Pretzel Bites,Sunflower Butter & Squishie mail too!

Have you ever thought about making your own Pretzel Bites?
NO?  Well I have,but never found a recipe that I
wanted to try.  That is until yesterday evening!
This evening instead of heading down the hall to sew I
stayed in the kitchen and whipped up these (photo above).

Mine turned out flatish on the bottom,and baked more on
the bottom.  The top is supposed to get golden brown,however
since my oven and I have a love/hate relationship that did not
happen.  (see right side of photo)  So half way through the
recommended baking time I turned over the Pretzels on the
second cookie sheet.  (left side of photo) so they look
more like bagel bites.  They taste great tho!
You can find the recipe at lifesblessons blog 

Are you one of those people who do Not like Peanut Butter?
It just so happens that I am.  Usually I make my own
Almond Butter,but a while back Karen from Oh My
Gluten Free Goodness,and (Sew Much 2 Luv) posted a
Recipe  for Sunflower Butter.  I have been wanting to give it a
try.
So I did.  Let me just say that I really like it A Lot!  I  just
happened to have a bag of roasted,salted sunflower seeds in
the pantry that I used instead of roasting my own.  So I
cheated a little bit,but who cares anyway,right?
Let me tell you that if you make either Almond or
sunflower butter yourself,as opposed to buying it at the store,
the savings are Huge!

Squishie Mail!
Yesterday I received 3 packages in the mail,Oh happy day :)
This Sweet little snowman block is my last one from the
Christmas Block Swap I participated in.
I Love it!  Mr. P loved the cute and yummy goodies that
came with it ;)

The second package is my twill measuring tape trim.  I
took advantage of the discounts during the After Christmas
Sew Along,for these little trims.  Not sure what they will be
going on yet,but I will think of something :)

My third package was from the Zipit shop
also on etsy.  They were another sponsor
that offered a discount!  So I now have 25
pretty new zippers.  The cool thing is that
I also received a sweet lil zipper pull for free!

That's all Ive got.  Hope you all have a
super weekend!
I am off to dig into those Pretzel bites,and some
Sunflower Butter too ;0)

Sent & received Quilt blocks

The November block for my first partner.  This is the first block
that I have designed myself!
I am calling it Christmas Puzzle.

My November block received from the partner I made the block
pictured above for.
I Love all the Geese,and the snowflakes too :)

This is the block that I made for my second partner for November.
However she FM me the day before I was going to send it out to
say that she would like a block made up of red and green/traditional
Christmas colors.
So glad that I hadn't sent this out yet!!!

So I decided that since it fits in with my color scheme,this will be my
block to me :)

Fair Day

Today was the craft fair! 
Thank Goodness I decided to load up all my things
yesterday evening after work.  Why you ask?
Well we woke up to about 5 inches of snow this morning!
It snowed most of the day too.

This is the left side of my little booth at the fair.  Mr. P
is such a sweet guy,he packed everything in for me :)

The right side of my booth.
Sorry about the quality of the photos,but I took
them with my phone.

We had a very successful day at the fair!  YaY!!!
Although some of the things that I thought would
sell well,didn't sell,or sold poorly.
Some of the things I didn't think would sell well did!

Go figure!  It just goes to show you never can tell
what will and what will not sell well.
Which is why you need to have a variety of items!

This is a little barbed wire tree that another one of the
vendors at the fair was selling.  They had all different sizes,
some were decorated,some were not.
The ones that were decorated cost an extra five dollars.
I just had to have one,but I will decorate it myself :)

Sorry,I was just to lazy tired to do that this evening.
When we had packed up and were on the way home I
noticed that the outside temp was around 16 degrees!
At 4:30 in the afternoon,mind you!
Hope it is warmer where you are :)

Friday Mr. P had the deer inside assembling them.  Midas was
so curious :)  However,every time I tried to snap a good picture of
him he would move at the last second.  He is very good for doing
that!  Sooner or later tho I will be quicker than he is :)

Last up is the Christmas Block I received from one of my partners
for this month.

I Love all the Geese :)
Have a great Sunday!!

Yay,squishie mail!

First up is this Super Cool Zip bag and a smaller snap pouch
too!
Isn't this awesome fabric?  I love how Melissa at sewbittersweetdesigns
combined all this different fabric to make this zip bag :)

This is the other side of the zip bag.  I really love how you could
have either side be the front side,as they are both equally beautiful.
Even tho this side has more green,I love both sides and can not
pick a favorite! 
So I guess the whole bag is my favorite :)

The little snap pouch has 3 different spaces for cards,such as
credit cards,or loyalty cards.  Melissa added decorative stitching
on the edge of each slot.  She used a pearl snap too!

I signed up for her Pay ~ It ~ Forward a while back ago and had
forgotten about it!
I on the other hand will probably not be able to get to my Pay ~ It ~ Forward
until after the first of the new year when things slow down :(
However I will get to it!

This is my second squishie that was in the box today!
It is my second block for October from the Christmas Block
Swap/Exchange that I joined here  Come join the party!

I am so happy with this block,I just love how the geese draw
your eye into the center of the block!  Also this will go nicely
with the other blocks as the colors in the other blocks are
also blue,silver and white.  :)

This is the first block that I sent out this month.  my partner
received it today,so I can now show it off here :)
She wanted traditional Christmas colors and,she also requested
this specific block pattern.

Swap blocks

Today I received some more blocks from my swaps!
The first one is from my Christmas Block swap.

I am loving it a whole lot :)  The light blue around the outside is
a winter scene with snow.

Thank you partner I am super happy with the block you made
for me :)

Also received a couple more owl blocks today! 
I am really really happy with how these blocks are turning out :)
They are all so adorable!

This quilt is going to be very hard to part with.

These are some blocks I was trying out from a pattern that I
purchased this past weekend,while in the city.
The smaller ones were made using scraps,and the larger ones
were made from 2 1/2 inch wide strips.

I see a quilt from this pattern in the future!

Christmas &Sew Bee Blissful Blocks!

Today was a great day for mail!  There were 3 different
packages in my box.  Each one of them containing swap
quilt blocks!

First up is my Christmas Block  for September!
My favorite color is green,which this wonky star has
quite a bit of.
It is not something that I would have made
for myself.  Because I have not ever made a star block yet.
(need to try that one of these days)
I really like it tho!
Thank you Partner :)

Next up are blocks for my Sew Bee Blissful block bee.
Sorry the photos are not very good,I was trying to take them
outside on my deck.  The wind came up and so I had to
snap them quickly before it blew them away!

I requested 2 blocks for my month,a signature block,and if my bee mates
wanted to and had enough fabric another 6.5 scrappy block,also for
the back of the quilt.

For my "little"extra I requested a goodie recipe for the up coming
Holidays!
So in the future I will be posting about these as I try them out :)
These blocks are so adorable!  Love how other people put
the fabrics together.
This is going to be a super cute quilt.

This week has been such a crazy busy one.  With inventory
at work.  Which meant working 7 hours and then going home for
about 3 hours and then back to work for another 4 hours.
I am so glad that it only comes once a year!

Sewing was out of the question for most of the week.  As I usually
do that in the evening after dinner.
So this evening I had to get in a tiny bit of sewing.  Didn't do much
because I am tired.
However I did make a potholder :)

This is the back/bottom.  I added a loop for hanging in one of
the corners.
This was so easy peasy,I got it right the first time!
I found the inspiration for this project here.

Gil (my son) recently asked me to make him a quilt!  I am so
excited about that :)
So I will be playing around with some trying out some blocks
and then sending him some pictures to see what he likes.
This is the first one,it is a 9 patch but isn't exactly square.
I made the blocks 2 1/2 x 3 1/4

Hope everyone has a sweet weekend :)

First October Christmas block received!

Isn't this a awesome quilt block?
Yep,I thought sew too!
Thinking that this one is going to get framed and hung above
my sewing table.  That way I can admire it every time I sit
down to sew :)

My partner got me to a T!
Mr. P enjoyed the gummy candy that was included :)

On another note I only made a handful of yoyo's last
evening :(  Which is why I generally craft/sew in my sewing
room instead of in the living room.  But sometimes I have to "come
out of my cave" as Mr. P calls it.  LOL!

Owlie blocks & Sneak peaks

This is one of the test blocks that I made for my month
in the Sew Bee Blissful  Quilting Bee.

Here is the second one.  They are quite fun to make.  I sent
out all the fabric last week,so far 5 of 11 peeps have received
their fabric!
I am on pins & needles!  Can hardly wait to see the Awesome
blocks that are in progress this month :)

If you would like to make some up for yourself go here
for the tutorial.

This is Sneak Peak # 1 for one of my Christmas Block Swap
partners for October!

Sneak Peak # 2 for my second partner this month!
Hope they like what they see :)

Fabric cut & ornaments finished

Second ornament all finished and ready to go with the Christmas
block! 
This one is a dark wine/burgundy-ish color,with
a gold scroll like design on it.
I topped it with a resin Santa.

Here is the first one that I posted about last night.
This one is silver with red and green dots scattered here and
there.
I topped it with a green bow and red leaves.

After dinner I took on the seemingly daunting task of making a
decision on what fabric to cut and get ready to ship out to my
bee mates for my blocks next month.
I am glad to say that the task has been finished!
Whew!
Now I just have to quit freaking out about whether or not I
included enough fabric.

Happy Friday to everyone tomorrow :)

Just call me Dumplin!

I have been wanting to make one of these little "Dumpling"
bag/pouches for a while.
This evening I finally found the time :)
This was super easy and fast to sew!
I will definitely be making a whole lot more of these cute lil
zip pouches!
I added 2 pretty pink buttons on this one,I didn't have any ribbon
small enough to use on the zipper pull,so that will have to be added
later.

Another item on my to make list,this is the second luggage tag that
I made last night.  It turned out better than the first one,below.

Here is my first try at a luggage tag.
It wasn't bad,but not quite the finished size I was wanting.
This one will be going to live with my daughter soon.
So Sweetie,act surprised when you get it!  Wink,Wink ;)

This is my work in progress for the day.
It will be going to one of my Christmas Block
Swap partners for September!  Hopefully
tomorrow I will be able to get one more at least
this close to being finished.
As both blocks are now completed and I want to have
them both shipped by the weekend.

Tomorrow evening I have to get busy and make a decision
on exactly what fabric to send out to my bee mates for my
blocks.  Then it needs to be cut,put into envelopes and
shipped out by no later than Monday!

Christmas Geese block reveal ~ ect.

Finally got this shipped out to Melissa a couple of days ago.
She received it today,and is very pleased :)  YaY!
Hope I do this well with all the other blocks in the swap/exchange!
I am so happy with how this block turned out,so have already
cut the fabric for 2 more which will be used to make a table runner.

 

If you are a follower you know that I was involved in Stashtactular
for the month of August.  It was such a blast,that I hope we do
it again next summer!
Anyway I won the Grand Prize which was a $25 gift card to
1choice4quilting :)
The photo above is the Loot that I purchased with said $$$

The Martini fabric in the middle of this clutch is one of the
many scraps that was in my return swap box of fabric & scrap
fabric!
I posted about it here a few days ago.

This is the reverse/back side of the clutch.  The black and gingham
strip of fabric in the center also came from my swap box :)
The personal add fabric I found recently while shopping in the
city with mom!

Who doesn't/didn't love EEyore?!
This pile of scrap-booking love was given to me
by mom :)  She knows that I love EEyore,so she
had been collecting and saving all this up to bring
when her and dad came to visit :)

Of all my hobby's and crafts scrap booking is the
one that gets the least attention :(
So sometime this winter I am going to have to make a
play date with EEyore!

Sewing Sneak peak

So I was having such a hard time deciding what block
pattern to use for my partner in the Christmas Block Exchange
After looking at numerous blocks I narrowed it down to two
different blocks.  (She likes all things Amish)  So one of the
blocks up for consideration was a Amish Star.  The other
one is called Christmas Geese.
Can you guess from the photo above which one I finally
decided on?
This photo up loaded sideways,don't know why that just
happens out of the blue sometimes?

Have you ever seen or used a corn cocoon?  I picked up a pattern
last week when mom and I were in the city shopping.
They were super easy to make :)
I also picked up a tortilla warmer pattern as Jolene has been
asking for one for a while now.  So sometime soon she will
have a surprise in the mailbox when she opens it up!

Remember the softie that I won back during the
May day giveaway?  Well here it is (on the left)
The one on the right is a scrappy cat that I found a
pattern for in a book I checked out at the local Library.

Lastly, I thought that I would share a couple of photos of
the sunflowers in my "patch" this year!

The other morning when I went to take pictures there were
bees all over the place.  They sure weren't happy with me
messing around with the flowers they were pollinating!
But they tolerated me,and I was even able to get some pretty
cool photos with bees on the sunflowers :)
If you would like to enter in my Pay ~ It ~ Forward click here

First block received! & other stuff

Hey everybody!  Did you think that I forgot I have a blog?
Well be assured that I did not!  Just have been busy hanging
out with mom & dad :)
Above is Mr. P proudly modeling his new fishing bag that I
made for him. 

Here is a close up.
He needed a cool bag to keep his Whoppers in so that he
can transport them home from the fishing hole of the day!

I happened to have some Heat ~ N ~ Bond iron on Vinyl and
some fishie fabric!
So voila!

My First EvEr paper pieced block!!!
I made this earlier today,and am very happy with how it turned
out :)
The photo was taken on a sunflower leaf :)
I am thinking of making a small clutch with this on the
front.

These are the Christmas prints that I picked out to make
Melissa's Block with!
I haven't decided yet if I will be using all or just some of them.

I saved the best for last!!!
Here in all its Glory is My block that Melissa Whipped up
and sent to me!  (Man that girl is fast)
I placed the block on a piece of  white with silver fabric that I
have in my stash.
Doesn't it just make you want to make a snow man! :)

THANK YOU Melissa!! :+)
I Love It.

On a serious note...
If you are a believer,or person of Faith Please,Please pray for Jolene &Gil.
Their Dad is in the Hospital on Life Support!

So Gil at the age of 18 has to make the Hardest Decision of his young life in the
very near future.
To Keep his dad on Life Support or Take him off.
So I would GREATLY APPRECIATE your prayers for both
of my kids in this very difficult time in their young lives.
Thank You in Advance :)