Two New Bigfork Bay Cotton Co Patterns

This handsome character is Romancing Red. He is one of the new pattern designs by Debi Hubbs http://www.artblooms.net/ for Bigfork Bay Cotton Co http://www.bigforkbaycottonco.com/. Bigfork Bay Cotton Co carries all the kits too and since they are the original designers, the fabric is the same as in the picture on the pattern. The kits are beautifully done too so they would make wonderful Christmas gifts.

Red is far more adorable than he looks in my poor photography. The Border is even in real life too. Do you think maybe I need a photography class. Nah. I'll stick to what I know best. Quilting. You just have to get the pattern and make him to see how wonderful he really is.

This little quilt is just adorable. It is called The Picnic by Debi Hubbs for Bigfork Bay Cotton Co. You know, you can purchase Debi's art work from her eBay store at http://stores.ebay.com/ARTBLOOMS-STUDIO-Artist-Debi-Hubbs Shipping is very fast. Yep, that means I've bought her art work too. And now her fabric line is out by Timeless Treasures called Blackbird Jubilee. I see that Julie has some of the new line at Big Horn Quilts. http://www.bighornquilts.com/ Guess where I'm going this weekend! We have Saturday Strip Club so I'm going to get the new Blackbird Jubilee fabrics while I'm there, among other things. She really has the most amazing shop. Her prices are wonderful and so is her selection.

I did some other quilts too but they are repeats so you have already seen them. If not check out my archives. I think I'm getting two more new ones soon. So, I guess the saga is "to be continued...."

Vince's First Birthday

I was informed that I hadn't posted any pictures of Vince's first birthday so I thought I had better get with it. Here he is getting some help with the new toys. He got so many noisy toys! Do you think it was some sort of payback? I think so.
Isn't this just wonderful. He LOVED the Barney DVD. The look on his dad's face was more like OH NO!!!! Humm, Aunt Jenny, is that why you bought Barney?
Mom and Dad bought him his very own birthday cake. He hadn't even started to have fun with it yet in this picture. He was covered by the time he was done. It was a good thing his mom laid down plastic before he started.

Chicken A La Carte Quilt

I just love this quilt! It is designed from the art work of Debi Hubbs
http://www.artblooms.net/ The pattern and kit are available from Bigfork Bay Cotton Co.
http://www.bigforkbaycottonco.com/ I think I need to redecorate my office in Debi Hubbs designs. She designed a line of fabric for Timeless Treasures called Blackbird Jubilee that I can't wait to get. Let me think now...pillows and a lap quilt for the couch, a new valance, chickens and crows on the walls....I would be so happy in my office!
Then there are the new designs from Tony Whitney for the rest of the house. Alan wants the horse Spring Storm. Wait until he sees the new designs! Wait until YOU get to see the new designs!!!! They are coming soon to a blog near you.

Perrito The Pug

Perrito at Market in the Batik Textile Booth.

Lee Anne, the owner of Batik Textiles http://www.batiktextiles.com/ asked me to make this 56"x66" pug quilt for her booth at Quilt Market in Houston using her absolutely lovely batiks. The pug was originally painted by David King http://www.pugcasso.com/.

Bigfork Bay Cotton Co. made a smaller pattern of this design that just came out at International Quilt Market along with several other wonderful new designs. Lee Anne loved this design and wanted me to make a larger version. I added borders which were designed by David at Bigfork Bay. He did such an amazing job of the graphics for the cover that I just used it for the border.

The new patterns from Bigfork Bay Cotton Co http://www.bigforkbaycottonco.com/ will be showing up on my blog as I make the trunk shows. Patterns and kits can be purchased from Bigfork Bay Cotton Co directly but you can ALWAYS ask your local quilt shop to get them for you! I know that Bighorn Quilts caries some of them at http://www.bighornquilts.com And by the way, the batiks from Batik Textiles are absolutely the most amazing batiks. If your shop isn't carrying them yet, tell them about them and have them look at the website. If I were a shop owner I would have the entire line.

I sound like a salesman, but everyone who knows me knows that I only promote things I love and that if I love something I think you need it too.

I had a great time making this quilt. I only wish the quilting showed up. Thanks to Traci Marvel at BBCC for all she does for me. I love you Traci!

Two More of Bigfork Bay Cotton Co's

Here are two more quilts I have done for Bigfork Bay Cotton Company. American Icon, the cowboy is pretty big. I was a little nervous about quilting it, but it wasn't hard at all. I posted a close-up of some of the quilting so you can see that I even quilted the eye, nose, eyebrow, and ear. I had to do the buttons, placket, and button holes too. It was a lot more fun than I thought it would be.

4 Ever Friends is the name of the quilt with the 4 horses. It was a lot smaller than the American Icon so I wasn't intimidated to do it at all.

I can't wait until the new line of patterns comes out at Market the end of this month. I am doing one for Batik Textiles that I can't wait to post on my blog but I can't post it until it premieres at Market in Houston.

Vince and Randy Mariners Game

We moved Randy's things to Washington for him the end of September and while we were there Randy got us all Mariners Baseball Tickets. It was the first Pro Baseball game for Shelly, Vince, and I. He and Alan had been to them before. Our friends, the Peranders, went with us. We were in row 14 right behind the 3rd base. It felt like being on the ground. We even did the WAVE during the game. I had my first Ball Park hot dog and being in Seattle I got a latte at the game too.

We had so much fun while we were at Randy's. He has such a nice house. It has plenty of room for me to go out for some of the wonderful sewing events that they have near him.

While we were there, Shelly, Randy, Vince and I went to the ocean and one day we spent walking around downtown Olympia. Randy took me to one of my favorite Quilt Shops, Bayside Quilting, where he bought me a logo sweatshirt, and we had lattes in a cafe on our walk. It was so much fun. We even went into Antique shops. Vince was a perfect child. Well, he was the perfect traveling child the whole trip.

I can't wait to go back. I guess I can probably wait until Spring though since it snowed hard while we went over the pass at Bozeman on the way home. I don't care to go over the passes in the winter. They just aren't fun.

Blue Paint

This is another quilt from Bigfork Bay Cotton Company. I love it. It's called Blue Paint. It's a pretty big quilt. The Artist who designed it is Brenda Yirsa. Debi Hubbs designed the quilts of the chickens, crows, and frogs, and Toni Whitney designed the horses in the previous blogs. Debi was kind enough to give me a comment on my last blog entry. I was so shocked and impressed. Thank you Debi. I love her website. You should check it out. http://www.artblooms.net/ It's so much fun. Be sure to go to About Debi. What a great personality.

More Quilts From Bigfork Bay Cotton Co

These are all of the quilts I finished this last week. I know... my camera doesn't do well with taking pics of quilts but you get the idea. I did two of the cow one that's called Chicken Date. These quilts are all by Bigfork Bay Cotton Company...website on the right. I use Aurifil thread to quilt and Quilters Dream Cotton Batting. Applique is done using Wonder Under by Pellon. I not only love making these quilts but I love working with such a great group of women. Someday I hope to meet them in person. God gave me a great gift when He got me this job.

I get two more this week. It's like Christmas when I get new patterns and kits. These quilts are all done with the kits from Bigfork Bay and I would recommend anyone making these to use their kits. The fabric is fabulous!

Winner of the Kiddy Parade

Kenzie's other Grandma, Charlie, decided to enter Kenzie in the Powell Kiddy Parade. She drove her truck with a big wagon hitched to it with all her stuffed horses inside the wagon, well, except her favorite which was in the back of the truck. Poor Grandma Charlie had to walk the whole way too with hardly any sleep and her bad knees. When Kenzie won first place Grandma Charlie said it was all worth it.

We had never seen the Powell Parade before so we stayed to see it after the Kiddy Parade. They have it every year during the fair. We were absolutely shocked at the amount of candy that was thrown to the children. When we were sitting by the curb waiting for the parade to start I noticed some children just down from us pulling out the plastic bags. I thought they were being either very optimistic or they were the kind of children who would bowl you over trying to get that one piece of candy in the street. They were neither. They just had parents who had been to the parade before. By the time the small parade was over, Kenzie's hat she is wearing was overflowing and she had given away at least that much to the smaller children around us who couldn't get it as fast. I do believe that a child can do better in 1/2 hour of the Powell Parade than 2 hours of trick or treating at Halloween.

We had a fun time. Thank you Grandma Charlie for entering Kenzie in the parade.

In Full Bloom for Jenny

I am going to get a different photo of this quilt. I don't know what my problem is lately with pictures. I'm going to blame the camera. It couldn't possibly be the lighting or me.

Anyway, a long time ago, at least a year, Jenny and Mike remodeled their living room. Since Jenny is short on decorating abilities, or so we think, her control freak sister Shelly and her control freak Mother took over and hung pictures. Knowing I was going to make this quilt, we left a big space on the wall for it to hang. I truly expected to get it done sooner but I did get the top finished in time for her birthday, thinking of course that I would have it quilted within a week. Just short of a month later I finally finished!

One of the reasons it took so long to make is because I made two at the same time. Being in a hurry to finish Jenny's in time for her birthday I stopped working on both at the same time and focused on hers. I have one block left to finish on my quilt before I put it together and quilt it. I have been using the Aurifil thread on my applique quilts but with all the colors in this quilt I went back to the mono filament thread. I sure like the way the Aurifil looks and quilts better. The mono filament looked like it was too bright and glowing. Maybe someday I'll have every color they make just so I can use it for a quilt like this!

Three From Bigfork Bay Cotton Company

I know this is a horrible picture but I had to hurry up and get it in the mail. This quilt is going to Ricky Tims for Justins office. I was extremely thrilled to find that out. This one is called Dancing Chickens. I can't wait to do the others too.

This quilt is called Star Gazing. This is the picture of their quilt not mine. I can't find mine in my files. They are by Bigfork Bay Cotton Company. The have the kits available if you call 1-866-245-5178. These quilts are sewn with Aurifil thread, fused with Wonder Under, and all fabric is by Batik Treasures. Bigfork Bay Cotton Company are distributors for Aurifil thread and at their website you can get all the colors in all the sizes. http://www.bigforkbaycottonco.com/

This one is called Thinking of You. I had to put the stars in and with a machine that was acting up that wasn't an easy task. I cut off the heart in the sky above his head accidently when I was taking the picture. It is a heart of stars. Sweet........

Boondoggle a la Flamingo

Chris came up with the idea that she, Beth, and I should all do Boondoggle Quilts together. She then bought us all rulers and patterns and sent them out so that we could all do them at the same time. I got Jeanie involved here in Cody so now all four of us were going to Boondoggle. Well, between re-doing a bathroom, graduation, a new job, and just plain life in general, the Boondoggle virtual retreat didn't work out.

I finished my quilt a few months ago, so as incentive to the others I am posting it as a solo act. The reason for my excitement was because I was so eager to use the embroidery designs called Fantasy Flamingos by Cactus Punch.

I stippled the embroidered flamingo blocks. The dots on the black are hologram dots which really makes the art deco feeling of the quilt just shine. I did redesign the blocks a little so the diamond isn't like the pattern exactly.

Come on girls........The bathroom is done, graduation is over, Germany is a distant memory, the job, well, it's just always going to be there, and Jeanie, you have to finish before the baby get's here!

Vince and Shelly

Okay! I can't stand not having an updated photo of Vince. He changes so fast. He is such a loveable baby.

Shelly looks great too, doesn't she? She is such a good mom. I really get a kick out of her telling me how to do things, like I've never had a child before. She always was the bossy one. (Sorry Shelly, but you know it's true.) Jenny was the opposite. She just assumed I knew everything.

Oh, I have to tell you a story. Kenzie's Aunt Lisa, Mike's sister, is here from Ohio. Lisa, Mike, Jenny, and Kenzie, came over for a fish fry one night and of course Lisa HAD to hold Vince for the first time. Well.......Kenzie started throwing a fit. Not just a little poutty fit, it was a running down the hall into the bedroom, slamming the door, stomping feet with arms crossed fit. I thought she was jealous because Lisa was holding Vince instead of paying attention to her. I couldn't have been more wrong! Kenzie was extremely upset because SHE wanted Vince! That girl loves her cousin so much! Lisa kept telling me I was wrong and sure enough, as soon as Kenzie got Vince she was happy again.

Busy Busy Busy

I don't have any pictures to show this time. I have been so busy since my vacation. Vince has been over every day for his grandma sitting time. He is growing up so quickly, he's 6 months old you know. He finally said "Mama"! Now I need to work on Nana.

The quilting jobs have been pouring in so every spare minute once Vince leaves seems to be going to quilting. Like I mind! When I do get some spare time, I'm working on the Pine Needles Series "In Full Bloom" by McKenna Ryan. I'm doing two at the same time. Kathi Charles and I are doing them together. Jeanie is picking out another series to do too since she got her Farm one done. I have decided to start on a Christmas one in the middle of all of these that's called "When Friends Gather". I don't know why I'm doing it. I don't have a single place to put it. I guess I can take one down at Christmas time. Like I need to start changing them with the seasons......I could you know......Maybe that's not a bad idea after all! (you can tell I'm getting old when I start talking to myself in my blog)

Before vacation I was making matching outfits for Kenzie and Peanut (Elizabeth) so I have got to get back to those too. Peanut is 3 and Kenzie is 5. The outfits have rick rack flowers on them and since they are for summer I had really better get with it.

Randy has been in Washington at the Operating Engineers School in Ellensburg. On the weekends he goes to either Lacey or Sedro Wooley. So far he's gone deep sea fishing on the ocean and gone to a Mariners/Yankees baseball game. He's camping in the mountains by Sedro Wooley this weekend. I think he might be learning a lot in school too. I sure miss him but I am so proud of him for doing such a great job. Only 50 applicants were accepted out of 1200 so we are really excited.

Ozark Arkansas

Here are a couple of pictures from our trip to Ozark Arkansas. The first picture is Donald Joy, or Huck as we call him, with Alan on our first day there. He took us on a little drive to see the hills. They had just had a frost for the first time in something like 125 years that really froze the leaves so it looked more like fall while we were there than spring.

The second picture is the set-up Huck has for his Hog Roasts! On my birthday they roasted this hog and around 60 people showed up with food and goodies of all kinds. We didn't just meet a lot of nice people there, we made a lot of very good friends. The effort Huck took to roast this hog was amazing. He didn't go to the store and buy it ready to cook. The hog showed up the day before the roast on all fours. The day they got the hog was the day that I decided was a good day for Betty, our hostess, and I to go to the Martha Pullen event in Rogers. We had a really great time and I spent way too much money at Martha's shop that was set up. It was so fun to look at Martha's newsletter at all the pictures and say, "We were there, and there, and......."

We had so many wonderful adventures in Arkansas and we plan to go back soon. Not too soon, I can't handle the heat, but soon.

My Birthday Gift From Alan

I'm sure everyone is expecting photos of our vacation in Arkansas but I absolutely have to show off my Birthday gift from my husband. I have wanted a spool cabinet for as long as I can remember. While we were in Arkansas we met Lamar, the brother of our good friend Donald. As soon as we entered Lamar's house I was so impressed by the fact that on each side of their sofa was a spool cabinet. I had never seen two cabinets in one place before. When Donald showed us the Victorian bed in their bedroom I was even more surprised to see three more! Now, I thought that was the largest collection anyone could have until I found out he owns about 20 of them!

Lamar and Alan came to be very good friends and when I wasn't around Alan found out the Lamar was willing to part with a two drawer cabinet. I had heard the price at one point and knew we couldn't really afford it so I didn't even bother to want to look at it.

Donald had a huge Hog Roast on my birthday (pictures will follow in another post). Later on in the day Alan asked Betty, Donalds wife, if he should give me my gift then or wait until everyone got there. I thought I had already bought my gift the day before at a Martha Pullen event. They decided I should have it then so when they went into the bedroom to get my gift, I cleared off a spot in front of me at the table to open it. Was I ever surprised when Alan came out with this spool cabinet. Needless to say, I started crying. Alan ALWAYS gets me great gifts and they always seem to make me cry. The funny thing was that we had gone to an auction and when Alan told me there wasn't room for me to get these two Victorian chairs I didn't believe him and bid on them anyway when he wasn't looking, knowing they would easily fit in the car. After I got the spool cabinet I told Alan, "Now I understand why you didn't want me getting the chairs!" Everything did fit in the car on the way home but it was a tight squeese.

We had a good time in Arkansas but I can honestly say that besides the wonderful friends we made, the spool cabinet was the best part.

Kenzie & Vince Watching Happy Feet

Mike brought Kenzie over to Cody when he went to work on Good Friday so we could all dye eggs for Easter. Along with Kenzie was the magic back pack that seems to have everything you'd ever want in it. When Shelly and I mentioned the movie Happy Feet, Kenzie reached into her magic back pack and out came her hand with the movie in it as she announced, "Here it is!" Kind of made me think I should have asked for something like money... but since the magic was used for the movie, I would be happy with that.

Vince really seemed to like the movie even though his attention span wasn't really good. Kenzies wasn't either but Grandpa and I really liked it. Shelly had rented the movie a couple days before so I had seen it already but Alan had only seen part of it. We really liked watching it the second time especially because we knew the outcome of the scarry parts.

Oh, and a special Vince update: He can now roll over from front to back AND back to front. He's getting to be such a big boy!

Hawaiian Quilt Makes It Home

I'm guessing it's been about 8 years since I started the Hawaiian quilt on the bed in this picture. I designed the applique myself. Since my knees are so bad and I couldn't baste the quilt on the floor, my dad made an 8 foot square platform on a couple of tables in his basement for us to baste on. The applique is cut out like a paper snowflake so all the edges are bias. It took several days for friends and family to help baste the applique to the background. While we were working away one day, the neighbors had given my dad some garden tomatoes. He was so excited as he bit into one while standing there watching us work. Yep, you guessed it. Tomato went everywhere! My poor dad felt so bad. He ran to the store for cleaning products and we got the mess out but that was just the first of many mishaps for this poor quilt. At one point so many disasters had happened to this quilt top that I wasn't sure if it was ever meant to be a quilt.

It took over a year of working off and on for me to finish the hand turned applique. It took even longer to quilt. Tradidtionally a Hawaiian quilt is hand quilted in echoing lines around the applique design. Since my quilt wasn't a true Hawaiian I decided that the area between the border and the center would be perfect for a trapunto feather design. I started hand quilting and after thinking I had really accomplished a lot I realized I had only done about one foot square. It sat for quite awhile because I was so discouraged and I finally decided to machine quilt it for a show. I gave the quilt to Jeanie Knudson to quilt and had it finished in time to hang at the show.

Between the time of the tomato incident in my Dad's basement and the hanging in the show, my Dad had a stroke and had been in the Long Term Care Center. My father-in-law had one too and was his roommate. I had asked the LTCC if they could bring the dad's to the show for me so that my dad could see the finished Hawaiian quilt that had started it's life in his basement so long ago. They brought my dad's and several others to the show that day. I was so excited for my dad to be there that when a TV News Crew wanted to interview me about the quilt hanging above on the wall, I refused because my dad was there. Jeanie Knudson did the interview for me and I had my picture taken with my dad in front of the Hawaiian quilt by Jeff Banks. Both quilts won first place in their categories by the way but nothing compared to having my dad see that quilt.

The quilt had still not been on a bed when Michelle Quick asked for quilts to be hung in a crisis center type place where the police take children of abuse for intervewing. I offered this quilt since I thought it had a calming effect and it hung in the interrogation room for over a year. Michelle brought it back today after I told her I finally had a place for it. I am so happy to have it home. She told me it had been very loved where it was hanging.

I'm so amazed that a quilt that had yet to be on a bed can hold so many dear memories for me. No other quilt I have ever made, and there are over 300 of them, has had the impact on my life that this quilt has. I hope the stories of this quilt will live on and grow for my family forever.

Crystal and Vince!

Crystal came home to surprise her mother Pat for her Birthday. It was so good to see her! Crystal looked WONDERFUL! It was the first time she got to see and hold Vince.

I do believe Vince is sporting a "NEW" Atlanta Falcons shirt in this photo! Humm, do you think Crystal brought it from Georgia? He looks pretty darn good in it! He will outgrow it in a few short months so I guess she'll just have to come home again soon to bring him a bigger size!

Crystal has always had so much enthusiasm, warmth, and positive energy. In just a few short months she has been promoted to Manager of the Deli in the WalMart she works at. That is quite an accomplishment and I am so proud of her. I'm not surprised though, she is a very hard worker and has such a great personality. I do hate having to say goodbye to her when she leaves. It always makes me cry.

Mackenzie turned 5 on the 15th. Here she is in her crown from the card Shelly and Pony gave her. Shelly won as the best gift giver. She always did know how to pick out the best toys. Everyone at the party wanted to play with the ones she brought Kenzie. Shelly is the person in the toy store who turns on every toy there, and I mean EVERY TOY. By the time she leaves the employees are happy to see her go I'm sure.

The night gown Kenzie is holding is the one I made her. I have had the fabric for about a year now so I thought I should get it made. She loves it even though it is a little long. I offered to shorten it for her but she quickly refused. I think she feels like a princess in it. She is a princess all the time anyway, who needs a gown.

We are watching both Kenzie and Vince tonight. Kenzie is spending the night. She is always so much help with Vince. She is so cute, she calls him Vince Michael. ALWAYS. I am really looking forward to having them both. They have so much fun and you can tell Vince Michael just loves Kenzie too.

Kenzies Capri Set

I finished Kenzie's capri set today, on her Birthday. Her party isn't until Sunday so I had a little time, but I was really worried about getting everything done on time. The taupe pair of capri has a double ruffle around the bottom. Kenzie had seen a pair on the Country Bumpkin website and wanted them. I had to figure out how to do the double ruffle for myself. Alan searched for over an hour in JoAnns in Billings for the perfect fabric. The lime green pair was the pair I made to make sure I had the pattern right. When I tried them on Kenzie inside out to adjust them to fit she wasn't quite sure what to think of it. Especially when I started pinning them while she was still wearing them. I was really surprised that two completely different colors of bottoms both matched the top perfectly. It's all in the pink and green. Now that I have more time I think I'll go get a knit top and embroider something on it to go with the lime bottoms.

You can't tell by the photo's but I embroidered the straps on the top. The smocking in the top was the first piece of smocking I ever did. I went out to Chris's house and we pleated the fabric. We poured over, I swear, 100 Sew Beautiful and Australian Smocking and Embroidery magazines and I picked out my smocking design. After going through all those magazines I ended up picking my design out of her smocking plates! Originally the smocking was going to go into a dress but since that hadn't happened yet, I put in in a top instead. I enjoy smocking so much and I will always remember that day at Chris's.

I sure do miss you Chris!

More on Vince

Here is an updated photo of Vince. He is just so precious. I love watching him while Shelly is at work. Kenzie turns 5 years old on the 15th. It seems like yesterday that she was this size so I know that all too soon this time will fly by. I am so thankful for the time I had watching Kenzie as a baby while Jenny was at work and I am so blessed to be able to do it again with Vince. Being a Grandmother is the most wonderful gift from God.

Stack-N-Slash

At Bighorn Quilts in Greybull the first Saturday of every month we get together for a program, pattern, and sew day if we want to stay. The objective for the next few months is to help get rid of our stashes, like that is going to happen since we shop afterwards. Even though most of the patterns will involve 2 1/2" strips, this month was fat quarters. I decided it was a good time to use a crayon fabric I've had for years. It became my border and focus fabric. The backing is little hand prints in primary colors that I'v had since Randy was really young, and now I'm using it for my grandson.

Kathi Charles, Jeanie Kieft and I sewed that Saturday at Kathi's house, after shopping of course. We actually sewed both Saturday and Sunday. Kathi is the most amazing hostess. We have our Knotty Girls Group there one Friday evening a month and she ALWAYS makes the most amazing dinners. That is one night I REALLY look so foward to.

Randy Turned 20!

Randy turned 20 years old on the 22nd. My youngest is now officially a man . I just have to say that I am so proud of the man he is becoming. I love his compassion for other people and his vision for himself. He has applied for the Operating Engineers Apprenticeship Program in Washington state and so far has passed the test and been interviewed. Notice the "blade" on the cake. Dad picked the cake out. Kenzies fingers really aren't blue, they truned that way when I took the red out of her eyes but I am just too lazy to start over.

The party was really fun. We had Randy's favorite food, taco salad and the cake was a Dairy Queen ice cream cake. Talk about an easy party.

Preppie Vince

See this just goes to show..."The clothes makes the man". I still haven't seen him in his little duckie booties.

Vince In His Camo

I think he looks like a Gangsta' in this outfit! Doesn't he have the cutest cheeks?

Vince Got A New Book

I made Vince a machine embroidered cross-stitched book of the most adorable animals. Ellen Maurer-Stroh is the designer. The designs are free by signing up to a Cross-Stitch group at http://www.cross-stitch-board.com/stitch-board.com/ Another set she has that I haven't stitched out yet, but will soon, is of toys AND she is designing another set that will have zoo animals, including a flamingo. On the Cross-Stitch Board she also has hand charts you can download if you don't have an embroidery machine or just enjoy handwork. Her designs are just amazing. She is the one who does the little babies in animal outfits. Be sure to check her out. Here is her website http://www.maurer-stroh.com/ Her floral designs are the best I've seen.

But back to the book. I stitched it out on weavers cloth and used a lightweight interfacing in between the pages when I sewed them together. It is about 3 1/2"high. I stitched two designs on one page. It was really funny too because I took great care picking out which animals were going to be next to each other, not thinking that I was stitching out pages and they would be on opposites ends of the book. The one I made sure I kept in the center was the cat and mouse. Shelly HATES mice with a passion so I made sure it was next to the cat so in her mind she could tell herself that the cat ate the mouse.

My New Office/Baby Room

After all my hard work I can finally put Vince in his bed or sit at my desk. I'm not done with all the decorating things, like the pillows on the couch or the fact that I haven't figured out what i want to do for the window treatment yet but I am SO happy that the bed is GONE and I have room to move! Now I need to get the other two rooms finished!