Baby Shower...

Like I posted earlier, a colleague at work is having a baby girl.  I made a Bliss rag quilt, a diaper changing thing (with a hand towel and some Bliss) and a hooded towel (made with a towel and washcloth).  A teacher at a previous school gave me a couple of hooded towels for my son when he was born.   I thought it was sort of silly, but I used them for years...until they fell apart!  Here are my gifts....

What else have I been doing?  Well, I pulled some fabric for my Valentine quilt.  I might start on that this weekend.  I think the Christmas quilt along is coming up...I should look at all of that as well.  Anyhow, I did get something done this week!!  The purple/aqua quilt was mailed to the quilter, so that is off my plate.  Wow, I can't wait to see what I do this weekend!!  It is a 3 day weekend in Nevada (Nevada Day is celebrated Friday) and then the kids get Monday and Tuesday off as well for Staff Development Day at our public schools.  Unfortunately, Ryan has a doctor appt. on Monday so I will have to miss one day of Staff Development (awww...shucks...;-D) and I'll just stay home and quilt until the appt.  So I'm getting a 4 day weekend...Ryan gets 5 days off in a row!  You should see the happy dance around here....

Finished the TOP!

Oh my...I finally finished the purple/aqua top.  It it for a twin bed so it measures 72" x 96".  8" finished blocks set 9 x 12.  The backing will be put together today and I'll pack it up for the quilter.  ;-D  Yeah, one more project done!!

I'm going to send it to Merri Berrie Quilting in Colorado.  Just a nice overall....maybe some flowers, butterflies, swirls....whatever she thinks looks nice!  Next, work on the Christmas quilt for the Quilt Along...

Tea n Bickies (what is a bickie?)

So this morning was going really badly.  Not that anyone cares, but my ex and I (whom I've posted about previously--the lost quilt saga) reached an impasse regarding sharing the children we had together 10 years ago.  The end result is that I won't be seeing my daughter Allison for the next six years...until she is old enough to get a driver's license and drive herself to my house.  That is totally depressing...and our house is very, very sad for this loss.  Maybe Allison reads my blog at home--if you do, Alli, you can leave an anonymous comment!!!  Then I can get back to you somehow.....Anyhow, let me get past my personal drama...

I was on Flickr--my drug of choice when I want to have some coffee and zone out.  I just watch the pictures of the quilts pass by and I find it relaxing.  This morning, while I was drinking and stewing, I happened to watch a bunch of pictures of an anime quilt roll by on the slideshow.  Personally, I'm not into anime (the Japanese cartoon characters with wild hair, etc.) but my 8th grade students are VERY into anime.  I couldn't help but think how fanastic a quilt for my classroom would be if it were anime themed like the one in Flickr.

So I discovered the lady who made the quilt and her blog....teanbickies. Click HERE to link to the quilt I'm referencing.  Can you believe it?  Look at all the fussy cutting, and the differnt blocks that make that quilt so dynamic--and original--and just plain cool???  I've e-mailed the woman and I hope to get the name of a source for anime fabric.  Should I just check e-quilter?  I've never seen anime fabric in the stores, though honestly, I might have and would have passed it by.  But now I am INSPIRED!!!  Thank you, Clair, for making my day better with your totally amazing quilt.

This brings me to my point.  All you bloggers who think that maybe you are writing for nobody, and that maybe you are wasting your time....YOU AREN'T!!   Lots of people enjoy reading the blogs, and looking at the pictures, and maybe they don't comment (so you think you are alone)--but your are not!  It can be months down the line, after your initial post, before someone goes back and reads through all your posts and finds something, a little piece of info or a beautiful picture, that inspires them to do something awesome.  Keep writing, bloggers!!  You are better than a magazine, better than a book....and FREE.  I love it!!  Thanks.

Bliss Baby Quilt....

So a colleague at work is having a baby girl.  The shower is in two weeks so I didn't have much time to make a regular quilt (and get it quilted) so....a rag quilt!!  I used the Bliss fabric (yes, this did necessitate a trip to the fabric shop for a bit of Bliss--but I swear, I only bought what I needed!!!).  She couldn't decide her colors for the baby's room so I just figured that I'd make what I would want if i were having a baby girl!  LOL....

It still needs to have the ragged edge parts cut and a good washing/drying.  But itsn't it cute??  I'll post a final pic when it is done...along with a couple other things I'm adding for the shower.

Rebecca isn't enjoying piecing the Syracuse quilt.  She has only done the "X" part and the trimming at the end.  Turns out the whole sewing of the body of the quilt isn't that hot.  Apparantly, if your seams aren't all equal then you quilt will be difficult to piece together (rows to rows).  LOL...who knew???  ;-D

Well, it is finally raining here in Las Vegas.  I have to find something, like a coat, to wear and get Ryan in some pants, I think.  Only bad Moms let their kids go to school in the cold rain, right?



Purple and Aqua wonky quad quilt...

OK, they aren't actually wonky squares so I'm calling them wonky quadrilaterals (random four sided figures).  I've been secretly forcing myself to sew each night and guess what?  I'm almost done.  Check it out....

It is on the floor, awaiting the massive pinning this will happen tonight.  ;-D  My goal is to have the top completed this weekend (or week), then piece the backing, and send it off to the quilter!!  Yeah!  It might be done by Christmas...or maybe Valentine's Day???  LOL....

Fall Quilter's Blog Giveaway Winner....

I did the random number generator thing, and counted through all the posts....the winner is....

Linda at Living4Quilting!!  Thank you to all who posted on my blog...I wish I had enough Bliss to give everyone a roll (LOL....like I'm the fabric fairy??!).  I hope you all enjoyed checking out all the blogs involved in this giveaway, I know I did.  It was nice to see some fresh blogs and "meet" some new online people.

I'm sad to see the Bliss go out the door.  Quiltique, my LQS, has every bolt from the line.  It is all wonderful, let me tell you.  Camille Roskelley, one of the designers, is a resident of Las Vegas and she came to the store for a book signing a few weeks ago.  Sadly, I had to hold myself back.... ;-D  But it so beautiful, I'm sure it will be around in a few months when I give up on the moratorium....

Congrats, Linda!!!  I'll ship the roll this weekend....

Syracuse Rag Quilt...Rebecca's Project!

As I posted yesterday, Rebecca is cutting out 6" squares for her Syracuse rag quilt.  This is big for her because I've always cut the squares and she has sewn.  Now, she is going to do the whole thing!!!
Here is her design....She learned how to use EQ!

Here are her little sandwiches all stacked up and ready to sew....

We are off to buy some thread and get her going on this project!  The good news is that it doesn't have to go to a longarmer (we are getting a ltitle too close to Christmas to be playing that game!).

Sunday night she sewed them all together and tonight they are laying on the floor, ready for pinning....

Buddy jumped in to the shot...what a cutie pie!  Well, we have to go pin now, and watch an episode of House on the DVR.  It is looking great, though....:-D