My little leprechauns and ducks in the garden...

Well better late than never...in sharing these pics of the kiddos in their St. Paddy's day finery....they look too cute...or am I biased. I am missing one of the Princess in her finery...but had to post these anyway. Of course we had to have some comic relief.... those bigger kids are so funny. I had to post a photo of the ducks who used to raid my garden regularly when I lived in South AFrica!!! I miss them.... and if I thought I could keep them from wandering off... as i don't have a fence around my home now, I might get one or two. I have done a couple of customer quilts this past week...but no pics to post. I can't figure out which folder I put them in... ah technology. I am hoping to quilt for me tomorrow after work, I have two I have been working on... maybe can finally put my DD blocks together. I only did a throw of 18 blocks, but only got round to cutting the setting triangles today. I was lucky enough to go to a quilting time with another guild,they did Bugs in a jar. I opted to do only 20 of the jars..and did small ones at that. It is partially assembled so hope to put that together and get it quilted. And in other exciting news...my DD in law's Seamingly accurate is featured in Quilters Home magazine for April/May. And to think I knew her when..... Hope you all had a great weekend. I certainly did! PS-- Hunny Bunny over at her new place is having a giveaway. Go have a visit!

Seamingly Accurate giveaway...from none other than my DD in law!!!

My DD in law, has just returned from the Houston Quilt Festival..... and launching her Seamingly Accurate as a sewing notion.....and in honor of that has decided to do a giveaway, at ReannaLilly designs, please go to her web site for a quick comment and look see. Also a peek at the quiltwoman.com booth where she was launched! I am a proud mother in law. And it has helped me with both my quilting AND making curtains for my bedrooms. A very practical tool, with many sewing applications. So I am a satisfied user also. And had to post some lovely photos..... of yet another..... look at the Princess! She is so adorable!Happiness is found in Beans and Cornbread...even with only 3 teeth! This a a photo of another DD in law, Emikins, at the War Eagle Mill....an actual grist mill in Benton county Arkansas. A lovely setting for a nice walk, across the old....working bridge... 100 yrs young, and the original sight of a grist mill. It has burned down 4 times, but the foundations are still original.Lots of charm, a few quilts made from their little feed sacks, and a warm inviting Beanery in the attic. We had a lovely lunch and browse of the premises. Crisp Autumn weather and fun! The trees are just starting to change color...very pretty!Just found another giveaway f at Sue Daleys blog, featuring lovely patterns. Loved this Halloween decor set outside the Piggly Wiggly in Starkville, MS. Love all things Autumn! I got some lovely things from the Houston Quilt Festival for my new soon to be named longarm machine, thanks to my crack monkey DD in law! They are "in the mail" ...who knows they may beat the items from my Ship!!!!Be sure and leave a comment for my giveaway, explained on previous post. Don't you love Fall, Y'all?????

I have decided to take up the UFO challenge from Finn's blog http://finnleah.blogspot.com/ and this weekend decided to start on a few simple ones. The first was made from these little orphan pieces.... I did use the seaming accurate, http://reannalilydesigns.blogspot.com/2008/07/its-finally-here-seamingly-accurate.html and my accuracy has improved. I put it together...into a new configuration... and made this little quilt. Then of course that got loaded on my new longarm..and quilted. The front turned out great for free hand quilting. But not sorted the little pokies that come up... I did adjust a bit...and they finally went away. But still not feeling too confident about the back. Don't know if any of you have suggestions but I am open to trying them .Now this being the weekend, and I am married to a college boy, living in a college town, we decided to brave the Mississippi State Ball game! What a trip, I guess the last time I was at a college game, I was about the age of most of the college kids going there. That has changed the past 30 something years...but I sure don't remember the kids dressing the way they do now? Most of the girls were wearing little sundresses, and the boys, many of them were wearing dress shorts or trousers. They didn't sit down except when halftime came, and lots of cups of drink were thrown every time MSU scored. We deliberately sat at the back of the student section, (I actually had to sneak into that section since my ticket was non student!) in order to minimize being hit by the projectiles! Must admit...at 3.00 for water...and small soda, don't know how they could afford to throw drinks. Back in the Professor's undergrad days... they threw toilet paper, maybe that is too expensive now too!!! MSU had some very serious tailgating going on, before and during the game. They also had RULES for the game, as in no smoking, no coolers, no umbrellas, and NO ARTIFICIAL NOISEMAKERS! This certainly wasn't enforced, there were more cowbells than I could see...... and they sure made noise! We walked from our house to the game, about 3 miles I think...but it was worth it, not to have to fight the traffic leaving the parking areas. I was so tired when we got home.... I curled up to watch tv..and woke up about 6:30 AM, the professor did too. We are just too old for all that excitement I guess. It was a night game...so maybe that is why we were so tired. Hope you all had a great weekend. Will post pics of the latest ufo's. Have one more almost finished and bound. Good thing these are little UFO's. Not near so intimidating!!!!

More from both sides of the Atlantic!

Ok, My very clever DD in law, is offering a free download of her invention, Seamingly Accurate. A wonderful tool to assist with consistent seams for any type of sewing...but designed specifically for her quilt patterns. Click the link and download...and what a gift. I have always been challenged... with consistency in seams... and this little gismo is great. She wanted to have it produced in a clear cling to stick to your machine... but the companies wanted a bit too much to produce.... but hey.... free to me is great. Hope you all try it and give her website a look. I already downloaded mine...and am about to put it on my machine.

This is a picture of our gardener in South Africa, wearing an OKLAHOMA STATE shirt we gave him, its the Professor's and DD's alma mater. I took the photo and forgot about posting it. My husband says I have forgotten, we don't have Majuba anymore...as we went to the store the other day to get the last of a few bedding plants...not much to pick from...and I brought them home...and laid them out on the flower bed...and left them! He said , I guess we'll get Majuba to put them in? I couldn't speak Xhosa, Majuba's language...and he didn't speak English...so we put things out and did lots of pointing! I have also included a little shot of my little side garden...and you may notice the infra red beam( black) box... we had installed to ward off nightime visitors! *S* They also have exposed plumbing pipes outside their homes...no idea why. It doesn't get cold enough to cause problems I guess...but it sure seemed cold to me when it was below freezing. The black burglar bars... just seem to slow down a determined criminal...as they kicked through them twice when breaking in. I think the burglar got such good stuff the first time, he HAD to come back a second time. After the burglar system was installed...we had no more break ins...just sirens in the middle of the night... cause they didn't know about the beam. I have almost finished my unpacking, of course I keep saying that...but it seems to be true! I had to add this picture of Charmagne, a wonderful street vendor, I shopped at her little sidewalk stall all the time. I miss her smiling face, and seeing what new stuff she might have out. This stall was on my way to the fabric store...so I saw her quite often. The next photo is the rest of my lounge, I adore my Korean quilt rack and the screen I bought there. Just need to get my South African paintings, another pillow or two...and hang a quilt and it will be done. This is an old 60's house... and I do like the neutral feel you get in them. Someone remarked on the Pottery Barn feel...no...just lots of garage sales and flea markets. I do love the old junk. Even the sofa came from a yard sale. Since the professor put me on a budget...and I didn't keep much furniture...it was what we found... just wish I could have been here for their big ...FREE trash day. They say you can really pick up some cool stuff by the roadside....and I do have a pickup!!!! Have a great day...and check out that seamingly accurate freebie.