what I've been up to...

Winter Scraps...just need to stitch the appliques down. I already quilted the background.   The colors are a little washed out.  

On my one design wall is 

Shamrock Twister. It is together but not quite done. 

It measures about 9 inches and I think I will add another small border around it to get it a little bigger.

Underneath that is a bunny embroidery w/hsq that I'm making into a pillow.  

It's quilted too but I still have to make the envelope backing.  I'm going to bind it like a quilt.  It's 20 inches square..I think.  It's the project for my guild's March Newbies class but I have to work that day so I thought I'd just get it done now.

The 9-Patch quilt is a memory quilt I agreed to make for someone.  

I finished a couple baby quilts for Libby.

They're both with panels and are just so dang cute.

Oh and I'm in the 12 step program for Pinterest addiction.

Sheesh!

fun times, fun times-Life is Good.

work continues

on the basement (the walls are up! I can 'see' how it's going to look: good!)

And I'm sewing upstairs, which can be a pain when I need something that is downstairs, but I'm adjusting and it's a good reminder of how I used to sew all the time and how lucky I am to have a dedicated area for sewing/quilting now.

 I made these string blocks

and then when I was culling my binder of "Quilts I want to make some day"--you know the one that I'd have to live to be 400 to even come close and that's if I would quit adding to it; I found a free pattern that was given out at one of the Shop Hops from years gone by.

It's called Stack of Scraps by Susan Fuquay

These 3 rows are 6.5" wide and 60" long and then you're suppose to put a stripe fabric in between the rows (4.5 inches, I think) and then a wider one (6.5 inches) for the outer borders.  But I'm thinking of making another row or two with the stars. I got tired of making them and put it aside. 

I've been continuing the Zentangling. 

On Sunday, I brought my quilts out of hiding. There is going to be a cedar closet for quilt storage and I wanted to see how many I could fit.

This is a pile of 30!
It's not all of them. 
I refolded them to measure 14 x 35 as I think that's the inside area of the closet.
This stack measures about 40 inches high! 
Reminds me of the story The Princess and the Pea!

I started the Schnibble Winter White but couldn't find where I had put the pieces.  I found them finally yesterday and this afternoon I had a flimsy.
The fun continues.

LCQA Progress

For all my whining about not piecing more tops, here is my design wall.

Edit: 9/1/11 apparently I deleted the original picture from my computer so I don't have LCQA design wall picture, here is a picture of it a few months later fresh off the frame.
blog and learn, blog and learn!

In my defense *wink* finishing this quilt is on my "Official 2011 Quilting Goals" list.

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I finished a customer quilt today, using a new to me e2e design I'm calling Wiggly Greek Key. I practiced on paper and my white board for awhile to get the size and how to get the direction worked out.

  I LUV the texture is gives and it was a fun to do.

I'm thinking of doing it on one or both of the 2 donation quilts; help cement it in my memory. 

the front

the back

I used Connecting Threads "Tea-dye" in top and Bottom Line "Taupe" in the bobbin.  I like the back as much as the front.

And in a rare moment of organization, after I got it done I loaded my sample piece and stitched out a little ex. of it.

And now to watch the Penguins....losing 4-0 in the 2nd.....OH MY. :(

....by the time I spell checked this the score is 5-0  BLAHHH.

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HAPPY EASTER!

I'm ready, I think

and if it's not done, it's not getting done.  I enjoyed baking cookies yesterday and I finished today.  The food it bought, the few gifts we have are wrapped and under the tree.  My very own quilt is fresh out of the dryer and I can't wait until this evening to sit under it and maybe finally finish The Hour I First Believed  by Wally Lamb.  It's taking me forever to read and it's good.  It looks like Otis approves; it's good for napping.

Last night I stayed up way too late and made 2 quilt blocks.  I'm going to make a BOM quilt this year. I saw it on Shannon's blog a few weeks ago.  

I bought background fabric for it last week, a light brown batik, but when I started pulling from my batiks the brown was not giving me enough contrast so I nixed that.  Amazingly, *wink* I had enough of another lighter batik already on the shelf that will work fine.

The pink one is November's block, but it was a bit more challenging so I made December's block (purple one) first. 

I've made a little process on the strings quilt too.  I need to go and organize the sewing room and maybe make a list of my ufo's and new projects etc. 

Today I quilted the Black,white & Red quilt. I need to give it a name. I did an all over what I call "water ripples" using black thread. Here's a close up picture, I hope you can see the quilting. I really liked how it turned out. The colors are not true, the whites are pure white-not off white or cream as they appear here.

 

Tonight was my book club meeting.  A couple of us went to dinner first and then to Panera's for the meeting. The book this time was Tallgrass by Sandra Dallas.  It was a good book, nothing earth shattering, but I liked it.  We had a really good discussion which was nice.  Sometimes it's not a good discussion and I think I should have just stayed home. (I get cranky like that occasionally!) *wink*.  

After I got home from the meeting, I finished the B,W and Red quilt and unloaded it. Then  I loaded a baby quilt that another friend dropped off today, she's run out of time to quilt it herself and wants to have it done before Thanksgiving to take to her daughter who is pregnant with their first grandchild, so I told her of course I could do it. I was just going to load it for tomorrow, but I'm up anyway so I quilted that too.  It's done.  She'll be surprised when I call her tomorrow.