D is for Dovey

Finished Or Not

2011-09-23T20:17:00.000-04:00

Isn't this little guy cute? He followed my daughter home from England in June. He's intended to be a cell phone charm but we both agreed he's too fragile for that so I like to hang him from the side of my sewing machine. Maybe I'll start a new trend.

As promised this is the Christmas quilt I made using the Twisted Sisters template and pattern. It's sewn together using partial seams. The fabric is mainly from the Countdown to Christmas line and it's leftovers from a prior quilt. My motivation was the small amount of leftover green paisley that makes up the center square of the spoke. I can't decide if it needs a border. Any ideas?
I also signed up for the Designer Block of the Month at The Fat Quarter Shop using the Strawberry Fields line by Joanna Figueroa early this year. It was a real splurge for me as I'm on the thrifty side! The fabric is so beautiful. I love it.

This is block 4 that came last week. I like to take it out of the package and just keep it nearby for a few days until I cut into it. Have I said I love it?!
Here's block 1,

and block 2,

and block 3.

The directions are so clear and the fabric cuts so generous, I think you could make two blocks every month with what you receive in each packet. Have a nice weekend and see you soon!

Being Koi

2011-09-22T13:35:00.003-04:00

Hey everyone! It's certainly been awhile. Remember me? If there was an award for procrastination, I would win, or at least be nominated. Thank you for the occasional email asking if I was alright! And no, I have not given up blogging! I have no good solid excuses for my hiatus.
I see that Blogger has an updated interface that I will try but first wanted to get a post up before I confuse myself any more than I already am.
I think I'll work backwards with my updates,
I sewed a few pillowcases to donate to my LQS who will donate to ConKerr.

And did the Strip Club at same LQS. The club meets once a month with the fabric choices revealed but the pattern a mystery. All we know is the pattern comes from Layer Cake, Jelly Roll and Charm Quilts book. The fabric used was Sophie with just a bit of Just Wing It for the star points. This is not mine, but the shop's sample.

And I tried something new! I can't remember when I bought the Twisted Sisters booklet but thought it was time to try it.

It comes with a template but once you get the hang of sewing it together it is a lot of fun. Ami Simms even has a tutorial on her website which is very helpful. Here's my first block made from my scrap basket.

I had to take it apart so many times to get the outer edges right. More pictures tomorrow of my Christmas version.
That's it for today. Thank you for your patience. I'm glad you've come for a visit. And welcome back to those of you who have stuck with me! I think I'm back on track.

July Fourth

2011-07-04T06:30:00.003-04:00

A Happy 4th of July everyone!

Finishing Up: Blockapalooza

2011-03-29T14:45:00.012-04:00

I've been trying to squeeze in some sewing the past several days. Here are the last two quilt blocks I made following along with the Blockapalooza sponsored by Quilt Dad,

And after agonizing needlessly over various fabric combinations from my stash and being so pround that I did not break down and buy fabric for the borders, here's the finished top,

For the sashing I used a relatively new addition to my stash, a pretty beige stripe and then repeated a pink from the quilt proper for the cornerstones. The borders are a Jenny Beyer believe it or not. I was never a big fan of her fabric, I always associate them with dark geometrics, but this pastel lilac seemed to be just the trick. I did not have enough of any of the other fabrics. All in all, considering I wasn't a fan of the collection I used, I am happy with the results. You can check out the others' at http://www.flickr.com/groups/bloggersblockapalooza/
I was playing around with some leftover fabric and ended up making another block substitution, here's that block,

The color's off a bit as I forgot the flash, :(

Moda Bake Shop started having a monthly contest. The March contest involved making one of the recipes posted that uses charm squares. I just finished my entry a few days ago and will post photos next time. I'm off for a caffeine fix, a new med I started gives me the worst headaches.
Until next time, Happy Sewing!

Catch-Up

2011-03-11T19:00:00.025-05:00

I am so behind with posting my blocks for the Blockapalooza sew along. I've been getting the blocks finished just have not been able to take the pictures. And then I had a totally unexpected visit from my 18 year old niece this week. So without further ado, here's ~~cringe~~ Block 10 designed by new author Amy's Creative Side,

Block 11 was designed by the team at Fat Quarterly, I love the way this one looks,

Block 12 was designed by Sugar Stitches.

Here's Block 13 from Camp Follower Bags and Quilts which I ended up changing the center as I knew I would not have been happy with the original design. It had a nine-patch in the center with an additional strip around it to bring the segment up to 4.5 inches.

And bringing me up-to-date, Block 14 from I'm Just a Guy Who Quilts, I love the size of the large geese! And it was such an easy block to make.

Be sure to head over to Flickr to see the other participants' blocks.
I've also been working on a new project that I can't reveal yet and oh the problems I've had. First time working with Layer Cakes {you will notice I did not say first time buying layer cakes!} and I've gotta start reading labels.

Apparently layer cakes are not as accurately cut as charm packs? More about my problems next time. I am so excited, my daughter comes home tomorrow for her term break!!! I'd say posting might be light but that has been the norm recently.
Thanks for stopping by.

Ready Set Sew

2011-02-22T15:00:00.032-05:00

Let's see: I finished the blue and yellow bento box blocks and now need to sew that together, I just love the way it turned out. I did not run out of the fabrics just got sick of making blocks and I think it's large enough.

I have this thing where I usually sneak in some fabric with a cat on it in whatever quilt I make and it took some serious looking to come up with some that went, I don't like it to be obvious. Sometimes I do Christmas fabric instead.

Then it was onto Blue Nickel Studios for Block-a-palooza number nine. I had my fingers crossed it didn't involve applique. I love what Scott came up with! {And I also love the way he numbers his posts, wish I'd thought of that! Sometimes I waste so much time trying to come up with a title} He says the middle are flying geese but they are really flying goslings! so small,

Can you tell I loved every step?! First time using the light green. This Romanza line I am using is very odd. The pinks are such different shades if it weren't for the salvedge I'd swear they were unrelated.

Here are all the blocks, I think that purple one might need some un-sewing and re-doing at some time. I started using a Value Finder tool. It's a red-tinted clear window that you look through just to see the value of the fabric. It was included in a Block-of-the-month that I bought from Joann's (!) when I was a beginning quilter. They used to give a little notion something along with the precut fabric in the kit {whatever was I thinking?} Anyway, it works, I need to get a blue one that is used when looking at pinks, reds.

Thanks for looking, now it's back to the bento box.

I Had To Share

2011-02-21T16:00:00.010-05:00

Have you ever received one of those emails that you just had to share? I apologize if this is old material that you've already seen, I got it from a friend recently{thanks, Emily!} and had to pass it along to you my audience my online girlfriends. I poked around a little and the best I can determine is that National Girlfriend's Day is August 1. Regardless, I post this for its sheer LOL quality and appreciation for all the people who read my blog. Plus the fact I have a mighty big birthday coming up this year and am starting to feel like the woman in the picture!

National Girlfriends Day
I am only as strong as the coffee I drink, the hairspray I use, and the friends I have.
To the cool women who have touched my life. Here's to you!

It is good to be a woman:

1. We got off the Titanic first.
2. We can scare male bosses with mysterious gynecological disorder excuses.
3. Taxis stop for us.
4. We don't look like a frog in a blender when dancing.
5. No fashion faux pas we make could ever rival the Speedo.
6. We don 't have to pass gas to amuse ourselves.
7. If we forget to shave, no one has to know.
8. We can congratulate our teammate without ever touching her rear end.
9. We never have to reach down every so often to make sure our privates are still there.
10. We have the ability to dress ourselves.
11. We can talk to the opposite sex without having to picture them naked.
12. If we marry someone 20 years younger, we are aware that we will look like an idiot.
13. We will never regret piercing our ears.
14. There are times when chocolate really can solve all your problems.
15. We can make comments about how silly men are in their presence because they aren't listening
anyway.

I am off to sew, talk to you later!

Never A Bride

2011-02-19T15:00:00.009-05:00

Happy Saturday afternoon! I do believe spring has arrived here in Florida! We have so few days where the weather is mild and the humidity is low. Today is one of them.

All you people in still cold and snowy climes, don't hate me! Come June, it isn't so great living here. Ugh. I should fill you in on my jury duty and then we can never mention it again. I was 1 of 326 potential jurors on Valentine's Day. Every hour or so, they'd put our names into a random number generator and choose 30. The non-chosen got to stay in the jury assembly room and listen to a local T.V. station drone on and on loudly. Double ugh. [Side note: I do not watch T.V., don't even own one] I brought plenty to read, as was suggested beforehand, but could never concentrate over the noise! Nine hours I and 11 others waited to be called. Finally at 5:00 we were dismissed. Onto much more pleasant things, here's my Block 7 of the Block-a-palooza designed by House of a la Mode,

I changed the original arrangement of the four patches more to my liking. I didn't get to Block 8 until yesterday, and it was the dreaded "a" word! Applique! Isn't that against the rules of the quilt along? haha. It is against my rules, I rarely do applique, machine or by hand, so here's my renegade block. I tried to keep with the gist of flying geese and nine-patches that the other blocks have so far,

And this did not look so much like a swastika before I sewed it together. I am hoping once it gets sewn into the quilt you will hardly notice!! You can see the original at Moda Home Mom.
I'll end with a picture of my amaryllis that bloomed on Valentine's Day. This is the first time I've saved a bulb and got it to re-bloom. Good timing wouldn't you say?

Talk to you later, giveaway scheduled in the near future!

On The Design Wall

2011-02-13T14:30:00.003-05:00

A little behind here! I have been keeping up with the Block-A-Palooza Quilt Along just been too preoccupied with another project, more about that later, but first, Block 5 designed by Miss Print. I love the block and the way it turned out!

The green is from my stash, the others from the Romanza line.

And this is Block 6 from Happy Zombie, love this design too! Used all Romanza fabric, which I am getting worried about running out before the end. I have the most of the pale yellow background so I am doing my best to use that wherever possible. I will not be playing along tomorrow with Block 7 as I was summoned for the dreaded jury duty! I shouldn't complain: this is the very first time I have been called and no matter where I have lived I have always registered to vote. If you can believe this, my daughter was called about one week before she left for college her freshman year! The judge very kindly excused her, but what a start.
One of my quilting New Year's resolutions besides making a dent in getting my growing pile of quilt tops quilted (resolution #1) was to start making some of the quilt kits (resolution #2) I have collected over the years. And I have a lot. I have a history of being a real sucker for those Objects of Desire! ~ I've started with a kit that somehow became separated from its instructions, here's the fabric along with some from my stash (resolution No. 3: use stash rather than buy).

So sans any guidance, I started on a Bento Box design, the pictures really don't do it justice,

When I did a doll quilt swap a few years ago, my partner sent several blue/yellow charm squares that I've been able to put in the quilt. Each Bento Box block (try saying that three times fast!) measures 8 inches finished. I've been somewhat obsessed with working on it for the past few days, here's my progress so far,

It really reads more blendy in person, exactly what I was trying to achieve. I hope to get another couple rows done before running out of fabric.
Talk to you later ~

Gingham Pinwheels Block

2011-02-03T13:00:00.014-05:00

Checking in with the latest Block-a-palooza, Block four, this one designed by Cherry House Quilts. As I mentioned earlier I'm using the Romanza line, and feeling ambivalent about it! I'm spending way too much time agonizing over what fabrics to choose for each block. I have to work on that.
Be sure to check out the other blocks in the quilt-along on Flickr.
Talk to you later.

Hello!

2011-02-01T14:00:00.010-05:00

It's been a while so I'll attempt to update on what I've been up to which doesn't involve sewing :(. Right before my daughter arrived from England for the holidays I developed problems with my right elbow so I spent all of December and 2 weeks of last month going to physical therapy. Diagnosis was Tennis Elbow not that I've played tennis any nor done anything repetitive to deserve the ailment. This quilt top was left stranded on my design wall since the end of November. I finally finished it up a few days ago. I made it from the leftovers from a Moda Scrap Bag (and charm pack) I worked on earlier.

Here's the fabric I am using for the Blockapalooza. Oh, it took me quite a while to decide what to use. I was just dying to buy the Sunkissed line that the designers of the blocks are using. Most of the fat quarters are from the Romanza line from In The Beginning (2004). I guess my tastes have changed as for the life of me I cannot fathom why I bought them!

Here's the first block from Quilt Dad,

The second block was designed by Oh,Fransson!. I wasn't nuts about it so I decided to re-vamp things and came up with another design. That whole trimming -the-blocks-to-make-it-fit just didn't work for me. I think what I came up with goes with the others so far,

And finishing up with Block 3,

You can see other participants' pictures at Flickr. Talk to you not too much later!

New Year, New Project

2010-12-26T06:00:00.006-05:00

I stumbled across this new online quilt-a-long on the Quilt Dad blog and I think it sounds like fun. It so happens to use one of the two new fabric lines that I've been crazy about, Sunkissed, so i think I'm gonna do it! {Daughter will be back at Oxford University by the time it starts (Jan 24) so I will be needing all the distractions I can get.} Eighteen quilt bloggers are offering 2 quilt blocks per week plus at the end, a custom setting. You can check out all the particulars at Quilt Dad.

No-Sew Zone

2010-12-24T08:40:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to check in and wish everyone a Merry Christmas! DD has been home since December 4 so I blame her for contributing to my Sewing Delinquency! I did manage to get a recently started top finished before she showed up. My LQS has a Strip Club once a month where they make-up a jelly roll and pair it with an easy pattern. I found November's colors hard to resist.

I added some fabric from my stash to make it larger including these cuties.

Segueing along, I love this new book by Elizabeth Hartman of ohfransson! fame. The quilts all have a contemporary feel and are mostly quite easy except for one that's appliqued. It's a great book for the beginner and experienced quilter. I particularly liked the fact that she made and machine quilted all the quilts herself. It really comes across as a labor of love.

I've got to run, loads of last minute things to do today. Best wishes for a wonderful Christmas to you and your family!

~Happy Thanksgiving~

2010-11-25T06:00:00.003-05:00

In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy ~ David Steindl-Rast
Enjoy the day!

Part Two

2010-11-20T10:30:00.009-05:00

Hi everyone, I quit my post yesterday as Blogger kept being quite contrary with pictures. About midway through I couldn't upload any pictures, then that changes, and all the pictures kept showing up three times and oy vey, the troubles I had! A consult with the resident IT Tech is planned for Christmas break as soon as she returns from Oxford!
I bought a Moda Scrap Bag a few months ago and in keeping with my resolution to actually start sewing up my kits and all, I opened said bag and found all Fall fabrics, mainly Gobble, Gobble and Awesome by Sandy Gervais. For anyone who doesn't know, the fabric is cut lengthwise and ranges from 2 to 4 inches wide. All my strips were a little over a yard long.

It will be roughly twin sized when I sew it together. I was able to pick up a few fat quarters a few days ago when a LQS had a sale on Fall fabrics.

I also used up some fabric I bought a few years ago that I just couldn't cut into. You know how that goes. I just fell in love with this line, Hannah Bella by Robin Pandolph, when it came out. I really like what Robin designs, it's always so soft and feminine and classic looking to me.

I used this pattern for the first time,

and it's the perfect one if you're using fabric you can't bear to cut into. The pieces are huge! I used that method called Leaders and Enders while I was sewing. Essentially if I understand it right, you cut out the pieces for blocks for another quilt and sew them together at the beginning and end rather than using a scrap piece of fabric. That way you have blocks already started for a second quilt while still working on a prior one. Hope that makes sense. I think Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville originated the concept. I've never been organized enough to try it before.

It's a brilliant idea! Has anyone else tried it?

~ Talk to you later~
Thanks so much for stopping by.

Chirp, Chirp

2010-11-19T11:30:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone! I've been busy with a lot of projects, starting with some pillowcases made for ConKerr Cancer. Most of my LQSs support this worthy cause which makes donating easy, just sew them up and drop them off. Each pillowcase made gets about a yard of fabric out of my stash thereby making room for some new fabric.

I finished the binding on the table runner. It's a nasty job but had to be done. I hate hand sewing the binding but hate the look of it machine sewn so I'm stuck. I know some of you like the hand sewing part (probably the same people who like applique, lol!) and I wish you lived next door to me.

I spotted this fabric at my LQS and was inspired to make a small quilt for my DD. Her room at Oxford is strictly the bare essentials. The bed linens are provided and are all white. A little color was needed so I made a little quilt to hang up. I was quite pleased with the results.

I made this a while ago in pinks and purples for a doll quilt swap I was involved in. Here's a close-up of the free motion quilting,

and that bird fabric that got me started, in one of the windows. I wished I'd put white in the other window once I was done, for balance. Still cute I think.

I love these little labels. I re-discovered them recently having forgotten I'd purchased them in the first place. They are nicely finished an all sides,

And finally a picture from my iPhone taken in the bookstore just because it was so gosh darn cute. I love chihuahua dogs and this little guy leaves me with cute-overload! I'd love to get one but I don't think my 16 year old cat would ever forgive me.

Until next time, happy sewing! and thanks for visiting.

Thank You, Veterans

2010-11-11T12:53:00.000-05:00

“For it has been said so truthfully that it is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the agitator, who has given us the freedom to protest. It is the soldier who salutes the flag, serves beneath the flag, whose coffin is draped by the flag, who gives that protester the freedom to abuse and burn that flag.”
~Zell Miller

Fall Weather

2010-11-07T13:50:00.008-05:00

It looks like Autumn has arrived in my neck of the woods (West central coast of Florida), at least for the past few days, until we are back up to the 80s which are forecasted for the end of the week. Thank goodness, I hate the cold! And by cold I mean 46 degrees this morning with an afternoon high of 70. Spoiled, I know.

After participating in the Year of Schnibbles I've lots of charm squares left over. I used some from the Holly Jolly and Merry and Bright lines by Sandy Gervais to make a table runner. Both lines work so well together. Here's the back,

I figured today would be a good day to hand-sew the binding down on the back what with the house so cool.

I did a simple meander stitch on my Bernina.

My daughter was funny when I showed it to her through a Skype video chat, "blue Christmas fabric?" She's a bit of a traditionalist, like her Mom! I won the charm packs from a giveaway.

Hope everyone is keeping warm today, talk to you later.

Easily Distracted

2010-11-05T15:01:00.000-04:00

It's been quite a while! I apologize to my 3 readers. lol. After my slow recovery from the Evil Virus, I couldn't wait to get back into my sewing room and I found plenty to distract me there. But first some pictures of our trip to the UK.

We went on a tour of the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace. Amazing what those Brits are willing to provide for their Queen!

Not too much picture taking was allowed. We found London very uncrowded, no lines at any of the tourist attractions we went to. I was surprised by that. Here's Big Ben at dusk,

and the Houses of Parliament before we rode the London Eye. Taken without a tripod! The weather was typical, cloudy, cool, and rainy at times. We had one sunny day in London and Oxford apiece.

We did the Tower of London and walked across Tower Bridge.

The Ravens at the Tower of London were quite cooperative! The legend is at least 6 must stay in residence or else England will fall. Clipped wings seem to help there.

Quintessential London, also at the Tower,

We made a trip to Liberty of London, too. A lot of looking especially on the crafts floor, but I didn't buy any of the cottons. I found them to be very pricey, about double for what I'd pay at home. Beautiful store, though, I recommend a trip when you're in London.

I like this picture of Westminster Abbey with Big Ben and the London Eye. A trifecta!

The last 4 days was spent in Oxford moving my daughter into her room at the University of Oxford and exploring the city of Oxford.

That's the chapel straight ahead and on the right daughter's dorm. You get such a sense of history to walk amongst the grounds. The University was established sometime in the 11th century making it the oldest college in the English-speaking world. From what I hear from my daughter, the University's reputation is well deserved.
One of my favorite pictures from the trip, a red ~~stinky~~ phone booth

Pictures of sewing projects next time. And if you'll excuse me right now I think I'm off to my LQS, thanks for visiting.

Sick Day

2010-10-20T13:30:00.001-04:00

I'm here! I've been back from England since late on October 5 and felt kind of Not Well for a few days, what I attributed to jet lag. Woke up on the 9th with a bad sore throat, achy, sneezy, and blah feeling. Sorry to say I still am not well and that's why I have been missing with no action going on here. Just wanted to let you know I've been thinking of you and hope to get back to blogging once I get rid of this nasty virus. Thanks for your patience!

Oh, Happy Day!

2010-09-23T14:40:00.002-04:00

The Visa came!!! Woo Hoo!!! Thank you to everyone who emailed me with good wishes and all those finger-crossers out there! We are doing some packing and running of errands with a bit of tempers flaring, but alas, no sewing. I am going to try and schedule some posts before we leave on Saturday.
Thanks for visiting, see you in October!

Year of Schnibbles Redux

2010-09-23T07:00:00.060-04:00

The Year of Schnibbles girls, Sinta and Sherri wanted the YOS participants to post a retrospective of all our Schnibbles so here's mine starting with September and Winter White,

October and Cindy Lou Who,

November and Picnic,

and finishing out the year with Tuffets pincushions for December.

January and Madeline, my second favorite,

February and Sunday Best.

March and Roundabout,

and my favorite one for April, Tagalong. I made a large version and just love it!

For May we had a free choice and I chose Ballet Slippers,

June was State Fair,

and for July, Joy Luck

and ending the Parade Redux, Plan C for August.

Whew! I hope I got them all sorted right.
Thanks for visiting.

Odds and Ends

2010-09-21T07:00:00.009-04:00

I wanted to show the fabric I bought in Koblenz, Germany. The shop had a large assortment of fabric designed by Tone Finnanger for the Tilda brand. All so very sweet. I probably could have got it for less back home but couldn't resist the shop's display of it. Sorry, no pictures, they are part of the 300 or so that my memory card did not record due to my lack of formatting the card.

I forgot to unpack this little guy and had simply put the bag he was in aside. Wish I'd bought more of the wooden toys and ornaments especially from this store in Heidelberg.

It was just chock full of wonderful Christmas things!
Here's some more pictures of Amsterdam that Blogger wouldn't let me load the other day,

We had the best time walking through the red-light district. It was so, well, awkward, I mean how can you not stop and stare. We were cursed at in Dutch a few times.

And lastly, I'm amazed this even turned out and turned out well. I snapped it through the glass of our cabin at dusk.
Thanks for visiting!

In Need of Positive Vibes

2010-09-20T13:45:00.008-04:00

First the good news, last fall my daughter was nominated for a History Fellowship at the University of Oxford and was accepted into the program. She's to spend her Junior year at the college. It's all very exciting! But...
To accuse the college of being slow in processing all the necessary forms and letters would be kind. The term begins early October so we thought we'd leave several days early to get in some sightseeing in London before heading for Oxford. We are scheduled to leave this Saturday but my daughter still has not received her passport with student visa! We are frantic!!! I dread the thought of the extra fees involved in changing our plane reservations. So, everyone, cross your fingers, rub your rabbit's foot, send positive vibes, we need it!

Snippets

2010-09-12T11:40:00.005-04:00

I am way behind in doing this, posting the last block in the Moose on the Porch Quilt Along and

the finished Sampler Quilt. It's mostly the Fig and Plum fabric line except for some random greens and the sashing which is called Dot. It went so well I had to use it. All in all, I like it.
I ended up having more leftovers than I thought and made this,

To change gears, Spoonflower had a free swatch giveaway a few weeks ago. All you had to do was pick one of the many different designs of fabric and they'd send it to you. If you are not familiar with them, you design your own fabric and then pay from $18 to $32/ yard to have it printed. Here's the swatch I chose,

I ordered the quilting weight but was so disappointed with the quality of the fabric. I am assuming the quality was the same you'd get if you ordered it. Held up to the light:

Has anyone ordered Spoonflower fabric?

And lastly some pictures of Amsterdam from our trip last month,

I've never seen so many bikes! I was a bit envious of it all. It seems the residents of Amsterdam own 2 to 3 bikes apiece. I don't think I mentioned it before but like a dunce I neglected to format my camera's memory card before using it and lost about 300 pictures. It was a heartbreaking discovery. I have zero of Vienna and only some of each day's pictures. Really weird how the memory card/camera only captured some images.
I've a few more pictures but I'll have to begin the next post with them as Blogger won't cooperate this morning. Talk to you later!

Remembering 9/11

2010-09-11T08:46:00.021-04:00

In remembrance of the almost 3,000 people who lost their lives when Muslim hijackers perpetrated a series of coordinated suicide attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. Never forget.

Plan D

2010-09-01T06:00:00.016-04:00

As in dunce, dimwit, or dunce, all names I was calling myself after cutting out the Plan C Schnibbles and sewing the border strips into four patches. Talk about being on auto-pilot! Gee whiz. {Our assignment was to make either Short Story, Schnibbles or full size using Carrie Nelson's new book Schnibbles Times Two.}

I used two charm packs of Botany. Due to my snafu with the four patches, I had to change the border design. I think it still works okay.

I loved all the birds, and spider webs in the fabric. It's a really cute, bright line. I'm going to bind it in the tone-on-tone coral. Here's a close-up,

I can't believe we've come full-circle. A big thanks to Sherri and Sinta for the idea and coordination. I've had a lot of fun sewing and admiring everyone's work each month. I wonder what they have planned next? And just because it's cute, a little red Dutch car we saw on the streets of Amsterdam,

Until next time~

Leave of Absence

2010-08-31T14:00:00.001-04:00

Hello readers, I have a lot of catching up to do. We had a truly wonderful river cruise despite some mishaps, and even survived Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. What a disaster! Arrived half an hour late (due to sitting on the tarmac in Atlanta for an hour) for a tight connection. And we only had a 'connection pass' and needed to get actual boarding passes either at the gate or ticket counter. The right choice was the ticket counter. After ~~running~~ walking about two miles to get to our terminal, we had a rough time getting through security without a boarding pass. We finally made it to Vienna, but our luggage did not. It showed up early the next morning.
I had a new memory card and forgot to format it so I have zero pictures of our time in Vienna and Melk, Austria. I didn't discover this until we got home.
We had so much good food, on and off the ship, lots of these~

We saw some pretty buildings,

and towns.

And too many of these.

Cute German ladybugs,

and a large red chair!

Johnny Depp's hatmaker for Alice in Wonderland movie,

and Marc Chagall stained glass in a church,

and some mime artists.

Some cute small trucks,

sewing machine stores,

and wonderful produce. Much better than what we get here.

And I found a quilt store in Koblenz, Germany! Fabric was so expensive. Doing the conversions, something like $25/yard. I saw Moda, Andover, Timeless Treasures, all stuff I could get here. I did buy some fabric designed by Tilda from Norway.

I'll show those some other time. Don't forget tomorrow is the Year of Schnibbles Parade so be sure to check back! I also finished that Block of the Month which was really a Block-Every-Two-Weeks sponsored by Moose on the Porch.
Thanks for stopping by!

Schnibblers

2010-08-01T08:00:00.002-04:00

I'm not home but I thought I'd share a quilt I saw at a show (and let you know I'm thinking of you), I think it was called Give a Hand. Here's a close up,

I do not know who made it but they are quite creative and also have a great sense of humor, don't you agree? If you are looking for my Joy Luck Schnibbles, scroll on down. And be sure to check out the rest of the quilts at the Schnibbles Parade over at Sinta's and Sherri's blogs.
Talk to you later ~

Will Work for Fabric

2010-07-24T17:00:00.004-04:00

A few weeks ago I started making shop samples for my LQS. They used to be located a good 30 minute drive from me but recently moved a lot closer, about 8 minutes travel time including the long Florida traffic lights. I was so excited! I went in today and got "paid" for my samples ~ Two yards of the dotted fabric, one yard of the lime green and a Jelly Roll of Eden with pay deducted ended up costing me eleven dollars and change!
And then I took advantage of some of those July Fourth sales on the internet and got,

Bliss by Bonnie and Camille. It is so pretty! I think the yardage will be out in September.

And two charm packs from my favorite designer Fig Tree Quilts. I almost used these for my Joy Luck Schnibbles but couldn't quite bear to cut into them yet.

And lastly, Block 11 of the Jelly Roll Quilt Along over at Moose on the Porch Quilts. The center is a leftover charm square from Holly Jolly. Hard to believe there's only one more month. Here's the rest of the blocks altogether.

Talk to you later ~

Joy Less Schnibbles

2010-07-23T17:00:00.006-04:00

Here's my Schnibbles for July, a new one by Carrie, Joy Luck, and I got to say I did not enjoy this one. I used 3 charm packs, 2 of Holly Jolly and 1 of Merry and Bright that I had in my stash. Three because the Holly Jolly packs had too many lights to work right. I also used a Sandy Gervais for the background. It turned out cute but I think I am all Schnibbled out! I find them to be so much work, cutting and sewing, for what you end up with.

Those little lanterns would look cute in Japanese fabrics too. Here's a closeup view.

This represents all my sewing for the month. I don't know about you, but I think the summer is rapidly evaporating. I have been doing a lot of reading having just finished,

I highly recommend it.
I am off to do a little packing (and maybe sewing) as my daughter and I leave for vacation on Monday. We fly to Vienna passing through Paris {sigh}, board a small ship and cruise down the Danube and Rhine through Germany to Amsterdam and then back home.
Thanks for visiting.

Jumble

2010-07-07T14:15:00.022-04:00

Hi all, I hope you all had a nice July Fourth ~
I totally forgot to make the top block what with my trip to Ohio in early June. It is block 9 of the Jelly Roll Quilt Along and the bottom one is block 10. I'm all caught up now. For new readers, info about the Quilt Along can be found at Moose on the Porch Quilts blog.
The last block was a challenge as the directions were a little, ahem, screwed up and the clarifications a bit confusing. All caught up now. I took these with my daughter's camera as mine is at the Canon Repair Center. I mailed it right before the holiday weekend and it took forever to get there. The weekend seemed interminable. It rained starting the Friday before through the Tuesday after. There are literally mushrooms growing everywhere.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I thought I'd share some pictures of my trip to Ohio.

Here's my daughter and niece (in pink). We were visiting for my niece's graduation from High School. It looks like they planned to buy similar dresses, but it was pure coincidence.

And the quilt I gave her. It's hard to tell from the picture, but it is sized to fit a long twin bed. And the best part she loved it!

My brother's cat is a Bengal. They are half Asian Leopard Cat. Wild looking and wild behavior! I personally think he should have just gone to the Dog Pound and rescued a kitty but you know how brothers are, never listens to their older sisters!

I'll end with a picture from the Cleveland Zoo where we went one day. A mother Koala asleep with the most adorable baby! We were standing not two feet from them. No one seemed to think they were as cute as we did!
Thanks for stopping by.

Problems

2010-06-29T17:00:00.028-04:00

Hi All ~
I hope everyone's summer is going well. Oh, the problems I've had! My Cannon EOS Digital Rebel Camera decided to stop working on a regular and consistent basis. It started by giving me an "Error 99" message when I was in Ohio for my Niece's High School Graduation. I'd push the shutter button and no picture. The nerve! The Cannon website and the literature that came with the camera were most unhelpful. I have since come to understand through sleuthing on the internet that a variety of problems can cause the camera to give this message and temporarily stop working. I am just thankful I didn't have this problem on vacation. But I did manage to coax a couple of pictures out of it before it stopped again.

The Schnibbles for June was State Fair and a fun pattern it was! I love the whole pinwheely-goodness of it! I used two charm packs of Mary Engelbreit's Recipe for Friendship by Moda. It's such a sweet fabric line, all summery and fruity, although I am not too sure what fruit has to do with making friends, lol. I like how it turned out. Be sure to check out the Schnibbles Parade over at Sherri's or Sinta's blogs on July first when all the participants are featured.

I also had Bernina problems this month. I sew on a 1530 that I purchased back in 1993. My first quality sewing machine although I'd been sewing off and on since 1968. Anyway, I go to clean the bobbin area and the race hook cover literally separates from the machine.

Look at the pathetic thing. Ordered a replacement from Sewing Parts Direct.com and these people are fast! It broke on a Tuesday and I was back to sewing on Friday!

And lastly, Block 9 of the Jelly Roll Sampler Quiltalong. This is ending none too soon as I am running low on the Fig and Plum fabrics. More about the Quiltalong at Moose on the Porch.
Now it's off to find a repair for my camera. Thanks for stopping by.

Where Was I?

2010-05-30T14:45:00.027-04:00

Yikes. It's been awhile. Got back from the arduous journey of packing up favorite daughter from college in St. Louis and driving back. We hit that dreadful rain in Nashville at the height of Friday evening rush hour. It took us 2 and a half hours to get through the city. Next day, with absolutely no help from Gloria(!) we visited Lavender and Lime Quilt Shop in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Not much sewing going on since getting back to Florida. I did get this quilted by a local longarm quilter and she did a fantastic job. I used the yellow dotted fabric from the Hunky Dory line for the binding. It's on the way to Ohio for my niece's High School Graduation, where I'll be headed on Wednesday.

I got this made this morning, Block 7 of the Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt Along that Konda is doing, Fig and Plum with some green from Authentic.
And lastly,

it was Sewer's Choice this month for the Year of Schnibbles. I chose the Ballet Slippers Schnibbles and used two Aster Manor Charm Packs.

I would have liked to use the pink in the Aster Manor line but thought I'd use a gold stripe from my stash (rather than violate my "fabric diet") for the sashing. I actually made the top in an afternoon before I left for St. Louis. I cannot believe how quickly it went together, highly recommended!

A closeup of my favorite block. I hadn't realized how pretty this line is before making this top. Don't you just love the paisley? It adds an air of understated sophistication.
Thanks for visiting!

Block Six

2010-05-10T18:20:00.001-04:00

Just a quick post before I leave tomorrow morning of the latest quilt block in the Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt Along that I've been doing. This one was designed by Nanette. Part of the challenge was to put a novelty, or something different in the center square that still went with the fabrics being used. I had nothing but one charm square that sorta went, I think.
And I finished my Schnibbles for the month, pictures when I get back.
Got to run, have a good week!

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T09:30:00.003-04:00

Hello! For all those with kids young enough to get gifts like these, lucky you! My daughter never brought home a dog, but I did receive some mighty sweet handmade gifts and heartfelt hugs. Unfortunately we are apart today, she finishing up her exams. I fly up on Tuesday to St. Louis and then we drive back after loading all her ~~crap~~ stuff, can't wait!
Anyway, in anticipation of today, I bought myself a few gifts!

I am trying hard to be on a fabric diet but who can resist Fresh Cottons by Fig Tree Quilts?

Here's Garden Party that was a Daily Deal over at Missouri Star Quilt Company. If you haven't checked them out, you need to. Their service is wonderful.

Also bought a few patterns.
For the Year of Schnibbles this month it was Sewer's Choice, here's a sneak peak of what I'm working on.

I had two charm packs of Aster Manor and what a beautiful line. I hadn't noticed that before, none of my LQSs had carried it.

Best wishes for a wonderful day!

Year of Schnibbles~ Times Two~

2010-04-28T13:30:00.002-04:00

I got a little carried away with this month's Schnibbles, Tagalong. First off, I bought the pattern and then misplaced it. Still haven't found it and didn't discover it was misplaced until it was too late to re-order it as it was not to be found locally. So not knowing the sizes of anything to cut I thought why not make it larger as I had already decided not to use Charms and was just sorta tired of making small quilts.

This turned out to be a bit more challenging than I anticipated and ended up asking someone a bit more mathematically astute for help! I used all stash and leftovers from prior projects but it's mostly Faded Memories from 3 Sisters, with a little Romanza, Sanctuary, Portugal, and that luscious pink dotted background from Charity for a Cause/Legacy.

It ended up finishing out at 68 by 80 inches. I'm quite pleased with the results.

And here's my Block 5 in the Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt Along. It's a lot of fun sewing along and seeing what other participants are doing with their fabric choices. You might want to check it out if you haven't already.

I'm off to weed a flower bed full of these pretty little yellow flowers, almost seems a shame. Thanks for stopping by!

Rainy Days and Sundays

2010-04-18T12:30:00.023-04:00

What a treat this morning, slept late (7:30) and it was raining when I got up. A guilt-free day of skipping my hour morning walk! A few days ago finished the Sanctuary Sampler top I was working on. I really like the way it turned out. One less kit in the stash!

Because I have such a small sewing room, after projects I am forced to tidy up or else nothing can be found.

That evolved to going through my fabric stash and pulling out stuff I no longer like or the quality is questionable. I had a lot of the latter. This being judged by the old holding-it-up-to-the-light test. Amazing how fabric quality has improved just in the past 6 or 7 years or so. Anyone else notice that? In my sorting and re-arranging, I ran across this online BOM I participated in last year.

I had neglected to do the last month which consisted of the trees using templates! Ugh. All went well albeit rather slowly. A major distraction over the past few weeks has been a pair of American Bald Eagles in our neighborhood.

They have generated quite the stir! I'll leave you with my Block 4 of the Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt Along that Konda is sponsoring.

Now I'm off to pick out fabric for the Schnibbles for the month, Tag Along.
Thanks for stopping by!

Easter Greetings

2010-04-04T05:00:00.016-04:00

May you have a bright and joyful Easter and after all the festivities ~ a little time for sewing!

This and That

2010-03-30T11:50:00.005-04:00

Hope everyone had a pleasant weekend. I spent mine sewing ~ On Saturday my LQS sponsored a Pillowcase Challenge Day. I precut a bunch of novelty fabric and ended up using it all, 10 pillowcases, which means 10 yards out of my stash!

Then while waiting for my fabric to finish my Patchwork Party sampler quilt to arrive I started another kit in my stash. Another one I have no recollection of buying nor can I summon up why I would want to make a kite-themed quilt.

Here's the fabric,

I decided to use this pattern from Moda instead.

The blocks are large ~ 15 inches. And I like them better than the kites! My fabric came on Saturday late afternoon so I was able to add the sashing and cornerstones on Sunday.

I love how it's turning out, so soft and feminine looking. All I have left is a light pink tone-on-tone floral for an inner border and then the purple for the outer border.

And a pocket tissue holder I made for my daughter. I made the quilted fabric and somehow it came out all askew and with squares rather than diamonds.
Lastly, the back of a quilting book I found at the library featuring a men's quilted vest that I thought was a hoot! Can you imagine... LOL.

Thanks for visiting.

Salute to England

2010-03-26T14:00:00.040-04:00

Several years ago I spent 3 weeks touring England in a rental car. A country filled with archaic cathedrals,

historic castles, bad food (sorry) and a plenitude of roundabouts! So similar to our traffic circles (or rotaries in Massachusetts) but so confusing and comical to negotiate driving on the left-hand side of the road. There's a huge one in London, I can't remember the name of, that had us going in circles for what seemed miles! Definitely not for the faint-hearted nor humorless!
Anyway, this Roundabout was a lot more fun, it was the Year of Schnibbles pattern for the month. The Parade of the participants' quilts will be April 1 over at Sherri's and Sinta's blogs.

I made mine with one charm pack of American Primer by Minick and Simpson and assorted stash fabrics. It was such an easy pattern.

Thanks for reading my blog.

An Annoying Quilt

2010-03-25T13:45:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone,
Just a little sewing going on here, first up is my (Fig and Plum) block 2 in the Jelly Roll Quilt Along over at Konda's blog.
Then in keeping with my personal challenge to start sewing the many quilt kits I've accumulated~

I started with these. They are from Patchwork Party 2007 Spring edition. If you're not familiar with the concept, you visit 12 different online shops to purchase 12 different sampler blocks. Each shop offers their own finishing kit for their own rendition of the finished quilt. Each block makes up a 12 inch block. The ones I purchased used Sanctuary fabric by Three Sisters. So I got them out and what an unpleasant surprise! I assumed that the instructions would be for using a rotary cutter to construct them. Uh, no. To be fair, there were templates printed on the instruction sheet, but clearly the intent was for customers to purchase a template set by Marti Michell, who designed the blocks. This little bit of info was not shared before purchase. I might add the templates were weird sizes not readily duplicated through simple measuring. I hope that's clear. Anyway, I cannot stand working with templates so I made 12 different blocks and simply tried to keep the gist of the blocks similar.

Here's a few blocks, Rolling Pin,

Foxy Grandpa!

Chinese Block,

and Four Crowns.
Now for the setting, I got the not-so-brilliant idea to set the blocks alternating with stepping stones blocks, and bought some more of the red tone-on-tone fabric.

Too much red! Tried another setting using a white floral,

and thought it too plain,

added pink which makes the already cut white floral the wrong size! Yup, had to order more of the white floral. Thank goodness for the one online shop that still has Sanctuary fabric.

I'll leave you with this little tree frog, cute on the shrub, not so cute when attached to your leg! Thanks for stopping by.

Celebrate Trees

2010-03-13T20:00:00.014-05:00

Although I don't subscribe to the "carbon neutral mentality", I happened upon this worthwhile enterprise and thought I'd share if anyone would care to join in.

Here's the deal, if you have a blog and sign up the,

"...Make it Green” and “Arbor Day Foundation” are planting a tree in Plumas National Forest. With your support, we are helping reforest Plumas National Forest with as much trees as possible. In the spring of 2010, Douglas-fir, red and white firs, and incense cedars will be planted alongside ponderosa pine and sugar pine trees. These new trees will help prevent soot and soil runoff into Plumas’ precious water supplies..."

The Plumas National Forest is located in Northern California and thousands of acres burned in 2007. Seems like quite a beneficial project, more info can be found here.

~ ~ ~

And just to keep things quilt-y here are some pictures of quilts I forgot to share after attending a quilt show in the fall, first up Pickle Dish and closeups, don't you love all those polka dots?

And this one had the most wonderful applique,

Thanks for stopping by!

Quilt Along

2010-03-12T10:00:00.046-05:00

I joined the Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt Along a few weeks ago over at Moose on the Porch Quilts and just finished the first block. New block instructions are posted every two weeks by a different designer and with over 400 participants signed up, this should be quite fun!

I'm using Fig and Plum for my quilt blocks, group pictures here.

~ ~ ~

I made this quilt last year from a fat quarter bundle I had received as a gift. It was the complete collection of Violet Patch by Debbie Beaves for RJR back in 2004. I was never really nuts about the fabric line and was anxious to use it up so here's the second quilt from it.

I used the Blue Lagoon pattern from the Jelly Roll Quilts book that I love so much as I had loads of 2.5 inch strips leftover. It measures about 70 inches square and I still have fabric left!

I think they'd make some nice HeartStrings quilt blocks. If anyone would like them, along with some other HeartStrings blocks I've already made from other fabrics, leave a comment and I'll send them to you. Or if you just want the fabric, let me know.

February Schnibbles~Sunday Best~

2010-02-27T18:30:00.002-05:00

I had this done the first week of February and have no excuse for not posting it or anything earlier. I loved making this Schnibbles, Sunday Best although my choice of fabric is not exactly what I think of when someone says Sunday Best! I used charm packs of a Jennifer Paganelli line called Dance with me along with some fabric from my stash. I was able to get a picture during one of our rare days when the sun actually came out. I tried to make it fall-ish looking as it was so cold it felt like a fall day up North.

I changed the corners a bit by cutting squares rather than continuing the smaller pieces. I didn't like that way as you had to lop off pieces to make the border fit.

Be sure to check out Sherri's or Sinta's blogs on March 1 for the Schnibbles Parade showcasing all the participants in a Year of Schnibbles. It's amazing to see all the different permutations we quilters come up with.

Up next, I'll share progress on one of my New Year's Resolutions: actually sewing some of the many kits I've collected.

Oy Vey!

2010-02-13T08:40:00.000-05:00

I finished "My Paris Traveler's Bag" {pattern by Joanna Figueroa} that I started a few weeks ago. Can't say I'm nuts about how it turned out. Maybe the tincture of time will cure that as it was not an easy bag to make. I ended up having to re-do that red gusset where it attaches to the zipper panel. If you use a typical Coats Zipper from Joann's, the panel ends up too small for the gusset. I ended up emailing Joanna and it turns out the zipper she used was wider than the ones commonly available. On a positive note, the zipper installation was very easy. All in all, I found the directions a bit difficult to follow.

Update::: Hello, all, it's been awhile. I just found I never posted this. Not much sewing going on here until just recently. I spent a good two weeks getting some much needed gardening accomplished. That must sound odd to all you snowed-under but the weeds grow year round here in Florida! It's back to sewing as the weather here has turned more wintry. So, what have you been up to?

~January Schnibble~

2010-01-24T08:15:00.006-05:00

Hello, everyone! Finally got back into the sewing room after a month's hiatus! My daughter had a month long Christmas break and I did not want to miss spending time with her so I ended up not sewing a stitch. I just finished up my Schnibbles quilt top for January, Madeline. Kind of reminds me of Peach Sorbet, but then again I have food on the brain these days as I am trying to lose about five pounds put on this summer in Russia.

All the fabric is from my stash, a goal I hope to stick to this year. I just love that peachy-pink and how it turned out.

Here's another look during a brief interlude of sun, we've had such lousy weather this winter.

My favorite block with that luscious paisley that can't decide if it's a peach or a yellow. I think this was my favorite Schnibbles pattern so far although I could have done without all the errata.

Another look, remember you can click the pics to enlarge them. I am loving the new Blogger editor, I cannot remember who told me about it, but thank you again!

Thought I'd share a picture of my amaryllis, I picked up the bulb at Target right before Thanksgiving and it finally bloomed, two stalks each with four flowers.
I'm a little late but I'll sign off with good wishes for the New Year and a favorite Swedish proverb :::
~ Fear less, hope more; eat less, chew more; whine less, breathe more; hate less, love more; and all good things are yours. ~
Thanks for stopping by...

Schnibbles~Tuffets~

2009-12-31T15:45:00.003-05:00

I've been busily sewing pincushions aka Tuffets today for the scheduled Tuffets Parade tomorrow. It's been quite a challenge to find any time to go into my neglected sewing room this month, what with getting ready for Christmas, shopping, and getting re-acquainted with The Dean's List Daughter *insert Mom beaming here* home from college!

I only made three raiding my scrap basket...

The last one is two-sided and not a Tuffet but just something improvised. I filed it in the back of my mind when I spotted it in my travels around the blogs. I will agree with other bloggers, they are addicting to make! I rarely use them though as I am rather impatient with pins and usually just use a container I picked up at Joann's on clearance a few years ago. I like it because it heavy and stable and just the right size for portability.

This is really lazy but I consider it too much work to stick them into the pincushion and would rather throw them into the container.

And look at this, I was a winner at The Fat Quarter Shop's Dear Santa Giveaway last week! I'm looking forward to receiving this bundle in the mail! I won the whole bundle! Thank you Fat Quarter Shop, they are the greatest! Hope you all have a festive and safe New Year's Eve. See you next year!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T08:30:00.002-05:00

May you have the gladness of Christmas which is hope; The spirit of Christmas which is peace; The heart of Christmas which is love.
~ Ada V. Hendricks

Merry Christmas everyone!

Owl Love

2009-12-18T10:15:00.001-05:00

I've had owls on the brain ever since I saw my first ones a few days ago, right across the street from our house. And look what I ran across this morning at Jessica Levitt's blog. I think you'll agree these are a must-make any time of the year. I think I need to order some felt.
Talk to you later.

Dear Santa

2009-12-17T14:00:00.003-05:00

Have you seen the very clever giveaway at the Jolly Jabber? Here's my letter,
Dear Santa,

I'm hoping when you make a stop at the Fat Quarter Shop you bring me something good, like...

or maybe,

I'll leave it up to you and the elves at the Fat Quarter Shop to decide. I figure you brought me some really well, duds in the gift department through the years and now it's make-it-up-time. I really don't want to embarrass you by going public with the details, but what happened to that pony back when I was eight? And what was the deal with all those pajamas? Anyway, what's past is past, when you stop at the Fat quarter shop keep me in mind, will you? You know I've been good!
Love,
Mariannne

New Winner

2009-12-09T18:10:00.001-05:00

What gives with Blogger, I continue to have problems uploading pictures. First I cannot get the popup box and then it takes for-ev-er to do its job. Is anyone else experiencing this?
Well, I got my yellow thread and finished up quilting the fabric for the main part of the bag.

And also picked up a few fat quarters of Attitude Girls. The colors are so rich, the red so luscious. I highly recommend them! I am definitely not buying any more fabric come January!

Here's the red for the gusset part of the bag. I finished quilting that today also.

I need help with this blue. It's for the handles and I cannot decide which way is the correct way, the right-side up way. The selvedge calls it a foulard, but is there a right way to it? In other words,a fleur de lis has a right way, does this foulard? What do you think is right, this way, or...

this way?

I never heard from the winner of the SMS Giveaway so another was chosen, it's

Kelly who posted at 12/02/2009 7:53 PM

Thanks again to everyone who participated. Talk to you later.

How I Spent My Monday

2009-12-07T20:30:00.006-05:00

I started this bag today by making the quilted fabric, or I should say starting to make the quilted fabric. Every time I make a quilted bag I say never again as the fabric seems to take forever and then I had my scrap basket (overflowing) right near my sewing machine and a scrap got caught right under the fabric I was quilting and arrgh!!! Yup, that stupid scrap got sewn right to my quilted fabric. Such an unpleasant surprise when I flipped it over! It only messed up 2 rows and they are all fixed now. Am I the only one who does goofy things like that?

The pattern shows an all-over design but I usually quilt it like the Vera Bradley bags. I have a full yard to do for the main part of the bag and one half yard for the gusset.

I'm feeling a bit trepidatious about the upcoming zipper. I've made a fair amount of bags but all the tote variety. I hope it's not too scary! I'll let you know how that goes.

The fabric is a Michael Miller from 2000 or so. I have a matching red floral and a blue. Pictures of those next time. All three are very French Provence looking.

I've got three quarters of it quilted but am going to have to buy more thread tomorrow. That should prove dangerous as Tuesdays are Fat Quarter sale days at my LQS and have you seen the new Moda line Attitude Girls? Mere pictures do not do it justice. I am going to try and be strong but my willpower is not bottomless...
Talk to you later!

Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway Day Winner

2009-12-07T10:50:00.005-05:00

Sorry for the delay but Blogger for some reason was misbehaving and I could not post anything! After fiddling with it for too much time I got out of Firefox and that seemed to fix things.
I want to take this opportunity to thank you all for participating in my SMS Giveaway. It was my first time! I am just blown away by the number of comments. I blog hopped, too, and it was so much fun, seeing the variety of giveaway items and the various blogs I'd never visited before.
On to the winner, I entered the numbers to the Random Number Generator and

CAlili

"I second Bea's post. Cluck, cluck, sew has a nice way of putting them together. Thank you for the giveaway."

was chosen. So, CAlili email me with your address so I can get the giveaway to you as you left no way for me to contact you! If I do not hear from you by Wednesday, Dec 9 by 5 pm I will pick another winner.
Once again, thank you all for stopping by and taking the time to leave a comment. I really appreciate it.

Lady Luck

2009-12-02T00:30:00.004-05:00

As I mentioned in a previously, I've decided to play along with the crew at Sew, Mama, Sew and participate with their Giveaway Day!. I will take comments through December 6 EST and then using the Random Number Thingy chose one winner. I will ship internationally. Here's the deal, I participated in a disappearing 9-patch block swap and am clueless about what to do with my blocks. I have 100 blocks and they are about 6 inches square. To be eligible for the Giveaway prizes your comment must offer a suggestion/idea as to how to sew the blocks together. You can leave a link in your comments if that helps to clarify.

More pictures to give an idea of what I have to work with. A lot of red!

Here are the prizes for the lucky individual. A panel of Santa's Got the Goods, or I should say a half panel to make the quilt in the included instructions I'll send along. The colors are easy to match with other lines so I do not think that will be a problem as I know this line is not "current".

An Alex Anderson pattern.

Two charm packs of Moda's Full Moon Forest. And a small handmade trinket box that I got in Russia this July. It's just the right size for pins, buttons, or whatever.

Here's a closeup. It's a sweet little box, lid comes off to reveal a gold interior. So there's your assignment! Happy blog hopping and good luck to everyone! Remember Sew, Mama, Sew has a master list of all the Giveaway Day! participants.

Check out

2009-12-01T06:00:00.002-05:00

Here are the pictures of my purchases at the quilt show last month in West Palm Beach. I bought more than I thought! Isn't that always the case? This is a new line by Pamela Mostek called Piccadilly made by Clothworks, purple, olives, browns, and yellow. I love it. I bought all 16 fat quarters in the line.

I realized I was in desperate need of neutrals when I decided to do the Red and White Snowball Quilt Challenge at Fat Cat Quilts. The other fabric was just so nice.

And how could I resist these? The designer, Susie Robbins, had the best booth at the Merchant's Mall. She was quite a character, complete with red and white striped frames for her glasses, reminded me of Freddy Moran, not that I've met her.

The line is called Bejeweled by P & B. They are so rich and opulent looking.

More badly needed neutrals. I think I can stop now!

I got these on the way to the show. The shop had a sample made up and because I was the first purchase of the day I received 20% off everything. That was a pleasant surprise.

And a few patterns from assorted vendors.
Thanks for visiting.

November Schnibbles

2009-11-30T19:15:00.004-05:00

This is the pattern the Year of Schnibbles participants made during November. For some reason I just could not get enthused about this pattern. Maybe it was the coming holiday. I certainly can't blame the weather as it remains quite summery here. I did finally decide on using a vintage yellow-with-cherries fabric I bought from eBay a few years ago for one of the baskets. After that was decided, all the other fabrics just fell into place.

This is the first time I have used a pattern where you had to trim the units to a smaller size. All I can say is t-e-d-i-o-u-s.

This is the vintage fabric I mentioned earlier. I love it! Oh, and then to compound my lack of motivation, I did not notice that I pressed one seam wrong in making each basket so when I sewed the blocks together, one seam did not abut properly.

All in all, I'm pleased with the way it turned out, but then again, it has all of my favorite colors. Be sure to check out the Parade of Schnibbles tomorrow at Sherri's and Sinta's blogs. I know I will!

Giveaway Day

2009-11-29T14:00:00.003-05:00

Hope everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving spent with Family and Friends. I am feeling withdrawal pains as my daughter left this morning for her flight back to St. Louis and college life. Just a quick post to let you know about Giveaway Day sponsored at Sew Mama, Sew. I had a lot of fun blog hopping during last year's event even though I didn't win a darn thing.

I thought I'd participate in the Giveaway this year so be sure to visit here beginning December 2.

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T09:10:00.001-05:00

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
~ Melody Beattie

A friend sent me this quote which I think epitomizes the essence of the holiday so I thought I'd share it with you. I hope you, your family and friends have a happy, healthy, and safe Thanksgiving.

Part Two

2009-11-17T09:45:00.005-05:00

Sorry for the delay in posting these. A few hours after I got home Sunday evening I started to feel like I was coming down with something, but happy to report I feel great today! I did do a bunch of shopping, stopping at a quilt shop on the way, shopping at the vendors, shopping in West Palm Beach, and finally stopping at one of the few quilt shops open on Sunday on the way back. That feels like a run-on sentence but I am going to let it go as I've got loads of stuff to do today. Pictures of my loot next time! My one complaint about the show was lighting. Good gosh, it had those sodium-vapor way high up on the ceiling lights that really didn't illuminate very well. When I used my flash, the colors would get washed out, but just looking at the quilts was a chore for my eyes. Thankfully a large number of vendors planned ahead and brought incandescent spotlights for their booths ~ did you know that incandescent light bulbs will be banned in 2014? I'm not too happy about that as what replaces them gives out less light and comes with additional problems. Anyway, on with the show, don't forget you can click on the pictures...

This was very striking and unusual! Raw edge applique for the pins.

The cucumber slice was the size of a salad plate and was three dimensional. The quilt was part of a challenge to interpret hot or cool in a quilt.

This quilt was huge and so colorful! It won Best Use of Color.

This also won a ribbon.

The red line is one of those red velvet ropes to keep you from getting too close, this was so striking in person, the colors so very brilliant, my daughter was a little annoyed when I told her a guy won Best of Show, LOL.

Thanks for stopping by!

Lots of Inspiration

2009-11-13T23:00:00.005-05:00

Today was the first day of the World Quilt Show in West Palm Beach, Florida. I started with the vendors before they got crowded. Some vendors seemed to bring their whole shop with them! So many Batiks, flannel Batiks, reproductions, patterns, and kits. I tried all the longarm machines, loved the Gammill and the new Handi Quilter Fusion.

This booth had the most beautiful Batiks, that's one panel. Now, on to the show, remember you can click on the pictures to get them larger.

Hope you enjoyed these, more next time including the Best of Show. Thanks for visiting!

Quilts for Kids

2009-11-11T21:30:00.003-05:00

I was just poking around Jane's blog a few weeks ago when I saw a post about The Downy Quilt. It's a charity that collects quilts for kids and they will send you a kit to make one. Of course, having absolutely no constraints on my time, Ha!, I requested one.

Oh look, the instructions say I have 4 to 6 weeks before I have to send back the completed quilt. But wait what's this...

Aw, geeze, do you see that, Remember A Child Is Waiting For This. That line did me in. So...

Binding all sewn all and pinned. If anyone else would like to get a kit or more info, go here.
I have not started my November Schnibbles in the Year of Schnibbles that I am doing. No inspiration there! I am leaving tomorrow for the World Quilt Show in West Palm Beach, maybe inspiration will strike.
Talk to you later!

Discovery

2009-11-02T19:00:00.009-05:00

If you read my blog you know I truly love the Jelly Roll Quilts book and the followup book, Layer Cake, Jelly Roll and Charm Quilts by the Mother/daughter team Pam and Nicky Lintott. Well I headed off to Borders last Friday to look for another book, 40 Fabulous Quick Cut Quilts for another project I signed up for. Didn't find that book, but looky what just hit the shelves! Apparently the authors had 'authored' ~yuck, yuck!~ a jelly roll competition and the new book features the winning designs! Number one, I had not heard of this contest (not that I would have entered but still...) and Number two, I had no idea they had a new book coming out, and I had a 40% off coupon and $5.00 in Borders' Bucks to boot. So I got the new book for $10 and change! And it does not disappoint, a dozen new designs by a dozen creative people.

I also found a video about the challenge on youTube. Hope it works.

I hope you had an opportunity to check out the Schnibbles October Parade over at Sherri's and Sinta's blogs. Sinta somehow overlooked my Schnibbles so I was not included in the Parade. I was amazed by all the many different ways the pattern was interpreted.

Put all the qualifying names in a hat and drew Annette for the pillowcase kit, fat quarter and box of tissues. You need to email me your address. Thanks to all who entered and thank you for visiting!

October Schnibbles: Roo Who?

2009-10-31T06:00:00.003-04:00

Here's my October Schnibbles Cindy Lou Who, I call it Roo Who?. I think I need to explain. My cat's name, Cinabella, is a blend of her parents' names, Bell Hop and Cinderella. I think I've mentioned before she's a Tonkinese. Well, right after we got her somehow we started calling her a Tonker-Roo and that evolved to Roo which became her nickname and, believe it or not she responds to her name and nickname. Vets are always amazed by this fact. I think it kind of stuck cause my daughter at the time was 4 years old and goofy was in! Anyway, when people visit our house and they hear her nickname invariably they say, Roo who?

I think this guy really exemplifies what cats think of Christmas morning and all that crinkly wrapping paper.

Be sure to check out the Schnibbles Parade tomorrow on Sherri's and Sinta's blogs.

Leave a comment and I'll enter your name in the drawing for this kit to make a Christmas pillowcase, complete with instructions. There wasn't enough left of the border fabric for a pillowcase but I can throw in a fat quarter of it. And...

a box of the cutest tissues you have ever seen! Look at those cats! Would this not make the sweetest fabric? I stumbled across it at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and just had to have it. The clerk looked at me strangely when I told her at checkout I was buying the tissues solely for the boxes.

And there were owls too! Although I'm more partial to the cats.

Enjoy your Halloween,
Thanks for stopping by.
Oh, and entries close midnight Nov. 2.

Anticipation

2009-10-30T10:15:00.003-04:00

I'm doing the Happy Dance!!! And it's all because of the picture below from Sherri's blog. I love Joanna Figueroa's fabric and patterns. The picture of Fig Tree & Company's booth, well, even though I promised myself to cut back on expenses, I simply could not resist and ordered some patterns. I just got confirmation, they are on their way! Oh the anticipation! I only ordered three, sanity popped in after the third click. I am anxious to make the bag. I haven't made many but it seems every time I take a trip lately I have been wishing I had a carryon bag like this one.

How 'bout you? Do you have a favorite designer with whom you're smitten?
Talk to you later, have an enjoyable Friday.

Nine Patch Wonder

2009-10-29T12:10:00.014-04:00

I finished the Nine Patch Wonder I started last week after first cleaning our garage. No, it wasn't this bad but close. No basements and small closets in Florida houses can lead to this! And the creatures I had to deal with! Skinks, mice, cockroaches, tiny tree frogs, yuck! I gotta admit the tree frogs were cute, would fit on a quarter, I just had to round them up to make sure they'd be okay. After 3 Goodwill trips it was onto my Nine Patch Wonder.
I have mixed feelings about how it turned out. I think it's too small scale-y. Look, the blue I used for the hourglass blocks "reads" solid it's so small scale. How I missed this fact before I started cutting it out is beyond me. The LQS sample quilt used a darker, medium scaled fabric but they were sold out of it.

It's from the Flag Day Farm line. I looked in all the area quilt shops but no one had any left. I guess in retrospect I should have bought it online.

Anyway, it's done. What do you think?

This is the fourth quilt I've made out of the Jelly Roll Quilts book. I have to admit without the LQS sample I would never have made this one as the one in the book is rather, um, unappealing. How about you, have you made any of the quilts in this book? I'd love to hear about it!
Talk to you later, and remember the Year of Schnibbles Parade brought to you by Sinta and Sherri is coming soon!

A Few Favorite Things

2009-10-28T13:45:00.001-04:00

Just to let you know the very talented and generous Jackie over at Canton Village Quilt Works has a giveaway going on and it's all neat stuff from Quilt Market! Head over and check it out!

Wednesday, Already?

2009-10-28T12:30:00.002-04:00

My LQS had an After Market Moda Preview on Saturday complete with two Moda reps on hand for show-and-tell, and woo hoo there are some really nice new fabrics coming out in the next few months!

There were close to 100 quilters on hand and after the show were treated to a free lunch. The husband of the shop's owner is a chef so the food was delicious! I had no idea when I signed up that a lunch was included, talk about being pleasantly surprised.

This is Verna by a new designer, Kate Spain. Really soft and pretty.

This egg fabric part of Cherish by Deb Strain was very popular. The reps had brought quilts that had been displayed at Quilt Market featuring the new fabrics. The Cherish quilt used this egg fabric as an inner border one egg width wide giving the appearance of scallops. Hope that makes sense.

This was my favorite, Eden by Lila Tueller. It is so pretty in person.

Attitude Girls by Mary Engelbreit, love it! This is only a glimpse of what was shown. It was really neat to see and touch all the new fabric. One of the reps had met and been to many of the designers' homes so we were treated to descriptions of their studios and design process, such as the fact that Sandy Gervais paints her designs. And her studio is a vacated Carnegie Library built in around the turn of the 20th century.

There were giveaways, a few harvest-colored fat eighths, and a Moda decal for my car!

And I won some fabric from the Happy Campers line!

And we all received a free pattern. All in all, a fun day was had by all!
Talk to you later.

Winners

2009-10-21T08:15:00.004-04:00

Sorry this is a day late, spent yesterday unpacking and running errands I should have done before leaving for the weekend. Simply wrote the commenters' names on pieces of paper and drew:
Mel
Andee
Kim

If all three would email me your addresses I'll send your gifts today! Mel you need to tell me what you'd like, and Andee you need to give me your first and second choices. And Kim gets what's left. I'm also adding a little extra surprise to each gift. Thank you all for entering. I love reading your comments!

It Was Love At First Sight

2009-10-13T22:30:00.005-04:00

Went to my LQS and they had a quilt hanging up using red and blue reproduction fabrics with vintage looking shirtings made up using this pattern from the Jelly Roll Quilts book. Oh it was just so wonderful! I love the Jelly Roll book but I have to tell you, I had no interest in making the 9-patch wonder quilt from the picture they have in the book.

Here's the jelly roll and ack! my picture does not show how wonderful the Jelly Roll is! You'll have to trust me on this one.

And then I was one of the lucky winners on October first's Year of Schnibbles Parade! Yay, I won a Santorini charm pack and a Schnibbles pattern, I chose Picnic,from Quilt Taffy.

I just realized my 100th posting came and went with no recognition from me so I thought I'd have some giveaways.

First up is a little kit to make a fabric pumpkin. It looks better than the picture shows. The kit only makes one but if you can use your own fabric to make more.

Next up, 8 fat quarters by Free Spirit from a line called Celebrate, have no idea when it was out.

And last up, a doll sized quilt of leftover Japanese fabrics from a prior project. Sorry the picture is so bad. Anyway, leave a comment on this post by midnight Monday (October 19), make sure I have a way of getting in contact with you, and I'll chose 3 winners on Tuesday.

Meanwhile I am off to Washington University in St. Louis tomorrow for a long weekend.
Talk to you later.

Quilt Festival, Fall 2009

2009-10-10T14:30:00.000-04:00

I'm late! I totally forgot that I was supposed to have this up yesterday, sorry about that. Anyway, welcome to all! Amy over at Park City Girl is sponsoring this online Quilt Festival. Participants are to post a picture of a quilt and the story that goes with it.
My quilt to share is this bow tie quilt. I was working on it the morning of September 11, 2001. I had just got out of the shower after having driven my daughter to school. We had talked on the way about the streets closed for President Bush who was in town not 2 miles from our rental house. He was visiting an elementary school. We were so glad that the closures were not directly on our route. Little did I know how scary it would become just a little while later, the fact that the President was so close to our house.

This is the block I was working on when I flipped the a.m. radio on to catch the morning news at 8:45. I always thought it odd that it was this block that I was working on when I heard the news that a plane had crashed into one of the World Trade Center Towers. I had precut all the fabric for the blocks but this was the only one that had patriotic fabric in it. I put the blocks aside that morning and ended up finishing the quilt in late 2003.

Thanks for stopping by.

A Weekend Made for Sewing

2009-10-05T11:30:00.005-04:00

A big thank you to all visiting Year of Schnibblers even if you didn't leave a comment! And a reminder if you don't have your email set to "show my email address" in your Profile it makes it difficult for me to respond to you! And please do leave a comment, I love receiving them.
Laurie over at A Yankee Quilter is collecting 9.5 inch (unfinished) quilt blocks to make a quilt for her friend Terry who is going through some difficult times. There are some Jelly Rolls and gift certificate giveaways involved, so check it out if you can. This is the block I made.

Whenever I need a block for something like this I always go to this book. It's great if you're looking for a certain size block.

The only thing that would make it complete would be pressing directions.

Did more sewing on Saturday as I got my aqua/red 9-patches done for Jane's swap. They turned out great.

Made the 9-patches "disappear" on Sunday when I cut them apart. This was my first foray into the Disappearing 9-Patch so I couldn't wait to see what developed.

Here's my stack of 100 blocks. To recap, I made 25 9-patches, half with red in 5 of the blocks and half with aqua in 5 of the blocks and then cut them all in half lengthwise and crosswise to get the 100 blocks. It's a lot of fun and would be great for a beginner.

I love this machine!!! We had a new post office open nearby this year and they put one of these babies in the lobby, woo hoo! You can buy stamps, mail packages, and all sorts of neat things. I particularly like to use it when there's a long line for counter service or like I did yesterday, on Sundays!

Time for a new project and what better place to look, the shelves where I store my quilt kits. I have a bit of an addiction to these and like many quilters am so optimistic about making them.

Grabbed the easiest one. This kit came from a quilt featured in Quilt Sampler magazine Spring/Summer 2006 and the fabric line was called Garden Maze by Free Spirit.

The fabric is so cheery and summery, I love it!

And here's a picture of the finished quilt, Springtime in Oklahoma.
Talk to you later!

September Schnibbles

2009-09-28T20:30:00.006-04:00

When I went up to Marietta for the quilt show I did a mini-quilt shop hop. I wasn't about to let 20 inches of rain slow me down. Gosh it was soggy, rained the entire 4 days I was there. I desperately needed some reds and aquas for the Disappearing 9-patch I signed up for at Jane's. I had 1 aqua fabric in my stash. Never realized it before, but I guess it's a color I just haven't worked with. I picked up these fat quarters at Intown Quilters. What a fun shop! Filled to the brim with mostly bright and funky fabrics with a very helpful staff. I sound like a commercial but really, I loved the shop. Sorry for the lack of shop pictures but the day was so drear and rainy I left my camera back at the hotel.

I got this little bag filled with 20 Kaffe Fasset fabrics and some Schnibbles patterns at Red Hen Fabrics and Quilting Emporium. I think this was my favorite of the 4 shops I visited. The fabrics were arranged by color, something different and had a load of patterns and again, a very friendly staff.

These are either Kaffe or Martha Negley, got them at Intown Quilters also. I also went to Little Quilts and Tiny Stitches. I had been to Little Quilts for the first time about 9 years ago. I was amazed how it is exactly the same! I guess when you've found your niche and it works why mess with it. Still mostly civil war reproduction fabric. I still have my purchase from 9 years ago uncut. You know how that is. So I didn't buy anything here. Last stop was Tiny Stitches but I found the shop too dimly lit to do any serious shopping. I hate that!

Back in January I started sewing along with the Forever Green Quilts BOM program. Well, I have not made a block since April so I figures this was the weekend to do all 5 months AND the September Schnibbles for the Year of Schnibbles. I am finally caught up. The Forever Green blocks are so tedious as they all have so many pieces many you have to draw the seam allowances on to get the triangles to fit together right. One block really gave me a problem. I think the cutting directions are faulty but regardless it got finished.

The Year of Schnibbles pattern was Winter White. I decided to use Fig and Plum by Moda as I really liked the fabric. In fact I love any fabric that Joanna Figueroa designs. Love that vintage-y thing she has going. I first made the flying geese in greens and peaches but they really didn't work. The geese needed to be dark, or at least half of them did.

I needed 18 dark charms and the Fig and Plum had only 16. I spent quite a while trying to get something to work and hoped to use some of the geese I'd already made.

Here's what I came up with. Ditched the green geese, kept the peach geese, and made new plum ones. I actually found a fat quarter, civil war reproduction no less! in my stash that went with the Fig and Plum plum. And that is one different shade of plum!

Those peach cornerstones seemed like a good idea but now...

Had a chance this afternoon to cut into the reds and aquas for the swap ~ 225 squares cut!

Check out the head on the windowsill!
Talk to you later.

Bird Brains

2009-09-24T23:00:00.001-04:00

OMG, I just realized I forgot to include these pics this morning. This was my favorite quilt at the show. It is just so happy, so silly, and those birds, so cheeky! I took loads of pictures but will restrain myself and share only a few. It did not garner the attention I personally think it deserved!

Don't you love the Big Stitch quilting? Really suits the irreverence of the piece, don't you think?

Talk to you later...

Part Two

2009-09-24T10:15:00.004-04:00

Here's some more photos from the Marietta quilt show I attended. This is the Best of Show quilt, Metropolitan Garden by Jane Gorder. It's a reproduction of a Baltimore Album quilt in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was so beautiful to see,so much work and so beautifully executed.

I was really charmed by these guys having a fondness for nutcrackers as I do.

This quilt used a lot of Kaffe Fassett fabrics, another love of mine. I've a large collection of them but never made anything with them. I need to change that. He has a new book (yay!) coming out soon, by the way.

Love the aqua fabric in this double wedding ring quilt called Blue Moon.

The stitching on this quilt was incredible!

and the back was finished with loads of beads and positively glittered. Just stunning!

Thanks for stopping by.

Georgia Celebrates Quilts

2009-09-21T10:30:00.001-04:00

Back in sunny Florida after spending the weekend in Marietta Georgia at the East Cobb Quilters' Guild Quilt Show. The quilts were beautiful and I took plenty of pictures.

This quilt was in a vendor's booth. It was much more eye-popping in person, all different batiks, pattern from the StrataVarious Quilts book.

There were a few One Block Wonder quilts mostly done up using very dark fabrics, I liked this one best.

This is Hyacinth Garden. One of my two favorites. Again, much brighter and prettier in person.

More pictures next time including Best of Show, thanks for dropping by.

Another Swap

2009-09-16T17:00:00.004-04:00

I signed up for a new project over at Jane's. There are openings if you want to join. Participants be working with red and aqua to make 25 blocks and turning them into 100 disappearing 9-patches. I so love the choice of colors, but have just two aqua pieces. Sew-Fantastic has a little tutorial if you are not familiar with the disappearing 9-patch.
I'm leaving tomorrow to spend the weekend up in Marietta, GA to take in a quilt show and visit. Finished the quilt I was working on,

It's big, 93 by 66, love the way it turned out!
Thanks for stopping by!

Fish Swimming in the Road

2009-09-13T10:45:00.003-04:00

Really. We had a hurricane-worthy storm rain-wise early Saturday morning and throughout the day. Yikes at one point I thought our pool was going to overflow, it was that bad. This is a picture of water flooding the woods and making its way to a lake. Normally this is grass.

Here's where the road flooded from overflow from another lake and..

there were catfish swimming in the road! It was difficult getting a picture as I was on my bicycle and had no boots. Plus there was the occasional car to avoid. The fish were discovered rather quickly by hawks and osprey.

Here's a turtle I recued from the road. They can't make it up the curb.

He kept looking over his shoulder astounded at his good luck, I suppose!

And lots of armadillos displaced by the flooding.

In between pictures, lots of sewing was going on. I have just the outer borders left to add to the project I started the other day. Way too dark for pictures yesterday. Here's Cinabella keeping me company. She's a Tonkinese which is half Siamese and half Burmese. She's 15 years old.

We have a saltwater aquarium and I thought I'd share a picture of a fish that's taken up residence in a fanworm, or featherduster. The worm is none too pleased and will spin its top trying to dislodge the fish.
Thanks for visiting.

Remembering September 11

2009-09-11T13:45:00.005-04:00

This is not by any means a political blog and if that doesn't interest you, you might want to not read this post.
I am deeply offended by what the present political party in power is trying to do to September 11, i.e. re-frame it by changing it into a community service day. September 11 was proclaimed Patriot Day and was signed into law in 2001 to "remember and honor those who perished in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. We will not forget the events of that terrible morning nor will we forget how Americans responded in New York City, at the Pentagon, and in the skies over Pennsylvania -- with heroism and selflessness; with compassion and courage; and with prayer and hope. We will always remember our collective obligation to ensure that justice is done, that freedom prevails, and that the principles upon which our Nation was founded endure." The memory of today has no business being reassigned to be a National Day of Service as the current president so decided this morning. We were not attacked on 9/11 because our enemies were disappointed in our community service contributions and I reject this notion. I have nothing wrong with declaring a day to encourage community service and volunteerism, just make it another day. This site here has a wonderful slideshow of the victims of 9/11 set to music.
I will leave you with these final words of President Bush, "...Those whom we lost ... September 11 will forever hold a cherished place in our hearts and in the history of our Nation. As we mark the first anniversary of that tragic day, we remember their sacrifice; and we commit ourselves to honoring their memory by pursuing peace and justice in the world and security at home."
Thanks for stopping by.

Almost Done

2009-09-08T20:50:00.002-04:00

I would have had this posted yesterday but simply could not find my cord thingy that transfers from camera to computer. I finally had to abandon looking for it and lo and behold it turned up on the floor in the bedroom next to a chair. Odd to say the least. I finished the 9-patches for the quilt center.

I still have an inner border of neutral squares, a middle border of more 9-patches and a final border of neutral squares. I'm liking the way it's turning out!

This is a picture of a bad cat. Every once in a while Cinabella will get it into her head that she wants, needs to go to the very top of the closet in my sewing room. The problem is once up, she can't get down by herself so I cannot leave or I must retrieve the ladder in the garage! A disconsolate cat is a noisy cat! Perhaps I should add that she is half Siamese to better understand the level of meowing.

We get this Great Blue Heron landing on out pool cage many an afternoon. I've never seen him land on any of our neighbors' cages. So far we've been lucky with you-know-what!
Thanks for stopping by.

A Year of Schnibbles

2009-09-07T09:00:00.003-04:00

I've mentioned before how I am a big fan of Miss Rosie's Quilt Co. so I was thrilled to find some fellow quilting fans. Sinta and Sherri have got together and created a fun year long challenge and I have joined. Thank you Sinta! The goal will be to finish one Schnibbles a month and post a picture on our blog. Winter White is the first one chosen. Head on over to Sinta's and Sherri's blog to have a look. I ordered my pattern from Honey Fork Fabrics. They have just about every Schnibbles there is and they ship Media Mail which works out nice and cheap if that"s all you are buying.
I made great progress yesterday on the 9-patches I am making. Weather permitting, I hope to have some pictures up of that project. See ya later!

Inspiration

2009-09-07T06:00:00.007-04:00

Hello all, hope you are enjoying Labor Day and the end of summer celebrations. We have another two months or so before things cool off here in Florida.
These houses and gates were in the village of Goritsy which is located on the Sheksna River in Russia. Many of the houses in the village were brightly painted, I have no idea why as we didn't encounter this anywhere else. I really think Kaffe Fassett should shoot his next book here. I can just see his quilts draped over those gates and picket fences, can"t you?

And finally my daughter Natalie in Red Square. Happy Birthday sweet girl!

iQuilt

2009-09-05T20:45:00.002-04:00

Helloooo! I still make quilts, I really do! I cannot believe that I have not sewn since April. My Bernina and all the flat surfaces in my sewing room were actually dusty. I have been so busy going hither and yon or getting ready to, that sewing took a back seat. Today was the day to get reacquainted with my Bernina. I started a new project using fabric strictly from my stash. Oh, the temptation to buy something new. There are some really super new collections out, aren't there? This fabric will be used to make 9-patches 6 inches finished.

These are 6.5 inch squares that will alternate with the 9-patches for the center part of the quilt. Sure hope this looks better once it gets further along cause I am having my doubts.

The pattern comes from The Quilter Magazine, March 2008 issue. I've already made the quilt once before and loved the results. I will probably add a row or two for additional length.

This book is so cute. I love cupcakes and this book has a little of something for just about everyone. Cupcake recipes, cupcake cards, knitted cupcakes, cupcake pincushions, you get the idea. The cover is so sweet and the size so small I like to just leave it next to my Bernina so I can gaze at it adoringly! No kidding!

Just a random street scene of St. Petersburg, Russia. I hope I am not boring you readers with my pictures of Russia, kind of like the neighbors' slides from their vacation to the Grand Canyon. You wish you could extricate yourself from their family room, but how? Let me know.

There were not many American fast food places, except McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, and a Hard Rock Cafe. As a whole, the people were much slimmer than here. There's probably a connection there. You've got to love McDonald's in Cyrillic!

Me, relaxing onboard our ship.
Thanks for stopping by, and would love to read your comments!

Look At This!

2009-09-02T10:45:00.001-04:00

Drove my daughter back to college in St. Louis about a week ago and we discovered a new Target. Not just any Target This one, in addition to the usual parking lot, also had a underground parking garage! This is the escalator from the garage to the store.

With it's very own shopping cart escalator! Here's where you put the cart to go down.

And this is where the cart comes out in the garage.

We thought this was so funny! We get back to my daughter's suite and her roommate really wasn't impressed. Ruth comes from Atlanta where apparently these super-duper-underground-parking-garages are quite common. Just goes to show you it doesn't take much to amuse these two Florida girls.

This is a random picture of clouds just for the fact I thought they looked so pretty. I am off to the quilt store, just to look you understand! There are so many new lines out, this place has some Jelly Rolls on sale.
Thanks for stopping by.

The Art of Procrastination

2009-08-30T10:15:00.002-04:00

As you've no doubt guessed by now, I am a terrible procrastinator, or should I say terrific one as I am quite successful at it. First it took me two weeks to even get my pictures on my computer. I had been in Russia about three days when I noticed a black speck through my viewfinder and panicked. What to do! I have a really nice camera (God knows why as I certainly am not smart enough to know how to use it) but was clueless about what could be done about this speck. I eneded up taking the lens off and finding a white piece of something on the mirror thingy inside. Took a Q-tip and got rid of that. Anyway, I was intimidated by the whole idea that all 1050 pictures I took were going to have a black speck. Turned out offending speck did not show up in the pictures.

We flew to Charlotte, then arrived Munich about 8 a.m., and a few hours later to St. Petersburg, Russia. This is our ship as we cruised down the Svir River to the Volga River onto Moscow.

We spent about five days in St. Petersburg. This is the Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood.

This man had a bear cub on a leash and was inviting people to take pictures.

Street scene surrounding the church.

St. Petersburg was built on marshy land and has many canals. It's known as "the Venice of the north". The sun doesn't set until very late in the summer due to the geography of the city. It was very odd coming out of the ballet at 10:30 and being just as bright as 3:00 in the afternoon!

These are the massive columns supporting St. Issac's Cathedral made of a single piece of red granite.

I was just blown away by the beauty in these cathedrals. This is looking up at the interior of the dome.

A closeup of a mosaic. Such workmanship. We saw so many cathedrals most so old and beautifully ornate but rarely used by parishioners as church attendance is very low, around five per cent, a holdover from Soviet times.

Lastly, apartments with a man who looked to be nude while he was cleaning his windows! Maybe a bit too much of vodka or vivid imaginations on our part! He's in the center of the picture.