#13 and #14 are still flyin!

Apparently #13 and #14 ladies are still flying because I've gotten no word that they've been delivered.  In lieu of that, I'm going to have to show you #15 and #16.  Totally confusing 'cause they're out of order, I know, but that's life!  You should only know how confusing it is to me!  BUT, on a bright note, I think I might be done with the ladies for awhile.  16 for now is plenty!  Besides, I have some stuff to do for a swap or two.  So, if anyone wants themselves done in fabric it might be a few weeks.  Let's talk!

So now to present #15....."Jen".  Naturally, as in the past, I'll show you the drawing first, and then the eyes (my favorite part) and then the whole quilt.  And yes, she is a real lady.  Check out her blog here.  You'll even see her photo on the right.







Jen works at my favorite quilt shop called Patched Works in Elm Grove.  #16, "Julie", also works at the quilt shop, but better than that, Julie owns the shop.  She doesn't always wear her tomato earrings though so you might not recognize her if you go there.  Here is Julie:







You can see a real photo of Julie here.  She is the one on the far right.  I might have gotten her hair a bit too reddish, but that's how she looks to me and I had to get those curls in there, you know!  And, yes, she does have those beautiful big blue eyes in real life!

So, that's it for today, folks!  Next time I'll show you a pic of the awesome fabric I bought today.  It is so fun, if I do say so myself!  I'm going to make something big.  It seems like an age since I've made a bigger quilt and I'm missing it!  Besides, it's the season here for staying warm (again).  Summer in Wisconsin is waaaaaaaayyy too short!!   That is, unless #13 and #14 show up at their homes.  They're certainly more important than any old fabric any day!  Until then..........be well, take care and thank you for being part of my life!  I am truly blessed!

Looky what I found........

Anybody got a skinny wall space?  Do you remember "the birds"?  Well, look what I discovered amongst my stuff and I'm pretty sure you haven't seen this before:







Cute, huh?  I made this in May..................YES, in May!  I remember because (1) it said so in my computer when I loaded the photo and (2) I made this right before something really neat happened which is still a secret.  YES.......can you believe I've kept a secret this long?  My dear, dead mother would flip!  She always said I could NEVER keep a secret!  ( I tend to believe that she's helping me from above.  LOL)  You'll find out soon, my friends, I promise......but until then, I have to shut up.......before I blab it all over!  Mmmmmmm.........

Back to birdy......!  I'm selling this baby so if anyone has a naked skinny wall space that needs a bit of whimsy, let me know.  It's 11 1/2 x 25 inches long with a sleeve, dowel, and O ring all ready to hang and I'll even sign it if you want.  The first $49 plus shipping takes it home!  E-mail me please.

In the meantime, some doggy pics.  First off is Miya (my grandpup).  Actually the airhead, airedale owned by my daughter:



And then, naturally, we have Toby.  What fascinates him so much about the pool cover, I'll never know:



He even likes to eat it:



Wonder what he'll do when it's covered with snow?  UGH.......I hate to even say that word!

Until next time, my friends, I hope you have a marvelous week.  I'm planning to work on more ladies for the series.  Real ones!  Just wait until you meet Sandy, Jen and Julie!  You'll love them!

A quick catch up!

Seems I'm really busy lately, and it's not with sewing.  I've rediscovered my cookbooks and have been cooking and baking like a crazy woman!  Not good for the waistlines, but my husband is really enjoying the change.  Tomorrow that is going to stop!  I made a list of my sewing commitments and it's time the machine comes out again.  In the meantime, let me show you a few of the things I did get done since my last post and the the neat stuff I got in swaps.

First, here are the last two Halloween mug rugs I made:





I think this is the year of the googly eyes!  They really make me smile every time I see them, so this Halloween I think I put them on almost everything!  Crazy!

Then, I got my package for the "Love of Solids" group and it was a dilly.  I got a gorgeous pillow in really bright, beautiful colors from Diane of db by Design.  She nailed my color preferences perfectly:



I really should have ironed that cover before I photographed it, but I think I was in the middle of making cookies and the rain was coming, so I rushed the deal.  Bad me!  Did you note that she also sent me some pretty zippers too?  Cool!

Then, I got my quilt from Poppyprint.  This was a long time in coming, but Krista is a very busy girl!  We did a private swap right after one doll swap awhile back and I sent her this one:



She told me she was going to make me a selvage quilt and I got this beauty:



It really is so much lovelier in person.  It's so hard to see the detail with the black fabric in pictures.

Then, I was blessed with one more thing this week.  My dear friend, Shirley (the one who lives in Siberia.......not really, but if you've been reading my blog, you know what this means), loves to make bags.  A few weeks ago, Amy made up a tutorial with a really neat one and Shirley made it for me to use for a wedding that I'll be attending this Friday.  Think everyone will know that I'm a quilter?



So, that's it!  Now you've seen almost everything I have left to show you (except #13 in the Ladies Series because it's still traveling), so I better get to work and get off this cooking binge.  Hopefully, I'll be back to my old self tomorrow.

Let there be light!!

I have just one thing to say........If you are over 55 and really believe you have natural blond highlights in your hair, you need to make an appointment with your eye doctor!  You have cataracts!  Believe it or not, I used to say that to my hairdresser when I'd go in for a haircut.  I'd say, "I bet you don't have many clients who still have blond highlights at my age, huh?"  And she, (of course) would agree and I would sit there all haughty and proud 'cause I was the only one!  Ahhhh......NO!  Not so much!  Duh....grey, honey....grey!  I was shocked!  Not only was I legally blind in my right eye, I also have a slight cataract in the left (which will be removed on the 29) but the difference in color between the new fixed right eye and left is amazing! I see so much better now, I might just cook and bake again!  Who knows?  'Course that would be less time for sewing.....and I'm not sure if that would work either.  I'm sure these next few weeks will be interesting. Hopefully, my quilting colors won't mute.......I was even impressed with myself when I went through my Flickr stream.  LOL

On another note, I want to show you #10 lady in the series.  This is really neat because when Debra got herself, she took a photo of her with the quilt.  Note how alike they look, but first see the finished quilt:



And now the two of them:



Debra was a commission quilt and she told me that she collected miniature sewing machines, bird houses and loved Christmas as well as being an avid sewer.  I think I hit all the bases!

I also finished another two Halloween mug rugs before I went in for surgery:



And:



I have two more in my head and then I think I'll be done with those.  I did join another swap though.  (Big surprise, huh???)  It's called the potholder pass, but this time you also could sign up for coasters.  I thought that might be fun for a change!  Who knows what I'll come up with for that one????

So, my friends, that's it for today.  I think I'll head off to the store and get stuff to make Roasted Tomato Basil soup and then come home and sew.  You have a fun day too!  AND......thank you for your many well wishes on my cataract surgery.  You'll never know how I appreciate each and every one of you!!!

Seems I'm confused

Last time I told you that #10 and #11 ladies were on their way to their new homes, right?  Hello!  Then, why did I send the last one that I finished Monday off as #13?  Duh!  I think I am doing too many of these ladies and am losing my mind!  It's time to stop!  Besides, I have again joined the Mug Rug swap.......(my 2nd favorite swap in the world) and I need to concentrate on halloween mug rugs!  First though, I'll show you #11 (Angie) since she has arrived and also another one that I did for the "For the Love of Solids" group swap.  

#11 (Angie) you might also know as Retromama61.  She commissioned me to do her for a special birthday that's coming up.  She wanted something to remember it by, and I am so honored that she asked that I do that "something special".  I hope she likes herself:





I LOVE doing eyes!!!

Actually, this whole ladies series started because of this next quilt.  I joined the Love of Solids swap and hadn't a clue what to make.  Then the light bulb went off and I posted a drawing of an imaginary lady and asked if my partner wanted me to make her.  If so she was to give me her statistics.  Many swappers responded, and luckily, my partner was among them.  Well, I had such fun making her that I continued with the ladies.  Finally, today her quilt arrived so now I may show you, Renee from Nellie's Niceties:





I think I'll just pretend that she's #12.  LOL  That way I don't feel like such an idiot!

Now onto a few other things.  I also joined the Bitty Block Committee this month.  When I discovered they were doing bugs, I couldn't resist.  I had such fun making my "lady bug".



Don't be surprised if I don't change my icon in Flickr to "her".  I think she's adorable!  Cute, but wait until you see the whole "tribe" of them........you'll just have to smile:



I think googly eyes are so fun!!  Because I thought they were so fun, I had to go back to Joannes to get more when I made this mug rug:



Bats have to have them too, you know!

So, that's it for today.  I'm having cataract surgery this Thursday on my right eye.  It's been blurry for awhile and when I finally dragged myself to the eye doctor, I was informed that I am legally blind in that eye so I guess it's time to get fixed, as the saying goes!  I've heard only good things about cataract surgery, so I am hoping that I am one of the lucky ones to join that group.  I will be back as soon as I can.  Promise!!!

#10 and #11 are traveling

Since I have no ladies to show you today since #10 and #11 are traveling to their owners via the postal service, I want to show you something near to my heart.  The other day I was blessed with a personalized collar for my Toby.  Jen, my friend, who works at Patched Works in Elm Grove, has a new puppy too.  Hers will be giant sized (maybe medium giant, when I think about it) and mine will stay tiny (I'm hoping.)  A few weeks ago Jen got on a kick making dog collars.  AND, when I say "kick", I really mean KICK.  She was having such fun she eventually made about 60 of them in all sorts of styles and colors and sizes.  Go check out her blog.  What a hoot!  BUT, I can understand!  Duh.....the ladies!  How many have I made?  'Course, who's counting?

Now, I was going to show the new collar on Toby, but right now his hair is so long that you can't see anything around his neck, in fact his leash looks like it is coming right out of his neck so I thought it better to photograph it alone.

Did you note that it's adjustable?  How cool is that?  Just a click and it's together or apart, unlike his old one where I'd have to find a hole to put the little thingy into and with all his coat, that was a real trick.  SO, the whole point is to thank Jen for this great gift for my little guy and to get all of you over to her blog to check out those collars for sale.  

On a different note, I think there is a spook invading my Flickr stream.  Let me explain.  I have a Flickr pro account.  I'm not sure if you can tell without one where your "hits" are coming from or which item is getting the most views in a day, but something weird is going on with mine.  Since August 22nd, this mug rug is been viewed an average of 69 times each day.  Not 40, or 80, but almost without exception, 69 times each day.  So, so far, that is an additional 1242 views since August 22nd and a grand total as of this writing of 1844.  

So, I don't get it!  This mug rug is in the Wisconsin Quilt Museum.  It's in their gift shop, for sale.  Can you help me here?  Why is this particular mug rug (not even the coolest one I ever made) getting all this attention?  Does anyone have a clue?

My "real" friends

I'm sure you've heard the song, "Stuck on You", right?  Well, I'm stuck on making these ladies, I think.  I do have some other obligations that I've taken on with more swapping, and projects, but until I get these ladies out of my head, and the ones I promised other people finished, I just can't seem to move on.

Today, I'm going to introduce you to my friend, Susie.  Susie is #8 in my Ladies Series and truly is a dear friend of mine.  (She's also a dear friend of, Shirley, who you met in the last post.)  Susie does not live in Siberia, though (like Shirley does).  She actually is only about 5 minutes away from me.  LOL

I had a heck of a time with Susie.  I drew her 3 times and literally gave up.  I could not get her right for love or $$.  When I showed her my last attempt, she said she looked better on the drawing and to make her like that so I did.  LOL  So this is her (or at least how she'd like to look):

That, of course, was in process.  I should show you the drawing first, I suppose:



And the finished product:



Susie is a lover of Kaffe fabrics and uses them a lot in her personal sewing.  Incidentally, she works at Patched Works in Elm Grove, so go see her and tell her that you met her here.  She'll flip!  Check out her eyes, which are blue/brown.



Then, next is Annie, who is #9 on our hit parade list of ladies.  Annie is really freezeframe03.  You probably will find real photos of her in her Flickr stream.  But here she is in fabric.  First the procedure:

 And now for the rest:







Seriously, Annie is really that blond, which makes it hard to see against the white background, but after she received herself in the mail today, she told me that she is going to outline stitch around her hair to make it more noticeable.  I can't wait to see what she does.  Incidentally, Annie has a blog and it's on my blog list, so go check her out.  She's really funny!

So there you have it.  More ladies and I know you're probably really getting sick of them by now.  After all I'm thinking it's close to a month that I have been making them.  Only a few to go, I promise!  Thanks for your patience.....really!!!!!

Ladies and Swaps

Although I haven't really come off my cloud yet after receiving my "Love Quilt" from all my marvelous friends on Flickr last Wednesday, I thought you might be missing the ladies and be anxious to see who was next.  I know I'm excited to show you.

#6 in the series is Shirley.  Shirley is my real friend.  She lives about 30 minutes away from me.  She's the one I was telling you about in the last post who lives in Siberia.  (Not really, but the drive from my house to hers, just seems like it.)  Anyway, I met Shirley (and Susie too - who you'll meet in a few days) in 2008 when both of them were working at my neighborhood quilt shop and I was learning how to quilt.  Funny thing is that neither of them work there now, but we all are the best of friends.

Does she look familiar?  You might know her as "freidasew" on Flickr.  Lots of people call her Freida....too bad her real name is Shirley!

#7 Lady - Gloria is a made up lady although someone in the world MUST look like her, I'm thinkin'!  She's really pretty....and has eyes to die over.  Just check out the assembly:

And here is the drawing, close-up and finished quilt of Gloria:







I think Gloria is one of my favorite ones yet.  If you are interested in purchasing Gloria, please e-mail me at turznik@ execpc dot com.  She needs a new mom!  LOL

And onto the swaps.  I got my mug rug from the same person who I made my mug rugs for.  (I know that's a crummy sentence all you teachers, and I'm sorry.)  Anyway, she had me and I had her.  She used my new puppy, Toby, for inspiration and made this package:



Everything was so nice, but what really got to me was her unique way of sending it off.  Sue (beachgirlsews) actually packaged it all together in brown paper and sewed around the insides into the shape of a bone to secure it and put cute stickers all over it.  Such amazing creativity!  I bet the postal workers were smiling too, just like me!



Did you ever see anything so cute???  I didn't think so!

Then, today I got a huge priority box in the mail and I'm wondering what I did to get all this stuff, but after I opened it, I remembered that I was in a STUD swap too and my partner, Kimmie, was sending me her package.  Lately, it seems my brain is out to lunch....or maybe still on cloud 9 with my new quilt!  :D



Would you just look at all that stuff!  AMAZING!  It was like Christmas!  A book, a bookmark, a seed pack, a tape measure, jams from Oregon....e-gads!  Plus, that marvelous quilt!  Love those flying geese!

So, my friends, that's it for today!  Whew, huh?  I'm pooped too just showing you all this stuff!  I've had a fantastic week.  Hope yours was just as good!  Thanks for all your awesome comments on my new quilt.  I do love it so!!!