Can you believe?

I can hardly believe it, myself, but this.................yes, THIS..........is my 300th post!  I added them all up and that's how come I know!  Who knew I'd ever get to this point when I started blogging?  Not me, that's for sure!  I still have my "Blogging for Dummies" book that bought that started this whole mess, too!  I should have taken a picture of it!  With the amount of computer knowledge I have, you KNOW that this is a miracle!!  Actually getting through that book was a miracle since I didn't have a clue half the time on what they were talking about!!!  (Good thing I have smart friends to help me, huh?  I'm sooooo thankful for them!!  YOU know who you are, you sweetie, you!!!  And for the other one too, who has helped me lots!  And made my awesome blog header.)

I thought we should celebrate!  Dontcha think?  A long time ago, I was blessed with this:

Now, I've thought of various things I could do with all those various 21 fat quarters of red since I got it, but believe it or not, I think I already have most of them in my big "solids" bin which is the size of a small coffin.  (Seriously, I could bury a child in that bin!!  Just ask my friends!)  But, I'm getting off subject.......back to the stack!  I think I will bless a follower with it!  How would that be?  Hopefully, it won't take me a week to get back here to announce the winner.  I don't know what my problem is lately.......although my back has been bothering me and I'm really not sewing much.  I've been pumping Advil like it's going out of style!!  

Just leave a note on what you think you'd make..........maybe you'll inspire me!  I think I need it!  So get your thinking caps on.  I'm sure you'll come up with something good!  

Mismush week!

I surely thought I'd be posting before now, but I've been up to my eyeballs in so many different things, I didn't know if I was coming or going half the time!  (You'd think I was actually busy????  lol)  

First, out of the blue one day, I decided to make strawberry jam.  It is strawberry season in our area right now and the smell of fresh "right from the bush" strawberries, is amazing!  Naturally, I had no canning supplies, sugar, etc. so had to go the store for that stuff first.  Then, instead of wasting time picking the strawberries, I paid $2 a quart more just to buy them already picked.  (Smart on my end, I figured, since I probably couldn't get up once getting down to pick them anyway.  lol)  

Aren't they so pretty?  This was just a few after I washed them.  The rest were still in the sink.  Dummy me forgot to take a pic of the finished jam though and I wasn't about to drag them upstairs again just for that once I got them downstairs.  Too bad the lighting is so bad in the basement.  You'll have to take my word for it!

Then, I have AGAIN been wasting time on the computer (LOT OF TIME) in search of a possible playmate for Toby.  Hubby and I decided that one Havanese was enough, but then when we see him just mope around here with us old people, we think one more wouldn't be too bad.  If I could find one that looks like the one below, I'd jump on the chance!  Look at how cute he is!!

The 4th of July mug rug swap is in full swing and I think I told you that I was blessed with two partners. Here is what I made for Rebeckah (rraustin):



And here is the one she sent to me along with a ton of goodies:



Super cute!  Then today, I received 2 mug rugs from my other partner, Jana (megmormel).  Here is what she sent me:



And here is what I sent her:



I made one more and I'm not sure if that partner has received it yet.......so this isn't in Flickr yet.  Note that I was a bit crazy making this.  First, I cute various triangles (free hand with a scissors) and sewed them all together.  Note the hole!!!  Then, I quilted this as it was.

Then, I took a measurement of the hole and drew a star on a paper to cover it.  I transfered that drawing onto a fused piece of fabric and ironed it down.  Then, re-cut the star a bit smaller and cut another star out of a different fused fabric, ironed the whole mess down, sewed around the outsides and embroidered little colonial knots all over.  I like it!  In fact, I think I like it best of any of them.  I seem to be getting better and better as I continue these 4th of July mug rugs, (if I do say so myself!)  I just might make another one for ME!  Who knows?

Last, but not least, I must post a pic of my adorable Godson (also my wonderful nephew).  He lives in Australia (for all you Aussies out there!)  and works at Murdock University in the study abroad program. What a hunk, huh?  Not only that, but he's a real sweetie!

So, that's it.  That's all I know for now!  I sent off the twin baby quilts yesterday, but I don't think she has gotten them yet.  I know she'll love them.  Thank you all for your marvelous comments.  You are tooooo good to me!!  Have a great weekend!  Stay cool!

Help.....someone take my temp!!

I just had a friend Flickr mail me and ask me if I was nuts!  (This is nothing new, really, so it really didn't freak me out too badly.  I've had this happen alot!.........not the Flickr mail part, but the "nuts" part!)  I mean, I do have a few years on me, so as the years progress, the pertinent question remains (and continues!!)  lol

Actually, I just posted a few photos of the twin baby quilts that I finished and that's what prompted her question.  Let's see if you have the same reaction:







The first picture is of them unwashed.  They were quite stiff and unruly with all that dense quilting (which, incidentally took me 8 hours.....ugh!  I was so bored after the first one, I thought I'd flip to repeat the process on the second, but I did it!)  Then they had to be washed to be snuggly and soft, so the last pic is of them washed and nice.

BUT......this was not my friend's issue.  She asked if I was nuts because these are for the friend of my daughters who already has 3 boys and is pregnant with the twins, remember?  WHITE, she asked???  White?????????  I admit, I thought about it, but I did..........(hanging head in shame here.......but it was necessary due to the color and situation).......machine sewed the binding on them.  I KNOW they will probably be washed to death!!  I do so want these upcoming babies to be girls!  You have no idea!  AND, if they are girls, they deserve something pretty and nice................actually, the mom deserves to have her kids (no matter what sex) have something pretty and nice, don't you think?  After all, how much stuff can look good after already having 3 boys?  SO......that's why I'm nuts!  'Cause the quilts are white!  (At least that's why I'm nuts this time!  lol)  What do you think?

I've been thinking!

My husband hates it when I say that!  He NEVER knows what's coming out of my mouth!  Could be that I've been thinking about ripping out our landscaping and starting over, or painting some room of the house, or going on a diet insinuating that I will revise my current method of cooking scrumptious meals.  (All which have been done over the years, and sometimes more than once!!!)  No, lately I have been thinking about all the whimsical stuff I used to make and how I see so much of it on various pinterest boards.  (I guess that must mean that you like it, huh?)  I especially miss my birds!!  Remember some of this stuff:







And finally my all time favorite:



There have been a few other ones, but I thought you might get sick of seeing them all.  I just picked out the good ones!  (At least the good ones to me!)  These were all commission quilts!  Ya think I do my best work when I get paid for it?  Huh?  I never thought about that before this very minute!  I'll have to ponder that, I guess!  Could be!  I do know that I take LOTS and I mean L O T S more time in choosing fabrics so things are just RIGHT!

Well, anyway, I've been missing the birds, so I think I am (just for the fun of it) going to create some bird designs soon.  I'll probably start with the QT swap.  The theme is "Backyard".  I was going to make a guy diving into a pool.........cause I have one!  (Actually both!  A hubby and a pool!)  But, the birdbath has been calling me too, so I think I might have to revise my thinking!  Stay tuned for that!

In the meantime, I've joined a 4th of July Mug Rug Swap and I was lucky enough to be assigned two partners.  I told them I'd take two if the count was uneven.......after all, what else do I have to do all day but sew?  Hello!!  (I'm so friggin' lucky.......and old........and that's the real reason, you know!!)  Since we know who our partners are, only sneak peeks can be revealed.  Here are mine:





That's all I've done the past two days!  No grocery shopping, no cleaning, no nothin'!  (In fact yesterday I didn't even wear a bra all day..........such a rebel, you know!  Hey, breathing is easer without it.  Try it yourself!)  I do have twin baby quilts to quilt.  I really like them, but haven't a clue how I will quilt them so they're sitting on my dining room table waiting for me.  I think they'll be next!  They're for a friend of my daughters who already has 3 boys, and really wanted to try once more for a girl, but discovered that now she is having twins.  Who knows yet what kind!  She is a bit upset to say the least so I thought I might cheer her up???  (Well, I can try, can't I?)  Although I imagine the thought of 5 boys might get me a bit upset too!!!  Ya think?????  Eikes...........one boy was plenty for me, thank you!!!  So, that's it for today!  Have a great week!  

Just call me, "Copycat"!

For soooo many years (probably as soon as I started quilting in August of 2008 and discovered Flickr,) I have admired the work of Malka Dubrawsky from A Stitch in Dye.  It was probably her use of bright, bright colors all messed together in sort of a organized wacky order that I loved.  I so wished I could dye my own fabric so I could do what she did.  Problem was that I also had so many wild ideas of my own in my head to quilt that had to come out first!  Besides, at my age, I didn't think I would enjoy making the mess that hand dying can make (or so I imagined).  You see, in order to duplicate her style, her fabrics were essential!   Oh, what to do?  Believe it or not, I did order some of her hand dyed charm squares from her Etsy shop that sat on my dining room table for years.  I'd look at them every now and then and wondered what I'd ever do with them.  BUT, then something marvelous happened.  Moda released her line of fabrics!  Oh, I was a happy girl!  I couldn't wait to get my hands on it!

I bought a ton!  You might remember this quilt that I made earlier this year:

That was my first attempt to copy her style.  I gave that one away!  (I give a lot of my stuff away in case you don't know!)  It was the perfect size (24 x 24 inches) for a friend who wanted a wall hanging, and I knew that I'd make myself another one eventually anyway.  So, recently I made this:

NO, it's not the same quilt!  Look closer!  I actually included the original hand dyed charm squares in this one and it turned out the perfect size for my loft wall at 36x36 inches.  I spent forever quilting it with a different pattern in each square.  (I like the piecing part better than the quilting part, can you tell???  lol)

But, I wasn't done yet!  I had to do one more before I moved on:

Nothing like a string quilt with uneven squares, I say!!!  That one turned out at 16 x 18 inches and I was going to use it for a secret swap, but changed my mind.  Actually, the last two quilts are now at my local quilt shop for viewing and to help sell the few remaining yards on bolts still there.  (Until the next bunch comes in, I hope???)

I still have some left!  Can you believe?  Seriously, I went a bit nuts when I bought my stash in February or March, and now I wonder what I was thinking!!  SO.......(and here is where it gets good), I have a deal for you!  I am selling this stack of 18 fat quarters to the first person who contacts me for $54 plus shipping of $6.00...total of $60 (US residents only, please.)  My e-mail address is on the sidebar.  Just think, you too can be a copycat!  These fat quarters, plus some Kona solids to match and you too can pretend to be Malka.......just like me!   

Visitors

I am one happy girl this morning!!!  Not only did our governor win his recall election (in case you're not politically knowledgeable, it was a big deal historically, I guess!) but something else happened this morning that I haven't seen in over 10 years..........or maybe longer and I am super delighted and excited!

Looky...................



Do you see them?  I had to take the picture through the kitchen window with the zoom in order to even get them in the frame...........but they're so beautiful!  (And totally unexpected after all this time.)  We used to get ducks swimming in our pool a lot when we first moved here close to 25 years ago, but things have really built up in all those years and now, not 10 lots away, is a major roadway with fast food places and shopping of all sorts.

You can imagine my delight when they both jumped in the water to take a swim (since they were swimming my way) but then, when they got out, I was thrilled:



I couldn't flash my camera fast enough.  In fact, for some reason, many of the pictures wouldn't transfer to my desktop.



At this juncture, believe it or not, Toby decided he needed to go out........(just when things were getting good!)  I made DH take him for a walk out the front so he wouldn't scare them into flying away.  Unfortunately, they did fly off anyway not long after the front door slammed!  Oh well..............it was fun while it lasted!  Now, I can only hope they'll be back.  Nature sure is beautiful.......especially when it's totally unexpected!!

I'm joining the party!!

You've probably noticed in blogland that there's a party going on!  Seems everybody is talking about Jacquie and Katie's new book.  You might also have noticed that I am NOWHERE on the list of hotshots that should be talking!  Did that stop me?  Ah.........NOT!  You see, I love the book soooo much that I was going to talk about it anyway!  Then, out of the blue last night Jacquie wrote to me and asked if she could use one of my pictures on her blog today.  SO.......I asked her if I could join the party this weekend and brag about her book too.  (Like was she going to say, NO?  Hello!!!)  Now, most of you have been around long enough to KNOW that I don't push books, fabric lines, etc.  Yeah, I have some favorites, and you've heard about them, but a book?  Not so much!  (Probably because I have enough goofy ideas of my own to fill a book or two...........just not enough ambition to write one!!)  BUT, I LOVE Jacquie and Katie's new book, Quilting Modern:

There are so many ideas in this book that I could go on forever!  And, it's not like you have to make the items as they are in the book!  You can just use the concepts and make whatever you want!  That, my friends is the beauty of this book!!!!!!  Just take a look at this next picture:

I so wish you could se the quilting too!  It's amazing!  Not only could you use this concept for a quilt, like the picture, but you could also use it for placemats, doll quilts, and more.  I'm thinking of various colors with white (I suppose you already guessed that though, huh??)  Then there is this:

I already used that concept for one of my latest pincushions and it looks nothing like those pillows!  Look:

But, my very favorite in the whole book is this:

I absolutely ADORE that quilt!!!  I wish you all could see this picture up close!  The quilting is amazing and the concept is so unique!  It's called, "Add it Up" and what an appropriate name!  Wow!  Just WOW!

I did make the placemats that were in the book too and I've showed them to you before!  Remember?



I also made something else, but right now, I'm saving it for a secret swap so I don't want to "spill the beans" so I can't show you!  It turned out pretty cool too and was a ball to make.

So there you have it!  Party time!  Do yourself a favor and get yourself the book too!  I guarantee you won't be disappointed!  There's also a Flickr group for things made from it right here...go look!