thrilled

Well, What day to wake up to...
(click to enlarge)

This box arrived today....
With the GARDEN GATE quilt inside!
I chose not to quilt this commission quilt myself.
It was 116" square and frankly,
I loved it so much, it needed more that I could give it...

So off it went to Linda at Cottage garden quilts...



Look what she did to it!


Thank you Linda!
I'll see you soon, as we drive across 1-80 Saturday on our road trip to MN.
You will get a HUGE hug lady!

And if you want Linda to quilt something for you,
remember the BASICS QUILT GATHER!
when we get 100 quilts,
We will raffle off a $100 gift certificate for services provided by Linda!

Meanwhile, I am off to do the binding on this beauty
as it goes to it's new home tomorrow!

How many hours do you think it will take me?? 6? 8?
I may need new fingers by the end of today!!!

check, check, and check.

I rcvd my piece from Sujata today! I'm blown over at her thought process.
She sent me the nicest note explaining her process, and influences...
my garden, living in NYC, going to MN, the lakes, fishing etc... I 'm very touched by her thoughtfulness... I love it.

Sujata did a neat post about putting the quilt together... go see.

Sujata also rcvd her piece today! So I can now show you!
It was fun to work on... A bright cheery house block that she sent me initially,
I had to find a way to spice it up! I know if we ever met, she'd have this sunny disposition.
with a little zest! Hope she likes it too!

Goal for today:
Getting things off my list....

My liberated Amish challenge quilt is basted and ready for quilting! (check!)
Procrastination no more!
I plan on taking it with me to MN to work on....
I am quite pleased that I persevered and didn't rush the quilt...and let it speak to me..
The letters gave me to most trouble until I knew exactly what I wanted...
to find a balance in the form of the letters that reflected
the patterns in the quilt design itself...
I really love the backing piece too. It was meant to be!

I always forget to post, FiNiShEd quilts...
I figure you're so tired of seeing the tops in progress,
by the time I get them done, that you won't care to see
it with the binding on...
I was told by a few of you that was not the case, to
alas, my Kitchen sink quilt is DONE.( CHECK)
I just finished the binding today.

Hat vs. Rug...
I worked on this a little last night and this morning...
The extra stitches a few of you suggested did the trick! It's a RUG!
I will put this big purple border around it and call it quits... fun!
not much more to do... (almost a check)

I made one more of my Sunset blocks today. (check) I now have 20...
5 more to go...

You may wonder how on earth I get all this done today!
the trick is, I haven't eaten in over 24 hours, and I did not sleep well last night,
as I am having some more tests done today,
(due to my iron thing, which is why I haven't been able to eat- 28 hours of no eating)
so all I had to do today, was SIT on my behind,
and finish odds and ends...
So this quilt gets put into the "BRING TO THE HOUSE"
box for my summer projects... I'm sifting through all my started projects
to take to my house to finish up this summer, along with a few more basics quilts...
(you know I have enough of those to work on all summer, and perhaps the rest of the year)

hmmm, let's see, it's 2:05, in 2 hours and ten minutes I will finally get to eat...


Before I have THAT distraction,
what else can I tackle to day, on my butt, watching TV...

are you checking things off your list today?
or adding?

rag rug/hat...

A while back, like say, a year or so, I wanted to make a rag rug...
I cut some strips, braided them, then stitched them together....
Unfortunately, my attempt produced something of a funny shape....

My husband wanted to know if I was making a hat ....

Yes, a hat....

Does this look like a hat? well, OK, I see his point...
(Shela, you will appreciate this!)

Last night, I had the urge to break into a string scrap bag I bought in MN
last week and make a second attempt,
except I planned on crocheting the whole thing this time...

SO far, It looks good! It does seem to be curling up a bit.. any suggestions?
So I don't end up with a second stylish rag hat? I'm not so brilliant with a hook...
I can do a single chain that's about it...

the scraps are all Kaffe... yum, the colors are so great..

OK, so you've now had a good chuckle... ;-)

glad to brighten your day!

This little gift is on it's way to Sujata.

Fingers crossed, I hope she likes it!

What adventure will you take on today?

SPECIAL NOTE:
We are reaching 50 quilts for BASICS,
if you donate,
we will be drawing names for
2 - $50 gift certificates to PINK CHALK FABRICS!!

and more prizes to come. see the site for more info.

Bumble Beans Basics Quilt Gather

what a day

In one week, B and I will be on the road ....
Last fall, I organized a quilting retreat in MN, and we will drive out
to meet up with 10 Blog Quilters for three glorious days of sewing our brains out!

Shelly S, Shelly P , Andrea , Mary , Doris, Amanda,
Toni, Terri , Rene , Heather and myself.

If any of you are heading to the MN Quilt Show,
send me a email. We will be there too!

So, in preparing for that...
(Besides, packing, packing and packing!
what on earth shall I bring, perhaps just a large bin of scraps!)

I have two projects I need to finish before I leave.
two gifts, that I can only show you peaks at! (above and below)
fun little inspiring projects for two fab pals...

I may try to set up a retreat again for 2011,
if anyone in the Midwest area is interested for next year...
Let me know...

maybe even a New York one! Ooh that would be fun!

*******

I got these two beauties in the mail this past week...
ebay... ;-)

scrappy scrappy fabulous...

These kind of quilts me me so happy.... Why do I do anything else??
yes, it's fun to play but ultimately a good scrappy quilt makes my heart sing!
time to hit the scrap bins...

Is there a type of quilt that makes your heart sing?

My Jenny Egg. She is a very goofy, nervous. little gal... I sit at my computer desk,
she sits underneath... Instead of chasing her ball, well, she sits down on the job...
gotta love her!

play detour

Geese in a row
11"X14"
my 15 minutes of play went a little overboard today...
I wanted to try something new like raw edge applique...
then I couldn't stop til it was done...

oh well, it's been one of those days...
So many things to do, don't know where to begin...
SO I did something completely off track...

Ever have a week like that?


Perhaps I need to take this approach instead...
roll around in a happy place, and come up with a big smile on my face!
to bad I don't have a tail to wag!

this, that, and the other...

5 more BASICS quilt tops done, ready for quilting... That puts me at 25 quilts...
!!!!!
I usually make about that in a year!
See how helpful you guys are, sending those pre cut
squares, backings and bindings!!!
Barbara S., yes, I have TWO Barbara's (Barbara S. and Barbara A.)
who keep sending me Blocks and backings and quilts tops!

She sent me these pre made blocks, of three different patterns,
that I just had to lay out into a pattern that worked...
These were a challenge as they were so busy.

But I got a thumbs up approval from my daughter, so I think It will work!

Makes this very easy to finish a lot!

Thank you to EVERYONE
who has contributed! I have 15 more to go,
so I will be ready for 20 quilts each for two fundraisers in the fall...

My mother helped piece a bunch, also, then sent them to me to
select house
blocks to insert...
pheew. Thanks mom!

Then I took a break today to work on my way over due,
Liberated challenge quilt with Tonya...
I had the letters done previously and didn't like them.
I wanted the letters to reflect more the style of angles in the center of the quilt...
So today, I re-cut all the letters... I also wanted it less obvious to read... so I wrapped them
around the square, so that it reads more as a part of the quilt, then you discover the letters...
And I ran out of NAVY BLUE for the second time...

I'm thinking that's a sign, maybe it needs something other
than NAVY for the outer border...
I may even put it on point... just to be difficult...!!
We'll see.. I'm still playing...

I rcvd all my furniture back from the upholsterer... Remember this post?
Where is used all my fabric samples to make a pillow out of them? Well,
This is what I did... I was so tired of Neutral...
so I wanted to pull out all
the different colors out of my rug.
But also didn't want to go to DARK
as my floors
so I went slightly purple instead of navy...
I'm pleased with it. It's a little funky... funky is good...
Not crazy about all matchy match!
And all for a bargain price on those fabrics! yippee!


By the way,
If anyone knows who the maker of the tea cups is in the last post...
I want to get the teapots!!!
I can't find them anywhere...

UPDATE!
Here are the tea cups and teapots, from Holland
http://www.grubersquiltshop.com/FabricPanelsPage.htm

homey home.

Getting all my ducks in a row...
or GEESE! for that matter...
These geese have nearly 40 babies... I think I counted 36....
sheesh!

Can't forget we're on the prairie when I drive on this road....

This little guy kept following me around...
Funny thing is, we have a dragon fly door knocker...

My goods from Grubers!
I don't often buy fabrics from a fabric store, so when I am in MN
I always stop at Grubers, in St.Cloud. It's HUGE!
City quilter does not have very
much and either does Purl...
So I never get to see ALL the of great lines
of fabric out there in person, only on my computer screen...

I bought every Navy and cheddar fat quarter they had...
sigh. I've already cut them up and I only got home last night!


Then I gathered all these purple, green, and browns... Not sure why...
Just loved the RICHNESS of the colors....

Then I thought I was done, but I saw these tea cups!

oops! I thought I bought the tea pots! drat... Now I need to find the tea pots too...
Have no idea what I'd do with them. I was just a kid in the candy store...

the Two Bottom pieces are half meters from MARY!!!
She went to quilt market and got some great things...
She gave me these two Heather Ross Far far away LINENS!!!
Ooh boy what fun! That orange knocks my socks off... its' so me I could fall over!

My best friends, Middle daughter, rcvd a sewing machine for Xmas,
and a whole lot of fabric from me!
She made me and B, the two BRIGHT PILLOWS, out of a bunch of her fabric!
She made them up as she went along! A girl after my own heart for sure...

BUSY busy two weeks ahead....
something every night and day.. either doctor visits, dentist, school events, etc...
And get packed up for summer!
focus, focus!

Hope you all had a lovely memorial weekend!