Who Took Spring?

Well, after my last post, we had a week of very warm weather - Friday it was 70F, and then the bottom dropped out - the next day was in the 20's!  Lots of rain, and more coming tonight - so much that my neighbor's yard looks like wetlands.  They now have ducks.

They do not have a pond - just low spots where the water pools.  The deer like it too.

Today is Fat Tuesday.  Around here, we celebrate with Paczkis, pronounced "punch-key".  They're a Polish donut made with lots of sugar, lard, and filling - to use up all the good stuff before Lent.  I'm not Catholic, but I do like paczki's.  When I got up this morning, there was one red raspberry left.

It didn't last long.

I've almost finished my spring tulips pattern - but I need your help!!  I've been staring at it so long my eyes are going crossed.

Forgive the abominable picture - it's raining [again] and my design wall is in the darkest corner.  Sashing is on, I ended up buying some Michael Miller Clown Stripe from Fabric.com, see how much smaller it is compared to the stripe I was putting together?  I like it much better.  Now, borders - maybe?  What do you think?  Does it need a border?  Red or black?  I'm thinking I just might call it done and bind it, but again, red or black?  The plan was to put a red border with black binding, or black border with red binding, but like I said, I'm going cross-eyed.  

Decisions decisions.  Please weigh in with your thoughts!!!  

I'm going to go find some chocolate and hide in a corner.  And then I'm going to go visit some blogs before the storms kick in tonight!

Love,

Allie

Dullsville

Welcome to Dullsville - the view out my sewing room windows every day, all day.

Just that unbright, all the time here lately.  Oh it makes me want to cry.  Today the sun actually came out though, I opened the blinds and mum got a laser beam of sun smack in the eye.  We pulled up chairs and sat in it, like cats.

Since it's been so dreary here, I've had to pull out all my bright scraps to play with.  One can only take so much of brown and grey before sanity reasserts itself.

Sashing is too wide at the moment, easy fix.  I'm having some issues trying to stitch it down with my machine - I usually use my walking foot for machine applique, it has a wide opening so that I can see the blanket stitch, but it's leaving a scratch in the fabric all along where I'm stitching.

I'm trying to avoid doing it by hand....I'm hand quilting my Lemon Tree, plus doing embroidery, and for some reason my chest is killing me.  I know what it is, it's the joints in my breastbone - just not sure what to do to make it better except rest.  That means no stitching by hand, *sob*, so my machine had better behave.

So, what are you working on - brights?  Pastels?  Prim colors?  Whatever it is, I hope it's lifting your spirits like my brights are for me!!

See ya soon - 
Love,
Allie

Favorite New Author and Give-Away

Mum and I have been doing a lot of reading - a LOT of reading.   And today I'm going to share with you a couple of my favorite new books, by my favorite new author.

In November 2015, I introduced you to a quilter that I met online on a Christian homeschooling site in 1999 - we think.  That post is HERE.  Her name is Cathe, her website is GloryQuilts, and she is an amazing quilter and teacher.  Well guess what - now she's an amazing new author!!

Snow Angels [available at amazon] was her Christmas novella.  I was blessed to be part of the launch team, and I ended up buying 2 paperbacks for Christmas gifts.  My mom and my mother-in-law loved the books.  From the Amazon.com description:

When Lisa Marsh is roped into serving Thanksgiving dinner at the local community center, she encounters hundreds of children, lively teenagers, stubbornly independent veterans, eccentric elderly people, and a particularly rude and scruffy homeless man named Pete. The evening ends in disaster, but when her best friend challenges her to reach out and help other people, Lisa decides to take on the project of reforming Pete – whether he likes it or not.

Snow Angels is part of Cathe's Great Lakes Collection, and her new book in the series, Baggage Claim, is coming out February 14th!

Available for pre-order now!  I was blessed to be on the launch team for this one as well, and I LOVED it.  From the Amazon.com website:

Ben Taylor, widower and father of four lively children, enjoys his easy, uncomplicated life. He likes his work and has a competent nanny to manage his household. Everything is good until he decides to seek out his biological parents and discovers a family tree with tangled roots and broken branches.
His comfortable life crumbles when he gets caught up in a criminal network of fraud and conspiracy at his new job. When Ben is forced into a dangerous alliance, he scrambles to find a safe situation and protection for his children before setting out to clear his name—all without getting himself killed in the process.

It's GOOD.  I'm going to be buying mum a copy of this one too.  I can't wait!

So - the giveaway?  Well, Cathe is giving away 3 copies of Snow Angels, on February 14, the launch date for Baggage Claim!  Go to her website and enter!  From her website:

Win one of three paperback copies of Snow Angels - the companion novella in the Great Lakes series, including the new novel, Baggage Claim! The winners will be selected on Valentine's Day! Winners can opt to receive a kindle version of the book if they prefer. International entries are welcome, but winners outside the United States will receive a digital copy instead of a paperback copy.

See? International winners as well!  If you don't have a kindle, like me, you can use the kindle app on your smartphone - something I use a lot, especially with all the hospital and doctor visits with mum over the past several months.

Cathe's Website

Now - the disclaimer - I receive no compensation for this, I just love sharing new authors with you.  I'm always on the lookout for new ones, and most new books I can't stand to read - so much language, if you know what I mean.  I also don't read a lot of Christian fiction, but Cathe's books are a treat, with lovable characters.  I think you'll love her too.

I'll see you soon with something new I'm working on - enjoying it so much!

Love,

Allie

Happy Days [Or Hours] & Free Pattern

We here in Michigan got to see the sun today!!!  It's been awhile.  Like, since October.  Well, it feels that way, anyhow...and this afternoon, the clouds have rolled back in, and I believe snow is in the forecast. But it WAS here, honest.

I'm making my own sunshine as well.

I got my machine cleaned out, and was able to finish the applique for Lemon Tree.  Trimmed it up, and then....

The border went on!!!!  [I must say, I'm loving my yellow cutting mat with my yellow chairs and yellow lemons....]  I think I'm going to do a knife-edge facing instead of regular binding.

So, what next??  Well, I've uploaded a free scripture pattern for you - sorry for the bad pic - 

I'm probably going to make it part of a larger quilt.  I've been thinking about making a couple of scripture quilts for awhile - I'd love to make one for each of my boys.  So, maybe not in redwork?  What color do you think I should do?  Navy, for one, but the other one's favorite color is a coppery orange...don't think that would show up too well, not to mention it might be hard to find it in fabric, lol.  Suggestions?

Oh, if you'd like to stitch this as well, the file is in my shop for free, here:

Allie-oops Designs

Well, mum just got back from rehab, so I guess I need to feed her...ah, she lost 2 more lbs, yay!  Wish I could stop finding them....

See ya soon!

Love,

Allie