aw shucks...

thanks to all who left such nice comments about my "fat tuesday on orca bay" color combo....sure is appreciated!

celebrating ecumenically

last week we attended the USM chamber choir concert at the baptist church in portland.  saturday we arrived at the greek church for a replay.  yesterday we went to the lutheran church for the saint lucia celebration.  ***** today's agenda?  some baking, some mundane chores, some sewing.  plus wrapping, packing, mailing, etc.  it's a most busy time of year!

strippin' and rippin'

so here are the three colors together, the purple, cheddar and green.  i do believe this quilt is going to be bright!  i've started both strippy units, the purple and cheddar.  when i cut the purple triangles at first, i cut them so the strips are horizontal, but bonnie shows them cut on the vertical.  i don't think it will matter in the finished quilt, scraps are scraps after all.  but even if it does, i'm still going to use them.  my cheddar stash is small compared to the purple, so there will be more variety in the purple.  que sera sera.  so i now have 5 days to finish all these; we'll see how they go.  hoping the purple tones down the blinding cheddar somewhat.  ***** cold but sunny today; hard freeze overnight; still no snow here, keeping my fingers crossed for the foreseeable future.

friday night report

it was the amish center diamond that got selected for friday night sew-in.  i finished the 3rd brown triangle and went on to quilt brown corner squares in the next border.  today's focus will be on the one christmas gift i've yet to finish and also the fat tuesday on orca bay strip squares. ***** i'm all "registered" for the stashbusters' 2012 UFO challenge.  the list is on the left side of my blog and it seems quite long but many are small projects that can be finished relatively quickly.  i am hoping that "fat tuesday" will be added to the list; though it might not be a flimsy by the end of the year as bonnie has said there are 8-9 parts to the mystery.  with all christmas prep and celebrations, there won't be a lot of sewing progress in the next few weeks.  fortunately what gift shopping i've left to do can be done in a couple of hours.  no matter, the maine winter looms on the horizon which always gives plenty of opportunity to hibernate in the sewing room.  

do you think?

does somebody at kimberly-clark make quilts....or maybe married to or knows a quilter?  this looks a lot like cathedral window pattern to me.  **** doing the happy dance here as just last night finished all 350 HSTs for bonnie's orca bay mystery.  whew, in the nick of time too as part 4 is already posted  (does that bonnie ever sleep?).  this week i'll get to play in the purples for a change and rip up more of that old phone book too!  the old viking got a clean out last night as well, plus a new needle before moving on in the mystery.  love these old mechanical machines; a bit of oil and TLC and they run forever....

string stash

yesterday i had to cave and get a shoebox tote for my string stash.  before this, i had flung or trashed my strings but with the cost of fabric skyrocketing, the value of those little pieces add up and guilt prevents me from tossing them any longer.  i might still fling them at some point, but for now they needed an official home, even if temporary.  no doubt after i finish my cheddar string blocks there will be more to add.  with my income dropping after the new year, i just might keep them as a future project.  ***** ok, i'll confess...i'm on drugs.  that would be legal, prescription drugs aka a mild antibiotic for sinus/ear infection.  been feeling not quite 100% since return from maryland and it wasn't just melancholy.  if i stay out of the rain, i'm sure i'll feel 110% very soon.  i am a firm believer in pharmaceuticals; the legally, appropriately prescribed ones that is.  **** nope, no snow yet.  we got rain so it's a happy dance here on the coast.  our luck can't hold forever, though, but the longer it does, the shorter this maine winter will be.....and as martha says, always a good thing!

friday night sew in

it's this friday night and which project should i choose?  there are 3 on the december burners.....report saturday!

1.  the one christmas gift i'm making this year
2.  fat tuesday on orca bay
3.  amish center diamond

cheddars

i found all of these at the local marden's, that famous fabric place.  they have plenty more but i restrained myself.  i am going to have to return, though, and restock my greens as i've used nearly all of mine on this mystery project.  maybe santa will bring me a marden's gift card, wouldn't that be great!

today's orca bay progress

not bad, eh?  over halfway done with the HSTs and i also got 2 of the strip squares done as well.  i'm using the phone book pages and they really work up pretty quick.  i am so loving this cheddar with the green; wait until purple is on the scene--it's a fabric version of the king cake!  **** last night got another brown triangle marked with clamshells to work on while listening to TV.  though we have no real cold weather yet, it'll be here soon enough.  right now i've got the window open and my little fan on during the night; it's THAT warm in here.  one of the downside attributes of complex living.  that and nosy neighbors who park in front of my window with their high beams on and just sit there....my curtains and blinds are drawn but even so.  in my opinion that shouldn't be allowed; those spaces should be marked off.  after all, it's somebody's bedroom.  there are 2 bedrooms (plus mine) on the parking lot side. 

weekend sewing

i did get some sewing done this weekend.  i had to cut strings for the string blocks, the cheddar.  for some reason, i don't have a stash of strings at all, just a very few and no cheddar at all, until now of course.  i got some of the HSTs done and another stack ready to sew together. hoping the mystery gets to purple fabric soon as i'm getting a little weary of green fabric.  the good news is i've nearly busted my entire stash of greens.  *****   i also worked on another project, a secret project i'll show after christmas.  i'm enjoying the mystery but also anxious to get back to my previous 2 projects, the feathered star and the amish center diamond.  plus i have 1 more small piece to finish to complete the stashbusters 5 in 5 challenge; that's 5 finishes in 5 months.  ***** today's nonquilty list includes a haircut and some sundry household tasks.