Finished!

And I kinda like it!

Too bad it's not staying around here!

LOL

A little table quilt to hopefully brighten someone's day!

A fun project to learn a new quilt block on and accomplish a goal I'm late on.  I had originally planned on sending this table quilt

but I had accidentally quilted a scrap onto the back where it would have been too much to pick out all the stitches and fix.  So, it now lives on our dining room table under sea shells we collected by the seashore.

Last night we got to take the younger boys to see

the amazing Harlem Globetrotters.  Do you think we remembered the camera?

Nope.

Thankfully, a friend whose husband played on the opposing team took some shots and I will nab them from her Facebook page (with her permission).

Okay...here's one and hubby sweets had a stub with a number on it so we can view a picture on their Facebook page of him and Middleman.  Middleman is doing his world famous finger spin!

We decided one of our favorite moments was a player putting on a wolfman mask and dancing to Michael Jackson's Thriller. We laughed so hard!

Thanks Daddy!

(and thanks Nancy for the photos!)

Something else I've been working on:

I think I posted on flickr that I wouldn't be making any more of these until, like labor, the pain and frustration had been forgotten.

LOL

You know...I have three children...and I am a determined woman who hasn't met too many challenges that have stumped me for long.

I started a new quilt just to show myself I really could master this block.

I'm not sure I've mastered it, but I have a start that I like.  I found some Pat Bravo Paradise Double Bloom Taupe at a family excursion to Indy a couple of weeks ago.

The center star of the quilt is made of this way too beautiful fabric.  I then went hunting through the stash to find fabrics that I thought would help give it a scrappy, watercolorish sort of look.

I have a 1 1/2" Humky Dory honey bun that I bought myself for my birthday last year and it's been waiting to tell me what it wants to be.  Last week, as I was looking for scraps and stash to add, I realized the dimensions were perfect for the nine squares.

This is a messy quilt, let me tell ya!  There are y-seams wherever you go in here and lots of finageling to make seams meet just right.  And I have to say, some do in this quilt, and some don't.

But I have learned a lot, added a new block to ones I can sew and hopefully will have another quilt that's unusual and not one you see around much.

Anybody interested in a "how to" post?

Life has been full of helping Middleman write papers for a co-op class.  He's a high school freshman, but his teacher is having them do college level work.  Woo Hoo!  I really enjoy helping him improve his writing and grammar skills.  It's not his best subject, but he's making me proud.

We're also reading Shakespeare's Hamlet.  We checked out the Kenneth Branagh movie version and it's make a huge difference in helping him understand the scenes and characters.  The book we have, also from the library, has quasi cliff notes in it to help explain the language Shakespeare used.

On the Bean front...he'll be representing his 5th grade class in the elementary school spelling bee.  He's not quite sure if he wants to go to Washington though!

LOL

I'm spending the rest of the week cutting out fabric ahead of time to take to the Indianapolis Modern Quilt Guild meeting this Saturday the 29th.  It will be the first one I've been able to go to and KT and I are having brunch and heading out together.  Three hours with other quilters working on projects, swapping scraps (maybe...you know how I love my scraps) and working on this quilt.  I just bought some much anticipated frozen pizzas (stuffed crust!) for the boyos to munch on while I'm gone.

Can't wait!

Hope the rest of the week treats you kindly with time to sew, health and smile or two.

 



This post will self-destruct...

as soon as my head hits the pillow!

OY!

It all began so innocently.

Some scraps.

A simple nine patch.

Got it.

I'm in control.

Oh look.  Another one.  Only this one is all about blue.

How cute.

Then...

I was enthusiastic.  Energetic.  Optimistic. 

The whole day ahead of me.

Kid numero uno occupadoed.

Check.

Kid number two distracted.

Check.  Check.

Kid number three, quite simply, gone.

Check.  Check.  Check.

A few weeks ago I came across a beautiful beginning from another blogger.

Jen of ReannaLily Designs had a stunning batch of blocks on flickr.

But if you go to her blog, you'll see much more.

You'll find out just where the Devil is in the details.

There's a handy dandy link to Hell.

LOL

Okay.  Maybe  not that bad.  Or scary.

Oh yeah!  It's been every bit of it today as I made this block.

I had wondered why I hadn't seen too many of these hexies on flickr.  I mean, it's cute and happy and fun and all...so why wasn't anyone else crazy enough

making them?

Probably for the same reason I'm not making any more!

Now...

My back and neck are killing me and I've steamed my fingers into lil' broccoli florets.

Seriously.

It's been a tough, dismally disappointing couple of days.

My hexie table topper I was working on?

I somehow quilted a bit of extra fabric onto the back and stupidly didn't notice until I was sewing the binding onto the back.

How did that happen?

What to do, what to do?

It was going to be a PIF, but now...

(insert a little violin music here please)

Should this lil' fella (we'll call him...oh...say, Roy.  Roy G. Biv) be a new PIF to replace the other?

Inquiring minds want to know.

ps.
Javi's in the tan pants!

Sew Much Going on!

Stars Over Indiana

August of 2010 was my month for the ISQB to send out fabrics and have blocks made for me.

I chose a "cheater star" from the Modify Tradition blog in greens, blues, aquas and browns.  See the missing star?  Me neither.  Somewhere in the hubbub, a star went missing or didn't get sent back to me.  No worries!  I have lots of fabric and these are easy peasy to put together!  A new star is on the sewing table, cut and ready to piece together!

This is the first layout after making up the block to go between the star blocks.  I didn't have enough of the original fabric sent out, so I went hunting.  Found some way cool scraps that were just the right size to fill in.

I cut up scraps into a 16 square block for a really fun scrappy look.  I like the way this is turning out-thanks to all my quilting bee buddies!

I also lost 16lbs during the year (the goal of the bee was to lose weight and be healthier), but gained six back after a reinjury of my "ski" knee.  Too many summers playing catcher for our softball team, one too many trips 'round the lake and a big tumble down the slopes a long time ago.  You know, the kind where you get to ride the real cool, orange sled down behind the snowmobile?

Princess Wee-Kips decided to take a stroll across the landscape to check out the blocks and offer her opinion.  She likes all the stars!

A swee little something for a super sweet lady!

Never mind the strings on the left, they just need to be tucked in neatly and then I'll whip stitch the binding on.

Thanks to KT for showing me an awesome way to maching stitch binding on the front of the quilt with a finished edge to hand sew the back down!  Wow!

Revolutionary!

(not to mention it saves all those around you from getting stuck on pins that you've used to pin the binding on!)

I also managed to send out all my fabric for the IMQG bee.

I even maganed to get some vintage in there in the scrappy blocks!  Always a plus in a quilt. 

Hope this finds you warm, safe and sewing.  I'm linking up with Amy's Sew & Tell, Friday Finish (if she has it this week.  check out what she's been up to on the family front!).

Quilts for Comfort

and some catching up on "Thank you's" to share with you today.

First off is a PIF (Pay It Forward) from Paloma.  Her blog was one of the first ones I began reading and she was very inspiring in her creations!  If you get a chance, you really need to look at what's she's up to!

Could this be any more fun!  This pincushion is a treasure I will always keep!  The fabric will go to live in my stash and come out to play soon, I hope!  The embroidery thread will be perfect for a project I'm working on and Easter is right around the corner...yummy cookies ahead!

Thank you Paloma!

Next, a huge thank you to Madeline for the cutest Christmas card EVER! and a fun stamp that will come in handy for Christmas projects next year!

Can you believe how awesomely appropriate they are!

LOL

December's block for Solidia of the ISQB group.  She's making a scrappy Criss Cross quilt and I just loved her fabrics and the look of the block!  Sew much fun to make!

Isn't this a great block!  Lovin' all those fun, fabulous fabrics!

Solidia's block is the inspiration for my block for January and the IMQG bee that's going on.  I've shared the orange quiltey goodness I've been hoarding and now it's time to use it!

I'm debuting the first blocks for my Quilts for Comfort projects. 

My mom's an awesome inspiration.  Her mental attitude and spirit through 5 years of cancer is amazing!

I've been honored and blessed to sit and visit with her during some of her chemo treatments at the local cancer center.  Sometimes, it's a very hard place to go to.

As part of the treatment, patients receive Benadryl (or something similar) to help them tolerate the drugs better.  This can produce chills and being cold while they're there.

What better way to stay warm than with a quilt!

The instructions for this block end up giving you 32 HST blocks.  You only use 16 for one large block, which means I can have two made pretty quickly once the blocks come back.  I'm only asking for each lady to make one block and to send back the other HST's so I can put together a second one easy peasy.

In with the oranges, I added some aquas to soften up all that orangey warmness.

I love orange and aqua together.  I had so much fun collecting these fabrics from quilt stores all over Indiana and it's even more special because some of the fabric is from a win way back from Rene.  Another awesomely talented blogger you must visit!

Okay, I've used all my brain cells taking pictures, catching up, writing and trying to keep things straight.  I will leave you with the Christmas gifts KT made for me.  A housewife, a reusable shopping bag and (not pictured) a rice muff made of the same loverly material to help my hands and feet when they get cold.  Unfortunately, Lady climbed up on a chair and knocked over the laundry basket my muff was in and ate some of the rice.  KT has promised a repair job when I remember to bring it back to her.

Thanks KT for such beautiful, girley, fun gifts!  You know when my birthday is, right?

Did I mention the shopping bag doubles as a cat carrier? 

Wee-kips!

We've discovered she likes to take car rides and visit her Mimi.  She snuggles up on my current crochet project and takes a little "cat" nap on the way!

On a sad, but better note, Peek-A-Boo had a horrible bleeding incident last week.  All over the stairs, the downstairs carpet and tile.  She looked like a gunshot victim.  We took her to the vet and he's pretty sure her tumor is cancer.  We didn't opt for the test, because it doesn't matter to us...we wouldn't want her put down unless she was really suffering.  They said she was in great condition for a 20yo cat.  She's eating and drinking well and not in pain.  We bandaged her up and brought her home.  She's had an antibiotic shot and we're nursing her through.

I'm adding a link to Amy's for Sew & Tell Friday and these pictures of the Aloha quilt to share.

Finished since the last Sew & Tell!

Blessings to you all!