2011 Accomplishments -- Whoop Whoop!

When I was going through my UFOs/kits/PIGS/misc stuff the other day to try and come up with my 2012 UFO Challenge list, I kept wishing I'd kept my 2011 Challenge list to see what I'd accomplished. Then I realized I had blogged about many of them! I went through my blog, and made a list of the things I worked on this year, and I was very surprised at how much I did!  

UFOs finished: 8 (some wallhangings, two large bed quilts, a tabletopper and a bag)  Two small wallhangings didn't get their pictures taken before they left home, and the Egg Money quilt is still on the quilting frame.  It's finished except for the binding, but I'm going to have it done this year, for sure!  

 New quilts: 13  (most were lap quilts, 3 baby quilts, a tablerunner, but there was one large queen size bed quilt)

Quilted for others: 8 (4 comfort quilts, 4 for-hire)  For some reason, two pictures wouldn't come up correctly, oh well.

Misc new finishes:  16 (10 are mini blocks of the month)(totes, blocks for guild, strip baskets)  I don't have pictures of the mini-blocks, or one of the baskets.  The strips in the pics turned into fabric bowl/baskets.

Way to go!  Yay, me!  I did much more than I would have guessed.  (And some I didn't blog about or take pictures of.) In 2012, I hope to keep a much better list, and take pictures of everything.  

Oh, and one last thing -- UFOs created in 2011: 2   I will have Fiesta! and the Lavender Strippy to add to my 2012 to-do list.  Not bad, considering how many UFOs I usually create!

Happy quilting in 2012!!


Now, go see Sarah's page where others have posted their accomplishments, or plans for the coming year.  http://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/

Design Wall Wee Village

Back in January of 2003, when we were living at the farm in Texas, I found an online BOM called "Wee Village."  Anyone else familiar with it?  Here's the premise: back in the deep woods, under the bushes and behind shadows, is a little village populated by wee people.  Every month, a new block was published.  And there was even a Yahoo Group for following the progress.  It grew and grew, and "extra" blocks were created, until there were probably 20 or so blocks by the end of the year, plus an intricate border.  ( I found a link from the original website here: http://www.future-heirlooms.com/wv_gallery/weehouse-index.html)  Since were were packing up and moving during the year, I didn't keep up with the group, I just managed to print out many the patterns, stitched a few, and put the whole mess into a bag.  That bag ended up in the deep dark recesses of my UFO closet. I pulled out the (mostly) completed blocks and stuck them on the design wall this week.  


I'm no longer enamored of the Wee Village, but it will be a cute quilt when I've put it together.  It won't be as complex as originally planned, and I won't make any more blocks, nor make the intricate border.  But I'll try and get this baby done!  Whoop Whoop!!


Go see what Judy's followers are working on, and have on their design wall!  www.PatchworkTimes.com 
  

Whew and Whoop Whoop!

Last year, Judy at www.PatchworkTimes.com offered up a UFO Challenge.  Although I didn't get everything done, I managed to focus on a few UFOs this year and got quite a few done.  (I didn't keep track, wish I had!)  And here's one I started several years ago when a quilt shop in town had classes to work on Eleanor Burns' Egg Money Quilt blocks.  I'm down to quilting the last border and I'm really excited to have it so nearly done.  I should have it finished by next week's Whoop Whoop!


But the biggest accomplishment this week was signing up for Judy's 2012 UFO Challenge.  I dragged stuff out of the closet and off the shelves, made a list, checked it twice, and came up with a dozen UFOs to work on this year.  And I tossed, re-stashed, fondled and became reacquainted with many projects.  Boy, did that feel good! But also a little overwhelming.  So by culling the kits and UFOs, I was able to get the piles into -- hopefully -- manageable projects.  See the lists on the tab above.  Feeling good -- oh, yeah!!  Whoop Whoop!!


Now, go over to Sarah's blog: confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com where you can show off your accomplishments this week!

Judy at PatchworkTimes.com has again organized a UFO challenge for next year.  In the page tab above, I've listed the twelve I'll be working on in 2012.  Please join in, won't you?  Go to Judy's blog to sign up!

Happy and blessed holidays to everyone of you sweet thangs :-)

Quilty hugs,

Brita

Whoop Whoop! Thanksgiving's over!

Did you do the Bloggers' Block-A-Palooza quilt by QuiltDad?  I got off to a great start, kept up with each block.  For six blocks, anyway.  Do you do that too?  Really excited to a BOM or BOW (week), but fizzle out before the end.  Sigh.  I have one or two UFOs suffering from severe fizzles.  Anyways -- I decided I like the blocks I made, so just sashed them and made a baby quilt.  Maybe I should call it Lemonade!

Hope everyone had a happy and fulfilling (heh) Thanksgiving -- we sure did.  Great friends, great food, great laughing jags, great big nap afterwards!!

Go to ConfessionsofaFabricAddict.blogspot.com for more Whoop Whoop! Friday finishes!

Well, foo.  I missed Friday's Whoop Whoop!  I missed Design Wall Monday.  Here it is, Tuesday.  So I'm just here to say "Happy Thanksgiving" to us who celebrate it!  I'm going to be busy tomorrow getting ready.  Two of our fave couples are coming over -- which seldom happens because all our kids live from one end of the U.S. to the other and in between.  And it's gonna be easy -- everyone's bringing a couple of dishes, and I'm doing the turkey.

I did something quilt-y this week, but I'll save it for a post Friday, cuz I'm sho'nuff not gonna be shopping out there!!!!  And here's a little hint of a giftie for someone, I'll bet you can guess what it's going to be, can't you?!?!

I read somewhere that a study of octogenarians showed three traits in common.
1.  Love someone.
2.  Have something to do.
3.  Have something to look forward to.

I wish you all of the above :-D  Have a wonderful, safe, thankful, Thanksgiving!

This and That...

I did accomplish a couple of Whoop Whoops (http://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/2011/11/can-i-get-whoop-whoop-oh-i-wanted-to.html) but not as much as I'd hoped.  One of the guilds I belong to meets at the Welcome Center in a subdivision.  In the meeting room is a huge fireplace in the middle of a long wall, and they borrow members' quilts to hang on either side.  Looks great!  However, they decided to ask members to donate quilt blocks, and one of the ladies is making quilts that will belong to the POA, and will be rotated throughout the year.  They asked me to quilt the first one, and said to have fun playing.  So I did!  I quilted each block differently, and had a blast.  I hope they like it :-D

One of my friends' (PA) mother made several of these Dresden Plate (or Fans) centers, and they were packed away for a very long time.  Some were hand pieced, others were machine pieced, but none were the same size blades, they didn't have anything in the middle, and they didn't lie flat. Another friend encouraged her to try and make blocks and then a quilt, rather than keep them stowed away somewhere.  And so we began....  First we determined they could be salvaged without ripping and re-sewing.  We used the tried-and-true method of  beating them into submission -- hot iron and lots of steam, plus pleats where necessary.  We had to make a few more blocks so that she could make quilts for twin beds, so we rummaged and found more fabrics that looked older (the originals were made probably in the 60s).  We added a center with rickrack around it to each block, and PA stitched them to squares of muslin.  I'm in the process of squaring them up (which is another story in itself) to 18".  These will be wonderful quilts, and she'll get lots of enjoyment having them out on the beds.  Do you have old blocks or parts of blocks hidden away that really should be in use?  I hope you'll think about bringing them out to play :-D

Design Wall Monday 11/7/11

That's a lucky date, I would think, 11/7/11!  Sounds good, anyway.  I've been paper piecing up a storm the past week, and I finally have all the blocks made for Fiesta!  (If you recall, it's a pattern by Possibilities.)  The blocks are on the wall, and will be shuffled and re-shuffled several more times, and I'll no doubt make substitute blocks.  I love paper piecing, and this has been such fun, I might even make the top larger.  The pattern says it finishes to 46" x 64", I think that's kinda small.  Of course, I could always resort to borders and borders :-)

Judy at www.PatchworkTimes.com will be posting other Design Wall Monday blogs today, go see!

The autumn weather is on the Plateau, it's been cold and frosty, with clear blue skies, and it's been dank and rainy, just right for hiding away in my sewing room :-)    Stay warm, y'all!

Another Friday Whoop Whoop!

This is a wonderful tabletopper made by a quilting pal, that I quilted.  The brown/gold/cream Autumn color batiks are so luscious, unfortunately they don't show up as beautiful as they are in person!  I love the pattern!  She had such a clever idea -- the snowball alternating blocks were too plain, so she appliqued the half-squares and four-patches smack in the middle, which added lots of interest.

And I was able to get the gifts quilt finished, and I think it's so cute!  Love the colors, so fresh and modern.  It's going to be tough deciding who gets which Christmas quilt.  Hmmmmm, gotta check the list, ho ho ho!  Edited to add that this is a Kate Spain "Flurry" pattern.  It's easy to make, and comes together very nicely -- when you glance at the directions occasionally.  I had lots of bits left over, but better than not enough :-D  B

 I don't know how time gets away from me!  I just noticed I've even skipped a week of blogging.  I just loaded a quilt for a guild I belong to.   But I want to work on arranging the Fiesta! blocks, now that they're finished.  However, I can't get to both the design wall and the Avante at the same time.  Argh!  I need a bigger house!  Go see Sarah's blog for pictures of other accomplishments this week: http://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/2011/11/can-i-get-whoop-whoop-not-your-usual.html

Whoop Whoop! 10/21/11 and Pattern

WHAT?  It's Friday?!  When I was a career woman, Friday could not sneak up on me.  In retirement, it's totally different.  Or, I should say, the same!  Monday, Wednesday, Friday.  So Whoop Whoop! Friday came unannounced.  But I do have something to be glad for -- I finished quilting a Christmas gift -- YAY!!!  And I typed up the instructions for it, as well.  One problem, though, is I can't seem to scan it in order to include the piecing diagram. So here are the directions, you'll have to look at the picture of the quilt to see how it's pieced.

 ANOTHER FIVE-YARD QUILT

60” Square

(takes five one-yard cuts of coordinating fabrics)

#1 - Large scale focus fabric

#2 - Small print that surrounds focus

#3 - Four-patches and binding

#4 - Four-patches and first small border

#5 - Medium scale focus for center of blocks and outer border

Plus 4 yards for backing.

BLOCK ONE

Fabric #1 - Cut 3 strips 6 ½” wide

Subcut into 18 ea 6 ½” squares

Fabric #2 - Cut 18 strips 1 ½” wide

Subcut into 36 ea 1 ½” x 6 ½” rectangles 

and 36 ea 1 ½” x 8 ½” rectangles

Sew 6 ½” strips on two opposite sides of the 6 ½” square.  Sew 8 ½” strips to the other two sides.

BLOCK TWO

Fabrics #3 and #4 - Cut 3 strips 4 ½” wide

Cut 3 strips 4 ½” wide

Sew a 4 ½” strip from each together.  You will have 3 strip sets that you will then subcut every 3”, this is Set 1.

Sew a 2” wide strip from each together.  You will have 3 strip sets that you will then subcut every 3”, this is Set 2. 

Fabric #5 - Cut 2 strips 3 ½” wide

Cut into 18 ea 3 ½” squares

Arrange and sew as in diagrams for Block A and Block B.  Then sew the top, alternating Blocks A and Block B in a 6 by 6 design. 

Add borders. 

BORDER 1

Fabric #4 - Cut 5 strips 2” wide

BORDER 2 

Fabric #5 - Cut 6 strips 4 ½” wide

BINDING

Fabric #3 - cut 6 strips 2 ½” wide

This quilt has been thoroughly belly-tested by my in-house quilt inspector, Annabella.  

Now, go to Sarah's website for more Whoop Whoop! :-D

http://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/2011/10/can-i-get-whoop-whoop-lazy-week.html

Design Wall Monday 10/17/11

Another step done on the Christmas quilt, yay!  I just made some hst's to add for a border.  Unfortunately, they didn't come out the right size, so I'll have to do an "adjustment" border.  Do I need another outer border?

And I made several more blocks for the Fiesta! quilt.  These are just on the design wall for the picture, they're in no particular order.  Looks like it's going a little purple, need to add some other colors.  The photo really doesn't show the colors all that well.  Maybe next shot, when I add more :-)

Go to Judy's blog for more works in progress, designs on the wall, and great ideas! http://www.patchworktimes.com/2011/10/17/design-wall-monday-9/

Beautiful weather on the Plateau right now, getting pretty warm today, about 79 degrees!!  But starting Wed night it will be in the 30s at night, and only in the 40s during the day.  After the front passes through, it will be sunny, which is perfect weather, as far as I'm concerned!

Whoop Whoop! 10/7/11

After I finished the "Flurry" top, I loaded this onto the Avante.  It's old fabric I purchased years ago from a vendor at the AQS Show in Nashville, one of those five 1-yard bundles.  Couldn't figure out what to do with them!  I mentioned it online somewhere, and a lady graciously sent me a hand-drawn copy of this pattern, which I really love!  Of course, the fabric was bundled with the pattern in the UFO closet for years and years.  Now I really love the quilt, I hope I can quilt it nicely enough for a Christmas gift :-)

Do you longarm quilters have your rulers and templates stored where  you can find them?  I had them stuffed in a drawer, and had to rummage around trying to find the one I needed.  (Except the Line Tamer, which has a permanent pocket in my quilting apron at all times!)  As I was in a resale shop the other day, I ran across this cute little CD holder.  Hmmmm.  Wonder if that would work?  Well, yes!  It works great!  Not for the larger circles, for example, but for the little ones that got hidden in the bottom of the pile, this works a charm.  I've asked my dear hubby (now called Captain B. Cool -- LOL!) to mount it on the wall in the Avante room.  Very handy, indeed!

To see other projects that have been completed this week, go see Sarah, here: http://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/2011/10/can-i-get-whoop-whoop-two-down-one-to.html

Oh, for goodness sake...

It just would not go right!  Ever run across one of those patterns?  I checked twice to be sure I had the right fabrics and the right yardage.  But when I went to cut the strips, nooooooo.  Fortunately, I was using unbleached muslin, so I was able to borrow some from a friend.  Oh wait, I guess you don't really "borrow" fabric to use in a quilt, do you?  I studied it all, and the pattern was correct, but I had a bazillion extra parts, and not enough of others.  Guess my brain was not engaged!  You can see where I inserted a piece of fabric to make the borders long enough.  BTW, the border's not really crooked, there are pins underneath on the design wall.  But the top is done, and I'm ready to start quilting!  Guess I'll make mug rugs or tabletoppers from the extra bits.  Go over to Judy's blog here: http://www.patchworktimes.com/2011/10/03/design-wall-monday-october-3-2011/ to see dozens of other "design wall Monday" projects!

Our local airport had an open house on Saturday, and someone took a picture of my hubby in his Glasair II.  It was terribly windy, so he didn't fly it, but it drew lots of attention on the sidelines.  It was a great success, hooray!  Although it was quite chilly, it was much better than last year, when it was hot, hot, hot!

It was a great weekend!

Accomplishments!

I had a busy week, and got some things done!  Not like some of you overachievers, who manage to quilt four quilts, make seven tops, till the garden, do Fall cleaning -- no, I'm not a bit envious and I'm not trying to be snarky.  I'm just in awe of those who get so much done.  But the little bit I managed is happy for me :-)

I finished quilting a top for a friend who is making TWENTY quilts for a homeless shelter!  Now, she's one of those overachievers I mentioned.  I offered to quilt some, and so far have finished a grand total of TWO :-/  Oh well, here's the second one (back and front):

She sent me a low-loft batting, but it really puffed up to look like trapunto, so I didn't quilt anything in the green parts.

The tool apron!  This was what I'd call a prototype, which means I plan to make at least one more, right?  Well, if I do, there are a couple of things I'd tweak, but not much.  This may be just fine. It's loaded up with my Zune (the earbuds go through the back of the pocket and out through a hole in the top of the apron; here, they're draped around the strap), glasses, tweezers and seam ripper, tape measure, scissors (both large, in a pocket, and snips hooked onto the tab on top), etc.  That nasty looking bit on top is the piece of batting with threads I've snipped.

On Friday, a couple of us got together here for lunch and a bit of stitching. I'd wanted to try the "jelly roll races" quilt, which was enormously fun!!!  We gathered about 10 a.m., and finished around 2, with breaks for fixing lunch and eating.  So, I'd guess-timate it took me about 3 hours.  The first part took longest because I pressed seams open and snipped the triangles from the mitered joins.  This is a great project for a stitch-in, for making comfort quilts, or just mindless sewing!

I even started a new project!  I just stuck these on my design wall so I could take a picture.  It's going to have sashing between, and there will be more green and aqua boxes.  I think there will be 16, total.  Another fun pattern ("Flurry" by Kate Spain), very quick to put together.  I found some of her "falalalala" print that I may use for borders, but it's just green and red so might not go as well as I'd hoped.  We'll see.

And here's today's Annie sighting.  I had to put a new basket by my sewing machine -- the old one was too big and took up space on the sewing table.  This one fits perfectly on the top of the drawer section.  It looks too small for her, but believe me, she's been curled up small enough to fit into just half of that basket!  How convenient the designers of the basket left earholes so her hair wouldn't get that "bedhead" look :-D

Design Wall Monday 9/19

If you read blog on 8/29, I said I had settled on making a version of Cinco de Mayo.  I even pulled the fabrics for it.  Yeah, about that...  Instead of Cinco, I decided on Fiesta! by Possibilities.  Cinco is the same blocks throughout, just changing the fabrics.  With Fiesta!, there are six different blocks, and you make several versions of them.  I'm liking that idea a lot.  The picture shows each of the six, which makes an interesting variety.  So that's the direction I'm going.  At least, today :-)

While I was on blogging vacation (since the 29th!) I quilted a quilt for a friend, but since it was virtually the same as the last one, I didn't take a picture.  Simple meandering, which, of course, was perfect for fabric with a camo design!  

I have another comfort quilt loaded right now, but for some reason, the tension keeps getting quirky.  I've tried a few things, even called HQ (which has wonderful customer service -- the tech called me back within 10 minutes!) and it's better.  So I have to work on that this weekend.  There's another one just like it next in line, but I don't think I'll do as much quilting on it.  I'm doing a quilting pattern that Diane Gaudynski calls headbands, and it takes a long time!!  Hard to see, but the green parts look trapunto'd because I've stitched around the inside and outside of it.  Kinda cool!  

Annabella's favorite thing in the whole world is playing in quilts!  Not so much fun when the bed is completely made, with everything flat and smooth.  But when it's all bunched up from sleeping under, taking a nap, or, as here, undone to wash sheets,  Annie goes bonkers!  She gets her mousie and she leaps around, digs under, grabs for meese under the folds, and has lots of quilt to get a toe-hold in order to zoom around on the bed!!  She's so silly.

Apron for Quilting Tools

Isn't this a mess?!?!?  I have my measuring tape, scissors, eyeglasses, a piece of batting for cut threads and pins, and my Zune for listening to audiobooks.  You know those wires that turn into birds nests behind your computer or TV?  Well, I had that going on around my throat!!!  It was scary!!  Talk about a tangled web, well it was all that and more.  My ear buds would get yanked out of my ears when I'd pull my scissors.  And my glasses were always tangled in the cords.  I'd wind up yanking off the whole bunch, untangle it, and cuss. Plus, I'd always go rummaging around the sewing room for my Line Tamer ruler, tweezers, seam ripper, marking pen or pencil.  

So!  Voila!  A solution started emerging in my pea brain, a teeny-tiny little spark of an idea.  What if they were all right there, but separated from each other, so they couldn't wrestle and make knots of each other.  All the aprons I've looked at online, like the one Nancy V. Taylor wears, have big ole pockets, where you have to rummage around looking for your stuff.  So what if everything had its own pocket, kinda like a purse organizer?  

I set out everything I wanted to have within reach. Eyeglasses, tape measure, seam ripper, tweezers, regular scissors, marking pen and pencil, piece of batting for thread and pins, Line Tamer, Zune and scissors on a fob.  One of the worst problems with using the Zune is the cords for the earbuds.  So, what if I put the Zune into its own pocket, with a hole out the back for the cords for the ear buds to go behind the apron.  I've always used a piece of batting on my right shoulder-ish area for thread snippits, so that was a consideration.  So I drew out an apron shape on paper, drew pockets for all the parts, then finally traced the real tools and cut them out of paper and laid them out on a real piece of apron fabric.  Which, by the way, is a piece of light weight upholstery fabric that won't sag or rip easily.  I cut the pockets from a piece of home dec fabric, adding a seam allowance, turned under the edges, and sewed them onto the apron piece, and -- so far, so good!  Not sure what I want to use for the neck and apron strings.   Oh, I forgot to mention two other little things -- I like to keep my small scissors on a fob that retracts, and I've always hung it on my shirt neckline.  For the apron, I made a little double-folded tab on which the scissors can hang.  And slightly up and right from the tab is a little circle I stitched where I can pull the earbuds to the front, then up to my ears. And I left a space on my right shoulder to pin the piece of batting.

So, there you go!  I hope the idea helps someone else out there who is strangling with tools, or is forever searching for the parts they need!

Now, click the Whoop! button on the left to see some of the things people have accomplished this week, over on Sarah's blog: ConfessionsofaFabricAddict.blogspot.com

Design Table Monday

Dieciocho!   Bless you :-)  Since I'm thinking of Cinco de Mayo for the pattern, I'd personalize it by calling it Dieciocho de Mayo (18 May, which is my birthday). Any Spanish-speaking people out there, feel free to correct me if I'm not using the correct word here!  Pictured above are the fabrics I've pulled for the quilt, using the Kaffe "Paperweight" fabric as my inspiration.  They're stacked and ready to be shuffled into block color combinations. This is my very favorite part of quiltmaking :-)  

Judy has finally shuffled her life around enough to put up her Design Wall Monday, here:  http://www.patchworktimes.com/2011/08/29/design-wall-monday-august-29-2011/  Go see what else is new!

What's It Gonna Be?

"What Would Kaffe Do?" is the name of this quilt.  I had pulled Kaffe fabrics -- oh wait, I call them Kaffe fabrics, but they include Jacob, Brandon, Tina, etc. -- and paired them with neutrals for this pattern.  But even with lots of Kaffes, it was really blah.  Can you imagine?  Yes, it was!!  So I thought, "What would Kaffe do to spiffy it up?"  Well, of course, he would have tossed all the neutrals, the whites, creams, beiges, grays, and inserted more Kaffes!!!!  Which is what I did, and it turned out exactly right.  In fact, I loved the the way the colors played with each other so much -- mustard, cinnamon, lavender, taupe, aqua, purple -- I decided to make another quilt using those colors.  

Then came my second favorite part, rummaging through my quilt books to see where I would use said colorway.  Several years ago, I made a Karen Stone pattern, "Mississippi Wheel of Fortune" quilt, and it's one of my most favorite.  So that's what I would do.  I pulled lots and lots of hand-dyes, batiks, plain and fancy fabrics that would make up another quilt with these colors.  

Wait!  What?  Make up another quilt with these colors?  What the??  I already have a quilt that I love with these colors.  I'm 67 years old.  I don't have time to make duplicates, girlfriend.  However, as I was going through my stash looking for "that Kaffe colorway" I ran across this piece.

Not my colors, not even close.  I'm usually drawn to sunny, warm, tropical colors, and this is not.  But it spoke to me.  You understand, right?  Our fabrics speak to us quilters, and if you're not a quilter and are still here, please know it's not a bad thing, or a weird thing, it's just how we do business.  So I started to pull new fabrics.  Pastel fat quarters I bought a few months ago because I didn't have any (which I consider the very best reason to buy fabric, after #1: I loved it!).  Some dots and stripes.  And bits of orange -- see that tiny bit down at the bottom?  Just right!  

But while I was thinking "Cinco deMayo" (by Karen Stone also), I just wasn't completely sold.  So here we go again -- stop, reverse, do a 180, change of plan!  Lady Liberty Goes to Hawaii, yeah!  I love the pattern, and while I know I'll change around the blocks, that's where I'm headed this week.  

Now, I have to go arrange fabrics, start putting them into piles for each block, and copying foundations and cutting pieces.  I'm so motivated, ready, eager to get going on this!!!  Kinda like I was last week when I pulled out my UFO kit for "Rancher's Daughters."  Or this week when I gathered my hand-dyes for a Ricky Tims' Rhapsody.  Yeah, like that.  Except this time,  I'm really, really going to make this quilt!  The others will simply have to get back in line and wait awhile longer.

This Week -- Whoop!

This week (see my post of the 22nd) I made a block for our guild's president, quilted a top and resumed work on a Christmas quilt .  Which got no further :-/  Because I dragged out this tote -- yummmmm.  

In this tote, I have my collected bits and pieces of hand-dyes and not-exactly-hand-dyes but that will go with this project.  I've wanted to make a Ricky Tims' Rhapsody quilt ever since I first saw his Fire Dragon quilt.  Oooooo, it's totally DRAMA!

And I started quilting this comfort quilt that a friend made to be donated via one of the local guilds.  It may be a veteran's quilt, and with these colors, I decided to do some geometric ruler work throughout the center, with wavy designs on the borders.  More details later :-)

All of which caused Annabella to crash on top of my Kaffe Fassett quilt, zzzzzzz.

Suddenly, I'm seeing trees turning color!  And while the temps don't agree, I'm thinking autumn.  My favorite season!  What's yours?  And do you make quilts to celebrate the seasons?

Go here to see what some fab quilters have been up to: http://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/2011/08/can-i-get-whoop-whoop-tis-season.html

Pitchin' a Hissy!

This was an unusually productive weekend, and boy does that feel good!  Seems so often I wind up piddling away the day. Piddling?  Yes!  That reminds me to tell you about a book I'm "reading" via my MP3 player -- it's called "Hissy Fit" by Mary Kay Andrews.  It sounded like something fun to listen to, a change of pace from my usual mysteries.  And I love hearing the book because the reader uses a wonderful Georgia accent, and with the fun expressions, I found myself "tawkin' Suthen" again!!  In a darlin' little local boutique, I saw a sign that said something about getting results by pitchin' a hissy fit.  Anyway, I surely do recommend this book!  (I grabbed the picture from Amazon, btw.)

And listening to the book had me in such a good mood, I got busy in the sewing room. First thing, I cleaned up my sewing that I had royally messed up with threads, scraps, rulers, templates, books, etc. while I was finishing my last quilt. Then I got to work!  

My friend had made a Turning Twenty quilt for a guy who specifically requested camo fabric and browns.  So, of course, for the quilting she suggested a meander, which worked out perfectly!!  I hope she's happy with it, I am!  

In our quilt guild every year, we ask our president to suggest colors/patterns that she likes, and the membership makes blocks for her as a thank you.  This year the president asked for any pattern, using white and blues.  This block is called "Card Basket" that I used from Quilters Cache.  Are you familiar with that website?  She has blocks listed by size or by name, and I've never seen another site where you can find them all!  And she has the directions for them all here:  www.quilterscache.com  Be prepared to spend much time browsing!

This panel, "12 Days of Christmas" by Nancy Halvorsen, Benartex, has been aging in my UFO tote bin  shelf  closet for awhile, and I realized it's time to start making Christmas gifts!  So far, I added 5" blocks all around, a stripe border, and now I have these squares cut to make either half-squares or hourglass blocks for the next round.  Shhh, don't show this to anyone, tho, it's gonna be a gift :-) 

We will have had Annabella the Ragdoll for one year on 9/11, and she's about 20 months old.  We were told she'd continue to grow for 3-4 years, and her coloring would continue to darken during that time. Looking at a video taken about a month after we got her, she's changed quite a bit.  She didn't have a ruff around her neck, or the thick pantaloons that she has now, and she has darkened a little.  We're so happy we have her in our life!