Merry Christmas....

On tractor joe's side of the family, they do a name exchange. He drew his sister-in-law. She wanted a squirrel proof bird feeder like the one tractor joe has. He had bought it in Tennessee. 

Even though he had been back to Tennessee several times, he was never in the able to find that bird feeder again. 

So....

On our "Saturday before Christmas" shopping trip he found a squirrel proof feeder in the clearance section. 

WOW, what a deal!!

And he bought it...

Tractor joe spends a lot of time reading reviews on products before he buys anything.

He didn't read any on this feeder until we had it here at home.

One review had the information needed to make it a REALLY and TRULY squirrel proof.

Some were reassuring that this was a good feeder.

And some just cracked me up. 

That is when I decided to make a little book to go with the feeder. 

I dug out an old Bird and Bloom magazine, stickers, and used the actual packaging material from the bird feeder.

It was ripped and falling apart.

Those headless birds were really in my stash. Years ago my nephew had been making strange animals by mixing and matching heads with bodies. A normal person would have thrown headless birds away....but no, there they were, ready to use in this project!

Tractor joe thinks she will enjoy the bird feeder, even if it is nothing like his, and the book!

late start at school.....

Quick post before I leave for school. 

I put together one little bag last night. Things are wrong with it....

like the handles aren't positioned the same on each side...

and the other side of the handle should be facing out.

For a test run, this isn't bad though.

I put some candy in it and will give it to the teacher I work with.

Now, I have about 3 days before I need more done.

One of those days is a shopping day.

tick tick tick

time is running out.

The hardest blocks for me.....

Star Crossed blocks for BLOCK LOTTO

The rule for these blocks was simple,

pick ANY three fabrics that are light, medium and dark.

This paralyzed me for the longest time.

I started grouping fabric by threes, one of each....dark, medium and light. But nothing seemed right. It just looked like a big mess. 

So I put it all away and started over. I just grabbed a light and put it with something dark. 

Then, I went back to look for the cross part. I think I ended up with mostly mediums there.

Construction wise, these were pretty easy. I love the way they look and think who ever wins these will be so lucky! They will make such a cool quilt.

I started cutting and sewing fabric for teeny tiny gift bags. Big enough for a handful of candy and gift card. Or just candy. I was hoping I would have a few little bags done by this time. 

But no, not yet. They are based on (this sweet little bag pattern)

I will get back at them later.

zig zag, book and bag.....

I had two Christmas sewing projects to finish and I did.

The zig zag quilt got some binding.

It will be given to a toddler aged girl.

I thought she needed a book,

so I bought this one....

Then I thought she needed a book bag too. It had to be big enough to hold this book and the quilt.

I sewed left over strips from the quilt until they were gone.

Sort of like a mini jelly roll. Then I cut that into eight sections and sewed them back together.

It is a basic bag, no pattern.

The butterfly I had made earlier became a pocket. Everything fit just right!

I also finished Step 4 of Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street Mystery

No pictures.

My 30 year old Montgomery Ward sewing machine had new life breathed into it today.

It had started just whirring and going "zzzzzzzz" when I pushed the pedal.

Tractor joe took it apart and tightened the belt, then he oiled everything.

It is like a new machine.

I do have an inexpensive Brother, but I was not having very good luck piecing with it.

The fabric seemed to want to veer left and it had a hard time going over seams.

There are still Block Lotto blocks to be made and next weekend is our Christmas shopping weekend.

Yes, we cut it close, but it works for us.

easy street progress

The geese are getting made using the big square and four smaller squares so I get four at a time.

This goes pretty fast. I am up to 88 of them. Not bad.

I made a butterfly using this pattern or tutorial...

Free pieced butterfly 

Lynne at patcherymenagerie created it and is selling them.

It was nice having detailed step by step pictures and directions. I didn't have to think so much. I loved it. My plan is to use the butterfly as a pocket on a bag. I don't have a pattern for this bag. I am winging it as I go. It will be a Christmas present. 

Then there is this other ongoing project....

The latest Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt Easy Street.

All the four patches are step 1. 

The goal-----use what I have for the quilt. 

There was a large hunk of batik here, so I went with that.

I am not totally committed to these colors. 

But I did start cutting into the greens for step 2 and have a few done. 

So green will be in it, I am not turning back now.

I knew I would run out of the black and whites, but went with them anyway.

My Mom gave me birthday money, that is what I used to get more on Saturday. I have no picture of the green geese yet.

two finished quilts......

Jurassic Park came back from the quilters right before Thanksgiving. The timing was perfect. Crispy took this back to school with him. He didn't want to do this....

(taking a picture of him wrapped in it, but I endured all the complaining and got a picture to show how big it is)

All he wanted to do was this....

Hold it up to get a good shot of the whole thing. I thought I was being generous. He could have been hauling the ladder out of the shed and helping me pin it on to the wire on the other shed. 

But it was cold and I didn't want to be outside any longer than I had to.

For the longest time, Jacob (Crispy's friend) has been bugging me to make a Jaws quilt. I never got around to it. But, I saw him right before Thanksgiving.

The first thing he said was, "Did you get a Jaws quilt done?"

No.

The long weekend gave me time to think and dig and plan.

I found this fabric with hot babes on it. Yes! Every college boy wants hot babes.

He also wanted a sailboat and a shark.

This is what I came up with.....

He was more than willing to get a picture. I thought the shark was ugly. But he said that is what made him so awesome. So this went back to college with him.

The sailboat construction is based on this adorable quilt!

Jacob wanted the words, "we're gonna need a bigger boat!" they are stamped on with red craft paint using foam letters. 

real quick post.....

My cousin Max sent me these pictures today. They are mittens made from old sweaters by her cousin Brenda. She sent this link...

(youtube video for making mittens)

Now all I can think about is cutting up tractor joes old sweaters.

But, I have two quilts that need binding.

And the Bonnie Hunter mystery is starting.

So many things to do, where do I begin.

split stars....

I won split star blocks from Block Lotto! Four packages have arrived. I opened them and mixed them with mine. I am not sure how this quilt will end up. It could be like this, or not.

I haven't worked on this mini for a week now. It finishes at 8 1/2 by 11. 

I am hand quilting it to the backing. I thought I could handle it with something so small, and I was right. It does go rather quickly.

(when I take the time to sew on it)

sewing and weather extremes

I did 6 blocks for block lotto's mugs this month and it was so nice to use some of the small blocks that were sitting around. They were perfect for this. And it was so nice to be sewing today.

The trip to Duluth was great. My cousin had us stopping at thrift shops along the way.

There were a few things I couldn't pass up. I never left a shop empty handed. 

A clock that chimes in bird songs.

Christmas fabric scraps and cute snowman fabric.

The blue is 7 yards, great for backing.

Christmas sheet music for Christmas postcards, letter stickers and

a pattern book.

I bought the sweater to cut up and make mittens. I was told it was to nice to cut up, so I will wear it for awhile, then maybe cut it up.

On Saturday, we drove up the north shore, on Lake Superior. It was above freezing, barely. There was a wonderful Nor'easter blowing across the lake along with rain. The waves were massive. We sat and watched them like fireworks. Ahhing and ooohing as they crashed ashore.

For as miserable as it was, we enjoyed out little adventure. 

It was also the anniversary of Edmund Fitzgerald sinking.

I look like I should be doing weather for the Weather Channel.

What surprised us the most was seeing surfers out there.

Holy cow.

While we were here enjoying the weather...

Down in Iowa, tractor joe and my brother-in-law Jon were having their own fun. They went pheasant hunting. It was sunny and warm. No coat needed warm. 

I never did ask if they got any birds.

Did everyone have a great day?...

sewing.....

I started sewing small cherrywood scraps. This measures about 5 1/2 by 10. I think I will make it  a mug-rug. I don't do angles very easily. Things work better in my brain if they are squared up and perpendicular. 

I should have put the next thing up sooner.

Here at vesuviusmama.blogspot

Erin is making donation quilts for people who have been devastated by Hurricane Sandy.

She has a nice tutorial for making these blocks. I wasn't that crazy about the colors here...or maybe it is just the lack of contrast in the two of them.

Oh well, they are on their way to her!

 I am hoping that with all the other blocks she receives, they will fit right in. The quilts will be wonderful and full of scrappiness.

Depending on the weather, I am headed to Duluth this weekend. Some reports have freezing rain on Friday and snow on Saturday. Some reports say only cloudy skies.

halloween things.....

I made some postcards. I had enough pumpkins cut for 6 of them.

When I was addressing them I found one wasn't even glued yet.

Then I ran out of stamps. So only 4 went out. I am not even sure they made it before Halloween.

On the bright side, I have 2 cards for next year.

My brother-in-law. He makes the BEST costumes. He has done so many super hero costumes over the years. He is so talented!

My niece, Madison is crazy over legos. So he made her a Lego costume. They both got first place for costumes at work and school. He looks so real!

I would feel so safe walking down the street with him. 

Unless we ran into a bug or spider. He doesn't like bugs. He would be off running until the bug was gone.

I carved one pumpkin, just in case some trick-or-treaters came by. We are too far off the beaten path. Besides, I had given kids candy at school, and that left some for me!

local quilt show.....

On Friday evening, I helped set up for the quilt show. It took a couple hours.

Then Saturday afternoon, we took it all down.

They say there were 97 quilts.

None of mine were there.

I just took pictures of quilts I liked.

It sounds like it will happen again next year.

It goes along with the Fall Festival that the Community Club puts on.

Karen and I have a new goal.

We want to do Bonnie Hunter's Mystery

I think it starts right around the US Thanksgiving

...and have them hanging up next year.

It seems like such an easy thing right now, after all, next years show

is a WHOLE year away.

No sweat.

Bonnie's fabric choices are here.

the charmander cake.....

Charmander is a baby fire lizard. He belongs with all the other Pokemon characters.

His tail has flames. I printed out a coloring page, then made it a little bigger.

I cut him out and drew around him to get him on the cake

I piled a bunch of candles at the end of his tail.

Then lit all the candles.

I thought the flames were plenty big 

the frosting was melting

and we needed to blow them out!

But, Crsipy says

"No wait, take my picture!"

Oh yah, birthday boy with his cake!

He was able to get them out and we all had a piece of cake!

nothing finished yet.....

We lost electricity this morning. It gave me a chance to take pictures of what isn't getting done around here. I ran out of pure white thread. Haven't gone shopping to buy more yet.

I was just inches from the edge of the Zig-zag doll quilt.

With the lights out, I could have worked on some hand stitching.

But no, I didn't, this little mini quilt is still sitting there. 

I went out to pull dead flowers and put things inside the shed for the winter. 

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

So, the other night, I was texting with Crispy.

He will be here for his birthday in a few weeks and he sent me a picture....

He wants his birthday cake decorated like this one.

I answered...oh, you want a peekachoo cake! 

and started thinking about cake decorating.

lost in my own little world

then...

I hear the chiming sound from my phone...

another text from Crispy!

Hmmmm..... 

Why, I think he was yelling at me.

This is what Pikachu looks like...

And this is what Charmander looks like....

You can see why I might be confused with the two of them.

Now I need to find all my cake decorating stuff, so I can make my

(soon to be 19 year old)

a fire breathing Charmander cake.