Giving Thanks

Since my husband has retired, and my girls have grown up and moved away I have found that the holidays look a lot different than they used to.  Some years we go have our Thanksgiving somewhere else, some years we have different selections of family members, and this year it will mostly be just the two of us.  It doesn't make me any less thankful, but sometimes it does make me a little less busy!

I'm looking forward to the smell of roasting turkey, and a day of relaxing.  Plus I can sneak off to the sewing room with no guilt!

Sunday we had a big church Thanksgiving dinner - boy was that a lot of fun (and work...), it was potluck style and very much enjoyed by our church family!  So much food!

It was fun seeing the pictures pop up on facebook!  We are going to miss doing our Christmas Tea for the ladies in December this year, so it was great to do something for our church family.  

That pretty much wiped me out for the day, so I was glad that I got a lot of sewing time in on Saturday!  

 First of all I found my cutting table!  It's nice to have the whole thing clear for cutting borders!  My twin Twinkle Star quilts both got their borders sewn on.

 And I got the backings prepared and got both of these quilt basted.  Then I basted my log cabin challenge for Island Batik.  While I was on a roll I decided to baste my Savannah quilt (made in a class with Karla Alexander a year or so ago!)

 Now my pin cup is empty!  I guess it's time to do some quilting now.  I guess that means I need to get my sewing table cleared off too.  Maybe by the end of 2018 I'll manage to get the horizontal surfaces cleared off in my sewing room?  We'll have to see about that!  I'm just thankful I have a room to mess up.  So many have lost their homes and loved ones in the fires in California.  Hopefully, we'll have some rain soon. 

What are you most thankful for this week?  I am thankful for all of you who encourage me and make me feel like what I do is valued, it means a lot!  Thank you!

Pamela

p.s.  I hear that my Barn Quilt design will be available soon!  Stay tuned!

Linky Tuesday

A lovely day for Sewing

Ah, yesterday was a lovely day for sewing!

I was even able to enjoy having my window open for some fresh air.  Since all my alteration work was done for the week, I spent the day working on a few projects and doing some tidying up.  

I found the missing fabric for the inner border and binding on my Savannah quilt!  Woohoo!  I've been wanting to get this top finished so I can quit shuffling it around my sewing room, and I'll add the borders to it this afternoon.  

I also got this top done, thanks to the help of my Instagram friends!  Since my husbands not much into quilt design I am glad I have a community of people to call on when I need a second opinion.  It looks much better now that I have removed the piece that wasn't working.  This is made using the same Island Batik Coastal Mist Stack I used for my modern quilt earlier this week.  

I'm also working on the sample for Threads That Bind's row for the Row By Row Experience this summer.  It's super cute, but I'm gong to wait on showing you that one until the shop is ready to show it off.  

That's about it for now!  I'm linking up with Myra of Busy Hands Quilts, I've missed a couple weeks and am glad to get back into the routine!

Finished or Not Friday, Furry Friday and a Little fun, too!

I had a bit of a busy day today - first of all, it was Bunco day.  We had a fun St Patrick themed game, and I got four Buncos, making me the winner!

I got to wear the funny headband for lunch afterward, too!  I don't look very happy, do I?

Then I spent the afternoon working on zippers - yuck, but I only have 3 to go now and I'll be ready for the fittings on Tuesday.  When I got that done, I rewarded myself by working on finishing my Savannah top. 

I finally decided on the layout and sewed all my blocks together!

So now I just have to add the borders.  I'm supposed to have an inner border fabric, but don't remember what I picked!  I will dig through my stash tomorrow and see what I can find.  At this point I'm ready to just get it together.  I have some other projects I want to work on now, so it will be good to have this off my design wall finally - close enough to a finish for me at this point!  I am linking up with Busy Hands Quilts for Finished or Not Friday!

Today's another Furry Friday for the Island Batik Ambassadors.  This weeks pets are Tigress and Crysta.

Tigress is a very loving, very sweet tri-color Tabby. She follows you all around trying to get your attention and love!  Isn't she a beautiful girl?

Crysta is a beautiful 8-year-old shepherd mix can be a bit shy at first, but warms up quickly. Crysta is a calm, friendly girl who likes to go for walks and to be petted and loved on. Meet her at the Humane Society of Missouri in St. Louis!

Hopefully we can help these two sweet pets find good homes soon!  This is our second Furry Friday. Each Friday for the next six weeks, we will share pictures of shelter pets that need a home. Now they may not be in your area, however, if you are looking for a pet, you can go to the Petfinder.com page, put in your area code plus what type of pet you want and you will find a listing of all the pets needing homes in or near your area.

Here are the Island Batik Ambassadors who are hosting Furry Fridays this week:

Desert Bloom Quilting

Freemotion by the River

Seams Like a Dream

Yellow Cat Quilt Designs

Not everyone can adopt a pet, but if you would like to help you can make a kennel quilt and donate it.   The Quilt Pattern Magazine will be hosting an online kennel quilting weekend March 18th-19th. Click here for more info!  A great way to spend Worldwide Quilting Day!

Have a wonderful day, whatever you do, and hopefully it involves working on a quilt!