it seems. I don't know whether to make corned beef and cabbage or not! Maybe I will for the 'cooking smell' of it! I do love corned beef, my hubby can take or leave it! I think it is also so salty, not good for my heart so I guess it will depend on my mood! I did have two of my grandchildren stay over and bought them special decorated cookies! This is little Ethan, who will be 2 on March 30! He loved the cookie! Can you tell! I love taking pictures of the kiddos when they are covered in frosting! He was so funny, he kept saying "oh grammie this is sooooooo good..."

I finished block five for the 'Journey of a Quilter' finally. I had forgotten to put the border stitchery on the block! Now I am going to finish up a few more things and enjoy being healthy again..we did go to the gym and that was fun. It has both indoor and outdoor pools. I need that for my legs so this gym was a Godsend for sure! My husband does go with me but that is fantastic! The owners are so nice there, the atmosphere is fun and that is just the beginning of it. I think for me the best thing, feeling in the world sort of is being in water! Maybe I should have been a fish!...Nemo!

Until tomorrow...have fun Erin

Saturday a Day to do what?

This is the Annie I made with the help of De's patterns and had a blast! I am NOT good at taking pictures so the coloring is not exactly right. I will cut patterns out next week.


I am really bummed today. I have been sick with a stomach virus for the past three days! I wanted to go to Yvonne's dad's wake this afternoon. I was just too sick to go. My daughter and her husband are going..Yvonne is my best friend. I know what it is like loosing your dad (my dad passed away May of 2006) and wanted to go for her as well as for me to say good bye to a wonderful, generous, caring, loving, patient....great father, husband, grand father, great-grandfather! He has gone on to heaven for sure! When I was in the company of Yvonne's parents they were always so vibrant and welcoming! Yvonne is just the same way!We have raised our children together but now I live about 25 miles away from her..sigh..and driving for me is tough most of the time so I do not see her much. We still keep in touch via Internet, phone and once in a while visits. I thank God for finding such a nice friend!




Off to get some more rest..oh and go to HFC'S record company and check out my son's new CD that is coming out March 11! I have to be honest..this music is not my cup of tea..hehehe..but I am so proud! Christopher is touring and playing and happy..Maybe your kids would be interested or even know who they are...we did buy some Cd's and will see them when they come to Nashua at the end of the month!

For those of you wondering what Woody is up to, well he is now getting tired of his food, wants shrimp and is aggravated! His ruff is growing quite nicely, but it is funny it curls when it gets wet and he reminds me having Santa's beard! Woody will be 2 years old May 31! He must weight 17 lbs! We measured his body length and yes he is 29"! We had to measure him because he does not fit in his post where he likes to sleep..time for a huge one if they sell them!!!

Some of you wanted the pattern for the Quilter's Journey block I posted! I purchased my BOM from the Buggy Barn I love their items..I am about done the center block..yippee!