Renewing Mrs. Sew & Sew: January 2014

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Thankful Thursday #10

Welcome Friends today is Thankful Thursday

I have not done a Thankful Thursday in a long while so I decided to start it up again. So sense I haven't done one in a while I will explain what Thankful Thursday is all about.

I tell you a little about what I am thankful for and then you in turn comment and tell me a little about what you are thankful for. Don't be shy I know you can think of one thing you are thankful for big or small.

So this week I am sure you have heard of the big ice and snow storm in the south. Well we got a little taste of real winter out of that storm. Living in Florida we just are not prepared for those kinds of storms.

So today I want to tell you that I am thankful for: a warm house, warm clothes and warm drinks. See the theme here ;) come on all you northerners stop laughing now. I am a true Florida girl, I was born and raised here and still live within 20 miles of were I grew up.

This is 5 a.m. Wednesday morning.

I have never seen this before yes ice on a humming bird feeder.

This was this morning at 8 a.m. I sure did miss the sun yesterday.

But seriously there are still people in the U.S. that don't have a good source of heat in the winter. They don't have it or just can't afford to turn it on. I am truly thankful that I am blessed with these things that help keep me warm.

One more thing I am thankful for is my father in laws life. As you my remember my father in law passed away last March (2013) and it has been tough for our whole family. It left a big hole in our lives but we are slowly healing.Well today is his birthday he would have been 65 years old! You my remember I was making a quilt for him when he passed. You can read about the quilt and see pictures HERE

So today the temps have been a balmy 40 degrees here. But everyone was is here with me trying to stay warm.

Now I would like to share with you some happy mail. Woo Hoo today I got a package in the mail from Scott Hansen over at Blue Nickel Studios

You see Scott was one of the many bloggers (including myself) who joined the blog hop giveaway over at the Quilting Gallery it was big fun. If you would like to see what I gave away you can see it HERE

Anyway Scott contacted me and said I won!! Yeah!! I got my package from the other side of the U.S. today. LOL

WOW I was so surprised. This is a Huge package of fabric.

Adorable!

This is Wee Wander by Sarah Jane for Michael Miller.

This is so beautiful!

This line just says sweet little girl to me. Well unfortunately I don't have a little girl I do have nieces but I have already made all four of them quilts But......

If you remember my first of the year post. HERE you know what I am thinking!

That's right this fabric will be made into a sweet charity quilt for one lucky little girl. I can not wait to get started!! Thank You again to Scott Hansen over at Blue Nickel Studios you have probably made one little girl's dreams come true. So friends if you have time hop on over and visit Scott some time.

In other news I did get a few 5" squares cut for the "I heart You" wall hanging.

They are soooo pretty! I can't wait to start this project. You can read about it HERE

Linking up with:

Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday

Live a Colorful Life for Really Random Thursday

Hugs and best stitches to you,

a.k.a. Mrs. Sew & Sew

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Verse for Sunday

Have a great week.
Hugs and best stitches to you,
Michelle
a.k.a. Mrs. Sew & Sew

Saturday, January 25, 2014

First Quilt Finish In 2014

I finished my first quilt today of 2014!
This quilt was finished in only 2 weeks. Now this my not seem like a great feat to some of you but I have NEVER made a quilt of any size that quickly.

This is the quilt when it was ready to be bound.

This quilt was done with 2.5 inch strips in a horizontal pattern and then I quilted it diagonally.

This quilt is not perfect. I just read a blog post today about not stressing over perfect quilting. It was by Melissa over @ Missouri Mel you can read it HERE

I happen to agree with her. I am not perfect therefore my quilting or quilt making which ever is not going to be perfect. As a matter of fact the only human being I know of that was perfect was Jesus Christ. I can strive to do my best and by doing so I will get better.

I was not going to put this picture in but I felt I needed to. I had to square the quilt up and as you can see the bottom strip I had to cut a lot off. Quilt finished at 41 x 51.

The back I just used what I had which was bleached muslin.

I think if I might be so bold, that some child will really like to get this. Imperfections and all.

Here is the label and it just so happens that I wrote the tutorial on how to make these today. You can click on the Tutorials tab at the top of the page or click HERE

Now on to other projects

This is a wall hanging (I Heart You) that I want to make for my bedroom to hang behind my bed.

I got the idea from a pin I happened to see on pentrest.

Picture from RedPoppyQuilts (link is broken on pin sorry)

You can get your very own I Heart You pattern from V and Co.

HERE

Next while I am working on my I Heart You wall hanging I will also through in a kitty cat block or two every once in a while (55x65). This was a quilt I saw on another blog post finish it was by Karin of Leigh Laurel Studios. You can read her post about her quilt HERE.

So I jumped over to Elizabeth Hartman's blog to buy the pattern HERE

This will be my next attempt at another charity quilt. For those of you who don't know, I talked about my "word" for the year HERE and what I hope to accomplish with my charity quilting.

And last but not least by any means is this wall hanging. It was designed by Sew Lux and it was an anniversary mystery mini BOW. You can purchase the whole pattern HERE

Linking up with:

Sarah @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Caroline @ So Can She

Hugs and best stitches to you,

a.k.a. Mrs. Sew & Sew

Monday, January 20, 2014

The New Year

Hello Friends
I know I am very late but a lot has happened over the past few months so I took some time off from blogging. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and a blessed new year.

This is one of the reasons I have not blogged in awhile.

My computer fell off the filing cabinet with the printer and cooling fan plugged into it. It is now a 10 pound paper weight. (Although I am typing this post on it)

I have been keeping up with a few other blogs and social media while I was away from here. It seems there is a new trend or a new to me trend going around. Instead of a resolution people come up with one word to try and describe what they will try to accomplish over the next year. I have been asked if I would pick a word. I have thought and thought about it. I was undecided for a very long time.

Could I pick a word? Could I live up to that word if I picked one? Would it be just like a resolution would I throw it aside before the month was out? Or say in my mind this is just too hard to do I just give up?

Well I have decided that I do want to pick a word. My word that I am going to strive for this year is:

Selflessness
is the state of being unselfish
Having, exhibiting, or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish

When a person cares enough to take a risk on their own gain to do, give or say some thing for another person. Without ever expecting a token in return for the deed, act, or accomplishment made from it.

So it is with that in mind that I have set off this year in my quilting endeavors to make more charity quilts this year than I have ever made. As you can see under the Guardian ad Liteum tab at the top of the page I have made very few. I plan to double that just this year. That is the goal I am setting for myself.

With that in mind I will show you what I have been working on.

Here is a strip quilt I start as well as some nine patch scrap blocks I put together the other day. If you follow me on Instagram you might have already seen this picture.