A little progress and a finish!

I've been chipping away at my biggest block of my Crabapple Hill bom and it finally paid off. I finished the U-Pick block (bottom right). Got the sashing on and was able to attach it to the other blocks. I'm loving the look of these blocks. They are so dainty....and so not me but I'm glad I'm doing this project. I'm still three months behind but will have to get to the quilt shop for some more muslin for my backing for the next few blocks.

And my second UFO finish for this year! I think I mentioned it before, these blocks are from a swap on the Yahoo site, Backporch Friends.

I just stitched in the ditch on the blocks and used a stencil for the border.

And I put all the info anyone might need to know on a simple label.

Boy, those finishes feel good. Now to figure out what to work on next. There are sooooo many to choose from. *sigh*

Still chuggin' along...

Back in 2000, when I started quilting, I didn't realize how long it would take me to finish a quilt. It doesn't seem like it should take so long, does it? I guess it makes them worth waiting for, hmmm? I've read that we shouldn't rush through making quilts and just enjoy the process. Man, I must really be enjoying myself cuz I've got a lot of them half way done!!!! LOL

I got all my stitch in the ditch done on this UFO. I wanted a little something in the border and found a swirly stencil in my collection. It looked a little like an ocean wave but I thought the curve would add a little something to the straight lines on these blocks. Got it all transferred last night but I had a houseful so that's as far as I got.

Working on this quilt makes me happy. I guess it's the bright yellow against the white. And I love the secondary design you get with the kaleidoscope blocks. I hope to get it finished by the weekend. I've got a few things going the next few nights so I don't think I'll get too much quilting done and 'have' to be at work during the day. Guess I should be thankful I have a job, right?

Yesterday...

Yesterday morning when I went outside to go to work, it seemed extra cold to me. Well, I should say cold for Orange County (CA), not like the east coast, since they are buried under snow right now. So I started the car and I noticed this cute little snowflake next to the temperature. Wow, my car came with clipart! I wonder if when we hit 105 in the summer I'll get a little sun icon to advise me of how hot it is? Lord knows, I can't figure these things out for myself. LOL
What's that you say? You looked at the clock and saw it said 7:57? Yes, I start work at 8:00 a.m. Yes, I was late. What's your point? lol No one usually gets to work until after me so I figure if I show up on time, it gets wasted because there's no one there to see it. Really!

So, the boss's birthday is rolling around. I shared how she spoiled me on my birthday with balloons, roses and a hundred dollar gift card. She could've done it cuz she loves me but she might've had an ulterior motive with her birthday right after mine. hehe I had to bite the bullet and do the most dreaded thing ever.....EVER!!! I had to GO TO THE MALL! Ack! The other day I asked her what she wanted. She's very difficult to buy for. She said a small pan from Williams Sonoma. Eeegad, I knew what that meant. I looked online but knew I'd have to go to the store in order to have it on time. Gasp!

Shopping wasn't that bad. I found the pot. It was on sale. It was still ridiculously priced for a pot but I figured I owed her. While I was in the mall, I went and got some face cream at Sephora and looked around Macy's because I had a $50 gift card from Christmas. I thought I better look while I was there cuz I might NEVER go back! I was feeling parched at this point. It happens every time I go shopping. My girls laugh at me. I don't know why it happens. Maybe I hyperventilate while I'm there and my mouth gets dry while I'm gasping for air. hehe
After shopping, I took some take-out home for dinner. Two of my girls were there so after catching up with them I got in my room and sewed a little bit.

I sewed one seam in this project (stitch in the ditch) and honestly, I think shopping took everything out of me cuz I was exhausted. I just don't have shopping stamina! I went and parked myself on the couch and worked on my BOM that I am behind on while watching American Idol.
I'm getting close to being done with this block. It was a BIG one!

I've got the gloves, some flowers and the doily to finish. I've got December and January traced and then February got delivered last week. Eeegads, don't these people know I have a life! LOL

My mom is needing a new recliner so I volunteered to help my sister shop for it. Yes, it is more shopping but it doesn't involve the mall so I think I'll live. If you don't hear from me for a few days, call 9-1-1, the Park Rangers, the Canadian Mounties........or maybe Mall Cop! :o)

February Card Workshop

Okay, here are the photos from the card workshop and all our pretty cards. Neena says she just copies from all the creative peeps out there but she still manages to find the great ones for us to play. Here's her set up on the good ol' dining room table.

This was card #1. They turned out so pretty. There were four of us doing the workshop, Neena's sister came over with her 8 year old daughter Summer, me and Latoya, a friend of Neena's. I think it's quite a testimonial to the 'product' and demonstrator because I don't think you can really tell which cards the adults made and which ones Summer made.

And here are some of the Valentine's cards we made.

And the most adorable doggone little milk carton candy holders. I should've taken a picture with the carton out of the holder but I forgot. Take my word for it, they're C-U-T-E!!! :o)

So last night I sat down to address all of my cards and I was a couple short. I made this one with leftovers from the other cardmaking days. I've been reorganizing my 'paper room' and it must be paying off because everything was within an arms reach and made putting this card together very quick and easy!

Little Dresses

I've seen little dresses created into quilts on blogs like Holly's blog and even have a few patterns like Darcy's Dresses and one for mini aprons. Well, I got to thinking the other day that I wanted to do a swap for the online group I do so I started playing in EQ6. The more I started designing, the more this was looking like a dress from the 50's or something Lucy Ricardo would wear. So I called the swap "I Love Lucy" and printed up a pattern to sew up and see how it looked. This was my result.

As I was stitching it up, I was getting excited. It was coming out so cute. Yay!! Then I thought about laying on some embellishments like buttons. So I did that. And then I pictured a little corsage so I traced a circle on scrap fabric from the bottom of a spool and made a yoyo corsage. How's that?

And just so you get some perspective of how nimble my gigantor fingers had to get, here is a flower head pin next to the yoyo corsage. :o)

We'll do the dresses in 30's prints so they should come out pretty cute. They're not due until May 1st so I'll probably go back to this project after I do a few ufo's. I've decided the thing I do the best is juggle.....projects, that is!

I went to my friend Neena's house today to make cards. I'll post the adorable projects we made tomorrow.

Pending Delivery....

Last night I printed up a label for Neena's table runner and got it tacked down. I wasn't going to add a label since it's a runner but thought since it's not for me, I should add one. I just used Word and found a nice background and added a text box. It wasn't perfect but works with the vines on the backing fabric. I'll give it to Neena tonight and then it can decorate her dining room table.

I also played on EQ6 on Tuesday night and created a block that I'm thinking about using for a swap with my online gals. I wasn't sure how it would look so I printed up a pattern and stitched up last night and it stitched up perfect so now to decide on some guidelines!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Just a short sweet post to say that I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day and celebrate love in some small way. I didn't jump on the commercial holiday train (too badly). I bagged some treats in a yummy ramekin for my coworkers and gave my girls a little red mailbox filled with treats from Target at the dollar spot. Don't you just love that place???

I was so bummed they only had two. I could've used a dozen or so of these yummy cherry red dishes!

I made my hubby a card and he got all the leftover candy. :o) We'll have a yummy breakfast but that's it. I refuse to go to dinner on Valentine's Day. We'll probably have something from a drive-thru!!! Call me a romantic. LOL

My sister Isabel, gave me this adorable red heart cake plate for my birthday. It made the perfect centerpiece for my table.

And be sure to keep your eyes open. You never know when you'll find a little love today!

My first 2010 finish!

I'm sure I said it before but this was a kit my friend Neena bought and (again) I'm not quite sure how she got me to make it for her because she owns two sewing machines and all the paraphernalia! But it's done and I'll give it to her tomorrow night at TNT (Thursday Night Therapy). :o)
This is the beautiful backing fabric. Pretty stuff, huh?

And I just had to share this cutie-patootie with you. My co-worker Becca gave me this ADORABLE little cut out from a local craft store for my birthday. Isn't it cute? The cherry and the sign both have some glittery chunky stuff on them that make them sparkle so pretty.

For now, they're sitting on my little hutch by the back door. I think I'll try to clean a little clutter in the kitchen and find a special place for it on the counter.

Last night I worked on my BOM stitchery a little bit. I am SO far behind. Wait til I get a hold of Peggy and Robin for talking me into that! LOL I'm working on November and I saw in my checking account and February was just debited. Yikes......

Look what I found!

It's the top to my cutting table! hehe It's sad, isn't it? But I have a tendency to bury it under fabric, papers, half started projects.....you name it. So, I was pretty happy to see it. So happy in fact, that I trimmed the table runner I was working on, sewed on the binding and popped it in the washer tonight. I was hoping for a January UFO finish but that didn't happen. Guess I'll have to work extra hard this month.


And.....I moved my paper supplies into the spare room quite some time ago but hadn't moved my little racks with all my punches and ribbon. I did that on Sunday afternoon. I "think" this was the last of the paper crafts to be moved out of the sewing room. Now, I've asked my hubby to cut me a piece of particle board for that bit of wall above my cutting table for my notions.

Now to go see what my next project will be. It's either the big baseball quilt, aka, "The Quilt for Sasquatch" or the yellow and white kaleidoscope quilt. One has to be done on the longarm and one I can do myself on the Juki. I think that Sasquatch quilt can wait a little longer. :o)