placemats

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I Think I Got It!

I didn’t expect to take so long to show you some more options on my DQS10 quilt, but I wasnt expecting to have a forest fire a quarter of a mile from my house for the last few days!!  There was lots and lots of smoke around, ashes falling in the yard and fire department trucks everywhere, but most of the fires are out now and everyone is safe!
Our Volunteer Fire Department is AMAZING!!!
So for my DQS10 quilt…..I got to play with it this morning and finish off the binding.
This is the option I think I am liking, which several people suggested.
It is not ironed on and stitched down yet.
This quilt was inspired by the book “Whimsyland” by Liz & Beth Hawkins.  I tried to put a few of my own touches on it.
Thank you so much for all your comments and ideas!! I really appreciated them!  Let me know what you think of this before I iron it down.
I also got a UFO finished this week…..
Remember back in one of my late December posts I told you about all these little projects I needed to finish?  This is the second of three place mats made from random blocks I had leftover from various projects.  Two down and one to go!
Hope you all have an awesome weekend!
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Busy Days

I’ve been busy with all sorts of things the last week or so.
I made another sea glass ring for a special order.
Joined the Flower Bed Crochet Along!
Set a record for how many people I can fit to my dining room table.
Had an awesome week of agility training, and a day of trials.  Trixi, my potcake, finished one of her titles….YAY!
Made a placemat as a gift for our agility judge.
Looking ahead I have a few shows coming up and lots of new ideas in my head!

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Creative Project #15 ~ Eat Your Veggies

 Today started out as a hectic day, taking one dog and one cat to the vet, and ended with dog agility class.  So my creative time was limited.  The dog if fine….the kitty has a grade 3 heart murmur 😦
I managed to squeeze in some sewing machine time, and finished this placemat which was the idea of my cousin, Tara, for her husband.
It also included a cow with a special message……
Tara loved it…..
I tried to make it as masculine as I possibly could.
See you tomorrow with Creative Project #16!
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Creative Project #14 ~ Live ~ Love ~ Laugh

Happy Valentines Day!!!!!
I am halfway through my Creative Challenge for February and having a BALL! 
The project I am revealing today has actually taken a few days to complete, just because I always have a million different projects going on all in one day.
Making beads, sewing, quilting, sketching ideas, entertaining my furry children, creating jewelry, cooking, dog agility…..I could go on and on…..I get bored working on the same thing all day long.
I have a busy life, but LOVE every moment of it.  Through all the busyness we all need to do more of this everyday is……..
This placemat has been sketched out for months and sitting next to my sewing machine.  I finally decided to make it on Friday.  After I got it made, the common quote *live ~ love ~ laugh* popped into my head and I set out to make the other two placemats.
*Love* was second.
*Live* was third.
Yes, I did it completely backwards from the saying!
I love how they are the same but different.  I love the  funky-scrappy style they have.
It is a simple quote, but one of my favorites.
So let’s all set out this week to LIVE MORE, LOVE MORE & LAUGH MORE!
Have a fantastic week!



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Creative Project #2 for February

This post makes my 90th post!!!  If I keep up this marathon blogging, in no time I will be on my 100th post!!!  That day I will do a giveaway for my followers.
Today I worked on a few different projects.  I have some orders from the show for my journal covers, so I started a few of those today.  One of the orders is for a design different than any I have done….here is a sneak peek…..
I also worked on a project that has been at the back of my mind for a while now.  Inspired by these two books……
*Whimsyland* & *Greetings from TucsaDelphia* by Liz and Beth Hawkins.
The designs in this book are full of fun and whimsy and that is top on my list when making something.  After looking in these books, when I received them several months ago, I wanted to make some place mats.
So today *Vegan Blvd.* was created!
I love scooters and if the traffic here was decent I would drive one.
Tonight is pizza night, so in between sewing projects I have made some vegan sausage for the pizza and have the dough rising.
I am looking forward to dinner and using my new placemat!
Happy Creating….until tomorrow 🙂

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Off to a Good Start!

In just the first week of the year I have gotten some projects finished!!  One of my UFO’s is finished, one is on its way but may take a while, and I wouldnt be a creative soul if I didnt start two new ones……which I have finished!!
This is a place mat I made out of one of those house blocks.
I am calling this one “bird and bug house”.  I love the scarppy-ness of this!
I am acquiring quite a collection of place mats which go along with my mismatched collection of plates.  For those of you that do not know, I collect odd dinner plates.  It looks so cool when we have a big dinner party and everyone has a different plate.  I’ll start working on some pictures of my plate collection and blog about that one day soon.
One of the new projects I started last Monday is a crocheted tissue box cover.  I have had this pattern saved in my favorites forever and finally got to it.
You can find the pattern for this here on the Royal Sisters blog.  Scroll down and you will find the button for the tutorial on the right side.
Everyone needs a pretty cover for those hideous tissue boxes!
I just adore crocheted flowers and found this pattern the other day and, of course, just had to try it out especially since I have a few unfinished scarfs that will need some type of embellishment.
I wish I could provide the link to this pattern, but I saved the PDF pattern to my hard drive and did not save the website to my favorites. 
Remember that blue and green granny square that I was crocheting into a pillow cover?  I got the granny square done for the front and started doing a panel for the back.  I decided to do a single crochet panel with stripes for the back and it is taking F.O.R.E.V.E.R.!!!
I will be pleased with it when it is finished, but it may have been quicker to make another granny square for the back.

So there is my update on my resolution to get some projects FINISHED!
Have a great weekend!!

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My Final Three Packages

So sorry I didn’t post yesterday, but we are having horrible power outages here.  Even though we have a generator to run the house, the internet company does not have a generator at their plant so when the power goes out I have no internet.  I spent the day making jewelry and hanging out by the pool……..aaahhhh so relaxing!
Here is another package I received in the mail on Friday……
This package came from Calamity Kim and it was for the placemat swap.  Kim and I decided to do two placemats for each other, and she also sent me some tea that is just divine, a bagel spreader with a hummingbird handle, and sweet little handmade card and a Mary Jane’s Farm magazine.  I LOVE this magazine.  One of the articles in this magazine is one getting your first goat…..perfect!!!  I am still working on getting my chickens, but the goat is on the list also!
Here is a close-up of the placemats……
Bright and pretty batiks with a tropical applique.  They will be perfect for out in the cabana……
Thanks so much for the great package Kim!  Go and check out Kim’s blog.  She does some awesome work and works in more mediums than I do….if you can believe that!
I also got in the mail a 3.5″ block for one of the flickr groups I am in with the BBQ/Picnic theme, from Ruthiequilts.
How cool is this block?  And the detail with the embroidered mustard and ketchup!  Awesome Ruthie!  I sent out my sunshine blocks last week, and they should be getting to my partners this week.  This will be a fun collection of blocks when I get them all.
My final package was a African Flower crochet square.
This is a Raverly group I am in where I send out these blocks and receive them from others.  Only thing is this one came with no name on the envelope, so I need to do some searching to figure out who it came from to thank them!
Hope these posts have inspired some of you to join some swaps!
Have a great week!