Last night was guild night and I turned in my challenge table topper. As I suspected would be the case, no ribbons for me. I would have liked a ribbon, but right now it's just good for me to participate and step out of my box and try some new things. The quilts that won were wonderful.

Jan Patek was the guest speaker last night. I have no pictures to share because the camera battery was DEAD. Not even enough juice to turn the camera on. I ate when I do stuff like that and don't check things before leaving the house.
Jan's quilts were beautiful. Lots and lots of applique and "primitive" in looks. Can't stand that word primitive, so I'm going to use whimsical. All of her quilts told a story of some sort, which was great. I commented to my friend that whenever I see quilts like Jan's I want to learn applique. Probably won't happen in this lifetime though. I've taken 4 classes and haven't mastered the concept yet.

Show and tell was great and very motivating. A group of ladies from the guild went to a retreat over the weekend and made over 100 Project Linus quilt tops. That is AMAZING!!! Makes me think that I really need to get busy. Since those quilts are meant to be small, it would be such a great way to use up some of the accumulated scraps.

I had to chuckle this morning while reading Judy L's take on Rules & Customs. I came from the house of rules, some of them crazy. My sister and I laugh whenever we put swimsuits on because we still hear Mom in our heads yelling about cover-ups and how they are an absolute must. Even in college, when the body would accommodate a bikini, I could hardly walk around the pool without being covered up. That cover up didn't attract a lot of guys.
I don't really remember the rule of calling before showing up. That one didn't really surface for me until college. A guy I dated had that rule. Kind of irritated me since that was before the days of cell phones. Later found out he was dating someone else on the side, so I'm guessing that rule was more for his safety.
One custom that has lasted and will continue on in our house is the making phone calls after 9 PM. It's got to be an emergency to call someone after 9 and if it's not, then you apologize and apologize for calling so late and disturbing everyone.

This weeks project will be bags for Brandi. the photographer.

Have a great day!

Entertainment at Lunch

All of my lunch dates were tied up today, so this is how I entertained myself while eating.




Have a great day!

Lots of Strips

I was able to finish 3 tops this week. I know I've said it a million times, but for the one million one time - I love jelly rolls. The first 2 pictures are using Tula Pink's Flutterby fabric from Moda. I was able to use one jelly roll for all the strips in both quilts. I added 1 7/8 yards of other fabric for the big strips. When quilted these will make large baby quilts or just the right size lap quilts. I'm pretty pleased with myself. I like the fact that the tops look completely different based on the 2 main fabrics I picked.

This is Simply Strippy from Bonnie over at Quiltville. For this top, I used a jelly roll that I got from the strip club that I sign up for. Instead of using the pattern that was suggested, I decided the fabric would look better as a Simply Strippy quilt. This one I truly can't wait to quilt. It makes me think of water, so I'm going to have to do something wavy. My little helper had to get in the picture too.


Starting to think that I need to work Peg's Challenge again, since I'm not 5 tops up for August.

Have a great weekend.

Busy Week

I have been busy this week, but all my projects are still in the piece part stage, so I don't really have anything fun to show...yet.

Below is a picture of the quilt my mother in law did that I quilted. I ended up doing a stipple on it. I tried to use one my pantographs, but wasn't having much luck. The stitches kept skipping and I just wasn't pleased. I figured if I did an all over stipple, then I could stand on the front and see what was going on with the stitches and eliminate the removing of stitches.

Just have to share this picture of Grace. She went to preschool this morning with pony tails. Her hair is FINALLY long enough that we can get a little pony in the back or 2 ponies on the side. The way she looked this morning just made me have to take a picture and smile.

I hope to finish up a couple tops this weekend, so I will have some photos to share.

Have a great weekend.

Projects

No pictures to share this morning. I have been sewing like a crazy person though. Hopefully tonight or tomorrow I will have something for show and tell. Over the weekend I managed to get a quilt quilted for my mother in law. What a relief. I have been sitting on it since January, so I'm sure she was convinced it was lost in the depths of the "cave". Grace and I will deliver it to her this evening.


Last night I got the wild hair to pull out a couple simple jelly roll projects. Have I shared how much I LOVE JELLY ROLLS. I know some people think they are a waste of money, but I love them. I love have a whole line of fabric in my hands. I love not having to cut 2 1/2 inch strips. I love that the 2 1/2 inch strips are straight and don't have an L in them like mine normally do. I just LOVE jelly rolls. I also love that with a yard or 2 of extra fabric, I can get 2 good size lap quilts from one jelly roll.



So, I found a pattern (above) by M'Liss Rae Hawley in my new 2009 Quilt calendar that I just picked up. It caught my eye because I knew it would go together fairly quick, which truly is the case. I can hardly wait to get it finished up tonight.

Well, I better get busy. Have a great day.

Olympics

What is up with all the controversies going on in the Olympics? The Chinese seem to be too young. The boxers are up in arms. The wrestlers are ticked about who won the gold. I keep thinking to myself, it's sports. How is it that the Olympics are making the world a better place to live? Solving world hunger? Fixing pollution and energy issues? Don't get me wrong, I'm sitting glued to the TV like the rest of the world. In the back of my mind though, I keep thinking that this way we (people in general) are always fighting and can't seem to get along.

Holy crud!

OK I'm off my soap box. Have a great day!

WIP and Stuff

This is the Work in Progress that I'm attempting to finish in between watching the Olympics, working and running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I'm very excited with how it's turning out. The pattern is 10,000 Pyramids. It was a strip of the month quilt from Harpers (LQS). It will have 2 borders when it's finished.

Okra, lots of okra. Yesterday I tried pickled okra and liked it so tonight I decided to try and pickle some myself.

This is the fruit of my labor. Doesn't seem like a lot for all the work but I'm anxious to see how it turns out. The recipe I used said I'm supposed to wait 6 weeks before opening. WOW, that's going to seem like a life time. I don't do a lot of canning. I've done salsa and no one got sick, which is a good thing. Hopefully the okra pickles and is very tasty. I'm hoping to get some salsa going also.

This is going to be my next project. It's yet another top from Strip Club at Harpers. I LOVE the bright colors, so I can hardly wait to cut into the fabric. I keep trying to convince myself that I need to finish some things up, but I don't know if I'm going to be able to wait.

TTFN, have a great day!