Must See North Carolina Color

Last week as I drove to and from work each day, I kept looking for all the gorgeous color that just explode in the folage each fall. With all the heat we had this summer and lack of rain, I was begining to think that maybe the colors would be far less bright.   Then this week we received rain, and lots of it at times, and guess what?  THE COLORS EXPLODED!  Oh how beautiful the drive to and from work is now.  I keep saying I have got to stop and take pictures, but before I can do that I have got to get new batteries for my camera!  I kinda use them up at the balloon festival this past weekend.

BUT... Thanks to Lavendar Dreams blog  I want to share the beautiful pictures that she took while on a hike at the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville, NC.  I hope she doesn't mind.  They are wonderful photos to share rainbow of colors we get to see in NC.  Please visit her blog and enjoy her hike!

Thanks for Reading

I needed a Fix!

I throughly enjoyed my weekend with the hot air balloons. But by Sunday I had a real need to get a "fix" of fabric between my fingers!   So I got busy getting a few things started.   I had been asked to make baby quilt for a little boy from John Deere prints.  So I got the top down for now. I have got to get more batting before I can finish this.

I also got the outer part of a couple of new purses sewn together.  One is for a friend who loves purses for every holiday.  So I got to finish this one this week as her halloween purse will be outdated  com Nov 1st.
Here is her Thanksgiving purse.

Here is another purse outside that I am making for my sister who is giving them as Christmas presents.
I really love these colors.  My daughter Lauren picked this fabric out for her but could never decide what she wanted me to make for her!  No hope of her ever taking up sewing!  She knows how to pick out fabric though.

And here is one a starting and almost finished this evening. This is for my sister's granddaughter. I want to get a big button to use as part of the closing clasp.

I feel better now that I got my Fabric fix!

Thanks for Reading
 Lisa

The Saturdays Balloon flight

 Saturday morning started about 7am with the Pilots meeting, getting weather information and once over the rules.It was a brisk and cool morning but very light winds.  We had to set out to find a launch site opposite the way the wind was moving.  I thought that would take forever.

Trying to find a spot on the map that may have a clearing.

Watching the release balloon to check wind direction.

We finally set up to launch from the same field we landed

 in last year!





This is the HOT in hot air balloons!







Two balloons grow before your eyes





They "KISS" as they inflate.



Up up and away!



"X" marks the spot for the competition drop

Yep!  That's me!



Beautiful Carolina Blue Sky

over a soy bean field.



First Flight of the Weekend

October 22, 2010  Statesville, NC

We get ready to launch about 5pm today with

Gorgeous Carolina Skies.

Our Balloon going UP...

and Up...

UP...

and Away...in with the crowd.

What a beautiful day for a balloon ride.

(wish I was in that basket)

Coming in for a landing.

Smooth and Safe Landing.

(yep.. that's me in the red shirt)

Down she comes...ever so slowly.

A beautiful end to a wonderful day

as I pull into the driveway at home.

I'll do it all over again tomorrow morning at 7am.

Can't wait.

Nite y'all.

No Quilting This Weekend!

I'm so excited!  This time every year Statesville, NC has a HOT AIR BALLOON Festival.
(about the only exciting thing held here)  Today is the first day of the three day event. This is one of
the oldest balloon festival still in existance.  Although it is far from a large one like out west, it holds its own.

About three years ago I volunteered to help work the festival and right before time to go home, the event planner come up to our booth and said she had one slot open for a ride in a balloon. OH MY!  if you could have seen me you would have thought I had just offered a million dollars!  I was jumping up and down hollaring ME ME!  I'LL GO!  and I did!   This was something I have always wanted to do. One of those things you have on a bucket list.   The weather was perfect for flying that day. 

As I stood and watch the balloon begin to fill with air and grow to what seem enormous, I couldn't help but be a bit nervous with all the excitement.  I was on my cell phone calling my sisters and anyone I could get ahold of to let them know what I was about to do. Of course NO ONE ANSWERED!  So I left these messages they probably couldn't understand.  Once we lifted off the ground.... I was amazed at how CALM I became.  No jitters, no butterflies, no weak knees, just Calm.  It seemed really strange to me to be so calm as we flew so high over the streets in the neighborhoods I drive everyday.  Looking down as   what seemed to be a picture I had once seen in a book.  But this was real!  It was unforgetable.

Since that flight, I have help crew and chase that same balloon.  Maybe one day I will get a chance (for free)
to fly again but until then just the rush of helping fill the massive piece of quilted fabric with air for lift off, will have to do.   And it does.  So I am off now in just a few headed to the airport where the festivities begin with a Balloon Launch of about 50 or so balloons.   I'll post pictures soon!

I went with Grey!

So I went to the quilt shop and took my ties with me. I tried out bunches of different fabrics in all colors and both solid and prints.  Nothing looked just right (what ever that may have been) but I did find a tonal grey and it looked BeeeUtiful.  Well maybe not that good. But it will work! 

I did get the grey all cut in strips and TRIED to lay this out in order to sew it.  I got about half matched up and then I decide to try and sew a few solids and ties together.  I tried THREE times to the the needle threaded (I half a self threading machine) and it kept getting tangled for some reason SOOOOO
I decided it was time to put it up!    Maybe tomorrow night I will make more progress!   Wish me luck!

Back Ground color for Tie Quilt

I have gotten all the ties cut to several different sizes from 1.5" to 4.5".  UGH!  I hate cutting ties!  They move to easily being on the bias and silky.

I pulled out some pieces of stash fabric I have to get an idea on what color to use for the fabric that will go between the ties and along the sides.  Here are the pictures I took.


white background 



yellowish tan print

green



dark brown print

medium brown



dark blue

 Unfortunately, I didn't have any shade of grey to try out.  So please let me know which one you think will work best!  I'm leaning toward the last two colors.

Thanks for the help!

Spooker the Little Black Cat

After losing a cat recently, this little kitten showed up at my work place.

I brought her home to my husband and they have become best friends.  Her name is Spooker as she is a solid black cat.  I call her my little Halloween kitty.

Her personality is so different than any of our other six cats.

She knows her name, comes when she is called, plays fetch and retrieve and carries toys around the house in her mouth. Her favorite thing to do is get herself wrap up in things. Spooker will crawl into a quilt, blanket, towel, fabric, shirt etc., just like a little kid will do playing hide and seek. 

Spooker decide she would try out the purse I was making to make sure it has enough room.

Spooker decided that Daddy's quilt was a good place to take a nap.

Spooker thinks these curtains make a good "wrap"

I can't wait to get a pumpkin and let her get inside and get a picture of that!

Cutting Mat help!

I have an X-Acto rotary cutting mat and it is about six months old.(the mat was new when it was given to me)  I do a good amount of cutting but I am sure not as much as others.  But after six months, this is what my mat looks like.

I have tried cleaning it numerous times but it just seems like it gets cuts way to easy. I was cutting ties for the a quilt and with the fabric being so thin it actually get pushed down into these cut marks.

I have turned this 24 x 36 mat every way possible and used every square inch.

So my question for all of you is.... what brand mat works best for you???

It there a trick or secret to make them last longer?

How long does your mat last for you?

And the Winners Are....

Here are the winners from the Fall into Fall Bloggers Giveaway...
Susan in Washington,   Ann in Nevada,    Lisa in South Carolina,    Cynthia in West Virginia
I'll be emailing you soon!

Congratulations! 

Thanks to all of you who participated and became followers!

Friday is Giveaway Day!

I just want to say a BIG THANKS to all of you who have dropped by my blog to enter the Fall into Fall Giveaway! This has been so much fun for me. I am amazed at how many people stopped by, commented, emailed and became a follower of mine. What really amazed me is how many people from around the world stopped by! Wow that means my little ol' blog has been around the world! To Cool!
Many of you enjoy quilting any time of the day, some late at night, some after the kids are off to school.

I will drawing winners tomorrow night around 7pm or so, after I get home from work and eat supper. I will use a random number generator I found online! Good Luck to all the participants!

Time to cut the Ties

Last night while watching the Florida Gator Football game, (yes are are major Gator Fans) I searched for the pattern I had in mind to use with all those ties.  I looked thru about 10 magazines before I finally the pattern, while actually another pattern I had forgot about. I had seen this in "Quilts and More" Fall 2010 issue and made notes on the pages about the tie quilt. This pattern can be found at All People Quilt website.  The brown version is another color option from the one profiled in the magazine.

This will be for a co-worker's brother and the ties are from their father who past away a year ago.  It will be a Christmas present from one brother to the other.   I think this pattern will be perfect!

Today I started to cut the ties in 12.5" strips and then realized I had to go buy a new blade for my cutter.  One day I figure out why I wait so long to change my blades! (I'm cheap!)

Once I got a new blade, I discovered the ties were still to thin to cut, so I spent the next hour or two

spraying with starch and ironing them. That worked!

Then I finally began to cut them into strips about 12.5" long.

My next step is to cut these strips into the correct widths needed for the quilt.

I think it calls for about 90 strips varied in widths from 1.5" to 4.5".

Now here is where you can help me. With so many different colors and patterns

in the ties, what should I use to separate all the strips and the sides?

I'll welcome any suggestions! The ties are just about every color, yellows, browns, blues, reds,

with lots of stripes and designs!

Ties, Ties, and More Ties

I spent about 2 hours Friday night removing stitches and the insides of numerous ties.

Then I spent another 2+ hours ironing these same ties.

Now that they are all nice and pressed as they can get,

I have to cut them into strips about 2" x 6".

Got a feeling this isn't gonna be easy!

These are the left over ties from the Tie Quilt I did for Eddie a few months ago.

Now I am using them to make his brother a quilt for a Christmas gift.

I plan to make a Coin Quilt style same how!

Well Tazzie may have another idea for all those ties!  zzzzz

FALL INTO FALL GIVEAWAY

Hey Y'all ! 

Today begins the first day of the
FALL INTO FALL QUILT BLOGGERS GIVEAWAY!
I normally participate in giveaways trying to win something but now
I'm excited to participate as a Giver! Tis better to give than received, right??

It is pretty easy to enter.  Here is what you need to do.

1. If you have a blog, become a follower of mine.
2. If you don't have a blog, click on my profile and then email me telling me you
     want to enter.
3. Then post a comment on my blog, telling me you have entered and answer this....
  *** my favorite time to quilt is.....
.
I would also love to know where you are,  City, State or country!
Just kinda fun to see how many people from different places drop by my blog!

I have several things to give away, fat quarters, charm packs, and books!

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Winners will be drawn at random.