Turning an old TV cabinet into a Quilt cabinet!!

Several months back, my husband I were walking around in a Salvation Army Thrift store. You never know what treasure's you can find in those stores.  You know "one man's junk is another man's treasure"!  Anyway, I spotted a used TV cabinet and while looking at it an idea popped into my head. 

Why not take out the tv base and add a closet rod and turn it into a "quilt cabinet".  Well, that cabinet was in pretty bad shape so I decided not to buy it.   A few weeks ago my husband asked me what I wanted for Christmas.  I thought about that old cabinet and told him that I wanted to look for another one and actually make that quilt cabinet.

Well, lo and behold we found one at another thrift store in Broken Arrow and got a great deal on it!
 

I removed the tv base and polished it up with a good coat of lemony pledge!   

I bought a shower curtain rod at Walmart, inserted it inside the cabinet and "Wala!!"  I have a beautiful quilt cabinet and storage area.

TV cabinet = $100
Shower rod = $10.98
Lemony pledge wipes = $2.00
Quilt cabinet and storage area = PRICELESS!!!! 

Ahhh! Christmas time!

I love Christmas time!  I love making things and sharing them with my family and friends.  I've been out a while with surgery to my back, but everyday I'm getting stronger and more enthusiasts about working on things in my sewing room.  Here are a few examples of what I've done over the past week.

Fun! Fun! Fun!

"The Reunion"

The sister's arrived on Monday afternoon from Houston, Texas and the first thing we did was something we all love to do.  Present one another with gifts that we either hand made or purchased that we just know the other will absolutely love!  I made travel case caddy's for all and placed them in "Quilt in a Day" zippered project bags.  Little sister, Shirley, made us all koosie's with our first initial embroidered on a wrap around cloth that she did on her embroidery machine.  She also made us "Sister" key chains from wide ribbon! Adorable!  Big sister, Kaye, presented us with the cutest little scissors and shirt magnets that we can wear on our clothes to put those cute little scissors on while quilting.  She also gave us a gift from her daughter, Joni, a bottle of wine with a "sock monkey" (yes, I said sock monkey) cover.  On sock with button eyes!  Very adorable! Beth gave us a variety of wonderful treasures to pick from.  I chose a book by Jennifer Chiaverini which I can't wait to read!  Then the grand finale of the evening was the presentation our our round robin quilts.  They were all so incredibly beautiful.
This first one is Kaye's, then mine, Shirley's and Beth's.  They are all so beautiful!

Randall Sister's Annual Quilt Reunion

Since our Mom passed away in 2001, me and my sister’s have been having an annual “Randall Sister’s Reunion”. We got to thinking after Mom and Dad were gone that we didn’t want to lose connection with one another and since we are all quilter’s (so was Mom) that we would do something quilt related. One year we rented a beach house down in Galveston, TX (we are from the Houston area) and quilted for 4 days. We had a blast! It was too cold and windy to get in the water, but we didn’t mind, we just stayed in where it was warm and sewed, laughed, had a few cocktails and enjoyed each others company.  

This year our reunion is going to take us on the road to Paducah!  My sisters, Kaye, Beth and Shirley are going to drive up from Houston, pick me up in Tulsa and head out for all the quilt shops we can hit in a week and of course stopping in Paducah to enjoy a day or two at the big annual show.  I've never been to the Paducah show but my best friend got to go last year and she told me how wonderful it was.  I can't wait! 

I also can't wait to spend some one on one time with my sister's.  We have so much fun when we are together.  We reminisce about when we were little kids growing up in Beaumont, Texas, like how scared we got one night when our Dad told us that he would give us a quarter if we walked all the way around the house, in the dark, by ourselves on Halloween night!  I have to say I shook from the top of my head down to my toenail's walking around that house, but I did it!  And for a whole quarter! 
We get the giggles after sharing a bottle (or two) of wine (or beer) and laughter is always heard when the Randall sister's get together! We also have somber times when memories of our beloved parents come into our conversations.  We miss them so much.

I wouldn't miss this time with my sister's for anything!!

Blizzards in Tulsa, Oh My!

Wow!  Who would have thought it would snow this much this far south!  I thought it would never stop 2 days ago and then Wham!  It did it again.  Charlie and Sam don't mind it though, they like the snow.

Just look how cute they are in their pretty little sweaters!!

Aunt Annie Quilt

I finally finished it!  After 2 years, I have finally finished my Aunt Annie quilt!  I call it that because my 3 sisters and I met up in Athens, Texas about 2 years ago at my Aunt Annie's (one of my mom's 4 sister's) house for a weekend quilting retreat.  She wanted to teach us how to make a "Friendship Braid" quilt.  What a great pattern.  Each of us were instructed to bring scraps of fabric that we could share with one another to make our quilts.  Aunt Annie dove into her scrap pile and gave us some interesting pieces too.  This quilt is composed of fabric from the early 50's thru present day and has been purchased in Texas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Kansas, Germany and France!  This is truly a Friendship Braid ya'll!  Each of us has our own quilt.

I quilted mine on my HQ16 longarm out on my back porch.  I decided to use an all over freehand design consisting of leaves, loops and flowers. 

I think it turned out great!  Everytime I look at it I will remember that wonderful weekend spent with my dear Aunt Annie in Texas.  She was a most gracious hostess and even at 86 years old she cooked for us and plotted with my 76 year old Aunt Gayla Ruth for a surprise visit that first evening.  Aunt Gayla Ruth brought us hand crocheted pot holders that she had made from a pattern she was given to her by our Mom.  Aunt Annie also blessed us with wonderful stories about our Mom, which I will always cherish. 

I will try to get a picture of my Aunts and post on my blog. They are all beautiful Texas women!