DQS8...work in progress

Started the quilt for my doll quilt swap this afternoon...

 lots more to do.

LOVE this fabric!

Fabric Galore!!

I said last night that I had lots of fabric to show you.

Feast your eyes!

Remember this photo I showed you of the sample quilt
of this year's BOM I am doing?  

Not sure who took the photo and printed it out, 

but her ink was apparently running low...

the alternate blocks are light yellow.

After much thought, I decided that if I was going to 
put as much work as I will be putting into this, 

I wanted it to be something for me.  

The colors of the sample quilt are pretty,

but just not my colors.  Ya know?  

So.  The owner of my LQS & I put together
a wonderful collection of fabrics for MY quilt.

I am so excited! 

Here are the fabrics that will be used in the blocks.

(there's another green one that I didn't photograph... 

it's the same fabric as the border on Julie's quilt.)

Here are the fabrics for the alternate blocks, borders and binding.  

Don't you just love that bias stripe?  I sure do!
It's for a small inner border and the binding.
(the background of this big floral is actually a dark brown, 
like the dark floral in the photo above.  Looks purple on my monitor.)

My good friend, Jane (from here), sent me a box of fabric.

Here are the photos.  Holy Schmoly...

I kept taking out piece after piece after piece!

It is all wonderful!  
Thank you, Jane!

I finally started picking up fabric for my son's quilt.

Paul & Rachel got married in December
and asked me to make them a double wide lap quilt.

Here are 3 pieces of the au.then.tic. fabric collection...
6 more are on the way to me.
I'm going to need at least 10 more fabrics...
which means that I get to go to the PRIM quilt shop
to select some wonderful blacks, reds, & purples.
Cannot wait!

This is going to be a fun quilt to do.

Last, but certainly not least, here is the fabric for my doll quilt swap (DQS8).

It's a MoMo Wonderland charm pack and 2 pieces of yardage.

I know exactly what I'm going to do 

and I think (hope) my partner will be very happy!

That's it for now!

I'm Still Here...

and I have lots to show you, but not tonight.  It's too dark now to get decent photos, so will take some tomorrow and post them.  Photos of what?  Well...fabric, of course.  Lots & lots of fabric!

I've been busy working on Julie's quilt, but she wants to be surprised (actually, she wants to cry like a baby when she receives it...like Joyce did when she got her quilt.  {grin}) so doesn't want to see any more in-progress photos.  I am not even going to tell you how much I have done (or yet to do).  

But, I will share this photo with you, since 3 of my favorite people own this breed of dog.  This is Avery...and that's about all I know about the photo.  I don't remember where I got it or even who Avery belongs to.  I do know that I've had the photo since 2003.  

Avery...basking in the snowstorm.  Isn't he a handsome dude?

This is my 493rd post.

Looks like my 500th post will fall

around the time of my birthday.

That will make it even more fun!

Workin' On It...

You've Got Mail!

Tag...you've got mail!

One day this past week, a package arrived.

For Tag.

From his cousin, Manley.

The original Doodlehead.

See him here.

Manley sent a Christmas/Birthday gift.

(Tag's birthday is in 3 weeks.  He'll be 8 years old!)

Tag was so excited to get a new toy...

he galloped (truly!) around the house with it.

This isn't the greatest photo, but it's the best I have.

Thanks, Manley!

Things To Come...

Remember when I started the Wonky Log Cabin Quiltalong... 

back in September?

I never quite got into it as much as I thought I would.

That was when Allegra got sick...

and well, you know the rest.

So, I have 6 blocks done...

I think that's enough for a small quilt.

I was going to add blocks of the fabrics as a second border,

but after thinking about it for 2 days,

I decided not to.

(By the way, this is the Just Dreamy fabric collection by Riley Blake.)

I sewed on the plain borders today, cut the binding strips,

and have the backing fabric ready to put together.

All set to work on another day.

Measures about 38x53, which is an odd size,

but...it is what it is.

So, then...

I had all these strips that had been cut for the quilt...

what to do with them?

Ohyeah!  I could put together another stacked coins quilt! 

So I did.

Here it is...measures about 30x32.

(And I have lots & lots of 3x5 inch blocks left over.)

So, that was my day...

what'd you do?

Friday Night Sew-In...a Success!

YAY!  That was fun!

I participated in the Friday Night Sew-In put on by Handmade by Heidi.

I really needed to get the binding hand-sewn on this little quilt.

And, I did!  ohhhh...I love how this binding sets off the quilt.

Threw it in the washer and dryer first thing this a.m....

oh.my.gosh...soft and crinkly doesn't even being to describe this.

(measures about 30 x 40)

It was nice to have a definite goal in mind for the evening...

saved me from wandering around wondering what to work on.

Course, I was going to work on my hand applique, too,

but I got sleepy very early last night.

Thanks, Heidi for the Sew-In!!

Friday Night Sew-In!

Did you hear about this?

What a great idea...

and fun, too!!!

Go here to get more info.

Quilting...

I think that I am going to be very happy with this!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is my 488th post...stay tuned.
500 is coming & you won't want to miss it!

Love Is In The Air...

While I was trying to decide which project to tackle next,

it occurred to me that

Valentine's Day is coming soon.

 

So...I put this together.

I used a charm pack (love is in the air)

plus a few other coordinating charms.

Found them all in the box of 'scraps'

I won in a giveaway from

Cathy from Quilting on Turtle Hill.

(Thank you, Cathy!!)

I have wanted to do a stacked coins quilt...

and now I have!

BOM - Pioneer Sampler Quilt 2009

The top is pieced...YAY!

I used only 9 of the 12 blocks we received.

I totally messed one up...not once, but twice.

That made 11 blocks finished.

One I don't like much.

The other is a signature block.

They will go on the back.

This looks so much richer in person.

Started a new BOM today...Pieced Applique.

Here's a (really bad) photo.

I'll try to get a better one. 

This was taken by someone else whose

printer was apparently running out of ink.

The quilt is pretty, but definitely not my colors.

 I think it looks nice and fresh, though.

Reds, yellows, soft greens & aquas, black & white.

It'll be challenging, but I think a lot of fun.

Done.

I finished the final block for the 2009 Pioneer Sampler Block of the Month quilt.  I really like this block pattern, but I sure didn't do such a good job with it.  I cannot redo it, so this is the way it will stay. 

Why am I not completely thrilled with it?  Cuz my points aren't where they should have been to start with, so they didn't end up where they should have.  See below...I have the worst offenders circled.  (click on the photo for a larger image)

And, my center is fussy-cut.  Obviously, I didn't do a very good job.  The flowers should be on point.  {sigh}

That's all the sewing for today.  Time to read or watch tv. 

By the way...snow day...it snowed a bunch!!!  And, it got  warmer, so the roads are very slippery underneath all the snow.  I saw several cars in front of my house trying to slow down for the corner...and ending up moving forward in a sideways position. 

YIKES!  I am not going anywhere!

Snow Day...

I am taking full advantage of the snow day

and getting caught up on my sewing.

All the sewing I did for Christmas

gifts really threw me off my schedule.

For my Bee Addicted 3 Swap,

November was Katrina's month...

she asked for 15 1/2" wonky quarter log cabin blocks

& sent 2 colors for us to use.

These are so much fun to do.

We skipped December, thank goodness.

January is Jenny's month.

She asked for modern blocks...

I got 5 out of the fabric she sent.

Love this fabric! 

Pretty happy with the blocks, too.

Must go...more to sew!

In Case You Wondered...

I didn't make Kaylynn a quilt for Christmas because I made one for her last year (ya know, before I really was 'quilting'...2 pieces of flannel with batting and tied, not quilted...it is so warm & soft.  The flannel was a gift from Kelley.)

Kaylynn uses it when she visits me.

I did make her a few things, though...

A crayon roll.

Got the tutorial from Rachel (thanks so much!), and whipped it up in a hurry.  (I made a mistake when dividing the width by the number of little crayon pockets...duh...but I had room for the 8 crayons, and that's what was important.) 

Another doll blanket for her baby...

Flannel.  So soft!  Stippled with matching green thread (that you cannot see well in this photo).

That's all.  Just didn't want you to think the poor little thing didn't get anything made by my hands.

My Family Christmas...

Yesterday was the big day...

my sons & their families were all here.

What a wonderful day.

Here's my little helper, Kaylynn.

Kaylynn with Daddy and her stepmom, myRachel

(that is what Kaylynn calls her).

Matt's family.

Paul's family.

Conlan...

Devin...

Jasmine...

Kaylynn and her silly Daddy...

 

Beautiful grandchildren!!!

Thank you for the wonderful day!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

This is the first day of a new year.

Typically, a time for reflection and resolve.

Last year, I chose a word to live by. 
'one little word 2009'
(click here to see what that is all about).
'Truth' was the word I chose.
I think I was able to see the truth in my life...
and to act with truth.
I am happy that I chose that word.
It is now time for me to choose a new word for the year.

I choose explore to be my 'one little word 2010'.

Explore...both my personal and professional life.

Explore...sewing/quilting.

Explore...relationships.

Most importantly, explore my relationship with God.
To explore and find the good in what is around me.
I'm excited to move forward with this year.

I am open to new challenges and

am eager to see what awaits me.

As for reflections...
losing both of my collies made it a difficult year.

In most other ways, it was a good year. 

Enough said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To celebrate my first year of quilting, I put together a photo mosaic...a sampling - in no particular order - of the lap quilts, doll quilts, fabric baskets, kitty blankets, pin cushions, kleenex cozies & aprons I finished this year. 

I am amazed at what I accomplished in one year.  By my best estimate...I finished 18 doll quilts/table mats, 4 dog/kitty mats, 4 pincushions, 24 kleenex cozies, 4 fabric baskets, 6 aprons and 7 lap quilts, plus a few miscellaneous items. 

I am also amazed at: 

(1) the amount of projects I have waiting to work on...with most or all of the fabric already on my shelves. 

(2) the number of new projects I want to start.

(3) the amount of fabric I have accumulated on my low-income budget!


Happy New Year to you all!


PS  Watch for my 500th post giveaway...coming up sometime in January, I would think.  This could be fun!