List of things to do...

OK, so I usually just hand write this on a piece of paper and keep in in my sewing area to mock me during the summer.  But now I thought I'd just post it here so that I would sort of make a committment to finish these things by September.

• Finish the charity rag quilt and actually cut the edges--ewww, ick!

• Make a smallish lap quilt out of the layer cake from Urban Chik "Dream On"...sort of stack, cut, shuffle

• Put together all the blocks from my shirtings/fall leaf quilt. 
• Piece the Buggy Barn quilt for behind the dining room table.
• Piece Rebecca's name quilt for her office and finish her Syracuse frog

• 
  
  Bind Ryan's quilt for his bed--queen size
• Do something with a bunch of "Happy" charm squares I bought
• Make the baby quilt from Yoyo Mama for the chartiy auction
• 
  
  Make a few booty bags--one for my sister and one for Allison
• Maybe cut out the cool shirtings for the Halloween quilt??

Maybe that is it?  If I can get that done this summer I'll be ahead of the game....

More rag quilt progress

OK...all the squares are sewn and it is laying on the floor--ready for pinning.  Gwen, notice the numbered tags on the left side of the rows.  I've numbered from 1 to 14 starting in the top left corner.  Then I'll pin the rows.  The tags will help me know which row goes where when I am sewing the rows together.

Also, you might be wondering..."Where is Buddy?"  Well, here he is, sleeping under a quilt...like he does all day, every day!  LOL...I'm off to pin and watch an afternoon movie ;-)  I LOVE the summer!!!

Buddy and Ryan needed some attention...I guess laying on the quilt works!  Though Buddy always tries to lay on the fabric I'm cutting or the quilt I'm binding.  He seems to know that actions like that will quickly get my attention!  Duh...;-)

The rag quilt is "in progress"

I haven't done a rag quilt in about 10 years...mainly because God invented the longarmer--why rag?  I truly hated all the clipping.  But now I'm working on a quilt for charity and maybe ragging isn't such a bad idea?  I don't know--ask me after I've cut all the seams!  LOL...anyhow, here are my little 1930 repro sandwiches ready to be sewn!

I bought most of the 6" squares from an Ebay auction and cut from my stash for the rest.  I am putting white flannel between the layers, cut 6" as well.  But here is the best part....while I'm posting, look who is sewing?!  Yes, that is Rebecca (speed demon sewing...slooooowwww down girl!) working on the sandwiches.  Oh no, a mess up....anyhow, more tomorrow!!

Gwen's booty bag...

OK Gwen, check out these skinny jeans for you bag?  Do you like?

Also, these handle things can grip the ruler to make it easier to cut...supposedly.  I haven't tried it, but I'll give it a whirl today and mail them off to you to try if it makes it any better.

Messy Craft/Hobby Area

So I thought I'd show you part of my shamefully messy craft area (in most homes it would be a living room, but in mine we split it 3 ways--scrapbooking, quilting and Lego/Puzzle/Wii area).

I'll also show part of my stash...the top is mostly cut up vintage plaid shirts (100s of shirts)

Inside the cabinet are projects that are in the "Top 10" in my queue of things to do...

Off to the side is more shirting fabric, and my son's quilt that needs to be bound...and other assorted stuff--what is in all those bins???  Oh yeah, this isn't all my stash.  I have a closet full of fabric in another bedroom....I'll get to that someday, I swear.

But just so that this ends on a good note, here is a picture of the quilt used in the header for my blog.  It is a Buggy Barn log cabin.  By the way, I LOVE Buggy Barn patterns...It is all done in hot colored batiks...

So that is it for today.  I don't have much more because we were on vacation in San Francisco for the week.  I did acquire some really nice Kaffe fabrics at a little shop called Cotton and Chocolate in Thousand Oaks.  How can you go wrong at a store where they sell both quilting supplies and fabric AND chocolate???  Check it out if you are ever in the area....And also I got to shop at New Pieces--a little shop in Berkely with the largest supply of batiks I've ever seen!  Very cool....And The Quilters' Studio, also in Thousand Oaks.  I passed on all of the Goodwill and Salvation Army stores, though, so Rebecca wouldn't kill me!  LOL...

Lost Quilt is found....

So, look what I found....or rather, look what I got back!  This is an interesting story.  Recall that my ex couldn't locate the quilt two months ago (it was at their house for the last five years).  I'll tell you the responses I got when I asked for it back...in parentheses I'll interpret what was really meant
1.  "I don't know what quilt you are talking about" (Oh crap, what the hell is she talking about?  Did I lose it?  Maybe I can convince her that she is wrong/crazy...or I'll just lie right to her face...again!)
2.  "I gave some 4th of July stuff to Marie, maybe it was in with that stuff" (If it was red/white and blue maybe I gave it away??  Even thought I live for the 4th of July??  Oh, I gave away another red/white/blue quilt you made for me 10 years ago....maybe Ryan's was with it)
3.  "I asked Marie and she said she didn't have it" (We laughed about your crazy request and were both too lazy to expend more than 30 seconds of thought entertaining the idea that one of us had Ryan's quilt)
So, being myself, I was looking in Snapfish for some old photos of my kids (unfortunately, not MY Snapfish account...lol) when I happened to see the quilt in the background of another picture...a picture of my ex's new nephew...sitting on the quilt!  What the &%@#*??

There were several pics in the series and I could discern that one of the kids was Marie's...yes, it was the back of the quilt, but it was Ryan's quilt nonetheless.  And you must know that when I first heard that Marie might have the quilt, I sent PICTURES of it to her....and still she claimed she didn't have it.  So now, armed with evidence, I e-mailed it to her and demanded the quilt.  She claimed "Oh, it was mixed in with the 4th of July stuff...I forgot about it".  Really, Marie, you are a liar.  The quilt that you sent back has seen more wear and tear in the last 5 years than any quilt I've ever owned/made.  The double fold binding is wearing thin and has holes in it.   Marie LeJeune from Washington....you were too lazy to look for it when I asked, and while in your possession, you treated it poorly. 
But it is back, and I'll save it for Ryan....I just had to vent about this!

Merrie Berrie Quilting Rocks....

Look what I got back from Merrie Berrie (aka Merrie Martin Jones), a fantastic longarmer in Colorado...

Merrie used to quilt in Las Vegas but now resides in Colorado.  She does lots of mail-order quilting (you mail your quilt to her).  I've got to say that I've always been TOTALLY in awe of her quilting.  You will not be disappointed with her quilting...look up her website and give her a try!!

Also, there hasn't been a picture of Buddy lately...look very closely at the quilt and you will see him...well, a bump that is him ;-)  Chihuahuas are so funny...