It's good to be home!

We had a wonderful time in Walt Disney World, with just a few mishaps, the biggest being I lost my new digital camera in the Magic Kingdom. :( But, we all had fun, the kids want to go again next year! Um - that isn't going to happen, sorry kids! It feels good to be back, and I will share some vacation stories when I get things settled here at home. I sure missed my sewing machine and can't wait to get back to it! Here's a picture of me and the kids on Splash Mountain - we rode it 5 times!

Toodles!

We're leaving early this morning for our first-ever family get-on-an-airplane trip.  We're going to DISNEYWORLD! and are all beyond excited.  I will take lots of pictures and fill you in when we return in a week.  Happy sewing!

I'm easily amused

Nothing quilty to blog about today, although I did finish putting my Cinnamon Stars sampler blocks together this morning.  I will take my quilt top to the shop with me tonight and get my coworkers' opinions on which fabric I should use for the borders (or whether it even needs borders).  Look for a post on October 1 when Nicole and I will reveal our finished samplers.

The easily amused part?  This is a photo of Sparky's odometer as I pulled into the driveway last night.  Yes, I named my car - doesn't everyone?

Trail Mix

To look at this pattern, well, it simply lacks appeal (in my opinion).  BUT, the owner of our shop made this out of beautiful pink and blue florals and it is displayed on the wall directly across from the cutting counters.

It truly is a beautiful quilt, and the blended style floral fabrics Julie used make the pattern seem much more sophisticated than just big strips and huge 9-patch blocks.  We've been sold out of the kits for months, but since this quilt is hung so prominently in the shop, we often have customers asking for kits or buying the pattern.

So it happened on this particular rainy Sunday afternoon that a customer was debating making it out of flannel basketball fabrics for her son who just accepted a job as a high school basketball coach.  I looked at the pattern with a fresh eye, and spied a beautiful floral print from Moda's Seaside Rose collection (I can't believe we still had some!)   Well, it was a slippery downhill slope from there.  Add to the mix coworkers who are only too happy to HELP you pick out coordinating fabrics, and I came home with this beautiful stack.

A quilt store is a very dangerous place for someone with a serious fabric addiction and very little self control.  A very dangerous place!

Announcing the winner!

First, I want to thank ALL of you for commenting on my blog giveaway post - it was so fun to see comments from long-time friends, as well as to meet so many new visitors to my blog!  The lucky winner of the beautiful floral rotary cutter is LadyDi, who posted on September 14.  Please contact me with your address so I can mail your prize to you and thanks again to all of you for playing along and supporting my blog!

Moda U kit progress

Here is my progress so far on the Moda U kit using Allspice Tapestry fabrics.  All the pieced blocks are finished and I only have 91 more quarter-square triangles to complete!  I was hoping to get this done before I leave on vacation September 22, but I've been sidelined with a ganglion cyst at the base of the middle finger on my right hand.  I got it drained at the doctor's office today but it is extremely painful and she strongly suggested I not do any cutting with that hand for the rest of the week.  Bummer.  I won't be very effective at the quilt shop Thursday if I can't cut fabric!

I'm thrilled to see so many people commenting on my blog giveaway post!  Please continue to comment and I will throw all your names into a big hat next Monday for the prize drawing.  This seems to be a very popular prize offering!!

Blog milestone and giveaway

This, dear readers, is my 275th post and what's a blog milestone without a giveaway?  These "designer" rotary cutters are so incredibly popular at the shop where I work, the owner had to wait 6 months to get her order, and they just flew out of the shop. I snagged the very last one to offer up as a prize.  So please leave a comment and I will draw a random name on Monday, September 17 - you could win this little beauty for your very own!

And another start

"Your mission, should you choose to accept it......"   I offered to make the shop sample for the new Moda U kit out of Fig Tree's new Allspice Tapestry fabrics.  What a nice job perk - all these beautiful fabrics for free?!  And I really like the pattern, too, it will be interesting to put together.  I've already started cutting and hope to get this top assembled before we get our Allspice bolts in the shop (the race is on!!).  After it hangs in the shop for a while, it gets to come home with me - how cool is that?

Sashing Decision

I was so "done" with my sampler quilt that I thought I'd just put it away and decide about the sashing later, but since it was still up on my design wall last night, I began to experiment.  The fabric I was sure was going to look great was a small olive green print, shown in the first picture.  Frankly, it just looked blah to me next to the blocks.

So I tried the other fabric that I had sufficient quantities of, and I really like this one.  The light fabric really makes the darker blocks float, and I think this will look great.  What do you think?

A funny thing happened with my cornerstones.  I originally thought I'd use a darker solid woven olive green print, but then thought this plum/brown would look better.  I had less than a quarter yard, and then one other small strip left over from the blocks.  I needed to cut 25 3-1/2" squares.  I was able to cut 24.  I searched frantically through my leftover yardage and my small scraps and did not find one single leftover piece of the print.  Wouldn't you know it?  As my mind raced to think if I had seen it in some online shop, I remembered I had a charm pack of the Cinnamon Stars fabrics and - YES - I had one 5" square of the print I needed.  Serendipity?  I think so!!!!

Another finish

Another one in the "finished" column after the long holiday weekend - I finished my DD's Michael Miller toile quilt and she couldn't be happier!  I've already made arrangements to have it quilted right away and hope to get it to the longarm quilter this weekend.  My daughter is proudly holding it up here ("But Mommy, you can't see ME!")

Sampler Blocks - finished!

Oh I love a 3-day weekend - that extra day to finish projects was just the ticket for me this weekend!  Sister's Choice Nicole and I decided to ramp up and finish our Sampler Challenge and we both completed our blocks this weekend!  Here are my final four, followed by a photo of all 16 together.

The blocks got more challenging as the project progressed - it was harder to randomize the colors and I hope that I ended up with a good mix of the fabrics.  There will be a 3-1/2 inch sashing and cornerstones, but I haven't decided which of the Cinnamon Stars fabrics I will use for sashing - I have a couple of choices and will audition them a little later.  I also haven't decided if I will add a border to frame the quilt - the version I made does not have a border, but I may add one.

I'm really happy to finish this and cross one off my "to-do" list!