In The Boon Docks

The Blogger's Quilt Festival is starting over at Amy's Creative Side . I am submitting " Beauty and the Beast" , # 107 , as a Bed Quilt, it won 1st Place at the local County Fair. It lines up 114 (5") blocks in 14 rows. Please stop by the festival and look at all the beautiful quilts. Nominations are made November 1 - 4, Voting for your favorites November 5 - 8 at Amy's so please stop by and vote. The button is on the upper right hand corner. Categories for Voting: Favorite Bed Quilt my friend Irene quilts at home on her long arm machine, Favorite Home Machine Quilted Quilt. Quilt Specifications: #107 Sewn by: Elizabeth Johnson Size: 74" X 102" (fits my king size bed perfect) Fabric: Quilt Blocks, Ellen Luckett Baker, Moda; Kona Solid Coal, Robert Kaufman Binding: Another Iota, Robert Kaufman Awards: First Place Cabell County Fair Blogger’s Quilt Festival Stats Finished quilt measures : 74" X 102" Special techniques used : Pi

Just wanted to share the front of my Halloween quilt. I will be working this week to get the back completed to show you later. I think this quilt will be a two in one were you can use either side. I hope you like it! The fabric I used: Trick or Treat, Deb Strain, Moda; The Very Series, Eric Carle, Andover Fabrics, and a couple others that I will post at the end. I received them in swaps and don't know who made them. Here is Georgie our curious Chihuahua, he is full size, no teacup here! The wind was blowing making difficult for photos. Ok, now for the two Fabrics I love and could use some help identifying. If you know please let me know. I would be very grateful. Thanks for stopping at "In The Boon Docks", Lisa I will be linking up with Connie

Have you sewn your rows backwards, instead of the way you laid it out? Do your seams line up when you sew your rows together? Here are some tips I find helpful! 1. Label your rows - nothing fancy a sticky note with a pin. The best time to do this is before you remove your squares from the design wall or in my case my bed. Top squares in the middle of the block. That way it is not in the way when your sewing. 2. Pin your seam direction - Once you have sewn your blocks into rows lay them out in order and take row 2 lay it on row 1 prints facing each other. Take a pin with a head on it (mine are yellow), stick it on the back of the two rows you will be sewing together, pointing it in the direction of where you are going to sew. This way your rows will not get sewn on the wrong side. Do that for all your rows and stack them and head for the ironing board. 3. Iron your seams on row 1 one way and on row 2 the opposite. Just make sure you are consistent throughout your rows.

Look what was in my mailbox today, I thought I joined a Flickr Group and forgot about it. I was scared until I looked and saw it was from Tasmania, Australia where Rie lives. It is beautiful! Her blog is Crafty Rie she is one of the most talented knitter, crocheter, spinner, I have talked to online since I started blogging. You should take a look at her blog she made the coolest fish I have ever seen. I met her through a blog hop, which is a great way to find new blogs and meet new people online. I sent her some yarn and needles I had picked up at an estate sale because it was a half finished something with connected knitting needles and I had no idea how to finish it. My thought was she would know what to do with it. Of course, she did and sent it back for my granddaughter that is due in January. I never expected that! It bring me to tears. It makes me so happy to be apart of something. Such nice like minded people in the blogging community. Rie you are a treasure! She al

I got up this morning and decided I wanted to share my last 4 long stem roses for the season! 15 years ago, I was offered the bushes from a new homeowner who didn't want to care for a rose garden. When she bought the house the past owner had told her they were over 50 years old and had come from Massachusetts. Then 7 years ago, when we were selling our home in Virginia I dug them up again and planted them "In The Boon Dock", were they grow very happily and pretty wildly. I should take better care of the bushes besides cutting them back once a year to 12" to 14" high for Winter. The bushes were well over 7 feet yesterday when I cut them back! My next question was how to photograph them best. So you might enjoy them too! First I started out in the kitchen with one a piece of fabric and the flowers. Needs more color! As you can see the lighting caused shadows! Indoors, the colors get dulled! Bad lighting can really turn something beautiful into something bla

I have been cleaning our garage, what a mess, but I am finding lots of goodwill stuff. In the process I found some cross stitch things that I paid to much for to just dump in the box. If you are interested just be the first one to say "Me Please" and email me your address. This is a United States only giveaway. Sorry friends of other nations just can't do it this time. I will pay postage within the US. I figure someone out there can give this stuff a good home. Happy Sunday all. I hope you have a good week. Lisa

Do you ever buy fabric for that special quilt and never make it? Well I bought these fabrics over the last couple years and squirreled them away in one of my tubs. Thinking I would make a throw quilt for Halloween for the last 3 years. This year I am determined to complete it. Using 10" squares and sewing them together. Kind of simple and very colorful which anyone around the boon docks knows I love. Yesterday, I saw a pattern for witches legs somewhere on a blog. Terrible of me not to have written it down. Instead, I went looking for my Halloween fabric and started this project! Don't you just love these spiders and their webs? See, I found those legs with shoes and yes I have the names but not today. Today you get to peek! Do you have something squirreled away that maybe you should whip up for Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas? Dig them out and tell me what you haven't done. Maybe we can work on some holiday projects. XX Lisa

At the end of last month Rebecca @ making rebecca lynne announced the release of her pattern with a giveaway. Well I did not win one, I bought one, and I made one. As you will see below and I love it. The fabric I used is Kona Modern Quilts, Merlot Colorstory, by Cynthia Frenette, that I bought from Craftsy! They have great deals on fabric and yarn everyday! Sign up for the deals to be sent to your inbox daily on CRAFTSY I am no model that is for sure but I am doing the Pin it! Sew it! @ Pile O' Fabric and I have to post a picture on Pinterest to show I completed my pin it, sew it. So, everyone will see my smiling mug. But it is me, this is who I am, I do love the crop feature in photo editor so at least your not looking at me in my sweat pants. Or see me standing on a hill in my yard, just me and my Infinity Scarf. If you like scarves this is a nice, inexpensive, and easy to one to make! Thank you Rebecca! Everyone : I found the directions in the pattern easy to follow

Well I hope I have made a good deal. A neighbor down the road was having a Yard Sale. This was her lamp stand! It is filthy as you can see, so if you know what to use to safely remove grime off a sewing machine, HELP . This is a Singer G4146019 , patent date - June 14, 1910. My wedding anniversary is June 14th, I think that is why hubby agreed on the $75 cost. It needs some love that is for sure and a manual, which as soon as I post this I will be looking to buy one. You can find everything on the internet right? If you have any advice please share! I am really excited hopefully not for nothing. Know a good place to get parts, I want to know. I already know that I need a little rubber part that goes on by the bobbin winder, it is dry rotted. Have a great weekend and always check in those lamp stands. Lisa

I bought this fabric about 6 or 8 months ago from JoAnn's. I see people really snub these stores and I had a hard time writing this post. Because I like to shop there and sometimes I find the same quality a bunch cheaper. I have learned on this journey is nobody admits to going to Joann's Fabric Stores. Well both fleece prints, one yard a piece came from there! I still think they are cute, soft, well made, and available on sale with 50% off coupons! Perfect for young mothers who will bleach them to death and use them through several children. My very tiniest hat I made (love this one).. I send my husband for a tube of A&D and a box of wipes to go with these other items. He comes home with this huge box! His excuse was "I felt guilty spending $4.00 on my friends baby girl". I said "what do you think these other items might cost if you had to buy them"? His answer "tell her they are for me"! She laughed and laughed when I told her. She

Do you pin at Pinterest ? I and a lot of other bloggers have accounts there and pin. I can be a little pin crazy sometimes. You can find a picture, tutorials, fabric collections, designers just to name a few. Anything you are interested in it is probably on there. If you just want to look, you can look at mine HERE , I have all kinds of things pinned and there is a pin about Pin It, Sew It! . You click on that Pin and it will tell you about the sew along! It is a once a month Linky Party! The great part is you can find things you like by looking through others pins. You might have noticed a pin button on the bottom of blogs, if you have an account, pin it to you board, better than a bookmark. The search engine works great. Just " Pin It", take a look at Alyssa's great button and see what it is all about. Alyssa at Pile O' Fabric is the woman behind "Pin It, Sew It". You pick things you would like to make and do it! I think it is great! I wil