My Blog has Moved

I am posting to let everyone know that they can know read my new blog at FabricMom.com. I have been keeping up with two sites for some time. With my hubbies help I have down sized to one. I hope everyone can find their way there. My new site is still in the construction stage so please be patient.

Geocaching Christmas Ornament

My husband has a hobby. It is called geocaching. Well I should say that geocaching has become a family hobby. My hubby describes it as, "Using multi million dollar government satellites to find Tupperware in the woods." It has grown on me. Except for the hiking with ticks. I'm not a fan of that.

He has a secret Santa partner that he has to get something for. He got him a gift and wanted to send an ornament too. We searched at 5 different stores and couldn't find any hiking or woods themed ornaments that you could give to a geocacher. It was rather frustrating. I can't remember if it was my husbands idea or mine to try to make an ornament. I was very hesitant about it. I wasn't sure I would be able to make it as nice as it should be. I went to the geocaching website and printed out their logo. I sat down with a pen and practiced drawing it out.

Now on to the actual making of it.
I used 100% cotton material. I cut 2 squares measuring 3 3/4 inches. I ironed a fusible stabilizer onto the wrong side of one of the squares. On the other square I used permanent fabric markers in pastel colors for the squares. They are washable and don't have to be heat set. It just has to dry for 24hrs. Then came the hard part. I drew the geocaching design on the colored squares. It is copyrighted. We thought that sense I am not selling these and only made two as gifts that it would be OK. No money was exchanged or made in the making of these. The original geocaching logo doesn't have black lines around the squares. I added that myself because the fabric markers I used bled a little bit. So the black line cleaned it up. I decided to use green ribbon for the hanger. It turned out pretty well. The finished size ended up being 3 1/2 inches square. I made one for my hubby. Every year we buy ornaments for each other and the children.

More Nine Patch Christmas Ornaments

I made a total of 15 nine patch ornaments in the last 24 hrs. They are going to be giving out as Christmas presents. I can't decide which one I like the best. My son Joshua picked out one with cats on it for himself. He hung it on the tree as soon as I was done.

These nine patch ornaments were so much fun to make. This is definitely a good project if you like instant gratification. Which I love. Aren't they just cute. I used ribbon for the hanger. The squares to make the nine patch are 1 1/2 inches each. This would be a great beginner project. You can make them as big or as small as you would like. These ornaments are 3 1/2 inches finished. I know in my last post I said I was going to show pictures with instructions. I just couldn't stop myself from making them. Finally I figured that 15 might be enough.

Easy Nine Patch Christmas Ornament

I have been looking online for things to make for Christmas presents. I found quite a few patterns for place mats, coasters, purses, quilts, and other crafty things using fabric. I found a coaster that I want to make using a shoo fly block. It ends up being 5 inches. I was starring at the pattern and thought, "Hey, this is a good idea for Christmas ornaments too". So I brain stormed for a little bit and this is what I came up with. An Easy Nine Patch Christmas Ornament.


I wanted to use an easy design. So I decide to make the first one using a nine patch pattern. I opened up my scrap drawer and found the pretty pink batik butterfly fabric. I have used this in quilts and other things. I love the fabric and unfortunately don't have any more of it. Then I came across the sage green fabric with pink rose buds on it. If you know me you know that I love fabric with roses on it no matter what color. (Butterflies too). I thought they looked rather cute together.

I cut the fabric into 1 1/2 inch squares. I cut a complimentary fabric in a 1 1/2 inch strip to use for the border of the block. The finished square ended up being 4 1/2 inches. I used a green blender for the back. I did use some low loft batting in the middle. I sewed it together using the pillow case method. I'm not sure if that is what it is called. That is what I call it. I used a cream colored ribbon for the string. It took me a total of about 15 minutes to complete this ornament.

I thought the next one I would make would be with out a border and stuffed with fiber fill to make it look like a pillow and sew the ribbon in at the corner.

When I make the next few I will take pictures as I go that way other people can see how it was made. I have the thank Bonnie for the idea. She does that on her site when giving out instructions. So I guess that is all for now. I hope you enjoy this easy nine patch Christmas ornament.

Our House from the Inside

I know that everyone who lives far away wants to see the inside of our house. So far I have only shared what the outside looks like. So here we go.

Here are two pictures from the door ways of the bathroom and hallway of our bedroom. It is a very spacious room. The quilt on the bed is one that I made for us. I used the Autumn Tints pattern for it.
This is out breakfast nook. We don't have a table for that area yet. The door way goes into the laundry room/sewing room. As you can see my ironing board is all set up. It is sad to say that it gets used 99% of the time to iron fabric.
This is a look at our kitchen from the breakfast nook. We have tons of cabinet space. Which I love. I have a ton of things to hide in them. LOL.
There is Josh playing with cars on the living room floor. This picture is taken from the foyer.
This is a look at the living room from the dining room.
This is our lovely dining room. You are looking at it from the kitchen.
This is looking at it from the living room. We love having a designated place to eat meals. In our old house we didn't have a formal dining room and living room. We love the extra space.
This is our den looking out of the kitchen.
This is looking at the den from the hallway by the bathroom. It is exciting to have a mantle to hang our stockings from. I went ahead and hung the babies stocking up too. Tyler wanted to have the Christmas tree in here so that we could open presents by the fire place. It looks rather good. The door by the Christmas tree goes out to our backyard onto the deck.
This is a picture of my sewing area. I made the curtain the other day. The wall hangings are from friends I have made online.

I didn't include pictures of the boys rooms because they need to clean them. I didn't feel up to that task especially sense I didn't make the mess. I am sure you can understand that. I hope you all like the pictures.

We had a house warming party this past Saturday. It was a big success. We had a great time. Most of our dear friends were able to make it. Most of our family lives out of town. Tim's brother Greg and his family were able to attend because they live only a few miles down the road from us. Emily looked like a doll in her pink velor dress. Unfortunately I didn't get to take a picture of her. Maybe I can get Mary to take one and post it later. God Bless.

3rd post this month.....Holy cow

Okay so I have decided that I am going to try to post more often. I have been visiting tons of fellow bloggers sites and have been inspired to do better.

Here are a few great sites I found this week. Pine Ridge Quilter, ChookyBlue, Melly&Me. Just to name a few. I had to organize my book marks to get them all in one spot. It is inspiring to me to see what other people are accomplishing. There are some great, skilled quilter's and crafters out there.

Sense we moved into our new home I haven't had much time for sewing. Yesterday I sewed for a long time. My neck and shoulder are screaming at me today for it. I took a long break from sewing while moving and unpacking.

I have a ton of UFO's that I want to work on. So I got out some blocks for a gingerbread man swap I was in. It took a few hours but I was able to complete the top. It didn't turn out perfect but then again nothing seems perfect. It will hand beautifully on mu wall this holiday season.

I also finished a table topper that I am giving away as a Christmas present. I finished to sashing on the top and quilted it yesterday. It turned out pretty and was very easy to make. I used this pattern from quilter's cache. I have to give credit were it is due. Thank you to Marcia Hohn and all the hard work she has put into her site and the free patterns.

I have some Amish BOM that I got from some fabulous ladies at 3 Sister's Cyber Quilting. I was in the swap all this year. If you haven't been over there you should check it out. Louise is a doll and has a great site going. Any who. I want to get that top put together in the next week. I pulled out some Kona black and some bright colors to use in the sashing. My wheels are a turning. LOL. Well I will close for now. God Bless.

Happy Holidays...

I thought I should post before November is over. We are finally getting settled into our new house. Everything that can be unpacked has been. The garage is a mess of course. It is a project all by itself. It will probably take a whole weekend just to sort through everything in there. I am sure that we will have plenty of stuff for a huge yard sale some spring.

The weather was pretty warm until the day before Thanksgiving. We went from 70 to the 40's over night. It was nice to have cold weather for the holiday. It just doesn't seem right if it is warm during Thanksgiving and Christmas. This from a girl who grew up in Florida where is was almost always warm during the holidays. We have lived in Alabama for a long time now and are used to the colder weather and look forward to it. It has been raining off and on for the last week. The natives are restless because they can't play outside.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Tim's brother Greg and his family came over to eat with us. Mary made a delicious turkey and a pecan pie to die for. She always makes things that taste great. I had it easy. I had to make a few things but nothing too hard. It was nice to spend time with family. Our niece Emily spent the night with us. On Friday we went shopping a little bit. We had 3 kids with us so we took turns running into stores to get what we wanted. It went pretty well. When we got home we got out the Christmas decorations and tree. We put the tree up. (It is fake.) It is pre-lit so we don't have to put lights on it. I love it. It makes decorating so much easier. I let the kids do most of the decorating. Tim helped with the top of the tree and I filled in the holes at the end. It was fun. I had to take a picture of the youngins once they were done.

I am looking forward to Christmas and a new year. It will bring wonderful things for our family. We are all very excited about having a baby. I have to thank God every day for the many blessings that have come our way.

Fall is here.....

Hey gang,
Wow it has been a long month. I have been with out a computer for about 5 days. We moved into our house this past weekend. And as careful as we tried to be when packing and labeling boxes we didn't label the box with all of the computer cables in it. It took a few days to find it. I was going through with drawls.
It was a long weekend. It took two days to get everything moved over to the new house. Now it seems like it will take forever to put things in their new homes. We love our new house. It is so much bigger. We love having another bathroom. It makes life so much easier.

Oh by the way happy belated Halloween. We had a good time. We had a few kids come while we were home. Josh was Spongebob this year.

Let's see.....oh yeah...I am Pregnant......We found out almost two weeks ago. So baby number 3 will make its entrance into our world at the end of May. We are very excited and shocked. We thought for sure that we were done with two boys. I am hoping for a girl. It would be nice but of course I will love it just as much if it is a boy. I know what to do with boys. Girls are new territory for me.

My uncle made it home safe and sound from Iraq. Yeah. Thank God for answering our prayers.

Say one more prayer for us. On October 7th my Uncle Vinny who lived in Charlotte, NC was killed at work. A disgruntled employee came in and shot the assistant manager and then my uncle. He died an hour later at the hospital. It is a huge shock. I went for the funeral and was amazed at how many people came from all over to pay their respects. My uncle was 36, married, and has left behind 3 young children. So just pray for Sally and the kids please.

God Bless all my online friends and family who take the time to read my blabbering.

It's October already......Where did the year go?

This is one of the blocks I have made recently. I belong to a quilting group online and this block was made for the example of a swap we are having next year. It is the churn dash using 30's material and muslin. It will be a fun swap.

I haven't had much time to sew lately. I have been busy shuttling the kids around to soccer practice and games. I also go to church two nights a week and a writing group. I didn't think I would be this pooped. Now I am trying to pack during the day too. I did some packing today. 20 days until we close on the house. My stomach is in knots everyday. Thank God I am on meds for anxiety. If not I would literally be a walking panic attack. We are excited to finally be owning our own house. It scares the heck out of me. It is a huge step. Something we have never done before. It is unfamiliar and adds a whole new level of stress. Yikes. Hopefully once we get settled in everything we be ok and I can relax a little.

Say A prayer for my uncle. He is still in Iraq. He is supposed to come home this month. I am praying hard everyday. His family is surely ready to see him again.

God Bless you all.

Soccer Practice....

Help my shoe came off!!!!

Here are a few pictures from soccer practice last night. He did very well. He was very well behaved. YEAH...Unlike another kid on the team. Josh wanted to go to soccer practice again today. Can't chat much.......Always tons of things to do.

Updates and Quilts

This is the long awaited square in a square quilt I have been making for my sister in-law Mary and Greg. I love this pattern and the way the colors pop. Mary picked out the fabric. I hope they are happy with it. It is a king sized quilt. I started it about a year ago and then got a job so it got put off for a while. Now That I haven't been working I was able to finish it.




This is Rachel's quilt. The bottom picture is the one I gave her after she was born. Now she has out grown it. So Laura sent it to me and I took it apart and made it bigger. This was a big task. But I think it turned out well. Next time I will make a new one. I wasn't prepare for the task of taking apart a quilt. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. The end result was well worth it. Hopefully this will last her a few more years and then I can make her a new one.



My hubby made it home from California ok. He has a great time. He brought home over 900 pictures to share. He took some awesome pictures. I wish I could of went.

Josh starts soccer practice today. He is four. This is his first sport. He is very excited. Tyler's first practice is Friday. So it hit me last night that the only evenings I will have time to sit back and relax are Tuesday and Saturday. Monday and Friday we have soccer practice. Wednesday and Sunday we have church. Thursday I have writing class. Whew. I think I'll manage though. I am going to take a few pictures tonight of soccer practice. Hopefully I can post them tomorrow.

Have a great day and GOD BLESS.

Well hello again......

So how is life for everyone? Anything new an exciting going on? I can't believe it has been so long sense my last post.

I want to start off on a positive note. I am alive and have a wonderful family. God has truly blessed us. I can think of times when my back was turned away from God and wonder how I made it through those times. Temptation is right in our faces everyday. Everyday is a struggle to do the right thing and stay focused on the bigger picture. I just gave a friend some advice on her blog. God never gives us more than we can handle. I have to try to remind myself of this everyday. I have a good life. I wonder sometimes why I have been blessed so much. Do we deserve the blessings bestowed upon us. I pray that we never take our life for granite. Yet I also worry about it all being taken away from us in an instant. Okay so now I am starting to ramble.

My honey is in California right now on a business trip. He is so awesome at his job and eager to learn all the latest technology out there. He loves his job.

We can't wait for him to come home. He has been gone 4 days. The first few days were okay but now we are ready to have him back in our lives. One good thing is that I have been able to cook easy and fast meals with minimal clean up. LOL. I like to cook...I hate the clean up. Usually I have tons of dishes to do afterwards. Tyler is good for unloading the dishwasher. He hasn't quite learned Mommy's art of cramming as much in there as possible. It drives me a little crazy to think that more could of been put in there. Makes me feel like I am wasting water or something. I know I am crazy. LOL. I obsess over weird things.

Tyler is back to school. This is his Third week It seems to be going okay so far. Ok I do have a gripe about our school. Why do they think that people are loaded down with money. In the first three weeks we have been hit with paying for a gym uniform, a school shirt, magazine sales, and pictures. What is next? You think they would be smart enough to space it out. They would probably get more money that way. For one school shirt and a gym outfit (Which are requirements) it was $30.00. The school sent home the form for pictures yesterday. They are taking them today. And you have to pay up front before you even get to see a proof. I don't think so. The smallest package is $13.00 you get a 5x7 and some wallets. Whatever!!! I told Tyler I will take him and have his picture made. It is just ridiculous. Ok was I ranting and raving a little too much!!!!

My sewing machines are waiting to be repaired. Yes two. Neither one of them like me enough for me to fix them. I tried. I probably made them worse. I haven't sewed in a week until last night. I got out my antique machine. It was a gift from Judy(hubby's momma) years ago. I haven't used it sense I got a new machine 4 years ago. I crossed my fingers and gave her a try. She is sewing like I never quit using her. I was so excited. I am working on some Halloween quilt blocks for a swap. I have two quilts waiting for binding. A t-shirt quilt to make. A queen sized quilt for a dear friend. Her hubby made me a driftwood lamp. Also my best friend wants me to make a quilt for her mom using the grandkids clothes and fabric they pick out. My hubby wants one too. The list goes on and on.

My garden is ok. I had to take out some plants. It was over grown. I planted things too close together. Amateur error. This is my first try. I put some coffee grounds in there. Big mistake. I think hubby told me to do that. I had a ton of things start to dye because of it. Won't try that again.

Well God Bless you all. Until we meet again......Hugs and Kisses.( XOXOXOXO)

My Boy and My Garden......

Hello everyone....

My oldest son, Tyler, got baptized at church on Sunday. It was a wonderful day. I am so pleased he made this decision and all on his own. Sonny Owens is our preacher. We go to Eastwood Church of Christ in Florence, ALabama. It is a great church and now our family.

My garden has gotten huge. I planted tons of things. So far we have tomatoes and watermelons growing. I think I planted the watermelons too close to the cantaloupes. They have taking over. So far no cantaloupe blooms have produced fruit. My hot and green peppers are getting ready to produce. My cauliflower has been over run by the watermelons too. Next year I will know better.

So who has started making or buying Christmas presents yet? Sad isn't it. It will be here before we know it.

Have a great day.....

FIVE THINGS.......

Ok Quilting Mommy here you go.......

Five Things to Do Before I Die:
1. Have my own quilt store.
2. Watch my children have children and see what kind of parents they will be.
3. Learn everything possible about my hubby and what makes him tick.
4. Travel across the USA in an RV with my hubby visiting different historical locations and quilt shops of course.
5. Travel to Europe.

Five Things I Can Do:
1. Sew
2. Cook
3. Love unconditionally
4. Love GOD
5. Make people laugh

Five Things I Cannot Do . . . Yet...
1. Lose weight
2. Read or watch sentimental things with out crying.
3. Hand quilt
4. Have an argument with out getting defenseive
5. Stop buying fabric

Five Things That Make My Hubby Attractive to me:
1. He is HOT....
2. He is caring, smart, and funny.
3. He doesn't stay mad at me long.
4. He has a way of getting me to open up.
5. He believes in God and the great good of man kind.

Five Celebrity Crushes:

1. Jesus...He counts....
2. Matthew McConnahey
3. Ben Stiller.... he is so funny
4. Luke Wilson
5. Winnie the Pooh

Sewing Away......

Joshua & Emily eating cereal and being cute for the camera.

Joshua wearing a dirt bike helmet and weilding an axe. He thought he was too cool.

My precious lady. She looks so happy, LOL.

This is a wall hanging I received last month from a friend through a swap. It is lovely.

I am mailing this wall hanging off today to a friend in a swap. The idea was anything goes for July. They encouraged us to us fabric other than cotton.

This quilt is for my dear friend Amy and her family. We met through church. They are moving in 2 weeks to go to Mississippi. They are moving to Nathan's home town. He will be a preacher at his home church. They are wonderful people with very big caring and helping hearts. I am sure the Lord has great things in store for them. We will sorely miss them here in Alabama.

The quilt pattern is the friendship star. I made it with Batiks. Amy was an interior designer. So I knew she would love all the color. It is a lap sized quilt for them to snuggle up on the couch in. It is exactly as wide as the entertainment center which is on the wall behind us. LOL.

I have been busy sewing. I gave Amy this quilt Sunday. We had a going away get together after the evening service. It was fun. It has been raining all week. We needed it so bad. We are at least half way back to normal as far as the amount of rain we need. We have been in a bad drought. My garden has gone crazy. I have watermelons that have come up in the last few days. This morning I found little green tomatoes on the plants. Yeah. I can't wait to eat this stuff. I called my hubby at work right away to share my excitement. I will post a picture of the garden soon. Well I gotta run. I just wanted to get caught up on my blog and share some pictures. God Bless.