I really need to finish more quilts...

I just got a call yesterday from a lady who professionally machine quilted a baby quilt for my daughter (to be born January 20th). It reminded me that I have yet to post quilts to my blog that I have finished this last year; not to mention a few quilt tops and other projects that have been getting done in the process of life. The above picture is of a quilt that I made last summer for a friends baby. I am hoping to get more pics up asap.

I Think I See Light at the End of the Tunnel

This is another 'thing' that I have finished. Again, many of you have seen this, too. What can I say, my friends are everywhere on this computer. This is a block from the book 'Artful Applique' by Jane Townswick. Once I get caught up on a few projects that people are waiting on, I will go back to doing more of these. Sometimes just getting a block done when you have 256 different projects going on can be very satisfying. I am close to being back on track with my '4 projects' plan, which helps me get sooooo much done. Like digging yourself out of a hole filled with sand.

Another One Out of My Sewing Room

I posted this one on one of my other accounts, so some of you have already seen this one. It was made to go to my sister to give away at the hospital where she works. I get these scrap blocks sometimes that I can't bear to throw away, so I just add a bunch of other 'to get rid of' fabrics to make a little give-away quilt. This particular one has a bunch of cotton-poly (which I don't put into my own quilts) so I was surprised at how soft it was when I was finished with it. It is a bit busy and bright, but I think that some little girl would love this as her play quilt.

Finished With That One

While I was A.W.O.L. from my blog a while ago, I did finish that quilt with the churn dash for a friends little boy. It does not have intricate quilting, but I figured that it was going to get drug around, so as long as it holds together, no use putting hand quilted feathers in it or anything. The cute thing that I did, was a while before their baby was born, I asked the dad if he had any old plaid shirts that I could use for 'a project' that I was working on. His shirt ended up being the fussy-cut cornerstones in the quilt. I put an awesome label on the back and named it '...and One of Daddy's Shirts".

I will have to post some of the other things that I have gotten done in the last few months. Talk to you all tomorrow.

Thank You, Kathy

You can learn so much from fellow quilters. But have you ever said 'Thank You' to any of those sweet gals that helped you when it looked like your quilt was heading for the thrift store? I think that every now and then, I will be giving credit where credit is due by posting one of my friends, then telling you what I have learned from them.

Just so you are all aware, great quilters are not born, they are taught. (Well, some are born. But they are not allowed to be mentioned in my blog...standards, you know) So when you meet one of those ladies that has perfect binding; she learned that from another genius quilter. Most of the quilting knowledge that I have was obtained by trial and error (lots of it), well written quilt books and magazines, or by friends. My favorite lessons by far are from friends. I think it is so funny that they really don't realize how much they are impacting your life as a quilter with these little tidbits of information.

Let me tell you about Kathy. She taught me the 'flipper' border. It is a border that is attached to the quilt, but is 3-dimensional. These are great when you realize too late that a quilt needs a punch of red between the quilts main body and the border and you don't want to do all of that mathematical readjusting of the outer border dimensions. (If you are nice to her, she just may teach you how to do it on her blog.) I also learned to use glue to baste when doing applique. I knew to do it, I just needed to watch it in action first. Another thing she taught me was doing a binding with Elmer's school glue, which she learned on an Internet video. Come to think of it, it just may be the fact that she is around glue fumes so much that makes me love her fabulous personality. Thank you, Kathy. I hope to return the favor someday soon...If I can only come up with a technique involving margaritas.

Fabric From Heaven

Rhonda, a friend of mine, posts her favorite fabrics on 'Favorite Fabric Monday' on her blog (go check it out by clicking on her name) I thought it was such a great idea that I would steal it this one(?) time so that you could see for once what kind of fabric makes my toes curl. I really, really, love yellow. Especially if it is combined with black and red; and even that splash of green makes it just right. I absolutely love the kitchy look, too. anything from the 40's and 50's is always welcome in my fabric stash. (although, what kind of quilter would turn down fabric of any nature, as long as it is not double-knit polyester?)

Heavy is the Head that Wears the Crown

I get really excited about taking care of 'to do' stuff on my list of, well, stuff. For example, I need to buy batteries to go into all of Connor's toys that have died or sound like Elmo on a week-long drinking spree. I need to sweet talk my husband into putting a ceiling fan in Connor's bedroom. (and the way you do that is you go to Lowe's, you pick out and purchase the fan you want, stop by the liquor store and buy Bombay Saphire gin, some tonic and limes. Then you bring it all home and say..."Honey, I made you a drink. Oh by the way...") I really need to fix the seal on the door to our shower too, but that is on another day and more of the beer caliber. My most recent accomplishment is replacing the toilet seat on our throne. But that was all me. I got one of those 'fancy' ones that has a silent lid that slowly closes. (which is really nice except I forget about it when I am using someone else's bathroom and throw down that lid like I'm closing the door on a 1973 Ford LTD) It also has pop-off hinges so that you can take the entire toilet seat off for cleaning. I am pretty grossed out about this in some ways because you know that some senile person out there is probably cleaning theirs by throwing it into the dishwasher.

Anyway, I did that one by myself. It is amazing how much pride you can take in the most menial of jobs. That is when you realize that you have arrived at stay-at-home-motherhood, which is a lot like Hotel California, without the pink champagne on ice.

Time to 'Fess Up

Some of you know, and some of you don't. I decided to go ahead and get myself pregnant again. Really, we had been trying for a few years, so we were not so shocked, and at the same time shocked all at once. I am almost through my 4th month and will hit the half-way mark in a few weeks. I decided to wait to tell a lot of people for a few months, not because of my age, but because it is really frowned upon when 'crazy' folks have children. K. I am kidding. I am 35 now and will be 36 by the time the crying starts (for both the baby and me), so I had to keep my trap shut for a while.

I am due January 20. There. Now you know. I won't be talking too much about it on the blog, only because I still have one or two things I hold sacred for quilting. One is my quilting room, the other is my quilting friends. When I blog or quilt (which hasn't been too often, right gals?) I like to forget for a moment that I can almost balance a Pepsi can on my tank. It is my happy place, you know. The only frequent urination on my blog shall be reserved for laughing only.

So, although I do not mind questions and comments on the pregnancy thing, I just love my 15 minute breaks from it all where I can sit and read what other bloggers are making, write what I had going on that day, and forget that my son is still not potty trained.

Green Thumb? Ha!

Calling all botanical geniuses...I really would like to know what kind of flowers these are. I figure anything that can grow with virtually no water and tons of sun, needs to be in my yard; plus they are a heck of a lot purtier than cacti. click on the picture to get a close-up.

Then I think I should get a landscaper to rethink our front yard design. any volunteers?

Imperfection in Perfection

I am putting the binding on a baby quilt for donation. Some of my quilts; I have to admit, are just thrown together without using pins to piece, no walking foot to quilt, no 100 percent cotton requirements. It can be very liberating to make a quilt top that has chopped off points, and intersections that, well, don't quite intersect. The problem is that when I make these quilts, they come out looking like some of the utilitarian quilts that I grew up knowing. I start falling in love with this imperfect thing and want really badly to keep it for myself. I have decided to still give this quilt away to charity, like I had intended to begin with. But the next one that turns out like this I will keep...but I will put one of my friends names on the label as the maker so that no one knows that I made the crappy thing!

When ever Connor wears this Nike shirt, People inevitably ask him what letter is on his t-shirt. (maybe because of his age?) His response never changes. He looks down and says "it's a 'u'".

Wow, I Feel Better Now

I have a real problem. A problem that no one can help me with. I have an 'acquaintance' that thinks that she is smarter than all authority. She has a G.E.D. (not that people with G.E.D.'s are stupid people...but let's just say that this particular person is definitely not advanced diploma-type material). She gets angry about a subject, then spouts off about it, saying how unfair it is that she is being treated this way. She pays to get advice from doctors, then she totally ignores everything they have to say. (what do they know?...) Then, she asks every one's opinion about it. Let me be the first to tell anyone reading this...if you ask for an opinion or advice, you better damn well be prepared to hear the answer. Well this is also the kind of person who only wants to hear your opinion if it is exactly the same as hers. If she would only take peoples advice (not even counting mine here) her quality of life would improve well beyond her means. But alas, she is so stubborn and has no chance in the near future to enjoy a happy life.

Now, I could be the kind of person who only tells people what they want to hear; but that would only make me a hypocrite. I take comfort in the fact that if a friend or relative or acquaintance wants or needs advice from me, I will give my honest feedback to them. I would want that in return. It may not always be the sweetest smell, but constructive criticism never is.