It's PIF Time!

It's PIF time!  Jade from Budapest, Hungary, is doing a PIF on her blog, and I was one of the lucky winners of her PIF.  So, it's my turn to pass this along!

To join in, all you have to do is leave a comment on this blog entry saying you wish to participate. If there are lots of candidates, I will draw three names from a hat to pick the winners. They will have to post a PIF entry on their blog and post this logo as well.

I'll pick the winners on November 15th.  Be sure to leave an e-mail address so I can contact you if you're selected. 

The three people will then get a small, hand-made gift from me within one year. In return, they too will have to gift the winners they have chosen. And so on, and so on. This is how we stitching bloggers spread the love we put into our projects.

Ready to PIF?  Leave a comment.
 
Happy Stitching!
 
Vicki in CO

Here's a Giveaway You DON'T Want To Miss!!

Pumpkin Patch Primitives Quilt Shoppe: It's a Happy Halloween Giveaway!

WOW - check out this awesome giveaway!!

Kathy Has Two Nice Giveaways

Check out Kathy's blog for two nice giveaways for her blog-aversary!  Deadline for entries in October 31. 

Vicki in CO

New Finish & Fabric for New Projects

I finally got a photo taken and uploaded for the Quilt of Valor (QOV) I finished up on our way home from our son's last Sunday.  I'll deliver my two finishes for the month to Alycia, the lady who coordinates this program for our Guild at our Tuesday meeting this week. 

Here is a closeup of one of the sections with the star fabric.  The silver around each star is sparkly and looks so nice in person.

Hopefully I'll have another one to finish binding on when we head to our son's for Thanksgiving in a few weeks; stitching binding down is the perfect job for a car trip.

I made a quick run to JoAnn's this morning to get a few DMC floss I needed for a couple projects, and also to take advantage of their sale on Christmas fabrics.  I picked up 6 different fabrics for a song.

The one on the bottom right is a 'cheater' fabric panel.  I need to get a quick, small project done to donate for an upcoming Silent Auction fundraiser for our local Humane Society.  So, I thought I'd use a couple squares of this fabric to make a table runner, one of the other fabrics for a border (not sure which one yet), another for backing (top left) and binding. 

Then, I'll use the rest of the panel (2 squares x 2 squares) to make a Christmas table topper for our son's kitchen table (his table is a round, slate tile top, Bistro style set).  I think this would look very nice in his kitchen.

I'll post photos once these projects are finished up.  Meanwhile, I want to get a little backstitching work done on the Hummel for my friend before the day is over.  I have lots of photos to post from our trip, but I'd like to play around and see if I can create a slideshow for those photos; I think that is a project for another day. 

My camera has been busy clicking more photos of the mama and her adopted baby.  It brings a smile to my face that goes all the way through my heart, watching those two enjoying being together.  A very special thing indeed.  I'll save those updates for another day as well.

So, that's it for now.  It was over 80 here today; definitely a beautiful Indian summer day.  Until next time, Happy Stitching!

Vicki in CO

Lucky, The Newest Member of Our Family

Some of you know about our new fur baby, Lucky.  He was featured on the front page of our local newspaper on Tuesday; he and his five litter-mates were rescued from a trash dumpster and taken in by a local animal rescue group.  You can read the story here. 

Seeing that little furry face, that looks SO much like my Oreo Cookie (aka 'Helping Kitty,' 'Tacky Oreo' and other names not suitable for all audiences), in my heart, I just KNEW he was meant to become part of our family.

Fairly early the next day, I called my DH from work and said, "How much do you love your wife?"  Having been married for 38 years next month, he knows me pretty well and replies, "What did you buy now?"  A bit indignant, I replied, "Nothing.  BUT, I do have something I want YOU to buy." 

I went on to tell him I'd spoken to the rescue group, and the kittens we'd talked about at dinner the night before would be available for adoption at noon that day.  I told him I REALLY hoped he'd go and get one of these kittens.

He was second in line to choose one of the kittens at noon!  The lady who was first in line choose one with an all black face.  DH said he choose the one he felt looked the most like Oreo, and turns out he chose the one who was featured in the newspaper. 

When DH brought our new fur baby to my office to show him off, one of my staff suggested we name him Lucky, since he was lucky to be alive after being in the dumpster without food or water for who knows how long.  That seemed to fit just fine, so Lucky it is.

This is Lucky taking a catnap during his first evening in his new home.  Isn't he adorable?  He has the loudest purr for such a tiny kitty!

He is giving me that "WHY are you taking my picture over and over?" look.

At first, Oreo Cookie felt obligated to hiss at him, and he obligingly returned the hiss.  However, it wasn't long before Oreo was sneaking over to him to give him a couple of grooming licks and a sniff or two, then letting out a half-hearted hiss.  Isn't Lucky the spitting image of his new mom?!

Today, the hissing is all over and Oreo has taken over her role as Lucky's adopted mom, grooming him patiently and lovingly, just as I knew she would! 

I have a suspicion from his early fame, he just MIGHT be a bit of a ham.  What do you think?

One last photo of the little sweetie...

OK, I think that's the update on Lucky and Oreo for the moment.  Expect more photos and stories of his escapades in the future.

Till Then, Happy Stitching!

Vicki in CO

Halloween Time!

Another work week is over--yeah!!  I hope to get some stitching time in this weekend.  Below is the top of my lateral file cabinet at work.  I change the artificial flowers, depending on the holiday.  The blocks are changed on a regular basis, depending on the season and/or holiday. 

When I was looking for something in a downstairs closet a week ago, I found a large shopping bag I'd completely forgotten about.  Inside was an applique wall hanging I made last year to hang in my office behind my desk.  So, it is now on the wall in my office for the Halloween season.  Here's a photo:

Since I'm a cat (as well as dog) lover, wouldn't it figure I'd do a black cat for Halloween?

LOTS of updates for the past week or two, so I may have several posts in the next few days.

Happy Stitching!

Vicki in CO

Oreo Cookie Attacks Tacky Bob During Stitching Finish!

Oh my goodness, I have so many updates from the past week, I hardly know where to start. Guess I'll start with the last one first (sort of).  Tonight I finished the Kustom Krafts October SAL. Woo Hoo!! It is an adorable poinsettia design, intended to go on a jar lid. I was tempted to finish it as a tree ornament, but found the perfect jar while shopping at Wally World last night.

I decided to add a few green beads to the center, and that's when my 'helping kitty,' Oreo Cookie, got into the act. I grabbed my beading supply container, found some green beads, poured a few out on my Tacky Bob and got to work. As you can see by this photo, my Tacky Bob is now broken and is not so tacky anymore!  The photo doesn't capture just how much Oreo Cookie fur is now covering Tacky Bob!  Maybe I'll rename it my Furry Bob?!  I don't think Oreo will ever be very good at bead work!  Guess I'll have to add a new Tacky Bob to my 'Wish List.'  Dang cat!

As a long-time paper crafter and scrapbooker, I have a 3-ring binder of various shape plastic templates.  One of the circle templates was the perfect size, so I drew a pencil circle on the back of the stitched design and cut it out, added a circle of high loft quilt batting, and glued that to a cardboard circle.  Then I glued all of that down to the jar lid, with the excess fabric glued down around the edge.  Last, I added sparkly ribbon around the side of the jar lid to hide the raw edge of the fabric.  These photos don't do justice to how pretty this looks in person (blame the photographer--me!) 

For right now I 'borrowed' my DH's bag of almond M&M's.  I think this would look great on a shelf or table with red/white peppermints or holiday color M&M's in it.  Thanks so much to Dyan from Kustom Krafts for this free project through her Yahoo group!  Here's another photo of the finished project.

Needless to say, Oreo Cookie is now banned from my stitching area when I'm beading!

Happy Stitching!

Vicki in CO