Motivated, not!

Ok, ok, I have not fallen off the face of the Earth, it just feels like it. My little sewing buddy has started to show her age.
Look this way...

Yes, you, silly!  She turned 19 (Yikes! ~ That's 92 in people years!) on February 9 and we've had her into the vet many times in the past few weeks.  I love this cat! Needless to say, I did not take the diagnosis of terminal kidney disease lightly. Waahhhh!!! She's on medication for blood pressure, potassium supplements, steroids, appetite stimulants, etc.
The sad thing is when you look at her, she looks pretty good. It's just a constant battle to get her to eat. When the toxins build up in the blood too much we have to take her into the vet to get subcutaneous fluids injected under the scruff of her neck. It takes a bit to be absorbed so she looks all lumpy until that happens.  I suspect on our visit tomorrow I will be instructed on how to do this at home. Not looking forward to that!
My daughter's now 23 and Cinabella has been a part of her life since she was 4 years old. I know all this is not a 'cure' but simply will buy us a bit of time anywhere from a couple of weeks to a year according to our vet.
Anyway, I've  been spending my time reading rather than sewing. For some reason I find reading more distracting.
I have done a tiny bit of shopping trying to get back in the sewing groove...

Two spools of thread at Wal-mart (had to do something while waiting for the cat's prescription. I liked the admonition for her to not drive or operate machinery while taking the drug! and yes, they knew it was for a cat!)
And lookie at this good deal,

One of my LQSs was selling their scraps for $2.00/pound. And you got to go through the scraps to choose.

I think I got a nice variety.

All for 80 cents! Can you believe it? I've been participating in swaps and collecting swaps to make a quilt made up of 2.5 inch squares. Mary over at her blog runs swaps for this a few times a year.
Here's my collection so far,

That's it for now! Thanks for stopping by.
I plan on participating in the Quilting Gallery blog hop in early March so be sure to some back for that.
Happy sewing~

Resolution Number One

A wee bit late, but heartfelt just the same, Happy New Year! Yikes I have been busy working on  my New Year Resolutions, yes, actually!  I am a terrible procrastinator, something I really dislike about myself so I thought I'd really try and do something about that this year. For th past several years both my daughter and I would put stuff in the dining room to sell on eBay "soon".  That pile grew and grew until it just got out of hand.

It wasn't quite so bad as this, but it was pretty bad, so that is where I have been: listing stuff on eBay, Craigslist, selling textbooks to Amazon, and driving to Goodwill and 13 days into the new year the Christmas tree is still up and the worst part is I have done zero sewing!
I found a large stack of quilting books under all my mess and thought I'd list them here cheap for anyone interested.  First person to leave a comment/pay for the book will be the new owner. Remember I need a way to get in touch with you so be sure to leave your email if you need to. They are all in excellent condition: no writing, torn pages, and no one smokes here.  I will send you an invoice and once I figure out postage will ship them off via Media Mail to you. [Info for each book is below each picture].

1.  96 pages, softcover, $5.00 plus shipping.

2.  112 pages, softcover, $5.00 plus shipping.

3.  144 pages, softcover, $5.00 plus shipping.

4.  80 pages with quilt projects and cookie recipes!, softcover, $5.00 plus shipping.

5. 223 pages, softcover, $6.00 plus shipping.

6.  96 pages, softcover, $5.00 plus shipping.

7.  63 pages, softcover, $5.00 plus shipping.

8.  63 pages, this has a few projects but includes mostly decorating with little quilts. More pics below, hardcover, $4.00 plus shipping.  SOLD

Thanks for looking~

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas 

Wishing you and your loved ones and safe and happy holiday season!

Block Progress

Here's the latest Farmer's Wife blocks.  I was following along a fellow quilter's blog but decided to become a renegade after measurements for a number of blocks were wrong! I hate that. So anyway, I've been going through my quilt books digging up six inch blocks to make.

A few pics of my favorites, I don't think anyone wants to see each block!

This brings my total up to 75, only 25 to go and I can start putting them together.
I found this video on youTube and I found it fascinating. I've always wondered how quilting fabric was made! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

No Strings Attached

I've been asked to review Build Your Best Log Cabin, an ebook available from Fons and Porter's Love of Quilting. Yippee! I think Log Cabin blocks are one of my very favorite blocks, I mean, who doesn't like them! They are so simple to make particularly with regard to fabric selection: just choose a stack of lights and a stack of darks and you are ready to go.

Build Your Best Log Cabin offers plenty of inspiration and clear instructions for the beginner as well as the seasoned quilter. The ebook is illustrated with plenty of photos, projects, and layout ideas. The book offers three styles of blocks to make:  Traditional, Courthouse Steps, or Chevron. And this was my favorite part, measurements for the strips you need for each style block are contained in neat little easy-to-follow charts. Also, the measurements are given to make five different size blocks from 4.5 inches up to 13.5 inches.  I made the mistake once in making a log cabin quilt of not cutting the strips out first, I just lopped off the ends as I sewed the block. Of course, all my blocks ended up being different sizes. That was a hard lesson in preciseness matters in quilting.

Also included are two handy bonuses at the end: How to Add Piping, and Better Binding techniques.

Build Your Best Log Cabin is available for downloading for free here.  It's an excellent ebook, so be sure to take a look at it.

Thanks for stopping by~

                           Hope you have a wonderful day with family and friends.