A Values Quilt

In perusing various blogs, I ran across Katie's post about a thing called a Values Quilt. Well, it intrigued me so I just had to try it...

I'm not too good at doing the "Values thing", but I had a good time going through my stash of fabrics and picking out some for this. I've finished the top, and now it sits either on the couch or in the big chair in the living room.

I like it!

My daughters like it!

Boyfriend even likes it, though he's not too thrilled with my idea for the back.
I thought I'd do *another* values "top", except with a light center, and then use that for the "back" of this quilt...

He doesn't like the idea, but I can't get any other idea in my head for the back, so there it sits...

And meanwhile, I've started another quilt! (Wow! This is a banner year for me and quilts!)
This one is a WaveRunner like BumbleBean's.

I need to make a quilt for a family friend who lives in Guatemala. He requested his name be put on my "list", and when I asked what pattern or colors (Give me a *little* help here!), his only request was "Blue".

Well, when I saw BumbleBean's WaveRunner, I just *had* to give it a try! That's when I knew I'd like to do it in blues, and that it would be for Carlos.
And I'm using up fabric from my "stash", so it's a win-win! =-)

So I'll get pictures as soon as possible. The sun hasn't been out in DAYS here!

Have a GREAT weekend!
=-)

Finally

Well, the sun, moon & planets were all aligned properly and I took pictures! Yay! =-)



Lottie's Quilt measures 6 ft x 5 ft.

The fabric is a layer cake from "Symphony" by Sentimental Studios for Moda. The backing is a yard (or however much) from the same line plus black fabric. The binding is the same black fabric. (Not very imaginative, I know. But it looks good on the front. =-) )




(Beautiful day, huh?!)

You can see some of the quilting better from this side. It's my first time doing Free Motion quilting on an actual Quilt! Yay! (A big Thank You to Leah Day for giving me the courage & knowledge to try it!)

I gotta run now! Gotta go get all clean and sweet-smellin' for my weekend getaway/date with Boyfriend! We're heading to a Winery and hotel for Anniversary Fun!!! (Sorry, Otin. No webcam. But I'm sure Boyfriend would love to take pictures! lol)

Ya'll have a fun weekend too!

p.s. I also took pictures of the Baby Quilt and I'll post them as soon as I can! (I would say "as soon as I can *walk*, but I don't really need to walk to post, so...)

LOL!

p.p.s. I *know* I owe you pictures of Bunny's quilt, but it's in hiding! She hasn't seen it and I have to wait until her birthday (the 30th) to get it out, give it to her, then (finally, finally, finally!) take pictures of it! I can't wait for her and you to see it!

I'M SO EXCITED!!!

Big One!

TODAY is my anniversary!

I'd like to sing a little ditty and dance a little jig.

... But I don't even know any dittys...

or jigs, for that matter.

Whatever!

Anyway.

Today is my twenty-sixth anniversary.

And I still love this man, people!!!

And the TRULY amazing thing is that HE still loves ME (or at least that's what he tells me... And I'm buyin' it, hook, line AND sinker, people!!!) !!!

Anyway, we went out to supper...

had a bottle of wine *with* supper...

and I'm a CHEAP date, let me tell you!

Our two daughters went with us, 'cause we're having a Fabulous anniversary weekend this coming weekend, and, trust me, the daughters WILL NOT be in attendence at this Soiree (sp?). Trust me!

We have already booked the hotel room (King suite with a shower huge enough for him, me, and EACH one of you reading this!),

booked the wine tasting at the Winery,

booked the supper at the special restaurant at the Winery,

and, did I mention, booked the King Suite at the wonderful hotel! =-)

Yes, I am in F-I-N-E form, people! I'm feelin' good. =-)

Anyway, I did take 1 (one) picture for your "enjoyment":

We had a great supper tonight, and we even ordered dessert...

...However...

I thought of taking a picture for your enjoyment.

...But...

I was a *little* too inebriated (sp?) to think soon enough to get a picture you'd like to see.

We finished the dessert and...

Well, it was Pumpkin Cheesecake, and

it

was...

Mmmmmmm.

Wish you could have been there!

=-)

WooHoo!

After looking allllll over AmandaJean's blog at the beginning of the year, I made a goal for myself:

I told myself that I would *try* to make at least four quilts for the year.

Well, guess what?!


I just finished my sixth quilt for the year!!!


The sun isn't really out today, and the ground is all squishy from all the rain, so I don't have pictures yet... But I plan to put some up fairly soon.

Til then, won't you dance a little jig with me?!

I'm tickled pink!!!

This one is made up of a jelly roll of fabric from Fresh by Deb Strain for Moda.
It's so bright and cheery.
I can't wait for you to see it!

Photos soon!

Success!

Yes, I've finished Lottie's quilt. And I've finished Bunny's quilt. And, yes, I am thrilled, thank you very much!

So now you ask, where are the pictures?

Well...

I have a little slight problem with that...

I had Bunny & Kitty take Lottie's quilt outside the other day (when the sun decided to shine for about 10 minutes) and take pictures for me...

But I had to leave to drive the bus, so the pictures weren't exactly what I had in my mind...

Anyway, without any more whining, here are a few pictures of Lottie's quilt:

Remember that site I had a link to the other day? Leah Day's site about Free Motion Quilting? Well, thanks to her, I had the cojones to try it myself, and as you can see above, it went fairly well! I really enjoyed trying something "new" and finding that I can do it!

So I've mostly just "traced" the patterns on the fabric.

That's okay... 'cause I'm happy with the results! =-)

I'm waiting for Bunny to leave the house (and for me to feel better at the same time) to take pictures of her quilt so I can post them.

'Til then!

=-)

Squee!!!

Aaaaa!!! I am screaming with joy!

Lottie's quilt and Bunny's quilt

are

DONE!!!

Pictures to come soon... if the sun will shine again.

=-)

Guess What?!

Guess who called last night?!

The Long-arm Lady! (For those *not* in the quilting world, I imagine that sounds... odd, to say the least!)

Anyway, she told me that Bunny's quilt is finished being quilted!

I am SO excited!!!

I can hardly wait to go pick it up!

Boyfriend and I are going tonight, as soon as I get off work!

Can't wait! Can't wait! ::doing little jig::

I'll take pictures of course, and post them... maybe tomorrow.

I can't wait for you all to see this quilt too. I'm so tickled with it! Now I can't wait to see just what it looks like now that it's been quilted.

The only thing I have left to do with it is to bind it and to make a label for it.

I've already figured out how I'm going to do the label, too!

I am so frickin' excited I can hardly stand it!!! =-)

Also, I am progessing nicely on the quilt I'm doing for Lottie. I'm FreeMotion quilting it, and it's coming along well, if I do say so myself! =-) I'll take pictures of it as soon as I get all of the squares quilted... Or maybe I'll wait 'til it's finished completely. Who knows?! =-)

Have a great day!

Oh! My!!!

If you quilt, or if you're even *thinking* about quilting (or if you're just wondering how it's done), you absolutely MUST go here !!! (I hope that link works right! I'm so challenged. ::rolling eyes::)

It's a blog by Leah Day who is attempting to do 365 days of free-motion quilting... Nope, not just quilting the same thing over and over, but a DIFFERENT free-motion design each day for a year!!!

I know, crazy, right?

Crazy Clever!!!

I discovered this blog earlier today, and now I'm spending most of my morning looking around it. (She has video and everything.)

I hope you find it as spectacular as I do!

I'm off to go drool and oogle some more...!


OH!!! And just in case you're wondering...
I took the huge quilt (that I'm making for Bunny) to a professional last night.
I'm nervous and scared, but also completely elated about it!
Now I don't have to try to cram that huge thing up under the tiny arm of my own beloved sewing machine.

It's a relief, but it's also guilt-inducing!

When I mentioned to Bunny that I was thinking about taking her quilt to a long-arm-professional, she got this sad, lower-lip-poked-out look. She said it just wouldn't be the same if I didn't do the quilting, but honestly? I put so much of my time, attention, creativity, and *blood* (really!) into that appliqued behemoth that I'm relieved to hand it to someone else to do the quilting on it.

Maybe she won't notice? Yeah, right!

Gotta go drive the bus. Ya'll take care! =-)

The Little Engine Said...

"I think I can,
I think I can."


I continue to work on Bunny's applique'-ed quilt. It's slow going because I'm only working on it while she's out of the house, which, lately? Hasn't been a whole lot. (...I'm silently wondering if everything's alright between her and her boyfriend... Whatever. She'll let me know if she needs to talk.)

So here's an old picture of it.





It's changed a bit since I took the photos, but this one will have to do for now. =-) I'll post new pics once I get it quilted. Promise!


Actually, I think I've finished it!

Correction: I think I've finished the part *I* am doing.
I'm going to take it to a professional long-arm quilter to see if she can actually quilt it for me. I spoke with her on the phone yesterday, and I have an appointment to see her this coming Wednesday evening.
I'm sooo excited!!! And nervous! But looking forward to it all the same. =-) Anyway...


It's just too damn BIG for me to want to try to stuff the bulk of it under the tiny arm of my sewing machine.


Bunny doesn't want me to send it off to be quilted, but...
Honestly? It's just too much of a chore for me.

Matter of fact, now that I've made the decision to take it to a professional, it's like I've had a load taken off my shoulders. I've even gotten Lottie's quilt back out and I'm working on it today! All I need to do is lay the backing out, layer the batting and the top, baste it all together, and then do the quilting on it. That really won't take long once I begin, because I'm basically going to stitch "in the ditch". Easy-peasy, as someone once said. =-)

Here's a "reminder" photo of it. Again, I'll post updated pics when I get it finished. =-)

In other "news", Boyfriend isn't feeling well today. He started sneezing a lot last night, and then his nose began getting stuffy. This morning he got a cough and he's feeling very run down.

We *were* going to see his parents today, but we decided they didn't need to be exposed to his bug, so here we sit today. Me quilting, him watching football in a lump on the couch. He really doesn't feel good.
...oh, he's not really *really* sick, 'cause he's still well enough to want to play with my boobs, but he's sick enough that he doesn't have the energy to get up off the couch to *try*. Lol! =-)

Gotta love him. =-)

Hope you're enjoying the beautiful Fall weather!
It's absolutely gorgeous here!
I love it!

I Don't ...

I don't blog every day. (That's obvious!)

I don't blog every week.

Hell, I don't even blog every *month* if I don't have anything to show you or something to say!


I'm not clever like Pat...

I'm not inventive like Otin...

I don't have enough comments to have a "comment of the day" like Sane without Drugs...

I don't have any amazing real-life stories like Mango Girl...

I don't have any chickens or sheep or reeeeeally adorable dogs like Front Porch Indiana...

I don't have mad painting skills like Gypsy Mare...

And I DEFINITELY don't have a Kindergarten class like Vodka Mom!


So please tell me Otin...
WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SO IMPATIENT FOR, ANYWAY?!?!?!



I'll update about the quilt as soon as something happens with it.
=-)