Done! (Almost)

Ew! Scary inside-out tote!




The Vibrant Tote is nearly finished. It just needs two large buttons sewn to the outside pockets. There's a method to my madness: I don't want to finish it until I can get credit on Stashbusters.... and since it doesn't need to be finished until Christmas, I'm okay!

I've started on another tote, too! But the recipient reads this blog and is smart.

Vibrant Progress

I've worked a little more on the vibrant tote. Today I decided to try out one of the fancy stitches on my Elna to quilt the handle. I figured if I hated it I could just toss it. Well, it's not getting tossed!

In other news, I've joined the UFO challenge at Stashbuster. You join the group by sending 2 fat quarters and a list of your quilting Unfinished Fabric Objects (within their guidelines, of course!) In a very intense way, you will be encouraged to finish projects. I have a list of 17, which appears quite paltry in comparison to others!

How to Look Busy

I finished these stitchery projects quite some time ago and rediscovered them a couple of weeks ago. I signed and dated them--this year, seeing as that was part of the stitching (shameless justification, I know!)--and took 'em to the framers. I LOVE how they came out. Nothing like rice paper and velvet to va-va-voom it up!

The girl was so cute: she told me they were trying to figure how how to tell me the pink and green Sweetheart Tree one was lost so they could take it home!

The Amazing Six-Hour Quilt

Presenting the amazing... Six-Hour Quilt! This baby was cut and sewn in only six hours: one quilting session. I swear, I think the Holy Spirit got into my sewing machine yesterday! I call it Ballerina blocks. It has 48 6" blocks, only because that's how much fabric I had. The inner burgundy border had 1/2" of leftover fabric (eep!) and the outer border had about 8" by 4" left. (Enough to please Bethie as a little gift!)





I'm not the only creative one in the household, though. My daughter and her bud volunteered to make the banner for their soccer team, The Cherry Bombs. Teamwork made it fly: 3 1/2 hours and done! (And that includes shopping!)



Sad news: I had to spend plenty of time frogging the bottom of Jingle Bell. Boo. That sad little pile of threads in the corner are all that's left of 200 stitches or so. (sniffle)

Revving Up!

I've decided to make a number of totes; most of my creative time today has gone into cutting the fabric. Here's the selection for one of 'em, inspired by a vibrant shirt on a gorgeous blonde.

Friendly Totes!

Isn't it amazing how a pattern can look entirely different based on differing tastes? Mine's this jungle-y one:
My friends finished their totes and let me take pictures. Bethie insisted that her beautiful smile be part of the picture. Who can blame her?

...and here's Valerie's Tote!

Your Opinion is Solicited

Trippin' Out, the quilt for Vince, has come back all assembled from Therese. See the beautiful cross back that Cathy made?

Also, I spent a little overtime at PQM meeting and finished the top for Siesta. See the gauchos havin' their nappy-time? The crazy 9-patch blocks were rejects from a swap--they didn't quite fit the guidelines, but now they have a home. And the siesta fabric has been begging to be used since we started this ministry. I can't wait to see how Cathy does the cross for this one! Opinions solicited: I really liked how the blocks just floated on the blue, but maybe it's a little weird; should I trim the blue and add another border?

Now I must must must spend some time working on quilts for the family! Has anybody else noticed that charity quilts get done and personal quilts just sit in the box?

Ta-da!

It's finished! I know it's not perfectly symmetrical, but it was my learning piece and I love it. (so there!) P.S. Anybody out there doing Quilt Pink?

What color is your soul painted? Grey Your soul is painted the color grey, which embodies the characteristics of elegance, humility, respect, reverence, stability, subtlety, wisdom, strong emotions, balance, and cancellation. Grey falls under the element of Water, and symbolizes the moon, tide, ebb and flow. Click Here to Take This Quiz

Quizzes and Personality Tests

Grey? Me? Grey? Elegant? Huh? Who wrote this thing?

I'm a Marsupial (See my Pouch)

Look what I can do! This pouch measures about 9" square and has a real live zipper. I used the fancy stitches on my machine to finish the bottom. Yes, it's lined. The fabric came from a 10" squares swap on About.com quilting forum.

Cool, huh? It's just begging for embellishment so I'll show it to you when I've done that. (hint: Lepidoptera order)

Vacation Memories in Stitches!

Old Sturbridge Village is moving along. After frogging a bunch of green shadows that should have been gold (aargh!), I focused on the house and it shows. Nothing like sittin in the air-conditioned splendor of Starbucks and stitching! The stitched piece will be a diagram of this living history museum in Massachusetts. (link)I've visited twice and would happily go back. It's set in the 1830's and people dressed in period costume talk about the history of the place and do the work of the townsfolk. From the banker to the country housewife, there are wonderful conversations to be had and activities to enjoy. I, of course, love the handwork and learning about women's roles in history; my beloved really enjoys getting into intellectual conversations with the historians on-site; and our daughter played rounders (kind of a proto-baseball) on the green and helped the housewife in her baking.