The Last Post Here

Howdy! If you're here visiting & not finding much going on, you're right, there hasn't been much going on!! 

Not only did Christmas slam into me & keep the workload hot & heavy, but I ran out of picture storage on this blog. This was all happening at the end of the year, when I look to revamp my blog and/or switch my "lists" to the new year. 

But heading toward the end of 2012 had me debating switching blogs. No, not because I'm cheap & didn't want to pay for the upgrade ...well I AM cheap & didn't want to pay for the upgrade ....but this wasn't the primary reason. 

If you want to read more on the WHY & keep up with the upcoming finished quilts & projects, I'd love for you to follow me over here at my new blog, The Longarm Lady. In fact, I'll miss you if you don't!

Hope you're all having a Happy New Year!

Weekly Works

Modern Pastel Top; QUILTED Puzzle Meander (freehand)

 Autumn 10-Patch on Point Top; QUILTED Bubble Meander (freehand)

Purple & Pink Pinwheel Top; QUILTED with Swirly Curls (freehand)

 Pansy Block Top; QUILTED Triple Loop Meander (freehand)

Infant Football Blankets

Just a quick peek at what I worked on during an unexpected free day! 

I made them for my cousin to give as gifts. As I understand it, the mom is expecting twins so one blanket is Buffalo Bills fabric & the other is Miami Dolphins fabric. 

Hope you're all doing alright post Hurricane Sandy & the Presidential Election..

Recent Quilt Finishes

A few finishes:

Modern Gray Top; QUILTED with Bubble Meander (freehand)

 Egg Money Top; QUILTED Custom (freehand, SID, ruler)

Intertwined Christmas Strips Top; QUILTED SID

In other news, my blogger won't let me upload any pictures without upgrading my picasa account, so I guess I'll have to look into this. I'm still not sure what this means because I'm mostly computer illiterate. Is there some outer space holding album they're referring to where all my blogger pics are stored? This is all I can surmise in quick fashion & making a guess.

More news includes the proclamation that we have NOT flooded during Hurricane Sandy. I'll admit to feeling guilty for being so happy about this, while others have been so devastated by her effects.

And last, but definitely not least, I took my 16 year old daughter & her best friend to see Justin Bieber in concert last night. Such entertainment... I was beaming & giggling off/on the whole time listening to the girls screaming & seeing the absolute joy on my child's face. There aren't a lot of times that true joy radiates outward, but music seems to set our hearts free, so last night was JOY FILLED.

Two Blues & Two Finishes

Two of the gals from the shop I quilt for, Stitch & Craft, entered their quilts & both won blue ribbons! As I understand it, there wasn't a longarm quilting category, so my name isn't on them, but I did quilt them & so I was pretty excited to be a part of the process :)

Ladybugs pieced by Erika. Other pics can been seen here: Ladybugs & Hearts

Bright Rectangles pieced by Joanna.

And I had a couple that I finished this week too:

Geese & Pink Blocks Top; QUILTED custom (freehand)

Autumn 10-Patch on Point Top; QUILTED with Bubble Meander (freehand)

Nothing too exciting going on here this week. Lots of quilting, schooling & some visiting with friends. My older daughter had a friend visit from Georgia a couple times, and I hosted a Creative Caper in my home for some of my favorite peeps on Friday. 

Hope to catch up with y'all soon. Piece-out! 

(get it... piece... as in sewing/piecing... yeah, I know, I'm a dork!)

"Eventful" Week & 1 Quilt

Autumn is cruising right along, wouldn't you say? We've turned the heat on & are seeing the leaves starting to change colors here in Pennsylvania. 

Since I last wrote my girls have helped keep things "eventful" as I hinted at in the title. 

The younger daughter, Morgan, looked very grown up going to homecoming with a boyfriend this year: 

This at least was a fun thing! Later in the week, Maegan, the older daughter, dropped her phone in a bucket of water, and her car died on her TWICE. Morgan followed up by dropping her phone in the shower. Yep, you read that right... in. the. shower. (And yes I mean while she was IN the shower!)

We just had a generally spastic week. Electronics were on the fritz left & right, our school days weren't going quite as planned, and I was constantly behind schedule on quilting. Just one of those weeks...

I did get this quick quilt worked in before I started on another custom one that isn't done to show yet: 

Baskets & Blocks Top; QUILTED with Leafy Swirl (freehand)

We did manage to leave some time for fun in between the annoyances life was handing us.

Monday the kids carved pumpkins: 

 And Thursday we had a bit of fun with our school day & visited Jen's Pottery Den to paint some pottery. 

We got to browse a used book store nearby too, which is always fun for us bookworms! (not that you look like a worm, Morgan; it's just a figure of speech...heehee)

To end our week, the girls & I went to see Pitch Perfect. Did anyone else see it? I enjoyed it but will have to admit it wasn't *quite* as good as I was expecting. Is it just me?? Or maybe it had more to do with my sour mood that evening (it was a looooong-feeling week.) 

Here's hoping the upcoming week will be slightly more productive...

My Quilting Masterpiece

A.K.A. Star Spin 

Pieced by Stitch & Craft 

Quilted ~ by me!

Full Frontal (why does that sound dirty??)

 Most of the back view

A little closer of the back view

Showcases "McTavishing" Technique - Front

Meandering Paisleys - Front

Paisleys on back

Star center is done with Freehand Victorian Feathers - Front

Feathers & McTavishing - Back

 Freehand Victorian Feathers - Back

This marvelous sucker took me 34 HOURS to quilt! And I must say, though I felt stress from being under a deadline, I thoroughly enjoyed the process.

Tea Mat Gift

Sewing has actually... FINALLY... occurred! 

I had to wait to show it, though, since this was for a tea-drinking friend who reads the blog now & then...

 I even managed to quilt a steaming teacup in the center...

Three of us hadn't gathered for some time & we exchanged belated birthday gifts. I cannot wait to play my gift:

STITCHOPOLY!! 

I'm going to make someone play this with me this weekend... mwahahahaha!!!

Will Try to Keep This Short!

There's been a lot going on in the past month I've ignored my poor blog.

My last post was literally one month ago & we'd just started our gym membership. I'm happy to report that we've kept up going twice a week! One of the many great things about having my built-in work-out partners is that even when one of us doesn't feel like going, someone else will urge the rest on. There's only been once that we came out feeling rough & tired. Usually it's rejuvenating.

My younger daughter decided to return to homeschooling. And I LOVE, love, love the homeschool lifestyle, but the amount of time I had to work with in terms of preparing & planning subjects has left me in a bit of a tizzy. No worries, though, as we're up & running mostly on time & mostly full steam. 

Besides working out & school-planning my brains out,  I've been quilting. Here are the latest:

Wizard Top; QUILTED with Meandering Loops & Stars (freehand)

Hearts & Squares Top; QUILTED with Puffy Heart Meander (freehand)

Green Lattice & Yellow Squares Top; QUILTED with Puzzle Piece Meander (freehand)

Navy & Cream Half-Square Triangle Top; QUILTED with Bubble Meander (freehand)

Poinsettia Top; QUILTED with Bubble Meander (freehand)

Blue Floral Panel Top; QUILTED with Butterfly Meander (freehand)

Ladybugs & Hearts Top; QUILTED Custom (freehand)

Paisley Stars Top; QUILTED with Puzzle Piece Meander (freehand)

My older daughter started her first college class.

And my younger daughter turned 16.

One other thing I'll mention... a year ago in early September we were cleaning out a muddy, soggy, smelly post-flood mess. I'm so glad we're not dealing with THAT! It seems unreal that it's been a year already though. Time sure does fly...