We Interrupt the Preparation for this Swap...

To bring you this little bundle of joy... My nephew and his girlfriend had themselves a sweet little baby girl early this morning! She weighed in at 8lbs 10ozs and a whopping 21in long!!! It's been a REALLY long time since I have held a newborn, so I had to soak it all in, she slept and cooed and wiggled when I unleashed her little feet, but oh what a joy to snuggle with!!! Anyway, I just had to share...isn't she just yummy?!

One Swap Down...

And one more to go...these Bento blocks are addicting and fun AND a challenge to come up with different combinations AND I love the way they turned out! Here are pics of the total 48 quarters, after I removed the 12 that I kept and what my 12 look like all put together. I already said that I love them didn't I? Yes, I know that I am gushing...so onto something else... Ah yes, they still need to be packaged  up and mailed, but that's just a detail...have I mentioned that I can't wait to see what comes back to me in the mail? I'm not good with anticipaton, so to occupy my time I think I'll get the rest of my modern siggy squares sewn, cut and signed, and with any luck, I can pop those babies in the mail at the same time as the Modern Bentos, sounds like a plan!!! And to celebrate the start of a big finish (and the fact that my DH just came home and dinner is almost ready) I'll be blending up a tasty adult beverage...now that is what I call instant gratification!!! (perhaps I can talk DH into a shoulder rub...it's a bit tense between the blades) Have a happy weekend everybody, if you need me, I'll be enjoying a warm summer evening on the porch!!

Phew!! We got my oldest son graduated from high school with minimal stress albeit A LOT of hard work but, the house was ready, the food prepared, my DH laid concrete and sod in the backyard weed patch...It looks great and we are still enjoying it! So, what a better way to celebrate a successful graduation and family visit, than to start ANOTHER project! The Mod Bento Block Swap was just to cool to resist, we are using this tutorial and the nice thing is, that so far, I have just used what is already in my stash.  If there is any purchasing to be done, it might be a little Kona cotton, but I've got JoAnn's coupons for that, so no worries here! As you can see the sewing assembly line is goin while the pups enjoy a lazy afternoon snoozing on the couch...I gotta say that I truly heart these blocks! By the looks of the flickr photostream, there are some wonderful pieces out there...a lot of them destined to grace my mailbox sometime soon!!!  And I am more than just a little bit excited about that : P  Well, this chick needs to get back to work and keep the momentum going, but I will leave you with a picture of the happy graduate and some of the peeps that graced my house, enjoy the rest of your weekend!!! TTFN

Blogger's Quilt Festival

This year's entry for the Spring Quilt Blogger's Festival belongs to my Mother-in-law Linda...or at least it will eventually, the top has been finished for some time now, it was even sandwiched and pinned.  Then I tried to put it on my machine for quilting and it really was just too big and bulky to wedge in there without fighting it throughout the entire process.  Perhaps it is a candidate for hand quilting, that is when I gather my resolve and give it a whirl!  I'm just not sure if I should start on this one the first time out!
Anways, the story behind it goes something like this: Linda has had leukemia for about 14 years now and only just in the last 2 years has had to do any real chemo to treat it, I had bought Eleanor Burne's book Egg Money Quilts and saw the version that she made of this in yellows to depict sunflowers for a wedding quilt. Well, Linda happens to adore purple...and once I put it all together, the flowers reminded me of echinacea blossoms (which consequently is a supplement that is known to boost the immune system) how perfect!! I remember when we found out her diagnosis we were all full of gloom and doom and prepared for the worst, but not Linda...nope, she is a testament to will and inner strength, not to mention abiding faith in the Lord.  She told us all that she had too much to live for to succumb to her illness, she had gradchildren to see graduate and get married and great-grandbabies to love.  So now in 2 weeks, my oldest son, her second oldest grandchild, will graduate from high school and she will be here to celebrate with us, just as spunky as ever!!! And it is my prayer that she will see her goal through to the end and that I will kick myself into gear and get this quilted for her so it can infuse it's strengthening powers...Finally, thank you Amy for hosting this years festival...it's your hard work and determination that allows heartwarming stories and those things that inspire us to make the quilts that we do in the first place to be shared amongst us all

Do you ever...

Feel like voting yourself off the island? This week has been extremely emotionally draining...and I'm there, let me tell you...I never in a million years thought that something as simple as a couple of pieces of fabric missing off of a quilt could cause such discontent...well, I volunteered my time and pieced this quilt in conjunction w/some women at my workplace (none of which have ever completed a quilt themselves) and in the upper portion of the light blue, there was supposed to be appliqued two bears and 3 trees...and it just amazes me that the absence of those 5 items can ruin a couple of friendships...honestly it makes my heart sad...so vote me off the island if that's what you need to do...I give up, valuable lesson learned...

Marathon Quilting at it's finest/ Not quite a Friday Finish...

Woo Hoo!! I finally have a finished project to post!  It's been awhile since my last report, mostly because there just hasn't been anything to really show for my efforts.  I have started things and as per usual, lose my enthusiasm and move onto the next inspiration. There is nothing, however, like a deadline to inspire completion regardless of enthusiasm or lack thereof. Three weeks ago, a meeting was had to set the end date for this quilt (May 16 being the presentation of Susie's quilt day) and having plenty of time, or so I thought, I relaxed and waited for the quilting bug to hit me.  Well, I ended up in the ER last weekend, so no progress was made there, which left me a week to get the quilting and binding done.  Tuesday evening, I wound bobbins, cleaned the lint out of the bobbin case, installed a new needle and set to work with stippling...can you say yuck? The thread color was all wrong and my stippling was nothing less than uglieness...so out came the seam ripper and I tore those stitches out, a total waste of an evening.  Wednesday evening brought a new color of thread, new winding of the bobbins and loopy stippling, lots and lots of loopiness, about a third of the quilt in loopiness...being pleased with my progress, I took the quilt off the machine and laid it on the bed...and realized that the green thread that matched the backing fabric looked as if a child had scribbled  all over the light portions on the front of the quilt, again, ugliness and the arrival of the seam ripper. Thursday brought the realization that this quilt may not be presentable by Sunday. That, however, was not a scenario that could be entertained...so I caved and took 4 hours of precious vacation time on Friday to finish ripping out the offending stitches and to start anew.  By 1am Saturday morning, I could see light at the end of the tunnel and hope was renewed, so I went to bed.  Back to work by 9am, it was bound, washed, dried and photographed by 8pm that evening and delivered to a co-worker who was attending the Sunday morning party at Susie's house.  With nothing better to do now but to relax, I poured a glass of wine or three and celebrated the evening in the backyard on my newly laid sod with my DH and pups...BIG sigh of relief!!! Next on the agenda? Ummmm, well...get this house ready for graduation in 19 days...YIKES!!!

A Little Progress Made

Friday morning dawned like any other...I got hubby off to work, (he wasn't happy to be awake) the kids didn't want to go to school...especially my youngest who is 13.   He doesn't ever want to go to bed at night and the "I have a stomach ache" excuse is used at least twice throughout the week.  Well, Thursday night he came into my room after lights out claiming he was nauseous...he was pretty convincing!  Clammy skin & goose-bumped, I administered the Pepto and sent him back to bed with a bowl, just in case.  He didn't say much in the morning, so I figured things had passed, to school we went, I dropped him off and told him to call me if he got pukey again, with the "hey, it's an early release day and a long weekend" pep talk, I drove home and finished my pre-work ritual.  I had no more than rounded the corner out of the neighborhood, when the school called me to come pick him up (big sigh).  I called my Sgt. to let her know I wouldn't be in and started planning my day at home. Here is what I came up with

I made 9 blocks with red before wondering if a less traditional color would be more to my liking...upon asking my husband which color he liked best, he wisely pondered the blocks on the wall before answering, "How many do you have done in red?"
Ohhhh, he is funny, funny boy!!! "That is NOT what I asked", said I.  "Okay, I like the green". I have to say that I agree with him! Heck, what would a quilt of mine be if I didn't have a moment of indecision I ask you??  On a slower note...I all but have the first row hand sewed together on my Grandmother's Flower Garden!! That makes me pretty excited to say the least.  Not much indecision there, I gotta say that I am pretty pleased with the color combinations on this one...and  with that, I will leave you.