My Inner Geek

One of my favorite TV shows is about a couple of geeks and their lack of social skills. I have noticed that one of the things in their apartment is a Rubik's cube tissue holder. Since I need another tissue holder, I decided this would be the model for my next little project.

In order to make sure my color placement was correct, I went diving into the storage boxes in the basement to find a cube as my model. I would hate for some cube  aficionado to say my color placement wasn't possible.

Yes, the geek in me has come out again. Gotta put the kibosh on that get back to quilting.

What is on the design wall?

"Bubble Gum Explosion," or as my sister calls it, "Bubble Gum Fiesta." (Haven't decided on a title yet, still thinking about it.) This is the latest project on my design wall, and now it's finished. Whew! So, off the design wall and into a box, traveling cross country to the LAer.

Once again, I used a bali pop. A watermelon bali pop to be exact. (I have a box full of those things and I think they are multiplying.) The blocks are 16" and the quilt turned out quite large. It looks complicated but was very easy and I like the variety of the fabrics.

Speaking of bali pops and variety, have you seen the latest series? No fun prints, just monochromatic colors. What's the fun in that? Good thing I've got a few more stashed.

A few left to go........

One of the BOMs I am currently working on, Christmas Favorites by Nancy Halvorsen, is almost done. Two more done and two left to go.

This has been a fun little quilt to make. I plan on keeping this one.

Peachtree Road Race T-shirt

Over the years I have run walked the Peachtree. Held in Atlanta, Georgia on the 4th of July. It is the world's largest 10k road race with over 60,000 participants. Everyone who finishes receives a t-shirt where the competition for the winning design has become very competitive in the design realm.

Let me begin by telling you, I do not do t-shirt quilts. There are so many issues when working with t-shirts and I elect not to mess with them. That aside, I decided to clinch my teeth and make one. Not only that, I needed to clean out closet space and Peachtree t-shirts were taking up a lot of valuable hanger area.

I surfed the internet and looked at hundreds of t-shirt quilts. I didn't like the ones where each t-shit was cut to the same size. Also, I didn't like the ones where each had a border because they were way too large and jamming all the t-shirts together wasn't appealing. I tried a couple of different layouts and finally decided on a mix of something that appealed to me.

Next item of business, get it quilted and add the binding. I think I found the perfect binding fabric. I'm partial to stripes, especially with slime green. What do you think about this fabric?

For those of you who are wondering, once again I have entered the lottery for a number in this years Peachtree. Haven't decided if I am going to use it or not, but I could always use the 2013 t-shirt as a quilt label. The hubby was also entered for a number and we both expect to receive one. (His start wave will be much earlier than mine.) If anyone is looking for a number, please let me know.

Easter Bunny

I arrived at the office this morning to find a cute little bunny sitting on my desk. One of the ladies in my office is a Daisy Troop leader and I've been giving her ideas for crafts and such. Last weekend they made bunnies, and on the back is an adorable little cotton ball tail. Gotta love it.
It made my uneventful work day a little bit brighter. Thanks Jessica.

OMG! I almost forgot!

My mother's birthday falls in February, the short month. As usual it snuck up on me again and this morning I woke up thinking I've got to get her present in the mail. With President's Day, the mail will be a day or two late so I've got to get going. Now, what do I send her? In the past, if I was going to be there, I'd pick up a light fixture or kitchen faucet and install it. She's got everything she could ever need and if there was anything she wanted, she would just go buy it. You know, one of those hard to buy for people.

Well, there is this photo that family and friends will recognize. I decided to use that and create something. After a trip to the store for buttons and stuffing, but I am quite please with my little creation. Photo coloring is a little strange as it is a picture from 1976 and using Printed Treasures is always an adventure.

OK sis, what are you going to do?

Mistletoe

When I first saw Christmas Favorites by Nancy Halvorsen, my favorite block was the Mistletoe Block. This week, BOM #6 came in the mail, and guess which one it was.

 

After completing the block, it is still my favorite. 6 blocks down and 4 to go.

Timing is Everything

Everyone, this is Ethan.  He decided not to wait on his scheduled arrival time in early January, but decided instead to make an appearance in late December, therefore giving his parents a tax deduction for the entire year. (Smart kid.)

 

Every child needs a quilt and this is the one I made for Ethan. Using lots of blues and greens, I threw in a few purples, pinks, reds and yellows for a little added color and placed the blocks in a "barn raising" layout. A perfect little quilt for a baby. After making several blocks of the original size (6"x6"), I decided they were too large and scaled them down to a more baby appropriate size of 4"x4".  I am very pleased with the reults.

 

 

 

Snug as a bug in a rug, and did I mention that Ethan came into this world with more hair than his dad?

Kris Came To Visit

Last weekend I received the fourth BOM block from one of my current projects, Christmas Favorites by Nancy Halvorsen. I ripped that package open and got right on it. These blocks are quite large and finish up quite quickly. So, please meet Kris Kringle.

...and a note to the LAer, don't worry, all the buttons and 3 dimensional pieces (mustache) will be removed before I send it to you.

Christmas Favorites

I've started yet another BOM. This time it is Christmas Favorites by Nancy Halvorsen from an on-line fabric shop. The project consists of 10 blocks which are quite large, but I must admit, the fabrics are what grabbed me. The first month was a delight to make and after I finished it, I decided to call him George.

One of the stitches used in this project is a blanket stitch. Do you know how long it took me to find it on my sewing machine? Let's put it this way, the stitch number is 329 on a Bernina 185.

State Fair

This year I entered a couple of quilts in the state fair. I originally hadn't planned to do so, but there were so few quilts last year. This year there were over 300.

You may remember this quilt,  "Thorn In My Side." It is a JN pattern which automatically means "paper pieced." Guess what? In the small quilt group, it won in the category for "Best Piecing." Duh!

I entered another quilt, "No Two Hearts Are Alike" which won Honorable Mention in the bed quilt category. (A picture is on an earlier post listed as Affairs of the Heart.)

County Fair

Having entered the local county fair for a number of years, I've become familiar with the ladies who volunteer their time to work with the exhibits. My plan was not to enter any more, it wasn't worth the effort. Having said that, I ran into one of the ladies who recognized me at the grocery store the other day and she was telling me how the number of entries had dropped of greatly. Yes, she made me feel guilty that I hadn't entered anything in the last couple of years, so I decided to enter something. Here's the result:

The pattern is Bali Sea Star by Kim Brackett and can be found in her book, "Scrap-Basket Surprises."