3 Weeks and C...ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Yes Laura (Pine Ridge Quilter) thinks it will be fun going to Paducah with me. But just wait - 5 full days and 4 nights with my snoring - she may think differently! She swears that there are more snorers than non-snorers in our group of 13 so we will see! I am sooooo excited to go with them! What a wonderful group of ladies - they have me rolling on the floor with laughter already - and that is just from the planning via email! So 3 weeks from today I'm leaving! I can't wait!

And then I do give permission for Tami to go to Paducah also since she made a wonderful bag! I love it!

Ok, here are 5 really bad pictures of my sunburst. As I mentioned my battery burned out last night, so I had to use my sons camera and I don't know how to work it as well. So the pictures are blurry and dark, but you will get a "feel" for the centers. Which one to you like from a blurry far away view?

Always something

So I worked a bit more on my starburst tonight and have it just about the way I want it and I was so excited to share pictures. So I grab my camera and can you believe it - the battery is dead! Ughhhh.... so now I have to wait to borrow one of my kids cameras to take a few pics - maybe I"ll have some tomorrow. I was hoping for several variations of inside fabric choices for some feedback. I'll see if I can get one of them to part with their cameras.

In the meantime I did have 1 picture to share of the portion of the quilt that attaches to the oval sunburst. I saw these little baskets and thought they were so cute. But when I started sewing them I hated them. Well I finally got the little feet on them and they became cute again! Wheh! I've already replaced that little row of 4 from something else I didn't like anymore.

Ok, can you tell I"m tired! Work has been so busy again I don't know which end is up. Thank goodness I"m taking Friday off to go to the Chicago Quilt show! I can't wait for some "me" time!

Just flying in quick to show the star progress

My kids would say I'm flying in on my broom... but several of you asked to see the starburst in progress, so here you go - 6 of 8 sections.....

A quick weekend hi!

Well I am working on some other things besides the big surprise project this weekend. So I thought I would share my progress!

Oh first before I forget I think it was Lily who asked if the flower from Millenium Garden was a scotch thistle - well actually I just think it is a folk art flower and it can be whatever you want it to be! And Lily - I have actually been a member several times of the Canberra Quilters guild! Not that I have even ever been to Australia! But I have a good friend who lives outside of Canberra (used to live in town) and she signs me up every now and then!

I decided I had better get going on my last sunburst block for my 30's Sunshine on my Shoulder quilt since class is next week! This is the last month so after the meeting next Monday the quilt is off to the quilter! Above are the first 2 of 8 sections! This sunburst is very large I think something like 30" x 36"!
The other thing I've been working on is little gadget bags made out of Pet Screen for gifts. I have mentioned before I have a ton of friends who have birthdays in May - so I'm making these up for gifts. They are a lot of fun to make. Iwent through a whole roll of pet screen! I only have 3 done, but the start done on about 20 more! Here are some of them!

I can go to Paducah now!

Well I officially can go to Paducah now! I finished a tote bag to carry all my goodies in! And I finished 2 others for birthday gifts for friends birthdays coming up - yes in May! Mine is the green one! I cheated on the other 2 and used the pre-quilted fabric - it actually was very nice to work with and made it much quicker!

Millenium Garden Quilt

One more block done for my Millenium Garden Quilt! Yes a small block, but this is one I work on, then go away from it and come back at odd times! So even a small block is progress!

So what am I up to?

Yes, that is the question - what am I up to? Seems like I have nothing for good pics to post lately!

That is because I"m working on a secret project! Ok, not really secret from all of you. It is our guilds challenge quilt due in May - and since I"ll be gone the end of April at Paducah - I CAN'T WAIT - I have to make sure it is done before hand. So I can't share it with you right now because there are sneaky little spies out in our guild who just might visit my blog to see what I'm doing! Anyway, that is sucking up all my time lately. But I must say it is VERY maverick and VERY funny!
It is spring break for my 4 kids - they already are sooooo booored. There is nothing to do, whine, whine, whine. I took my oldest up to Milwaukee this morning to fly out to see my mom. I know my mom will be so happy to see her. Holly and her have a very special bond and this will really make her happy. Since I had to run up there this morning I"m working from home - which is just lovely with all the whining going on! Oh well.

The top picture is my first hand quilted quilt that hangs in my living room. Lucy shared a picture of a small quilt she has hanging up in her living room and she said she never gets tired of it - well this is my quilt that stays up in my living room all the time. I'm so happy with my hand quilting on this one. So it is kind of special to me. Then I"m sitting here looking out my back sliding door and the sun is out FINALLY. So I decided it was time for some spring quilts up on my other walls. I dug out some old pics of some of them to share with you. Now to decide which ones go up!
The Spring one with the words and small baskets I made last year and did McTavishing in the background. You can't see it very well here but it turned out way cool - very heavy quilting.

The one with the tiny little wild flowers is one of my very favorites. My friend Christelle in France made this one for me years ago. She is so talented with quilting. She hand pieces and hand quilts everything. Isn't the quilting on this one to die for! And the flowers are sooo tiny. I think I love this one so much because I could never make this! Or at least it would drive me crazy making it!
Well back to work. I can't wait until I can share my secret project with you!

Hot Chocolate Anyone?

I made some progress (and am caught up) on my Hot Chocolate BOM! I'm now ready for next month! Isn't it turning out cute! I'm loving it! Now if only I weren't so busy so I could keep up with everything!

A bit more than Life!

I'm so glad so many of you enjoyed the sneak peak at "Life"! So now I'll show you the top so far! I still need to put some applique pieces in the big bare spots, but it really is coming together now!

This about sums it up........

Arghhhh!!!!....

Yup Arghhh about sums it up for this week at work! As fast as I worked, I found more errors and problems with software code and data, so the farther behind I got! So once again I'm burried under!

On a good front my son was accepted into Purdue University for the fall. Now there was no question about his grades or ACT score - the concern was that he didn't get off his butt to send in the application until THE final drop dead date! So I wasn't sure all the other "stuff" that needed to be in along with the application would make it. So he is in - but of course now he has missed the housing cut-off, question will be can he get housing! Mark and I thought about buying Holly and Adam a house to live in down there, but Mark thinks they will kill each other! :) Maybe I'll send them to go live with Laura! I think she would like 2 more teens!!!!

Way above on the top is the sun, moon and stars quilt I made my friend for her birthday! I got it quilted and bound!!!! Woo Hooo! One more thing done. Just need to wash it up now.

Then I have a picture of some fun things I bought for my new quilt shelf. In the center I had found this awesome willow tree with buttons attached to the branches and can you believe it - it is a quarter inch too tall! Talk about bummers! So I'm still going to have to rework the cener!

It is back to work for me - it must be true - no rest for the wicked! Because my oldest right now hung up on me because I'm so wicked - she has the nerve to yell at me because I won't go and pay off her credit card bill today for her! Geez. Lets not even go there! (I'm paying it off with her money - so don't think I'm paying for it out of my pocket. But she is upset I won't do it right now this minute with no warning - I'm suppose to adhere to her schedule!).

Teens - Double that Arghhhhh!!!!!

Some fun blocks for my independence quilt!

Here are the 3 blocks that go in the bottom right corner of my independence quilt! Aren't they fun! And I worked on more letters last night but didn't get a chance to take a picture yet. So look for that in future days!

I flexed my work hours today so I got to babysit 2 of my great-nieces! The one is only 5 months old so I had so much fun just having some alone time with her! And the older sister was jabbering away! We had a great morning!

I've been working on a bunch of things lately - so I'll finally have some pictures to share over the next few days. Nothing much accomplished, but lots of little things!

Progress on Sunshine on my Shoulders

Here is my progress on the Sunshine on my Shoulders quilt! Only one row on the bottom left to go! And you should see some of the other quilts from it! They are turning out so wonderful - in fact I'll share them below! I'm teaching this BOM quilt at the local quilt store - I'm loving the results! And the best part are some of the quilters are not very experienced and they are doing it! And I"ve even got them to be a bit creative! THAT is exciting!

As for the angel quilting - yes, I had a hard time getting a picture to show how I quilted the angel face! So I'll try and show you in this picture by drawing black lines kind of how I did it. I'll try for a better picture in the daylight if I"m ever home during the daylight!!!! :) So realize these lines are not very perfect - I'm not a good computer drawer! But you get the idea of what I did!

Candace's Top so far and her signature block:












Jennifer's Top so far and her signature block:












Pats Top and signature block:












Lynn's top and signature block:

My Angel is Quilted

Remember way back when, when I asked about how to quilt the angels face on my quilt? Well I have the block done! Finished it last night! I took several suggestions and kind of blended them together for the face!

It took awhile since in there I had to go out to my mom's house and then when I came back I just had so much catching up to do with work and home. Anyway, here is the angel with chalk lines and all!

If most of you don't remember the angel goes with the pumpkin block I quilted long, long ago! The full quilt is a secret - although many of you know it. But at least this will give me inspiration to keep going!

Kaffe fabric quilt

Siobhan posted that great picture of the quilt from the Charleston show she went to and it reminded me of a similar one I had seen at a local quilt show last fall. So I thought I had better pull out the picture and share it. Sorry I can't share the name of the maker, I have no idea anymore.
Doesn't it make your eyes go crazy! I had to look at it close up to see if it was fabric or all pieced!

Snakes with wings?

Thought I would share my latest applique project with you. No - it isn't snakes with wings! I"m sure you can figure out what it is going to be, but I"ll just leave it at this. I worked on this mostly at my mom's house while I was gone. But I finally have all the "green" sewn down so I can move on to some color! Hopefully I"ll have more progress to share with you soon!

Connector Pieces to Hot Chocolate

I got the connector pieces made for my Hot Chocolate BOM! In fact I have the 2nd applique block also, but haven't had time to make it yet. Thought I would share this much since lately any "little" sewing I can do is a major victory for me!

But just wait until next Tuesday! I've been working away on my 30's sunshine on my shoulders and WOW is it going to look great by next Monday night when I have my class! It will be totally pieced except for the exciting bottom row! I got really excited tonight as I started putting things together with the baskets!

And oh baby, did I get a great book in the mail today. It is "Passing on the Comfort": The War, the Quilts and the Women Who Made a Difference by Lynn Kaplanian-Buller and An Keuning-Tichelaar. Lucy told me about this book so I ordered it. I"m totally enthralled. There aren't a lot of quilt pictures, but it is the story of An and her life in the Netherlands during WWII and the things her and her husband have done to give comfort to others. Of course quilts do play a role. I won't tell you any more; 1) because I only got the book today and have just skimmed it and 2) I wouldn't want to spoil it for anyone. But already the story has me hooked. The parts I've read here and there has me wanting to read more. If you like quilt history stories I say this is a must buy!

Spring Baskets...

No they aren't spring baskets, but baskets for my 30's version of Sunshine on my shoulder. I"m so happy to have them done and the steps ready for my class next week. I hate waiting until the weekend before in case I don't have time to do it all - and these took awhile. I needed to make 6 total, so these 4 are done, but the other 2 are in steps on my flannel board for class!

Sometime this week I"ll get these 4 sewn onto the quilt top.

I just had to sew!

It seems like it has been so long since I've been able to sew I just had to sew something last night! Luckily I had just picked up some kits for 3 blocks for our guilds raffle quilt next spring! So I sat down and got all 3 made! It just felt so wonderful to be behind the machine again.

These blocks will be alternated with some star blocks and is a pattern by Judy Martin called Shakespeare in the Park. You can see several samples of it on her photo page under the book The Creative Pattern Book.

My friend Lynn's Independence Quilt so far

So many of you wanted me to share pictures of my friend Lynn's Independence quilt so you could see our variations! So here you go! Isn't the eagle great! She put the eagle in where I put the word Liberty - I love that idea! And I love that she added the big star on the flag - I think I"m going to have to steal that idea - I like the the added punch it gives! We both are using the same fabric line for the major pieces of fabric - isn't it fun to see how different they look even with the same fabric line! And of course our own little personality touches thrown in!

Things are fine, I'm back from mom's and she is as good as can be expected. Her mood is lifting a little. I was so tired when I got back and work just shoved it all in my face Wednesday when I got back - so I"m totally overwhelmed with work. Needless to say that is why I haven't had time to catch up on the blogs or post. Hopefully after this weekend I'll be a bit more in control! I miss you all!