Rhinos and Chili Peppers

The central portion of this top has been complete for awhile now. I really want to start on some projects for me but I was feeling guilty that this was not done. So I put some borders on it, and it is now ready for quilting. It will be sent off to Mary at Heartstrings for finishing and donating.

Today is a rather cloudy, windy day making it hard to take a good picture

More Good News/Bad News

Have you ever been to Lynette Anderson's blog? I just love her whimsical designs. I have had my eye on her "Friends for Christmas" quilt for some time now but the pattern was out of my price range. Lynette recently had a blog giveaway (you know I love those) and guess what............I won the Friends for Christmas pattern. It arrived yesterday and I am so excited, I want to start right away. Now I just need to decide if I want to do needle turn or machine applique. Decisions, Decisions, Decisions................

I received an anonymous comment asking if I would sell those cute baskets at my etsy shop. I have contacted the designer of the pattern, Ayumi at The Pink Penguin, and she will not give me permission to sell baskets using her pattern on etsy. It's too bad as I have a ton of ideas for baskets in a wide variety of designs.

Good News/Bad News

First the bad news, on March 31 my boss informed me that I no longer had a job. It's a rather complicated explanation, so lets just say I was not let go due to anything I had done, it is just that they were forced to move their corporate office, 3 hours away, leaving me behind.

The good news is that I finally have some free time to do a few things I didn't have time for before. I have always wanted to start a little etsy shop and I have finally got one started. You can find a button there on the right that will take you to my shop. I have a few quilts to sell, along with a bunch of postcards. I have two boxes full of vintage patterns I know I'll never make again. But there is one item I have sold before and has always been popular, Christmas ornaments. I have started off with my most favorite, mini stockings.

I am not expecting to replace my full time job with selling a few items on etsy, but it is keeping me busy and a few extra dollars could help out.

Fleetwood Mac

Last night my husband and I went to a Fleetwood Mac concert. It was great and Lindsey Buckingham was spectacular. The Bank America arena was jammed packed and the joint was jumping. We thoroughly enjoyed the show.

But I've got to ask, why do women, (and no so young ones at that) spend a small fortune to go to a concert and spend most of it talking to their friends? Or maybe I should say screaming at their friends as the music was quite loud? Why Oh Why, do people spend a good portion of the show texting their friends? Don't they realize how rude that is both to the audience and the performers?

Teddy Bear

I have been working non stop on this baby quilt and I am happy to say it is done. I am really happy with the results too, even all four corners on the binding came out square. I am going to wash it now (to remove the quilt markings) and then it will be sent off to Keepsake Quilting for sale. It is machine pieced, hand appliqued and hand quilted. I am going to have to look through the drawers to see what other gems I might find.

Alli makes a block

My granddaughter came to visit the other day, she is only 6 years old. As she loves doing crafts and she is very interested in her "Princess Jellybean" quilt, I decided it was a good opportunity for us to make a block. I let her pick the colors of the fabrics and threads (I think that is pretty obvious). She traced my hand on some fusible interfacing and I traced hers. I lowered the ironing board way down and helped her use the iron. She was a little hesitant but was OK with it as long as I helped. I let her do all the cutting.

It's kind of cute even if the colors are a bit bizarre.

Teddy Bear

I don't remember what I was looking for, but this UFO is what I found.This little bear was hand appliques and I did a pretty good job of it. The inner border is made up of small log cabin blocks. All it needed was an outer border. I put a simple plain border on it to accommodate some fancy hand quilting.

Tisket-Tasket - April Block

I'm still not happy with my work. I don't think it's so much the actual stitching, but there is something lacking in my prep work. Try as I may, I cannot get the curves so smooth. I end up with points where it should be a smooth edge.

I started buying silk threads years ago in an attempt to improve my applique skills. I have several spools of Tire thread and a few Kinkame. They are both quite nice but expensive. I then discovered YLI silk thread, It is the worst. It shreds after just a few stitches and I'll never buy that stuff again. I have even tried a single embroidery thread. I have lots and lots of those. But they shred badly as well.

On my last trip to Joanns I decided to try something different. I purchase Coats and Clark, Dual Duty, fine polyester covered polyester thread. Yes, I said the nasty P word and you what? I like it better than silk.

Zizzy-Dot +1 Swap

That's right, there is now a plus one and I think we are changing the name to the ZD+1 Swap. Our new member chooses to remain anonymous so we'll just call her A, because Barbara +A, + Dotti = BAD.

It's not a contest, just a fun swap, so I'll show you March's three blocks and not tell you who made what.

Cool!

Remember this little quilt I made from a free Piece O Cake design? I have sent it off to Ami Simms Priority Alheimers Quilts for sale at the monthly auction. There are some really cute items for sale this month. Please go bid.

Block Lotto

I have made 6 blocks for this months Block Lotto.