The Demanding Doll Quilts

My first fondant cake

2011-09-01T10:11:00.000-07:00

I'm not unhappy with it for my first one. Made marshmallow fondant which is much tastier than the store bought fondant.

My DQS quilt received

2011-08-24T09:52:00.001-07:00

I received the most wonderful little quilt from Cindy in the Doll Quilt Swap 11 round. It is just perfect from the deep red and bright yellow print color to the interesting combination of quilt blocks and finishing up with red quilting that sets it off so well. Love the entire thing.

You can see more about how it was made on Cindy's blog at
http://topstotreasures.blogspot.com/2011/08/dqs11quilting.html.

Also, click on the DQS button to the right and check out all the wonderful little quilts in this round. Quilts could not be over 18"x18". Once you start looking at them you will see how teeny tiny some of the pieces are in the blocks. It's really mind boggling.

I really almost cried when I opened my package. (Fought it back so dh would not think I'd lost my mind for sure). I have never had a quilt made just for me. I've made them for others and made them for myself but never one made just for me. I love handmade items. They are just so extra special.

So, Cindy, thank you, thank you, thank you. It has a good loving home. And thank you for the card with all the interesting tidbits about it. And for the extra goodies too.

Isn't it so wonderful? The photo does not do it justice. I'm ready to play in DQS 12.

DQS 11

2011-08-22T19:56:00.001-07:00

It's been finished for a few days.
It's been hanging in my sewing room.
I'm still making changes to it (mentally).
It HAS to be out the door tomorrow.
Done.

Not a very good pic. This is with my cell phone. Could not find my camera until after it was wrapped and packaged. Also, the white portion is not part of the doll quilt. Quilt is 15.25"x15.25" done in batiks.

Decisions or indecisive...whatever

2011-08-09T12:04:00.000-07:00

Huh? Yes. No. Maybe. My quilt brain is out of control! I am on my third or fourth quilt for the Doll Quilt Swap. I posted on the group that I had made a decision and was sticking to it (yeah, right) and that was a couple quilts ago. It is harder than I thought to make a little quilt for someone you don't know. Also, I'm not really a "blue" person but my partner is. Not only am I on my 3rd or 4th quilt, although I've not completed a single one but have good starts on all, but I also made little samples in colors I like.

BUT! Yes!! This is it!!! My final decision. This is the center and I will have blocks around the outside. The quilt will push the limit on size and maybe squeak over a 1/4" or so. Depends on how flush I get my binding. :) Hope my partner likes the color combination and batiks.

Now I'd better get my butt off the computer and back to the sewing room. I have one week left to finish up. Eeeek!

Miniature X String and Farmer's Wife (of course)

2011-07-22T09:05:00.002-07:00

A quick post to catch up. Well, kind of, because I've been working on my DQS miniature and have not taken any pics yet. Also, I'm a little confused on whether or not I've posted all my Farmer's Wife blocks made so far. I'm sure they won't be missed for now.

Since I was finishing up the Fresh Lemons Quilts quilt and then used the slivers to make a wallet I decided to use the fabrics that were out and play with making a mini-string x. Nice and citrus-y and bright! Kind of makes me think of Fruit Loops - limey green, lemon yellow and orange-orange. (Yes, I know it's supposed to be raspberry red).

Like my last little mini, it needs borders. I'll have a small pile to finish up if I keep jumping from projects I should be working on to spur of the moment projects.

One thing about using the paper piecing method with these little blocks was the seams were not pressed in the right direction. So I had to "un-press" and "re-press" them. Tedious and aggravating to say the least. Basically, the first row of blocks top to bottom should be pressed down, the next row all up, next down, etc. Believe me, I will remember that the next time around. I just figure any little lumps or bumps from my over zealous pressing will be quilted out. Overall, I like it and might do another down the road.

Don't you like how the white makes all the bright colors pop even more!

Now for the Farmer's Wife. A few basic and rather blah blocks. I'm considering skipping blocks that just don't call to me and substituting them with others. Why I made a greenish block for the aqua/red I don't know but I did. there is going to be some green in the blocks but I think this one is a bit much. We shall see.

So, here is block 10 Box in scrap and "aqua/red" (haha):

And Block 10 Bowtie in scrap and aqua/red:

Melody

Fruit Slivers Wallet Tutorial

2011-07-17T11:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning I found a project that I had forgotten about. I could not believe how much I had finished on it and have no idea why I put it away. It's a bright, fun, and fast quilt to cut out and sew from a free pattern by Fresh Lemon Quilts at http://www.freshlemonsquilts.com/?p=561

I finished up the blocks then squared them to 9.5" as the pattern directed. What I ended up with was this:

Now I can be a bit anal about throwing out fabric. After all, a wise woman once said that even those little bits and pieces of fabric still cost you X amount of $'s per yard. (You fill in the X). But these were just slivers. Some 1/4", some a hair bigger. But! an idea popped into my head, so, getting totally side tracked from what I started out to do, I went with the flow.

Here's what I came up with.

Cut a piece of Pellon 4.5"x8.5" (longer if you want a flap that is longer than 1 1/2"). Lay out strips along the length. I put a wider one on the edges. Stitch across one short edge to hold the strips in place. Pin the top and bottom to an ironing surface.

Use short strips of your choice to weave through the longer strips. I used a pair of forceps to grasp each piece and pull it through. I kept it clamped and using my other hand I snuggled each strip up to the top. The idea is to cover the white Pellon.

The strips do not need to be perfectly aligned. If they are slightly angled, no biggie. Don't you like projects that are so laid back?

This will be a tri-fold wallet so I estimated where the folds would be. My folds are at approximately 3 1/4" and 7". I used a wider strip of fabric on the folds to support opening and closing a little better.

After weaving, carefully move the piece to your machine and stitch around the edges. I actually did mine from the top by just feeling where the edges were as I stitched.

This is the other side after stitching around the edges. Trim an 1/8" to 1/4" outside the white pellon piece to leave fabric for raveling.

Top stitch using threads to match or contrast. Use zigzag, straight, or the fun stitches on your machine you rarely use. I went down and across most strips of fabric. Dont' worry, it's really fast.

In order to have 1/4" or so of my card peeking out at the top the pockets were made at 1 3/4" deep. Measure about 2 1/2" up and fold fabric right sides together. Press edge. Accordian fold the fabric (just like the fans we did in kindergarten) to make 2 or 3 pockets. Loosely place it on top of the pellon piece and eyeball where to fold two pockets to fit inside the center area. (I will add measurements for this soon).

Two pockets (rejected fish fabric lining):

Three pockets but hard to see in this fabric. I tore the strip of orange fabric to encourage fraying. The pocket edges were not easy to distinguish so after pressing each pocket I used a sliver and stitched along the edge of each pocket. Just a bit more of cute.

Then place the lining with pockets on the pellon and stitch around the outer edges. Stitch along the fold lines

Having not thought of how I wanted to fasten the wallet before reaching this point I decided to use a button and wrap strip. I zigzaged down a piece of fabric and tore it off which made it curl and ravel. I stitched on a button and hand stitched the frayed strip below.

Completed wallet. I so love the colors and frayed edges.

I think there will be more wallets to come. Some options could be to cut the fabric outside the pellon about 3/8" and do a seam around the wallet and turn it so the edges are smooth. Or leave more of the strips hanging outside of the wallet and add beads or charms or knot. Closures could be changed to a snap which would need to be put on before the lining is attached. Or, gasp, Velcro. It could have a tab and snap or tab and button or wrap all the way around the wallet. Maybe tie?

Either way, I enjoyed the process and would love to hear your thoughts on this project.

Melody

DQS 11

2011-07-15T06:35:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to get a spot in the Doll Quilt Swap 11. My partner may be disappointed that I'm not asking more questions or posting fabric possibilities. When I received her info and stalked her photos I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Sorry partner, no sneak peeks. Well, maybe eventually, but I would second guess myself to death from any comments.

If you are not familiar with DQS (Doll Quilt Swap) click on the button on the right and you will get to see some amazing little quilts and read about the swaps.

The link to the Farmer's Wife Quilt-A-Long is functioning now too.

The little pest, D.C., being sweet. He gets mad because I don't allow him in the sewing room. He likes to jump on the table by my iron. But if the door is not shut tightly he jumps at it until it opens and sits in the window if he can sneak past me. I'm sure this cat would use all of his nine lives quickly if he weren't monitored.

Gadget Girl

2011-07-14T10:19:00.001-07:00

Baby Kish wanted to share one of her favorite gadgets - the bobbin donut.

In the old days bobbins came unwound, got tangled up, could never be found (until after you'd wound a new one thanks to Murphy's Law).

Now, ta-dah, the bobbin donut keeps them neat and organized. It has even been dropped and all the bobbins stayed in place. The only bad thing about it; I only have one. Joanns has the Bobbinsaver for around $7.50. Worth every penny.

It's sitting on top of another recent spur-of-the-moment purchase. It's not always a good idea to go into Joann Fabrics armed with a 40% off coupon but this time it paid off. Since I didn't find what I had gone in for that day I decided to not waste the trip and buy this ironing - pressing - organizer thingy by Dritz.

Love it. It's so nice to be able to lay the blocks on the grid and to iron them right there. Helps from getting them out of order. I have my machine sitting on top of it too and it seems to help with keeping the noise and vibrations down a bit when my lead foot steps on the pedal. You can lay out an entire miniature quilt on it. See my July 4th post. It was a sanity saver for keeping it all in order. I know it saved a lot of time.

By the way, on the table is Farmer's Wife, Block 1, Attic Windows in red and aqua. Almost forgot to make it after doing the scrappy version.

Sew little done

2011-07-13T07:39:00.000-07:00

Ahhh, for another full day sewing. I'm ready.

The table mess was cleaned up with minimal side-tracking. You know, you see a block, you draw a quilt. You see a project started, you find a few more fabrics for it. Etc. Etc.

I'm getting behind a bit from where I want to be on my Farmer's Wife blocks. Made a mistake of working on one last night again. Duh. And right after the "shouldn't sew at night" post. Best to save the simplest ones for night - like 9 patch types.

There was a plan in regards to sewing a scrap version too. 1. Use up scraps (of course). 2. Figure out if there needs to be any fudging. You never know when a book has a typo or error. 3. Not waste any of my purchased-especially-for-this-quilt fabric. I would hate to run out of one I really like and not find it again. It happens. I know.

One did get finished - Periwinkle, block 66. My edge was off slightly but I'll just line it up with the sashing and have a slightly smaller seam on this block. It will work. Been there, done that.

FW, Block 66, Periwinkle

With the "no sewing at night in mind" and the peace and quiet in the house (for a while) I think I'll head off and do a block or two or three.

Awww. Mom.

2011-07-12T06:46:00.000-07:00

Awww. Mom. Do I have to clean my room?

I remember seeing a sign that stated "a cluttered desk is the sign of a brilliant mind". What about a cluttered sewing table? A creative mind? Yeah. I like that. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Unfortunately, it makes it really hard to cut when your 3'x6' cutting table only has about 12" of space to use. Darn it! I hate having to spend so much time organizing before I start to play. Mom's are so mean sometimes.

I cannot sew at night

2011-07-08T07:59:00.000-07:00

I often read about people who are up all night sewing and have tons of magical finished goodies in the morning. Kind of like the elf and the shoes fairytale.

Not! me!

I am a morning person and need to face the fact and sew early in the day. What happens at night are mistakes and frustration and mistakes and anxiety. Sewing should not create anxiety.

So last night I did get a couple blocks done. The simple block 6 - the Big Dipper. It uses quarter square triangles and I can handle those.

But block 1 - Attic Windows - was a different story. Thought I could just look at it and basically figure my measurements but something was off. So I dismantled a bit, drew it on graph paper, cut it apart, stitched it together, and something was off. Comes down to my seam for the triangles are 1/8" instead of 1/4". Grrr. The scrap one is done but I don't like the corner fabric. Another downfall from sewing at night? Maybe. Funny thing is the templates I drew matched up with what I had cut so it was my sewing that was off. It might be adjusted to change the corner fabric or redone after I do the aqua/red one. Maybe.

When do you sew?

Block 6 Big Dipper

Block 6, Big Dipper

Block 1, Attic Windows

I'm catching up! Only just over 100 more to go.

Farmer's Wife - 5 more blocks!

2011-07-07T06:26:00.000-07:00

These blocks are addicting! Finished up 5 more yesterday. The Flickr group just started week 6 so I should have 12 blocks (24 since I'm doing two quilts) done. Feeling pretty good getting 8 done in just a few days. Picking out the simpler ones for now.

The down side of the book is there are no measurements for the templates. There is a disk to print out templates and I've read that the author is coming out with an updated book this Fall that will include rotary cutting instructions. At this time (since my printer is out of ink and I forget to buy it when I'm out) I'm just drawing them out myself or just using the pictures as a guide. If mine come out a wee bit different than everyone else's then I'm okay with that. I actually like drafting them.

A few of the blocks are the same pattern with different names so I might try to replace them with other 6" blocks.

Trying to find more aqua/red fabrics and spent way too much time on the computer yesterday tracking down possibilities. Thought I would be able to use a very contained selection of fabrics but just can't. I'm a scrapaholic and have to go that route.

Friendship, block 39 .

Basket Weave, block 4. I did a variation.

Basket Weave, block 4 as in the book.

Flock, block 34 See previous post for scrap version.

Farmer's Wife

2011-07-05T20:33:00.000-07:00

I completed two, well 3, blocks in the Farmer's Wife book. One in a controlled color way of aqua and red and two from bits and pieces of my scrap bag. I'm determined to get the smaller scraps down and out of the scrap bag. I've decided that when I pull a scrap out and use it once that it will not go back in the bag. I'll use it in combination with another scrap in the next block. This way it will really go away and it will add a bit of continuity to the blocks. The only exception is if I can get a 1 1/2" square out of it as I'm working on a postage stamp quilt as a leader/ender project. The itsy bitsy slivers will get thrown outside for the birds to use to decorate their nests.

Here are the few I've finished so far. They are on week five so I should have 10 but I'll catch up soon. Take a peek at the Flickr group http://www.flickr.com/groups/1678802@N20/ to see the variety of blocks and fabric choices. I love both the modern brights and the traditional fabrics.

Block 55 - Linoleum. Did a little fussy cutting on this one to get the plaids more centered.

Block 55 - Linoleum Fussy cut to center a flower. Ironed it differently too. You can tell. Totally different feel using bright moderns.

Block 34 - Flock Traditional fabrics. Note I used a bit of the brown from the previous block. Gotta use those scraps up!

Til tomorrow. Sweet dreams.

A whole year? !!

2011-07-04T18:14:00.002-07:00

Yikes! Has it been that long? Sure makes for a cranky human being when you don't allow yourself time to do what you love. Thankfully, I don't have to relearn how to sew but it may take a bit to relearn the blogging ropes.

This has been a busy get-back-into-sewing week and it feels sooooo good!

To kick it off I joined two Flickr groups last week - Doll Quilt Swap and The Farmer's Wife Quilt-A-Long.

The first group is (rather obviously) a group for making small, miniature sized quilts. My gosh but people are talented in the group. I'd been seeing posts for this group for quite a while but could never seem to catch where to go to join so I was thrilled to have finally found them. I only hope I get a place in the next round!

With that in mind I worked up a miniature 9 Patch and Snowballs quilt in just 2 days, July 1st and 2nd. No one was fed and the dishes piled up but did I ever enjoy just sewing. Still needs another border, a very dark brown, I think. The blocks are 1.5" each and were surprisingly easy to make. Just lots of exact cutting, sewing, and trimming. It's from a pattern in an older Miniature Quilts magazine. Isn't it so darn cute!

The Farmer's Wife group is a "support" group to help motivate and inspire you to finish all of the 111 six inch blocks from The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt by Laurie Aaron Hird. I think I'll need that motivation (or at least a good kick in the butt now and then). The goal is to complete two blocks per week. I'm late joining so have a bit of catching up to do. Tomorrow I'll share my first blocks and maybe even get another done before I post.

Feels good to be back!

Spoons

2010-06-19T12:35:00.000-07:00

I've been enjoying tutorials posted by various mixed media artists the past few days. I plan on making several of the projects and this is the first one. I happened to have everything I needed to do it! My spoon reads "Such is the nature of maternal understanding." Having a pre-teen daughter I need LOTS of maternal understanding. :)

The tutorial is by Kelli Nina Perkins. The video tutorial can be found here. (Click on the "here")

If you have not checked out her book Stitch Alchemy, you should! I'll post a piece I did with guidance from her book. The instructions in it are just as wonderful as the instructions in her spoon tutorial.

Thanks Kelli!

Painted lady #1

2010-05-26T16:50:00.000-07:00

My sewing machine was in the shop for 3 months, my camera broke, my printer/scanner was dying. The machine is now fixed, I'm borrowing dd's camera when needed, and I have a new scanner/printer (they are really getting cheap).

What I have been doing is painting, collaging, stamping, layering, generally just messing around. Here's a painted and collaged piece I did in April. More vibrant in real life, it started out as a page meant to be folded into a journal book but turned into a piece in itself. The back, now forgotten, was painted and collaged too.

Santa... finished!

2009-11-25T09:24:00.005-07:00

Did you guess what it was going to be? It's a shelf scarf. It was intended by the designer, Nancy Halvorsen, to be used on your fireplace mantle. I had a long 60"x6" shelf that I hang quilts and linens on that needed something for Christmas. I cut it to fit my shelf width and had to add one extra Santa. It was relatively fast. The part that took too much time was sewing on the buttons for eyes, between the blocks, and on the holly. And you can see that not all Santas have holly leaves on their hat. They will... eventually.

I couldn't take a pic on the shelf because my light was right in the way so I had to put it on the sofa. (It really is straight across the back.) Really! Now to place it on the shelf with a few of my Christmas cutesies and the kitchen area is dressed up.

Oh, and everything was from my fabric stash. The best kind of project!

Santa what?

2009-11-19T15:46:00.003-07:00

I have a semi-quickie project underway that is almost finished.
This is a portion of it.
It's a decorating item.
Can you guess what it will be?

Now off to see if I can find some velcro, 12 buttons for eyes, and to blush up some cheeks. I'd like to finish it up tonight or tomorrow.

Why the heck did I do this?

2009-11-16T10:41:00.006-07:00

Have you ever gone to the store for just one quick item and come out with something you didn't plan to buy? Hah! What a nutty question. I KNOW you have.

Yesterday, I ran to the quilt shop for just a couple of quarter yard pieces to use for Santa faces. I was supposed to be at Mom's for dinner in less than one hour so I knew I'd only have 15 or 20 minutes to get in and out. I did it on purpose so I wouldn't look... much. Didn't help. Didn't work. Should have gone straight to the section I needed. In my defense what I needed was way back in the corner. But I erred in my quest and took the long way round past the holiday fabrics.

And what to my wondering eye should appear? A fun retro style holiday fabric I'd been drooling over online right there in non-online reality. How could I resist. I tried. I really did. I hesitated. Then I looked up and saw that holiday fabrics were 25% off. Then I looked at that sweet little reindeer, the fabulous colors, and felt the flood of memories it conjured up of Christmas's past. It teased me, taunted me, I picked up a fat quarter "just to look a bit closer", then another, and another, and... well you can see where this is headed. Just a few fat quarters I thought.

Then YIKES there wasn't a fat quarter for that sweet little reindeer so I had to grab the bolt. Then I thought what if I don't make something holidayish and these fabrics could be non-holidayish so I had to grab the floral bolt. I wanted this so badly that I didn't even want to set it on the table and put a don't touch my stash card on it for fear someone would. I carried it with me to try to talk myself out of it. Then an employee saw me and said why don't you set them down and put a card on it. They will be okay. Well! Once they were on that table how could I back out? So.....

It's by Sheri Berry Designs.

Now, what to make? What to make? I have time to decide because I'm going to wrap it and put from Santa and stash it under the tree Christmas eve in a paper I use for no other gifts. Then I can keep (innocently) asking who got it for me? Bwaaa ha ha ha. I'll never tell.

Hmmm, think that would work with quilt store gift cards?

p.s. i got this too, but, hey, it was 25% off! and I love Mary Engelbreit too.

2009-11-14T18:39:00.000-07:00

Not quilt related but I haven't posted in ages. So, I thought I'd put a picture I painted in my journal of my daughter. Well, she really came out looking like an older version of my daughter.

Getting back in the swing and will be back blogging regularly soon I think.

Yes, I am pro universal health care - H.R. 676

2009-08-26T09:24:00.012-07:00

In college 35 years ago I had an instructor in sociology that opened my eyes to the basic needs of human beings. As a 17 year old I can't say that I actually thought about it before then, but we all need our basic needs met as humans. People seem quite willing to help with the basic needs of food, clothing and housing. I don't understand why so many don't want to give medical care for all. You never know when you could be one of the 47 million people without insurance and in desperate need of care.

Please take a moment to watch this video on HR 676 (click on the link). Also, consider checking out the documentary "Sicko" which can often be found at your library.

Beeswax collage

2009-08-20T10:53:00.009-07:00

I enjoyed a beeswax collage class at Frenzy Stamper last Saturday given by Michael Putman and Lesley Fisher. You can check them out at jackandcatcurio.blogspot.com or jackandcatcurio.com. There were many techniques and products included in this class and they will add so much to future projects. Michael and Lesley teach at several locations and everything needed for the project was included in the class fee so give it a try.

It's still somehow odd to me that I can take a few unrelated bits and pieces and turn it into something I want to say. When it comes together so easily and seems like it has to be then I feel strangely satisfied. That's the way I felt about this piece. Do you know what I mean? I feel pleased with the outcome for my first try.

Heal

2009-07-21T18:22:00.001-07:00

From the instructions given by Chrysti Hydeck in the Jul/Aug 2009 issue of Somerset Studio. I (finally) had success with transferring text. Coating with a glaze, letting it dry, then using the gel did the trick. It is so hard to be patient and let each layer dry but I forced myself and it paid off. I like the way it turned out.

The color is so much better in real life than this photo. I really want (need) a new camera.

Come out and play - signature block swap

2009-07-12T04:32:00.005-07:00

Melissa at Cornbread and Beans is having a block swap using civil war reproduction fabrics. If you'd like to play go to her blog and drop her a comment.

4th of July quilt on the 8th

2009-07-08T17:36:00.004-07:00

I'd forgotten about this little quilt I'd made and thought I'd share it since it's still so close to the 4th. It was given to a friend who collects Americana so it has a good home.

It was paper pieced, quilted in the ditch, and has an Uncle Sam panel for the backing. The little blocks were 3" finished so the piece measures around 14x20.

I have a green-red version in my UFO box that I might just have to finish up.

Save those scraps!

fabric collage - playing with something new

2009-07-06T05:45:00.007-07:00

A few months back one of the ladies was kind enough to bring in some older Quilting Arts magazines to share. What unique ideas you find in them! In the Oct/Nov 2007 issue an article by Angie Hughes caught my attention. It was on making a textural book wrap. Decided to give the method a try and here is the result.

front:

back:

There is a cotton base made of woven strips and fibers then fused to Wonder Under, then stamped using Staz On ink. Next came a layer of organza and stitching. Should have gone in with a bit of a plan for the stitching and will the next time. Next the organza was burned back and I used water color crayons to give it some orange, green, turquoise highlights. On the back I used leftover chunks of fabrics and stamped it also.

It was different free-motion quilting on the organza. Not difficult, just different. Overall quite interesting and fun to do. I'm sure eyeing my scraps differently now.

Until next time have fun playing and try something new.

a new addiction

2009-06-22T07:19:00.009-07:00

Sewing? What's that? Piles of quilts to finish and I've found a new addiction... journaling.

I fully intend to write on these pages someday but mostly I'm just enjoying painting, playing, learning techniques, browsing blogs and websites. Joining a group here and there. I'd forgotten how peaceful it is to paint or draw. I know the day is coming soon where fabric and paper will be combined. Here's a page I've done. I didn't think I was finished with it but maybe I am. (There is a bit of fabric isn't there.)

Speaking of drawing. Here's something quite interesting to try. Click here! or go to www.zentangle.com. I could see quilters using these as quilting designs.

My first zentangle with lots of open spaces:

Hope to post more often but until then... have an artful day doing what you love.

Block of the month kits

2009-04-17T09:37:00.004-07:00

There are a couple block of the month programs calling to me. Usually I avoid them because the ones that draw me are usually appliqued. And, while I can hand applique it is not my favorite thing to do. I'm impatient, in a hurry, want it asap. If it can be done on the machine then I want to use the machine. That said, my favorite ways to applique are fusible with machine buttonhole and machine applique that gives a hand done look.

Well, no more! How silly to put off a quilt because of some crazy pre-conceived notion. So, I broke down and signed up for the block of the month to do the Merry Christmas quilt and will do fusible applique with machine buttonhole stitch. I will still hand embroider the bits that need it and add button, bells, bows, etc. after it is quilted. My goal is to have it finished for Christmas 2009.

The first letter, cut out, fused, and buttonholed, is ready to embroider. The fabrics are mostly Moda's Merry and Bright. The block finishes at 10".

One of the R's ready to be buttonholed.

Now, have you seen the Happy Hauntings by Verna Mosquera? Oh, how I want that one too!

Happy quilting!

Oh, my aching back and a snail's trail quilt

2009-04-09T11:29:00.003-07:00

I've not done much sewing or blogging the last few weeks. My back whacked out and sitting for long periods hurt way too much. I've have a worse backache but never one that lasted so long. Went to the OSHA website and read up on ergonomics. I'm going to make some adjustments as the wallet allows and vow to get up and stretch more.

This morning is the first time I was able to get up and not feel throbbing and last night I could turn over and not wake up from the pain. Yay! So back to sewing!!!

Meanwhile, in an effort to put something quilty up, here is a quilt I shared at the bedturning our quilt group had a couple months ago.

It was made for a queen size bed but wasn't quilted until after we had bought a king so it doesn't get used or enjoyed much. It's one of my favorites though and one of these days I'll add a sleeve to hang it up. The snail's trail pattern is very attractive to me and I enjoy making it especially with a large variety of fabrics.

My story which I should attach to the quilt is:
"This quilt was made about 10 years ago in California. We had so many snails that I’d put plants out one day and the next morning they had eaten them to the ground. So I sank bowls in the ground and filled them with beer to attract them. Maybe they died happy. I felt kind of bad killing off so many that I made a snail’s trail quilt and had it quilted with an all over flower pattern in their honor".

Hope to see you around more. Don't forget to take breaks and stretch!

Fabric Postcards

2009-03-21T07:40:00.002-07:00

I'm taking a Fabric Postcards class with Diane Magarelli next weekend but could not resist playing around a bit with the supplies I picked up yesterday. Fused the flowers on the front, then fused the back. Then I had to peel off the back to do the background quilting and free motion stitching around the flowers (looking for the edges to fray to add dimension). Put the back on again, satin stitched around the outer edges and realized that I forgot to stitch the green thread tendrils I had wanted and the beads for the flower centers. Was able to do the beads with clear thread but it wasn't easy to slip it between the fused layers. Lesson learned.

It looks a little flat but I'm not sure how much you can really add to these and still mail them. Might try to mail it to myself to see what happens when it goes through the postal system.

The front:

The back:

Now off to a doll show this morning... maybe there will be good embellishments available for postcards.

Two kids - two quilts

2009-03-20T11:26:00.003-07:00

It's been Spring break for the kids this week. DD and her friend started a quilt and are currently putting the rows together. They are so excited that they nagged me to death to put a few rows together last night. Mornings are my sewing time if I want things to come out right. My mood is not the best in the evenings but we got through a couple rows. They want to finish up putting the rows together tonight but not sure it will happen. I'm shooting for Sunday. DD wants to quilt it herself maybe with a walking foot and a guide they may be able to do some of it. The biggest issue is for them to handle the bulkiness.

Both are already thinking ahead to their next project (real quilters at heart). They want to make a couple preemie quilts to donate to the hospital. They only wish they could see the babies. :) Dummy me went to the fabric store today and came home with fabrics for them to make a few instead of going through stash. I'm happy dd and her friend are sewing but until today I didn't get a darn thing done this Spring break and that was just playing stuff. Hope it does not go this way during the summer.

They both love horses so that is the focus of their quilts.

DD's quilt layout:

Her friends quilt layout:

In My Hallway - Memories

2009-03-11T12:48:00.010-07:00

3/15/09 ETA: Ooops. Anyone that reads my blog must have thought I was really whacky. Some days I am but just to clarify I didn't make a first and second quilt for this doll. haha It was made for my daughter. Now you can read the post...

It's warming up, a bit too soon as far as I'm concerned. But as the days lengthen and the sun gets brighter it makes me want to bring out the bright, fun, and funky quilts. So in my hallway for the next few weeks is a bright and cheery quilt just right for Spring. And standing in front of this quilt filled with memories is a sweet little redheaded girl trying to hurry the bunny's arrival along.

Looks Mary Engelbreit-ish, don't you think? I used lightweight fusible interfacing for the baskets, flowers, leaves and machine buttonholing to make her second little quilt. It's held up through lots of cuddling, naptimes, playtimes, and washes.

This quilt began a nature theme for her room when she was a toddler. I painted a mural on one of the walls of a little girl playing under a tree, bees and butterflies flitting, and a gently rolling hill with flowers dotted throughout. Then I used the flower and leaf pattern from this quilt and painted them randomly over the other three walls. I made her a head bumper with bright bluebirds and bumper pad with birds to put around her crib. Even the sheets were made to match. Oh, it looked so sweet as I peeked around the corner to see my little sweetie sound asleep and wrapped in this quilt I'd made for her.

This was the bumper for the head of her crib.

And one of the birds from around the shorter bumper. They were in blues and yellows with colorful butterflies flying past them.

The bumper pads have long been put away. I've thought of cutting into the pads and using them in another quilt but so far have not been able to. Until then I enjoy her little basket quilt and let it take me back to her baby days.

I hope all your quilts bring back a flood of memories.

'Til later...

Square scrap

2009-03-09T20:33:00.010-07:00

The little very bright something I've been working on this past week. I think I'm going to add two more borders. A thin white 1" middle border and a 4" to 6" wider outer one in a to-be-determined color (although I have a pretty good idea of what I want - orange!). It's 61x61 so far and will end up at 71" or 75" square. DD picked the turquoise. Maybe more subdued would have been better but it is what it is now.

I love scrap quilts but generally more controlled. Doing this top it was at times hard to just put the fabrics in it whether I liked them or not, to pull them and stitch without thinking about what looks right next to what, and to use fabrics I just did not like but kept keeping them. So now they are mixed in with fabrics that I love and really they don't look too terribly bad. Just think of the yardage that would have gotten thrown out or the money wasted if they were discarded.

I've also worked on the bright string-X quilt blocks and have decided to stop at 64. I'm tired of making them so they either need to get finished up asap or go back in the UFO drawer where they will be likely to sit for the next 10 years.

On a different note, I can't seem to find a spot to take pictures of my larger quilts. They look crooked if you lay them out on the bed for a pic. Maybe I need a clothesline of sorts or maybe I will have to enlist the kids to stand on the low wall out front and hold them. How do you manage pics of your larger quilts?

DD and I are still fighting the crud, mostly headaches and sinus. The pollen levels are high right now and it feels like it. I hate seeing her with a headache. Her eyes get dark with bags under them and she just looks so miserable. And added to that, her asthma seems to be flaring up which it hasn't done in quite a long time. It's definitely a tough allergy season coming on hard.

Back soon...

A little sewing

2009-03-05T20:29:00.003-07:00

Down with a bug. DH started it off. DD has it a bit too and missed school today. I had a flu shot this year and had done well until now. It's just enough to feel bad and not want to do anything but not enough to be totally miserable. I'm thankful for that.

I did do a bit of sewing today so maybe something more interesting tomorrow...

A scrap story

2009-02-25T04:19:00.019-07:00

The bin was overflowing.
Started sorting by color.
Got mom to help sort them.
Some colors took two grocery bags, others barely the bottom of the bag.
Started sorting the colors into two types - bright, fun prints and country colors.
Took the two types and sorted the big pieces from the small.
Found another box full of scraps. Ugh. Worked on those.
Decided to make a quilt for dd for Christmas.
Tore through the bags.
Made a mess.
Made a quilt.
Resorted.

Now it's time for another quilt and the brights are coming out to play.

Had 17 of these 7" blocks but no idea where I was originally headed. Made a plan on EQ then made 32 more blocks. Bought the sashing and border fabric (nothing big enough in the stash) and it's ready to put together for a quilt that will measure 72x72 or so. I kind of found it hard to decide on a sashing color with so many colors in the blocks. Had dd help decide so we will see if it works.

While the brights were out I decided to do a string quilt and started cutting strips from widths of 1" to 2 1/2". Here's where they are headed. Funny but these blocks are 7" too. What an odd size.

Possible layout: tilt head to the right or left - it will be set as an X not a +.

Possible layout 2: sashing between to define circles. There are only 31 of these so far but there are more scraps to cut. Not sure how big it will be yet - maybe when the scraps run out or I'm out of phonebook pages or I get tired of sewing strings. We'll see.

You can see other String X quilts here . If you scroll down there are more links to other string X quilts. Meanwhile, check out her other scrap quilts and get some inspiration to use yours up.

Even if I don't get around to making a top for a while it is so much nicer to have stacked up blocks instead of bags stuffed with bits and pieces.

Hasta manana.

p.s. I am saving the little itty bitty tiny itsy (you get the point) pieces for another project too. LOL Obsessive, compulsive personality type.

One step forward and two steps

2009-02-23T14:29:00.004-07:00

to the side. Not going to say back. How can it be back if you are playing or learning something new?

Even though I have not blogged I have not been idle. I have lots of pics but will only share a few and save the others for another day.

First up... gotta share my dogs...

The first one is Frankie. I just love this guy with his backwards hat and his tongue hanging out. Don't mind the eyes those are just buttons I laid on there for now. They really look weird and kind of freaky in the pics without eyes.

Next is Major. Good name for him because he was a major pain. First I made a block but didn't like the buttonholing because I did it on my dd's machine and kept doing things backwards. You get so used to your own. I messed his tongue up on the first one anyway. So here is the second one and can you believe it! I messed the tongue up on him too. It was tucked up under his chin instead of coming from under his mouth. I decided he didn't need a tongue and just removed it all together. He's still a good boy though and a friendly pack member.

I did get my stack of blocks finished but will post them tomorrow (or the next day (or the next))with another stack of blocks I've been working on. Meanwhile, here are the side steps.

These little cutesies are so much fun to make. I saw one at the quilt store and came home and played.

This one is made from the leftovers of dd's quilt I made her at Christmas, so, of course, she has it in her room and has already dropped some of her jewelry (aka shrinky dinks) into it.

And this is the first one I made. Much smaller than the blue. The blue is about 9" across. The orange is about 6.5" and much more shallow. Wish I hadn't added the light orange solid ring but, oh, well, I still like it. It is sitting by my sewing machine holding feet and machine needles and a few other little essentials.

I see many bowls in my future and have ideas running through my head.

Well, hasta manana. For real maybe this time. Where the heck DID the last 10 days go?

Melody

You would not recognize me...and a dog...

2009-02-12T15:21:00.004-07:00

Ha. Anyone who knows me would not recognize me today. At least from the back. I have been sewing my butt off and it is almost gone. hahaha I wish! I pulled an old project out (why? when I had others out already) and felt the urge to work on it.

This morning I sat down on EQ and did a block and color layout. Cut umpteen hundreds more squares and have been sewing ever since. I had 17 blocks and need 49 and if I keep at it they will be done tonight. Tomorrow morning at the latest. Don't want to stop to do a pic so that will be tomorrow too. It's all out of scraps again. Now to scrounge the cabinets for the sashing and borders. Got a feeling I will be "forced" to shop just a little bit. Awww.

Now the dog part of the program...
Introducing Pugsley. He's a nature lover and doesn't mind that weird butterfly sitting on his head.

Oops. I noticed after I took the pic that I had forgotten to buttonhole around one of his eye patches. It's been fixed since.

Back to the machine. Have a good rest of the day.

Hasta manana.

Another pack member

2009-02-11T04:34:00.007-07:00

I'm ready to have a full no cleaning, no running, minimal cooking, sewing day. I think I'll recruit my mom to iron strips and work on turning strips/scraps into blocks. I'm dedicated to cleaning out scraps and smaller pieces this year as well as completing UFOs.

Meanwhile, here's another dog block. She's known as Prissy on the pattern and she is. Nothing like my dearly departed poodle, Bunny, who could run with the big dogs. Prissy makes me think of a librarian. haha After quilting, she'll have a beaded eyeglass holder dangling down. Won't that look cute?

Starting to think about settings and thinking simple is the way to go so it doesn't compete with the pack members.

On a serious note... couldn't sleep last night due to worrying. Yesterday my debit/credit card was declined at Target. I thought it was just my card was old and worn out (can't tell you how many times I've stuck it in my jeans and washed it). Then late yesterday I was called to say my payment was declined for our mail order prescriptions. Alarm bell goes off. I call the bank and my credit card number had been stolen. Someone tried to put through a purchase of airline tickets on Air Arabia. I feel invaded, stressed. Luckily the bank caught it and cancelled my card. Now I have to make calls to companies that have automatic deductions today - insurance, etc. I'm just sure I'll forget something and it will be an additional hassle.

Guess the thing, besides the hassle, is not knowing how it was stolen - an employee somewhere? online? so I'm not sure what to do for it not to happen again other than keep a close watch. Grrrr. It's frustrating.

Off to happier things in my sewing room.

Hasta manana.

Dog days #2

2009-02-10T07:16:00.003-07:00

Another pooch ready. This is Garcia, a peaceful, loving dog with retro 70's flair. If you ever make a Garcia I'd advise you to work on him when you are at your peak sewing time. Buttonholing around all those hairs can make you crazy. I finished him up last night when I was on the tired side so there is my excuse for any funky stitching on him. Still need to work on his Love medallion. He's one of my favorites of the bunch.

Obsessed and a Wha-Wha

2009-02-08T18:42:00.009-07:00

Hobbies! Sigh! There are just so many things to do and just not enough time.

Quilting is definitly a hobby that takes time. And so is genealogy research. Which is exactly what I've been doing lately.

Something caught my interest on my son's paternal line and I went nutso. My eyes are crossed, my back is kinked, and sleep has been put on hold. If you research your family you know what I mean. This past week has been gathering basic info (census records and a few obits) and some not so basic (military and tax records), setting up the family in Family Tree Maker, and setting up a book. I've quickly gotten to the mid-1800's but now I have to stop and regroup. Gets a little tougher once the census records go beyond the 1850's. Now it's time for creative thinking.

So today instead of spending the entire day on genealogy creative thinking I decided to spend a little time on quilting creative thinking. Pulled out a UFO last week to kit up but decided to finish it instead. This is the little guy I worked on today...the Wha-Wha (my dd's name for her favorite beanie when she was much younger).

What do you think?

Ha! Fooled you! This is the front although the back is almost cute too. Almost.

This is one of 12 dog patterns by Amy Bradley Designs from 2002. I'm doing 9 dogs instead of 12. It will be a fun, bright spot in my hallway this Spring. (Edited 2 hours later: Hey, look what I found on her website... a FREE dog pattern http://amybradleydesigns.com/baxter.html Check it out.

I have others complete but will hold out on showing too many at once. Build the suspense and all that stuff.

Oh, and, speaking of little guys, how could I forget... look at my beautiful little grandson.

He just turned 2 months in this pic. He's so happy and interested and squishy. It was so wonderful to see him. Now move back here son! Free babysitting (imagine carrot in front of donkey's nose). He's 26" and just 2 months! He comes from a long line of tall men... I know this for a fact from genealogy research so he is well on his way.

On the go

2009-01-14T18:33:00.004-07:00

Have I been busy? No. And yes. Just not busy doing something that you'd want to see a picture of - you know, the domestic goddess thing and all. I straighten, launder, clean. DD comes home and dumps, plops, messes, dresses and redresses. Kids! But gosh I love her so much.

I've been thinking about doing a BOM at a local quilt shop. I really like it but not sure if it is enough to make the commitment. The only other BOM I've done (or should say purchased) has one block half done and has sat for years - many, many years.

I'm off tomorrow to meet my little Max. It's amazing how much he has changed in just the past month. He gets to stay with me Friday and get squeezed and hugged all day. I did get his doggie quilt quilted. Still stitching down the binding though. Can you take a sewing needle on the airplane? I know you can't scissors but I can have threads pre-cut.

I will be so happy to see my son - it's been too long. And, of course, my d-i-l too. :) First stop tomorrow will be a quilt shop that is 5 or so miles from his house. The name is Cool Cottons and it looks very interesting on their website - www.coolcottonsinc.com. I'll take d-i-l there on Saturday to get a better idea of what kind and color of quilt to make for them.

Do you know of any can't miss shops in the Portland area? Should have asked a week ago.

Guess I'd better go finish packing. :)

4 Patch Frenzy

2009-01-03T18:51:00.006-07:00

Yesterday and today I spent a good amount of time completing or working on turning UFOs into "kits". These 3 are 4 patch variations. Must have been on a roll with the 4 patches in the 90's.

Kit 1: Diagonal 4 Patch - Cut out and stitched 15 4 patches, cut the last 12 side triangles and it was a complete kit. I'd even started piecing the top. Shouldn't take but a couple good sewing sessions to put it together.

Kit 2: Village Square - The magazine is from 1997 and I probably started it around that time. Had to cut out squares to make 5 4-patch blocks and finished cutting rectangles to make the half square triangles. It will take some doing to make all them but it's ready to go when the mood strikes.

Kit 3: Triple 4 Patch - This magazine is from 1996 so it was probably started within the year following. The blocks are only 6" so it will take 256 to fit my king size bed. I had 83 complete, another 86 cut out and ready to assemble, and need to cut out the pieces for another 87 blocks. I was stuck in thirds. I'll finish this kit up in the next couple days.

I'm going to continue to "kit" my UFO's so they are ready to work on and get them done THIS year. It's kind of a wake up call seeing how much time was put into these quilts only to be dumped in the drawer.

I heard a story that every quilter should package up their UFO's and put a family member or friends name on the kit. Should the quilter kick the bucket then the person named on the kit would be so moved that you were going to make them something so special that they will have it completed to honor your memory. HA We could have the last laugh getting all our projects done after all.

Hasta manana.

Melody

2009 - A new year

2009-01-02T11:04:00.005-07:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I wish for you a fabric cabinet that magically replenishes, always full of just the perfect fabric needed, and that all your project goals are reached. If you can't make it happen then I wish some sweet little elves to visit and finish them for you before years end.

I'm in the midst of setting quilt goals - pulling out old projects, planning new ones, dreaming of all the beautiful items I'll have finished by the end of this nice, fresh, not-yet-used new year.

One thing I decided to do was document my quilt endeavors this year. Nothing fancy. Just a way to organize projects and quilty stuff. I took a sitting-around-on-the-shelf-wasting scrapbook and made it my new Quilt Journal. Put a little ufo block in the picture slot on the front. I'll embellish the cover with fabric pens down the road just because I feel it needs it (or maybe not if I don't get around to it.)

Put a couple projects in already. The first is for a tree skirt I want to make to match the table runner I made for this year. Now the pattern is handy along with fabric swatches.

The second is a project I'm working on to use up scraps. I have a little piece of one of the rows along with my calculations.

Next is a purse I'd like to make. The pattern, fabric, receipt, and a quilt shop tag is in the pocket.

Quilting and crafting is an important part of my life. I decided I want a physical "blog" of my fabric choices, designs, who I'm thinking of, what I'm willing to spend or not spend, and more. Maybe I will print out my blog as the year goes on to put with the journal, add pictures of finished and unfinished projects. Use the white sheet in the page pockets for notes, measurements, doodles, how I'm feeling about it. Or whatever I feel like doing. Use a pocket for blog ideas, a pocket for coupons (which I always lose track of until after they expire).

Wouldn't it be great to leave this for a future family member to read. It would be a genealogists dream to find something like this in the attic 100 years from now. Or could you imagine a future relative wrapped in a quilt you made then finding a book that documents your feelings, fabrics, cost? Wow!

You know, our quilts and our time are precious and worth remembering. I only wish I had done this years ago so I could look back on the journey and share it with the future.

Melody

And to all a good night!

2008-12-25T21:41:00.003-07:00

Last years Rock Band was still the hit this year. It's so much fun to see the kids of all ages play together.

The littlest elf is now 5 weeks old.

Singing his first Christmas carol.

The vinyl children enjoyed the day too.
Tasha - a sweet little girl.

And a couple pics from last year:

Deidre - named after a kindergarten friend.

Kids peeking.

Now off to bed. I'm pooped and I'll need energy to hit the fabric sale.

Hasta manana.

Happy Christmas Eve

2008-12-24T20:34:00.002-07:00

Christmas Eve. How are you feeling? A little relief along with anticipation? I hope you have a wonderful, relaxing Christmas and lot's of fun and merriment too.

My daughter will get her quilt tomorrow. It will have two sides with the binding stitched down and I'll finish the other two tomorrow. Just in case I can get it done before she wakes up it will be put in a gift bag. I can't wait to see her face.

Here's a pic of the front, a close up, and the back. I had the quilter do a popcorn pattern in turquoise thread and it came out so nice even on the dark border. Even the back is fun. When I went to make the binding I couldn't find the fabric that matched the border and had to run to the quilt shop. Well, when I got it back from the quilter I found the extra fabric I had bought for the binding - it was on the back. Geesh. Insanity.

I'm so proud to have used almost all scraps for the front and back except the border/binding fabric.

Now I'm looking forward to getting back to blogging, the fabric sales at the quilt shops on Friday, new projects, a new year, and a fresh start.

Contemplation

2008-12-19T08:48:00.004-07:00

This post is from the 19th but I forgot to post it. Not a surprise. I'm sticking it in here anyway along with an update.

Well this has been an interesting couple of days. My internet was out, the camera I used to take pics that I was going to post a couple days ago is acting up and they have to be retaken, I went to the quilt store to buy binding but forgot a piece of the border fabric, went to the grocery store and forgot to buy lunch stuff for dh and had to make a second trip back, etc., etc.

haha I'm just going to laugh at it all and chalk it up to trying to get too much done in a short period of time. Bet you know what I mean. What happened to the organized and together person I used to be? The person who had shopping/making done by mid-November; who planned little parties for the kids and trips to see the lights; who decorated right after Thanksgiving? She's in there somewhere and I wish she would come back. Next year maybe...

One thing I did decide was to name my granddaughter's quilt "Contemplation". Why? I contemplated throwing it in the UFO pile. I contemplated throwing it in the trash. I contemplated how happy I was when dgd was born, how much we disagree on things now that she is 20, how much money I'd have if I had a dollar for every stitch I've ripped out of the thing or put into it (which is about equal), if the piece of fabric from her new baby brothers quilt looks right in it, and contemplated whether or not she'll like it. (Which I told her she could not like it and that would be okay. She will get something different in a few months.

On a very bright side, my daughter's quilt is quilted and ready to be picked up. I know she'll like it because she asked me if she could have it but I told her I had sold it. The binding fabric is ready to go. It might make it to the finish line.

Oh, and they had 40% off Christmas fabrics yesterday and I bought fat quarters of Merry and Bright. They were out of the reds so I'm on the hunt for some or all of them.

And, I bought three purses for gifts plus some slippers and gloves as stocking stuffers and it was only $20.41. One purse alone was regularly $68. A deal like that can't be beat! And the purses are cute.

Woo hoo! Woo hoo!

2008-12-16T15:37:00.003-07:00

Do a little cabbage patch dance. I got a quilt to the quilter's! And she said it will probably be ready Thursday or Friday. It's dd's square in square. I meant to take a pic of the back before I took it over but forgot. The back is all pieced from leftovers. Kind of fun. She's using turquoise thread. Eeeek! Hope it looks good on the dark outer border. (DD won't care. She'll just love having her very own first-big-quilt-made-by-mom-especially-for-her quilt.

I'll have pics of projects I've been working on tomorrow. Been getting all kinds of things finished up. Well, it seems like it. Or maybe I'm just happy to have a quilt being quilted.

Til tomorrow...

Check out Freda's Hive

2008-12-08T19:27:00.002-07:00

Wow! A one year blogaversary with a week of give-a-ways. And at such a busy time of year! You'll enjoy reading her blog so give it a peek.

http://www.fredashive.blogspot.com/

A new UFO almost

2008-12-07T13:52:00.004-07:00

Quilting, Christmas decorating, furniture rearranging, shopping. Who has time for blogging? Time to stop and get a grip. Time to breathe and let December ease on through. Assume lotus position - ahh-ohm, ahh-ohm. Doesn't that feel better?

Instead of blogging I've been working furiously to get my granddaughter's quilt finished in time to go to the quilter. But - ICK. No, major ICK. I just don't like it. The pattern put together just totally turns me off.

It really was going to be stuffed into a drawer but my sister talked me through the stuff it stage. This will get done one way or the other. Too much money and time has gone into it and I just don't want another UFO.

So I've spent today disassembling the darn thing. Some of the blocks can't be used because I had added the corner units and cut the background off. I'm putting it on the wall to try to salvage as much as I can - 19 blocks out of 30. I'll have to make one more block for the quilt. There is a plain square substituting for it in the pic. The others will be used as a purse or something - who knows.

The colors in the top photo are the true colors. My camera batteries were low and I could only get the funky color in the bottom pic.

This is where it was going. I had almost changed my mind about the pattern but had kept changing my mind on everything so "forced" myself to go with it. What happened? It's way too busy. Feels choppy. Bad mix of fabrics. Was going to use just one fabric throughout for the corners that make up the square but went with the mix and it was a mistake. Maybe I should have gone with my intuition from the beginning and used a different pattern. Really, I dislike it so much that I'm pretty embarrassed to show it. But maybe someone else will learn from my error.

Here is one of the new options. Took the corners off of the ones that hadn't been cut so it's no longer an octagon. The squares make it calmer. It won't make it to the quilter on time and it might not go to my dgd.

Why the heck is this thing giving me such a problem?

Checklist

2008-11-27T12:05:00.003-07:00

X Turkey almost done.
X Stuffing warming.
X Potatoes ready to mash.
X Rolls rising and ready for oven.
X Cranberry sauce cold.
X Martinellis chilled.
X Pies ready to eat.
X Tables set.

Now where the heck are the grandkids who insisted they wanted to eat at 11 or 12? They better be thankful grandma loves them.

Have a Happy Turkey Day!

Basic math

2008-11-26T09:10:00.005-07:00

Sally is making a quilt for her granddaughter. It is a quilt from a recent magazine. The block is simple but you have to piece it in the correct order. Sally makes 2 blocks on Tuesday night and screws them up. Sally makes two more blocks Tuesday night and they come out right. Sally makes 2 more blocks on Wednesday morning and again screws them up. How many blocks does Sally have completed? How many minutes has Sally wasted? How many pins is Sally going to use to pin everything together to make sure she does not screw up again?

a) Sally should pay more attention
b) too much info
c) 2
d) all the above

Bonus points: If Sally needs 30 blocks for her quilt and makes 6 blocks each day but screws 4 of them up each time how many days will it take for Sally to have 30 blocks.

a) 15 days
b) who cares because Sally will just throw it all in the UFO pile and give her granddaughter a gift certificate
c) Sally should go to the fabric store for retail therapy
d) all the above

Mooommmm! They're laughing at me.

2008-11-25T06:28:00.016-07:00

I'm telling, if you don't quit laughing at me. I can too get everything done before Christmas! I mean it! Quit laughing.

Just because I STILL don't have the baby quilt quilted, just because I STILL don't have the backing pieced for the square in square and have it ready to be quilted, just because I'm STILL cutting out my granddaughters full/queen top doesn't mean I can't get it done. Plus an exchange gift, plus a runner for mom, plus cookies, plus shopping, plus, plus, plus...

I hear you! Quit it. Stop laughing. I mean it!

Mooooommmm!

The tester block without final corners put on to make outer circle.

The stack - 30 blocks in all - they're pretty big. Oh, my gosh I just remembered that I haven't planned the borders!

A happy girl because she has clothes on and so many don't. Note to self: finish dressing vinyl children for the holidays.

One track mind

2008-11-19T04:40:00.004-07:00

Baby ~~no name~~ Maximillian aka Max just a couple hours old - 8.5#, 21.5". Look at the head of hair!

Kisses, hugs, and squeezes from grandma little one.

Our little guy arrived

2008-11-18T15:12:00.002-07:00

After 23 hours of labor my d-i-l gave birth to an 8 1/2 pound, 21.5" baby boy this morning. He took his dear time about it and did not arrive on his great-grandmas birthday but he is darling and I wish I was there to squeeze, kiss and cuddle him. They still have not decided on a name. I'm giving them space today to form their family but tomorrow I will be "demanding" more photos, statistics, info, and a name! I think ddil will not be in a hurry to add a sister or brother after having a natural birth. Eeek!

In honor of his finally arriving I prepared his quilt for quilting. 'Bout time. Bad grandma.

Sitting here waiting

2008-11-17T10:11:00.001-07:00

for my new grandson. Looks like it will be today on my mom's 80th birthday. They are in Oregon, I'm in Arizona. :( Pains are 7 minutes apart. How much longer do you think?

Giveaway and what's been up

2008-11-13T05:56:00.005-07:00

You gotta check out this giveaway at the Old Red Barn Co.! blog. She's giving away three (yes, 3!) quilts. Wouldn't that be a great holiday gift for yourself? If you can't enter, great! Maybe that will give me a better shot at one of them. (Little greedy thing going here.) And I have my eye on one in particular.

Now, what quilty stuff was going on this past week? Nothing. Don't you just hate those work frenzies followed by lulls? I want work frenzy all the time. Guess you need down time to think, chill, do the domestic thing, deal with reality.

I did do other somethings though...

Thursday - spent about 8 hours organizing the garage somewhat - what was I thinking?
Friday - Fall Festival at the school
Saturday - picnic party
Saturday night - sleepover with 4 giggling girls (I swear they are louder than a large group of boys),
Sunday still had girls
Monday - sick kid home from doing too much all weekend
Tuesday - everyone leave me alone or else! where I proceeded to tear up 3 rooms in the house and called it reorganizing except I haven't put it all back in a logical place
Wednesday - quilt group potluck (unbelievable amount of food) and visit/lecture from Patricia Knoechel.
Which brings us back to today - I'm at a standstill. Was supposed to go do a little sewing this morning but I'm like a deer in headlights. Just can't seem to get moving. Economy worries. Should have gone sewing so I would shut off the brain for a bit from reality. KWIM?

We thought we were going to welcome my son's baby-boy-to-be yesterday, but, no, the little guy is refusing to make his entrance. They are now thinking his name will be Max (Maxwell or Maximillian). His quilt is still not quilted. Yup, at a standstill. I need a poke with a straight pin.

Maybe quilty stuff tomorrow...

Next up

2008-11-06T06:00:00.000-07:00

Fabrics for my next top-sewing frenzy.

All but three are from the Bistro line by Moda.

I love, love, love these colors. The whole Bistro line is just warm and creamy and gorgeous.

Wouldn't these be great as a bag?

Just looking at them makes me want a cup of coffee with an almond biscotti.

Oh, yeah, the quilt

2008-11-05T16:35:00.002-07:00

With all the excitement of the election yesterday I totally forgot to post a pic of my finished quilt top. So here it is along with the top of hubby's head.

It is 79x96, made from scraps with the exception of 4 yards of fabric - 4 fat quarters bought for the snail's trail quilt and used in this one too, 1/2 yard for the inner border, and 2 1/2 yards for the outer border. The inner border is a bold green and the outer is actually bluish-purple. Not the best pic but I did it in a hurry a few minutes ago.

and a close up (the two little yellow dots are pins - don't you just want to take them off?)

I'm happy with it. :)

Four generations of voters and a wannabe voter

2008-11-04T15:48:00.007-07:00

I'm so proud of my grandson and granddaughter. My granddaughter turned 20 in September, my grandson 18 in September. They both registered to vote and they both voted. I'm so proud of them both for getting involved and voting for what they believe in.

I'm proud of my mom too. She will be 80 later this month and she also listened, learned, and voted.

Then my 10 year old daughter asked me questions, watched the debates, and listened in school. If she could have voted she would have and I think she would have been an informed voter.

My son, well, he wouldn't have even considered not voting. I can not tell you the number of lectures I've endured from him about becoming more savvy with what is going on in our government and the world stage. He really keeps up with this stuff.

Oh, and you too, hubby even though you voted for the wrong person. LOL I'm just glad we won't have to argue about this for another 4 years.

I love you all today and every day and am very proud of you!

Monday - so far

2008-11-03T10:03:00.005-07:00

The inner borders are on the Square in Square. I'm not going to take a picture until the outer border is on maybe later today or tomorrow for sure. I think this will be the quickest I have ever cut and pieced a top - less than two weeks!

It's true that I had a goal to finish four UFO projects by the end of October. Two UFO's were completed, two little projects were started and completed, and two big projects cut out. Not sure if I'm ahead or not. But, two other UFO's were pushed to that near completion step. The Peace banner needs binding and the Special Day banner needs to be quilted and bound. All in all I'm not unhappy with my progress. Actually rather proud that I completed what I did.

There was a little sidestep again this a.m. after putting on the inner border of the square in square. I feel another scrap quilt coming on. Scrap quilts are my ultimate favorite type of quilt. The more fabric the merrier.

Here's the near future project to use up scraps and a nice older red that's been in my stash...

A little change

2008-11-01T08:08:00.002-07:00

Trying to play around with a "November" look. Can't seem to get my font back for my title. I'll be crazy by the time I figure it out but I will one way or the other.

Grrr...meanwhile chant with me - change is good, change is good, change is....

Square in Square almost together

2008-10-31T12:45:00.004-07:00

I have about 20 more seams to sew and this top is together. I will have to look for some border fabric but it won't hurt the pocket as much since this was scrap and on-hand fabrics.

On Wednesday my dd was looking at all the blocks and asked if I would finish it for her birthday. Had to laugh because her birthday was the next day (yesterday). Lots of non-quilters think we can whip them up that fast too though don't they?

Yesterday morning I had the pleasure of going to an informal get together of quilters. They meet once a week to sew, chat, and munch. It was so nice to be around others who love fabric, sewing, and quilting and just the female yakkety-yak. Thanks Suzanne for inviting me! and I look forward to coming again.

Got a start on putting the square-in-square blocks together there. Then yesterday afternoon while the cake baked I hung the warm n' natural on the wall and laid out the blocks. Tried not to think too hard on what was next to what but with only 12 purple I wanted them spread out. DD walked by when she got home from school and said "this is for my room. These are the colors I love". She doesn't know that it is for her for Christmas. I'll have to see what she thinks of the snail's trail as it's pieced before I decide which to give her. Caught her looking at the picture of that one and she said she liked it too.

Maybe she will be a quilter one of these days. It warms my heart to think she might be.

Back to sewing and finishing up Halloween prep for my little ghoulie.

If you "do" Halloween, have a fun night. If not, I hope you have a quiet, peaceful evening and no t.p. in your trees. :)

Melody

Just a little side step...

2008-10-28T09:13:00.007-07:00

Did I get the baby quilt quilted you ask? Ummm, well, uh, okay fine! No, I didn't. However, in my defense, the day was not wasted. More on that below.

Got the baby quilt out, got the backing out, got the Warm N' Natural out. All was ready to go and then BAM - quilter's block. Is there such a thing? I'm sure there has to be. Just could not decide how to quilt it. So I hung it up in the hallway just outside the sewing room door so every time I turn around I would see it. Believe it or not I think it worked. I realized that each dog block needed to be quilted in it's own way. Each looks like someone took a picture, framed it, and now it's sitting on the desk to be admired. With that in mind I decided to let each block speak to me as I get to it. The frames will have zig-zag or swirls or just outlined stitched. Just whatever it says it wants. The border will be "whatever" too when I get to it. Guess you could say my plan is to have no plan.

So on the backburner again until tomorrow. But hey, I'm not going to feel too bad. The baby is due any day and they still have not decided on a name.

Now for the "not wasted" day...

First, two quilts were cut out to save me from pulling, ironing again, etc. all those fabrics. I wanted them used up. Here's the Snail's Trail waiting to be pieced. Might add a few random purple snails but we'll see. Total coincidence that they are sitting by a diffuser that says "peace". haha

See the little girl sitting by by those pieces? She and her two sisters are a bit upset that they've been ignored so much and she was letting me know it. I caught one of the girls on a chair trying to find snacks while I was busy sewing. Unfortunately, the cupboard is bare so a trip to the grocery store is on the agenda for today.

What was I doing while ignoring the kids? I stitched Square in Square blocks until my eyes were squared off. Out of 72 blocks all but 17 are done. Those 17 just need the 2 large pieces stitched on. That will be done after this post. Here are some of the blocks laid out. Not the final positions.

Now here is my take on these blocks:
Cons: 1) a pain in the butt to cut from scraps; 2) boring with a capital B to sew, just no challenge at all

Pros: 1) lots of scraps are finished up, gone, finito, outta here, YAHOO!; 2) quick to piece - no points to match up; 3) nice and random with no thinking in regards to colors other than making outer pieces all blue, all green, all purple; 4) no pinning, I don't think I pinned anything at all which adds to the speed of piecing.

Even though I didn't like cutting it I would do it again to use up my scraps. Here is the birds share of those scraps. I'd say there is probably a yards worth of little pieces. :( But you just can't save it all or use it all. And, in looking at an old 2001 magazine last night I saw some of these fabrics in an ad so they have been hanging around long enough.

Couple other thoughts on this quilt. I was going to do just greens and blues then thought it needed one more color so I cut out a bunch of creams from scraps. The creamy ones didn't look right. They appeared too countryish alongside the modern lime/turquoise pieces. Now I have a nice stack of pre-cut creams to use elsewhere or maybe I will cut out browns from scraps and make a lap quilt. (That brown fabric is the back of the baby quilt).

I then cut out purples and I think the small amount of purple blocks not only works well with the blue and green but it will add a bit of interest and spark.

I ran out of the long pieces of green but had enough 4.5" pieces left that I sewed a couple up and used it as a long piece. If this hadn't happened at the end I might have purposely done other blocks this way just because it would be less boring to sew.

Also, since I was using scraps in blues and greens I used "scrap" bobbins. Any bobbin with blue or green thread on it was used to piece these blocks. Now many are cleaned up and I'll do the "buy two spools" tip.

Well, this has gone on long enough. Now to finish off those 17 blocks. Then I'd better do the "real world" stuff. Poo - I wanted to sew all day again today too.

Until next time have a fun and productive day.

Melody

cut and cut and cut

2008-10-26T17:37:00.004-07:00

This past week I didn't sew at all. I only cut. It is a ton more work to cut a quilt from scraps than yardage. BUT it's done and there are now two ready-to-piece tops sitting on my cutting table - one a full and one a queen. Or is it two full? Can't remember now.

The strings are neatly stacked for a string quilt so maybe I've cut 3 quilts this week. The really small strings are going to be thrown outside for the birds to (hopefully) use in their nests. Could you imagine how pretty their nests would be with quilt scraps wound through them?

My hands and arms are really aching. Part from cutting the fabric and part from trimming my mom's orange, grapefruit and fruit cocktail trees, pulling weeds, and raking... OUCH!

I REALLY need to get the baby quilt quilted. I was almost a grandma again this weekend and the quilt should be in Oregon waiting for baby, not here. So tomorrow I'm going to stay in baggie flannels, drink coffee, and quilt the baby quilt.

Decision made - green/aqua

2008-10-19T08:14:00.003-07:00

I'm doing both - haha - the snail's trail and the square in square. Figured since I was cutting I may as well cut both.

The main one is the snails trail and I've cut 30 blocks out with 40 to go. The other quilt will be cream and aquas/teals with green centers. I liked the black center but decided I wanted to keep it light.

I'm going to use up these greens and blues that have been in my stash for ages and not have all those little 6-8" pieces laying around for a few more years! Although I did save the little strips for a future strippy quilt. That's my grandma's fault since she always quoted that depression era saying "use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without". Translation: save it all.

Pretty good start since this all just started yesterday. I feel good!

Now if I could make a decision on a pattern using the Asian fabric dgd picked out.

Snail's

Square in square

Future strippy (yeah, right - maybe 10 years from now)

Planning a greenish lime and aqua/teal quilt

2008-10-18T10:34:00.005-07:00

I have two quilts to make for Christmas gift-giving. Both are in the planning stage. The main requirements are both patterns need to be simple so they will sew up quickly and both need to use as much fabric on hand as possible.

For the green and aqua/teal the September Fons & Porter had a snails trail quilt in the perfect colors. The other pattern I'm looking at is in the Fall Quilts and More issue. Both are simple enough to work up fast. I'm leaning towards the snail's trail pattern at the moment. I love that pattern and it will be fun to do in a big mix of fabrics.

So I pulled fabrics in the colors needed and was quite surprised to find how much of this mix I actually had. Made a couple sample blocks of the square in square with two different center fabrics. Not sure about either. The room the quilt is going in is quite green/aqua already so the quilt might need more black or cream in it.

Here's a few pics of the room, the fabrics, and the Splashes of Color pattern samples I worked up. (I've been thinking of it as Square in Square). I'm thinking the border may need to be more plain and there will be an inner border too.

If you have any thoughts please leave a comment. Opinions definitely welcome and appreciated.

Current bedding:

Curtains:

Little funky accessory with wall colors.

Square in Square blocks with two different center options:

Stash fabrics 1:

Stash fabrics 2:

I'm a procrastinator and work best under pressure but even I know a decision can't be put off much longer if they are to get finished.

Melody

Another giveaway - Halloweenish

2008-10-16T20:15:00.003-07:00

So many giveaways from so many wonderful bloggers. Check out Pumpkin Patch Primitives Quilt Shoppe here and enter to win a Halloween surprise.

What fun!

Pigtails and Snails quilt give-a-way

2008-10-16T09:44:00.008-07:00

Wow! What a generous give-a-way and she has second and third place prizes too. Check out the quilt and her blog here.

It's too cute! I think she will do well with this pattern at the Houston Quilt Market.

Got motivated and finished something!

2008-10-14T13:55:00.004-07:00

One of the requirements of the quilt group I'm in is to make two little preemie quilts. One of the local hospitals let us use a room to work on our projects and the groups way of saying thank you is to donate these little quilts to cover the isolettes. The group provides the kits for us to assemble and complete.

The pink fabric has a simple little flower so I chose to mimic the design and did free motion quilting. Got brave and used a pink thread to make it show up a bit more. I used my walking foot and eyeballed the X across the larger blocks. They came out pretty straight.

It was a quick little project today and best of all I can cross a project off the list!

No pics - just yakking

2008-10-14T05:38:00.003-07:00

Wow. I can't believe a whole week went by without posting. Last week was a run, run, run week and I barely had time to catch my breath. My energy was gone.

I'd walk into my sewing room, straighten a few things up, look at my pile of projects, and walk back out. Made a decision to sign up for a couple work days at a local quilt shop. No distractions are needed to get things done sewing-wise. It's $5, I think, to use a table and it will be money well spent. Signing up is on today's to-do list.

The weather changed - finally cooled down and it's been too hard to resist being outside. Supposed to be back in the low 90's later this week but I think we've finally reached the turning point. YAHOO! We went to a Fiesta and enjoyed the chilly air, listened to music by local bands, and watched dancers of all ages. Forgot my camera though. :(

Along with the weather change maybe my medicine changes will help with energy too. I saw my dr. last week about feeling run down. I have an underactive thyroid and have been on medicine over 20 years. My doctor (I just loved her and really miss her) left the HMO and I was assigned a new doctor. After my bloodwork "new doctor" lowered my medicine dosage. Then a couple months later she lowered it again. I kept saying it doesn't feel right, I'm tired all the time, etc. She insisted I was fine.

Finally, after a whole year I'd had enough. Changed my HMO doctor, made an appointment, and went to it armed with research info which in part said you do not just treat according to the bloodwork but according to how the patient feels. Well, my new-new Dr. really listened and he raised my dosage. It's been a week and I'm starting to feel more energetic again. My mood seems better too.

My point of this non-quilt info is to say "stand up for yourself if you feel something is wrong. Change your doctor, do your research, tell him you know how YOU should feel, and fight for it. Doctors can be wrong and who knows your body better than you."

Looking to getting more accomplished this week...

Melody

Do it yourselfer - aka a new fan

2008-10-06T06:32:00.002-07:00

I'm a do it yourselfer type person. Mix that with a good dollop of impatience and I'll try to repair what I can around the house. So years back I decided to put shelves up above one of my work tables in the sewing room. And since I knew I wouldn't be putting heavy things on it I didn't use anchors. It held quite nicely to display dolls and whatever.

Unfortunately, after a few years I forgot that there were no anchors in the drywall to support the shelves. One day I was sitting at the table on my laptop and crash! I mean CRASH! Everything came down on my head and lap - books, dolls, storage bins, scrapbook supplies. The worst of it was the heavy shelves, brackets and rods themselves. Fortunately, my daughter wasn't sitting at the table and my Mom was far enough back not to get hit by anything. At the first crack I had bent over to protect my laptop. Duh.

A few cuts, scrapes, and bruises later taught me a good lesson... let your husband do it. Haha. You thought I was going to say be patient or use anchors or something really deep didn't you. Nope, now I just nag my hubby to death until he does it. (Don't tell him I admitted to nagging please.)

So it was quite a surprise yesterday to find a new ceiling fan had been installed without even asking. The old one shook, wobbled in wild circles, and was horribly noisy. It felt like it was going to come down at any moment. Maybe he was afraid I'd try to change it or maybe he remembered my kitchen sink repair or the shelf installation. Whatever the reason it sure feels cooler than the other one and looks so much nicer. And he even cleaned up the dust and insulation mess!

What a nice guy. Hmmm, and looking at the picture I just remembered that I wanted to remove the popcorn ceiling. Nag or just do? ;0

Enabling, new goodies, a fun website and a smidge of sewing in between

2008-10-05T16:44:00.000-07:00

This past week did not include much sewing but it did include a bit of light shopping.

I did work on the little Halloween quickie quilt to feel like something was accomplished. Did a bit of quilting around the motifs so all that is left is the binding. I might just use it as a little table mat. I could not think of anything cutesie to embroider so put "black cat, orange pumpkins." I showed it to my 9 yr old and she just laughed at me. She said in that boy-you-aren't-real-smart-tone that kids that age can have that there was only one orange pumpkin and the other is red. Hmpf! One is just a very dark orange bordering on red. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Made a trip to Joann's where I bought lots of interfacing. When I got home a new flyer was in the mailbox with, yup, you guessed it, all interfacing 50% off mid-month. Figures.

Bought a new book
and found several quilts that I'd love to make. Oh, oh, more projects. You know how it is! Forgot a few of the things I went for but sometimes I think this is the brains way of making sure another trip is in the near future.

Online, a member of the Yahoo group I lurk in shared a fun website http://www.fatcatpatterns.com/ with lots of freebie patterns, swaps, etc. The Family Dirt section is pretty funny. I'm sure we all have stories like these to share but she was brave enough to put them in writing.

While surfing online and going back to some of the same sites to look at some of the same patterns I found I could no longer resist this one from http://www.crabapplehillstudio.com/.

I thought it would make a great take-along project. I'll use the cream/tan something for the background like in the pattern and will have plenty of time to decide what color to use for the flying geese. Finish goal: the end of October next year. Oh, and this pattern arrived incredibly fast!

Since I was on a pattern shopping binge I decided to get this one by Lori Smith too. You can find her patterns at http://www.frommyhearttoyourhands.com/Qstore/Qstore.cgi.

No real plans for starting it yet. I love the colors she used in her quilt and the stepping stone blocks in between. Check out the fat quarter patterns on her website. I think it would be easy to get addicted to just doing these little quilts.

Also, a big thank you to Melissa at Cornbread and Beans Quilting for sharing a great prim website http://www.primitivepiecesbylynda.com . Lynda has wonderful areas to explore on her site. I wish I could go to Houston Market to see her quilts in real life. I definitely see a project coming on from one (or two or 3) of her patterns.

Well, that is enough enabling for one day. Hope you check out all the links. They are all well worth a look.

Melody

The last couple days...

2008-10-01T14:21:00.004-07:00

Monday I added another year to my age. I have no problem with that considering the alternative. The biggest surprise is waking up some mornings and feeling an ache or a pain here and there without a real reason for it. I mean, in my head I'm still 29 but the body is constantly calling me a liar. My daughter now knows my real age but it was so nice when she was little and told everyone I was 29 (and I was deep into the 40's). Maybe I could convince her to say 39 now instead of one of those 5.. numbers.

Mom took me to lunch at Panda Express. Little did I know that hubby had planned on making dinner (total shock). Well, haha, he brought home a bakery cake and a frozen lasagna. He called "dinner's done". Got to the table, no plates, glasses, or anything extra. Dinner was just that - lasagna and cake. I was a good girl and said nothing and just counted it a plus that I didn't have to cook. But, ugh, what a combination of food that day. I've never told him I don't like bakery cakes when he is nice enough to bring one home. But I did tell him that dd could make a cake next year. Subtle hint.

Now to quilty stuff. Recently I've been working on UFOs and made the binding for my large Christmas quilt on Monday. But decided I didn't like the binding and got disgusted and put it all away. So today I felt the need to make something new. Couldn't be something big because it would end up a UFO. Sure don't want another of those darn things.

Decided on something Halloweeny and pulled out Angels Among Us by Nancy Halvorsen that had a calendar quilt in it. The October one was just the right thing.

A couple of hours, fabrics from the scrapbag, fusible web, and a bit of buttonholing and here is the almost finished mini quilt:

I'll add the kitty's face tonight and maybe a kitty-pumpkin saying and do a quickie quilt job. Ahhh, these bouts of instant satisfaction feel so good.

Now, just because I felt like uploading pictures here are a few of the dolls from last year dressed up for Halloween. Tonight dd and I are going to sit down and try to fashion some costumes for some of her vinyl children.

That's me on the broom.

Bitty Bethany wearing a dress made from a pattern by biscotti725 on ebay:

And here is Leeann wearing a dress from that same pattern.

Back to playing (and laundry). Dinner is leftovers so plenty of time for more playing this evening.

100th post give-a-way for Quiltergoingbananas

2008-10-01T05:29:00.002-07:00

Check out this fun blog and leave a comment to be entered in her give-a-way. Lots of eye candy to enjoy.

http://quiltergoingbananas.blogspot.com/

Help needed - Asian fabric

2008-09-27T19:04:00.004-07:00

My granddaughter and her boyfriend met me at the quilt store to pick out fabrics for a quilt. I was quite surprised that the girl who wanted orange and brown gravitated towards the Asian fabrics, found one she fell for and would not put it down.

Her excitement grew the more she looked at it. She said the bed could be on the floor, there could be a low table to sit at and drink Saki (until I informed her of what it is), she could use Feng Shui when doing her room, paper lanterns, etc.

The point here is she loved the fabric. Then they saw photos of kaleidoscope quilts and loved those. Eeek. I've never used Asian inspired fabrics and have not made a kaleidoscope quilt before.

Does anyone have any advice or know of any websites that I could look at quilts using Asian fabrics or kaleidoscope quilts? I've googled but keep getting a random picture here and there and I'd like to look at lots of them.

If it comes down to it I will use it for the backing and use matching Asian themed fabrics for blocks on the opposite side. She could use either side then. I bought 10 yards of the fabric. One definite good thing is Asian fabrics were 30% off and I bought the rest of the bolt so got an extra 5%. Super price. Also purchased a couple other matching fabrics then got burnt out and left. Have a few more days to go back and get 30% off any more contrasting fabrics I might need.

All advice or suggestions welcome.

Here's the Kona fabric she chose:

Frankenfinished!

2008-09-25T19:12:00.004-07:00

He's done and ready for Halloween. One UFO down and 3 to go for my end-of-October goal. Isn't he cute? I mean scarey? Haven't washed him yet to get that nice puckery look that Warm-N-Natural gives and to get the chalk marks out but I was so excited to have him done after being a UFO for over 10 years. (Insert red-faced smiley). He will get a button or two or three down his shirt after being washed.

By the way, if you don't have a walking foot you should get one. It's one of the best investments I've ever made for my machine.

Snow White

2008-09-23T15:37:00.007-07:00

and all her friends are here right now - Grouchy, Grumpy, Moany, Whiny, Pouty, and a few other unmentionable names so I've not been in the mood to post.

I have been working on quilty stuff though in between the above visitors. And looking at quilty magazines. I've finished 10 or 12 quilts in my head just flipping through them.

Can't find the cable to upload from my camera either. Hence, some of the names (and lack of posts).

And dh really made me mad but I won't go into that. Just think when your dh made you mad and you will understand. More names.

Plus, you should see the unbelievable mess my dd and her friend made in her room. You would feel sorry for ~~her~~ me, no her, when I inform her she has to clean it tonight. Names, names, names. I'd bet my camera cable is in there. But why?

It must be time to throw a temper tantrum again so they will hear me.

In my hallway - 19 Sept 2008

2008-09-19T14:38:00.002-07:00

Nothing new. I dug through them and just couldn't decide. Besides I'm tired and felt like playing with my dolls.

But, here is my Kish Lark Little Lady. She borrowed a dress that doesn't fit her. But she was in a mood and this fit it. She's demanding her own Halloween costume and I'd better get to it if I don't want to hear her whining. She just doesn't understand that I only put this on her to see where to make adjustments. She wants it NOW.

I can see they are all going to start up about Halloween and Christmas outfits early this year.

Almost back in the UFO pile

2008-09-18T18:17:00.006-07:00

Worked on two of my UFO's today. It's amazing how much sewing you can get done if you ignore housework (and the computer).

Today I pulled out the block I didn't like from Frank and just put a simple string pieced block in it's place. The colors work much better. I also buttonholed around the cat, stars, bat, etc. Frank is ready to add a border to and quilt. Won't take a new pic until he's quilted. Woo hoo. He will get done, he will get done, he will.... You must have been reading my mind Melissa. :)

Not only that but I actually finished putting the bias on the last E and stitched all the bias down on the letters. A twin needle made quick work of it. Found one more mistake on the P. In the picture of it (in my last post) if you look you will see that the colors don't line up across. I added an extra turquoise piece below the red.

What's funny is that was probably the first letter I did and I screwed it up right at the beginning. That thing would have been in the UFO pile before I even did the other letters. Good thing I didn't catch it. I was feeling totally disgusted thinking a new P would have to be made then really looked at it and figured it out. I quickly removed the red and first turquoise piece and fixed it before I walked away from the machine. Only took about 10 minutes. Now the PEACE letters are ready for a backing and to be quilted. Double woo hoo!

What a good feeling today. Maybe I should clean something in celebration - not! Maybe I'll go watch "House" (he's such an obnoxious hunk) and eat pizza.

Today's UFO Quilt plan

2008-09-17T08:40:00.024-07:00

Subject to change at whim, of course.

I had a funny conversation with my sister-in-law earlier this week. She asked me if I had ever gotten the quilting machine I'd wanted yet. "Nope, talk to your brother" I said.

Then we got to talking about UFO's and I told her I'd been sorting through mine and probably had a good 50 projects. She tsk'd, tsk'd me, and said she only had about 5. Wow! And she mostly hand pieces and hand quilts and seems to get a lot done. Then she said if I got the machine she had lots of tops to send to me to quilt for her. Huh? Wait a minute, I thought you only had 5 UFOs??? “I do” she says “but I have a lot of pieced tops ready to quilt“. hahaha So, her idea of a finished quilt is the top being done.

Yay! Great theory. I have fewer UFO's than I thought! And, my plans should be to finish piecing the tops so there would be more “finished" quilts which equals less guilt when buying new fabrics and starting new projects.

This led me adjust my lists in my side bar from UFO's to read Ready to Quilt (finished technically - right?) and Ready to Piece (basically kits or not a whole lot done). I think I should add a third category - the “there is so little done that this is really just fabric and not a UFO).

Adjusting my lists led me to today’s plan. After going through all UFO’s I decided to pull four items out to finish before the end of October. This sounds like a lot but they are so close to done that it could happen. Here is what I chose and why they were never finished to begin with.

1. Christmas quilt - Pieced this about 15 years ago from a 9 patch block swap. Had it quilted about 5 or 6 years ago. Only needs binding but instead of just doing it I chose to do creative folding to display at Christmas. Reason for not finishing? Basically, laziness.
After all, it is only a display for a month or 6 weeks quilt.

2. Frankenstein. He’s about 10 years old - looks older doesn’t he. Why not finished? The blue block with the lightning bolt on the right. Don’t like it. Off to the drawer with him for “later”. It’s such a quicky fix too. The plan: fix it, finish it, display this Halloween.

3. Your Special Day birthday banner/pillow topper. This was for dd’s special day 5 years ago. Hey, at least it’s less than 10. Problem? I zig-zagged around all those little pieces when I should have buttonholed. You’d think that I would have realized I didn’t like it after a couple pieces, but, no, almost the whole thing is done this way. Solution: get over it. Finish zig-zagging and hang the darn thing up on everyone’s special days.

4. “Stained glass” Peace banners. These letters are so much prettier in real life. Put so much time into this one too making all that bias. Big icky here. Not thinking it through I put the back on the P before stitching the bias down. Icky, yuck, nasty looking on the back. Used a twin needle to stitch the bias and it shows as a big black zig-zag on the back. Where did it go? In the projects to be finished pile. But, hey, I’ve almost got it apart today. Didn’t worry about saving the back since it wasn’t my favorite anyway and I want them all to match.

Should have done this before I added the back:

Instead I did this:

The finish-by-the-end-of-October does not include the two new project tops that I just pieced because they will get quilted no matter what.

Hmmm, just making these lists makes me have that “accomplished something feeling”. Makes me want to start something new.

I am going to cry

2008-09-17T08:40:00.014-07:00

I have typed, typed and retyped a long post 3 times and put in pics too and it has disappeared every time. Now watch this *(&*! one will go through.

Grrrrrr!

Why I picked my blog name - why did you pick yours?

2008-09-16T04:51:00.008-07:00

After starting this blog I was kind of worried that my blog name would seem, hmmm, well, raunchy? I hope not though.

It really started because I'm a doll collector. Mostly vinyl play dolls. And those kids are always wanting new stuff - accessories, clothes, shoes, furniture. It's like having a couple hundred kids to support. I'm currently thinning my collection and let me tell you, it's hard to let them go. But unless I want to move to a bigger house (that sounds good - can it be where it's cooler?) I have to pick and choose and let go.

Then my thinking evolved and it seemed to just fit my life. First, I have a couple young drama queens in my life - dd (10), and dgd (20) and no, I don't have those ages backwards. After these two my son and dgs are pieces of cake.

Also, I grew up with 4 sisters. Talk about a hormonal nightmare growing up! Nothing more need be said.

Now, I'm helping my mom out a lot. There is 70 years difference between her and my daughter and my arms have stretched out a couple feet from the tug of war between dh, dd, and dmom of who gets my time. Yup, very demanding.

Finally, this is the ugly middle-age menopausal part. I said "enough!" Between dh, dd, mom, I was going nuts and started stomping, screaming, ranting and raving that I needed time to do what I loved too and pick up after yourself, I'm not a short order cook, no I won't take you to the mall, etc. They kind of went in shock and I got my way (somewhat, kind of - because they keep trying to take over again). But, sigh, it's been better and I have absolutely no problem with throwing a temper tantrum again if that's what it takes.

So, now, I'm "the demanding doll" and plan on staying that way for my own sanity's sake!

To all those nice quiet little kids that sit on my shelf - thank you.

Where did you get your blog name from? I'd like to know.

Effanbee baby and My Twinn Cookie

Kish - Mowgli and Hallmark pedal car - he wants (needs) new clothes. See his cute toes on the pedal. Awwww.

More Kish kids - I just love these little ones. They have too many toys. (Ignore bad photography and scrapbook paper background).

Patchwork Puzzle game

2008-09-14T08:52:00.006-07:00

This link was given on the Yahoo Cyberquilters group. For those times you just want to veg out in front of the computer. Here's the link.

Later...hmmm, I see the link isn't working correctly. The game is patchworkz though. I'll try to fix it soon.

Hurricane Ike

2008-09-13T04:40:00.002-07:00

We are waiting for news from my sister, her kids and grandkids. They are in Houston. Yesterday she said rain had not fallen yet but there was already flooding in areas from the ocean surge. They are prepared, on the N. side of Houston, but it's hard to wait for word.

More family will be feeling the storm as it's headed straight for the St. Louis area after going through TX.

In My Hallway

2008-09-12T04:31:00.008-07:00

The colors in this quilt are just right for Fall. It was paper-pieced which is a wonderful way to get crisp points for miniature quilts. I believe the pattern is the Flat Iron so with that in mind this was named "Pressed Leaves".

Minis are one of my favorite quilt items to make. They are a great way to practice a new pattern or technique, get something quick done (compared to a large quilt), use up little bits of much-loved-kept-for-10-years fabric pieces, and to give that sense of satisfaction in completing a project.

Even though this mini stays out year round I had decided to rotate a mini or wallhanging out each Friday in my hallway. Then, on Wednesday, a member of the quilt group I recently joined shared a display tip. She stitches the soft side of velcro to the back of her small quilts and mounts the hard, scratchy side to a permanent rod. She can easily change out her quilts for display. Great idea! I could see having several of these bars to fit areas for minis and larger wallhangings. A constant revolving gallery to show off your art without using push pins. Her idea clinched my rotation plans.

Now off to get ready for a scrapbook convention today. Gotta oooh and ahhh over all the pretty paper fabric.

Enjoy your day.

Nothing in particular...

2008-09-11T11:48:00.007-07:00

but still exciting. We had weather! Rain! The real stuff on Tuesday! Yeah, I know, big deal, but I love the rain and the way it makes the leaves greener and that bit of fresh smell and the thunder and lightning. Just love it! And, we had bonuses with it. It hailed first! Lots of nice, hard, rocky, little balls that melted the instant they hit the ground. You might see a few in the pic - maybe not. It stopped almost as fast as it started and I went running for the camera so kind of missed the few minutes of hail. We almost always go outside and just watch any weather that isn't just hot sun and more likely than not walk around a bit in it. Oh, to have REAL seasons!

Now, tilt your head to the right, maybe to the left a bit, rock your monitor forward just so. Do you see it? A rainbow. Who doesn't love a rainbow after a rain?

In celebration, I took a shot of this cute little quilt I made years ago. It says "I bring fresh showers for thirsting flowers".

Quilty Morning - That a Q not a G - :)

2008-09-09T06:52:00.007-07:00

Getting a move and groove on this morning. Besides doing some of the necessary evils (a load of laundry, picking up, etc.) I've gotten a few quilty things done.

So far I've prepared a backing, cut some Warm N' Natural, and pinned the runner I made from Happy Zombie's pattern!

Then I started a list (embarrassingly long) of UFO's. Gave up on that because, ugh, I got tired of going through the project drawers.

Decided time would be better spent working on one of those UFO's so I pulled these

from this

and here is the back of a paper pieced log cabin mini ready to have a border put on and be quilted.

Not only that but I organized a bit more of my fabrics (it will get done eventually), paid a few bills (very depressing), read blogs, had my coffee, put up last night's dishes and it's only 7 a.m. Can you tell I'm a morning person?

Yeehah, I love it when a day starts out this smoothly and tomorrow is quilt group meeting. Double yeehah. I'm hoping to have the table runner quilted so I can work on the binding during the meeting. We'll see.

Til next time...have a happy and productive day.

Figuring out blog layout

2008-09-08T06:18:00.003-07:00

Whew! I'm starting to figure out this page layout thing. Look. I got 3 columns! Will I keep it? Who knows. I figured out how to put an image in the title section too but can't get my title to sit anywhere at the very top edge. So, if it bounces from this to that to the other don't be surprised. Eventually, I'll figure it out and choose one...maybe.

Did it take you all a while to figure out your layouts and to finally stick to it?

ETA: haha - look at the little tiny title with a cutesy background to the left. Getting closer.

Pillowcase - a first sewing project

2008-09-07T09:53:00.004-07:00

A sense of pride and accomplishment. That's what my baby felt when she completed this pillowcase last weekend. Even if she is not that interested in sewing now perhaps these simple little projects will encourage her to take it up later on. She has plans to make daddy a pair of flannel pajama pants and a cowgirl pillowcase for her friend for Christmas. Just her thinking along those lines shows she might find a continuing interest.

She says she is "Wilson" from Home Improvement in this photo...

(Oh, and, uh, I really don't let her wear those fake nails. She went to Walgreen's with her daddy and can talk him into anything. She's fascinated by those things because several of her teachers wear them. They come off before school. )

Free Basket Tutorial

2008-09-06T07:44:00.008-07:00

Cute! Cute! Cute! and quick!

I found the link here! at This That and The Other and she got it from here - Pink Penguin! I prepared it last night and stitched it up this morning.

Don't cha love blogging!

In my hallway

2008-09-05T11:18:00.006-07:00

Do you ever fall in love with a piece of fabric and buy it "just because"? No plans, no pattern, and no idea what to do with it. That is the way I felt about this fabric with a blue background and pink roses. I bought the fabric, took it home, and used it right away. It all just seemed to fly together. One of those rare times when I used a fabric I loved instead of saving it for "the perfect quilt".

Maybe I had blue in my house at the time but there is no blue to be found anywhere now. So it hangs in the hallway just outside the sewing room door.

I still love it and enjoy it every day and I'm so glad I used it instead of waiting for the perfect quilt.

No dogs allowed

2008-09-05T05:53:00.002-07:00

Poor Rosy. She knows she's not allowed in here but she still tries anyway. Inch by inch and step by step. Her favorite spot is always under my feet and that just doesn't work when you're trying to sew. So, the rule is "NO DOGS ALLOWED" in the sewing room. Why do they want to sit right under your feet anyway?

Please can I come in? She's learned that this is as far as she can go.

She must have known I was going to put her photo up. I'm just sure she posed for the photo below. Isn't she too cute? She has a great personality. BTW - she's half Jack Russel and half Australian Cattle Dog. In other words, a hyper, ball-obsessed, highly shedding, nut. But we love her.

Rambles over the completed dog quilt top

2008-09-04T14:41:00.006-07:00

Yay! I finished piecing the dog quilt top yesterday for DGS-yet-to-be-born. I'm pleased to have it done but had arguments pro and con with myself over it and even thought of not giving it to him for 5 years or so. So I slept on it and worked through the pros and cons.

Con - it's not very baby-baby. Not the typical quilt perhaps for a newborn.
Pro - it reflects the love dgs's parents have for dogs. How will he not be able to love them too. It will give him something fun to look at and point out as he starts to notice these things.

Con - it's big for a baby quilt. It's too wide for a baby bed and too small to fit a twin for later on.
Pro - it's big enough to cuddle under and mom or dad can cuddle under it too (and maybe a dog or two). Hubby made brownie points last night when I was second-guessing myself and said "he'll be able to enjoy it longer". Big smooches to him.

Con - it is squarish. Not exactly square because it's 2" shorter than wide - 52"x50". This is because the top and bottom row of blocks are 14"x14" and the middle row blocks are 14"x12" - this is on purpose. I wish now that I had added another row of 14"x12" blocks and considered taking it apart and redoing but... yeah, right.
Pro - the top is done and the baby won't care. My son will just be shocked that it's done before he turns 10 and hopefully dd-i-l will be pleased that it was made especially for dgs.

So, those were my arguments as I hung it up and looked it over last night. It is overall cute though and I was able to get the weiny dogs fully on the border. They have 2 of the little stinkers - a red one and a black one. (They also have an old pit bull rescue dog who is one of the sweetest, gentlest, most chicken dogs I've seen. She looks scary, but she's not. They just lost their chow/shephard mix who was a sweet but scared rescue dog. What a mix of pooches!)

Have not decided how it will be quilted. It would be cute to do dog bones or something all over except on the pics of the dogs. I'd quilt around the square/rectangle for them. And, I have extra dogs that I can choose from for a label.

What else doggie can I make? Hmmm, a stuffed weiny dog would be fun. I still have until 10/30 to go. Plenty of time. :)

Oh, and don't mind the "off" picture. You know how it is to photograph a quilt, one side always has to wave at you so I just cropped the darn photo to hide the white walls behind it. The border is 4" all around. I decided to use a solid black for the inner border because it needed a rest between printed dog blocks and a printed outer border.

Fall?

2008-09-03T10:07:00.004-07:00

Being Midwestern born and raised then transplanted to the dry, hot desert I'm always surprised at the first signs of Fall. It's not in the cool, crisp mornings - it's still in the 100's during the day and 80's at night. The leaves aren't changing color - the plants are still shades of brown from the long, hot summer. I haven't really noticed scarecrows, cornstalks, or gourds in front of houses - they'd just fade out in the sun.

Where is the first sign of Fall?

My daughter's doll and toys. After seeing Halloween goodies out at the store (over 2 months ahead of the day - geesh) she wasted no time in getting in the spirit (no pun intended). Here's her little "sister" JJ with her old friend Bluebeary. JJ gets to snuggle Bluebeary during the day. JJ is wearing a Halloween sleeper to keep her warm and to get ready for trick-or-treat. The next photo is Bluebeary after being hugged and loved for 7 years along side Newbeary.

Hard to believe Bluebeary ever looked like Newbeary. Did you ever see the commercial about the missing favorite toy and the mom bought a new one and did all sorts of things to it to make it look old? That's what I was thinking when I bought Newbeary but dd found him hidden away and promptly named him Newbeary. Heaven help us if Bluebeary ever comes up missing because Newbeary will not work the same magic. It would be drama to the max!

For some reason both these guys have worn sweaters since day one but, Fall it is, since the dolls and bears are getting redressed. Now I just wish it would cool down.

The Energizer Bunny aka Still folding

2008-08-30T18:57:00.003-07:00

I'm beginning to understand that bunny more and more. Only I would have to say "still folding" instead of "still going". Even with a cold I kept on folding. Then in the Target Sunday ads last week they had these cabinets on sale for $38.99. They run 60" tall x 24" wide x 12" deep. They are the PERFECT size for the refolded fabrics. They are easy to put together too although I found an easier way on the second one than what the directions said. Only thing about this cabinet is if you have little ones you really need to mount it to the wall with the included mount. They can tip over when empty with the doors open.

Before in drawers:

After in the little cabinet from Organize-It. The cabinet on the left is holding 8 of the drawers worth of fabric.

I love being able to open the doors and just see all the beautiful colors so neatly organized. Still have a ways to go on folding so they will all be moved around again but it makes me happy so far. I have one more cabinet to put together and might have to pop for a 4th. In the long run I think I will use more fabrics on hand now.

Oh, and something I thought of as I was folding is you can easily tell about how much of each fabric you have. Since it's wrapped around a 6" inch ruler you just have to count each layer and multiply times 6. What an added bonus!

My plastic drawers have been moved to under the sewing tables for scrapbook items, doll stuff, etc. so now that is all neatened up too.

We interrupt this blog...

2008-08-27T21:13:00.002-07:00

for the continuation of a kick-butt cold. Back soon.

One Dollar Quilt

2008-08-23T07:58:00.006-07:00

Yes, that's what I said. A one dollar quilt! A few years ago my sister asked me to take her to the airport. Her plane left around 7:00 a.m. so we were up and moving early. (Not a problem for me but for her...)

After being the kind, loving sister I am (are you reading this sis?) and dropping her off I headed home. About a mile from home I see a yard sale sign. It's only 6:00 or 6:30 but being totally impressed with the fact that a yard sale was starting this early I had to go see for sure. They were set up and open!

Started looking around and I see a folded up bit of fabric that looked quilted. The white backing was out and you couldn't see the fabrics or pattern. On top is a little sticky that said $1.00. It's still on the quilt because I still can't believe my good luck.

Okay, that had to be wrong. Even an ugly quilt (is there such a thing when they are made with love?) would be more than that. I flipped a corner back and saw nice, bright fabrics and a lovely pattern. Said I (in disbelief) "this is $1.00?" "Yes" she said. "I'll take it". I moseyed for, oh, another 30 seconds and got out of there before someone else could come in and battle me for my treasure.

On arriving home and opening the quilt I was thrilled.

It fits perfectly on top of my king-sized bed with no overhang.

There is a bit of damage but overall the quilt is a beauty (especially for a buck). I'm thinking it may be from the 50's or 60's??? One fabric a purplish color was used in seven locations and each one had deteriorated. I've been told that I should find fabric from that era, cut a bit of batting and fabric in the shape of the missing piece and gently applique it over the quilt. This will keep the integrity of the original and still be nice to display.

Needless to say, I enjoy displaying this pretty quilt and only wish I knew the story behind it. Oh, and I just realized this morning that the initials on the price tag are the same as my sisters: M.D. Is that odd or what?

Take a peek at Calamity Jane's Cottage

2008-08-22T14:56:00.000-07:00

Click here! to drop in and visit Bonnie and enjoy her blog. She has a darling purse made of Halloween fabrics that she is giving away to celebrate Fall.

Thanks for the chance to win your cute purse Bonnie!

Droolie Trip

2008-08-21T13:18:00.000-07:00

Popped over to the quilt shop today to scope out fabrics for dgd's quilt. It was hard to do since I caught dd's cold and should have stayed home. Even so the abundance of fabrics inspired and frustrated me. It's really hard to find "orange" fabrics that aren't Halloween-like or too pastel-bordering-on-peach. I did find some brown batiks with bits of orange streaks that could be workable. Found a couple prints with brown, orange, and aqua. They could be the focus fabric to pull from. But really, nothing popped my post toasties that I thought she'd like. Considering e-mailing focal fabric swatches to her and letting her pick one but then it won't be much of a surprise.

A new idea popped into my head though. Why not do browns and creams. My concern is dgd will grow tired of a brown/orange quilt within a year or two. But with browns/creams she could add an orange or aqua or blue or whatever and it will all still blend. I could keep some fabrics used in the quilt and make a pillow or sham with her current chosen color that will match. Keep just a bit more and she could have something new in a year or two. We'll see.

It's a thought. Have to make a decision soon and get working on it. Need to line up a machine quilter to make sure it can get quilted before Christmas. (Oh, dear Santa, please bring me a quilting machine.)

Found more lines to drool over and want, want, want. Can there ever be enough fabric? I don't think so.

Ugh. This cold is kicking me and I have too much to do!!!

...maybe tomorrow.

There goes my quiet Monday

2008-08-18T03:30:00.000-07:00

The dog quilt is on the back burner. This is why I have a drawer of UFO's. Always finding something new to make. Now I'm making a Christmas table topper. Well, actually for my grandma's old buffet. And thinking about trying to make the purse for my sister. Hmm, but I would need to go to the fabric store to find one more fabric. Better forget that. Too much going on.

DH home with toothache and have to get him into the dentist. DD is having sinus and/or a cold thing going on and only the second week of school. Have to get mom to the airport. Yup, better forget the purse thing.

Oh, back to the topper... It's a happy-make-me-smile topper and I'm already thinking of decorating for Christmas and looking forward to it. I love Christmastime.

Back to coffee, laundry, the sewing room while I still have a few hours of quiet and no demands on my time.

p.s. I want to make a simple, but pretty, quilt for dgd for Christmas. Trying to figure out colors. Finally, kind of asked everyone. From her dad: red, black, and pink. Ewwww. The red and black I can handle but NOT the pink. From her mom: not blue, she's tired of blue, nothing blue at all. From her boyfriend: blue. hahaha From her: orange and brown. From me: aqua and brown with a shade of orange somehow? or sage, red, cream/gold (oh, wait, that would be for me.) I like oranges and I like browns. Isn't it always easier to make something when you like the color palette? We'll see. At least it will be easier to look through the stash since I've been refolding. :) Hey, a reason for a droolie trip to the quilt shop too! Yeeha!

What a long p.s.