Let it Snow!

I have been working on a project for Tonya's on-line winter class. I got my top put together, but might do some frog stitching and change a couple of things. If you want to see what people are working on, check out this blog (my assembled top isn't posted there yet):

http://lazygalwinter.blogspot.com/

I tried to post a photo and was told I had used up my allotted space, so now I have to figure out what that means.

My two+ week old cold is finally leaving, ever so slowly. I still cough a little but am feeling almost normal. Can't sing, though. Good thing I'm not scheduled to sing a solo.... in fact, that's always a good thing. I'm not a soloist!

Happy winter! (We're going to get snow overnight. Yippeee!)

Keep It Secret, Please

I am participating in this secret Christmas exchange. I would like to NOT see a picture of whatever is being sent to me. I plan to wait and open the gift on Christmas Day.

I'm making progress on the gift I'll be sending off... I think I'll work on it tonight, in fact. I hope the person I send it to will like it! (I will post a photo of it after Christmas.)

Yay! I'm Alive!

What a week! I was sick, took Tuesday off work, thought I was getting better, but Whammo! It came back at double the force and I was miserable from Thursday afternoon until Sunday morning.

Friday I decided to have the doctor check me out, in case I had something that could be treated with antibiotics. I was on my way to a quilt retreat and thought it would be good to get some meds, if I could. Couldn't, though. She said my lungs were clear and I just had a doozie of a cold. I apologize to the other retreat attenders... having to listen to me cough all weekend. I'm sure it wasn't pleasant for them.

The good news is, I feel loads better today (Sunday), and I'm home again which feels great, too. I'm alive again! I got a lot done at the retreat, so I'm glad I went. Remember my HSTs?? DONE! Attached to quilt! WooHoo, big celebration on my part! That one will soon be in the hands of a long-arm quilter and shortly after that will be on my bed!

Here are some more tops I got done or nearly done. Notice anything strange about this first one? You are right, it has a "broken right arm." I ran out of fabric I was using for the border and will have to figure out how to fix this little problem. These blocks, by the way, were all gifts to me over a couple of years. While I hosted an on-line block lotto, some of the participants sent me gift blocks along with their official entries. Wasn't that nice of them? So this quilt will definitely be one I keep for myself.


This blue one is also a result of a block lotto. I won these! Aren't they just beautiful? They make a nice wintery-looking quilt. I am contemplating adding a border to make it a little larger. Then... keep? Donate? Haven't decided.


This is my first-ever Irish Chain. I love it! This was made from fabrics I got free and promised myself I would donate this quilt. So once I get it bordered and quilted, off it will go to a child somewhere. And I do plan on making another Irish Chain at some point. They are fun to do and turn into something great almost by magic!



All of these were UFOs, sitting on my shelf for years, waiting to turn into these beautiful quilts. Why did I make them wait so long? Now I'm very excited to have them getting close to done. Like me, they finally feel alive. :-)

Ready for the Long Arm

I got this repaired so the pieces are right side up. I bought fabric for the borders and got them on the next day! That's a record for me! (I don't like borders and tend to procrastinate.) It's done and measures about 60" x 78".

I'm happy with my quilt top! The border isn't the fabric I was looking for, but I like the way it turned out. You maybe can't notice in this small picture, but I think the pink flowers in the border bring out the pink in the quilt nicely. Now I'm excited to get it quilted!

A UFO Almost Done!

Yesterday and today I worked on this UFO. I have had most of the orientals-fabric blocks for a couple of years. They are from a block swap thing we did in my guild. The smaller blocks were given to me by a friend 3 or 4 years ago. I made seven blocks to fill this out, added the sashings, and here it is, almost a completed top.

I did put some pieces together upside down. I want the lower right corner basket to be in that orientation, but the whole middle part is upside down, making a hummingbird and several flowers all upside down. So I want to fix what I sewed in the wrong direction. Also, I am going to find more of the dark blue (I hope) and make a final border all around. I think I have seen this fabric out in the stores, so I'm hoping I can get some today and finish this up in time to give it to my long arm quilter on Tuesday at guild.

Making progress on UFOs feels fantastic!

Thanks for the nice notes on my previous post about the table runner I wasn't happy with. Maybe you are right and someone will like it enough to bid on it. I'll finish the binding soon and give it to my guild.

I'm still working away on green/blue HSTs and need to give those a little more attention with the rest of my weekend.

Finally, I'm Sewing!

Hooray! It's Saturday! And I'm at home and have some sewing time. Last night I whipped up this table runner, and I quilted it this morning. (Binding not yet attached.)

It is not at all how I had pictured it, and I don't like how there is too much color and you can't even see the pattern that well. I'm going to make another one, with better color choices and contrasts. But I am wondering... does anyone like it this way? For example, if I put it in our small quilt auction at my guild's show, do you think anyone would bid on it?

I quilted boldy in white around the three middle quares to try to set them off. It helped.... a little.

It rained overnight and has that fall, rainy chill in the air today. Nice day to stay inside and sew. I hope to report more progress by the end of the weekend.

Look What I Did!

Just a couple of days ago I was shocked that November had already started. Today I wrapped some Christmas gifts! What got into me? I like to start my shopping early, but I usually don't wrap this early. I'll tell you what got into me. I was telling myself to do some house cleaning, and my other brain half would have nothing to do with that, so it found something fun to distract myself with. That is the truth!

I did manage to do a couple loads of laundry, so now I need to fold the clothes and get to bed. As usual, I have stayed up too late. Waaaah! I have a night owl body and an early morning job. Not fair!

It's November Already??

Hard to believe it's November! I lost a week or so while I was off taking care of my mother. She was very sick, but recovered wonderfully and is back in her home, feeling tons better. What a relief! It's hard to keep track of time and days while in the hospital... hard even to remember that the rest of the world keeps going about its business. Hence I have lost some days and find it hard to realize that it's November.

I did manage to visit briefly with my niece and her kids on Halloween night. Now that was a wild scene! Here's the youngest of my niece's children. She's 18 months old and a true "punkin." Sweet as can be!



Had a nice visit with Karen, too. Hi, K! Thanks for the tour of downtown. On my drive home today I stopped at Aunt Annie's (quilt shop) and forced myself to buy only three fabrics. I love that shop! I could easily have bought 15 fabrics if I had no self-imposed limits (guilt, budget, fear of debtor's prison, etc.)

We get an extra hour tonight, so maybe I'll go to bed early and take advantage of that hour for some extra sleep. Usually I stay up extra late and use the extra hour (and then some) for sewing, and then end up more tired than ever. In my old age I'm trying to be wiser. Nighty-night!

Just Checking In

I haven't been able to do any quilting, blogging, or photography, and I'm not in my usual routine this week. My mother was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday and has been quite ill. She is 86 and diabetic, so a serious illness can be truly serious. We were a little worried for a while, but she is doing much better and will be going home on Friday. I'll stay and help her get settled back into her home and then will get back to my own routine shortly after that. I'm glad for the happy ending to this story!