Trick or Treat!

Since the recipient (Suzanne at http://myrestlesshands.blogspot.com/) has received it, I can now share what I made for the SBEBB Halloween exchange. This was a cute kit from The Sweetheart Tree titled "Trick or Treat". I made it into a flatfold with some Halloween fabric I had on hand and made matching cording out of DMC. I really think I'll stitch another one for myself - it was a fun stitch! :)

Now I'm working on my Autumn Exchange which is due to be mailed by Nov 1st. Busy busy busy!

Look what wonderful things I received!

Yesterday I received this lovely package in the mail all the way from Lima, Peru. Carla stitched this treat bag for me as part of the SBEBB Halloween exchange. Isn't it great? I love the colors in it and she did a fantastic job of putting it all together. And no, that's not all! I received a beautiful cut of Silkweaver's linen, 4 pretty packs of ribbons in Halloween colors, yummy chocolates, some cute Halloween decorations to put on my mantle, and a new pattern from Blue Ribbon Designs called "Halloween Story Sampler". I am just thrilled with everything. Thank you so much Carla! I will so enjoy displaying this in my house. My friends at work are jealous. :)

Peddling as fast as I can!

That's what I feel like lately, trying to meet all my deadlines for this month. I did finish off my Halloween exchange piece and am waiting for the recipient to get it before I can post a picture of it. I hope she likes it! I got it mailed the day before the deadline at least.

This past weekend I made 6 mesh project bags for some quilting friends. Our little quilting group is hosting an autumn luncheon for another small quilting group we met at a retreat this year and we wanted to give them each something. We are filling the bags with fun things and quilting notions. I think they turned out nice - I have materials all set aside to make several for myself as I want to store all my WIPs in them. These are fun and easy to make if you don't mind a little sewing. The pattern is "Zip It!" from Nancy Ota. They sell these in my LNS but they are $25 each which is not unreasonable but I can make my own for about $4 apiece. These were hard to photo as the camera picks up all the light going through the mesh. But you get the idea. :)

Last night I started on my Autumn themed stitching exchange. It is due out by Nov 1 and I STILL have not started the pre-stitching for my Merry Cox class on Nov 9!! I hope to get started on it this week. I can't believe I left it until now but didn't think I'd be that busy in October. Lesson learned!

I had a nice birthday last week. DH bought me flowers and a new flat-panel TV for my sewing room. I had an older one in there so we gave that away and the new one is really nice. I mostly watch movies and they look great on it. DH is enjoying his new job that he started last week and finally has gone and purchased himself a new big-screen TV that he has wanted for years. Men and their electronics! We actually have 7 TV's in our house - it really is crazy in my opinion but I guess he thinks the same about my stash! I finally bought a pair of the Gingher "Julia" scissors on eBay which I'd been wanting. I am still looking for "Amanda". That will conclude the out-of-production ones that I can afford - some of the older ones are far more than I want to spend on them.

I hope all of you are enjoying fall activities. Pumpkins stands are all over and so much cute stuff in the stores for Halloween - it is hard not to go crazy buying more stuff to store!

Can’t believe it's October already! I’ve been doing more quilting lately. I finished Chapter 1 of our book quilt last night. We are a group of 9 ladies reading the book “Like Water For Chocolate” by Laura Esquivel and doing a story quilt from the book. Each chapter in the book will have a section of the quilt that relates to it. Sometimes it’s the name of the block that expresses something in the story, or it may be pictoral or symbolic. Each member of our group will design a chapter in the book.

The story takes place in turn of the century Mexico. It is a short love story about a girl named Tita and her family. Tita loves to cook and throughout the book her emotions are magically transported into the food she prepares for her family. (and at times affecting them when they eat it) In Chapter 1 we introduce the main characters. The block labeled #1 will be repeated in various places throughout the quilt to provide unity. The main character, a young girl names Tita, crochets to ease her mind when she is troubled. The interlocking pattern of fabric represents her crocheting. Block #2 represents domineering mother Mama Elena in the story – hence the arrow patterns pointing inward and outward from the center. Mama Elena treats her daughter Tita rather like poor Cinderella. Tita does most of the cooking for the family and her life has little freedom. Tita is closest to the family housekeeper named Nacha. Nacha has taught Tita how to cook and gives her the motherly love she doesn't get from Mama Elena. In block #3 we have 3 matching patchwork squares that represent Mama Elena’s 3 daughters – Tita (the youngest), Gertrudis, and Rosaura. Mama Elena rules the house with an iron fist – she informs her youngest daughter Tita that she must honor a traditional Mexican custom that the youngest daughter may not marry, but must stay home to take care of her mother. In those days you never went against your parents wishes, so Tita is understandably heartbroken as she and a young man named Pedro are in love. Block #4 is called “Solitude” and represents Tita’s loneliness and despair that she can never marry Pedro and have a family of her own. I did this block in blue to represent Tita’s mood. Block #5 represents Pedro, and the name of this block is “Bachelor’s Puzzle”. Note that the Bachelor’s Puzzle block ironically forms a ring! This is very fitting for Pedro who is in anguish that he cannot marry Tita. Block #6 has an appliqued heart to represent the love that Tita and Pedro share. I also added in some embroidery to this section as I want to include small blocks of embroidery work in my quilt. My friend had actually designed a small block here with some tears appliqued on it to represent crying but I wanted to do embroidery instead so I made a substition.

Tonite my group meets again and we will receive our assignment for Chapter 2 of the quilt. I’ll have a month before our next meeting to sew up that section and add it to the chapter 1 section. My own chapter that I will design won't be due until sometime next year as I have chapter 9.

I visited my LNS on Saturday and had fun catching up with all the new things. I finished paying for my Merry Cox class in November and picked up some linen, fibers and several Halloween patterns. Most of what I bought is pictured below. I cannot resist cute Halloween stuff! I also jotted down a few more patterns the store was out of stock on to add to my wish list. I want to go in this month and do an order because I’ll get my birthday discount - hooray!! I had 2 Loose Feathers sitting at the shop waiting for me to pick up as I hadn’t been to the shop in awhile. I am so far behind in stitching my Loose Feathers it’s just pitiful. Well, maybe someday! Last night I started my Halloween exchange for the SBEBB board – yes I’m late starting! It’s due to be mailed by Oct 10 so I have to go full speed ahead to get it stitched and finished on time. Luckily my DH is going fishing this weekend so I will be able to stitch all weekend mostly. :)



Also, I’ve “met” another local stitcher named Teejay online. Teejay has organized a meeting place for us this Sunday to meet and stitch. It will be fun to meet you in person Teejay! We’re trying to get a group of Phoenix stitchers together so if any of you live in our metro area and want to join us let me know!

Thanks for stopping by and I do appreciate the time taken to leave comments or emails. I hope everyone has a tremendous autumn - this is my favorite time of year although it doesn't get too "autumnal" in Phoenix until winter time.