Something VERY Rare!!

Check this out. I actually marked a quilt before quilting. I'm not a fan of marking (I'm lazy, remember?). I used a pounce block, a stencil, and magic chalk. The magic chalk disappears with heat. It worked well and I'll probably do it again. I had a few flashbacks though while I was using it, of grade school and clapping the erasers at the end of the day, cough, cough. So here it is, all done, my first gift quilt of 2010. Do you see what I see? When I look at it, I can't help but notice that the zigzag rows start pointing down and end pointing up. It's not a big deal but I think the quilt might look better if those rows ended pointing down.

And here's something else I whipped up. The Wild Threads are having a little summer mini quilt swap so I made a little landscape quilt. Actually, I made two.
Now I can keep one for myself. They were fun and easy. Maybe I'll try a little beach landscape next.

I fiddled around today with some Michael Miller fabric. Are those hedgehogs cute or what?! I started with the idea of making potholders. I still might but I'm just gonna stop for a short while to decide if I should make a little crib quilt instead. I made the 9 patches by layering the fabrics, cutting them wonky, and then shuffling the pieces. Quick and easy!

I did some other fiddling around today but I think I'll wait until I'm finished to show you what I did.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day everyone! Remember all those who have served for us.

Oh yeah! Getting stuff done!

Look what I finished yesterday. It's been waiting for 4 years. Enough was enough and yesterday I got serious and GOT IT DONE!! I skimped a little on the quilting in the border but the rest has plenty. Sometimes I get so excited about a finish that I get impatient with the quilting. I'm not proud of that but I have to tell the truth, I'm just an impatient kinda gal. I figure I can go back and fill in a little if I want. This spot over our bed was begging for something. I had a different wallhanging before we got this bed but it was too long and fell behind the headboard. I had fun stitching veins in the leaves. That's about the extent of my drawing ability.

If I had courage I would free-motion leaves in the border but I need to practice that first.

Check out what I did this morning. Remember this post? I finally put a new cover on my Big Board ironing surface. This was a twin sheet that was barely used. I put a little drawstring on it to hold it in place and I can remove it for washing. Yay! I used the rest of the sheet as backing for this quilt. This is the zigzag quilt that I had on my design wall for a long while. I finally got it together and it is going to be the first of my 'just in case' gift quilts. Remember my New Year's resolutions? One of them was to make at least 3 quilts to have on hand for unexpected events such as a sick friend or a special thank you. As you can see, I have no quilting in the border yet. I did some straight line quilting in the body of the quilt and now I have stalled. Any suggestions? Since it's a solid color, any quilting will really stand out so I need to be realistic about my abilities. BUT, it's also a great opportunity to try something new. I enjoy putting on binding and doing the handwork, and I'm at the point when I can't wait to get to it, so I'm trying to exercise patience and perseverance. I want to do right by this quilt. I also need to get to work on a couple more to keep my resolution. I think in June I will post a 'Resolution Progress Report'. I am feeling good about the UFO's I've got done. I'll show them all to you.

Meanwhile, I have to go clean out my daughter's closet. She's in college and has her own apartment now and I plan to slowly, slowly inch some of my stash and batting etc into her closet. I boxed up some stuff, like wools, flannels, and homespuns, that I don't use often and I can keep it in there. Wish me luck, her closet is scary messy.

G'day y'all!

A finish or two, and more in the works!

I wanted to make a little friend for my Bubbles pillow, and here she is! It's gloomy today so I couldn't get the colors right in the photo, but it's close. And here they are together on the couch! Making friends.

And their backsides too! I love using shirts for the backs. It's SO FAST! and tidy.

Last week I finished my portrait. I posted about it over on the Say Cheese! blog. Check out everyone's portraits over there.

This was a very new experience for me. I don't think of myself as artistic so I'm thrilled that I pulled it off. I started with a photo of myself, enlarged it, traced parts, and took it from there. Noses are tricky and I'm not certain of my thread painting skills so I just did little slivers. It worked out ok. And it's possible that little birdies are becoming my trademark. We'll have to wait and see. Yesterday, I worked hard on a UFO that I've had for 4 years. Yup, FOUR years. And I
mean to finish it this week. Oh yeah, baby!! I better get off this computer and git back to work. Toodles!

I'm a Winner (again!) and a correction.

My happy little pillow, Bubbles, won a prize at Brown Paper Packages in the SYTYCQ contest. I actually had a little competition this time and still won. Yahoo!! Now I have to make a little correction: Quilt Dad did make a pillow like this but I used Ryan's tutorial to make this. Guess I got my guy quilters a little mixed up. Sorry Ryan!! I have some fun things to show you this week. I promise some more regular posts. I do, really, no fooling! Stay tuned peeps!

Alive and well!

I'm alive! Actually starting to feel human too.
Look what I finished. I finally cut into my Cherrywood fabrics and made a runner using a Kathie Alyce pattern and template. It's hard to tell in my photos but the wall color is a pale lime, spring green. I LOVE it! It's so clean, fresh, and bright.If you have never had any Cherrywood hand-dyed fabrics, you should consider getting some. They cost more than a few pennies but, my gosh, the colors are rich and gorgeous.

This was a fun and easy pattern to 'whip up'. Using the template, and following Kathie's directions, it was easy to get the curves to go together. I have wanted to do some quilting like this. All lines. I followed the curves in the pattern and just 'eyeballed' each row of stitches. No marking. I am really kind of a lazy quilter. But I do love how this turned out, and I'm thrilled with it in my front hall. So mod in my frumpy old house, lol.

Hopefully, I will get some more finishes done in the next few weeks. Woo hoo!

This is your e-vite to my Pity Party!

Only mostly joking!! I had some surgery last week and I am disappointed in my recovery. You know you're a quilter when............you hear, 'you need to have that surgically fixed.' and you think, 'yahoo! time off for quilting!!'. Just think what a quilter can do with 6 weeks away from the 'real' job! Anyway, I'm sorta creeping around the house planning for better days. AND, guess what?! I am almost to 100 posts! I think I'll have a giveaway to celebrate when I get there. Hmmm? What should it be? I made something cute last week, a drawstring bag to take to the hospital with me for my toiletries. The housekeeping lady went nuts over it and now I'm making her one for her church collections. Maybe I'll whip two up (that is when I can whip up anything) and then I can fill one up with goodies for one of my bloggy friends. Well, stay tuned folks, I have a few posts to go then I'll have a bit of fun for you.
Meanwhile, here are a few pictures of some Baltimore fun. Every spring the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore has a big Kinetic Sculpture race. My friend, and fellow nurse, Tony, has entered for the last 5 years. This year his float was 'Chessie' (the Chesapeake Bay equivalent to the Loch Ness monster). Apparently Chessie is not happy about all of the snow that got dumped into the Baltimore Harbor this past February, and she has emerged to roam the streets of Baltimore. Chessie has 99 styrofoam teeth (one has a gold grill!), a jaw that opens and closes, eyes made from garbage can lids, and a LOT of glitter!! Also, there is a little blue/purple poodle dangling in front of Chessie. I think it's to try to entice her back to the Bay.
Look carefully in her mouth and you can see Tony who powers Chessie with a bicycle.

This is another of the floats, the Candy Haus. Those big lollipops were used as paddles as the float entered the harbor for the water feature. The race was great fun. My husband and I
sat in the sun and watched all of the floats as they entered the water and attempted to get out by their own steam. After that, the race headed to Patterson Park for the obstacle course and the sand/mud pit. If you are intrigued, google' kinetic sculpture race, baltimore' and read more.

In other news, here is a picture of the cute pillow I got from my friend Chris in the Wild Thread pillow swap. I had to have it because of the ice cream. Oh my gosh, I love ice cream!! I can't remember the last time I had some because I've been on a diet. I think I should get some though. What good is a pity party without ice cream?

And last of all, here's my Daisy napping on the windowsill. We have had some NICE weather. Have you ever noticed how a hot day is like a drug for a cat? She usually sleeps in a basket on the shelf in my sewing room, but this gorgeous day, she couldn't resist the hot sun! Okay, I guess the party is over. Allow me to formally apologize for any whining that may have occurred. Be assured that it was nothing compared to the offline whining, lol. Now, if you will excuse me, I must go adjust my attitude!

I forgot to show you the back of my circles pillow (by the way I am naming it 'Bubbles'). Here it is, I used a men's shirt from the thrift store. It didn't photograph well so I put a pen in the pocket for reference. This picture is a little better. I love the thrift shop!

Remember those silks that I won from 'I Have a Notion'? Here is a scarf I made using some of them. I used a little Kaffe as the lining. I love Kaffe.
My very first yo-yo's, and made out of silk to boot!

I like my scarf. (Try not to stare at the gum in my mouth, it's not polite.) Years ago, I made a New Year's resolution that was a big flop. It was to accessorize more, lol. I think maybe I'll try again.