flea market finds

flea market finds, originally uploaded by chickenfoot.

the hubby has been telling me about a flea market in wilmot wis. for a few months. this morning we finally went. unfortunately it was so chilly, only a few sellers were there. i did find the big wooden shoe for $3 and the little cheese box for $5. it was still early so we popped in to the local antique mall. i found the sweet pair of red clogs with green paint on them. i couldnt pass up the adorable mushroom with the elf and the three frogs. i might sell one or two of the frogs tho. it was a really good day for thrifting

milk glass

i added a couple vases to my milk glass collection this week. i love thrifting!

im in a book!!!

eeeee, this has been such a happy mail week. on monday i received my advance copy of the book that i made a little doll quilt for. cathy gaubert put the book together along with our fabulous editor amanda carestio (that also has a quilt included). this was a dream come true to have something i made, published in a book, and i couldnt have been luckier having the uber talented cathy be the one to put it together. the book isnt out until november but you can pre-order on amazon, if youre so inclined....;o/

Bloggers' Quilt Uberfest

Good morning everyone. i know im up bright and early but i wanted to post this right away. (ok, truth be told im still sleeping and i did this in advance, but hey, if i hadnt told you, you wouldnt have known, so :oP). im next on the list of bloggers in the quilt uberfest. this has been so much fun to see what great blocks everyone has come up with.  if you dont know what the heck im talking about head over to scotts blog. he has all the details. basically tho, we all designed blocks that are made up of log cabins and hst's. the pdf's for everyone's blocks are on their individual blogs, but scott has the list of participants so you can see at a glance where the blog tour is at on any given day.
Scott sent us each a selection of beautiful fabrics from nell whatmore's line, Sleeping beauty, such gorgeous fall colors. it really wasnt hard to come up with something when i had these luscious fabrics in my grubby little hands. i named my block cabin in the woods.....heres my very first pdf! hope you enjoy making it. please join us in the flickr group if you are making any or all of the blocks and show off your creations.
the next blogger is the lovely jan. go see what she has in store for you tomorrow!
i just wanted to say a quick thank you to scott for including me in this bloggy tour. i learned a few new things (puter-wise) that i dont think i would have, if not for the blogfest. *mwah*

Mute Monday

christmas prezzies

um, have you seen this?? its from designsponge. my cyber buddy needledfig (amy) pinned this and i had to click thru right away. this idea is stinking fabulous! i thought of something similar for recipe cards but i like the idea of a perpetual calendar so much more. if you are a woman and related to me, be expecting one of these for christmas!! altho i think i am going to spend the next few months looking for different containers to put them in. something more sturdy that will last for years.

Old typewriters and we have a winner!!

i finally picked a winner for the giveaway. shesh im slow. does anyone know how to include the random number generator pic in your blog? if so, could you let me know??? the rng picked number 8, lollydo!! congrats. could you email me your addy so i can send your package out?
on another note, my cyber twin leila and i found out we both love using old typewriters, so we are including typewritten recipes in our latest swap.
does anyone else out there like to use old machines? im in love with all things vintage, but there is just something about old machinery. they just dont make things as pretty as they used to. the pic in this post is of my lovely mercury royal. i believe it was made the same year i was born (1967). shes not super pretty but she types like a dream. before i go, be sure and check out this fun blog, Strikethru

help a girl out

i have outlined and cut most of my applecores from the two charm packs of happy camper i have. unfortunately,my math was way off and i think i need another 6! packs to make  decent sized quilt (and by decent i mean lappish). i had a hard time finding any dimensions for applecore quilts online, so if anyone knows of any,i would love for you to tell me. meanwhile i am on a hunt for more happy camper charm packs. if you have 1, 2 or even more you are willing to swap (sell) please let me know too

you say tomato i say tomato. who says tomahto?

last year i started a new collection after seeing a jar full of tomato pincushions in a magazine somewhere. i loved that pic. i dont have a ton, but i have enough to call it a collection. see that teensy one there? thats my fave.
what do you collect?

toast and jam

i finally finished my bitties for august...only 3 weeks after the sending date. sigh. i was hoping to make them look like bonne maman jars. i guess the lid does but the jar, not so much. i guess its not a literal interpretation ;0/
have you had any finishes today? next up is the final two blocks in the fresh modern bee 2.
i am taking a break from swaps/bees for fall (with the exception of the scrappy pincushion swap4, because its quick). i need to do some sewing for the family before the holidays

my two favorite things

i adore the tv show psych. my family owns all 5 seasons on dvd. we rewatch them all the time. a friend on twitter just told me the show is even funnier if you watch it with subtitles. oddly enough, its true!
my other favorite thing is starbucks frappucchinos. i cant start my day without one.
what are your two favorite things?

followers schmollowers

i have a request from my bleeps (bloggy peeps) cute name, no? i figure if twitter peeps can be tweeps, bloggy peeps can be bleeps! remember you heard it here first!! ok.ok. my request is for followers. i have a goal of doubling my followers over the weekend. i started at 75 friday evening. i am hoping to to reach 150 followers by dinner time mon. will you help me? please follow my blog. i will be doing a giveaway as a thank you. i am not sure what yet, but i do work at a quilt shop....it will definitely include a pincushion. the pic is of two unfilled pincushions i have recently made. it wouldnt necessarily be one of these but it will be adorable, i promise. if you have become a follower this weekend, just leave a comment saying so.
tanky!

civil war bitties

i finally got my civil war bitties put together. i will be doing a cream thin border then the blue that i used for the cornerstones as a bigger outer border. unless anyone has any better ideas??? thoughts on quilting this thing? without the borders its 10 x13.5", with them it will be 14.25" x 17.5". the blocks are 3" finished, and i out 1/2" finished sashing on

progress: log cabin block swap

i realized i hadnt been putting up my log cabins as they came in. shame on me. here they are all together. i have 52 blocks from 3 months of swaps. crazy, huh??
i think in my head i was imagining a 15x17 layout. not sure if it will get that big or not. i was kind of hoping to have it to cuddle under this winter...
thanks go out to scott, julie, lish, marilyn, colleen, leila and lori. please tell me if i forgot anyone. i will try to remember to add links next time im on a puter.
if you would like to join in our madness, we swap monthly at block swap on flickr.

36 log cabins

a few months back a bunch of flickr folks decided they loved wee log cabins. loved them so much in fact we decided to have a group for swapping them. each month we sign up, and make 3 cabinnies, as we like to call them, for each person participating. last month i was naughty and didnt get mine out before the end of the month. so i had to make double this month...36! these will be going out this week. cute, no? oh! they are 3.5" in case your wondering.

im so embarrassed

a friend on twitter threw down a challenge last tuesday to show our messy sewing rooms. i said mine was the worst. she contended hers was. we both have chaos undoubtedly!!! i am so embarrassed to show this pic, but maybe it will make me clean up again.
this leads me to the question....are you a messy sewist or a tidy one? do you make messes and then have to do a major clean up? if you are a messy sewist, does it hinder your creativity to be surrounded by mess or does it encourage the process?
i am messy and i know it hinders me.when it is clean and everything put in its place i feel renewed and want to sew up a storm. when its cluttered, i feel claustrophobic and dont even want to be in there.
do tell, and if you are daring enough....show us pix!

jaquelines album quilt BOM

jaquelines album quilt BOM, originally uploaded by chickenfoot.

when i saw these quilts blocks hanging in the classroom at pieceful gathering a couple weeks ago i knew i had to take the BOM class. the blocks arent the usual size. they are a petite 9". i am a bit overwhelmed by it all, but i think im up for the challenge. there is a gorgeous border too but its not on the board. wish me luck! oh and i picked up some 3" english paper piecing triangles too. a hand project to work on this fall, as i have organized a hiking and handsewing morning every week (no we wont be doing both at the same time sillys)

winnings from fat quarter shop for #talknt on twitter

winnings from fat quarter shop for #talknt on twitter, originally uploaded by chickenfoot.

im one of those twitter people. i really enjoy twitter because a lot of the people i know from other social media are on there so its a way of extending my ability to "visit" with them. one of my favorite things on twitter is tweetchats. every tuesday @caraquilts hosts #talknt (talkin tuesday). we get together and answer questions and pretty much just yak our heads off. conversations can be so fast its hard to keep up. super fun. one of the perks of the evening is that cara pulls a name to win a prize. see those 4!!! charm packs there? i won them this week. the fat quarter shop was the sponsor. and oh my i had such a hard time choosing. in the end, i had to check out the new batik charms and etchings by 3 sisters. come join the fun. tuesdays from 8-10. just use the hashtag talknt .

fabric junkie

went to joanns today. sigh. since we moved away from vernon hills i havent gone to the "big" crafty joanns too much. when the first line of d.s. came out i wasted so much gas looking for it. i promised myself i wouldnt do that again. sigh. i have stayed out of the d.s. group on flickr for the most part just because it would give me the 'i wants" badly. and the money just isnt there for frivalous purchases (did i just call fabric buying frivalous?) i went today hoping to be able to just find a couple of the big florals. those are the ones i really love.
i was really impressed with the hand of the other three, non d.s. prints. supple!

my new girl

my new girl, originally uploaded by chickenfoot.

i am so excited. last month i had to sell my featherweight because to be honest we really needed the money more than i needed a featherweight. i was sad to see my girl go, especially since we hadnt been together long.
recently tho, i had the opportunity to replace her, at a much lower cost with this green beauty. if you know me, you know i heart this green color.
i am just tickled to have her, but i think she needs a little visit to the shop for some cleaning and oiling to make her purr like a kitten..
what do you think of vintage sewing machines? do you love them like i do, or are you a lover of new fangled and schparkly??

dqs10

wowsers. i really suck at this blogging thing, eh? just popping in to say dqs10 is under way. partners just went out over the holiday weekend and everyone is feverishly stalking their partners.
have you heard about the sewing summit? i would really really like to go but i dont know if its monetarily in the cards....but i have a few months to see if i can save up some. its not until october. im thinking if i save enough money by april 1, that still gives me time to get a hotel room. if not, it wasnt meant to be. but i would so love to meet so many of my online quilty friends.