A big finish!

My last Annie block is finished... April Annie. Isn't she sweet, all decked out for Easter, don't you just love the flower on her bonnet :) She has been on an egg hunt this morning with her new stuffed bunny friend. I don't know whether to laugh or cry now that all my Annies are done.

I have spent a lot of time with her this past year, she never fails to brighten my day and she doesn't even speak LOL!

On the other hand, I am super excited to sew all my blocks into a darling quilt. I have them all spread out on my cutting table, contemplating a setting for them.

I don't know about your neck of the woods, but we all enjoying a bit of spring fever here! Yesterday was in the 60's.... WHOOOHOOO! I had the back door open to enjoy a little fresh air for the 1st time in a long, long, time. Hubbies thoughts are turning to golf on the weekends now and I am thinking about doing a little spring cleaning and decorating. Notice I did say "thinking" LOL!

Speaking of decorating, would you just look at these adorable Polish pottery bunny jars, I would love a bunch of these.

Heading up to my sewing room, after I have this donut with the green sprinkles. Enjoy your weekend!

Some Bunny Cuteness for you!

What a weird week, fog, rain, sleet, snow, good grief it seems we've seen it all! I think we are all a little bit more than ready for Spring now. I spent most of this week writing instructions for my new pattern "Bow Tie Bunnies" and here they are in all their bunny cuteness :)

Fast and easy to make, don't you love the button accent on their bow ties? So many wonderful buttons and embellishments out there today, a girl could go crazy.

I also finished my new Annie design this week. Oh this little one makes me smile, my heart is bursting with the cuteness of April Annie LOL! Her bonnet... oh my, just wait :) Maybe I better settle down here before I bust a vessel, I am just having so much fun sewing. I'll be showing her off soon.

So what to do next. I have had this fabric sitting on my cutting board for about 2 months now. I totally love, love, love it! Maybe I'll play with this for awhile.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Vegas Baby!!

I had a nice change of pace this past weekend, a getaway from the snow and cold. Vegas baby! I was able to tag along with Hubby while he was there for a conference.

The weather did not disappoint, temps in the 60's allowed me to thaw out, so nice to walk around minus coat and scarves and boots! Our 1st night we visited the old downtown Vegas strip, I had never been to that part before and it did not disappoint.

Had to find my lucky slot machine... of course I picked one with a cat on it :) Was the kitty good to me? Well all I can say is I did not leave with a body guard LOL!

Lots of lights and glitter, everywhere you look, Vegas is fascinating for sure. I could just sit all

day in a cafe and people watch. Having the afternoons to myself I did do a lot of that. Our hotel was so big it took a good 20 minutes to get from our room to the front door. Busy, busy, no sign of recession there I'll tell you!

I was disappointed the hotels were not decked out for Valentines Day, they were still in the Chinese New Years theme, beautiful decorations but I really expected to see lots of hanging red hearts and Cupids. We did see a bride all fluffy in her pretty white dress though... so exciting :) We even had newly marrieds on our flight home, so cute. There were plenty of chocolate and Valentine goodies to be had in every shop though.


We enjoyed some really wonderful food, isn't this a feast for your eyes... dinner with my Valentine and new friends..... yummmmm!

Lickety split, my little adventure was over and here I am back in Kansas. A click of the red shoes and Vegas now seems a dream. That was just long enough for me to tell you the truth and there is no place like home for sure. I am excited to get back to business and catch up here.

My bunny runner is on it's way home to Mama, I have the binding all ready and waiting.

Blocks for a new quilt are lined up on my ironing board, bursting with ideas and sew excited!

No more snow!

Ok, I believe my last post said bring on the snow. What ever was I thinking!! It snowed and snowed here in Kansas, and much of the country besides. Even my little pumpkins in Dallas and Oklahoma City saw bunches of snow. Snow is fun when you're a kid, they sledded and made snowmen and enjoyed being snowed in :)

Cleo took this picture for you, her birds eye view out the back door. At least the sun was shining, but don't let that fool you. We had more days with minus zero temperatures this year than I can remember, it's been bitter bitter bitter cold, I feel like I live in Siberia.

So what do we do when we are snowed in. Well we hunker down and cook.... comfort food, pot roast, browned potatoes and cat toast!

And then there were the football play off games. Born and bred Pittsburgh girl that I am,

I had to cheer for my Steelers! BBQ ribs, Rolling Rock beer in keeping of the PA theme, loaded baked potatoes and beans. Are you getting hungry yet LOL ?

Even Cleo got in the spirit, here she is wearing her own Terrible Towel, she even has a gold dish for her food.

I made a Pittsburgh dish called "City Chicken", for one of the games, mashed potatoes and lots of gravy, YUMMY!! And after all that, my Steelers lost, but hey, it was all fun and a great Super Bowl!

When I was finally able to get out and about once more I had lots of Valentine errands to run. Since all my little Valentines live out of town I had to get the goodie boxes ready and mailed.

And remember that cute Spring fabric I showed you? Well I got my table runner all stitched up and mailed off to Brenda to work her quilting magic on it. This week I wrote up the pattern.....

The Bunnies are coming soon! YAY, you're gonna love them!

In blog hopping, my bloggy friend Cheryl "Miss Polka Dot" has been a busy, busy girl. She has whipped up bunches of goodies, I don't know where she finds all the time. She has pictures posted of my Reindeer and Snowmen runners, so fun, I just love her fabric choices :)

As for me, I best get hopping now, I have a very big weekend in store for me and best get packing a bag :)

Bring on the snow, I'm ready!

Brrrrr, it may be still winter and bitter cold, my project for this week however has a Spring theme to it. Last week when we had our little snow storm I sat snuggled up with Cleo and my lap top looking for fabric. I knew what I wanted, was just having a hard time finding it, and don't you just hate that! Kind of like when you have money burning a whole in your pocket and you go shopping and come home empty handed. I have a new runner design in my mind and now all I needed were the right fabrics. I'm really really picky about my fabric combinations, cause if I'm not happy with my choices I won't like the finished product and neither will you.

Well I spent a long time on line and this is what I finally came up with, which arrived in my mail box today and I'm so excited! I think I did good don't you? We are expecting winter storm #2 tomorrow, and I know I will be happy as a clam, I've got my fabric and a bag of chocolate, bring on that snow!

Christmas is finally out of here, all gone and tucked in to the basement for another year and

Valentines Day will be here before you know it. I heart this little holiday. The reds, pinks, glitter, sweet little cards, candy hearts and chocolate confections, whats not to love besides your sweeties.

I don't have many Valentine themed decorations though, how about you? So decorating for me is pretty easy, I have my sweet Valentine Muffy Bear and some vintage cards, and that's all I'm setting out. Because.... I have REALLY BIG plans for V day this year EEEKS.... More on that next month :)

Have a wonderful week, stay warm and happy!

An ABC weekend

Monday, Monday, the weekend flew by so fast and mine was nice, how was yours?

I had a sewing finish, which always makes you feel like something good was accomplished!

A is for the new "March Annie" block, now stitched and in pattern form. You can find her on my web site if interested. For those of you that like to know the floss colors I used, they are as follows: #989, #3051, #601, #839, #899, #778, #168, #435, #758, #937 and #817.

B is for Bunco! Saturday evening Jerry and I went to couples Bunco, twice a year we allow our Hubbies to join in on our girlie fun. Our host and hostess provided a smorgasbord of wonderful food. Add lots of laughter and some good conversation, a purrrfect little evening out!

As you can see by my score card I had lots of wins, most wins for the night... whooohooo. Nine dollars came home with me and 9 dollars with Hubby who had the last Bunco, we cleaned them out! I think I'll treat myself to a nice little lunch out this week... yum, I'm already thinking of where to go.

Sunday was a cold day here with our first snowfall, I finished taking all the ornaments off the tree. We sadly watched the Chiefs loose in the play offs. C is for chicken and comfort food needed after that sad loss. I made my boys one of their favorites: Vermont Chicken Pie. Here is the recipe if you would like to give it a whirl!

5 Tablespoons butter

1/3 Cup flour

3 Cups chicken stock

1/4 tsp each of white pepper and thyme

salt to taste

4 cups cooked chicken meat cut into bite sized pieces

3 tablespoons dry sherry

2 to 2-1/2 cup Bisquick

2/3 cup milk

Melt butter in a large pot, whisk in flour and cook over medium heat 5 minutes whisking constantly. Gradually add chicken stock...keep whisking! Simmer 20 minutes until gravy is thick stirring occasionally. Add pepper, thyme and salt. Add chicken and simmer until heated through. Stir in sherry, you can have a little sip if you'd like. Pour in to a 2 quart casserole.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Beat 2 cups Bisquick and milk, adding more Bisquick if necessary to make a manageable dough. Turn onto a floured board, need until smooth, about 30 seconds.

Roll out large enough to fully cover top of chicken in casserole. Cut to fit. Use scraps to make a design for top of crust. Bake until golden brown.. 10-12 minutes. Serves 4 to 6.

Our temps are hovering in the single digits, winter is here! A good time to stay locked inside with my sewing, snuggle with my kitty and stay warm, enjoy your week!

A Flash From The Past

Last week I received a very nice email from a customer who had purchased some of my patterns. Shari mentioned in her email she had made the "Calendar Cats" quilt from my book some time ago and has it hanging in her school library for all to enjoy. I asked if she would take a picture so I could see her finished project which she graciously took the time to do.

The quilt was from my first book with Leisure Arts which has been out of print for several years now. What fun this book was to do, totally influenced by the antics of a very young Cleo, I had a blast designing the blocks.

Shari's quilt brought back a flood of memories. I enjoyed seeing the fabric choices and my gosh it just makes me SMILE. I also love the fact that she has shared her darling quilt with her library, such a great idea don't you think! Thanks so much for sharing Shari, you really made my day, and Cleo's too :)