My Sweet Valentine

A little fun I'm working on tonight. . . .



Happy Quilting,
Pokey

Illene's Quilt

Could you find time to sew a 9-patch, or two? Go see Lyn's blog at Bluebird Quilts. She's asking for a little help for a friend in need, and Lyn has a giveaway attached.


Lyn also posted these colors for the squares:

Join in, if you can.

Happy Quilting,
Pokey

Sandy's Giveaway!

Sandy has reached her one year blogoversary!


She's wanting to share her joy, so go see Sandy in Stitches!

Kitties and Yo-Yos

These are the weeks of report cards, grading stacks of student's work that seemed to be laid aside for a better time . . . WHAT was I THINKING?!? Where is my magic easy button? Oh, well, I'm plowing through. You know, I earned my name "Pokey"-!

Lydia's MIL-to-be loves cats, I think they currently are owned by 4 . . . .


Mrs. Wise's birthday was last week, so this charm tote was a joint venture by Lydia and I. She did all the collecting, cutting and piecing, and most of the quilting. I was involved in the final construction.


Lydia even made the neat zipper tote to match!




With my work (and actually we've had some fairly serious 'illness' in the family) I have sure missed the sewing machine.

My friend Leanna has been yo-yo busy. I was hoping to show a few things that she literally made into two yo-yo project kits for me, I'll show eventually.

But, she brought in this table runner today, and I'm so excited to share it with you!



She does such beautiful stitches, . . .



I cannot believe how tiny these are!



That's our U.S. quarter, so these finish at about 1 inch . . . .

I have my quilting class tomorrow, I'm helping my friend Ginny with her first quilt! Maybe soon, I'll be back to sewing! I hope, . . . .

Happy Quilting, Pokey

God's Promise

It has been raining in California. Three days in the classroom with 26 kids, MAN! We have done every creative thing I can come up with.




After school, this was the view outside my classroom around 4:30 pm, too late to show it to my kids. That would've been neat to enjoy their enthusiasm! Or to share mine with them-!



My Larry said this looked like God used the palm trees for a paintbrush....

Genesis 9:13

"I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth."

A rainbow is God's promise!
Pokey

Suzanne's Giveaway

Have you ever visited Suzanne's? Well, here's a GREAT reason to go:

Suzanne’s Great Big Giveaway (and sale)

What’s the occasion?

She's celebrating 1000+ blog posts, and starting a clearance sale to reduce the inventory in her small retail shop.

You ought to go see this one for yourself....

Happy Quilting, Pokey

We Have a Winner!

Hi! Every day this week, I've come home and written down names on slips of paper for the Patchwork Posse giveaway. I have had fun receiving emails, and visiting blogs.
Thank you to the followers that started with me, and to the new folks, welcome!
We'll try to "encourage one another to love and good works".
Today, Lydia helped me with drawing a name from the hat.

Congratulations to:
Alice Grace from Thoughts of Home!

Alice has a sweet blog, she is currently hosting a contest for when her amaryllis will bloom. That makes me smile!
Thank all of you again for your participation. If you are still interested in the Patchwork Posse, remember to purchase your membership before February, as the price will go up.

Happy Quilting!
Pokey

Plaid Ticker Tape

For Amy's Sew and Tell Friday, I wanted to share the plaid table runner that was made before Christmas.

It was sewn on the frame at the same time the Christmas ticker tape was made. I'm still learning how to run the machine, just look at this sad mistake:


This, my friends, is what happens when you forget to put the foot tension down- argh!
So, a few tender moments later (an hour watching The Mentalist), it is ripped out, and re-stitched on the Bernina. Hooray!


The back was actually leftovers from a little boy's baby quilt, patched and pieced, and the binding was done the same.



I enjoy the country goodness of plaid, and so this one is on my own table, for now anyway....
Thanks for peeking in today. Go see the other quilty creations being shared at Amy's.

Happy Friday! Tomorrow is the drawing for the Patchwork Posse giveaway, I'll probably post the winner on Sunday.

Happy Quilting,
Pokey

Patchwork Posse

Here's what Becky, the host of Patchwork Posse has to say,
Patchwork Posse .....anystitch, anytime, anywhere.

Patchwork Posse is an online sewing group with monthly 'meetings'. It is full of great sewing projects for every ability! Perfect to come and do as you can, when you can, and where you can! 2010 will be loaded with a bunch of sewing fun, projects, friendship and more than 15 exclusive patterns- and you won’t want to miss out!
In the upcoming 12 months there will be 14 teachers. They will be tutoring us in different sewing techniques and will provide us with some fabulous new projects. Many of our guest designers have already published patterns and fabric lines!
Regular price of the membership is $50.00/year. Right now there is a discounted rate of $40.00, available until February 1st! The membership is a one time fee for the whole year. That works out to less than $5.00 month and you will receive more than 14 NEW patterns. These patterns will include: quilts, bags, pincushions, stitching and embroidery. All of these one of a kind projects are designed exclusively for Patchwork Posse and are provided to us by the designers months before they are publicly available!

This is one of Becky's recent quilts posted on her blog, go check it out and see if Patchwork Posse isn't a perfect fit for you.


Sign up for a free membership being given away in my previous post, good luck to all!

Happy Quilting, Pokey

Give Away Post-Read On!

Millie is having a giveaway of the best kind, a beautiful quilt of her own! I can never believe the generosity of some quilters as they give a labor of love from their own hands! The work is beautiful, and look at the embroidery. Not to mention that it is RED, oh, my stars! You have until next Saturday to join in. Better do it now!

I'm doing one of my favorite things today, I'm meeting with my two dear friends Beth and Ginny at the LQS because Ginny is looking for a sewing machine to carry to class with her. Ginny was my teaching partner for five years, and she has decided to join in quilting now that she is no longer teaching. I miss her at school (she is who introduced me to the school where I teach, 22 years ago!) but will enjoy seeing her at our quilt class.

Speaking of friends, I have a few of the bloggy kind that I've met online, and recently have won some of their giveaways:

• Diane of Life Scraps Diane was parting with some Christmas "leftovers", you know, the fabric kind, that are non-perishable and non-caloric-!
• Elin's Kreative Side Elin of Norway shared Christmas prints, too. I plan to tackle some Christmas sewing in July this year!
• Bejeweled Quilts by Barb Barb is a jewel herself of the best kind. She's living in Samoa and finds time to blog and sew, and do volunteer work! She's sending a honeybun my direction, another "yummy" that won't get stale or add calories.
• Becky of Patchwork Posse drew my name in a new membership giveaway. Membership to the projects she and her team are putting together, to share throughout the year, complete with patterns.

Now, this brings me to my first giveaway! Are you still there? I was not "pokey" about the Patchwork Posse, I had already purchased my own membership. If you have ever visited Becky's original blog, you could see why. This girl has some sweet, very creative projects of her own.



See what I mean? TOO CUTE! Plus, I didn't show what she calls "cranky quilts", pretty cute, but go see for yourself.
I'm asking you to leave a comment if you are interested, but if you are a follower already, you have a name in the hat! So, one chance for followers, and one chance for comments. That's 2 opportunities apiece, people! Join up and join in if interested. Please make sure I can contact you by email. . . .
We'll draw on Saturday, January 16.

Happy Quilting, Pokey

One Down, . . .

Not tootin, or crowin'. I quilted one of the commissioned pieced tops, yea!
Three more to go. . . .

Oh, another thing, I won a year's subscription to the Patchwork Posse, have you gone over to see their stuff? I hope I can do some of it, soon.

Oh. and a package I've been waiting for- - -came TONIGHT! Well, today, I just got home late.
Monday is Quilt class night, you know. . .



Oh, Boy, Plaid Heaven! Right there on my plaid ticker tape table runner. . . .

Happy Quilting, Pokey

Happy New Year!

I love fresh beginnings. I always look at this day, January First, as first page in a new book. God gives us so much, and our attitudes toward a new beginning helps us to accomplish goals, commitments and even those long term projects.
This year, our daughter has a wedding date to plan toward. We are looking forward to having Jeff in our family. Well, He has been, they have been seeing each other since 2003! The wedding is planned for the weekend of Thanksgiving.

• Larry's folks are planning to visit in February, and we hope to be at their 50th Wedding Anniversary later this year. Their date is in March, but so many of the family, myself included, are in the teaching profession, so we are celebrating in June, in Alliance, NE.

This is only part of the Davis clan at Mom's big 8-Oh birthday this past March.

• Some of our quilty buddies are having giveaways today. Chris at We Love Quilting is clearing out her studio, and has some surprise packages to share, Fun!

• Brown Paper Packages is giving vintage linens, and you know that is on my to do list for this year. They are so soft and inviting, perfect to wrap around your loved ones.

• Don't forget to check out the daily plans shared by Becky of Patchwork Posse, boy, the ladies are showing us a variety of to do's. There is something for everyone.

As we go into the coming year, I pray for health and peace for us all, and that we are able to see some of the goals into realities.

God bless you, Pokey

p.s. these multiplied! * smile*