Yoo hoo! Remember me?

I know! I've been an absentee blogger. I'm sorry. After 6 weeks off following my surgery, I had to go back to work. Boo hoo. One of my 'to do' tasks that I wanted to get done a few weeks ago was to hang up some of my mini quilts and wall quilts. Well, I finally got to it today.

I used Command strip hooks (these are the ones that stick on the wall and you can remove them without damaging the wall. I have small dowel rods on the backs of these quilts but I don't like how the hooks show at the top so I'll have to put some other hanger on the back of the quilts.

The top mini is the little landscape I made recently. The bottom one is from one of my Wild Thread friends, Shirley. Isn't it fabulous? It was for our summer mini swap and isn't it perfect for summer. I love how it looks on my red wall too. That border fabric is very cool. This is how they look from a distance. Boy! I really need to work on how I arrange these shelves. Well, I guess I'll just put it on the 'to do' list. Hardy har har, wonder when that will happen.

This is a little quilt I made on retreat last year. It's a woven quilt from Anna Faustino's book. It was great fun to make and I used a great tie dyed fabric for one of the woven fabrics. I really like the effect it gives. I saw this on the cover of a quilting magazine a few years ago and HAD to make it. There are over 1000 one inch squares. Thank goodness for strip sets! I designed the border myself. I am always pleased when I put some effort into the borders, I just wish I would put in that effort all the time. That sounds like a good resolution for next year. Hope I remember it.

My friend, Kathy, made this wall quilt. She used Shiva paint sticks to make the inner blocks after making her own stencils. She made it as a gift for someone else but I was doing some serious coveting so she made a deal with me. I made an adorable Bunny pillow from a free pattern on Kelly Wulfsohn's blog, Don't Look Now. Kathy was nuts about it, so we traded. Win-win!

The last three photos were taken of quilts hanging on yellow walls. I really need to work on my photography skills because I don't see any yellow at all.

I promise another post this week. I am going to give y'all a progress report on my New Year's resolutions. How do you think I'm doing? Will I make it? It's the halfway point but I won't have as much time once I start making things for the holidays. I need to get cracking this summer. How are you all doing with your quilting resolutions? You made some didn't you?

Harvest of Hydrangeas (and a winner!)

I love hydrangeas. Not only are they beautiful but they also bloom for months. Last year I must have trimmed one of my bushes at the WRONG time. Not one bloom on that bush last year. Not ...... even....... one! But check it out this year! It's the big one on the left. I didn't touch it (or any of the others) this spring. This makes me want to just surround the whole house with these babies. There are more out back and a couple smaller bushes in the front. Purty, purty, purty!!!

Okay, okay, how about a winner?! Who wants a couple potholders? The winner is...... Michele who happened to be the first to comment. Congratulations Michele! Email me your address and let me know if you choose the fish, the wonky churndash, or the woodland critter potholders and I'll get them right to you. Have a great Father's day everyone!

Helloooooo from the Outer Banks!!

Check out this awesome view! This is where we had dinner last night, and while we ate we saw literally dozens of dolphins swim by. This is the deck of our rented beach house in Kitty Hawk, NC.

Holy smokes! This might be the best beach house we've ever rented. It is right on the beach and has that fantastic deck.
This is the view looking north.

All day today we just went in and out from the beach to the house. It's so nice to be able to leave the chairs, towels, and umbrellas out on the sand. And who wouldn't love the sound of the waves 24/7. Yup, this is my idea of a perfect summer vacation.

And what else do I love? All the new 2 piece bathing suits with the little skirts for bottoms and the tankini tops. Ooooooh yeah, I feel so comfortable walking on the beach in my little skirt. And I love sipping wine on the deck watching the waves roll in. And ice cream of course, I always love ice cream.

Don't forget my giveaway. Have a great day everybody!

No Way!!!

You call this a giveaway? Only 3 comments and one of them is Mr. 9patch. He asked if he was eligible to win. (I said yes but he really isn't, tee hee) So this is my plan. We leave for the beach tomorrow morning for a week. I think I'll extend this until we get back. Meanwhile I'm going to leaves comments all over blogland and see if that brings a little action over here. I know I have readers that don't comment (that used to be me, a lurker), come on now, you can do it.......just a few clicks.
Every kitchen needs one or two new potholders. I know mine does. And who doesn't like getting a little package in the mail? I know I do. Talk to y'all soon!

Wanna win sumthin?

That's right people! This is my 99th post, so the next one will announce my '100th Post Winner'!! So if you want a chance to win a pair of potholders, all you have to do is leave a comment. No linking, no questions, no blogging. Just say 'hi' and you are in. On Friday I'll pick a random winner and he/she can choose between the fish, the woodland critters, or the wonky churn dash, and I'll send a pair of potholders.
We had a whopper of a storm tear through here on Friday and it blew down several BIG trees. Actually one of the trees, which was at least 2 feet in diameter, just snapped halfway up. Yikes!! We wonder if there might have been a twister. Run Auntie Em!! Another tree not only pulled down our power lines, it actually RIPPED all of the lines and the big box right off our house. We had live wires in the yard (sorry kitties, you are NOT going outside). The electric company sorted out their wires and got our power back on after 24 hours. Out here, no power equals no water which is the WORST! We're still without internet or cable. I'm borrowing my mom's internet right now. I'm waiting for the cable guy now so cross your fingers.
While the power was out, I decided to play with some shiva paintsticks I got a while back but never tried. I also have some rubbing plates so I just cut some random squares and played/learned. Below is my design wall with all the squares hanging to dry. I discovered that I definitely do better on certain sides of the plates.
These two squares used the same plate, much better on the left don't you think?

Again, same plate. I like the right better, it's a cleaner design.

I don't have any ideas of what to do with these, so if you have a suggestion, feel free to share.

There was a dreadful 'shiva paint' mishap while I was playing. I don't know how I did it but I got a glop of blue paint on a quilt top. Right before the power went out, I had sandwiched and pin basted the xmas block of the month I worked on last year. You can see it here. It's an awesome McKenna Ryan design and I can't believe I actually made it. Somehow I got blue paint on a penguin's WHITE belly. Good grief!! All of the jewel tones in that quilt and I only mess up the bright white. I'm going to embellish the quilt with beads and whatnot so I guess that penguin will have to be holding something.
So don't forget my celebration giveaway. I don't get too many comments so you have a good chance of winning, but if you want to pass the word around, I won't complain.

Adios until Friday!!

My exciting news!

Remember this? when I had a little adventure in 'art quilting' and used found materials? Well, I sent the little quilt to AAQI for the Alzheimer's auction months ago. I got an email with it's number (4815) and was told that it sometimes takes a while for them to get an assignment. Some of them are priced and go up for sale and some go into the monthly auctions. I've been checking now and then and little 4815 stayed in the 'Waiting for assignment' section month after month. This week when I checked, I couldn't find it. Not for sale. Not for auction. Not waiting. There's a section for quilts that will be going to Houston. Wow, I thought! That would be awesome. Nope, not there. Then I saw another section, Quilts under consideration for "Alzheimer's Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope". It's there!!!! 50 quilts will be chosen by June 15 to be part of this traveling exhibit to raise awareness for Alzheimer's. They will travel for 5 years then go up for auction. Holy smokes! Little 4815, 'Tearful Broken Heart' might be hitting the road! Cross your fingers for it. I will definitely be making more little quilts for this worthy cause. Check out the website, there are lots of quilts to see. And don't hesitate to make one, their size makes them so quick and fun.

Potholder fun!

It started when I fiddled around making a couple wonky churn dash blocks. There have been so many potholders around the blogging world that I couldn't resist playing. I chose to use grommets instead of making loops for hanging. I was so nervous cutting the holes, worried the grommet wouldn't work and I'd make a big mess. But, success!! (I did practice a few times first.) Then I figured I would go ahead and use the wonky 9 patch blocks. Here are some little woodland critters potholders.
I just can't stand how CUTE this hedgehog fabric is.

And then! Yesterday I got a Wisteria catalog in the mail and they had 'fish shaped' hand towels. That got me to thnking and this is what happened. Fish potholders. I ran out of grommets but these fishies will have grommet eyes soon. And I think I'll put rickrack on the top one too. You would not believe how long it took me to draw this simple fish shape. It was torture! I finally got my hubby to help me. Good grief!

I couldn't resist taking this picture. It's by the door in my sewing room. I always wear shoes into the room then kick them off to sew. Slowly, slowly, all of my shoes end up in there. I'm not sure where the other red slipper is though. I guess I'll have to start crawling around looking under fabric scraps. I'm closing in on 100 posts! Wow! Tomorrow I have some exciting (I think) news to share and I think I'll announce a giveaway too. Sew long!

Something VERY Rare!!

Check this out. I actually marked a quilt before quilting. I'm not a fan of marking (I'm lazy, remember?). I used a pounce block, a stencil, and magic chalk. The magic chalk disappears with heat. It worked well and I'll probably do it again. I had a few flashbacks though while I was using it, of grade school and clapping the erasers at the end of the day, cough, cough. So here it is, all done, my first gift quilt of 2010. Do you see what I see? When I look at it, I can't help but notice that the zigzag rows start pointing down and end pointing up. It's not a big deal but I think the quilt might look better if those rows ended pointing down.

And here's something else I whipped up. The Wild Threads are having a little summer mini quilt swap so I made a little landscape quilt. Actually, I made two.
Now I can keep one for myself. They were fun and easy. Maybe I'll try a little beach landscape next.

I fiddled around today with some Michael Miller fabric. Are those hedgehogs cute or what?! I started with the idea of making potholders. I still might but I'm just gonna stop for a short while to decide if I should make a little crib quilt instead. I made the 9 patches by layering the fabrics, cutting them wonky, and then shuffling the pieces. Quick and easy!

I did some other fiddling around today but I think I'll wait until I'm finished to show you what I did.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day everyone! Remember all those who have served for us.

Oh yeah! Getting stuff done!

Look what I finished yesterday. It's been waiting for 4 years. Enough was enough and yesterday I got serious and GOT IT DONE!! I skimped a little on the quilting in the border but the rest has plenty. Sometimes I get so excited about a finish that I get impatient with the quilting. I'm not proud of that but I have to tell the truth, I'm just an impatient kinda gal. I figure I can go back and fill in a little if I want. This spot over our bed was begging for something. I had a different wallhanging before we got this bed but it was too long and fell behind the headboard. I had fun stitching veins in the leaves. That's about the extent of my drawing ability.

If I had courage I would free-motion leaves in the border but I need to practice that first.

Check out what I did this morning. Remember this post? I finally put a new cover on my Big Board ironing surface. This was a twin sheet that was barely used. I put a little drawstring on it to hold it in place and I can remove it for washing. Yay! I used the rest of the sheet as backing for this quilt. This is the zigzag quilt that I had on my design wall for a long while. I finally got it together and it is going to be the first of my 'just in case' gift quilts. Remember my New Year's resolutions? One of them was to make at least 3 quilts to have on hand for unexpected events such as a sick friend or a special thank you. As you can see, I have no quilting in the border yet. I did some straight line quilting in the body of the quilt and now I have stalled. Any suggestions? Since it's a solid color, any quilting will really stand out so I need to be realistic about my abilities. BUT, it's also a great opportunity to try something new. I enjoy putting on binding and doing the handwork, and I'm at the point when I can't wait to get to it, so I'm trying to exercise patience and perseverance. I want to do right by this quilt. I also need to get to work on a couple more to keep my resolution. I think in June I will post a 'Resolution Progress Report'. I am feeling good about the UFO's I've got done. I'll show them all to you.

Meanwhile, I have to go clean out my daughter's closet. She's in college and has her own apartment now and I plan to slowly, slowly inch some of my stash and batting etc into her closet. I boxed up some stuff, like wools, flannels, and homespuns, that I don't use often and I can keep it in there. Wish me luck, her closet is scary messy.

G'day y'all!

A finish or two, and more in the works!

I wanted to make a little friend for my Bubbles pillow, and here she is! It's gloomy today so I couldn't get the colors right in the photo, but it's close. And here they are together on the couch! Making friends.

And their backsides too! I love using shirts for the backs. It's SO FAST! and tidy.

Last week I finished my portrait. I posted about it over on the Say Cheese! blog. Check out everyone's portraits over there.

This was a very new experience for me. I don't think of myself as artistic so I'm thrilled that I pulled it off. I started with a photo of myself, enlarged it, traced parts, and took it from there. Noses are tricky and I'm not certain of my thread painting skills so I just did little slivers. It worked out ok. And it's possible that little birdies are becoming my trademark. We'll have to wait and see. Yesterday, I worked hard on a UFO that I've had for 4 years. Yup, FOUR years. And I
mean to finish it this week. Oh yeah, baby!! I better get off this computer and git back to work. Toodles!

I'm a Winner (again!) and a correction.

My happy little pillow, Bubbles, won a prize at Brown Paper Packages in the SYTYCQ contest. I actually had a little competition this time and still won. Yahoo!! Now I have to make a little correction: Quilt Dad did make a pillow like this but I used Ryan's tutorial to make this. Guess I got my guy quilters a little mixed up. Sorry Ryan!! I have some fun things to show you this week. I promise some more regular posts. I do, really, no fooling! Stay tuned peeps!

Alive and well!

I'm alive! Actually starting to feel human too.
Look what I finished. I finally cut into my Cherrywood fabrics and made a runner using a Kathie Alyce pattern and template. It's hard to tell in my photos but the wall color is a pale lime, spring green. I LOVE it! It's so clean, fresh, and bright.If you have never had any Cherrywood hand-dyed fabrics, you should consider getting some. They cost more than a few pennies but, my gosh, the colors are rich and gorgeous.

This was a fun and easy pattern to 'whip up'. Using the template, and following Kathie's directions, it was easy to get the curves to go together. I have wanted to do some quilting like this. All lines. I followed the curves in the pattern and just 'eyeballed' each row of stitches. No marking. I am really kind of a lazy quilter. But I do love how this turned out, and I'm thrilled with it in my front hall. So mod in my frumpy old house, lol.

Hopefully, I will get some more finishes done in the next few weeks. Woo hoo!

This is your e-vite to my Pity Party!

Only mostly joking!! I had some surgery last week and I am disappointed in my recovery. You know you're a quilter when............you hear, 'you need to have that surgically fixed.' and you think, 'yahoo! time off for quilting!!'. Just think what a quilter can do with 6 weeks away from the 'real' job! Anyway, I'm sorta creeping around the house planning for better days. AND, guess what?! I am almost to 100 posts! I think I'll have a giveaway to celebrate when I get there. Hmmm? What should it be? I made something cute last week, a drawstring bag to take to the hospital with me for my toiletries. The housekeeping lady went nuts over it and now I'm making her one for her church collections. Maybe I'll whip two up (that is when I can whip up anything) and then I can fill one up with goodies for one of my bloggy friends. Well, stay tuned folks, I have a few posts to go then I'll have a bit of fun for you.
Meanwhile, here are a few pictures of some Baltimore fun. Every spring the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore has a big Kinetic Sculpture race. My friend, and fellow nurse, Tony, has entered for the last 5 years. This year his float was 'Chessie' (the Chesapeake Bay equivalent to the Loch Ness monster). Apparently Chessie is not happy about all of the snow that got dumped into the Baltimore Harbor this past February, and she has emerged to roam the streets of Baltimore. Chessie has 99 styrofoam teeth (one has a gold grill!), a jaw that opens and closes, eyes made from garbage can lids, and a LOT of glitter!! Also, there is a little blue/purple poodle dangling in front of Chessie. I think it's to try to entice her back to the Bay.
Look carefully in her mouth and you can see Tony who powers Chessie with a bicycle.

This is another of the floats, the Candy Haus. Those big lollipops were used as paddles as the float entered the harbor for the water feature. The race was great fun. My husband and I
sat in the sun and watched all of the floats as they entered the water and attempted to get out by their own steam. After that, the race headed to Patterson Park for the obstacle course and the sand/mud pit. If you are intrigued, google' kinetic sculpture race, baltimore' and read more.

In other news, here is a picture of the cute pillow I got from my friend Chris in the Wild Thread pillow swap. I had to have it because of the ice cream. Oh my gosh, I love ice cream!! I can't remember the last time I had some because I've been on a diet. I think I should get some though. What good is a pity party without ice cream?

And last of all, here's my Daisy napping on the windowsill. We have had some NICE weather. Have you ever noticed how a hot day is like a drug for a cat? She usually sleeps in a basket on the shelf in my sewing room, but this gorgeous day, she couldn't resist the hot sun! Okay, I guess the party is over. Allow me to formally apologize for any whining that may have occurred. Be assured that it was nothing compared to the offline whining, lol. Now, if you will excuse me, I must go adjust my attitude!

I forgot to show you the back of my circles pillow (by the way I am naming it 'Bubbles'). Here it is, I used a men's shirt from the thrift store. It didn't photograph well so I put a pen in the pocket for reference. This picture is a little better. I love the thrift shop!

Remember those silks that I won from 'I Have a Notion'? Here is a scarf I made using some of them. I used a little Kaffe as the lining. I love Kaffe.
My very first yo-yo's, and made out of silk to boot!

I like my scarf. (Try not to stare at the gum in my mouth, it's not polite.) Years ago, I made a New Year's resolution that was a big flop. It was to accessorize more, lol. I think maybe I'll try again.

Circles!! Delicious circles!

Remember this little tease last week? My scraps from a secret project? Welllllll..........

Check this out!! I am completely in love with this pillow. I saw something similiar on a blog (I'm pretty sure it was Quilt Dad) and knew I was going to have to try something like it. Here's my version. I made a bunch of circles and then snipped and trimmed and started building my little masterpiece.
My little love affair with solids continues. The background is shot cotton from Kaffe and the circles are ombre with little scratches on them.

I just feel like drooling when I look at this. I am really thrilled with it. I have an idea for a companion pillow. Not circles. Have you seen any of the ticker tape designs out there? I'll use the same fabrics, just different shapes.

Here's a picture of how I packed my batiks last weekend. Mmmmmm! I love how I can pick through it and see all of my different batiks.

Oooooo, lordy! I just want to drool and roll around with these.

Now, let's see if anyone is still with me. When I was sorting through all of my fabrics last weekend, I found quite a bit of flannel. Check out these pics.
Who can resist dots and stripes?

I'm really not in the mood to make a raggy quilt but does anyone have any suggestions for some simple quilts I can make these into. I've been thinking about just making some kids' quilts with simple squares. What do you think? Any other ideas for a quick and easy quilt?

ps Don't you just love Fridays? I can't wait til bedtime! I sure love my bed!!!! Goodnight peeps.