Geck-O!

This little lizard was one of the patterns I offered to my Girl Scouts for their cross-stitch class. Of course, they chose the more complicated patterns! But I made this guy up, figuring I could include him in a quilt sooner or later. He's a cutie pie, but needs a name. Any suggestions?

On the right you'll notice a couple mile-a-minute blocks. I have no idea what will happen to them, but they're such a great thing to work on when you're having an off day--no thought required!

Miss Mousie

This little cross-stitch piece was given me by Debbie when her cross-stitch store went out of business. I think it's Hunca Munca from Beatrix Potter's Two Bad Mice. I'm featuring it in a scrap quilt that I'm titling Miss Mousie.
The flying geese you see here were made by Cathy with a C. She didn't need them for her quilt, so graciously donated them to moi, the Scrap Queen. I found fabric that I liked with them and, voila! Stars! There will be a total of 11 star blocks plus Miss Mousie herself.

A friend sent me this link: it has got to be the funniest Christmas carol mix-up I think I've ever heard. I highly recommend clicking for a good laugh!

Christmas Projects

Yes, it's that time. Okay, past that time. But here is my Christmas Card Station. I've got a little view of, well, of the street, but it's pleasant enough. We get no snow here, but this is a nice spot to work without the temptation of the one-eyed zombie maker (TV). I've been uploading Christmas songs on my iPod and getting into the spirit. This will be the first year I'm sending pre-made photo cards. Sure is easier than making my own, I must say! With luck, I will be able to get to my next ragtime project--pretty colors, huh? It'll be all pinks, blues, and a few other pastels scattered in there. Oh, the flannels are so soft to work with. (I do wind up spitting lint, though!)

Fringe Binge!

Here's my very first ragtime flannel quilt. It's finished--even including the washing and washing and washing and drying--except for the label. I had the fringe cut at Quilter's Paradise in Escondido. The next one will have stuffing, but this will have to be flat. (title by my DD)

You May Need Sunglasses

I blew right through this scrappy top. It was so much fun to work on that I hated to stop! I adore working with super-brights. These are the scraps from a confetti quilt I titled Rio. Then I made a bunch of 4-patch units from the leftovers. I made a top with neon guitars running between the 4-patches and entitled it "Rock and Roll High School." (No pics available) I still had 30 4-patches left so I framed 'em ala Stitched Scraps for this little darling. Now presenting

Tilt-a-Whirl!No, I don't know who it's for yet, but God does.

And in shopping news.......
these are the fabulous fabrics I couldn't resist at The Quilter's Market in Tuscon. I would have bought more but I was exercising self-control. Ga-horgeous stuff, though. You can click on their link and see how beautifully bright things are! Huh, I didn't realize until I saw the pictures here that I bought all stuff with circles. Weird.

Scrap Swap

I was part of a Scrap Swap: I filled an envelope full of scrap fabric (no piece smaller than 2") and sent it off to Connecticut. In turn I received an envelope from Riverside containing these--I asked her to focus on bright and BOY! Did she ever! Fun stuff!

Also, my new favorite store: Quilter's Market in Tuscon. It's almost exclusively bright. It was like walking around inside my own stash! I'll admit to buying one yard of fabric just for stash building.

Now I'm making Ragtime Quilts: this is the first--I hope to finish it today--but I have at least 2 more cut out and ready to rock.

Betsy Ross was a Scrap Quilter

Yup, that indeed is the name of this quilt. It started out with the leftover half-square triangles from Jan's flag quilt. Then I dug a bunch of yellow 3" blocks out of the pre-cut scrap box that have been refusing to play well with others. Then the stars on navy joined the party... three borders later and I thought I was done. Then we decided to designate it as a quilt for a family who lost their home in Rancho Bernardo--we have about 35 requests from that event--so I needed to make it bigger. Hence the "piano key" border on the outside. It seems to work. Another one I'm happy to pass on to Cathy with a C to create a cross back.

Sharon--bless her heart!--finished the back for Jewel of the Orient. Isn't it pretty? I'm so glad we have quilters happy and willing to make the fancy backs. (So I don't have to!)

Thanksgiving Leftovers

That, indeed, is the name of this quilt top. It consists of what I call "crumbs," scraps too small to fit into my category of normally useful. That is, less that 2.5" square, but at least 1" in both dimensions. I'll share the link for the tutorial, aptly entitled "Mile a Minute" Blocks!

Background: I heard about this block on Stashbuster. So I read through the tutorial (quite easy) and committed it to memory. I was having a bad day, so I just sat down and made a bunch of these in browns (Browns?!) and stuck 'em in a box. They're in the box about a week and a half when I hear that my beloved Uncle Don has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Of course I called and offered a prayer quilt. And he says, "You know, I'd like one that's a little funky." Doy! I had already been at work! So, simple framing with black and--would you believe it?--the border fabric was cut and just waiting in my scrap box! I only had a few inches left over. Talk about "A God Thing!"*

*That's what we say--a lot!-- in our Prayer Quilt Ministry when something comes together so perfectly with supplies and timing and requests. It's amazing. Even the beloved atheists in my life might agree that we get an awful lot of happy coincidences. (If I had a smily, I'd put one here.)

Starry Night?

Take a look at these bee-yoo-tee-ful quilt squares. This was a block swap from the About.com quilting forum. We were to make a star block out of batik fabric with the same creamy fabric for the background. I made 9 of the middle left star and sent 8 to the swap hostess. So did 8 other quilters. Just a few days ago I received these in the mail. Pretty, huh? This is a possible layout. I don't know exactly what I'll do, but I really like 'em!

You might have noticed the creamy honey color between the quilt squares. What is that, you ask? It's our new carpet! Yes, it's installed and I really like it! Somehow it makes the room look like the light is on.

Okay, big brag time: last night's Mission Improvible show. Well, if you missed it, you missed plenty. I gave a lecture on Galileo and Tod translated it into mime--folks were laughing so hard, I hardly got a word out! I sang a torch song to the writer of Afoot and Afield in San Diego, Jerry Schad. Scooter did his disturbingly hilarious interpretive dance while I recited a beat poem, "Squeezed." I got to practice my Parisian accent for "Cirque de la Lune." (And I gotta tell you, it's hard to exaggerate Parisian French!) We had nine people in the show and every one of them shone. Starring moments:

• Mamie's intros & playing with the audience (I think they wanted to take her home!)
• Steve "I think my head is stuck!"
• Marc made "Birds fly upside down" make sense
• Scooter's dance (and coconuts!)
• Tod's impersonations of Elvis and Ozzy Osborne
• Carl and his wrench
  
• James in Quick Cuts
  
• Matt's tiger

Girl Scouts CAN!

Tuesday saw our Girl Scouts starting into my cross-stitch workshop. They picked exactly the patterns I expected them to do. Two choose the Chinese symbol for longevity and the other is doing a Harry Potter Tribute. These were online freebie patterns and you can find them by clicking the titles. These girls can sew a quilt, do wirework, peyote stitch, and use a rotary cutter without trips to Urgent Care. I am looking forward to seeing how they do!