Squared Insanity

I'm having a happy day!  It all started with this and the fact that my hubby was going to be out of town for 10 days.  It has been years since his job has taken him away for that long and I was concerned that I'd either be bored or lonesome.  No better time to start a new project, huh?  And the perfect time to attempt something that you thought you'd never try!!  First, I scoured my basement for the perfect fabrics and started cutting away:

Next, I had to discover the perfect size middle piece for the eventual blocks, so I wasted the first bunch of squares, but it was a lesson well learned:

Next, I had to determine how many blocks I'd need. (I was going to do some for the back too, but after I discovered how long it took to make a bunch of these, I canned that idea in a big hurry.) LOL

Let me tell you, I was working on those blocks day and night and getting mighty tired of doing the same thing over and over again. (Think a little ADD here, maybe???? Duh!!) Anyway, the weekend flew by, and soon I wasn't even answering the phone, I was so consumed to finish. This quilt was taking longer than any I had EVER done and I couldn't wait to put it together. But, when I did........I was perplexed on what to name it so I waited two whole days to post it to Flickr. I do think that I did come up with the perfect name though...because it did drive me a bit insane. I'm proud to show you, "Squared Insanity"...which made the Front Page of EXPLORE today. YEAH!!!!!!! I'm standing here doing the happy dance, I'm so excited!!

Placemats Anyone?

I'm telling you, I should have stock in the "Steam a Seam" company for all that I've been using lately.  I joined another swap and naturally had to buy, buy, buy so I had enough!  I think prior to this, I had only made placemats once in my life and they (naturally) were the normal kind where you'd make 4-6-or 8 all matching.  Not for this swap...oh no!  I did eventually make 8, although 3 of them were duplicates.  One of them even made the Explore pages, but I'll let you guess which one.

That's the one I sent to my swap partner. Isn't her daughter adorable? (Those are supposed to be whimsical spiders although they look more like aliens crawling among the spiderwebs, I think.) Here are the rest of them:

Which one is your favorite??

  

Fun Mail

This has really been a fun week.  I got a darling Halloween mini quilt from my swap partner, spinstersister, (Jill) and it just love it:

And then, yesterday I got a gorgeous placemat from my placemat swap partner, alexdk (Alex). It's so me!!

I'm having a ball with these swaps. Who knew I'd enjoy it so much??

Kaffe Fassett

I seem to be in love with Kaffe Fassett fabrics lately.  I go to the quilt shop and come home with bunches, it seems....and then, what to do with them (besides just staring at them longingly)? Believe me, they don't stay in my stash very long.......like a week, maybe??  I mean, they're pretty by themselves, but together...WOW!  Who can resist?  I'd LOVE to make everything in all his books....and maybe someday I will order a kit, just to have one original, but until then, I have to do my own thing so I came up with this:

This was made using the "In and Out" pattern by Blue Underground. I have used this pattern before and loved making it. Besides, it's a nice size finished at 55 inches by 66 inches long. A great nap size! Of course, I had to make a back equally as cool as the front (or almost. LOL)

But the best thing of all is the quilting......oh my heavens, my quilt shop does such a nice job...take a look:

See...now you know why I call it "Sunshine Sampler". Doesn't it just scream warmth, and love, and happiness? I think so!!

Happy Mini Monday

Naturally I had to come with something super cute for my first mini swap, right?  Well, here he is....at 5 1/2 inch square, but with a nice O ring so he can be hung immediately in some sweet corner.

Now doesn't he just make you smile???? Have a happy day!!

Carol

Quilters Blogfest

Amy from Park City Girl is having a quilt festival.  I'm not too familiar with all the ins and outs of it, but you can find out here.  I am to post my favorite quilt of all time, and I think I will chose one that doesn't have the best picture, but is my all time favorite.  I made this quilt early this year, while I was still a relatively new quilter (and didn't know anything yet) and copied one that I had seen on Flickr that was made by my now new friend, LauraJay.  Hers was bigger though....(I think.)  Anyway, my husband was traveling when I decided to start this quilt and I just stayed in my kitchen day and night working on it.  I had strings and fabric pieces all over the floor (and me) and was so exhausted by the time I went to bed every night, I never cleaned up until it was completely done.  I never could have made it with him home, especially not with cooking and everything else my daily life brings in my kitchen.   It took me 5 days and I love it!  It has all the colors I adore and I was so proud of myself when I was done that I could do it and make it look good.  Since then I have learned so much, but this quilt will always be special to me.

    

Fruit Basket Upset

Oh boy, I've just been sewing away and not paying much attention to this blog, but I have so much to show you and it's getting so that I better hurry or there will be a big backlog.  LOL  (Like that should be a problem??)  I actually got this quilt back from my marvelous quilter last week, and it's been on Flickr, so it needs to be here too.  I did it with all Kaffe Fassett fabrics using the "Gems" pattern by Blue Underground.  Get your sunglasses, it is bright:

And the back is cool too:

But best of all is the quilting.....soooooo gorgeous:

And, it's the perfect size at 53 by 65 inches. I wonder who will be getting this one????

Only 2 months and 3 weeks until Christmas

Boy oh boy!  Between my hubby and I coughing from this crud that is going around, it seems I haven't been getting much done.  

I took a trip to my local quilt shop the other day just for giggles and saw a darling Santa wall hanging that I thought I could make, but they had sold out at the recent quilt Market in Madison.  Fortunately though, they had the accessory kits for it and that's all I needed since the Santa's were the cutest part of the wall hanging anyway.  I thought by making minis, that they make perfect little hostess gifts for the holidays.  Well, once I started, it seemed as though I couldn't stop.  So cute at 6 1/2 inches by 8 1/2 inches.  Just perfect for some cute little corner!!

Like I said....I couldn't stop with one. I did make 10 but 9 looked better on a picture. LOL

How you doing on your holiday gifts???

Carol