Naughty Or Nice?

I think I've been pretty nice this year, but

I have had a few lot too many naughty moments, too.

Dear Santa, I'll try to be nicer...maybe..

if you promise to show up for the

Ho Ho Ho blog hop. Please!

Are You Ready To Ho Ho Ho tomorrow?

When Did That Get Posted?

I'm still in my PJ's, in case you're wondering, but

I plan to do something...soon...maybe.

I missed visiting a few blogs while I was working and plan

to catch-up now that I lay around in my PJ's a little longer than I used to.

Actually, I think I've missed quite a few posts using this new reader method.

Is it weird to leave comments on blog posts that are older?

Will it look like I neglected/ignored them?

Does this look like I have too much time on my hands

because I'm thinking of reading older posts?

Do I HAVE To Get Dressed?

I'm loving DAY 2 of my retirement!

It's 2:30 P.M. and I'm still in my nightgown.

I could learn to like this lifestyle!

(This actually might not be a good thing, but don't ruin my 2nd day of

retirement by telling me I should get dressed and comb my hair.)

Not that I've been eating chocolates and napping...nope!

(Okay, so maybe a couple peanut M&M's made their way into my mouth.)

I've been sewing hexies, monkey quilts, and this skirt for my doll..

I was sure she needed a skirt and bow since That Other Lady added one

to hers. Whoops! That sounds a little competitive doesn't it. 

We know I'm not, so this was just a copy cat kind of thing....right?

I think I may have to take up oil painting to fill some of my time...or not!

Less than 5 days until Ho Ho Ho projects start showing up

all over some really cool blogs....can you say

  E-X-C-I-T-E-D!

The Next Day....

Day one of retirement...what to do, what to do.

Yesterday had lots of hugs and tears (no regrets about leaving,

but it was sad to leave some of the nice people I work with.)

They knew what I'd be doing after I said, "Goodbye"

So....a really special lady said I needed to do something nice for myself today,
Does using my Accuquilt to cut hexagons count as fun?

Yep! It sure does!

Do you use an Accuquilt?
Now that I'm retired, I plan to use mine more.

The Ho Ho Ho blog hop comes first, but I need to get ready for those
Scary HEXIES 

because That Other Lady is already working on hers....
(as I've said before, I'm not competitive or anything.)
I love my little red clips, too!

Blog hops that will be coming soon to blogs near you:

Is My Smile Too Big?

At the end of the day on Thursday, I'll be officially

R E T I R E D!

Oh, boy oh boy, do I have plans!

That other lady is a little worried that I'll have lots of extra

time on my hands to make more projects than her...

not that we're competitive or anything. Look what she made for me----

SO SWEET!

 

You Better Watch Out!

Go ahead and shout!
Santa Claus is coming to our blogs!

1 week away...I'm  SO excited!

Want a sneak peek of what I'll be giving away?

(Even if you don't, I'm showing you anyway.)

I bought one of these at Rossville Quilts for a lucky winner

(by the way, they're having an amazing sale!)

Come back on July 31st for a jolly good time!

Floods, Rain, AND a Fabric Sale!

Enough already with the crazy weather!

My husband took a picture of me running out in this crazy weather to take a picture
(yes, I was barefoot.) He sent it to my sister and me with this message: "It's what bloggers do."

Yes, we are crazy about our picture taking, aren't we!
NO, I'm not sharing that pic...I was soaking wet and my hair was plastered to my head.

Through the window...the winds were so bad! That tall plant in

the middle of the pic was almost horizontal during the worst part of the storm.

We had a small pond out front and a river running down our street.

Rainbows are a nice touch after a storm with torrential rains and well over 60 mile an hour winds.

There were at least 10 of these trees that couldn't hold up against the winds.

Red mud is not so pretty when it looks like this.

This is about an hour after the storm...the water reached almost 10 feet at this underpass during
the peak of the storm. It wiped out a section of the golf course, too! 

My sister had a similar red river tumbling behind her house...the same river that flooded two homes up
the hill from her. It was amazing to see how quickly the neighbors jumped in to help those people. The fire
department and clean-up crews arrived SO FAST, too! Lots of heroes helping out!

On a lighter note, I had been looking for a certain fabric for my
Ho Ho Ho blog hop project and found it online at Rossville Quilts.
Their service was amazing...quick and efficient!
They are having a huge sale this month...check it out HERE.

Don't forget the HO HO HO BLOG HOP!
It starts in just 10 days...I'm so excited!

Blog Hop Alert! Pincushions!

Check out the details on Friday for signing up over at:
SEW WE QUILT!

Hot! Hot! Hot!

Yes, it is hot  here, there, and everywhere.

This is today's temp where I am...

and lately it's been about that temperature in my office, too.

The air conditioning just doesn't seem to be working quite good enough for me.

Ugh! I think I'm melting!

I hear "that other lady" is using a fan outside to cool her off...there's no fan big 

enough to cool me off if I sit outside here (NOT that I'm competitive about her

weather, my weather, how many projects she's making for Ho Ho Ho, etc.)

Speaking of the Ho Ho Ho blog hop, look who's waiting to

appear on July 31st...he's so excited and so am I!

There's 94 of us who are busy sewing away on our Christmas in July

projects so we can share them during the Ho Ho Ho blog hop

(the schedule is HERE if you want to see who'll be hopping.)

There's a hexie hop in August and I hear there will be another

hop announced on Friday at Sew We Quilt...something to do with pin cushions.

Fun times ahead!

Let The Seams Meet!

I've sewn for...uh, lots and lots of years (too many to mention), but I'm still learning new tricks to make this sewing thing I enjoy so much just a little easier. For years I settled for "almost there" seams that, well...almost met. Then a few months ago I was stalking a few blogs and ran across a video by Cristy Fincher that showed how to glue those seams before sewing. I didn't have the glue she used, but I had some Tombow glue on hand (Quilt Taffy carries it) so I used it to see if this method really worked (I'm sure this isn't new to most of you, but I'm okay being an old dog that CAN learn new tricks.)

Yep...it worked!

Iron your seams in opposite directions 

(this will let them meet so much better when you glue them together.)

Put a little dab of glue on one side just at the seam and lay the other piece on top, matching 

seams. Push the seams into each other so they meet (this is where ironing them in 

opposite directions helps a lot.) Let it dry a few minutes.

Sew them. Iron them. No pins!

See! They are pretty darn perfect in meeting up. Love it!

The project I used to practice this method is for the Ho Ho Ho Blog Hop.

Come back on July 31st to see how all my squares meet each other.

Smokey Skies And Brave Firefighters

These aren't rain clouds...they are smoke clouds from the fires in the mountains about 

45 minutes away from me (this is a view down my street.) The winds have shifted and

 the smoke is heading into town. There's ash floating down into the neighborhoods 

closet to the mountains and there's a smoky smell in the air even this far away.

This is the view on my way home from work (two hours before the photo above was taken and

before the winds shifted.) The fires are on the peak of the mountains at the left of this photo.

It's really smokey and dark near my daughter's work...she's closer to the mountains.

The people who live in those mountains have been evacuated...scary stuff going on!

I'm so thankful for those amazing firefighters for their sacrifice in fighting this fire.

 I really, really am grateful for all they do.

Ho There...A Christmas Gift Idea!

It's not even beginning to look like Christmas with the

temperatures outside hitting 109 to 114 degrees...so, I decided I needed

 a little push to get geared up for the Ho Ho Ho blog hop.

How about...

CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEAS!

A fun gift idea for neighbors or friends is this cute little M&M Santa jar 

I saw at Whipperberry. It was so easy and quick...and it had a POM POM! 

Check out her website to see how to make it.

I found the cute little "belt buckle" at Michaels on a clearance rack.

Those red M&M's didn't even melt on the way home from the

M&M store at Ethel M Chocolate Factory. I just might have sampled

one or two M&M's before putting them in that bottle...maybe.

What The Hex? Another Blog Hop?

Yep! Another blog hop sign-up is coming next week over at
Sew We Quilt.

I'm not a fan of hexies (don't you give me the evil eye...let me explain!)
I've just NEVER made anything with a hexie.
Dresden's scared me, too, until I made one, so I'm willing to
jump on board and give this a try. Are you brave enough to hexie?
Watch for sign-ups next week if 
you want to play with hexies!

The Ho Ho Ho Blog Hop comes before the hexies, so be ready
to be wow'd by all the creative ladies who will be joining in to
celebrate Christmas in July (and August.)

You can find out who the Ho Ho Ho hoppers are here:

The Schedule