I haven't disappeared from the face of the Earth

I can't believe that it has been almost 2 months since I last posted. . . time has flown by, not all of it happy. . .but I really didn't think it had been that long.

To make up for lost time this post will be full of pics. . .hope you enjoy seeing them.


This first picture is of the quilt I received from Lori in Margaret's 4SQS Holiday Swap.

I love the colors and the quilting that she did on it. I just need to find a wall that is large enough in my house where I can hang it for Christmas.

This next picture is the quilt that I made for the 4SQS Holiday Swap. It was sent outside of the United States. I had a blast making it and hope that my partner likes it.

This table runner is what I made for the Quilt Shoppe Forum Twisted Mystery #5 swap.

Ok, you are probably wondering what a Twisted Mystery Swap is. Well, other than being really fun what happens is you send fabrics to the hostess (which has been Lynn who is absolutely awesome!). You do not put anything that can identify you in your package. . .you just send fabric.

Your fabric is then passed on to another member of the swap. . . but they don't know whose fabric they have.

Quilts are made to the specifications of the swap. . . .in this years swap we were to do smaller wallhangings or table runners.

Each member is responsible for the batting, backing & quilting of the final piece. . . . and the design is maker's choice.

If you look at the fabrics that I got there was a wonderful Christmas print that I fussy cut for the center of the blocks.

Linda, for whom this quilt was made, loves it & was very excited to get a table runner for her Christmas table.

This next picture is the quilt that I received from the Quilting Gallery "Good Ol Summertime" swap. I absolutely love this quilt. . . .you have to enlarge the picture to check out the quilting that was done. . . .unbelievable workmanship!

This picture is the quilt that I received from the Doll Quilt Swap #7 swap. Isn't it just darling??!! I really love this one also.

I have more pictures to post. . . .but will do that tomorrow so that you have enough time to really look at these pictures.

In peace and pieces,

Swaps of all kinds!

I've had all kinds of activity here. . .all of it swaps that are due.

This is for one of my block groups. The recipient asked for a wonky house block. . I hope she likes it. It was fun to make, but it was a challenge because wonky has never been one of my strong suits.

This log cabin is for a member of my 2nd block group. It was fun working with these fabrics (it gave me a reason for buying fabric!) he he he


This quilt I've shown before. . .but here is the completed quilt. This was done for the DQS7 swap. I haven't heard from the recipient but I hope she liked it.

Here is the completed quilt for the doll quilt swap from Quilting Gallery "Good 'Ol Summertime" swap. I had sent a "mystery" email to my partner to get to know her a bit more. . .she indicated that she loves turtles. Since I had a couple of turtles walking around near my house right before the swap I thought that turtles would be a good choice.

My swap partner loved the quilt -- which makes me very happy.

I have received wonderful quilts from both swaps. . . but I'll save those for the next post.

In peace and pieces,

Swaps are starting to be completed

Those of you that read my blog on a fairly regular basis may have noticed that I tend to be an "all or nothing" swapper. . . . either I am in a bunch of swaps, or I am in none.


Well, I am currently involved in 5 swaps and 2 block bees.

Here are pictures of the pieces I am working on for the DQS7 swap and for the "Good Ol' Summertime" swap from Quilting Blogger:


I can only show one part of the "Summertime" quilt because if my partner reads my blog she might not be surprised when the quilt arrives at her door.

I'm in the process of quilting this . . . . and I thought it would be interesting to quilt 1/4" away from the rays of the sun as they lay. I've finished that part and it really does look different.


Once the quilt is completed & received by my partner I will post a full picture and some quilting details for you.


I love this block. My original intention was to be very modern with having the tessellations in different colors so that the block piecing would be harder to see. . . . and I still may make a quilt like that one of these days. But when I started working with these fabrics it just didn't seem to be the "right thing" to do.

I have this quilted, just need to make the hanging triangles, label & do the binding & it can be sent on it's way.


I hope both of my swap partners like what I have come up with.


In peace and pieces,

Pay It Forward 2009

I was over at Teresa's blog (http://sewingtrials.blogspot.com) and she is doing a Pay It Forward. I had done a post about it a year or so ago & never got any replies, but I'm going to go for it again & see if anyone really reads this.

I've copied the following directly from her blog, since I couldn't do the wording any better than what she has done.

Here's how it works:

The first five people to leave a comment on this post will get something from me.

But in return, you have to do the same thing on your blog and make something for five other people.

The details are as follows, and if you want to play, copy the following onto your blog and leave me a comment:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I send you. But you may be pleasantly surprised. It will definitely be sewing/craft related.

2. What I send will be made just for you, with love, by my own hands. See, I can go to your blog and read your posts and a really great idea will pop into my pretty little head.

3. I promise I will complete all 5 gifts this year - 2009.

4. I will not give you any clue what it’s going to be. It will be something made in the real world, that you can touch and feel, and not something cyber. If the gift is not to your liking, perhaps you'll send it forward to someone who will absolutely love it.

5. In return, all you need to do is post this text on your blog and make 5 things for the first 5 to respond to your blog post.

6. Send your mailing address - after I contact you to confirm.Everyone is welcome inside or outside the US. I guarantee that you will receive something from me providing you do the same for 5 other people in your blog post.

Want to join me? I'll be looking for your comments! I can't wait to get started!! I can't wait to send you what I hope you'll consider a nice surprise!!!!!!!


In peace and pieces,

My First Video!!

Our dog, Casey, loves, loves, loves cheese. . . . and that is good because she is on meds for separation anxiety. I just hide the pill in a piece of cheese & she swallows it without a problem.

Her cheese habit has also allowed us to teach her to shake paw, and she is learning roll-over pretty quickly.

I hope this video plays for you. . . . she is singing for her cheese.


In peace and pieces,

What was I thinking???

Ok, back to quilt and, hopefully, less controversial topics!

Trying to get a picture of Casey's face is pretty difficult. . . .she just won't hold still long enough. This is the best I was able to get after her most recent grooming appointment.



This doily is in progress. . . .I'm pretty sure I am on the last row, but because it is thread it is hard for me to work on it for any length of time. My hands just can't handle long term thread work sessions.



I'm in Margaret's Holiday Mini Quilt swap. . . .I thought this might be something cool. It is a design I did on EQ6.

It reminds me of pine garland tied with bows. . . . what do you think? This is also the first quilt design that I have made up that is rectangular.




I'm also in the Doll Quilt Swap #7. . . .and here is the design that I am leaning toward for that swap. Again, this was designed on EQ6. . . the colors are not the colors that I plan on using, but are just ones that I "plugged" in so I could get an idea of how it would look.




One of these days I'll figure out how to put the actual EQ6 picture on here. . . .it would make it easier to show than these camera pictures of the print out. . .but for now this works.

Ok, I'm off to see my sewing machine so I can get something else completed this weekend.


In peace and pieces,

Gee. . . . is this the change that you expected???

Warning. . . . . Political views below. . . . .this is my soapbox & if you don't want to hear it stop reading now!

Obama was supposed to be the GREAT hope for a nation facing unprecedented problems. . . . yeah, right!!

Look what his wife is doing. . . . . .and NO ONE in the USA has spoken out about this. . . . .

http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/12652


As a life long Democrat I was prepared to vote for John McCain. . . . and am still leaning towards the policies of the Republicans as I see all the cock-a-maimy ideas that our "great hope" has come up with.

How many MORE years before we can get "the great farce" out of office?????


In peace and pieces,