B!day celebration!

It's my birthday!! [birthday birthday birthday!] Hope everybody celebrated today for my birthday!  ;)  It was a fantastic day all around and there will be more b!day fun this weekend too - I find it best to stretch out the party!  I also find that if you really want to celebrate right - it's advised that you take the whole day off of work.

Here's a bit of what I did to celebrate:

Then it was on to dinner out with L & N at Casa Mexicana.  Fantastic time and those sneaky friends had them bring out ice cream & a hat while being serenaded by the waiters - complete with guitar!  Off to eke out the last few minutes of the day  - have a great my birthday dear readers.  :D

once you pop, you can't stop!

So after picking fabric for the bundle contest yesterday I got all excited and picked another set of 12!  Somebody stop me.  ;)  Here's the second bundle I picked out and am calling it Breezy.

Row1:
Seeds in Gray- Fruit Slice for Anthology Fabrics by Khristian A Howell
Timeless Treasures Sketch Organic Crosshatch in Sky
Lizzy House Outfoxed Confetti in Green
Ta Dot in Sunny Yellow by Michael Miller Polka Dot

Row 2:
Cross Hatch in Green
Baby's Bunting in Cool Dusk Reunion by Sweetwater for Moda
Vintage Ironwork in Leaf- Secret Garden by Sandi Henderson
Mono Pez in Indigo Pezzy Prints by American Jane for Moda

Row 3:
Vintage Ironwork in Midnight - Secret Garden by Sandi Henderson
Basketweave in Yellow Dazzle by Melissa Averinos
Hello Pilgrim Pearl Bracelet in Turquoise Lizzy House
Circle Stripes in Cloud Gray Walk in the Woods by Aneela Hoey for Moda

fabric play : bundle contest

It's so much fun to play with fabric and try out different combinations for new quilts.  I did one of these fabric bundles before and now here's another chance to pretend to be a designer and choose which fabrics I'd put together for a bundle.
Katy of I'm a Ginger Monkey and Brenda over at Pink Castle Fabrics have cooked up an awesome contest.  After searching through Brenda's shop, these are my final 12 choices for a bundle.  Hope you like it - I'm calling it Pop Rocks.

Row 1:

Seeds in Orange - Fruit Slice for Anthology Fabrics by Khristian A Howell
Metro Living Circles in Fuchsia Pink by Robert Kaufman

Echo - Spring Buds in Gray by Lotta Jansdotter

Moda Bella Solid in Turquoise

Row 2:

Daisy's Dates in Graphite Reunion by Sweetwater
Ruby Star Shining - Retro Typewriters in Turquoise by Melody Miller

Timeless Treasures Sketch Crosshatch in Tangerine

Triflora in Lipstick Pink louLOUthi by Anna Maria Horner AMH Quilt Fabric

Row 3:
Sketch in Lipstick - Timeless Treasures
Hello Pilgrim Pearl Bracelet in Turquoise Lizzy House

Seeds in Gray - Fruit Slice for Anthology Fabrics by Khristian A Howell

Hello Pilgrim Jewels in Turquoise Lizzy House

Looking for more info about the contest?  Check out the rules and other bundles here.  Even better, you can enter more than once (though you can only win 1 time).  How much fun is that? Creating bundles & sparking ideas? -yes please!

WIP :: 3/21/12

I won't have time this week to sew due to the Sue Nickels workshop that starts tomorrow.  I'll be at work early and leaving late and by Saturday night won't want to do more than veg out once home.  Though it'll be great to see what the students create in class.  Plus, we are full of tours the next few weeks; Friday alone will see 150+ kids coming through!  Then next week is my birthday!  So there will be fabric shopping for sure.  :)

complete

-Christmas quilt- the top is finished!  I spent a bit of time deciding on layout for this quilt while trying not to spend a lot of time of deciding layout.  :P  I'll border it & use it as some quilt design practice.

in progress
-Swoon

-X & + blocks - I had a happy package sitting on my doorstep earlier this week containing my 10 swap blocks!  Thanks for everyone who made such awesome blocks!
They look so good and I want to keep making blocks.  Hopefully the swap over on flickr will repeat later so I can get enough for a wall quilt of these lovelies.


no progress
-Star dots

-Summer Sampler  <-- next in line!

in the pile
-GS Quilt
-Hawaiian applique block
-Sunflower applique

Be sure to check out all the other WIPs at Lee's this week!

Happy Spring

Quite a bit has happened since last we met dear readers.  
I had another group of Girl Scouts in to make fabric cupcakes & pennant banners to celebrate the 100th anniversary.  It was one of those events where you had enough volunteers, less kids than planned and everyone was finished early.  It almost seems too easy when that happens, since it's usually fairly chaotic, but it was fun!  The fabric cupcakes debuted at Kidz Day last summer, and were a hit!, so I'm hoping to find something equally as fun & stunning for this year.


Then I dithered for a couple days about signing up for my 2nd 5K race before finally walking over to drop off my registration an hour before the deadline.  The symphony was hosting their first Beat Beethoven 5K run; running the race to the sound of Beethoven's 5th symphony and finishing before the music stopped - thus, beating Beethoven.  It sounded like a fun premise for a race and I duly set my alarm, set out the running shoes & gatorade and went to sleep early on Friday night.  
On the downbeat of the PSO conductor, we all started off to the sounds of 'da da da daaaaaa'.  Sadly, we couldn't hear the music all the way through the park.  However, those who beat Beethoven were given a free ticket to the concert that night (to hear the 5th performed) and that was certainly motivating during the 2nd lap.  My time was 32:34 - and I finished 125th out of 240 runners.  wow!


I beat ol' Beethoven & even managed to snag a 2nd ticket that someone else didn't want. 
So N & I went to the Symphony which was wonderful!  I've never heard the 5th live before and it was thrilling to be able to see the musicians playing such a well known piece.  Plus, the rest of the piece was just as stunning and I loved the 2nd movement - so beautiful.  


Sunday I pieced my Christmas blocks into a quilt top - such a quick quilt to put together.  I used the pattern Sweet Pea from Camille Roskelley's book Simplify.  I used a layer cake instead of a charm pack to make it larger in size. Now I can decide on a border and plan out quilting it.  For now, it looks like I'll have this one complete before we start thinking about winter again!
I also received my swap blocks back in the mail from the Japanese X & + swap - such lovely blocks! I'll be making more of these and hopefully swapping more later in the year so I can make a wall quilt out of them.


Other news: my birthday is a week away! :D   I'm planning what to do during the day to celebrate - fabric shopping will be a definite!  I took the day off from work as I am a believer in not working on your birthday.  It makes it much more fun & exciting to have a day off all for you & what you want to do.  There was a mystery package waiting for me at my door today & I am under strict instructions to not open anything until my actual birthday.  sigh.  It will sit and taunt me from the chair all week long I just know it!  Meanwhile, I'm enjoying the nice weather and have eaten lunch outside by the river this week.  wonderful.  :)

WIP :: 3/14/12

Welcome Spring!  Or maybe even early Summer this week.  The pear trees are all blooming, I can walk out in the morning without a coat, it's sunny until 7pm & I have the ceiling fan on. [good thing i dusted over the weekend.]  This also means it's school tour time at work since the end of the year is approaching.  Of course, we end up with groups that all schedule on the same day, which can get a little chaotic.  


Since last time, I had my Junior Quilters in and we are continuing to work on their projects. It's always exciting to see them come together and to see how 10 girls can make the same quilt, but have it look completely different based on their fabric choices.  We also finished up the GS series and those quilts turned out super nice!  I hope the girls had fun making them.  

Sparks on the wall

Anyways, on with the show:

complete

Sparkle QAL quilt - all crinkly & hanging in the entryway. 

Pineapple - Finished! I just have to hang it up on the wall now that it has a sleeve.

swoon top

Swoon - the top is complete! I'm working out how I'll piece the backing & what fabrics I might need to buy.  I want to use various shades of solids in the blues & greens from the front.

new

Christmas quilt - with all the finishes I got itchy to start cutting & piecing a new project.  eep!  I've had a Moda layer cake of a Christmas/wintry line Merry & Bright for a couple years now.  I bought it at my first Houston show and finally decided I needed to make it into a quilt.  I've got these blocks all cut & pieced in just 2 nights so they are ready to square up.  My plan, dear reader, is to have it finished for this Christmas since I'm starting so early.  :)

new blocks

no progress
Star dots  <--still need fabric for backing & binding. I have gift cards to Hancock's of Paducah though so it might be time to cash in on some of that.  I can certainly stop in & browse.  

-Summer Sampler  <-- next in line!

in the pile
-GS Quilt
-Hawaiian applique block
-Sunflower applique

So that's the last couple weeks over here dear readers.  Maybe all this sunshine & warm weather has helped keep me motivated.  Maybe too the episode catch ups I watch while piecing helped too.  ;)  It's been BTVS & Gidget the TV series here this week.  (yes I know that's a strange combo).  What do you watch/listen to while quilting?  linking up.

Spring Sparkles

Another quilt finished!  Who doesn't love finishing a quilt?!  It's always amazing how the quilt transforms during the finishing stages.  Getting the top together is exciting too, but once it gets quilted & trimmed and the binding is ready to hand finish, it had such a different look to it.  It goes from 'work in progress' to looking like a 'real' quilt and I love seeing how that happens each time I finish a quilt.

I'd like to introduce you to Sparks.  

Stats:

Size: 41" x 41"

Fabric: Kate Spain prints from Central Park & Terrain, statshed FQs from Joann's.

Sashing & Binding: Kona Mahogany

Backing: Kaffe Fassett print

My 9-block version of the Sparkle Quilt A Long from In Color Order & Canoe Ridge Creations.  I'd been following the posts from Jeni & Megan and flipped through the flickr group for a couple weeks before pulling fabric & joining in.  This past week I joined in on the One Thing, One Week Challenge over at Amy's Creative Side.  This helped me get behind the sewing machine to finish quilting during the week; while watching several BTVS episodes.  The Three Musketeers & Princess Bride kept me company through hand sewing the binding. So it was an enjoyably humorous non-stressed finish.

We've had such beautiful weather this weekend and, as you can see, I've found a new place to photo shoot.  This quilt is now hanging right as you come in the door and I can't stop running over to look at it again & again. If you love it as much as I do - go check out the Sparkle QAL Flickr Group and make one for yourself!  :)

Also linking over at Canoe Ridge Creations for the Monday finish!

Sunday Snapshot #10

Thin Mints are already in the freezer and I've tucked away the Samoas & Tagalongs so I don't eat them all. right. now.  I did open the Savannah Smiles (lemon) just to taste test.  ;)  Happy 100th anniversary Girl Scouts!