Winter Up North

I know there are a good number of you that have been having a terrible winter down there. As for us up here in Alaska we have been having a very mild winter and enjoying every day of it! Sorry for all of you buried in the snow and cold, but I am glad it is not me this year. Most years we are buried in snow up to our eyeballs and this year we have no snow on the ground. It is great!! It is amazing how the weather can change from one year to the next. Here is a comparison from this year to two years ago. 


This was two years ago in February when we had record snowfall. We had over six feet of snow on the ground!

And here we are today with no snow on the ground! I just love it. This is a young moose in our backyard. It is so easier for the moose to get around with no snow. Two years ago there was so much snow that the young one's couldn't get around to eat so they were walking on the roads and parking lots and starving. It was terrible. :(

So as you can see......we are enjoying the mild winter very much. I do feel for you all that are buried because I have been there many years and it is not fun. Hang in there....spring is just around the corner!

Have a great weekend!

Time For Tips.....

I get LOTSSSSSSS of quilting magazines and over the years I probably have enough magazines to wallpaper my entire house!!! Most of them always have a page of tips and I keep a running log of these tips. Some of them I actually try and they do work. Here are a few that I read in my American Patchwork and Quilting Magazine that I thought you might like. 

• When working on a quilt project safety pin a scrap of batting to your shirt and put any stray threads from your quilt top, sewing table or floor onto the batting scrap. This saves time because you don't have to throw pieces of thread into the wastebasket. (Now...if you are me....you throw them on the floor and when they get knee deep you finally pick them up!)

• When threading a needle keep a tube of lip balm handy. Instead of licking the threads so they stay together put a dab of lip balm on them. (Sounds pretty good and that way you don't lick your finger and get all those germs...might have to try this one.)

• To see what you are cutting when fussy cutting squares use a plexiglass square template which can be cut by your local hardware store. (Yep....off to Home Depot!) 

• Use clothing steamer to remove the wrinkles from a new package of cotton batting. Giving the batting a light steaming gets out the wrinkles and shrinks up the batting a bit. ( I actually use this one and it does seem to work a bit. )

Hope these tips help with your sewing projects.

Have a great day and happy sewing! :)

SPRING CELEBRATION!!

Today starts the Old Farmhouse Gathering Team Colors of Spring Celebration!! Come join us and see all the wonderful new handmade items from this very talented team! Follow me  here  or just search COSOFG in the the search to see all the goodies this team has to offer. 

Here are my items that you will find at the celebration. :)

There are lots of goodies for your spring decorating and with the winter some of you have had I bet you can't wait to get started on your spring decorating! :)  So come shopping with me right here.

See you there! :)

Mark Your Calender for Tomorrow

Tomorrow starts the Old Farmhouse Gathering Team Colors of Spring Celebration! There are so many talented people from this great team. Here is a sample of what you will see during the celebration. I will post the link tomorrow when we go live. :)

Colleen :)

Mini Charm Mix Shortcut Quilt

As you know I love to quilt and I subscribe to the newsletter from the Fat Quarter Shop. In a recent newsletter they had an interesting short video on making a quilt from a mini charm pack. I haven't used charm packs a lot, but the few times I have used them I really like sewing with them. So much less cutting and I am all about saving time! :)

I thought you might like to see the video also, so here it is.....





Now.....we just need to find time to make one of these. Ya, right.....just put in on your to-do list right. LOL! :)

Happy sewing and have a great day!  

NEW LOOK FOR MY BLOG!!

L@@K...L@@K.....here is one of my new designs for my blog!! I am sooooooooooooo excited about it. I was really getting tired of my old one and just didn't like the way the backgrounds were so I told myself........self.....why not have some backgrounds custom made for you. :)

With that in mind of course who else to turn to but Deena at Ewe-N-Me Printables!! She does just amazing graphics. I have worked with Deena when she was running the By Your Hands Blog  and I love all her printables and graphics and as some of you know she does all the graphics for the Old Farmhouse Gathering celebrations (which one is coming up shortly.....more on that later) and does such a great job. 

I love all the different season and colors of the seasons so she is making me several different backgrounds celebrating the seasons and some holidays. This is the first one as Spring is almost here so we started with spring. I love all the colors she choose to use and the little butterflies and flowers. We worked back and forth on some of the design and this is what we came up with. And she also got my little sewing machine in there too! :)

So.....what do you think of my new design? Can't wait to see what she comes up with on the other ones. 

So if you are thinking about changing your blog or just need some graphics and printables I highly recommend Deena. Check her website here! 

Thanks Deena!

THE HISTORY OF VALENTINE'S DAY

With Valentine's Day this weekend I bet you were wondering how did Valentine's Day get its start. 

Well click on this link to go to The History Channel  and you can watch this short video on the history of Valentine's Day and how it got started. Pretty interesting I thought.  :)

DID YOU KNOW.....

Today it is time for more "Did you know"...... I think these are always interesting and you actually learn some new things. :) 

*  To determine whether an egg is fresh, immerse it in a pan of cool, salted water. If it sinks, it is fresh, but if it rises to the surface, throw it away.

*  Cure for headaches: Take a lime, cut it in half and rub it on your forehead. The throbbing will go away. (Need to have hubby try this since he has so many headaches.)

*  Don’t throw out all that leftover wine: Freeze into ice cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces.

*  If you have a problem opening jars: Try using latex dishwashing gloves. They give a non-slip grip that makes opening jars easy. (I also use my work gloves which are the sticky type of gloves...works like a charm since they have to put those lids on the jars with pneumatic pressure!) 

*  Potatoes will take food stains off your fingers. Just slice and rub raw potato on the stains and rinse with water.

*  To get rid of itch from mosquito bites, try applying soap on the area and you will experience instant relief. (Also baking soda pack will do this.)    :)

Yep...learn something new everyday! Have a good one! :)