Design Wall Monday - February 8, 2010

Although I did manage to work on a few things on my list from last week, I became fascinated by making scrappy little blocks.  This week, I made thirty six that I squared to 6.5 inches and forty five that squared to 5.5 inches. The blocks below are a sampling of the 5.5 inch blocks.  They look a little limp because they are taped to the hall closet door.

Don't forget to visit Judy L's blog there's always something to see on the other design walls..

Makes Me Happy Monday - February 8, 2010

My Viking daughter attends a women's college in New England.  She calls home every Sunday evening to chat about whatever happens to be going on in her part of the world.  As soon as I wake up on Sunday morning, I begin to count the hours until it's time for her to call.  She really doesn't like to use the phone and rarely has usage on her cell phone other than calls to us at home.  She tells us that she sees her friends everyday so she doesn't need to call them and thinks it's foolish to spend time on a cell phone narrating the mundane happenings of daily life.
We planned to pick her up this Friday so that she could spend her 3 day President's weekend holiday at home.  She belongs to the Kendo club (Japanese martial arts form that features sword fighting and very cool uniforms) at school and they are appearing as part of Yuki Matsuri (a Japanese winter festival) at the campus on  Saturday.  I was disappointed that she wouldn't be coming home, but she invited us to spend the weekend up at college and watch the performance.  We've never seen her in her uniform or using her shinai so this is a special treat.

I planned to use our frequent flyer miles to pay for the hotel room.  This morning as I booked the reservation, I found a special deal ( $50 off the regular price of the hotel room, plus a $15 Visa gift card for each night's stay).
Now I can't stop smiling thinking about how much fun it will be to watch the "Chicks with Sticks" go through their Kendo paces.  So this is what makes me happy this Monday.

Design Wall Monday - February 1, 2010

I didn't post my stash report yesterday, because I didn't have anything to report.  I did buy 2 yards of Insulbrite on sale at Joann's last Monday to make an ironing board cover and tea cozy, but no quilting fabric.

I worked on multiple projects last week.  Unfortunately, I was very scattered and didn't finish anything.

Over the weekend, I made string blocks.  The picture below shows most of the blocks.  I completed 15 more blocks that are not in the picture.  Sorry, but my computer was not cooperating this morning so I wasn't able to turn the picture properly.  I started to sew them together this morning.  It was the first time I ever sewed string blocks and it won't be the last.  It really is fun and very fast.. 

I have decided to set specific goals for myself this week in an attempt to actually accomplish something.

*  Sew together string blocks, cut and sew border
*  Make 5 new blocks for pastel rail fence quilt, sew blocks together, add borders
*  Applique 4 snow globe blocks for The Quilting Post swap.

After typing it, it seems like a lot.  Hopefully, I can stick with my resolve.

Don't forget to visit Judy L's blog to see more design walls.

Moda Giveaway

Elizabeth at the  "Oh, Fransson!" blog" blog is sponsoring a giveaway of 5 lovely Moda Mingle packets.  Make sure to visit and make a comment before Wednesday to be entered in the drawing.  The fabrics are yummy.

Design wall Monday January 25, 2010

We just arrived home from dropping my daughter off at college in rainy, windy New England.  I started the quilt I am working on last March.  As I was putting the borders on, I noticed a few blocks (smack in the middle) that had the fabrics sewn in the wrong order.  My husband said no one would notice since it was such a scrappy quilt, but once I saw the mistake I couldn't take my eyes off of it.  I took it apart and am fixing the stray blocks.  Hopefully, I will finish putting the borders on this week.  Unfortunately, I couldn't get it up on the design wall so it is laying on the bed in the sewing room.

On Friday, we went to the Museum of Natural History in NYC.  While my family was concentrating on the artifacts in the Hall of the Peoples of the Pacific, I was taking pictures of the tiles on the floor.  There are quilt patterns everywhere.

Don't forget to visit Judy L's blog to see what's on other design walls.

Stashbuster Report Week 4

My daughter's winter break is over and we've dropped her off back at school (a  women's college in New England with an alumna currently in the presidential cabinet).  I'm posting my stash report from a motel near the college campus before we take her to dinner.  When she started college (she's a Junior now) her school had a well deserved reputation for excellent food and plenty of it.  Last year, in an effort to save money, the college decided to contract out all of the dining halls instead of having their own dining staff.  The food has gone steadily down hill ever since.  It kills me when I think of how expensive this place is.

Although I cut out all of the leafy green fabric I bought last week into borders and binding, I won't count them until they are sewn on.

Used this Week: 0 yards

Used year to Date: 3.75 yards

Added this Week: 0 yards

Added Year to Date: 12.25 yards

Net Used for 2010: -8.50

Don't forget to visit Judy L's blog and find out how much stash busting everyone else has been doing this week,

Design Wall Monday

I still do not have access to my sewing room so I used the floor in my family room to hold the object of Design Wall Monday.  This is one of the Disappearing 9 Patch donation quilts I worked on during Judy L's Quiltathon this weekend.  It is also the reason I purchased turquoise and yellow tone on tone fabrics last week.  I think I will be adding red borders to increase the size.  Right now the quilt is 33 x 41. 

Don't forget to check Judy L's blog to take a look at other design walls.