MUG RUG SWAP ADVENTURE FINISHED!

I joined the Mug Rug Swap Adventure a while back, then got very sick with gall stones.  I didn't sew for months!  Which is obvious if you read my blog -- no posts for a LONG time.

My partner in the swap doesn't like colors that are common in my stash, so I searched for quite a bit before finally finding something I liked that I thought she would.  Apparently, I made a bit of a boo-boo.  She said no black, brown or purple.  I didn't take my list with me, and thought it was no black, brown, or pink.  So there's some purple in it.  Thankfully, she indicated on Flickr that she liked the fabrics, so hopefully she won't hold it against me!

Above is the front.  I wanted something simple so I could show off the fabric.  It's Tina Givens' Haven's Edge.  I sent scraps to my partner and kept some for myself.  Lovely!

Above is my version of a label.  I'm not big into the fabric labels with all that info on them.  I want to see the fabric.  All of it!

My favorite square!  The birdies!  It was accidental, though I was trying to make it happen.  Just didn't have to try too hard!  Whew.

And the backing.  I LOVE this fabric.  It's gorgeous!

THE SOLIDS HAVE LANDED

Check out the P2 page for a picture of the Moda Bella Solids that I bought for the quilt along!  They are gorgeous, and while I've never worked with solids before, I can't wait!  Woo-hoo!

If you visit my blog, I would also really appreciate it if you click the Follow button on the sidebar.  It feels a little lonely here right now.  Thanks!

STACKED COINS LAP QUILT

This past weekend, I finally started the stacked coins lap quilt for my youngest sister.  She and her husband, who is back in the country for her graduation, leave for Sydney, Australia, on August 23.  Needless to say, I haven't much time to finish.

However, I did decide to attempt speed piecing, a technique I've seen frequently, but was always scared to try -- I just didn't think I could pull it off.  I pulled it off!

Isn't that a lovely string of coin pairs?  I was so very proud of myself!  I finished all five columns of coins in about three hours.  If I hadn't breaked here and there to talk to my mom or have something to eat, I probably could have done it even faster.

Here's how the columns progressed:

ConnectingThreads.com collections usually only have 20 fabrics in them, so there are repeats in each strip set.  My very orderly brain has a real problem with being random when it comes to design.  Speech, notsomuch, but that's a different blog altogether.  Anyway, I just can't be random, so I decided to make it very rainbow-ish.  And kinda bargello.

Can you tell what my design wall was on Sunday?  Oh yes, it is a closet door.  I have yet to find the perfect wall for my large piece of flannel.  I think it might be on the wall next to this door.  Permanently.

A pattern is emerging!  Of course, it'll be broken up nicely by the sashing, which is also already cut.  That was a pain!  And I brain farted and started cutting the sashing up for the backing instead.  Oops!  Thankfully, I figured out my mistake before it was too late.  Whew!

I love it!  I think it's looks great.  I can't wait to get the sashing done.  I have to square up the strip sets first, but before I do all that, I have to bake a cake for work, cook some ground beef before it goes bad, and go all the way to Pocatello, ID, which is four hours away, for my sister's graduation!  Sheesh!

At least all the coin sets are put together!  And the sashing is cut!  Hooray!

QUILT DUDES

Okay, so I follow the Moda Bake Shop rather religiously, and one of the regular contributors is a gentleman -- yes, I wrote "gentleman" -- named John. He blogs under the name Quilt Dad, and he also has a friend named Ryan who is a quilter as well. They are both married fathers, and I have to say, I love seeing guys who are into this art. It is a very technical art, something that I think appeals to men, especially ones with engineering backgrounds and the like. There is a retired engineer who sells his quilts on Etsy, and they are some of the most unique pieces of fabric artistry I've ever seen. He does mosaic quilts from single pieces of fabric. They are breathtaking. Thanks, guys, for sharing your art with us girls!

John's blog: http://www.quiltdad.com
Ryan's blog: http://www.ryanwalshquilts.com

Enjoy!

TREE SKIRTS

I am so sorry that I haven't posted for two months! I was distracted by NaNoWriMo for November, and then I've been sewing, sewing, sewing, but without the time to post. So here are four pictures of the tree skirts I made for my sisters for Christmas. Enjoy!

The above two pictures are of Mary's tree skirt. She owns a very retro-decorated house, and she really loves Christmas. She's quite sentimental, like I am.

And these two are of Ginna's tree skirt. She has an old house, but it's pretty modernly-painted and decorated, and she's not as sentimental as Mary and I, so I picked something not so Christmasy. She loves it!

MAMA'S MAGIC

I recently was accepted into the Etsy Bloggers Street Team, for which I'm quite excited. Hopefully, that will get me some more readers. And it gives me the chance to check out other people on Etsy whom I might miss otherwise. One of them is Mama's Magic. Her name is Jen and she has a couple Etsy shops, one of which I find really interesting, although the majority of what she has on there isn't for me -- I'm not a nursing mother. Heck, I'm not even a mother!

But her nursing beads for mom and baby are really cool! They give the child something to focus on so that the nursing goes smoother for everyone involved. It totally made me think of my friend and her baby, George. George has a hard time focusing on nursing -- he tends to think it's "play-with-Mommy's-booby" time rather than breakfast, lunch or dinner time. It makes me wonder if Jen's really fun beaded necklaces would help my friend get George to focus on nursing and not goofing around. However, he is a boy, after all! ;-)

Jen's blog, which you can check out by clicking the title of this post, has some pictures of her baby beads and stories about her life, including the latest story, wherein her son BJ wanted to know if the vice-presidential candidates were still going to love each other once the debate was over. How cute is that? As a former teacher, I love reading about what kids have to say and ask regarding the world. Makes us rethink our own perspectives. Thanks, Jen, for sharing BJ's insight!