FeistyEily

Saintpaulia-cide

2012-02-15T18:57:00.000-06:00

Let me distract you with some pretty pictures of one of my African Violets before I tell you about how I think I may have killed two this afternoon.

Last year I bought an African Violet from one of my favorite big box hardware stores. In the last year, as it matured, I discovered it was actually two plants. After re-potting a root bound violet this afternoon I thought I would take the chance, while I had my planting stuff out, to separate the two plants and re-pot them.

I've re-potted plenty of African Violets in my time, so I'm not sure what I did. Maybe I was over thinking having to try to separate the two plants? Whatever it was I ended up losing the entire root ball for both. Eeek! So, I dipped both plant's necks in rooting hormone and potted them in a fresh pot. African Violets are surprisingly resilient, but I think my life saving attempts may not be enough. Is there CPR for plants?

More Quilting

2012-02-08T17:19:00.002-06:00

Have you been on the edge of your seat wondering how far along with the Double Wedding Ring quilt I am? Well wonder no longer...

I've been using Free Spirit's paper piecing templates to make my arcs. However, true to form, I'm not making the quilt as per the directions. First of all, their finished quilt is just 54x54. I (personally) feel that a quilt that is too short to cover me is too short to bother making. I'm making more arcs so that my finished quilt will be closer to 66x78. I'm also not going to make my four patches all the same; they're going be as scrappy as my rings.

So far I've got 104 of 142 arcs completed. Soon I'll have to decide if I want the background to be khaki (leading towards), grey (a possibility), or white (not excited about).

Meanwhile - spring keeps knocking at my door. Oh winter, what happened to you?

I started trying to propagate one of my African Violets back in November because my mom had expressed an interest in my variegated leaf plant. According to the instructions I found on-line the little leaves of a new plant should have been visible after about six weeks. 12 weeks later and it's finally showing signs of life.

Aren't those tiny little leaves adorable?

Groundhog Day

2012-02-02T19:44:00.000-06:00

Puxatony Phil saw his shadow today.

If you're a regular around here you know that I LOVE fall and winter. Not so much this year. It's been too warm. I know I live in The Deep South and all, but really? It's been far, far, far to warm for my taste this year.

My indoor garden is loving it though. It almost makes me long for spring. Almost.

Monday Night

2012-01-25T11:35:00.000-06:00

Most of my Monday nights are spent this way:

2.5 hours in the car (driving to/from New Orleans with a stop for coffee)
2.0 hours at rehearsal
2.0 hours ~~boozing and whoring~~ laughing, talking, and eating with a good friend

The drive gives me time to listen to audio books or talk to myself. (Daddy always says that's the best way to have an intelligent conversation).

Rehearsals keep my mind and fingers nimble.

Visiting with Marika restores my sanity.

Double Wedding Ring

2012-01-23T12:31:00.000-06:00

A year and a half or so ago I started work on a scrappy Double Wedding Ring quilt. I made a couple of arcs then stalled. Last year my friend Kaelin hosted a Double Wedding Ring quilt along on her blog. I thought, at the time, "Perfect! This will get me going again with my work." But, that didn't happen either. While mom was working on her quilt top here after Christmas, I took the time I had to do a little more work. The scrappiness and paper piecing made it easier to put down and pick-up as needed while I worked with my mom. Besides the scrap bin was finally so full I couldn't get the lid on any longer!

Now I'm hooked. I spent time Saturday piecing, sewing, cutting, and ironing. I just love busywork. There's something about it that makes me feel like I both have time for my (constant) inner dialog and that I'm accomplishing something. I'd have gotten more completed, but I ran out of paper arcs. Bummer.

So do you think I spent the time I had after I ran out of paper arcs to get the laundry done this weekend?

No.

So, I made it home from San Francisco

2012-01-20T15:45:00.001-06:00

lol

It was a great trip. I was home, saw my brother, his fiancee, and a ton of friends that I dearly miss. A trip to Napa, plenty of good meals, a visit with the Wade/Davis family, and Brad and Jim's annual Wine and Cheese Party were all highlights of the 10 days I spent in the Bay Area.

I feel so bad that I didn't take any photos when I visited my friends Doug and Elisabeth; but fun, conversation, wine, and great smoked ribs won over my brain cells for that evening. Next fall we're traveling to the Bay Area for my brother's Halloween wedding. That should be a trip to remember!

Christmas has also come and gone since I blogged last. Mom and Dad came out for 2 weeks and we were very happy to have them here. I really love nothing more than doing all the things I love to do at Christmas, like decorate and cook, while my mom and dad putter around me. Mom and I did some quilting the week after Christmas. She made a throw quilt for my brother and I did some piecing on my double wedding ring scrap quilt. Then, we set my mom's new sewing machine up on my quilting frame and she quilted the quilt top she made for my brother! I'm so proud of her. It looks good. I can't wait to see it bound and washed.

We did have a very very sad day over the holidays. Our 21 year old siamese kitty, Koshka, died on January 2nd. He's been an old man cat for a while, in fact I'd gone to singing "Old Man Koshka" to him to the tune of "Old Man River". We weren't really surprised that his time with us was over, based on his age. Though, he had just been to the vet three weeks earlier for his annual where he was pronounced old but healthy. So his quick decent from being normal Old Man Kitty to unable to move was a surprise. It was a quick and quiet death and we miss him dearly but know he's remembered fondly and now free.

The last couple weeks have been completely non-productive. First I felt sorry for myself and mourned Koshka's death, then I got the flu. Any, boy did I ever get the flu! So, I spent a whole week in bed with my little wiener dog and the occasional meal that Bran would bring me hoping it would help make me feel better. Bran got me a Kindle Touch for Christmas (it was one of those perfect presents that I didn't know I wanted that he's so good at) which got a lot of use a couple of those bed ridden days.

I'm now getting back on with real life, and just in time too. Rehearsals start for both the Tulane Symphony and the New Orleans Civic Symphony this coming week, I've got work projects to complete, plants that need re-potted, and OMG the Christmas tree to get the down.

Countdown to California

2011-10-30T13:23:00.000-05:00

I've been super busy over the last two weeks. Fall really is one of my favorite times of year. I get so excited that the weather is cooler and that we're getting closer to Christmas that I start cleaning everything. I'm not so much a "spring cleaner" as I am a "fall cleaner". As Bran was dragging down my Halloween decorations out of the attic I started looking around and OMG what a mess. I started cleaning the windows just to cheer myself up (and let in that late afternoon fall sun) when Bran noticed. So, after the boxes were brought down he went outside and started cleaning the outsides of the windows. WTH? I've only got to wash the insides of the windows? What a man! I'll keep him. :)

To thank him for being so wonderful I baked him some Pumpkin Monkey Bread. Lucky for me he loves it when I cook AND he loves anything pumpkin or spice.

Fall also means the annual Franklinton Parish Fair with my in-laws and football. We spent the day with my in-laws at the fair last Wednesday. The fair is adorable. Nowhere near the size of the Alameda County Fair I used to go to with my family, but it still has everything you need or want from a fair: quilts, preserves, vendors, garden clubs, student projects, and livestock.

Last Sunday, after Tulane Symphony rehearsal, Bran and I went to the Colts vs Saints game at the Superdome. Oh, I'm sorry it's now the "Mercedes-Benz Superdome". We got to the Superdome about an hour and a half before the game started. I like getting to the games early because we can get into the parking lot easily, get our game hotdogs and eat 'em before I start to be worried that the Jumbo-Tron will somehow catch me stuffing a hotdog down my throat for all to see, stalk TV sports casters without a crowd (I see you Bob Costas), and people watch. Oh, I love a good people watch. Our tickets for this game also came with passes to the new club level at the Superdome. So we took a little walk and checked out the elite club level, where we were impressed by the public areas and not so impressed with the $14.00 Bloody Marys. However, it was a damn good Bloody Mary. It wasn't a really exciting game though - we stomped the Colts at 62-7.

What's better than a quilt in the afternoon of a crisp fall day? Nothing - and Mr. Kitty agrees.

I love how the quilt looks like stained glass from the backside.

My California trip is coming up fast - only a couple more days before I leave! I'll be super busy for the 10 days I'm in California and hope to spend some of that time quilting/crafting with Jim. I've bundled up my vintage sheet hourglass blocks and will take them with me. If nothing else to show Jim, but if we get a chance to sew I'll work on completing that quilt top. He mentioned he's got a big heavy quilt he'd like to get tied - so we may have our own little personal quilting bee and tie that baby up for him. :)

Best Kind of Friends

2011-10-16T14:01:00.000-05:00

OK, So I want everyone to know that I've got the best kind of friends! (Not just the friends included in this blog post, but all of 'em!)

Last weekend was the Sewing Summit in Salt Lake City and I was just getting over some kind of crazy ass bug. As well as not feeling well I was in a really weird place in my head. I hadn't been to Salt Lake City since I lived in Layton about 20 years ago with my ex-husband. Being in the city brought back all sorts of memories all tangled up in happy and sad, good and bad. It was an exhausting head trip.

I ended up feeling like the turd in the punchbowl, which made things all even worse in my head. But, my friends just ignored my strangeness - which is exactly how I like it when I'm not feeling well (both physically and mentally). lol. Thanks NOMQG for just letting me be. I loves you guys like no others - even when I'm stuck in Kaelin's damn covered wagon.

We did a little sight seeing around town and got to meet one of the city's hospitality club members. She had some interesting things to say that reminded me of this little slice of my favorite British comedy.

But, I digress...more about having the best kind of friends. My best friend (Bran Bran the muffin man) felt so bad that I felt so bad that he called one of my closest friends and arranged for me to fly to San Francisco (Oakland really) to spend a week. So, I get my trip to California this year, and get to see my friends back home. Isn't that the most wonderful man ever? Plus Brad who will put me up for the week while he's preparing for his annual wine and cheese party and taking an extra day off this year so we can take a day trip to Napa. Best kind of friends. I'm so excited about my trip home that my previous funk has just dissipated to nothing.

Here's a little mail happy from Kaelin. Only friends know that it's proper to address your mail in care of your dogs. :D

Wanna know what sewing I got completed this week? I got the quilt that was on the frame 2 weeks ago quilted and I finished all the blue vintage sheets hourglass blocks. I think I'm going to mail both to "myself" in California and bind the one quilt and complete the hourglass quilt top with Jim.

I have no rehearsal this afternoon so I guess I'm going to get up and get some sewing and housework done. Before I go though...here's a funny little video I shot last night of Bette Nuggs. (Yes, Encino Man is one of my favorite movies, why do you ask?)

I Need More Hours in a Day

2011-10-02T12:36:00.004-05:00

Why is it when I have the most on my plate at one time I get sick? Ugh. I ended up sleeping all of Thursday and Friday and I'm still tired, weak, and achy. Now I'm stressed about the work I missed at the end of the week last week, the sewing I didn't get done, and the crazy amount of cleaning and decorating that begins for me in October. On top of that stress I've got to conduct a training class this Wednesday and I leave Thursday for the Sewing Summit in Salt Lake City, so I'll have a second week that I will have to try to make up for the following week.

So enough of my boo-hooing for myself. I've got stuff to share!

First, and I know you've seen a TON of these on my blog, here's my mom's Christmas Mod Bento Box on the quilting frame. I got the quilting completed last week sometime. I still have to bind it. Mom and Dad are coming for Christmas this year, so I'm not rushing to get this completed. I figured if it was done by the time they got here it would be soon enough. You would think my Christmas fabric stash would be dwindling, but no. meh.

Speaking of Christmas fabric. (Ha!) I've completed this lattice Christmas quilt. This quilt was born from my head and kinda unplanned (like most of my work). Inspired by "what can I do with this layer cake in my stash". So I started cutting, and realized that I did not have enough fabric in the layer cake to make a twin sized quilt. So, I went to the trusty Internet and bought a second layer cake. When I got the second layer cake in I proceeded to continue cutting and ended up cutting all the fabric on the same diagonal. Yeah, that won't make diamonds...don't try. So, I ordered a THIRD layer cake, which by this time was almost impossible to find, to complete this project. Figures I'm trying to use up my stash and now I have enough fabric to make another one of these.

My fabric ~~hoard~~ stash includes a pile of vintage sheets and vintage sheet fat quarters. So, I've started sorting out the fabric into cohesive groups. Beginning with the "blue daisies" I've got almost enough hourglass blocks to make a twin sized quilt. I did order some Kona cotton in a couple of light blue shades to make the few blocks I'll need to finish this quilt, and enough for the back and binding. The fabric came in Tuesday, but obviously I didn't get any work done on this quilt this week.

Once my mom's quilt was off the frame I put on another quilt and started the quilting. You know - I could sew for days and never get tired of it.

The one little bit of seasonal work I got completed this week was the "changing of the mugs". Bran pulled my fall and Halloween decorations out of the attic for me on Monday night while I was at rehearsal and I was able to switch out my everyday mugs with my Halloween ones. Based on the week I just had this may be all the Halloween decorating I get completed this year. ;)

Fall!

2011-09-24T18:30:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite seasons started yesterday - FALL! I love it when the days are shorter, the weather cooler, and the need for a quilt is doubled! ;)

You may (or may not know) that I'm a fabric hoarder. OK, if you know me pretty well you know I'm kinda an "everything" hoarder. haha. Either way, because I know I'm buying fabric faster than I'm using it I've challenged myself to create quilts with what fabric I have on hand. The following quilt is not exactly my style - though I'm loving the one patch scrap quilt look lately. I finished the quilt top this morning and it is actually really really cute in person. Keep a look out for it if you love it, or think you know someone that would love it, because I may end up listing it in my shop after it's quilted and been subjected to it's "crinkly good" wash. I plan on backing it with muslin, quilting it with a gold/orange color, and binding it with Kona Spice.

As much as I'm not "in love" with the quilt fabrics, above, I am in love with the selection below. I actually started pulling fabric for two other quilts when I realized they'd look good together. My question though, before I start cutting (which I'm ITCHING to do): do I make another one patch quilt out of the fabrics below? Or, do I do a "Pickles" version where the white would be replaced by Kona Charcoal? If I do the "Pickles" version I'd have enough fabric to do two quilts allowing me to keep one of them for myself and list the other in my shop. If I do the one patch version I'll only have enough fabric for one quilt that will be MINE all MINE! haha. So, what do you think?

In case you weren't already jealous of my insane fabulousness. (Just pretend ok? It makes me feel good.) I thought I'd leave you with a taste of my office life. I work the "real job" from home three days a week, where I HAVE to share my office space. Lucky for me my office mates are usually pretty quiet. That is until the hubby, who also works from home, stops by for a chat. Then the little fuzzy nug-a-rooni has to dash under my desk where she remains until the second he's out of my door, then she's back in her bed. Funny little Bette Nuggers.

California Girl

2011-09-17T21:12:00.002-05:00

While I was neglecting my blog over the summer I got a couple of quilts completed.

I know I'd blogged a little, at least that I was selecting fabric, about the quilt I was making for my friend, Jana. I visited her back in May and she asked that I make her a lap sized quilt using some Robert Kaufman fat quarters that she had purchased. I took the fat quarters home and dug through my stash to find fabrics that complemented the fabrics she had given me. I used Fresh Lemons' Lemon Squares quilt pattern. The finished quilt was totally adorable and Jana loves it.

I thought I'd at least blogged about selecting the fabric for this next quilt - but no - I had blogged nothing. Not only is it now complete, but I've been napping under it for the last four weeks. Ha! I nicknamed this quilt "California Girl" because it reminds me of home. :)

The finished quilt is big enough for a twin bed, allowing me to make patches large enough to really appreciate the prints. A large number of the prints in this quilt came from my "OMG I love this fabric" pile of my hoard. Heather Ross, Elizabeth House, Amy Butler, and other favorites designers are all included in this quilt.

There are a couple other quilts I'm currently working on, including quilting the Christmas Mod Bento Box top that my mom and I made while she was visiting. I've also pulled fabrics for a couple of fall inspired quilts. Since I'm totally in love with how "California Girl" came out that I think I'm going to do both of the fall quilts the same way.

Severus

2011-09-12T11:56:00.001-05:00

It was a lazy lazy Sunday at the house on 9/11. We watched rebroadcasts of the news footage from 10 years ago, memorial ceremonies, and documentary news stories regarding the aftermath of 9/11 all morning and early afternoon. I got to sew for hours and Bran watched the women's finale of the US Open in the afternoon. (He LOVES tennis!)

Awww, look at our old lady poodle all comfy on the couch with Bran.

I got the Halloween quilt I've nicknamed "Severus Snape" completed on Saturday night and threw it in the wash for it's "crinkly good" finish before we went to bed. Bran was ALL excited because this quilt is for him. I did originally start it as a Halloween decoration using the inspiration of "what kind of quilt would Severus Snape have on his bed?" But as I was laying out the first row on the living room floor for a look Bran walked in and said "I really like that quilt". It is really him - so it's his quilt now. I was going to wait until the Quilting Widow(er) Appreciation Day to gift it to him, but he stole it right out of the dryer Saturday night and proceeded to use it right away. Men, I swear.

Don't laugh at my bare walls! I moved this room around months ago and didn't want to rehang the old stale art and I've just been too ~~lazy~~ busy to put anything new up.

So now that Severus is completed I'm in the mood to start decorating for Halloween. Is mid September too early to start decorating for Halloween?

Oh, and if you've never seen the Potter Puppet Pals thing on YouTube you should check it out. I spent Saturday afternoon doing laundry and singing "Voldemort Voldemort..." lol.

Back in the Swing

2011-09-09T21:37:00.001-05:00

So my friend, Marika, came over a couple of weeks ago and mentioned that I don't update my blog often enough. Um. Ya. She's right.

I'll catch ya up a little today - maybe save some for tomorrow. ;)

My mom came to visit a couple of weeks ago. I was hoping I'd be able to use her for slave labor to finish up some of my own projects, but instead she sent ahead of her three quilt tops she wants quilted and then fell in love with my Mod Bento Box and wanted her very own Christmas version. So in trade I had her cut enough fabric for both of us. We got her quilt top done and two of her quilt tops quilted. It was a good time.

When I was younger my mom and I spent a ton of time together while she taxied me to ballet lessons, violin lessons, viola lessons, piano lessons, and youth orchestra rehearsals. We were quite tight. Then when I started driving myself to all these lessons and rehearsals that time we shared together ended. I didn't miss it so much when I was 17, but now at 41 I totally miss it. (Or at least I miss what I remember of it.) So, as much as I might be aaaargh about my mom - I both miss and love her.

I don't work, usually, on Fridays. Well, I don't work the paying job, but I do work the "OMG I love to create" job. Why am I not doing what I love for work? Money. It's that simple. The money I make sitting at a desk pays for the fabric hoard in my home office, living room, and breakfast room. HOARD! I love my scrap quilts though, so the hoard sure comes in handy. Every 3 months or so I go through it and reorganize it, so it's not a "use the shovel to scrape the moldy mess of fabric off the floor before we torch this dwelling" kind of hoard, but it is still a hoard.

Today I spent my Friday working on three different projects. A cute quilt top for my friend Heather, a vintage sheet quilt top that I've been working on and off on for six weeks, and finishing the binding on the Halloween quilt top I've nicknamed Severus Snape. lol - ya - I end up nicknaming about 75% of the quilts I make. Heather's quilt top and the vintage sheet blocks are both visible in the photo below. I'll post Severus when he's done.

Among all these projects I also took my fuzzy fuzzy poodle to the groomer. I love it when my old lady poodle's fur is all long and curly - but I also love it when she's clipped to look like a poodle. See what I mean?

Curly vs clipped.

Now, isn't that second photo the sweetest? Bran and I have a huge soft spot for this old lady. It's amazing how much she's changed since we got her 3 years ago from the rescue. She's always been super smart, but now she's independent and confident as well. It's a shame she finally felt safe so late in her life when she's arthritic, and is going blind and deaf.

Anyways, enough sap. I'll post more soon. I promise.

Christmas in July

2011-07-10T11:01:00.003-05:00

It's Christmas in July! Christmas Pickles is complete and after a short field trip to the NOMQG meeting next weekend for show and tell it's on it's way to Angela. Merry Christmas in July Angela!

Now for something completely different.

A couple of weeks ago I started this quilt top. It was intended to be a Halloween quilt but when I set the first row out on the floor Bran came in and was, "I really like that quilt!" So, it's now for him. When Halloween comes around though I'm commandeering it for decoration.

Last but not least, I completed this block for Bee Modern Too. I really like how this block looks finished and I'm glad I had the opportunity to make it, but I'm never making it again. Oy, all the tiny piecing!

Moving Along

2011-06-26T14:33:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was a very productive day. I completed the quilt top for Jana! I thought for sure today I'd be just as productive and finish quilting Angela's Christmas Pickles quilt...but no...I ran out of thread! Oh yes...just when I could taste the sweet dill of Christmas Pickles' completion I ran out of thread.

So here I am so close to completing the quilting for Christmas Pickles and I've got to stop until I can get to the store and buy more thread.

What am I going to do with the rest of my afternoon? I may start either Angela's A Zig and a Zag Quilt Along or Kaelin's Double Wedding Ring Quilt Along. Or, maybe I'll just do my own thing. ;)

Trashy Novels

2011-06-23T20:11:00.004-05:00

Did I mention that I was going to lay off the bento boxes while I got some other projects completed. I did? I lied. I'm super addicted to them! Someday I might get sick of them - but I'm not yet so I'll just ride the wave of scraptacular fun while it lasts!

These are for the New Orleans Modern Quilt Guild swap. I've got 11 of 24 blocks completed so far. I have a feeling that I'm going to end up making 100 of them. :D I've been thinking about making a Halloween/fall bento quilt. Maybe I'll start pulling fabrics this weekend.

I spent the afternoon yesterday making my block for Bee Modern Too. This month we were asked to make a book shelf block, and I'm in love. Wouldn't a whole book shelf quilt be adorable?

I call the book in the middle "the trashy novel about two cats and a fish".

Christmas pickles is almost done with the quilting part. I really can't wait to see what it looks like all bound and washed. Maybe I'll get the quilting done this weekend so I can start in on that binding/washing part.

Slow and Steady

2011-06-05T12:20:00.003-05:00

Well, I'm getting more accomplished! I feel like I'm swimming in molasses, steady and slow, though. I could blame something other than myself for the slow progress, like the weather, but the truth is I've become overwhelmed with the amount of obligated and self imposed projects on my plate. Fortunately, the New Orleans Civic Symphony's spring concert is this afternoon, then we're basically off for a couple months. There are some summer rehearsals, but those are more fun than work. Taking that off my plate for a couple months might help me get back on track with my sewing. :)

Here's what I have completed in the last couple weeks:

Completed bag for the Goodie Bag Swap

Flying Geese Blocks for Bee Modern Too

A couple more Bento Box blocks for the NOMQG swap

Finally quilting Christmas Pickles

I may put the Bento Box project aside for a little while to focus on Christmas Pickles, the 16 patch quilt top I finished a couple weeks ago, and Jana's quilt. But, honestly, I'm not going to get anything accomplished if I don't get off the computer and sew a little. ;)

Catch Up!

2011-05-18T18:48:00.009-05:00

Wow, a whole month since I've blogged? It's almost like I've been busy. lol.

Well, here's what I've been up to.

I joined a bag swap and here's the bag I made for my partner. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to re-make this cutie. Sure it's adorable, but I didn't use the fusible fleece the pattern called for and when you pick the bag up it becomes a soft rag of cuteness. The really sad part of the whole fiasco is that I'm out of the patterned fabric, so the new bag will have to be made without it. :(

This last weekend the New Orleans Modern Quilt Guild had our spring retreat and, as usual, we had a crazy crazy time. A new friend made, BBQ and blues at The Shed, a sit-com worthy shopping trip, totally delicious food on Saturday, a "Modern Family" marathon, some sewing, and lots of laughs. Now, aren't you jealous? I was so wrapped up in the fun of the weekend that I took no pictures. None!

All that fun, and I was able to complete a couple quilt tops and some blocks for the NOMQG's mod bento box swap.

16 patch lap, toddler, or picnic quilt top I started at our fall retreat

"Christmas Pickles" quilt top for Angela

Mod Bento Box blocks for the NOMQG swap

Today I laid out some fabric for a lap quilt I promised to make my friend, Jana. Right after I've completed the quilting for the 16 patch and "Christmas Pickles" above I'll be cutting right into this fabric. Planning the next quilt always gets me inspired to finish the last one. :)

Yummy Pickles

2011-04-12T18:28:00.004-05:00

Hello Pickles is DONE! Yaaaaa! lol. I pulled it out of the dryer this afternoon and Bran says he loves it and he thinks we should keep it. :) He's so super duper sweet. I'm going to make this quilt one more time, but this time in Christmas fabrics, of course!

Bette is getting along pretty well. There are a couple things I learned about her this week. 1. She wasn't house broken. No surprise. 2. She has had her vocal chords clipped. Big Surprise! I had an old rescued dachshund about 12 years ago that had clipped vocal chords, so when I finally heard (saw) Bette bark I knew exactly what was going on. Poor raspy voiced Bette; she sounds like an old lady at 5.

Bette, Betty Nuggs

2011-04-03T16:27:00.003-05:00

Awwww, look at that. A new little dog. :) Like my new doggie? I do. She went two days here without a name. She came with the name Star. Which wasn't so bad because it made me want to sing "you must be my lucky star" but not so much that I loved it. This morning I told my friend, Brad, about the name problem and he suggested Ethel because I already have a Lucy. Ethel didn't quite fit, but I had been thinking Gracie, Bette, or Asta. Can you tell I watch a lot of movies from the 30s/40s? lol. Bette is what stuck today - so Bette it is. Added bonus is: I can sing "Bette Davis eyes" to her.

Bette's four and not "really" a rescue. I say not really because I paid money for her from a local breeder. Though the breeder had at least 7 dogs inside her house and, according to her, about 70 dogs in her kennel. 70? In Mandeville? So, I kinda feel like I rescued her. Kinda.

We intended to get a rescue, but somehow I found myself on the breeder's web-site and she had a couple of adults for sale. I still felt I should rescue though. But, there was something about this dog, some pull, and I listen to those abstract hints from the universe. Call me nutty, hippie, whatever, it probably fits. But you know, those hints from the universe have never steered me wrong. So, I embrace my inner hippie.

Speaking of inner hippie; there's no bag I love for summer vacations more than I love a hobo bag. So, I made myself one for the summer. ;)

Isn't it cute! Ya, I know. :)

I almost have Hello Pickles completed! I found a great brown dot in my stash that I thought was a good candidate for the binding. I loved it. But I don't have quite enough fabric. I ordered more but I couldn't wait to see what it would look like. So, I bound most of the quilt with what I had this morning and when the ordered fabric comes in I'll finish up the binding. Then it's off to Robin, who better love it or I'm stealing it back. ;)

Quilting Pickles

2011-03-29T21:52:00.003-05:00

Well looky looky here who's on the quilting frame. It's Hello Pickles! It was kinda grey and crappy out this afternoon/evening after work was done, which explains the crappy lighting, but perfect for getting some work done. :) Besides, the colors in this quilt are enough to keep my mood bright and sunny. Oh, Hello Pickles, how I love you. It's going to be hard parting with you... :(

I haven't yet started my Bottled Rainbows quilt. I've got tomorrow afternoon and Friday to get working on it though - so I'm not behind, really.

There are still some old projects running around here that I need to complete. Scratch 'n Sniff is one of those uncompleted projects. I'm not sure if I've posted about Scratch 'n Sniff. So, maybe I'll get some work done on SnS and post about that quilt next time. ;)

Bottled Rainbows

2011-03-23T16:29:00.003-05:00

It's Angela's fault. Really. lol. OK - it's not Angela's fault. There isn't a person in the world that can make me do something I don't really want to do, so it's really my own decision to join along in the Bottled Rainbows quilt along.

Keeping in fashion with my rebel personality, however, I'm not "following directions". lol. Directions are overrated. Try everything once, keep true to yourself, and bend the rules at every opportunity. That's me!

I'm quilting along but here's where I'm changing it up: I wanted to use as much from my stash as possible, so I'm using a Kona Roll-Up. Because the roll-up won't allow me to make the blocks the same size as directed mine will be square and in the colorway of the roll-up. The only thing I've had to purchase was the background fabric, and I had just used up the end of my Kona snow so I was ordering more of that anyways. ;)

Basically - I'm following the technique only and the rest of the directions loosely. :) Surprised? You shouldn't be.

Look at this yumminess:

Double rainbow, what does it mean??? lol.

Besides this new project I'm finishing up the Hello Pickles quilt top and another little "between" project that I keep picking at occasionally.

Bee Busy

2011-03-14T23:23:00.006-05:00

I've been busy sewing...I promise! I've been working on Bee Modern Too blocks. My friend Angela asked me to join the group when one of the original members left. I'm having fun, but I haven't spent too much time on my own projects lately. I'm not complaining - just sayin'. :)

Here are January's blocks - grey and wonky. Bran asked me if they were supposed to be "weird". lol. I said yes and he told me he really liked them and that I should make him a quilt of wonky blocks. :D

February's blocks are Greek mythology inspired. Don't tell Mary but this was the first time I paper pieced. eeek. You can probably tell I'm a paper piecing novice from the back - but really who's gonna see the back? I was surprised by the amount of seam bulk, I really shouldn't have been, but I was.

Besides the bee blocks I quilted and bound two lap quilts for my mom. Ya, the ones she sent me that she only did the piecing on. I'd charge her for the work, but she's my mom...how do you bill your own mom?

March is my month in the bee, so I'll have some time to work on my own projects. I'm currently making a hobo bag with Echino - oooooh, it's gonna be fab-O! I was frustrated cutting and didn't spend the time I should have to straighten the print for the lining. I figured it really wouldn't matter since it's the lining, but now I'm like wth was I thinking? And Robin's "Hello Pickles" quilt? I've got all the blocks done. All I've got to do is finish the top, then I can get it quilted up. :)

Merry Christmas Whiskers!

2011-02-23T09:45:00.007-06:00

Well, I've finally finished my Christmas Mod Bento Box! Its scraptacular - and I think, under threat of pain, that I might keep it! Bwaaahahahahhhaaaaa. Kaelin might sic Sir Whiskers MacTavish on me if I kept it. (I sure hope I got Whiskers' name correct or he might sic me himself!) I had originally thought I might keep leading Kaelin on with, "no - the quilt isn't for you". Only to gift it to Whiskers when it was complete, but I can't keep those kinds of secrets...gift giving is WAY to exciting! :D

So, now that the Christmas quilt is complete - what's next? Well, I sat down earlier this morning and tried to list all the projects I've got to finish. First, I have to quilt and bind two quilts for my mom in the next two weeks. Mom sent me a couple lap sized quilt tops she wanted quilted. After calling her (I love you mom!) to review what she wanted I discovered that not only did she want me to quilt them but she also wanted me to add a border to one of the tops, supply the batting and backings, and bind them both. lol - I'm doing all the work! Good thing I like all the steps of quilting and not just the piecing part. She did do the one step I don't love so much - cutting. However, all this work is distracting me from getting my other projects completed. Good thing Robin's birthday is in April, I can gift "Hello Pickles" to her for her birthday!

Besides "Hello Pickles" and mom's "old lady quilts" I have a list of other quilts I need to complete. I may add a the list to my sidebar to help me keep on task. One of the other quilts I need to complete is my Munki Goodness quilt. It is too big to quilt on my little quilting frame so I've had the top sitting around. I've debated sending it out to be quilted, but I really wanted the satisfaction of doing all the work myself. Well, guess what?! There's a local sewing machine shop that is renting out time on their long arm! Yippee! I took the silly little class and am now "certified" (ya - in more ways than one) to rent their machine. Munki Goodness will be complete before the end of March! Yipeeeeee!

Oh, I almost forgot - I'd like to send a shout out to my friend Marika who loaned me some frakkin' awesome creeptastic cross-stitch charts! Halloween stitching will commence shortly! Marika, you're the bomb!

Productive Saturday

2011-02-12T17:24:00.004-06:00

It's Saturday and I'm getting stuff done. Woohoo! :)

All the squares for Robin's quilt have been pieced. 88 squares total. I'm totally looking forward to getting this top completed. Can you see why? Look how fabulous it's going to be! All bright and ready for spring. I've nick-named this quilt the Hello Pickles quilt. Robin HATES pickles. The hate is so strong that I've chased her with pickles while she runs screaming in horror since we were six. Great fun for me - less fun for her.

Besides finishing the blocks for the Hello Pickles quilt, I got the Christmas quilt I've been working on since November on the quilting frame and started the quilting process. I love these Mod Bento Box Christmas quilts. I'm thinking about making a Halloween version.

This Saturday has been pretty productive, but not productive enough. I've got to work on some Bee Modern Too blocks, both this month's and last month's need to be completed. I'm still waiting on some fabric for January's blocks, that's a pretty good excuse for being late, right? OK, maybe not, but the fabric I'm waiting for is a linen blend that should give the blocks some great texture, so I'm still waiting. For this month's blocks I just haven't gotten the spur of inspiration I've been waiting for. I hate to start before the inspiration hits, but I can't wait too long...

Spring and Christmas (Quilts)

2011-02-04T15:29:00.004-06:00

I'm starting a new quilt top! It's going to be a gift for and old friend. Not that the friend is old - because if I call her old then I'm calling myself old and I know I'm not old. lol. No, old as in we've known each other since we were six. She and I have had our ups and downs - actually recently we had a pretty serious down. I came to my own realization recently that I did want her in my life as a friend. Not only because she'd do anything for a friend, but also because she's one of a very small group of people that know just about everything there is to know about me. Despite that, she still calls me a friend. That alone speaks volumes.

So enough mushy crap.

I pulled the fabric for the new quilt on Monday and just started cutting last night. I've got all the small pieces cut. Now I've got to cut the larger pieces and the sashing. The plan is to have all my cutting done today so that I can sit down and start in on the sewing part. :)

Before I start cutting the rest of the fabric this afternoon though, I'm going to get my quilting frame set up so that I can quilt the Christmas Bento top I just completed. I'd really like to get the Christmas Bento quilted up by tomorrow evening. If that happens then I can work on the binding during the Super Bowl. :)

Oh, and today is my daddy's birthday. Happy Birthday Daddy!

Quilt Top Complete

2011-01-30T13:30:00.005-06:00

My second Mod Bento Box quilt top is complete. I'll get it on the frame this week and get it quilted.

Next I'm planning on making a spring quilt. I've promised an old friend that I'd make her a quilt and I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet. The only plan of action so far is to use a rainbow of bright happy colors - and to make a quilt that I love and hope she loves it too. :)

Back to "Real Life"

2011-01-17T14:37:00.003-06:00

So here I am trying to get back into the swing of "real life". I love everything about the Christmas season. Everything. But, it's always a struggle for me to get back to my usual routines. However, this year has been better than most.

Tonight I go back to rehearsals for the New Orleans Civic Symphony and Tulane Symphony rehearsals begin again Sunday. Rehearsal schedules are how I define "real life". It's when the rehearsal schedules start up again that my time seems to just slip away from me. In preparation for the upcoming time suck I got a couple more squares completed for the Christmas Mod Bento Box that I'm making for a friend. Two more squares and then I've just got to cut them up and put them back together as a quilt top. I'm so close to done with the quilt top I can taste it. In fact I'm so close to done that I may finish up the last two squares before I go to rehearsal this evening.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I'm going to spend some time finishing up other projects...maybe even start projects that are not quilting related. But first I've got one more quilt that I need to make for another good friend and I joined a bee. So, I'm still quilting after all. :) Ya, I'm a mess. :D

Happy New Year!

2011-01-07T14:43:00.005-06:00

Wow, it's been a whole month since I blogged. Where did the time go?

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and that the new year brings you all health, wealth, and happiness. :)

So, I've been doing some thinking the last month. I had more time on my hands since I decided to put up the sewing machine for December...that won't last long though - it's coming back out today or tomorrow.

About the thinking though. I've got a ton of interests. A TON. And, I seem to be pretty good at the things I am interested in. In the next year I'm going to try to focus a little less on the quilting (not stopping by any means) but to try to finish up some long standing other projects and maybe get the porcelain slip back out and fire up the kiln. Oh, I'm excited! So, if antique reproduction dolls aren't your thing and you're following my blog, then I apologize in advance. But I promise even if it's not your thing it's still interesting stuff and I'm a total nut job about the costuming part. Go figure - it's sewing!

To give you a little idea about how different my own personal tastes are here's a little sample of what came in the mail for me today.

Bran's not all that excited that all these things came for me today. One - because it's just 2 weeks after Christmas and Two - it's only 4 days before my birthday. lmao. I'm a mess.

Here's the deal - that fabulous fabric is from Starlit Nest on Etsy - she has a cute little scrap bag of the month thing going on. Cute, right? More scrap quilts coming your way with that. The glasses are vintage Ruby flashed, old fashioned right? Maybe - but I love it and it's perfect in my dining room at Christmas. With these three I finally have a full 12 of those goblets. Ya, I've got more than that though - I've got wine glasses and sherbet dishes and serving pieces and salt and pepper shakers and...oh never mind, I've got a butt load. And the Star Trek soundtrack? I'm a big old sucker for science fiction and kick ass soundtracks. Must be my own personal wiring of nerd and classical musician. If you're a big science fiction/kick ass soundtrack kind of person too check out Bear McCreary's soundtrack for the new Battle Star Galactica. Season 3 is my favorite - he's frakkin' awesome.

Enough of that though. I'm gonna go finish another load of laundry, get more Christmas stuff packed up and in the attic, and then drag out the sewing machine.

Woohoo!

Elf Yourself!

2010-12-05T15:56:00.007-06:00

The weekend is coming to a close and Bran and I have been super busy! We got the tree up this afternoon. When I say up, I mean just the tree. The extra twinkly lights, bubble lights, and 8 billion ornaments will have to wait until later. I've also got the mantle decorated, sans the ornaments that hang from the swag and stockings...but that's easy stuff.

I started soaking fruit for my grandmother's fruit cake last night. Bran's super excited about that...he LOVES fruitcake. LOVES.

I went to rehearsal yesterday and Bran got some shopping done. He's the man.

Meanwhile...back in Christmas Land I did this:

I nearly died laughing the first time I saw it. OMG...could I not have found a better photo of Bran? That thing kills me. (The other elves are my brother, mom, and dad.)

Do you know how popular ugly Christmas sweaters are? There's a whole sub-culture of ugly Christmas sweater people. Well, I decided to go to ebay and do some looking and I found a couple. Actually one's pretty nice and the other, well the other is just the PERFECT kind of ugly Christmas sweater! Go to eBay and search "ugly Christmas sweater" there are TONS of them. I'm not kidding. Do it. Do it NOW. My niece, Cat, suggested that I store them in the attic where, hopefully, squirrels will eventually eat them. :D

I should probably be in the shower because I've got to leave in 45 minutes for a performance. But, I'm too lazy. Besides, no one cares how a violist looks. I'm also kinda dreading the Wagner piece, which I probably should have spent some time practicing. Oh well, too late now. Besides, no one cares how a violist sounds either. lmao!

As Promised...

2010-12-03T15:29:00.004-06:00

I promised weeks ago to post photos of the quilts I completed in November. Well, this is that post! But first...

I started another Christmas Bento Box a couple weeks ago. I'm sure I blogged about it. It's intended as a gift to a new friend who loves crazy Christmas stuff as much as I do. However, between being sick sick sick, losing my little dog, and a concert/rehearsal schedule from hell this week, I don't think I'm going to complete this quilt before Christmas. Besides I've got to get my sewing stuff down for the rest of the month so I can get the Christmas stuff up. So friend who doesn't know this quilt is for her...I hope you can wait until after Christmas for this fabulous gift.

Here are 8 of the 12 blocks needed for the quilt. I'll probably finish up the last 4 this weekend.

And as promised: my finished quilts! I know the photos aren't great, but hey live with it until I get better photos taken. :D

Christmas Mod Bento Box

Cheesy Cat Quilt for my mom. (Moms like cheesy.)

Mod Bento Box II

I love the Mod Bento Box and have been using it for 2 weeks. lol. It is the perfect nap quilt. Perfect. It's long enough to cover my feet and head (yes I'm weird like that) and wide enough to fit my middle. Besides all that, it's the perfect weight and softness! Ya me. lol.

Bran's itching to go Christmas shopping. He wants me to with him tonight. I don't want to though, I'd rather watch tv and have a drink. Besides, I baked him a pumpkin pie this afternoon (his favorite) isn't that enough? I mean really, he's so demanding, oh, and controlling. lmao!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-26T10:32:00.003-06:00

I hope you all had a very happy Thanksgiving. Ours was full of family and food. :) We spent the day with my in-laws. Including Bran's 98 year old grandmother. Isn't that amazing? I brought some food to share including a pumpkin cheesecake and an apple pie. Both were demolished.

Now we're busy on-line shopping for Black Friday. I'm so not a crowd person so I'm so not going out today. Besides, it's raining.

I know I promised in my last post to share pictures of the three quilts I finished. Obviously, I haven't done that. I still promise to share. I've been a little distracted over the last two weeks by my little old wiener dog. She'd been getting skinny, and slow, and having a hard time with the back legs. So I took her to the vet last week. It was a hard appointment. He spoke those words no fur baby parent wants to hear. "It's time to let her go". Her heart was going. I took her home and we spent 3 days hoping for a miracle before I called the vet back make the appointment. Then we had the weekend with her. Tuesday Bran and I took her to the vet. It was the only time I've ever taken her to the vet that she wasn't scared. That helped. Maybe she knew, maybe she was ready, I'm still not ready. :( But, she went peacefully and looked so happy that it made me angry with myself that I'd let her get so sick and slow. Anyways it's been a sad week. Here's a little picture of my old lady.

Ooops, I Did It Again

2010-11-16T16:18:00.006-06:00

Ummmmm....I'm not sure what to say. Yes this is exactly what it looks like.

Can I help it that I love the way the Mod Bento Box looks? Can I help it that I've got too much Christmas fabric? Can I help it that I'm starting another project right before the holidays when I thought that the last stitch I put in the binding of my Christmas quilt for this year would be the end of quilting projects until January?

NO! I'm addicted. Addicted to quilting and Christmas fabric and the Mod Bento Box. Lucky for me: knowing is half the battle. lol.

OK - so before starting this little cutie this afternoon I have COMPLETED the three quilts I had been binding last week. I promise that if the light is better tomorrow I'll take photos and post them here and on Flickr.

Giveaway Winner!

2010-11-14T12:16:00.002-06:00

First of all I'd like to give a big shout out to my friend Angela for spreading the word about my giveaway on her blog. The response has been overwhelming!

Now for what you've all been waiting for - the results! Here's a screen shot of the random number generator results:

Comment #62 was left by Colleen:

Thank you all for the comments and the recommendations of other charities that will take my baby sized quilts in the future.

I'd also like to mention that it was not my intention to give Project Linus any kind of negative press. Baby quilts are fun and easy to make, so I can understand that they may be overwhelmed with that size quilt. Maybe it's my administrator or that they'd like to steer quilt makers towards making larger sized quilts for the older kids. Whatever it is, Project Linus is doing a good thing out there.

With that said, thank you all for signing up for my giveaway and congratulations Colleen!

xoxo, K.

Too Many Quilts

2010-11-09T11:16:00.009-06:00

I've got extra quilts laying around. (Not a bad thing!)

After I made the three quilts I have slated for donation this year I finally contacted Project Linus. Turns out my local administrator doesn't want two of the three quilts I made for donation. Guess baby sized quilts made for donation are pretty common.

Then last Christmas my mother asked me to work on a Mix Tape quilt with her. While she was piecing her top I made a start on my own, second, Mix Tape Christmas quilt. After finishing it I realized that I didn't really NEED two Mix Tape Christmas quilts.

Here's where it gets good for you! I've got two baby quilts and the Christmas Mix Tape quilt laying around that I don't need.

Do you need a baby quilt or Christmas quilt to give as a gift this year? Or do you just want one of these quilts for yourself? Well, here's your chance to get one for FREE! That's right, I've giving away your choice of one of these three quilts. :)

Here are the rules:

Enter by leaving a comment on this post. Let me know which quilt you'd like to win. :)
Please enter only once.
Closing for entries is midnight central time, November 13, 2010.
I'll use a random number generator to pick a winner.
Once the winner has been posted, on November 14th, they have one week to contact me with their shipping information. (So remember to check my blog on 11/14 to see if you're a winner!)
If I haven't heard from the winner by November 21 a new winner will be chosen.

Here are the quilt specifics:

That's it! GOOD LUCK! :)

Mom

2010-11-07T18:11:00.008-06:00

Is this not the best photo ever? :)

I've been thinking about redecorating by repursposing today. In the mental craziness that ensued I thought of this photo. That's my mom, and for as long as I can remember I've LOVED this photo. But my mom never seemed to like it.

Maybe it's the knobby knees? She may mentioned the knees once to me while I was gushing over this photo. But it's probably that she looks so much like her mother. I don't know how my mom really feels about looking like her mother, but I'm been terrified of looking like my own mother.

But my mom looks like her mom and I think her mom was ADORABLE. So, why wouldn't I want to look like my mom, if that meant looking like my grandmother?

Please don't let my reasoning make your brain hurt.

So other this crazy sweep of nostalgia I had today, I also got bindings machine sewn to the tops of three quilts. Now I've just got to hand sew the bindings to the backs and I've got three more quilts completed. Yay me!

It Must Be the Weather

2010-11-02T17:46:00.000-05:00

Am I the only person excited about the Holiday Season? The day after Halloween the TV radio station (Music Choice) started playing Christmas music on their seasonal station. I'm way way way too excited about it. I used to be able to listen to my Christmas music and get into the spirit this early in the season in the past, but now that Bran works from home it's a little harder. He thinks it's too early. lol. June is too early, but November - November is just right for me. :)

Bran's on-site today with a customer...so I spent every moment I could sucking up some early holiday season joy. :D I've got the music on, it's rainy and grey outside, got my mug o' mocha mint coffee, and I started quilting this year's Christmas quilt. OMG, I can totally hear you sighing and quit rolling your eyes! Yes, it's ANOTHER Mod Bento Box. I thought this one would be the last for a little while, but I got to thinking that it would make a great Halloween quilt. lmao. Maybe I'll make it just to annoy you all. Bwaaaahahahahaaa!

Halloween 2010

2010-10-31T19:12:00.002-05:00

Happy Halloween friends! Here's my mantle all decorated up for the occasion. :) It looks better in the dark, but dark isn't the best for taking photos. I'd heard a rumor that there would be kids trick-or-treating yesterday instead of today. That rumor was correct. After about 100 trick-or-treaters, all by 7:30, we were out of candy. I've never run out of candy on Halloween ever. Never ever. Here we are the day BEFORE Halloween and I'm out. We ended up raiding the pantry and found a value pack of individual serving potato chips. Those last few kids that came to the door after we turned off the porch light got chips...and they were actually excited about it. lmao. So, we went out and bought more candy this morning. It's now 7:30 on Halloween and we haven't had one, not ONE, trick-or-treater. Now we're gonna have left over candy. Grrrrr...

Today I quilted up my Mod Bento Box II quilt top. Since I both work and go to rehearsal tomorrow the binding will have to wait until Tuesday. I'm excited to have this full sized "napping" quilt completed. :)

Last weekend the New Orleans Modern Quilt Guild had a retreat weekend. I love this group! We're all crazy and everyone is extremely talented. It's a great great group. (Sorry Lana for not getting you in this shot.) We spent the weekend laughing, eating, watching Glee, sewing, and not sleeping. lmao. I understand we're already talking about our next retreat. :)

2010-09-28T19:21:00.003-05:00

Not much sewing going on here the last week or so. Because...I'm in CALIFORNIA!!! Can you tell I'm excited? lol. I'm staying with my friends Brad and Jim for a couple of weeks and catching up with friends and family. I totally miss the East Bay - totally completely miss the East Bay. It's been hot here this weekend though. I must have brought the record temperatures with me. At least it's not humid. lol. Bran was here for the weekend and we took him to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and Half Moon Bay. Santa Cruz was frying, the high was predicted as 82, but it was 101.

Look how pretty it is here though at the San Leandro Marina.

I may end up doing some sewing before I leave. My friend Jim makes some fantastic quilts. :)

Donation Quilt Completed

2010-09-20T12:45:00.004-05:00

I've completed another baby quilt for donation. I don't care how many pinwheel or hourglass quilts I make, I love 'em!

So, what's next? I've started a scrappy double wedding ring, just just started. That will be a during/between other projects quilt project. lol. I'm collecting scraps of modern fabrics...please feel free to send any my way. ;) I'm also going to start a quilt from batiks that remind me of the Northern California coast.

Sick!

2010-09-16T21:33:00.003-05:00

I've been feeling a little under the weather the last week or so. Generally sleepy, low grade fever, and congestion. I've been chalking it up to the change in the weather and allergies.

But today topped all of that. In fact it was pretty near as bad as when I got the chicken pox at like 25.

The day started out normal. I drove to New Orleans to do some training at City Hall, hosted my training, and headed home. On my way home I stopped at Macy's, because I don't usually have the time to stop when I'm on the south shore. But, I cut my stop short because I started feeling bad. At first it I thought it was just Aunt Flo, she came to visit yesterday, but it started getting worse. So I left and about halfway across the Causeway I'm sick. Totally completely sick. I call the hubby just so he knows if I don't make it home he's got to go look for me. I sped home, hoping not to get pulled over, "parked" the car, and left everything in the car. Sweet sweet hubby brought all my stuff in while I peeled off soaking wet sweaty clothes. Ya, that sick. I had the AC on full blast and still sweat the whole way across the lake. I couldn't lay down, I couldn't sit up, I couldn't stand. I probably should have gone to the ER, but I just KNEW that if I could throw up I'd feel better. So when I finally fell asleep I slept for 5 hours and woke up feeling much more normal. I'm still feeling pretty pooky and if I'm this far from normal tomorrow I'm going to the doctor.

Hope this post isn't too much of a downer.

If you need something more exciting here's an awesome interview with Cherri House and give-away at my friend, Angela's, blog: Cut to Pieces. :)

Another Finished Quilt!

2010-09-11T20:07:00.002-05:00

Look what I finished last night!

The New Orleans Modern Quilt Guild had a free sew today and I took this sweetie to show off. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this quilt. I've got a Christmas Mix-Tape quilt that I made last year and I've pieced a Christmas Mod Bento Box that's next in line for quilting. So, this one might end up a gift. Or not. lol.

I'm also kind of at a cross roads. I've finished piecing my MMBII squares and they're off in the mail for swap. So, it's time to start a new project. I'm just don't know what. There are a couple projects that I've started that I probably should finish, but I just don't feel like it: Scratch 'n Sniff and my Halloween Spiderweb. And, I've got some quilts in mind that I'd like to start: Rocky Road to Kansas scrap quilt and a Double Wedding Ring made of vintage sheets. The nieces also want quilts.

Reluctantly, but only because I'm lacking motivation today, I started another small quilt of donated scraps. That one shouldn't take long to complete though.

Oh, and I joined A la Mode's quilt as you go quilt along. I think I might do some work on that. Though I might use this quilt along as an excuse for diving into some of my more traditional Christmas novelty fabric and playing with free motion quilting. Do you think that would be OK? Or, should I stick with the modern quilting fabrics that Heather's using?

Finishing My MBB II Blocks

2010-09-07T09:32:00.005-05:00

I took what I had left to finish for round two of the MBB swap to my in-laws over the weekend. My sister-in-law and her family were there for the weekend as well, so it was a full and fun house for the weekend. They have two girls, 17 and 15, who think that Aunt Karen is pretty cool. No accounting for taste, I guess. :) Anyways these girls think I'm pretty cool. Maybe because I truly am interested in what they have to say; and don't mind watching hours of some obscure anime comedy or You Tube videos. (Think "whistles go woo", "crack fox", or "all your base are belong to us".) Ya, I even knew what those videos were before they showed them to me, I'm that cool. lol. So, I'm finishing up my Mod Bento Box blocks and the girls are totally digging them, not so much the watching me sew part, but the finished block part. They loved how the different fabrics looked unrelated, but when the blocks were complete it made perfect sense; and then I realized that's what I love about scrap quilts.

Here are the blocks I finished up for the swap, including 2 extra blocks for the moderator. :)

I've got to get them in the mail today so I'd better get some shoes on and get to the post office. I'll be waiting impatiently for the swap blocks. My favorite part of the last swap was that blocks I didn't really love individually worked fabulously in the quilt. Like they all were meant to be together. All those different colors, ideas, and tastes - they all worked together beautifully. I'd say "why can't the world be like this?", but then I'd have to cue the cheesy lights and dramatic music.

More Mod Bento Box Squares

2010-09-04T23:45:00.005-05:00

This week's accomplished sewing, so far, has been pretty thin. I did complete four more MMB squares for the MMBII swap, and I've cut enough for 12 more squares. That will give me 24 total blocks for a quilt that should be about 60x90. What a great nap sized quilt! The trick will be to get them sewn before the mailing deadline on Tuesday. Though, the cutting can be the hard part, or at least the boring part. :)

I am hoping though that my over achievement doesn't make life difficult for the moderator.

All these Mod Bento Box squares and I'm still not tired of making these blocks! I need to find a new favorite quilt block. Any suggestions?

Smiles and a Giveaway

2010-08-31T14:04:00.005-05:00

I haven't done much sewing this week. Maybe a block or two for the MMBII swap. Why no sewing machine love? Because, Bran and I went on a road trip to King's Island amusement park. Why all the way to Ohio from New Orleans? Because we're crazy. Oh, and we were meeting friends from Canada, eh. It was so much fun - I haven't laughed that much since, well probably last week when I invited my friend Kaelin to the Saints game. lol.

Speaking of Kaelin, she's got a super giveaway going on at her blog, The Plaid Scottie. Go check it out. I've entered as many times as I could - now it's your turn. Go, go now. :)

Work and Fun

2010-08-22T00:28:00.003-05:00

It's been a pretty busy week for me. I spent three days to/from/in Houston for customer training. But, still I managed to complete 6 more Mod Bento Box squares for the Mod Bento Box Swap II. :) Here are quarters of all eight squares I've completed so far. I'd love to get 24 squares total finished so that I can have a larger completed quilt this time, but I'm not sure I'm going to get that many finished - or if that would be too many for the moderator to deal with.

Bran and I had tickets to the Saints first home game (pre-season) tonight. It was fun, but kind of a Houston Texans slaughter. I took this photo of us near the end of the game, as you can see many people had already left. We stuck it out though. :)

Rainy Saturday

2010-08-14T17:17:00.004-05:00

OMG, I LOVE the rain. The best part about living in the South is the fabulous thunderstorms. :) I grew up in the San Francisco East Bay and let me tell you...if you're watching a movie set in SF and it's raining and thundering it's WRONG! Wrong! SF gets plenty of rain, but maybe one or two thunderstorms a year. Are you listening to me, one or two - tops. lol.

So, enough of my no thunderstorm in SF tirade. Today I went to a sew day with the New Orleans Modern Quilt Guild. We were making blocks to donate to Anna Maria Horner's Tennessee Flood Relief effort. Between three of us we made seven blocks, then started to do some work on our own projects. I love this group...it is a blast! And, if you live in the New Orleans area go visit The Quilted Owl, the shop (and owners) are adorable. :)

Here are the two owners of The Quilted Owl digging through Kaelin's pile of scraps. And below are our Flood Relief blocks.

Friday the 13th

2010-08-13T16:52:00.003-05:00

Ree - ree - ree - ree. lol. The hubby just reminded me that it's Friday the 13th. He's easily amused. He seems to think that to celebrate we should watch Evil Dead tonight. I love Bruce Campbell, so that's probably going to happen. :)

OK, so on to what I've worked on this week. Here are the rest of the blocks for the Christmas Mod Bento Box that was started last week. Yesterday evening I completed piecing the quilt top. It's now on my pile of tops to quilt. The other Christmas quilt, the one I'm quilting, is still being quilted. That didn't get as much time devoted to it as the other.

I also decided to join round 2 of the Mod Bento Box swap. I know I've been making a lot of these blocks lately. When this most recent top is complete I think I'm gonna lay off the Mod Bento Box for a little while and move on to something else.

Christmas in July

2010-08-08T20:53:00.005-05:00

What you say? It's not Christmas or July? lol.

First here's a little present to myself. :) I'm so ready to jump into a couple of projects from both books, but first I'm finishing up some other work.

The other projects I'm working on are both Christmas projects. Please forgive me for being that person who works on Christmas projects in the summer. I actually started piecing the quilt on the frame, below, last Christmas. My parents had come to visit and my mother wanted me to help her with a quilt. So, we both selected fabrics from my HUGE Christmas stash and made our own quilt tops. We got hers pieced, quilted, and bound before she had to go. Mine got pieced. Now, before the Christmas rush, I'm getting it quilted.

Today I started piecing another Mod Bento Box. This time it's not a swap, it's all me. I wanted to make a larger quilt than the last Mod Bento Box, but that's not going to happen...well at this point in the process it's not going to happen. That last Mod Bento Box has become my favorite quilt. So, of course, I've got to make a million more. :)

Mod Bento Box Complete

2010-08-06T14:21:00.004-05:00

I just just just finished binding the Mod Bento Box Swap quilt. Now it's in the wash. I love how wonderfully crinkly quilts become after a wash. :)

I guess now I'll have to complete piecing the "Scratch 'n Sniff" quilt I started last fall and the two quilt tops waiting to be quilted.

Finishing More Projects

2010-08-01T19:06:00.002-05:00

I forgot to mention in yesterday's post that I finished quilting and binding this 60 BoS donation quilt earlier in the month. It still needs to get it's "crinkly goodness" wash.

This afternoon I finished binding the Mod Sampler quilt, then it got it's wash. It's all crinkly good. :) I really like this quilt, though I don't love the fabric I sashed it with. I was going to sash it with linen, but instead I sashed it with this cotton/poly blend. I thought it would be OK because the vintage sheets were cotton/poly, but the sashing just feels like plastic to me. I think this is why it took me over a year to quilt and bind it. I still don't love the sashing fabric, but I like the final quilt.

After finishing the Mod Sampler quilt this afternoon I got the Mod Bento Box on the frame and I've got just over 1/3 of it quilted. Now I've got to decide what I'm going to bind it with.

Finishing Projects

2010-07-31T13:08:00.002-05:00

I finished the pinwheel 60 BoS quilt top this week. Now she's in the ever growing pile of quilt tops to be quilted. :) I'd purchased a new sewing machine last month. Now I have one set up with my quilt frame and another that I'm piecing blocks with. This arrangement makes it easy for me to work two projects at the same time. I'm not sure if I'm twice as productive, but I do seem to be completing projects a little quicker.

I also finished quilting the Mod Sampler that's been waiting to be quilted for a year. Now I'm hand sewing the binding on to the back. I love finishing quilts this way. I know it takes longer than machine finishing but I like the results. I also like having something to do with my hands while watching the television at night. :)

UFOs

2010-07-23T12:59:00.004-05:00

I've taken a little break over the last week or so from my 60 BoS to complete some waiting UFOs. This afternoon I'll probably sew some more blocks together, but in the meantime I'm working on finishing up some other projects.

I finally got my Mod Sampler Quilt Along quilt on the frame and started quilting it. The top's only been finished since at least April 30th, 2009. It's about time I completed this quilt! :)

The other outstanding project I'm working on is the Mod Bento Box swap I participated in. About a week and a half ago my swap blocks showed up in the mail. My original idea was to sash between each block to make a larger finished quilt. But, both a good friend and my husband suggested that I go ahead and put the blocks together without sashing. So that's what I did. Isn't this top scraptacular? When I've completed quilting the Mod Sampler I'll get this baby up on the frame and quilt her up.

I had, however, already purchased some grey Kona cotton for the sashing. So, now I've got enough fabric to sash some other, not yet planned, quilt. :)

Update! I finished 9 more blocks for my 60 BoS this afternoon. Here are blocks 43 - 51.

Finished Quilt and More 60 BoS

2010-07-09T13:34:00.003-05:00

Remember 60 BoS squares 10 - 34 I blogged about last week? Well, here are the final results. :) I quilted it last week and bound it over the 4th of July weekend. This quilt is all ready for donation, giveaway, or keeping for myself. lol. I haven't decided yet. :)

I am still working on my 60 BoS as well. Here are blocks 35 - 42. Eventually this will be another baby quilt.

More 60 Blocks of Summer

2010-06-28T13:29:00.004-05:00

Last week and over the weekend I completed blocks 10 - 34 for my 60 BoS. I used more of my scraps from Heather. This quilt is 50"x50". Which, I guess, is a pretty odd size. But I figure it can be a lap quilt, a toddler quilt, or a picnic quilt. Wouldn't it make an adorable picnic quilt? I may have a give away for the finished quilt. That's still paying it forward, isn't it? :)

Next thing is to get these quilt tops on my frame and get them quilted up.

Yesterday I also tackled Oh, Fransson's pocket potholder tutorial. My friend Jim had gifted me with the groovy vintage fabric that was used as the block's centers. I've been waiting for the perfect project for that fabric. Don't they make cute potholders? I haven't finished the project though. Last night I went to bind them and discovered they're too thick for my sewing machine. lol. I'm going to try using one of my vintage machines later, but last night I was so frustrated that I just stopped. If I had followed her instructions exactly it might not have been a problem, but I used insulbrite instead of canvas, and I think it made the potholders way too thick. I could just leave the "pocket" off and make them into regular potholders. What do you think?

60 Blocks of Summer and Paying it Forward

2010-06-19T11:29:00.003-05:00

I decided that with all my "free time" I'd play along with some other insane Flickr-ites and challenge myself to "60 Blocks of Summer". That is - to make 60 quilt blocks, basically one a day, between June 16th and September 3rd.

Yesterday I was afraid that I was already falling behind because it was June 18th (day 3) and I still had nothing. So, I broke out a box of scraps that Heather of A la Mode Fabric had gifted me with. I had promised Heather to make some things to be donated with those scraps, and since I'd already raided a couple of the scraps for my own projects, I thought it was time to use the scraps as I had originally intended. But, hey, with gorgeous scraps like these; who could blame me for wanting to keep some for myself? :)

I'm feeling pretty good about yesterday's accomplishments. I completed quilt blocks 1-9 for the 60 BoS and got most of a quilt top finished to be donated to Project Linus.

I was going to use the 60 BoS to push me to finish the Halloween spiderweb quilt I've started, but I think I'll focus instead on quilt blocks for donation.

With all that yesterday I also pulled the pressure cooker out of my pantry. I bought the thing years ago and never used it. As exciting as a new toy is, I was also afraid of it. Partially because of the 15 psi, even though it's a modern pressure cooker with a release valve and everything, but mainly because I'd never used one. Fear of not really understanding it stopped me. So, I checked out a cook book from the library and tackled the unknown. The recipe I chose was Dilly Mustard Chicken. The chicken meat came out wonderfully, moist and falling off the bone. But the recipe was a little bland. Now that I conquered the unknown I'm ready to dive back in!

One More Square

2010-06-14T20:30:00.010-05:00

OK, I was going to get my Mod Bento Box squares in the mail on Friday, but then I decided to make just one more square. lol. What a great excuse for fabric shopping! A couple of the girls at work told me about a quilting shop in the area that I was unaware of, so I found my way over there on Friday afternoon. It carried pretty traditional fabrics. Though I did find a couple of things I liked. :)

Here is the extra block I made:

And, here are the four quarters I'm keeping for myself:

I Joined a Swap

2010-06-08T13:42:00.005-05:00

I joined a swap and I'm very excited about it!

Jessica of Give it a Go is hosting a Mod Bento Box Swap using Film in the Fridge's Modified Bento Box block tutorial.

I've made 12 large blocks using her tutorial which will be cut down into 4 smaller blocks each. At this point though I'm hating having to chop my blocks up.

I'm loving these blocks and I hope that my fellow swappies love them as well. :)

New Project

2010-05-21T18:10:00.006-05:00

We all know I've got a million things going on at once. I really should be working on finishing the summer picnic quilt I started with Jim last fall. I've got quilt tops that need to be quilted. But, I've started a new project. This one's been on my mind for a year. A Halloween spiderweb quilt. I love Halloween novelty fabric almost as much as I love Christmas novelty fabric! Here's the beginning. I've got one done - probably about 35 to go, lmao.

You might have noticed I haven't posted in like a month. Bran and I went on a cruise the end of last month and I was swamped with work the week before we left. We had a good time on the cruise, we went with a couple friends of ours and cruised from Ft. Lauderdale to Grand Cayman, Honduras, Mexico, then the Bahamas. It was a blast. Here's a photo of the four of us.

When we got home I was swamped with work once again. Last week I was scheduled to train two customers one here and one in Texas. While I was in Corpus Christi to train the second scheduled customer our project manager called and asked me to stay to train another customer in Corpus Christi. This was OK with me as I was staying for the weekend anyways. I lived in Corpus for 7 years with my ex-husband, so it was nice to see the old gang, sans the ex-husband. He's living in Houston now. :) He and I are on good terms, he just wasn't in the area to join us.

I miss being on vacation and seeing my old Corpus Christi friends, but now I'm finally back home and working on my own projects.

Busy

2010-04-21T17:02:00.012-05:00

I've been so busy the last two weeks that I haven't had a chance to rest. Not that it's a bad thing...I'm just ragged around the edges. :)

Here's what's taken up so much of my time recently: the New Orleans Civic Symphony had two concerts last week and the Tulane Symphony has a performance Thursday night. This means the hour drive to New Orleans for rehearsals, dress rehearsals, and performances. I also did a wedding gig in the French Quarter on Friday. I love it though. :)

I also finished the "Spring in the 70's" quilt. Though a friend told me I should call it "Psychotic 70's". lol. All that's left to do is wash the quilt to bring out the crinkly goodness and then gift it to the recipient. I'm not sure I want to gift it now though, I've secretly begun to love it. I might make myself one, but use vintage linens instead of the Kaffe Fassett.

If anyone is interested - each patch in the giant nine patch squares are 4" finished (so the nine patch blocks are 12" finished), the sashing is 2" finished, and the border is 6" finished. The finished quilt is 66"x80". It was a quick and easy quilt top to put together and I'm loving the results. :)

Quilting Frame

2010-04-04T00:20:00.014-05:00

OK, Jim this post is just for you...because I love you like that!

This is my B-Line quilting frame. Bran bought it for me last year - and I LOVE it. My only complaint is that the throat of my machine is too small, so when I get to the bottom edge of the quilt the rows of free motion are much much more narrow than the top. (This isn't the fault of the frame though, it means I need to get a new sewing machine with a wider throat.) This really bothered me at first, but once the quilt is finished and washed it's much harder to see the little narrow rows.

There are three bars. One for all three layers of the quilt, one for the quilt top, and one for the quilt bottom. I actually got a 4th bar for "free" that's intended for the batting, but it's actually just as easy to let the batting sit in a pile on the floor.

All three layers of the quilt top (at the top of the quilt) are pin basted to a leader that is attached to the bar that sits within the machine's throat. Then the top is pin basted (at the bottom of the quilt) to a leader. And the quilt bottom (at the bottom of the quilt) is pin basted to another leader. This makes up all three bars. Using the bars you create tension on the quilt from top to bottom.

The clamps are used to create tension from side to side. No basting, pin or otherwise, is needed on the sides, though I find that a couple of pins on each side helps.

The sewing machine sits in what I call the cradle. The cradle is two parts. The top part sits on wheels and rails that run vertically and the bottom part sits on wheels and rails that run horizontally along the length of my dining room table.

You attach your sewing machine's foot pedal to the side and squeeze it with your hand to run the machine. This actually bothers my wrist quite a bit so I only do one or two passes at a time and rest. I could quilt an entire quilt top in a day if I really really really wanted too...but I usually spend 4-5 days working to give my hand and wrist a break. I think they sell some kind of button you could use instead of squeezing the foot pedal, but I'm cheap. lol.

You mentioned that you were doing some free motion without a frame. I actually liked doing it that way better, but I didn't like that my quilt back would shift around and I'd get these big folded pieced of back that I couldn't fix or "ease" in. I still do baby quilts without the frame though, but I spray baste baby quilts. The best piece of advice I got for quilting without the frame was to wear gardening gloves. The little stickiness on the finger pads of the gloves make manipulating the material around much easier. Oh, and another good tip was to increase the top thread tension as well.

Regardless, you should come visit me down here in the South and play with my toys!

Proof Positive

2010-04-02T18:30:00.004-05:00

Proof positive that I actually got this quilt on the frame and it's being quilted. Yes, I actually got to the next step with this quilt instead of starting another project. :) I went to my local quilt shop on Wednesday and bought the backing and binding material. I always buy more than I need when I'm there, I'm sure I'm not the only one who does this... I got a layer cake and some other little goodies.

After I'm done quilting this quilt I've got four others that need to be quilted as well. I may just leave the sewing machine where it is and start quilting at least one more of those quilt tops that are sitting there waiting. But, I've got this Halloween quilt idea in my head...

Spring in the 70's

2010-03-28T22:04:00.005-05:00

I've completed the quilt top I started this week. I'm kinda liking it! Bran loves it. It looks like a giant spring Easter egg from the 70's. OK, I've got to admit this quilt is growing on me, and it was super fast to piece! I'm thinking about trying to put together my own tutorial for the quilt top. Sounds like a lot of work though, lol. Actually, I think I could do it - it would be the figuring out the yardage that would be the hard part for me. I always just fly by the seat of my pants as far as purchasing my own fabrics and the one time I actually tried to figure yardage for a project I was short. Way short. lol. Maybe I'll give the tutorial a try after I've completed the quilt. Tomorrow I'm going to get this quilt top on the quilting frame and start quilting. I promise not to be distracted by new ideas or other UFOs...maybe. :)

More Quilting Fun

2010-03-25T17:07:00.007-05:00

OK, so I haven't gotten any of my quilt tops on the quilting frame. Is anyone really surprised? And, is anyone surprised that I've started a new quilt top? I purchased this fabric months ago with a very special someone in mind. The fabric was calling my name. Screaming my name... telling me I HAD to start cutting and sewing. lol.

Here's the plan: giant nine patches of Kaffe Fassett sashed in off white. I've got 5 of the 20 blocks completed and by tomorrow night I should have all the blocks finished. The finished quilt will be around 60x80. I know it's pretty big, but I figure if you're gonna make a quilt you might as well be able to sleep under it. :)

Meanwhile...I'm working on the quilt I started with Jim back in November and have at least four completed quilt tops waiting to be quilted.

Evelyn Boyet's Photos

2010-03-23T16:36:00.025-05:00

I'm scanning Mimi's photos a little at a time. Some of the photos may not be anything that anyone wants, but I'm not making that decision. The decision of what you'd like to have is entirely up to you.

Every one of the photos I've scanned are in a Collection on my Flickr account called "Evelyn Boyet's Photos". That collection is divided into 11 sets:

Family - any family members not covered by other sets
Evelyn and Charles - photos that contain either Evelyn or Charles
Charlotte - photos that contain Charlotte or her family
Ginger - photos that contain Ginger or her family
Diane - photos that contain Diane or her family
Lurtie - photos that contain Lurtie or the Percy family
Snapshots
Trips
Friends - photos of people other than family
Unidentified People - I apologize for not knowing everyone in the family and also of not always being able to distinguish between the three sisters when they're under the age of 20. Hopefully, with help, I can get these unidentified people sorted into their respective sets.
Evelyn Boyet's Photos - a set that includes every photo in the collection

As of March 23, 2010 I've scanned and uploaded 300 photos and I am nowhere close to finishing. I'll continue to update the Collection and sets as I scan and upload the photos.

Instructions for saving the files you want directly from Flickr:

Go to my Flickr collection titled "Evelyn Boyet's Photos"
Select the set you would like to view
All the photos in the set will be displayed as a thumbnail. For a better viewing size of the photos in the set select "Detail" from the menu under the set title.

Select the photo you'd like to download
Select "All Sizes" from the menu above the photo
Select the size you'd like to download from the available sizes
Select "Download the [whatever] size"
This will open a file download window, select "Save"
Choose where you'd like the photo to be saved on your computer and click save

If you'd like a large group of photos, please let me know and I will burn you a disc (or discs) with the photos you'd like to have. Either let me know which entire set(s) you want or which individual photos by number. Please do not request this until the entire collection of photos have been scanned and uploaded.

Flickr Account Hijacked

2010-03-21T12:00:00.006-05:00

My Flickr account has been hijacked! No no - it hasn't been hacked, it's been taken over by my husband's family. It's a good thing - for them, not so much for my photo stream. Bran's grandmother moved into an assisted living facility almost a year ago. The house she lived in she'd been in for 90 years. You read that right, 90 years. She grew up in the house, rented the house from her mother, and finally raised her own family in the house. It is beyond amazing to me that anyone would stay one exact location for that long. Talk about comfort zone.

When Bran and I were at her house helping, his aunt began pulling boxes and photo albums full of photos out. We agreed to scan the photos for the family. Little did I know what kind of work I was getting myself into. Anyone who thinks that Bran was going to scan the photos is kidding themselves - I'm the one who gets things done. lol. He's a good man, and he does plenty - and I mean PLENTY around here. (He vacuums, shampoos carpets, oils wood furniture! - I mean really he's a catch.) But he's not good with the long term projects. That's were I come in. I'm the queen of spending an hour a week on something until it's done.

So, slowly, the photos are being scanned. And, slowly, I'm uploading batches to my Flickr account. Sharing them there is really the easiest I think. Not everyone is going to want all the photos, and Flickr will allow family members to download the ones they want, or send them directly to be printed. In the meantime there are going to be big chunks of my husband's family in my photo stream.

Here's a cute snap from her set: Mimi at Disneyland 1970

Explore

2010-03-19T11:13:00.004-05:00

Every once in a while I check my stats in Flickr for two things. One, photos that have had more than 100 views and two, photos that have been "Explored". Explore is a strange thing. She's kind of a flighty bitch who loves your photos one day and discards them the next. So, according to Big Huge Labs, I've had a total of 11 photos "explored". I'm kind of in shock to find that there are currently three lingering in her good graces. I'm very excited and honored that these photos have made Explore, but kind of mystified in a way as well. None of the photos are the best on my stream, maybe just the most interesting? Two of the photos are scanned copies of old family photos and the rest are of quilts and quilt tops. None are really what I would call Explore worthy - but I'll not complain, I'll take the compliment and run with it.

So, thank you all for viewing my photos, commenting on my photos, and fav'ing my photos, that's all got to be part of that Explore algorithm on Flickr. If you're interested, a full set of all my photos that have made Explore can be found here.

Anyways...today I thought I'd work on some UFOs - I've got a TON. I need to get a quilt on the quilting frame and the machine in the cradle to get some quilt tops quilted. Unfortunately what I really want to do though is work on a quilt top that I started with my friend Jim back in November when I was in California. That quilt is calling to me... I'll keep you posted. :)

Grumpy Princess

2010-03-17T19:26:00.005-05:00

Hi all, happy St. Patrick's day!

Hubby asked for an Irish meal for dinner today. So I made him corned beef and colcannon. Earlier in the day I even made some Irish soda bread for him to have with his afternoon tea. What a lucky little turd he is. The things I do for that man on my day off...lol. He's so nerdy cute that I just can't say no.

What I really want to show you is this print I just purchased from The Doom Girls' shop on Etsy. I found the shop on Badbird's blog, her stuff is cool - you should check it out. (And she has some frakkin fantastic free embroidery patterns). Anyways, I saw this little princess looking out at me from her shop and I had to have her. I'm quite well aware of my mood swings and my princess attitude, lmao. Check her out, she's fabulous:

Munki Top

2010-03-16T12:14:00.003-05:00

I finished piecing my Munki Munki/Heather Ross quilt top on Saturday night. Look at this yummy sherbety goodness! lol. Is sherbety even a word? Well, the quilt is pastel and I thought it looked like sherbet. Yum.

Now I've got to get this on my quilting frame. I've got a couple other quilt tops that need to get on the frame as well, so now I've got to decide. Do I finish one of those older UFOs? Or do I jump right in a finish this one? I'm actually leaning towards finishing up one of those older UFOs first. But, for now, this quilt top is laying on the bed in my spare bedroom, which is also my office, so I get to spend the day looking at it between the real work. :)

I also think y'all should know that every time I worked on one of those "Jungle Book" blocks I was totally singing "I Wanna Be Like You". Yes, I'm that kind of nerd.

Dia de los Muertos

2010-02-20T14:33:00.006-06:00

Yes, I know it's a little late for Dia de los Muertos, but I had this idea almost a year ago. It took me little while to find enough suitable fabric for it. The finished quilt top was completed mid October of last year. With my trip to California, then Thanksgiving, and Christmas I finally got the quilt quilted in January. But, then I had to finish a quilt for my mother to be off in the mail this week. So...this week I finished two quilts! Yes! After I quilt, bound, and mailed my mother's quilt back to her I decided it was time to finish hand sewing the binding down on this Dia de los Muertos quilt.

I apologize for not taking any photos of my mom's quilt. OK - I'm not really sorry...but it was kind of cute. Even cuter when I was done - lol. :)

Are you wondering why a Dia de los Muertos quilt? Two years ago Bran and I took a fabulous cruise down the Mexican Riviera with one of my closest friends and his partner. Brad (my friend) loves Mexico, and every year they have a Cinco de Mayo party decked out with fabulous paper banners and Talavera pottery. When I ran across the sugar skull fabric I knew I had to make this quilt.

After completing the quilt top I took it to my local quilt shop to find a backing. Those poor ladies didn't know what to make of my quilt. I think that they appreciated the work, but didn't quite get the skulls and skeletons. But, they were friendly enough and agreed with me when I decided on the Kaffee Fassett fabric to back it with. They did talk me into quilting it with variegated thread which I'm not sure I love, but Bran likes it. I'm hoping that Brad likes it as well.

It's in the mail to Brad and Jim next week. I hope they don't fall over laughing. :)

Another Give Away!

2010-02-19T12:37:00.002-06:00

Heather of A La Mode Fabric is offering another give away. Yummy Munki Munki and other Heather Ross designed fabric is included! Go check it out. :)

http://alamodefabric.blogspot.com/

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T14:13:00.005-06:00

Well I don't have anything new to post as far as my projects. I'm working slowly on a couple of things, but I'm really focusing on a quilt my mother made. She made the quilt top and shipped it to me to back, quilt, and bind. It's totally not my taste - but it's cute. Maybe I'll share when it's done.

Meanwhile though I did take a stab at royal icing! I made the cookie dough, then left in in the fridge for a week. lol. When I did get to the cutting, baking, and icing step Bran wanted to help. Actually we did the whole thing in short bursts. Letting the cookies cool completely and letting the icing dry before moving on the next step. It really wasn't as time consuming as I thought it would be - so we'll be icing more cookies in the future. Bran's not really artistic, but his cookies were fun and whimsical. Fun times. :)

Happy Valentine's Day, Lunar New Year, and Mardi Gras! :)

New Project

2010-01-30T00:21:00.009-06:00

Last post I said I was going to participate in the latest Oh, Fransson quilt along. I purchased a jelly roll of Robert Kaufman pastels and thought I'd use vintage sheets. But, once the jelly roll was delivered I realized how nice it would look with some Munki Munki. So, I'm working on some ideas that will show my Munki Munki off (and some other Heather Ross I had stashed) and use the pastel jelly roll. I think I'll start cutting tomorrow. :)

The funny thing is, once I laid out all my Munki Munki fabric I realized that most of the fabrics relate to me personally. Not so much the regular Heather Ross, though I do love them all, but the Munki Munki fabric in particular.

My mom mailed me quilt top this week that she'd like me to quilt and bind for her. Guess I've got to get that started as well. She's also leaving it to me to get backing, binding, and batting for the quilt as well. Oh well, it's not like I needed an excuse to buy more fabric! :D

Here's to 2010!

2010-01-10T22:50:00.000-06:00

I sure felt like I'd accomplished more than 10 quilts in 2009. In my defense though, I had pieced at least 2 large sized quilt tops that are still to be quilted. I'm currently working on quilting one of those two and the other is on the list to be completed next. So, those will be included in the completed quilts of 2010 group. lol.

In the next week or so I'm going to participate in another "Oh Fransson" quilt along. I just LOVE the look of her quilts. :) In fact the "Mix Tape" quilts that I've pieced 3 of in 2009 and helped my mom piece at Christmas this year are her design. I'm planning on using Jelly Rolls in pastels and vintage sheets for the blocks. Since the first quilt along I participated in I've become a huge fan of the vintage sheets. I'm totally loving the total 70's vibe they have. :) I'm kinda missing that avocado green stove and oven I had in Corpus Christi! I knew then they'd be in vogue again someday. lmao.

So in the first week of January I made the adorable baby quilt posted below. I thought I'd give it as a gift, but I think I'll be posting it for sale instead in my Etsy shop. I'm not sure that the recipient would have appreciated it. You know the type...

I turn 40 tomorrow. I'm not sure I'm ready for it.

On the 10th Day of Christmas...

2010-01-03T17:03:00.012-06:00

Mom and Dad came out for Christmas this year and are leaving tomorrow. Boohoo. :(

We celebrated Christmas together on New Year's Eve. Let me tell you...celebrating Christmas on the 7th day of Christmas is FANTASTIC! We went to the mall on December 29th, it was empty and everything was on sale. Talk about stress free Christmas shopping!

Mom loved the Christmas Mix Tape quilt I made, so she raided my Christmas fabric stash and pieced her own. :) Yesterday I quilted it for her and today I finished the binding. It's adorable. A little "country" for my taste, but still adorable.

In Mid-December

2009-12-20T15:21:00.010-06:00

Well it's almost Christmas and I'm not sure I'm ready, lol. With Christmas less than a week away: I've only purchased three presents, none of them wrapped, and my parents called me two days ago to tell me that they're coming out for Christmas this year after all. Well, that's exciting! I think we'll have Christmas on New Year's Day. That sounds like a plan!

Friday night was our office Christmas party and last night Bran and I hosted a Christmas party here at that house. Not very many guests came to either party, but they were still plenty of fun. Tonight I'm playing a Christmas gig in New Orleans at the Chapel of the Holy Comforter. I'm sure they'll have a party after the performance. There will be more people at this party, but it won't be nearly as fun as Friday or Saturday's parties! :)

Anyways I've gotten a couple of quilts finished in the last month. On Thanksgiving weekend I finished a linen and cotton hourglass quilt and this week I completed a Christmas quilt. They're both lap sized and were the first two I've ever quilted using my new B-Line quilting frame. Now if I could just get a sewing machine with a longer throat, then I'd be all good! :)

Merry Christmas!

My True Love Gave to Me...

2009-12-12T20:39:00.007-06:00

Should I have not gotten up this morning? lol.

First, I should have been at rehearsal in New Orleans at 10am. So, I get myself out of bed, run a brush through my hair, slap some makeup on, and leave the house. Two miles from home I look up at my clock in the car and it says it's 10. 10? Really? No - I must have forgotten to "fall back". No - I remembered to "fall back", that was weeks ago. Oh crap. How the hell did my brain allow me to think that aiming to leave the house at 9:45 would get me to rehearsal at 10? Oh, I must have said "I need to leave at quarter to 9" to Bran and I somehow translated that to 9:45 in my fuzzy brain. It's a quarter to something with a 9. OMG.

I've been sick for 4 weeks now. Yeah, 4 weeks. I'm not as bad as I was 3 weeks ago, but I'm still bad enough that I've been taking night-time cold medicine for the last 2 weeks. Is that why I feel so brain dead? Holy crap.

Ok, so then I decide, since I'm out, to grab a cup of coffee and get some Christmas shopping done. First I stopped at America's Best to pick up my contacts that they called me about a month ago. No...they don't have my contacts. They've got my trial pair...that's what they called me about. Trial pair? I got those 8 weeks ago. No, I want the year worth of contacts I paid for. Oh, no they were delivered to my home on October 28th. Really? No. So, they'll follow up on Monday when the office is open. Monday, really? They'd better call on Monday or I'll be opening up a can of whoop ass.

Alrighty, it's not the fault of the girls at America's Best so I'll go over to Rouse's and see if they have St. Germain. No, they don't have St. Germain I should try Martin's Wine Cellar. But, they don't think there's one of the North Shore. I'll have to go to New Orleans or Baton Rouge. Yeah, right.

This is all not so bad. I think I'll go pick up those Christmas gifts. So, I drive myself over Bed Bath and Beyond to pick up that present for Bran I keep meaning to pick up and some Christmas Yankee Candles. It's cold out and I still haven't had any of that hot coffee I picked up. I find a nice parking spot and dash across in the rain to the store with my big ass purse and cup of coffee. Yeah, I'll probably need a shopping cart for the present and the candles and whatever crap might "need" from BB&B. So what if the store is packed, the shopping carts are huge, and the aisles are too small for the shopping cart. Really? The aisles are too small for the shopping carts? And because I didn't want to spill the coffee I've set in in my purse. But the first big bump guess what? No, it didn't spill, but it did splash up out of that drinking hole all over the inside of my purse. OK, that's not so bad, at least it didn't spill.

At least the check out line at BB&B went quickly. While I'm out why don't I stop by my salon and give Ginger her Christmas present and get my bangs trimmed? Great idea. Ginger is available...trims me up in 2 minutes, I "tip" her for the year and leave. At home I get a really good look at my bangs. Well, maybe they'll have grown out by Christmas. Besides as long as they look good for Christmas I'll be happy.

So, my crazy "bad" day wasn't really "bad"...but I usually don't have this kind of luck over and over in the same day. Hopefully the next 2 weeks will be better. Bran went Christmas shopping after I got home. I got most of the ornaments on the tree and he came home with a bottle of St. Germain (from Martin's Wine Cellar in Mandeville!). Bless him! :)

New Toy!

2009-10-21T09:44:00.003-05:00

Last post I mentioned that I discovered a quilting store in my area. Well guess what my sweet sweet hubby got for me? A quilting frame! He got it put together and set up for me and yesterday I put my first quilt on it. Now I'm busy free motion quilting a quilt top! I've got another quilt top that I need to have finished by Friday, but I didn't want to start with it...so, my apologies to the friend that's going to get this quilt - but it's really my test run. lol - I'm sure she won't mind. :)

I'm leaving for California on Saturday. I'm looking forward to seeing my brother and friends. When I get back I'll finish quilting the other quilt tops I've got waiting and then start decorating for Christmas. Woot!

Surprise Quilt

2009-09-16T18:42:00.004-05:00

I found a quilt shop in my area last week. All the quilting and sewing I've been doing lately and I hadn't bothered until last week to see if I had a local quilt shop. I've already spent a load of money in the shop and I've only been in twice. Though in my defense I purchased a quilting frame for my machine, so that was an investment. Hopefully it will help me be twice as productive.

This morning I went in with a quilt top that I finished about a month ago. I've been looking for quilt backing, but just haven't been happy with what I've found. I finally just bought some muslin in desperation, ugh so boring. There are no pictures posted yet of the quilt top because it's a surprise, but here's a little sneak peek at what I found this morning for the back. I went in looking for something mundane but interesting...was about to give up when I spotted this. Mundane: Fail!

Please don't think I've gone insane.

Productive Weekend

2009-08-23T09:47:00.015-05:00

I work from home. You may have already known that. Working from home has many MANY benefits. My favorite is that when lunchtime comes around I can turn on Court TV (TruTV), watch an hour of courtroom proceedings, eat a bite, and work on "stuff". I usually have Wednesdays and Fridays off, but I'm currently working at getting myself a surplus of days so that I can go to California for a month and not have to work the whole time I'm there. So, this last Friday I was working. At lunch I stopped and started cutting and piecing a Christmas "Mix-Tape" quilt (a jump start on Christmas). After my hour I went back to my desk and found myself making all sorts of crazy mistakes. Spelling, thinking, not thinking - whatever I was spending as much time correcting myself as I was working. Maybe I had that quilt on my mind... Whatever it was at 3:00 I gave up. I thought, "I'm not even supposed to be here today"! (This line must be whined like Dante Hicks). Two hours short of a full day of work I stopped working. I can work for 2 hours on the weekend when I'm "fresh". lol. So - I sat down and cut and pieced the rest of that Christmas quilt top. Took a little break to watch the rest of a movie I'd Tivo'd ("The Painted Veil" with Edward Norton. If you've seen the movie you'll understand why I watched it in two parts - good, but kinda slow.) Yeah, I cut and pieced that entire quilt top in an afternoon. I'm loving that Mix Tape quilt pattern. In my back room I have 2 plastic storage boxes of novelty Christmas fabric. I know it's cheesy - but I have a real soft spot for it. If you've seen my living room at Christmastime you'd understand why. Between the quick pattern and all that Christmas fabric I think there may be at least a couple more Christmas lap quilts made this year.

After the high of completing an entire quilt top in a day I thought that I should be working on something that's actually on my "roundtoit" list. I've had Bran's aunt's doll for almost two years now and all I've done is patch her. I gave myself a deadline to have this doll finished, otherwise she'll just sit around here forever (not that I'd complain). Two years is really too long to hold on to something you're working on for someone else. But, I'm doing all this work for free, she can just wait. lol. I plan on having the doll done for Thanksgiving this year. That will be the two year anniversary of her handing the doll over to me. Both of Diane's sons have had little girls this year and I was able to complete baby quilts for both of them - so I'll make this the year that the doll is finished as well. This week I started working on the doll's costuming. I started stockings earlier in the week, and yesterday I made most of the corset. I screwed up the corset once in the afternoon which forced me to stop in frustration for a couple hours. Frustrated because noooOOOoooo I couldn't screw up the lining from muslin, I had to screw up the outer part from a limited amount of vintage material. So at 11:00 pm last night I finished the bulk of the corset. It needs a little handwork done, then the corset will be complete. I took plenty of pictures - maybe someday I'll post a tutorial on making doll corsets.

D'oh!

2009-08-05T17:51:00.005-05:00

I'm a reasonably intelligent person. Well, at least I believe that I am. So, how, after checking the remains of the linen I had from the last quilt top I completed am I short by 8 blocks? It's not much - but when I checked last night I thought I had more than enough - like twice as much as I needed. I must have been tired, or hungry, or possibly in need of a drink. Whatever it was I screwed up the numbers big time. I went to order more from Fabric.com and they're sold out. Well bummer. I have enough scraps to piece together what I need to get all 80 squares of this new hourglass quilt finished, so I guess I'll do that. I was going to post this quilt for sale, but if I have to scrounge for bits and pieces I guess I may just have to give this quilt away. Or, keep it for myself. I just won't feel right selling something I don't think is good enough.

I started the hourglass quilt yesterday, after I completed the "other" Mix Tape quilt top I've been working on. I need to get some fabric to back the latest Mix Tape quilt with. But, the person I'd really like to ask for their opinion is going to be the recipient. So now what?

Mix-Tape Quilt Complete

2009-07-29T17:29:00.003-05:00

OK, so here it is, the completed Mix-Tape Quilt. I'm still working on another one. I'll probably have that one done in a couple weeks. I really hate working on quilts as big as this one, but I love them when they're done. Though, I almost always have a problem with the backs - part of the reason I don't do pieced backs. The backs always bunch up on me while I'm quilting and I get these puckers that end up being sewn over. They're a mess. I usually spend time picking stitches when I'm done and easing the fabric. Then once washed they look OK, but this one. This one is bad. So Bran gets it. I told him last week - you know what would stop this? A quilting frame! lol. Maybe I'll get one for Christmas. Probably about then I'll be bored with quilting though and will have moved on to something else. lol.

If you're interested in this pattern you can find it on Etsy in Oh, Fransson's shop. She's the bomb. The mack daddy bomb.

Frustrated

2009-06-27T22:00:00.004-05:00

Ok, so I started the sashing on the Mix-Tape Quilt. I actually got half of the quilt sashed and started the second half this evening. Well...somehow I cut some of them about 1/4 too small, and of course I didn't notice until after I'd completed all the vertical sashing. I'm just so frustrated. I'm going to have to rip out a row and a half of sashing...and 10 minutes ago I was so excited that I'd gotten so much done today. Grrrr...

Well, here's a photo of the top half sashed. Correctly. lol

Mixtape Quilt(s)

2009-06-25T11:39:00.008-05:00

I very recently bought a quilt pattern from Oh, Fransson called Mixtape Quilts. She also held the Mod-Sampler quilt along that I participated in earlier this year. The Mod-Sampler quilt is yet to be finished. I made the mistake of leaving the quilt top out on Mother's day when my in-laws came over. My mother-in-law loved the quilt, and then said "I have this sheet". (I pieced the Mod-Sampler quilt with vintage sheets). Well actually my sister-in-law now has the sheet. My mother-in-law offered it to me as a backing to the quilt, which I think will look nice if the sheet is in good enough condition. But, it's been actively used for 20 years or so...so, I'm a little scared. Anywhoo, I thought I'd put off finishing the quilt until I got the sheet so that I could make a decision. However, if I don't have that sheet in the next month I'm going to go ahead and back it with the sheet I already purchased.

OK, back to the Mixtape Quilt. I cut and pieced this yesterday. Yeah, yesterday. This is half the quilt, all that would fit on my dining room table so that I could look and the block/color placement. I think it's random enough that I'm going to go ahead and put the quilt top together without looking at all the blocks together. Of course I'll lay out the other half of the quilt and take a picture of it as well. This quilt is pieced mostly with vintage sheets. I love the funkiness of the prints. Actually the fat quarters I purchased were marked as vintage/upcycled sheets - but some of the fabrics are suspect. As in I suspect some of them may have been cheap, dollar a yard, fabrics from Wal-Mart. But, if they hold up to washings then fine, I don't care because they all look adorable.

I have also pieced the blocks for a second Mixtape Quilt. But, that one's a secret...for now.

Little Lambs

2009-06-20T14:23:00.008-05:00

I finished baby quilt #6 last night. The baby shower is tomorrow and I had actually scheduled myself as finishing the binding today - so I'm ahead of schedule! Yay me. Obviously the baby's name is going to be Kate. I found the little lambs on Flickr, adjusted them a little to fit my idea, then found a free font, put the two together and voila, cute baby embroidery pattern. The rest of the quilt is whole cloth and quilted in my usual free motion quilting style. Cute, don't you think?

Tomorrow is both the baby shower and father's day. Lucky for me, my mother-in-law and Bran's grandmother were invited to the shower as well. So, we're all going to travel together. After the shower I'll host father's day at my house for the in-laws. I figured I'll serve steaks: I'll make Bran grill them, broccoli: steamed in the nuker for a couple minutes, German Potato Salad: I'll whip that up this afternoon, and home-made strawberry ice-cream: I'll get that going this afternoon - all that, it should be pretty easy - and basically all done before tomorrow. :)

Happy Father's Day everyone!

Baby Quilt #5

2009-06-10T17:13:00.004-05:00

I've finished another baby quilt! This quilt is for my husband's cousin and his wife. I recently found out that another cousin and his wife are expecting as well, so I ordered fabric today for baby quilt #6. Their shower is in a couple of weeks so they're getting a whole cloth quilt. I might embroider something in the front right hand quarter, or I might not, I'll keep you posted.

I've also got ordered some cool fabric for an idea that's been brewing in my brain. At the moment I've got a million cool ideas in my brain though. I guess the trick now is to get those ideas out into the physical world.

Alaska!

2009-06-09T09:17:00.007-05:00

Last month was crazy busy. I mentioned that in my last post though, I'm sure.

The project I thought would be complete by the end of the month wasn't completed - though I lay most of the blame for that at the feet of the person or people that were responsible for relaying to me that Development would not have a completed project until the 15th of June. So, tell me, how effectively was I using my time trying to document software that was, and still is, in limbo? OK - so I've got it 98% complete and am waiting for the final product to be rolled out so that I may update the work I've already done. Have I mentioned that I don't like wasting time? Oh, I have no problem sitting around taking my time, but I have a huge problem doing double work. I'm off my soapbox now.

We did close the old office at the end of the month and Bran and I are now both working from home. It's been a little bit of an adjustment. Though we both worked at home occasionally before we moved, being in the house everyday and having to physically move in our work computers, monitors, and files was a job. Not to mention the logistics of VPN, VOIP, having another phone line installed, and then having to deal with our phone and internet going down yesterday at the house.

So, here's the fun stuff. We loved Alaska. I would definitely recommend visiting Alaska if you have a chance. It was really beautiful. Bran and I took the trip with my parents and my brother. Bran, Brian, and I basically covered the trip for my parents...kind of an early Christmas gift for the next 5 years, a 40th anniversary present, and a thank you for everything you did for us growing up. I think the best part was how excited my mom was. Often, though I don't think intentionally, she just doesn't seem that excited about gifts - almost a "I wanted something better" feeling. Again, I don't think it's intentional, but a little deflating at times. But she was so excited about this trip - it made it all worth while. So, back to the trip. If you ever take a trip to Alaska and find yourself in Skagway be sure to take the White Pass Rail Road trip. It is so worth every dime. If you're interested, my photos of the trip are posted here.

Good Day!

2009-04-30T18:23:00.014-05:00

Despite the fact that I couldn't sleep last night and got only 2 hours of sleep before the alarm woke me up in the morning for work, today was a really good day! I blame the lack of sleep on an over busy mind. I have a documentation project due, our office is moving, most of us are going to start working from home (my husband and me included), and we're going on a cruise to Alaska all within the next 4 weeks - so I have alot on my mind. Last night was one of those nights when you just lay there and the mind just keeps running. I even got up and did a couple of the things that were occupying my mind, doing that usually lets me relax and sleep, but not last night.

I finished a quilt that's been in the works for the last 10 years last night. That was a really good feeling. The quilt started as a gift for a friend. One of those friends that you feel compelled to do things for. I usually stay away from those kind of friends, but she was a friend that I made back when we were like 5. Anyways, I started the quilt and actually had it pieced and sandwiched 10 years ago. I wanted to free motion quilt it, but just never could get the hang of it, and it is a HUGE quilt. I was really frustrated because I'd buy quilting books or check quilting books out from the library and they'd all just complete a quilt by saying "now quilt it by machine or hand". Lots of instructions on blocks and binding but nothing on quilting. I was frustrated about it for 10 years. Finally I did some research on the internet, bought a darning foot, practiced a little, then took on the giant quilt from hell. It's now done but I'm no longer in touch with the original recipient. So this afternoon I called my mom and asked her if she wanted it. My lucky mom.

Today was also a good mail day! I got a copy of Antique Doll Collector, accessories for my new phone, and some fabric I ordered from A La Mode on Etsy. Check out this mail box booty!

And here's a little lagniappe...a peak at what I'm currently working on. My Mod Sampler Quilt, which is pieced and needs to be quilted and bound, a zig-zag baby quilt, and a diamond baby quilt. :)

Another Give Away!

2009-04-29T17:56:00.003-05:00

Check out this fabulous artist's blog for another adorable giveaway! :D

As for me...I'm finishing the binding on a nine patch quilt that I pieced about 10 years ago. It's overly cutesy country and was originally pieced for a friend that whined that "no one has ever made me anything". lol. So I kinda don't like the quilt, but Bran does. I thought about giving it to his mom or my mom when it's finished - which should be tomorrow. But I shouldn't neglect my sweet husband's wishes to keep it for himself, however I just don't like the quilt. But, on the plus side, I'm finally finishing this quilt after all these years. That's part of my plan - finish some UFOs while finishing the new projects I'm starting as well. So far it's working. :)

Documentation

2009-04-14T11:36:00.004-05:00

In case you didn't already know, my paying job is Software Documentation. Yes, I write those training manuals, user manuals, and help files for software. You know those amazingly boring things you should read when using new software? I once read that Amy Tan, one of my favorite authors, had written documentation for IBM. Based on that I think I'm in pretty good company, now I just have to write an amazing novel and have it made into a movie.

A co-worker of mine found this quote:
"Documentation is like sex; when it's good, it's very good, and when it's bad, it's better than nothing." -Dick Brandon, Author

I'm not sure if he's telling me my documentation is good or bad.

Check This Out!

2009-04-05T11:50:00.003-05:00

About 6 months ago I purchased this great rag quilt from A La Mode Fabric on Etsy. I love it, Doxie loves it, my mother loves it, my mother-in-law loves it, and it looks great in my living room! Heather makes some fabulous quilts so check out her store. Or, check out her blog! She's having a fabric giveaway of some great hard to find Heather Ross fabrics. I must be crazy sending more people her way to sign up for this giveaway - because I SO want these for myself! lol.

I Took the Plunge!

2009-04-03T22:05:00.005-05:00

So, I decided just to go ahead and put three of my baby quilts up for sale in my Etsy shop. If you're interested you can find them here. I'm excited - they've all been favorited at least once so far and I just finished putting one of them up half an hour ago! :D

Baby Quilt #4

2009-03-24T15:39:00.007-05:00

I've finished another baby quilt. Two of my friends and my husband's cousin are all having babies, which is what got me working on baby quilts to begin with. Now that I've got more quilts than gifts I may start putting my quilts up for sale in my Etsy shop - which at this time is an empty shop. I'm not really sure that I want to just put a couple of quilts up though in an empty shop; maybe I should wait until I have 8 or 10. I'm just not sure...

I've also completed all my squares for the Oh, Fransson mod sampler quilt along. She posted instructions yesterday on putting the quilt top together, but I haven't started working on putting it all together yet. Her original instructions were for a lap sized quilt, but I think I'm going to add another row of blocks to the bottom, instead of using them on the back, per her instructions, and make the outside sashing bigger to make the finished quilt closer to a twin bed sized quilt. That way I can curl up under it. :D

Busy Week

2009-03-20T20:49:00.005-05:00

I made the drive across the lake to New Orleans four times this week. Three of those trips were for the Tulane Symphony Orchestra, two rehearsals and a concert. I don't love the hour drive to get there, but I do love playing the viola - so it's worth the trip. The drive gives me a chance to listen to audio books. That's strange, right? To listen to books instead of reading them? I used to love reading - now I don't have the time - though I have plenty of time to watch TV and play games on the internet, lmao.

So, other than the Tulane Symphony Orchestra taking up most of my free time this week, I've completed two more sets of quilt blocks for the Oh, Fransson quilt along. Below is my favorite of block sets 3 and 4. I started working on the 5th and 6th sets after work this evening and I REALLY like those. My cheesy novelty Christmas fabric is calling my name as well - I might just have to make this quilt again.

Bummer - tonight is the final episode of Battlestar Galactica.

Started the Quilt-Along

2009-03-18T14:03:00.015-05:00

Today I started cutting and quilting for the Oh, Fransson Mod Sampler Quilt-Along. I like the soft colors and flowers of these vintage linens. I've attached photos: above block A, below block B. Yes, some of these linens are less vintage than others, but I think they blend together very nicely. I purchased 38 total vintage linen fat quarters so I have plenty enough to make more quilts. I found a quilt pattern on-line last week called Urban Comfort that I may use more of these vintage linens for.

I have a real soft spot for cheesy Christmas fabric. So, I may do another one of these Mod Sampler quilts using some of my crazy stash of Christmas fabric.

Tonight is the dress rehearsal for the Tulane Symphony spring concert. I'm really not in the mood to drive across the lake for the third time this week...and I have to do it again tomorrow for the concert. Think anyone would miss the ringer violist for the dress rehearsal? I should probably go... on a good note for today I've lost 1.8 lbs this week per my Jenny Craig counselor. Only 75 more lbs to go...lol.

Another Quilt!

2009-03-17T20:47:00.005-05:00

I finished this quilt last week and just now got around to posting pictures of it. I backed it with a great blue fabric that Bran really likes. Good thing I have some left - it might go into a quilt for him. Before I start the quilt along I thought I'd finish the couple of quilts I was already working on. I've almost got baby quilt #4 finished, I just have to hand sew the binding on to the back of the quilt. Tomorrow (or later tonight) I'll start cutting my fabric for the quilt along.

Quilt Along

2009-03-06T11:04:00.015-06:00

So - I've decided to do a "Quilt Along" with Oh, Fransson! I love her quilts and have purchased a pattern from her in the past. Working this project just sounds like fun. I've decided to do my quilt in re-claimed/up-cycled bed sheets and linen. I'm hoping that the finished quilt has a summer vacation feel to it. Here's a little peak at what I've purchased for the project.

Still Quilting

2009-03-06T00:02:00.007-06:00

I finished piecing Baby Quilt #3 today and started the quilting. I used to love piecing and hated quilting, but now I think I like piecing and love quilting. It is alot of work though.

Super Karen!

2009-02-28T19:15:00.013-06:00

OMG, I'm a Super Hero! LOL. Is this not the coolest thing? OK, enough time wasted. I almost have the baby quilt #3 top completely pieced. I'd work at finishing it tonight, but I don't have the backing material yet. So I have some time.

Bran and I were supposed to totally clean our bedroom today, but we didn't get that done. Instead the weather turned cold and I bundled up and watched Dr. Zhivago. I'd REALLY like that movie if the costuming/makeup wasn't so 60's. It's too bad that so much of modern fashion influences any period piece, no matter what decade made.

So, enough blogging and back to work! Super Karen to the JOB!!! lol.

Baby Quilt #2

2009-02-26T11:40:00.008-06:00

Well, I finished baby quilt #2 yesterday and started working on baby quilt #3. I really need to work on a baby girl quilt for Thomas and Stephanie, but I have triangles left from the last quilt, so I'm using them now. I've ordered some very cool backing for the baby girl quilt. I guess I'll start working on that quilt when the material comes in. I've also ordered some backing for baby quilt #3 - I just hope the backing fabric looks as good with the pieced front as I think it will. Oh well, if it doesn't I'll use it for something else. Crap - I just remembered I need to order more quilt batting.