Back to Quilting

It's true! My Dolly has been neglected and collected dust for this past few weeks.



Then came along Peg's challenge of finishing five quilts by the end of July. So I got up earlier this morning and loaded this baby quilt onto Dolly. If this quilt looks familiar, then you are right. It has the same fabrics as my Summer Breeze quilt. I had cut too much for Summer Breeze that I made Summer Breeze 2 and still had enough leftover fabrics that I made Dancing Butterflies.

This quilt will be for Project Linus. My goal this year is to complete a quilt for each month for the total of 12 to donate. However, I'm falling behind with only two quilts so far. Therefore, I'm happy to almost have this one done; I only need to sew the binding down.

Fun Weekend

Did you guessed where we were yesterday? :P

We spent the day with Sweetie Pie's girl scouts troop at the aquarium. It's their last activity for the year until fall. We went behind-the-scene tour, and the girls fed the fish and the sharks! Hmmm... that sure is a funny looking fish in the above photo. lol

Then afterward, we stopped in at this restaurant (photo below) that is across the street from the aquarium. The food were really good.

Then for today, we took Sweetie Pie and Buddy out to see new Disney/Pixar movie, Wall-E. It's an adorable movie. If you have little ones, do take them to see it. And if you're still young at heart, go see it yourself. We sure enjoyed it. :o)

And her name is....

JUNE!

This is for Becky who commented yesterday that I must give my featherweight a name. So I gladly named her "June" because, well, I got her in June.

June sounds like a happy name; plus, it reminds me of that famous fictional character, June Cleaver, of Leave It to Beaver. I must admit that the show was before my time, but I did saw a few rerun episodes during my childhood. And I'm sure my June was probably used by a lady watching the show during that period of time.

Thank you to everyone who commented and giving me links to find the manual. I now have a copy of the manual and signed up with the YahooGroup Featherweight.

Bloggers are the best! :-D

Singer Featherweight

I have been playing on Ebay and won this little cutie! ;-D

The machine looks good, and it came with a lot of accessories which I will have fun trying them out. However, I haven't try sewing on the machine yet because it does not have a manual with it. In my excitement of bidding, I forgot to ask. :[ I have only turn on the machine and run it. The light is working, sounds great... it's quiet, and it has a new belt and been serviced. Overall, I think I got a good deal.

With a little bit of research, I found that my machine was made in Elizabeth, New Jersey, from 1948 to 1950.

It's been fun playing on Ebay, but it's a bit dangerous to my financial pocket. There are plenty of things to bid for, and it is easily to get carry away. So I better stay away from ebay for awhile... well, maybe just one more time, afterall, I need the manual right? He he

June Block

I almost forgot this BOM!

This is the June block, Diamond Pinwheel.

I haven't done May Hydrangea applique yet. I'm holding off for a little bit longer until there are more blocks to put the top together; then, I will needle-turned applique the flowers instead of Beth Ferrier's method of applique.

Friends 2B Made

It has been lazy summer days here at doxies ranch because of the heat spell we've been having. Today was the first relief we had... only 99 degrees compared to 113 to 115degrees of the last few days. So not much sewing was happening or worthwhile showing anyway simply because it's just too hot to sit and sew in my little corner.

This afternoon, Sweetie Pie's girl scouts troop spent a few hours at the mall at Friends 2B Made party. It's a sister company of Build-a-Bear Workshop; instead of bears, they make dolls. This is part of the outings that the girls picked to do with their hard earned cookie money.

Sweetie Pie is getting her doll, Rashberry, stuffed.

The troop and their dolls with Ms. Nancy, their leader.

And camera shy Sweetie Pie again. Doesn't she look sooo thrill at getting her photo taken? LOL

OC Progress

Ahhh... look at those doxies getting comfy on my newly pieced Orange Crush center. :D
It was a slow progress, but it is done! After piecing the whole thing together, I noticed that I have a few of those 4-patches turned the wrong way. Oh well... no frogging stitches here! I'm planning to do the same border treatment as Bonnie's, so I'm off to do the borders.
TTFN!

Finish Five Challenge

Peg over at Happy In Quilting is having a challenge -- finish five quilt tops by the end of July.

This is the perfect push I need. I have quite a few quilt tops that needed to be quilt, but what will I finish first? Hmmm...

Well, the first one that came to mind would be my Pink Lemonade. Then, Orange Crush if I get the top done. I will have to look through my quilt tops for the other three...

Mail Call

Today is the first day of summer, and we have the hot hot hot weather to go with it. My car registered the outside temperature at 115 degrees today while we were out running errands. When we returned home (and glad to be back in a cool house), a package had arrived in the mail from Catherine at Calidore.

Yeah! My prize from Catherine's 700th post giveaway is here! The ribbon is so pretty!

Isn't the bag cute?! I love it! And inside it are brochures of Swan Hill Region.

Thank you, Catherine!

I'm enjoying learning a bit more of Australia and hoping that one day I will get to visit there. :o)

Another mail that came in earlier in the week is this fabric from my sister-in-law, Susan. Isn't it a "happy" fabric?

Recently, Susan asked me to help her because had purchased 25 yards of fabrics and wanted to learn how to quilt! You know what?... Of course, I said yes!

So we decided that her first quilt would be Bonnie's Boxy Stars pattern. And you know what else? I'm doing this one too! My quilt will be the colors in this fabric except for the yellow.

Susan just started a blog called Ape over Quilting. I hope you pop over to her blog to welcome her to quilting and blogging.

One more thing that came in the mail this week is this toy Featherweight machine that I scored for the first time on ebay. :-)

Sweetie Pie will help me try it out this weekend.

Have a great one!

Pink Lemonade Top

Our first weekend of summer vacation has been great. Saturday we had a quiet day because the kids had TOO MUCH fun from the previous day with their friends. They wanted to lounge around the house and not do much which was fine ... that meant more sewing time for meeee. :-) plus, John was on call for work so he was constantly on the compu.

Sunday was Father's Day so we made breakfast for John. Well, the kiddos made the breakfast and I cleaned up after them. I really don't care for cooking that much... only cooked out of necessities (he he)... and like it much better when someone else does the cooking... I'd prefered the cleaning up.

Then, for lunch, we headed over to my parents for my little niece's(5yrs) and nephew's (2yrs) birthdays and celebrating Father's Day also. Their birthdays are not on the same day...just close together so their parents decided that it's easier to celebrate both at the same times. There were a LOT food! Of course, I stuffed myself there and then brought even more food home... did I mentioned I don't like to cook? LOL

I wished that I had not forgotten the camera because my new baby nephew (almost 3 months old) was there. He's adorable! Ohh, how I missed my own babies!

We left later for home and made to our friends' house who live down the street from us for a BBQ and swimming. Same friends who had to cancel their previous BBQ due to rainy and cold weather a few weeks ago. Again, I stuffed myself. I guessed the whole point of the story is that I ate too much all day yesterday and will need to go on a diet soon because it's getting a bit difficult to button up my pants. *LOL*

Alright ... about that Pink Lemonade, my baby Orange Crush is now a flimsy!



I used more of those 2 inches strips and sewn 4-patches together in a row around the white border. Then added 4 inches of white border around that. Done!! Nice and simple! :o)

Summer has begun

It's official! As of 12:30pm yesterday, summer has begun at Doxies-Ranch. Sweetie Pie is now a fifth grader; Buddy is a junior... only two more years 'til graduation! And Mandy has a month off before her next quarter starts; then, the first year of college will be done.

Ah, where did the time go? The school year has flown by too quickly. I see the end of the school year as a big milestone for the kids. They brought home their yearbooks, and it's fun to look through them to see what the kids did during the school year. But for me, I always noticed how much they changed from little bright-eyed youngsters, to a bit older and more matured children as they are today. It always a bit sad for me to see the kids grow up so fast.

Well, when I'm feeling blue, I always head to my sewing corner.... the kiddos were with friends to kick-off their summer vacations. My machine was humming along all afternoon.

The results: Step 5 of the first the Orange Crush Mystery is finally finished, and my second OC mystery quilt, Pink Lemonade, Step 5 and 6 are done.

Yes! Pink Lemonade top is together. Since it a baby-sized and straight setting, I only have to do 7 Album blocks to fill in with the 8 Spinning Star blocks. Everything came together quickly.

That's Miles, Mandy's boyfriend, who is not camera shy at all... so he gladly volunteered to hold the top for a photo.

Later on, I played with the regular OC again and laid out all of the blocks. I really like how this mystery is turning out. Thanks again Bonnie for another great design!

I'm hoping to get this sew together this weekend or add the borders onto Pink Lemonade. Well, we'll see what mood I'm in this weekend ... Orange Crush or Pink Lemonade. :-D

BTW, another giveaway at

Embroidery Treasures. Serena is having one every Monday, so mark her site and check every week. But I hope I win; I know exactly what to do with that beautiful green FQs bundle!


And another giveaway, Lynette Anderson Designs is giving away some cute stitcheries patterns!

Oh, one more thing, I still haven't heard anything from the winner of my box bag giveaway. If I still don't hear anything by Sunday evening, I will do another drawing.

Have a great weekend!

I Won, I Won!

I must have been very tired last night to forget to share with you my good fortune! YES, my luck has changed! I won my first bloggy giveaway from Calidore's 7ooth post giveaway! You heard me right, Catherine made it to 700 posts marked! I hope that I'll last that long with this bloggy thing. ;-O


Thank you, Catherine! I can't wait to recieve my prize all the way from Australia! :D



One more thing that I forgot to mention, Ghislaine is the winner of my giveaway, and she commented that she loves purple. I will fill that box bag with some purple FQs! Ghislaine, please email me your postal addy ASAP. Your comment came in as a No-Reply, so I can't return your email. I'm gonna make a run to the postal office tomorrow to get a few packages out and would like to get yours out too. With the way gas prices now-a-day (oh-no...won't go there!)*lol*, I have to plan my errands.

And now, I have to go pick up my Buddy from school who also has a driving lesson today. Yikes! I know that he will be fine.... but why is it so nerve wrecking when it comes to your own kid learning how to drive?!!

Drumroll Please...

Before I announce the winner, I just want to thank everyone for stopping by and leaving a comment. I'm usually a bit behind answering my email messages, but I will reply to your messages provided there's a way for me to do it. Soooo... if you don't hear from me, that just means that your comment came in as a "No-Reply" ,and there's no way for me to return your message. Also, last night I had some problems with emails came back as undeliverable, so if I missed returning your message, sorry about that.

OK, now onto the drawing...

This week is the last week of school for the kiddos. My Buddy (teenage DS) had finals this morning and a short day. He was the first one home and agreed to help with the drawing.

Congratulations, Ghislaine!! Please email me your snail addy ASAP.

Box Bag Bug

I should be working on Step 5 of my Orange Crush quilt because afterall, Step 6-Mystery Revealed was posted earlier in the week! Instead, I got a bug! A box bag bug that is! Boy, that's a mouthfull! Try to said that three times real fast! :D

Yep, these are what I've been working on in my spare times. Recognize that red butterflies one?

I saw this Box Bag first over at Lisa Boyer's blog. She is the author of That Dorky Homemade Look. Click here to check out her site. She is taking a break from blogging at the moment due to a busy schedule, but her blog is worth taking a lookee... fun, fun, fun.

Lisa made these bags and has a link to the tutorial, so that is where I got the pattern to make those bags. Click here for the tut.

All of those Box Bags in the photo have been claimed except for one...

I mentioned before in my previous post that I will have another giveaway real soon. Well, here it is! I'm giving this Box Bag and a few goodies to go inside it. This is my way of saying thank you to all of you who stopped by and leaving a comment. All you have to do to be in the drawing is to comment on this post and tell me what color or colors of fabrics you want to see in this Box Bag. The winner will get their preferences of some FQs in this bag. I do have 1930's fabrics and Civil War fabrics, so if you prefer those, let me know. And if you like scrappy like me, then I will fill it with whatever in my stash!

This will be a quick one! This giveaway is open until Sunday night my time. I will do the drawing on Monday afternoon. Good luck!

I found this blooming in the corner of my yard while taking pics of the Box Bags. I forgot I have these lilies. What a pleasant unexpected!

And since I have the camera... have to take some pics of my furry babies.... :D

Now you see it....

Now you don't...
My Sweetie Pie has been letting her hair grow long since last year from a little below shoulders-length. With the hot season almost upon us, we decided that it's time to get her hair cut. However, it is not any regular haircut.... she will be donating her hair to Wigs for Kids, and it's also her first time at a beauty salon. I had always trimmed her hair for her at home. Look at how much was taken off... almost 15"! Wigs for Kids requires at least 12" long.
Even after all that was taken off, the hair stylist took off another 1" to 2" of her hair during the final haircut.

I'm very proud of our Sweetie Pie! She always had long hair up to this point and did not want to get her hair cut THAT short. But she would do it to help out kids who had lost their hair due to illnesses or treatments. What's great about all of this, is that Girl Scouts partnered with Wigs for Kids to help spread the word. Sweetie Pie will receive a patch for her donation. Here she is with her new look. She looks so cute and grown up!

Another giveaway!

I was over at Candace's blog, and she had a link to another giveaway. Calidore is celebrating her 700th post!! Click here to check it out! She's giving away two prizes!

Camping and the Prize Drawing

I'm back! I have survived and fully recovered from the Girl Scouts Junior Jamboree camping experience! *LOL*

It was a busy weekend trip with full of activities for the girls. They had to set up camp as soon as we arrived on Friday afternoon. Up bright and early on Saturday with camp competitions in the morning, made lunch, clean up, then onto games in the afternoon, followed by a parade, made dinner, clean up, finished off with a flashlight campfire (too dry to light a real fire). On Sunday, awards and ceremonies, broke camp and headed back home. Whew!! Just typing about it made me tired again!

This is the view on the way to the camp....Our mountain view...One of our hikings...

Now, onto the giveaway...

Thank you everyone for your visits and lovely comments. This has been a great encouragement for me to continue with blogging. Also, it is so much fun to do a giveaway that I might do another one very soon. :D

Those little doxies love to help pick the winner....

They sniffed out each of the entries....

finally, pushed one out of the basket...

(drumroll) and the winner is....

as you can see, they wanted quite a few of you to win, but I'm afraid I must go with the first one out of the basket...
Anina at Dear Baby Jane blog!

Anina, please send me your snail addy!