Swappy Goodness!

I love Swap-bot. It's a fun site where you sign up for swaps and you send and receive fun packages in the mail. Who doesn't love getting fun mail? This is what was waiting for me when I got home from work today:

The swap was a sewing supplies scavenger hunt. We were to send our partner something red, something black & white, something with polka-dots, something sharp and something in spring colors. As you can see - my partner did very well! She also added some cute snowman and penguin buttons, just for the heck of it. Here's what I sent to my partner:

I also added a little zippered coin purse I made with a couple strands of beads inside, just for fun.

I still need to send out my friendship quilt squares, my 10 random things and a handbag made from thrifted clothing. I'll post more pictures when they are ready to go.

25 things...

I was tagged on Facebook to write 25 random things about me. I decided to post it here too,


1. I sometimes feel like the only person from high school who is still in Cortland
2. I wish Amy and Ellen lived closer so we could get together more often
3. My Seester is my best friend
4. The death of my Dad in 2004 impacted me more than I let on
5. I hate to cry and it is very rare that I allow myself to
6. I miss my girls being small, but I love the young ladies they have grown up to be
7. I love to travel but don't get to do it often
8. I have a lead foot and I tend to tailgate people who aren't going fast enough for me
9. I worry about my Mom and wish she could find happiness
10. I could live on bread and pasta
11. I love animals and have 2 rescued dogs, 4 cats and a rabbit
12. I am a sucker for my daughter Taylor's big, blue eyes (see the rabbit in #11)
13. I am terrible at handling money and never balance the checking account
14. I pay way too many overdraft fees (see #13)
15. I want to live near the ocean someday - but not too far south. I still want all 4 seasons, I just don't want winter to last for 7 months! Cape Cod, maybe?
16. I went through a lot of losers before meeting my hubby. He is the sweetest man I know and he has been a great dad to my girls.
17. I hate housework and if I ever win the lottery the first thing I'll do is hire a full-time housekeeper
18. I want to go back to school, but I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up
19. I wish I could get up north to visit my family more often
20. I believe in ghosts
21. When I drive through wealthy neighborhoods I get jealous. Not that I'm destitute, I just want a 4000sf house (see #17) and a Lexus...
22. I spend way too much time online
23. I have the attention span of a gerbil and am easily distracted
24. I have a voracious sweet tooth. Why wasn't I born with a vegetable tooth??
25. I am very happy that so many people are on FB! Makes me think back to high school and all the great times I had.

Valentines Day

In honor of Valentines Day I redecorated my blog - whaddaya think?

A New Beginning...

I feel hopeful today.

Today we will see history - our first African-American President will be sworn in to the Oval Office. I am hopeful that he will be able to bring about a change in our country. Not only a solution to our economic crisis, but our social crisis. I am hopeful that he will help the youth of this nation to see that anything truly is possible, with hard work and determination.

Welcome, President Obama.

19 years..

I can't believe my daughter is 19 today. 19 years have passed, just like that. I have watched her grow from a chubby little baby into a beautiful, poised, intelligent, responsible young woman. Happy Birthday, Kenzie. I love you!

A whole weekend off

I managed to get the whole weekend off somehow. Woohoo! I'm planning on heading to Lowe's to find a better light fixture for my sewing room today. I bought one the other day and it just doesn't cut it. It's a 3 light halogen track light. Great for accent lighting, not so great for task lighting. *sigh* While I'm out, I think I'll stop in to the Salvation Army thrift store and see if there is any treasure waiting to be discovered there. I joke that my favorite fabric store is the Salvation Army. I love finding clothing to use in my bags and other crafty projects. When I get home I want to get started on the baby quilt I want to make, and I promised to make a zippered bag for a friend. I also bought 4 kinds of flannel to make some more PJ pants for DD and myself. Whew! Why am I still sitting here?!? I have a lot to do! Hopefully I will have pictures of my completed projects tp share by the end of the weekend.

Happy weekend!

My Grand-puppy!

AAwwwwww. Isn't he the sweetest little guy? He's a Carin Terrier. My daughter got him yesterday as a b-day gift from her BF. his name is Bourke (as in Dooney & Bourke - her favorite hangbags!)

First one!

Here it is! My first completed project of 2009. Actually, it's my first completed quilt EVER! My sister and I took a beginner quilting class and it has been sitting in my sewing room waiting to be finished. I'm pretty proud of it. I fell in love with the border fabric - I wish I had bought more! Here's a shot of it folded up so you can see the backing.


I mentioned my sewing room - would you like to see it? It's a mess...I don't know. Maybe I should clean it first...Oh, all right. Here it is...

This is the view from the door. The shelving unit and table were originally one piece that hung on the wall. My DH got it from a co-worker who had built it for his wife. The table was attached to the cabinet with a piano hinge and the leg is attached to the table with one too. The whole thing could close up into a 12" deep space. Pretty cool! When they built a bigger home she had a dedicated sewing room so she didn't need it anymore. Lucky me! I was using it as a wall unit in my old sewing room, but when my DD moved out I took over her bedroom and there isn't a wall I can use for hanging it so we took it apart!

I bought the mannequin and display rack from a store that was going out of buisness to use to display my bags at craft shows. Don't you just love my window shades? I wanted to do my room in red and teal and this fabric was perfect!! Did you notice my chandelier? I mentioned this used to be my DD's room. While it is very pretty, it's not very functional as sewing room lighting. There is only 1 60w bulb. That explains the work light clamped to the display rack. I also have a floor lamp, a table lamp and a desk lamp! Shopping for new lighting is high on my list of things to do!

This is my jewelry / beading area. The awesome sign hanging above my table was a gift I received in a swap a while back. Notice my pattern collection on the shelf above - I really need to find a way to organize them.

This is Ellie. I bought her on Ebay and I love her!! She's an older model, but she works great and had the needle up/down selector I wanted. My DH made me the extension table - isn't he great!?

All this talk about my sewing room has put me in the mood to sew. Maybe by the end of the weekend I will have an0ther finished project to show off. I'm working on the 2009 New Years Day Mystery Quilt from about.com. Here's the link if anyone is interested. http://quilting.about.com/od/quiltpatternsprojects/ss/2009_mystery.htm?nl=1

This quilt is a lot more difficult! I have never worked with such tiny pieces! I don't know how well it's going to turn out, but I'm determined to finish it! This is my progress so far.

I have a lot of work to do!!

Happy New Year

Here it is, the first day of 2009! I have always liked New Year's Day. Out with the old, in with the new. I have taken down the small tree upstairs and given the kitchen and dining area a good cleaning. Now I need to take a shower and get dressed (yes, I realize it's almost NOON) and maybe tackle the downstairs tree this afternoon. Why is it so fun to put up the holiday decorations and such a chore to take them down?

DH just headed for the store to get me the fixings for Reubens! Yumm! My family has a tradition that you have to eat sauerkraut on New Year's Day. They say the more 'kraut you eat, the more prosperous you will be in the new year. I think this is a PA Dutch thing? I called my older daughter, Mackenzie, to let her know I would be making Ruebens later and she said she will be over to have one with me! She and I are the only ones in the house who like them.

Well, off to shower and possibly finish taking down the Christmas decorations. I don't know though - my sewing room is calling to me and I have so many projects I want to complete. I have 2 quilt tops finished that need to be quilted, pj pants for my DD, Taylor, to be made, I want to make myself a new purse...the list goes on and on! The tree may have to wait until tomorrow...