Finish #3

The Spice Market quilt is finished. I sewed the last stitch on the binding at 11pm last night.
It's still January and I'm already a third of the way to my total amount of finishes for 2009!
I think that organizing thing may be working. The house is even relatively tidy.

I had a hard time getting good photos in the rain.

Detail:

Sydney absconded the moment she felt raindrops on her back.

This weekend I plan to finish the Three by Three swap quilt top and my blocks for the Modern Siggy Swap.

Quilty Spice

Miss Spice and I are on a roll.
If nothing gets in the way, she'll be a finish by the end of the day weekend.

Thought you may want to know

No, I'm not going to start using this blog as a daily ad tool for my store, but...
I was taking inventory yesterday and decided that it really was time to clear out some of the older collections to make room for new ones.
I know these were very popular and wanted to give you the opportunity to snag some because they're out of print and probably won't ever be seen again.
Woodland Bloom by Lila Tueller, Park Slope by Erin McMorris, and Bijoux by Heather Bailey are all 40% off.
  
  
  
If you'd like to know when good deals appear in the store, you can either sign up as a fan on Facebook, follow me on twitter, or create an account in the store and subscribe to the newsletter.

This morning we have the "Junior meeting" at my son's school with the principal and guidance counselor to talk about college planning. My, how time flies!

Still plugging along

Dots & Swirls & Stars, Oh my!

There has been an explosion in a crayon box over in the store!
I now carry Moda Marbles and Moda Essential Dots.

Marble Swirls Fat Quarter Bundle:

Marble Dots Fat Quarter Bundle:

Essential Dots Fat Quarter Bundle:

Marble Stars:

The entire "Solids & Blenders" selection has expanded big time, so if you need a little brightness in your day, go take a gander over there.

With the addition of the Marble Dots and Essential Dots, the Dots section isn't looking too shabby either.

And the craziness continues

So, it's not going to be a quick project.
I thought because the hexies are little (1/2" to be exact) and I'm planning a mini quilt, this would be a walk in the park.
Hah!

I described my way of preparing Granny's Flower Garden hexies over here.
Wish me luck.

Uh Oh!

I've started something new...

But it's little...

And will be quick...

So that's OK, right?

Making progress

It's finally starting to feel like my New Year's resolution may actually be fulfilled.

I've been working on my hexies at night.


I'm ready to finish the Spice Market quilt. It's about 60% quilted. (Yes, it IS from 2007!)

The three-by-three swap quilt is next. The top is about halfway assembled.

Yes, I'm definitely on a roll over here.

Fall Inspired

I know, I know. It's not even Spring yet.
The due date for the Fall-Inspired Mini Quilt Swap over at the Quilting Gallery was this week.
Hence...

Totally improvised.
I couldn't figure out how to design this in EQ5, and EQ6 is on my laptop, which is in use by my son. Long story...
I'm very happy with this one and can see a pattern on the horizon.
Some quilting detail:





If you like the fabric combination, I've added some ColorPlay bundles to the store.

(Oh, and this is my second finish for the year!)

Craft Hope for Haiti

I'm sure everyone has heard of this wonderful fund raising effort:

I have donated some of my patterns. If you're a little strapped for money but still want to give, the PDF patterns are only $5 and there is, of course, no shipping.

Spring Fling:


Sweet Hearts:


So Charming!:


Be sure to take a look at all the other listings in the Craft Hope for Haiti Etsy shop as well.

Items are selling like hot cakes over there. If you'd like to donate an item or two, I'm sure they'll happily accept it.

Perfectly Pink

Done!

In less than five hours total.

My first finish for 2010.

If you like it, I've added some kits to the store.
They're only $12.50 each and there's still plenty of time to get one of these done before Valentine's Day.
(Free instructions for making this runner is still available over here.)

It also struck me that, with three of these kits, you could make the cutest little girl quilt in the style of this quilt. I would make 9" wide sections which, finished, would give you six 8"-ish strips, so a quilt of about 48" x 54". Perfect!
If you do decide to do this, leave me a comment when you order and I'll cut the fabric continuously.

(Don't forget that the whole Sent with Love line is still 20% off until Valentine's Day.)

Bathroom Basting

We're having a new back door installed and I want to finish this, so the bathroom was the only other place with a hard floor.

Back to basting. I'm hoping to quilt this today and sew the binding on tonight. Did I mention it's almost 3pm?

Busy, busy, busy

I'm buried knee deep in Dear Jane blocks at the moment. As DH said last night, "It's that time of the month". Rainbow Jane time.

I posted updated photos of my original Jane on the "That Quilt" blog earlier in the month, but realized last night that not everyone reads that blog.

Since nothing else is happening around here this week, I'll regale you with those as well.
I've assembled the first four rows!


That is 52 of the 225 blocks this quilt consists of.
I have 166 made.
I love the process of making these little blocks. Never a boring moment. All 225 of them are different. Oh, and only 4.5" big small.

Hope you're having a productive week!

BTW, I posted a yummy recipe on my other blog, which will give you lots of free time for sewing.

Modern Siggy Swap

If you don't know already, Rachel is hosting a siggy swap, with modern fabrics.

It's going to fill up REALLY quickly if it's not full already, so if you want to get in, RUN!

With love from me...

There sure seems to be a lot of love floating around in quiltland right now.

This arrived in my mail box yesterday.
Kellie Wulfsohn's latest Don't Look Now pattern, called "With love from me...".

Although the pattern was designed with Christmas in mind (hence the holly leaves), Kellie has included an alternate leaf shape with the pattern to make it more occasion-neutral.  Wow, I think I just created a new word!

I was thinking how cute it would be if you replaced the ornaments with hearts.

The pattern also serves as a full sized layout diagram, making it so much easier to place the applique shapes.

The applique itself is simple fused, raw-edge applique.  Should be a breeze.

Maybe I will tackle it...

Note to self:  "You were going to be organized this year.  Finish what you have.  Don't start any new projects!"

I SO wish I had time to make all these wonderful projects!

Books Read in 2009

I'm always amazed at how many books I get read.
I only read for about 30 minutes before I turn the light off at night.

The Glass Castle - Jeannette Walls
The Gravedigger's Daughter - Joyce Carol Oates
The Help - Kathryn Stockett
Blowfly - Patricia Cornwell
Olive Kitteridge - Elizabeth Strout
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer
The Shack - William P. Young
The Scarlett Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - Jean-Dominique Bauby
Dangerous Games - Michael Prescott
Hornet's Nest - Patricia Cornwell
The Memory Keeper's Daughter - Kim Edwards
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle - David Wroblewski
The Road - Cormac McCarthy
Julie and Julia - Julie Powell
A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini
My Life in France - Alex Prud'Homme
The Simple Truth - David Baldacci
The Red Tent - Anita Diamant
Peony in Love - Lisa See
Touching Stars - Emilie Richards

My favorites:
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
The Red Tent
A Thousand Splendid Suns

My least favorites (by far):
The Road
Peony in Love

Sent with Love

My head is exploding with ideas for this loveliness!

If I can stick to my one and only resolution, I may actually make something.

Sent with Love by Deb Strain for Moda

20% off until Valentine's Day

2009 Completed Projects

Definitely not nearly as many as I had hoped.
May 2010 be more productive.

1. Wild Thing
2. Little Gems
3. Virtual Quilting Bee Quilt
4. Sweet Hearts
5. Slippery Runner
6. Embossed Leaves Socks
7. "Ugly" Apron
8. Ruffle Wristlet
9. Spring Fling
10. Friendship Bag x 2

A Little Joy

So, not much Joy happened before the New Year.
I did, however, manage to finish Wild Thing.
I'm a little on the fence about how the quilting turned out, but rather finished than perfect, right?


I have a project that was pretty much born with this blog 80% completed.
There will be Joy in January, I think.
After that I have only 2 quilts (that I can find) to complete before I can make NEW stuff! Woohoo!
I'm getting all organized now, remember?

Happy New Year!

Are you ready for it?

I'm not a maker of New Year's Resolutions, however...
In 2009 my organizational skills took a serious hit.

My one resolution is to get it together again.
I'm sure I'll get much more done if I do.
And that's key.

Do you have any important resolutions for this year?