mini quilt arrived

this little, lovely, meaningful quilt arrived from Lynne in Oregon just the other day with a couple of gorgeous FQs, some special tea and butterscotch candies.  With Easter just a couple of weeks away, this will go on my door for a seasonal decoration and will be for years to come.  Thank you, Lynne! **** our beach weather has flown, which we knew it would; now back to temps that a bit warmer than usual but not outrageous.  it was nice to get my toes back in the sand, even though it was on the cool side.  *** i am off to work this morning but i have been quilting on the amish pinwheel's center medallion design, a large, feathery urn.  it's half done or more so by next week some time, i'll start on the actual squares.  this is my first experience with a wool batt and like everyone says, it's like quilting through butter.  i've also been at the old viking continuing with the batik runner.  ***** i've a few new civil war fabrics and itching to cut into them to make a small quilt but i am resisting....so far....mainly because i'm still making little baskets for the one in progress.  a few more days and i'll have another long weekend to play in the stash. 

look familiar?

it's the pinwheel puzzle tablerunner, this time in batiks.  when i was making the last one (in lilac fabrics, remember?), i had this vision of batiks, oohhh color, sooo i pulled out some of my scraps and immediately cut them out.  they have been in a little plastic baggie on the sewing table all this time but no more!  this is an official UFO so i didn't start a NEW project.  no destination for this as yet, same for the lilac one too, but it'll go in the tote for that "someday" when i find the right venue to hopefully sell some stuff.  this doesn't empty a shoebox but it's still busting stash.  did i mention i really like to sew?  yeah, i do...not mind altering, but definitely addictive! 

time out

yes, i HAVE been quilting in the evenings on the amish pinwheel but today i've been out of doors on this record-breaking temperature day (record is 79) doing some errands, basking in the sun and the enjoyment of a day off! 

another scrooge

this quilt was made by karen combs, a very talented and renown quilter.  unfortunately, she has been victimized by a thief who broke into her rental car in new braunfels, tx; she lost many of her quilts and teaching supplies (details here).  pox on the thief i say.  it's a horrible feeling when that happens but hopefully, because of the wide reach of the quilting community, they will all be found and returned to karen without damage. 

starting a finish

this is the amish pinwheel in the oval hoop and i get to start the quilting on this solid scrappy.  i usually use the square pvc snap frame, but because of the size of the design, i can use the hoop and get nearly all of the design in the hoop, hopefully not disturbing the basting at all.  maybe this will be an april finish?  that would be very good indeed.  **** last night i started quilting another of my little quilts already basted but i'll put that aside until warmer weather.  so many projects.....and i'm making the most of the free time i have now to sew whenever i can. 

another finish!

this little 30s dresden plate quilt is all done!  i can knock another UFO off the list, always a good thing.  next up?  a bed-size quilt as i've got 4 of them basted waiting for attention.  even though it's been more than spring-like here this week...60+ yesterday and today....it isn't hot, hot yet, so i want to get another big quilt done before it gets that way. **** short weekend; off to work today, but part time schedule starts too, so that is a good thing as well.  enjoy the day!

a giveaway squishie!

one of the blogs i follow is nancy's and recently she was having a give-away; lucky me, my name was drawn!  i got this adorable little chicken pincushion, volume 2 of 100 blocks and some other little patterns i had not seen before.  all of this arrived on a fabulous friday after 3 weeks of work AND on friday night sew-in day too!  i love these little chickens and always wanted to make them; perhaps i will now.  **** as for FNSI, i finished sewing down the binding on my little dresden plates quilt.  now for a label and a quick dunk in cold water to remove the quilting lines and voila!  another finish! watch tomorrow for a photo.  ***** and what is so delish as a day off in spring when winter has been nearly nonexistent?

FNSI

yes, it's Friday Night Sew-In once again!  i'm going to finish up my little dresden plates quilt and who knows what else....plenty of UFOs on my list so no problem finding one.  **** today ends my FT job; my PT job starts on sunday.  it's payday, spring and friday...how good is that?

ready to fly....

finished my little swap quilt last night, now ready to fly away to its recipient.  made entirely from stash on hand per the recipient's choices.  entirely paper pieced (thank you queen carol!) which i never would have attempted before my excellent instruction at maine quilts!  it is hand quilted and binding is sewn on by hand as well.  nearly depleted my small stash of black/white fabrics so a trip to marden's may be in my future very soon.  now i can get back to my own UFOs.  ***** it is seasonably cold here today (and yesterday) for a change.  no snow and it's going to warm up again this weekend.  and guess what...tomorrow is payday! 

thank you, bonnie!

a couple of weeks ago, bonnie posted a photo of this book on her blog.  at her recommendation, i went to amazon and found it practically free!  i know, it says $9.99 but it was waaaaay less than that.  i am sooo glad i found it; lots of basic information as expected, but the tons of glorious color photos are simply over the top!  many, many antique quilt photos and many others as well.  i took it to work to glance through and had to put it down, i was drooling way too much...LOL!  **** tonight i have to finish up my swap piece and then i can get back to my own stuff, and not a moment too soon.  after drooling over this book, i am super motivated, maybe toooo motivated.  so, buyer beware. *** hoping our totally wacky winter is over; plenty of near-beach temps this week and for the forseeable future, which is absolutely fine with me.