Blended Quilt challenge - FINISHED!

I doubted that even with a few extra days, I would be able to finish my challenge quilt, but lo and behold, I did it!  It energized me to see each pieced border completed, and that helped spur me on to the finish line.  My finished quilt, based on the Arabella pattern from Blended Wall Quilts (mine's larger than the pattern in the book) finishes at approximately 57" square.

Check in with Nicole, Perry and Cindy to see their finished quilts!  Thanks for playing along!   Ready for the next challenge, ladies?

A wasted day

The weather pundits have been threatening snow for most of this week, but this morning it finally materialized. I got up at O-dark Thirty to work out and there was about an inch of snow on the ground. By the time I finished my ride, there was another couple of inches. I checked the news online and saw that schools were closed. I had a meeting this afternoon with The Big Cheese, but I called and left a message for him to call me at home. I went back to bed and waited for the kids to wake up, and by that time, we had about 6 inches of snow.

By that time I also had a raging migraine. I was looking forward to having some time at home to work on my Blended Quilt and another quilt project that I started cutting out over the weekend, but this dang headache prevented me from normal function today.

Another few inches of snow is expected overnight, so perhaps I will get a second chance at a day at home to catch up tomorrow.

Oh - and in addition to my challenge and anything else I might want to be working on, my guild solicited me to enter 2 more quilts in our show in March - for their "Then and Now" display - my first quilt and one of my recent quilts. I was happy to do it, but that means I have one more that I have to bind. Yikes! Not my favorite thing to do! I will have 4 quilts in the show, though, and that's pretty cool.

My happy place

I look forward to Thursdays, when I get to go to work at my happy place.   Last night I got to bring in the finished Love Notes quilt that I made as a shop sample.  Here is a goofy picture of me holding the quilt up.  I'd rather have a picture WITHOUT me in it, but the quilt probably won't get hung until today and I know some of my bloggy friends wanted to see the quilt.

The gals at the shop just loved it.  I used Michael Miller's Snuggle Up fabric on the back which is a plush, Minkee-like fabric that is soft as butta....  Yum.   And my quilter used a super cute heart pantograph and did a speedy quick turnaround so I could get it up in time for Valentine's Day.  My DD was sad to see her "Quiltie" leave the house, but I promised it would be back very soon for her to cuddle with.

I'm happy to be done with the shop sample, so now I can turn my focus to finishing the challenge quilt to meet our deadline next week.  From there, the project possibilities are endless!   I have 3 more shop samples that I feel like I must start soon, but the pull of a new project of my own is really strong.  Oh and also the desire to finish my Opening Day quilt.  What to do?  What to do?

Blended Quilt, Week 7

Closing in on the finish line! With one week remaining in our challenge, it looks like my project will come together despite my lack of progress for a number of the weeks. I've finished the interior portion of the quilt, but will save that for the big reveal next week. Here's a little sneak peek at my pieced border. Hop over to see what Cindy, Perry and Nicole  have done on their challenge project this week.

My quilter is working on the Flirtations Love Notes quilt and I should be able to pick it up today. Then I need to put the binding on so we can get it hung in the shop. I will post a picture soon - it turned out very cute indeed!

Valentine's Day

I'm sorely lacking in holiday decorations except for the big holidays - Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween.  I have this perfect buffet table for decorating, so I hope to finish some seasonal runners this year to decorate for the other holidays.  Here is the Charming Hearts tablerunner I made last year, but after seeing Sharon's on her blog, I think I may want to take the hearts apart and put them side by side rather than end to end.  My original plan was to add borders, but it fits the table now, so I think I'll just bind it this size and call it good.

You can also see my adorable new Puppy Love Annie, now I need a cute little pink feather tree with some Valentine ornaments to keep Annie company.

Blended Quilt, Week 6

Finally, some progress on my challenge quilt! I finished the last 7 star blocks I needed to piece for my top. Now the fun begins - laying out the quilt with some plain alternate blocks to get a pleasing arrangement. What's that you say? You see more than 7 blocks? Well, I found 2 more combinations of florals that wanted to be star blocks. And if they don't all play nicely together, I will have one or two I can pull out to get something more to my liking.

Now back to the Valentine's quilt to meet my deadline of getting it to my quilter on Sunday. It looks like I may finish that and still have some time to work on the blended quilt next weekend!

Work Table I Spy

Nicole tagged to me show my work table in a little blogging game started by Karen at LeeHaven. Here is my "I Spy" photo. On my worktable you can see:

1. Assorted Creative Grid and Flying Geese Rulers

2. Blended Wall Quilts Book and my notes for my current challenge quilt

3. Tape Dispenser

4. Blended Quilt Blocks

5. Flirtations fabric for Love Notes quilt

6. Love Notes quilt pattern

7. Pincushion made by Angela (won on her blog contest)

8. Tin of Monkey Mints

9. Two pairs of scissors

10. Silver Anniversary rotary cutter

11. Two spools of pink thread for quilt bindings

12. Two pens (do you gather that I like things in pairs?)

13. Post-It Tape Flags

14. Assorted chalk markers

15. Ipod Shuffle

16. Ifreq device for playing iPod over radio frequency

17. Stereo remote

18. Bottle of water

19. Empty coffee cup

20. Christmas receipts and Christmas cards

21. Mix CD of my favorite tunes

Whew! Messier than I thought! Well, back to the grindstone. I may actually have some blended quilt progress to share tomorrow!

Blended Quilt, Week 5

Once again I am posting to say I have made no progress on my challenge quilt this week.  I'm working hard to try and get a sample done for the shop this week, so perhaps I will have time to make some blended blocks this weekend.  Then again, maybe not.  I only have 7 more star blocks to make, and then I can start laying out my quilt, but I'm nowhere near as far along with my project as Cindy, Perry and Nicole.  Oh well, it's not a COMPETITION or anything, is it, girls?

Pictured above is the shop sample I've been working on.  Only 2 more rows and borders and it will be finished.  I think it's extremely cute, and simple to make, although I am strip piecing the sides of the churn dash blocks rather than cutting individual pieces like the pattern directs.  It saves a lot of time and fabric that way, I think.

Something else that may hinder my quilting progress is this baby.  I used the money earned from my editing job in December to buy a Dell laptop.  I would have gotten it in ORANGE if that was an option, but instead, the family consensus was for Spring Green.  Pretty, huh?  Of course, the mouse and wireless router are arriving under seperate shipment, so it will be a few days until we are fully functional.  Wish me luck - I speak Mac and this is our first home PC.  I use a PC at work, but there I have an IT crew to set everything up for me.  Here I am dealing with my own security issues and wireless router, etc.  It's all so overwhelming!

The Gang's All Here!

I received 2 more Tiny Annies that I ordered from Nicole to sit with their sisters on my FQ shelf. Aren't they all freaking adorable? Now that the shelf is full, does it mean I have to stop buying Annies? I hope not, since I just asked Nicole to make me one for Valentine's Day!

Blended Quilt progress? Not so much.

I'm still working on my Love Notes quilt and didn't get anything done for my blended challenge this week.  There's always next week.  Stay tuned!

I also rang in the new year with a cold, so it's back to bed for me.