Mary Perrine, You're My Hero.

I've been in several bees & swaps with Mary now, and she's super awesome. Not only does she share my loves of quilting and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, but she makes me blocks made entirely out of Flea Market Fancy. And for that, Mary, you are my hero. This was for the Quilting Divas Mini Bee.

Isn't it gorgeous?! Look at the precious wee baby pinwheels! As if it weren't enough for her to send me a FMF block to pet every time I walk over to my sewing area, you can see in the photo that she also sent me a baby stash of prints! I think it might be time for me to find a way to mail that crawfish etouffee she's been asking for...

And below is a photo of a new quilt I'm starting. Half of the blocks are from the last round of the 3x6 Bee that I participated in, and the other half are from the Quilting Divas Bee....but I asked both groups to base their blocks off this one by jenjohnston. I also have a handful of blocks from those rounds that aren't pictured. I love them, but couldn't find a way to make them work with the rest of the blocks. But no worries, I've already come up with another cool project for them for our home :)

Obviously I need a few more blocks....and some kind of sashing. I'm working on those issues...

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A smattering of things....

I have kind of a random smorgasbord of crafty goodness today. Mostly received items, but a few new things from me as well!

I received not one, but TWO awesome pillows from my partner in the Pillow Talk Swap 4. She shipped them all the way from Australia, so I didn't get them until the day I left for Kentucky (the 23rd). I actually picked them up from the post office about an hour before we were supposed to leave, and boy was I glad I braved the post office to get them. Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to gaze lovingly at them during the 10+ hour trip...or pass them around to my entire family to admire and envy during Christmas....

Front

n' Back

Front of Pillow #1

(You wouldn't believe the amount of detail in this pillow. She hand stitched the front...plus she took the time to find all of the most adorable fabrics in the world. It's a fact. Note the Scottie fabric at the top, center....and the Heather Ross Alice along the bottom left side!)

Front of Pillow #2

And here's a fun little mosaic of the pillows I received + the pillow I sent (to ladmquilter) for the PTS4!



Next up are the blocks I've received so far from the 4th quarter of the 3x6 Bee. I received a super awesome block from jenjohnston last quarter, so this time around I asked my fellow hive members to create blocks to match. Jen's block is the first one shown, and the other 4 are the ones that were made for me this quarter.

(I threw that last photo in for good measure...hehe! My hilarious mother-in-law bought my husband a self-inflating sumo suit for Christmas....lol!)

And lastly, we have some fun stuff from me!!! I finally finished all the cutting for my deliciously colorful Rain or Shine quilt. I rotary cut my little heart out while watching a Criminal Minds marathon on Christmas Eve. Do I know how to party or what?

Block Group #1 (curse you blurry photo!!!)

Block Group #2

Block Group #3

Block Group #4

Block Group #5

(the 3rd one over is light yellow, not white...I've seriously gotta get my paws on some natural lighting...working until dusk is for the birds)

My husband bought me Photoshop 9 for Christmas, so hopefully I'll be able to figure it out soon and start posting some decent photos on here! Wish me luck as I attempt to conquer photo editing. Any tips?

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Finished 3x6 blocks!

My right arm is now shriveled like a T-Rex's and my neck is hunched up like Quasimodo, but I finished! Yesterday I got home from work, sat down at my sewing command center, and didn't stop until 10:30. I had 4 blocks to go and was running a day late, so I didn't really have any other choice. I hate being late. Speaking of which...it's a funny thing, but I'm always late to MQG functions. And I'm the group leader. I hate being late. I'm a super punctual person...and yet somehow I'm late for almost every single one of our meetings. I don't know how that always happens. Drives me crazy though.

Anywho...

Here are my remaining four five blocks (I just realized I never posted pics of the one I made last week...oopsie poopsie). You can see detailed shots of the other one here.

for miesmama

(orange + gray + white)

for samilou1

 (orange + gray + white)

for littletykesmomma

(orange + blue + gray)

for SayYesJuliet

(aqua + green + gray)

for Mollie 2010

(orange + red)

And below is a mosaic of all my blocks together. As you can see, our merry beehive of quilters was just a tad partial to gray ;)

Ooh...and before I go, can I tell you about a really, really exciting trip I'm about to take?  No one else I tell will be as excited about it as you guys...I can always count on ya'll for an appropriate response ;)

In case you don't know, I grew up in eastern Kentucky. I'll be headed home next week for an extended Christmas stay, and my mom and I are gonna make a day trip out to Paducah! We're gonna make pit stops at a few quilt shops along the way, and then cap off our trip with a visit to the National Quilting Museum and several hours at Hancock's of Paducah. I'm seriously about to pee my pants just thinking about it. If I had a little tail like Whiskers, it would be wagging in excitement. Plus I don't make it home very often, so I'll get some good mom-daughter QT (quality time). Ray's bringing his XBox, so he'll be playing Plants v. Zombies (and Assassin's Creed Brotherhood...but he doesn't know that yet ::wink::) at home while we're gone. He'll be happy as a clam.

I promise to take lots and lots of pictures of the museum + quilt shops. And lots of pictures of gorgeous snowy mountains. I miss snow. And trees. And hills *sigh*

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MQG Retreat: Project #2 - 3x6 Bee Block

I wanted to come up with my own design for this round of the 3x6 bee, so here you have it. It's nothing spectacularly creative (we've all seen a zigzag before), but I thought a lone zigzag on a plain block would be simple and cute. I really enjoy playing with tiny cuts of different prints. Little bitty triangles are so cute, plus small scale prints rarely get a chance to shine, so I thought this would be a good block for that. My husband (and a gal at the retreat) both said it reminded them of Charlie Brown, haha!

The block is for Rose...she asked for gray, white, and soft pinks.

And here are the promised pictures of my presents! They got me an adorable bundle of Riley Blake fabrics (isn't the damask precious?! look at the little pots and irons!) and a matching fabric panel. THANK YOU GALS!!!

Sorry that last photo is really blurry, but I couldn't stop laughing so the camera was shaking in every picture I took. Sadly enough, the one above is the least blurry of the group! Here's what happened...

Me: "Can you hold this up so I can take a picture?"
Husband: "That's what she said."

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Weekend Update

My husband's done a lot of gaming, I've done a lot of sewing, and my dog has done a lot of napping on the sofa. I think all parties involved consider this holiday weekend a rousing success so far in terms of relaxation!

I had a couple different projects to wrap up, so bear with me as I "Vanna White" them all! First I had to finish my 6th and final block for the 3x6 Bee because the mailing deadline is next Wednesday. Miniature Quilter requested a purple + green + cream block (you can't really tell in the photo, but I promise those solid bits of Kona are cream instead of white!) Below you'll also see a mosaic of all my blocks for the bee :)



Next up is (yet another) box pouch for a friend at work. Her birthday was August 29th, so I'm ridiculously late with her present and finishing it this weekend was a must. I modified the design a little bit to include a wristlet strap and flower pin. Yay for options! Both can be detached, so it can transition from storage pouch to purse! She goes out a lot on the weekends, so I thought this would be a nice "grab and go" item for when she's livin' it up on the town ;)

I got the houndstooth fabric from Hobby Lobby, and both the lining and flower pin are made from prints from Timeless Treasures' "Taxi" Collection. The strap is Kona Cotton in Black and all the hardware and beads are from Joann's.





And last (but not least) is my favorite project of the weekend! It's for the Mug Rug Swap and I did a wee baby DWR for my secret swap partner!!! It's the same Jennifer Paganelli pattern I used for my Double Wedding Ring back in July, but I shrunk it by 50% on a copier. The piecing was a little meticulous since everything was on such a tiny scale and the seam allowances were only 1/8", but there were only two rings so I really enjoyed working on it (if I had to do 16 again I'd probably be singing a different tune!)

I know I really jumped the gun on this swap, but this Fall I'm signed up for another round of the 3x6 Bee, the SavVy {Seasons} Swap (whoo hoo!), the Mug Rug Swap, Modern Swappers, and Bee (A Little Bit) Japanese (year commitment)...not to mention I have a full-time job and lead our local chapter of the MQG...my head is exploding just thinking about it! (but it's all more than worth it ::wink::) I'm really looking forward to participating in all these groups and am bound and determined to get it all done, so this was one thing I could cross of my list early. I find so many people these days are overextended and, unfortunately, not very dependable because of it...so I really try to be a person others can count on to get things done. And there's my two cents for today...hehe :)

HAVE A LOVELY LABOR DAY!!!

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5 Outta 6 Ain't Bad

I know. The lyrics are really "2 outta 3 ain't bad", but I thought I might be able to slip one past you guys ;)

As you can see I finished by 5th block last night for the 3x6 Bee! I'm almost done...which is good because I'm slowly creepin' up on the final mailing deadline...yikes! But that's what 3-day weekends are for, right? They're not for celebrating with your family, psht! (I kid). I'll be doing my fair share of both this weekend...sewing and celebrating with the fam...or maybe even both at the same time if my mother-in-law and I decide to take over her dining table and sew while we're all hanging out. I'm sure a fair amount of eating will also be mixed in with everything else. Can't live in New Orleans without doing a lot of celebratory holiday eating...mmm...rubs tummy.

Why do you all allow me to go off on these random tangents? So the point of this narrative is to show you my blocks and praise jenjohnston for picking such awesome colors. I really wanna keep this one. Partially because of the lovely color scheme, and partially because it has little bits of furniture mixed in (all hail Tufted Tweets!)

And below is a lovely photo mosaic of all my blocks so far. Everyone say hi to Louis the Albino Alligator. He's at the Audubon Aquarium downtown. You can't just go down to the corner store and see Louis, only in New Orleans (or Louisville, KY...but just ignore that bit of info), so you should probably drop on by NOLA and pay him a visit. Now that you've been properly introduced, it would be rude not to. And you can't be rude to a gator!

(as you can see...my one ulterior motive on this blog is to get everyone to move to New Orleans...or at least visit...but if you visit, you'll want to stay...so they're kinda the same thing ::wink::)



Oh, and by the way...I can't believe all the talent that's floating around out there on the internet! I went through each and every link that you guys left in the Giveaway comments, and I was in shock and awe. I'm not just blowing smoke up your skirts, but I didn't see a single thing that I wouldn't love to have in my home. A.MA.ZING.

And not to play favorites here...but I'm a sucker for a good nerdy joke...how cute is this little guy? Mr. Pi Smiley was Tong's favorite project :)



Have a lovely Thursday and may Pi Smiley smile down upon you in your bland work cubicle (or wherever you may be)!

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Another One Bites the Dust

Four down. Two to go. The latest one is a blue + green + white block requested by BlueElephantStitches. And below you can see a mosaic of all my blocks so far!

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More Bees Please

I now have 3 out of 6 blocks finished, and I had a fabulous time doing it! I came home to my spotless apartment (my husband surprised me and cleaned the whole place from head to toe...he even scrubbed the inside of the microwave! Do I have a catch or what?!), put in The Mummy, grabbed a glass of Crystal Light lemonade, and merrily sewed away at my dining table. It didn't hurt that I got to use lots of fun colors and happy little prints in this block ;)

3x6 Bee block for janesfabrics
(requested pink, orange, and a splash of green)

There are all kinds of whimsical bits I love about this block, but probably my favorite little surprise is the "Lightning Bugs & Other Mysteries" selvage (picture below). It was a spur of the moment decision and I hope janesfabrics is on "Team Selvage"! I was worried about using this block pattern in general because I can be a bit more eccentric than your average bear when it comes to colors and shapes...and I know adding irregular things like a selvage isn't everyone's cup of tea. I browsed around in her 3x6 Gallery and generally snooped around on her Flickr page for quite a while, so I think she'll like it. I know she'll definitely like the fussy cut bike because she Favorited a few bike blocks, plus I think someone in our group has already used this fabric for her.

I really can't wait to finish my other three blocks...I think the part I'm looking forward to most is picking out more whimsical center fabrics! Woo hoo!

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Blocks Galore

I didn't do much sewing last week, but I was most definitely a busy bee this weekend. We had a Weekend Sew on Saturday from 10-2 at the newest quilt shop in town (The Quilted Owl), and while they focus more on traditional/reproduction fabrics, they had the most adorable mini Scottie quilt kit. I shall make it, let Whiskers MacTavish sniff it (but not for too long or he'll try to snatch it from my hands and chew it in a dark corner), and then hang it on my wall to be "awwww-ed" over by everyone. Who doesn't love Scottie patterned things?

Only three people (including myself) were able to make blocks for Rainbow Around the Block at our Sew this Saturday, but my mother-in-law came by to offer moral support (and crack jokes) and we had a great time! How could we not have a fabulous afternoon when Oh Fransson! sent me a giant box of scraps for us to use, the owners of The Quilted Owl bought all three of us lunch, and we had one of those wandering conversations that starts somewhere good but ends up being irrevent and hilarious and involves bathing children in Coca-Cola (don't ask). In my opinion, it doesn't get much better than that!

Below are some pictures of everyone's blocks from Saturday. I think I'm going to make a few more with Oh Fransson's scraps before I mail these in, because I feel bad that the 3 of us were only able to use a tiny fraction of her giant stack of scraps. I wanted to win that fabric for the sole purpose of making blocks for Rainbow Around the Block, but our mighty army of three barely put a dent in it! My goal is to make at least 5 more. I think if I use a simple pattern it should be fairly easy ;)

Our Guild's Blocks!

My Blocks
(I copy-catted Angela's design for the 2nd one because it was presh!)

Angela's Blocks (blog)

Karen's Blocks (blog)

And finally we have a photo of my newest 3x6 Bee block! One of my swapmates (Ms. lnwcohen) asked for an aqua + orange + white block, so here you have it! This block pattern is rather meticulous, so I've only gotten two done so far (see the first one here). I don't mind the time-consumingness though because they're so friggin' cute, use a ton of my scraps, and are really fun to put together. My goal is to finish the remaining 4 and throw them in the mail by the end of August.

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