Meanwhile......

Long time, no talkie, errr, bloggie.  I miss keeping track of my projects and my little life in my little corner of the world…must try harder to make time for it!

                     (How do you rotate a picture!)

                                               (Soon will have curtain covering closet area.)

I've been getting more done in my sewing room, now that I have relocated it from the loft into Laurie's old bedroom.  This forced me to organize, prioritize, store creatively, and otherwise get my UFOs and future projects delineated.  I've been working on it nonstop; I blame it on the coffee. 

I scored a Keurig with a small portion of my summer dog sit money (the rest went in my future long arm fund!) and I've been hopped up on caffeine ever since.  I use the MyK-cup and coffees bought on special, and I am loving the fresh cup every time! Yum!  Such an improvement in flavor!

I've been busy with sewing projects and wedding preparations. 

I have made a few more owl potholders, and I liked the pattern so much that I even enlarged/appliqued one on the front of an apron, to match a potholder I had already made. (Using the light box that Yvette gave me! Thank you Yvette!)

During a week long dog sit in August, I whipped up a snowball quilt from a layer cake that Beth passed to me (Thank you, Beth!!)….

This week I've been quilting it.  I am going to echo the same design you see on the white squares formed between the snowballs, in the center of each snowball, only slightly larger. 

This was all prompted by a bit of uncooperative behavior from my Janome 1600PBX on the Handi-Quilter frame…   I had purchased a used carriage that would allow me to quilt from the front of the machine (needle end, more like a "real" long arm), rather than the back of the machine.  I was hoping it would work well, but something just wasn't right.  Skipped stitches, dragging machine, breaking thread and minimal control…..  combined with pilot error, I'm sure!.....  I finally took it off the carriage and off the frame, pinned it, and I'm quilting this using the Janome off the frame, just sitting on the table and pushing it through.  Working like a charm!  I guess the carriage will get set aside permanently, and I will try stippling from the back of the machine (like I used to) on the next quilt, before I give up on the Handi-Quilter frame completely.  Everything else has remained the same (needles, threads, etc), so I'm thinking the culprit may be that used front-carriage (and me!). 

Also while dog sitting, I have continued the String Quilt Blocks....  I have the best quilting friends in the world, and their contributions of fabrics from their stashes mean I will be able to make MANY of these quilts for Dad and Mom to give to the Crisis Center they work with. 

Wedding preparations continue.  Shower invites were sent out and Laurie's shower is this weekend. 

Karen is making adorable cupcakes with wedding dress bodice "picks" that are stuck in the top of the icing - I will post pictures after the shower which is next Saturday.  Wedding invites have gone out, engagement pictures have been taken, suitable outfit has been purchased for the Mother of the Bride….. including pumps.  Having not worn such things in probably two decades, the likelihood of me going tail over teakettle is high!

That's just two of the pictures taken at the beach in Laguna….  The photography session and pictures were a gift from Jason's aunt!

I feel the birdhouse fever coming on…..  that's what happens when I'm in Michael's to purchase wedding favors/ring bearer pillow/flower girl basket, etc, etc, and I have to pass THIS each time I try to redeem a 40% off coupon.

Soon as things calm down, I'm sure I'll be taking my 40% coupons back to Michael's and coming home to make more of these.  (And just how do I turn a picture on this blogger program?)

Last but not least, I started a new Barbara Brackman Block of the Week called Grandmother's Choice this week.  (http://grandmotherschoice.blogspot.com/) 

I had some fabric with hearts on it that I had been saving for something special, and I found some perfect coordinating fabrics in a big bag of goodies that Nancy had given me (Thank you, Nancy!!)  They all go together Sew Well!!

First two blocks are below, and are also posted on my Ole Frog Eyes virtual design wall. 

I found Ole Frog Eyes to be a fantastic tool when I made Barbara Brackman's Civil War Block of the Week quilt….  It made it so easy for me to make sure I wasn't using too many similar colors in one area of the quilt, and also kept me from too frequently duplicating actual fabrics in blocks that might end up next to each other, etc.  You can click on my Ole Frog Eyes widget at top right of my blog to be connected to my Ole Frog Eyes page.  LOVE IT!

Michael is on vacation this week, which means I'm assisting in a lot of the projects on his "to do" list…..  but hopefully I will be upstairs in my sewing room each day too, and have more to show/blog next week!