Sitting Pretty

Before...


After...




I love it! I used some of the Leaders and Enders 1.5" squares that I've been sewing together for years now. Then, of course, I had to sit and sew a couple more Nickelmania blocks on my machine to try out the chair. I am so tickled! It is so ME!

Not like me

I am not much of a planner. I usually get inspired to do something and then just do it, whether it is rearrange furniture or take a trip or make a quilt. But when it came time to quilt the borders of my Bright Idea quilt, I was feeling decidedly UN-inspired. So, I rationalized to myself, since this quilt is so angular, perhaps I should try some curved line quilting. But, if you know me, I don't like marking my quilts, so I thought I'd try some freehand curves. Here's the result -blurry, for some reason.

I hate it. So, I decided to try something else on another border.

Much better in my opinion. And it makes me giggle because that jagged zig-zag reminds me of Charlie Brown's shirt. At least, I think it is Charlie Brown that has the zig-zag across his shirt. Anyway, I'm on border two with this freehand design, and I'll be taking out the previous quilting, which is SO UNLIKE me. I despise un-sewing, and I'm a far cry from a perfectionist, so good enough is often OK for me in my quilting. But this curved quilting has got to go! I'll try again on another quilt - I'm determined to do freehand baptist fans on a quilt one of these days, inspired by Tanya Ricucci, do you know of her? Anyway, once the kids are in bed, I'm going to find a movie on TV and knock out some more quilting. Maybe even a 3rd row of zig zags, we'll see.

Oh, and guess what was waiting for me at work this morning, besides piles and piles of work?

A package of fabric from a woman I met last April at a work event in Atlanta who has quit quilting (people actually do that!?!). She sent me her books and scraps after we met, but apparently she was housecleaning at New Years (wait, people actually do that, too!?!) and came across some more fabric so she popped it in the mail to me, just out of the blue. Thank you, Lisa! People's generosity astounds me! I hope people are also being generous towards those who are suffering in Haiti right now. I can't even conceive of what they are going through.

Don't want to end on a sad note, so here's a photo of my little Mr. Fix-it.

He's very handy. I may hire him out. He will work for apples (quartered and with the seeds cut out), or blueberries, or sometimes Cheez-its.

What to say?

People often surprise me. Unfortunately, however, I am usually surprised in a bad way, and find myself asking, "How can someone be that selfish/cruel/ignorant/insensitive?" But every once in a while, someone surprises me in a positive way. Yesterday, I got just that kind of surprise.

There was a package from Em at Em Celebrates waiting for me when I got home. If you read yesterday's post, you know that she also sent a package to my boys. She's obviously a very generous soul. I figure everyone knows I go crazy for scraps, so I assumed that I had a bunch of new scraps to play with in this box.

Nope.

A quilt!




I was so stunned. No one has ever given me a quilt before. Well, little placemat sized quilts, which I adore, but my very own quilt to snuggle under? Never. I couldn't speak for a moment, and then I started to cry. I guess only a quilter knows how much work and inspiration goes into making a quilt, how much of yourself. And to have someone give that much of herself to me, well, I really don't know what to say. Thank you just doesn't seem like enough. Em, you are a gem.

(The fella under the quilt, that is my father-in-law, Fella. Yup, that's the name he goes by. Anyway, I was amazed at how well the colors of the quilt coordinate with my living room decor - if you can call my mishmash of furniture decor - so I draped it over the couch for a photo. He was napping, and never even woke up! And I left the quilt on him until I went to bed, and which point the quilt went to bed with me. I felt a little silly, carrying it around like a toddler with a security blanket, but I couldn't help myself. I very nearly brought it to work with me today. Not only is it beautiful, but it smells heavenly. Does your whole house smell like that, Em? What is that smell, and how can I make my house smell like that, too?)

Giving Thanks

I was so frustrated at work on Tuesday, that the word "quit" actually escaped my lips. No, I didn't quit, but I was seriously considering it and weighing my options. But, as usual, when I awoke on Wednesday morning, it was with a smile on my face and a whole new attitude. I am so thankful that I never stay down for long. So the theme of this post is giving thanks and being thankful.

First of all, big thanks to Emily at Em Celebrates. I won a giveaway, and she sent a package to my boys - even addressed it to them, much to their elation. Jason pulled out his 11-in-1 Cub Scout tool to cut open the package.

In that, another package.


In that, a bag (very clever, Emily, you kept them going for a while!).

And in that, some fun fabric and a book. Both perfect gifts for my little quilter/readers. Thanks, Emily.

(Do you think I could snip off a couple edges of this cute fabric without them noticing?)

Part of my attitude adjustment yesterday was to actually leave my desk for lunch. I've been working straight through lately, even though I know that isn't healthy, either physically or mentally. I got in the car, and ended up at the Habitat Resale store. I was half-heartedly looking for a bed frame when I came across this chair.

It may not look like much, but it was PERFECT! You see, I snipped this photo out of a magazine recently, hoping to customize a chair or two for my sewing studio.

This sturdy $5 chair already has the previous seat covering removed, so putting a new seat cover on should be a snap. I like the wood, so I don't think I'll paint the chair, but who knows. Oh, and to give credit where credit is due, I was also inspired by a photo from Victoria's BumbleBeans blog. I can't wait to get started. Of course, I have to work all weekend, so I probably won't get a chance to get to this right away. Grrrr! (Be thankful you have a job, Erin, be thankful you have a job...) Perhaps if I just keep repeating that to myself...

And finally, I am thankful that my husband's team won their game last night. They didn't play well, and ended up going into overtime, but a win is a win. Go Generals!

(Who IS that handsome coach!?!)

Silver linings

I try to look for the good in everything. Usually, I am successful.

I learned this week that one of my quilter buddies, Judi AKA Karate Quilter, got engaged (YAY!) and is moving to China (BOO!). That makes 3 quilting buddies moving away in just 2 years. As someone who is used to being the one who moves away, not the one left behind, I am finding this difficult to deal with. So what is the silver lining, you ask? I am the beneficiary of stash reduction measures as she packs up to move - woo hoo!

I'd rather have her stay, but I'll settle for her stash scraps.

I played around a bit more with the Nickelmania blocks from this weekend's workshop. I still haven't chosen a layout, but I'm having a great time exploring my options.

Of course, I'm not sure when I'll get to play with it again. I'm off to work shortly, and I am working 12 days straight. Ugh! Sew a little extra for me, won't you?

Distractions

I should be further along hand quilting my Bright Idea quilt, but I've been distracted. First, I stumbled upon a blog of a wonderful wonky quilter, Emily at Em Celebrates, and have lost myself in enjoying her quilts and her adventures. It's funny, I've seen several of her quilts before on Judi's blog, Green Fairy Quilts, but I didn't come upon her blog through Judi. Anyway, upon going back through her entries, I found a quilt that really spoke to me, and immediately thought I could do something like that to use up some of the yo-yos I inherited a while ago (envision yo-yo flowers in urns or vases). I started putting some blocks together trying to stay within a certain color scheme - green, purple and tan/gold (don't ask me why).
I like the blocks, but I don't really like the colors. Do I continue?

Luckily, I didn't have to decide because our Guild had a Nickelmania workshop today with Ann Littleton, using up 5" charm squares that we've been trading in our Guild. Ann brought lots of samples of layouts using the 4-patches and HST that we were making:




Of course, I challenged myself to come up with a layout different from all those presented. Perhaps something on the diagonal. Here are the layouts I played with:

I'm itching to go down to the studio and whip up some more blocks so I can flesh these ideas out a bit. But first, I leave you with some photos of Jason, who sat on the bench with the team today and kept track of the score and timeouts and other basketball-y stuff. For those of you who know my husband, doesn't he look JUST LIKE HIM? Gorgeous! You'd think I had nothing to do with his creation...well, except for the poor kid's height. Mea culpa.

Mommy, can I come sleep with you?

I made a quilt for my mom a few years ago. I'm not sure if I ever took a photo of the completed top, but when my younger sister was visiting her over Thanksgiving, she took photos of it and posted them on her Facebook page. How sweet! And looking at them, I want to go climb into Mommy's bed for a nap. That's it - enough quilting for others; I need to make a quilt for MY bed!

Is it naptime yet?