Productive Saturday

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)

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

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"

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!

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!

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...

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!