Lots of Stuff...

Kaylynn's first day of kindergarten was yesterday.
Her Mom sent me photos...

Here she is, all ready to go...

Now, she's waiting for the bus...

Finally, she's in her classroom...

I talked with Kaylynn on the phone last night...

she was so excited!  

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I haven't done any sewing or quilting since my last post.

Decided to just settle down and move the timeline.

Got my thread yesterday.

I am set to go.   

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My dqs9 partner got her doll quilt.

Actually, both of them.

I made one for her.
This one...

Look at how wild the back looks...

that's the center fabric of the front.

I made the black and white with lime green

quilt for her cat, Millie.

Here is a photo that Lynne sent 

of Millie laying on her new quilt!

See how the quilt matches her?

Millie has her own blog...click here.

It's a great feeling when what you make

is received so well by the ones you made it for.

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Exciting NEWS!!!

Do you know Nate Berkus?

He's known because of his

affiliation with Oprah Winfrey.

Well, he now has his own show!

YAY!

Starts next Monday.

I am so excited! 

Go here to see what he's up to.

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That's all I have for today.

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. - Ecclesiastes 9:10

DQS9 Received...& Another Brown Dog???

I received my doll quilt in today's mail.

From Cornelia.

All the way from Germany!

It is dang cute.

Machine sewn, hand quilted.

Measures 13" square...

those are some small pieces of fabric!

Still waiting for my partner to receive her package.

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Tag has a new pal.

Another brown dog.

Almost as big as he is.

Too bad he cannot keep it.

Though, he sure would love to!

This pup used to sit on a shelf...

was digging through some stuff

today and set it on my bed.

Tag was excited to think he had a new friend.

Guess again, bud.

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. - Ecclesiastes 9:10

FNSI Results!

I am happy to say that

I finished this little quilt!

Yay!

(oops...a few threads yet to be dealt with!)

(See my foot?  My crocs match the green really well!  haha!)

This quilt is part of the dqs9 swap.
It measures about 18" square.

Will tell you all the details soon.

Now, before you say anything about the binding...

I can hear you, ya know!

You're saying, "What is she thinking?  

Look at how crooked that binding is...!"

I was dismayed to see how crooked the spots were.

I was sure I had cut the fabric straight on the grain.

Cuz, you know...it's not like 

cutting fabric is something new to me! 

I checked out the fabric.

Due diligence and all that.

I found that the spots are not

on the straight of grain,

hmmmm...interesting.

What's a woman to do?

Gave some thought to starting over...

cutting it crooked, so the spots were straight.

But, quickly vetoed that idea.

Better to have straight fabric than spots.

That's what I think, anyway.

What do you think?

(by the way, the fabric is Half Moon 'Spots'...

that's why they are spots not dots.)

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. - Ecclesiastes 9:10

A Finish and a Third!

I finished my dqs9 quilt last night!

About 23" square.

I braved the mosquitoes so the photo 

could be taken outdoors this afternoon.

I think it was worth being swarmed...

the colors show nicer & are more true.

This afternoon, I made block 3 for Paul & Rachel's quilt.

Let me just say...there will be 25 of these blocks.

You may get very bored looking at them.

For sure, you will run out of adjectives!  

{grin}

  

That's all I have.

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. - Ecclesiastes 9:10

Low Humidity + regained energy =

a productive day!

YAY!

Gave Tag  a bath.

Mountains of laundry washed/dried.

Quilted my second dqs9 quilt.

Vacuumed.

Feels good to get stuff done.

And, I'm not finished, yet!

Here's the quilting on this one...

big flower in the middle & pebbles around the hst's.

Straight line quilting on the outside border.

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My friend, Erin

(my 'we double rock swap' partner from last year), 

over at Why Not Sew? 

just opened her etsy shop.

Click here to go there.

Her work is awesome...and those

pincushions with thread catchers are a must-have!!!

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. - Ecclesiastes 9:10

Regaining Self...

At last.  I have some energy!  The pneumonia cleared within 2 weeks, but the fatigue has been making me crazy...it's been a long time regaining my energy/stamina.  After 5 weeks, I am finally feeling more like my (old) self again. 

Today is craft day.  Lots of projects to catch up on.

I've been very undecided about how to quilt the 2 dqs9 quilts I am making.  Made a decision this a.m....on one of them, anyway.  I stitched in the ditch around the center blocks and around the black borders.  Then, I quilted straight lines on all 4 sides of the green border.  Still need to bind it...will use Half Moon Spots (black with white spots).  Here's how it looks thus far.  It makes me smile.

Got my August Bee Addicted 3 blocks done for Liz.  She wanted square in a square blocks.  With only her fabric...Route 66 & solids.  I messed up on this one...measure twice, cut once?  Oh, okay.  Next time, for sure!  Wanted to do blue all the way around.  Well, Liz can change it out if she wants.  

 

Must keep on truckin'. 

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. - Ecclesiastes 9:10

Color Me...what???

I will be the first to tell you...I have difficulty with color. When I was hooking rugs, I always second-guessed myself. Many times I simply did not trust my judgment, so I asked for help. From those I considered more knowledgeable. Which, by the way, most of the people I know fit that category where color is concerned. In my humble opinion.

So. When I first started quilting and needed to choose fabrics, I would ask for help from the lqs ladies. Now, they just laugh at me. Not that I have learned everything there is to know about color, but because I definitely know what I do NOT like. Which, to them, means that I know what I'm doing. NOT. Nowhere even close.

But, some things are fairly apparent.

Take this as an example. I thought that the white inner border line would be the right choice...lots of white in the central square, and all those white dots. Thought it might make things pop.

WRONG. Looks blah...

So, I took that white inner border out and replaced it with this blue...

and am now much happier with it.


Another example. I am working on part 2 of my DQS9 swap quilt. Here's what I showed on the flickr group...

I was planning to put a black border around it and then bind it in black polka-dot fabric. Many suggested, however, that I border/bind it with a bright color. Let's see how that works.

Okay, I like this...very dramatic, wouldn't you say? If that's what I'm going for.

Ready to see what it looks like with a bold color? Something, perhaps, that you would not expect.

Like this.
I LOVE it!

And, that's all I have to say!

DQS9 Sneak Peek....

Well, I've had to do a complete 180 on this.

 But, that's okay. 

I think it will be better this way.  

I know.  You have no clue what I'm talking about.  

Only because I never shared my first idea with you. 

Trust me.  

I know what I'm doing.  

(ha!)

Here is a sneak peek at my dqs9 quilt.
Lots more work to do before it's done!

Have a great weekend!

I'll be busy sewing...
several projects are in need of attention.

DQS9 fabric is here!

I now have all the fabric for my dqs9 quilt.

May add some Kona white and/or black.

I think these will work nicely together.

Now to decide on a design for my doll quilt.  

I've done nothing today.  

Must get busy!

DQS9...

I am patiently waiting to hear who my partner is for this doll quilt swap round.  I participated in dqs7 & dqs8 and had a blast!  It was great fun to stalk and plan and reveal sneak peeks and finally...to send off my quilt and await the verdict.  Then, to await - with some trepidation - the arrival of the quilt someone made for me!  So far, my partner has gotten me spot on!  But, ohboy...it'll all start again very soon.  

I have been busy over on my Flickr account making galleries to put my faves into.  What fun that is!  For sure, I could mark many quilty things as faves, but putting those into galleries is a great way to show why I like what I like.  Whether it be for the design, the color combination, the quilting technique...whatever.  All nice and tidy and with lots of room to explain why a specific fave is a fave.  I don't have that many...there are some who have hundreds of faves!  I guess I've been a bit too selective because of the various reasons I like what I like.  Now...more freedom.  YAY!  

It sometimes takes a bit of time for me to come up with the perfect plan...the perfect doll quilt design for my partner.  I'll not be able to reveal who that partner is, but I will definitely show you all sneak peeks as I work on the quilt. 

Have a great Sunday!

edited to add:  got my partner...YAY!  I have a ton of ideas...now to begin the plan.  {grin}

All Kinds of Stuff!

I tried to post this yesterday, but my internet was down for several hours.  Cuz of the rain.  When it rains, (it pours) satellite speed internet sometimes does not work!  What a major pain.


This may be long...depends on how carried away I get. 


First things first.  I had a flat tire on the way home from work on Friday.  I was not overjoyed.  Not one little iota.  However!  It could have been a lot worse, and the fact that it wasn't was truly a 'praise God' moment!  My tire was a bit low the other day, so I put air in it.  When I left work on Friday, I noticed it was a bit low again.  Shoot.  It's the last remaining tire that came with my car...the other 3 have been replaced.  I made a note to self to call the tire store when I got home.   I ran a few errands on my way home...one of them being to stop at the bank to get some cash because I ran out of checks and am waiting for them to arrive in the mail.  On my way to Hobby Lobby, I stopped and put some air into the tire.  When I left Hobby Lobby, my tire blew.  ohdear...what to do?!?  I called John (the same John who unlocked my car for me a few weeks ago) and he said he would call someone (being a service garage, they don't do roadside service) and took down my location and phone number.  He called me back a few minutes later to let me know that a tow truck was on its way.  Luckily, I had enough cash to pay him.  Holy Schmoly...It took less than 5 minutes for that tire to be changed...thinking the guy must be from some nascar pit crew, he did it so fast!  {grin}


So, what, you're asking, did I praise God for?  The circumstances of going to the bank to get cash, and the fact that I was not yet out on the highway.  Though I wasn't thrilled about the entire thing, I have much to be thankful for.  And, that's not all!  While on the way home, I said outloud, "ohplease, God, let there be a fun package in the mail today!"  When I pulled up to the mailbox and opened it, I smiled and thanked God...cuz there was a package in the mailbox!  Not either of the ones I am waiting for, but one, nonetheless!  Now, I know that God did not 'zap' a package into the mailbox upon hearing my prayer...but the circumstances of the day, the happenings... were all part of the plan.  His plan.  It amazes me!  I am so blessed.
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Okay.  The package.  It was in care of me, but addressed:

I was grinning as I opened the package.  

The first thing I opened was this card.  See...for Tag!  From Miles, Riley & Jonesy...Joanne's cats.  {grin}  Joanne is a longtime online buddy...she loves Tag (don't you all?) and, because I have been receiving some fun packages in the mail, her cats felt that it was his turn.  Check out Joanne's blog here.

In the package...ohmygosh...2 generous 1/2 yard cuts of fabric & two tennis balls!  What a lucky boy.  All for Tag E. Butt!


Now really.  Take a look at that fabric...isn't that the most adorable fabric you've ever seen?  I sure think so!

I knew immediately how to use the fabric, too!  Tag has never had his own 'special' crate pad.  I put blankets in there for him.  Allegra had a really cute puppy (not collies, though) fleece pad.  I still have it, but I have not passed it on to Tag.  Cuz it was Allegra's.  But, now he will have his own!!!  YAY!  


Course, I had to get right on it, so here's how it looks now...

I was going to showcase the chocolate puppies, but after playing around with it for an hour, I changed my mind...it would have wasted too much fabric.  Instead, I figured out what size blocks would use the most fabric and would also give me what I needed for the size pad I wanted.  As you can see, there are lots of yellow, black and chocolate lab pups...and one golden retriever pup (the one laying on the green pillow).  Thank you so much, Joanne, Miles, Riley & Jonesy!   
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I finished the remaining 4 blocks of my postage stamp quilt.  There are 1296 squares in this quilt...

Once I have it sewn together, it should measure about 70" square.
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I watched the movie, Dear John, yesterday.  Based on Nicholas Sparks' novel of the same name, it is definitely a chick flick.  Good, though. 

edited to add:  Click on the link to see what the movie is all about:  "Dear John"
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Last, but certainly not least...I am participating in 'doll quilt swap 9'!!!  

This will be my 3rd dqs and I am so happy that I made it in.  In previous swaps, there was just a general sign-up with a certain number allowed.  Once that number was reached, the sign-up was closed.  This time, a lottery draw was put in place...5 days for sign-ups and then the draw.  We will find out next week who our partners are.  It's always so much fun to find out who you'll be making a quilt for.  This is a secret swap.  You know who you're giving to...once you find out, you stalk her/him, figure out what might be appropriate and then go for it!  But, you don't know who you will receive from - until the quilt arrives in the mail.  We have until the first part of September, so that gives us plenty of time to plan and execute a doll quilt.

No more stuff to write about (yeah, sure).
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PS  I had been home for a long while (on Friday) when John from the service station called to see if everything worked out and if I got home okay.  How nice was that!  Will have to bake some cookies or something for him.