Behaving Baaaaaaaadly!

Forgot to tell you about this little project that has been finished since last September.

 First some mini quilts...including a Dance Floor!

Then a background.

Some furry felt legs. 

 Body parts made using Texture Magic.

(20"x 24")

 Lead to Sheep Behaving Baaaaaadly....

 ....or as I called my mini....

 ...."A Quilting Sandwich....

 .....Baaaaaaaatting Good"!!!:)

 Guess what?  This little guy is on special exhibit with eleven other mini quilts behaving badly and I didn't even know it was traveling yet!  

 It just left Savannah, GA where it was at Quiltfest Destination Savannah and now those baaaad sheep are making their way across the country too Colorado where they will be displayed...

...at the quilt show in Denver!

So now this wee quilt and LT's Platoon are traveling more than I am!

If you see them let me know!

~d

Patio redo fun!

While cleaning out my bag of leftover binding I decided on a new project!

(leftover bindings sitting on the new coverlet my folks gave me for an early bday present!)

The bindings across the top are big enough for future projects....the bindings underneath are made from smaller scraps soon to be joined to the ball in the middle and one day...one day...to be made into a rug!:)

  A little mini made from leftovers of PB&J now lives with Pam for correctly guessing about my new driveway project.  I still need to dig the other side!

One of the many quilt tops made from the Angled Frames tutorial is now a baby quilt heading to the UK

 This mini now lives in Oregon with Jodi.  Made for this month's Mini QT Swap...theme was "traditional"     pinwheel, log cabin or stacked coin.  I sort of went out of the traditional box with my stacked coin!

(Lousy photo taken at night!)

 There were a few extras in the package.  Those buttons have nine holes so you can make any letter of the alphabet on them!

Birch Trees....8"x 8.5".  I miss it!

Now for the patio redo...this is how it looked before.  Needed to be a little bigger since we put the chiminea there on the right.

Couple hours later then bench has been moved to the opposite side and hubby  has added a little low wall to hold back the dirt and those lighter colored flat stones to extend the patio.  Most of the flat stone was leftover granite countertop from remodel jobs laid shiny side down. Score!!

It might not look much bigger but we can put a couple more chairs there when we have a fire.  Old kids desk needs to be cleaned up and moved elsewhere...but that's the girl's next project...not mine!

Love, love, love Solomon's Seal in all stages of growth.   

It is a foot higher and blooming now!

On the way home Mother's Day weekend, after a lovely day with my parents and siblings, we stopped in Old Town Fredericksburg to stroll and check out all the little shops.

Of course the rare and used book store Riverby Books was the girl's favorite stop. 

 "Dad...this is how I want my bedroom to look...one day!"

In an antique store I found another future project!!

~d

Three Minis made by 22 Quilters...and Me!:)

Yep, I could have never made these minis without the total creative efforts of the Bitty Block Committee!!:) Making all those different 3.5" squares is not going to happen but making 12 of the same thing each month and trading is awesome!:)

February's theme was words/text...everyone had a lot of fun with these. I really wanted to make a word with my bitties...one of the blocks was LOL! Perfect!;)

April's theme was sewing. I had an extra measuring tape and was inspired. This mini ended up being 36 1/2" tall....perfect for a quick measurement. The bow at the top is a piece of measuring tape ribbon graciously given to me by the lovely Amy...perfect topper!

In May we were cool and hip with a 60s retro theme. I kept this one simple using some of the extra fabric generously sent by Spiced Coffee and Friedazzzz. I made some easy square in square blocks to go with the bitties to make this groovy little piece!

To always remember who sent each block I make sure the backing fabric is light enough to use a Sharpie and note on the back of each square where it came from...so thank you....

Crazyfun01

EdyB1

FlossieBlossoms

Friedazzzz

hohnstreiterrific

JGmehlin

LethargicLass

Mandalin18

Marilynkb

Spiced Coffee

Mindboggld

4MonkeysQuilts

Nanotchka

Needleanddime

QuiltinKimmie

Ruthiequilts

SandyinBuenosAires

Sewgentle

SewSheDid

Sewwunderful

Silort and

Uniqueandnovel

for being wonderful, creative and generous swappers...I have learned a lot from all of you! A big thank you to all the other wonderful folks of the Bitty Block Committee....go check them out!;)

I still have a stack of wee houses, trees and veggies gone wild to make into minis but in the mean time....

...here is another sneak peek of my secret project!;)

~d

Just a little something for the Shop...and a Tuba Christmas!

I just had to make it....it had to come out of my fingers...that tree on the right just willed itself to be made out of a scrap of green batik. Gonna hang it at work to demonstrate this magnetic mini quilt hanger....think I might sell the quilt too. Do you think I should....$25 too much?
After I made the mini we went to Harper's Ferry for a little Christmas cheer and enjoyed a Tuba Christmas. These performances happen all over the US and a few places overseas, low brass peeps getting together once a year, practicing for one hour then perform Christmas music for our pleasure!

What a beautiful backdrop. Go check out their site and see if there is a performance near you...it's free! I was a bit meloncoly because this is the first one we have seen with out Maria there playing her tuba. Maybe next year!

For some more free music the boy's band Hold Tight! released a new LP....you can download it for free...or a couple of bucks if you want. His Uncle Peter said that was silly because then they would never make any money....first person to download it bought it for $10!:) If you like the music pass their link on to your friends....or at least their kids!!;)

Lastly...I'm trying one more time. Mailed this wee wallhanging to Maria with a few other items...hopefully this one will make it!

Her Halloween one is still lost.

~d

My Stitching Hand is on Fire!;)

I've been having so much fun...for the Hoop Up swap I stitched this wonky house for Scott of Blue Nickel Studios.

The fabric he sent was a mint green...made it a little more challenging but loads of fun...added some wee beads for pompoms on the curtains...hope he likes it!

For the Bitty Block Committee mini I totally forgot that I needed to wait for one more block and no sooner did I stitch up my mini (go here to see it before) then that bitty orange fishy on the left showed up all the way from Sandy in Buenos Aires! Oops!! So I torn out the seams on the left side and popped him in...no way I wasn't adding it! There was this big empty space on the upper left.....I asked for some ideas from the BBC gang......

...and this was the winner! Not the greatest picture....it says 2010 on the tail of the plane and Paradise Remix on the banner since I had to redo my mini!

For the Advent calendar swap we had to make our own day twenty-five 3.5" square...please tell me you know what this is....Don thought it was ghost!:o

Lastly, for Round 8 at the ORBC, Pat had a little extra project for us to do using the 1/2" wide scraps we trimmed off of our 5" squares....can you believe she expected us to sew 1/2" scraps? Well...I can't run away from a challenge like that so here is my little mug rug...quilted every 1/2" so it doen't fall apart!!

~d

PS...I stitched another little project but it's a secret for the moment...stay tuned!

One Swap Done....Hex Part II and a Mystery!

Two weeks without the girl and we are surviving!:) Wanted to thank all of you who have asked how everything it going and share a bit...here is her blog...and here is her flickr photostream if you are curious. I wish she would label her photos better!:)Another reason why all is well is because I've just been busy. Now working 3 days a week at Webfabrics and of course working on swap commitments. Above is my finished DQS9...it is the one in the middle on the top. I have a pot holder hiding the center so my partner doesn't see what is there before it arrives. I didn't really know what I wanted to do so I made lots of squares and then just put them together. I was going to do bento boxes but they weren't going how I wanted so I just did square in square.

Here is a closer picture of the wee quilt....so do you want this one...or one of the other ones? The choice is yours!!!

I also finished a tablerunner using the leftover hex pieces from Round 6 at the
Old Red Barn Quilt-Along. The original is hanging above our bed.

We are having a lot of fun at work...check out this huge wall of rick rack! That stuff is over an inch wide...love it. I think I need to get some for this baby quilt I'm making Maria's former bosses...I'm going to use this farm fabric because they have pigs!:)

Another exciting thing happening at work is this Mystery Quilt. I'm in charge of it!:)
Customers pick 3 colors, Carly picks out the fabrics and I cut the yardage and make a kit. This month everyone is picking up their fabrics, cutting instructions and the 1st clue. They get a new clue each month for 10 months and what is amazing is they really won't know what it looks like until they get the 10th clue! Because this is my project Carly also generously gave me the fabric to make my own so I'll be able to answer any questions...I hope!:) That's my pile above...grey and brown batiks and the bottom fabric is my third color. If you look at the store's Facebook page you can see some of the other color combos customers have picked. This is going to be fun...now I just have to be brave and make the first cut!!

~d

Never Was a Mailbox So Stuffed!

This was a most delightful day for checking the mailbox. It was stuffed to the gills not only with six, yes six, credit card offers, several bills and two local newspapers but also with two lovely packages. One for me and one for Maria!

My package was from Kate who was my secret partner in the Doll Quilt Swap 8 and some fantastic extras...stay away from my notecards Maria! This wee quilt (18"square) is not to be believed, the colors, the textures, the quilting, the curved binding all done to perfection and it is already hanging in my bedroom! Thanks sooo much Kate!!
Maria's package was from the ever adorable Lynz and her Chookie. I will let Maria tell what she received...so heartfelt and perfect Lynz and Holly....so perfect! But also in this package was a gift for me! Chocolate bunnies and a Loud Shouty Mummy Mix cd!!:) Ah...new quilting music...and that is an empty wrapper...Yum! THANKSSSSSSS!!

In Lynz's last post she has lovely photos of her home all spiffy and ready for Easter...I got to feeling guilty because I haven't put anything out so I dug into the dark recesses of our closet and pulled out a few things. James made the paper egg at the top of the tree in '92!! My only other concession to Spring is replacing the dark handtowels over our glasses and spices with pastel plaid ones. See the cookie jar with the yellow lid and blue truck? Don and I bought that a week after we were married. I treasure it!;)

Not only am I receiving wonderful packages I am sending things too. I made 9 of these itty bitty squares for the 6"-12" mini trading swap. This group swaps out mini quilts and 3.5" squares once a month. You can sign up every month or once in a while...no pressure!:)
This month nine people signed up for the Spring Fling 3.5" swap and we all agreed to make one for everyone then when we have all of our squares we can make a mini sampler quilt. Great idea!!

In that same swap I signed up for the 6"-12" mini quilt. You are given a partner and it isn't a secret this time. But I don't want her to see what she is getting yet...so her mini is peeking out from the other three I made just for fun!:) I don't know if you can see from the photo but the centers are x-stitched. I love making small stuff!

Well, the snows are finally melting...because now it is raining!! But that's ok, we can finally see the daffodils poking out their green shoots.

And when it rains....kitties get cozy and snooze!

Ahhh...happiness!!

~d