Just say....

no..... or..... OK!

Who knew 2011 would be 'The Year of the Challenge'?  I've signed up for yet another.... thanks to Anna.  Head over to her blog to see the details and the rules.   With a deadline of September and only 6 of my Crazy January Challenge pieces left, I thought this would be a fun little project.

In accordance with the rules, I won't be posting any progress pictures.... or even any details.  I will show this one picture of the patterns, a piece of fabric, and the recommended threads (since I don't have any Belle Soie I've pulled the DMC conversions and some semblance of WDW or GA conversions).  No guarantee any of them will be used.  It just give me a starting point for colors.

Feel free to join the fun.  The patterns are free and the creativity element means you can just pull from your stash.

A finish or two.

On Friday I finished another of my 15 Challenge pieces.....

Summer is Sweet by Waxing Moon Designs.

 It's a cute free chart that my LNS put together into a kit with the frame.  So bright and summery. 

On Saturday I finished Apple Crisp.  The lightest lights really pop in this picture.  They don't do that in real life.  I was going to take it to my quilt shop for quilting today, but first thing this morning I got an email reminder about their 25% off Anniversary Sale.  I think I'll wait a few extra days!

The Boy Wonder's senior prom was this past weekend.  I wasn't overly happy with the photos I snapped.... and what do you know?  He's going to the junior prom with the same girl, so I'll get a second chance.  So, this morning when I returned the tux, I had to re-rent it for next month.  No complaints from me, though, because it's still way easier then dress shopping. 

Now, I need to get busy making a shopping list for my quilt shop outing this coming weekend.  I have several things in the works and need to look for odds and ends of fabric for each. 

Finally.... some pictures

of my quilt.  I wanted to finish the snowball squares before showing what I started while on my retreat a couple weeks ago.  I wasted an entire day fixing the 112 (10 piece) squares that went together to form the 28 blocks.  I was just sewing away and never paid attention to the placement of the dark squares.  Duh. 

 You can click the picture to get a larger view.....or maybe see it better in this picture.

 It's called Apple Crisp and it's a pattern in the October 2010 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting Magazine.  I loved the colors.  I have all the blocks done so now I just need to sew the rows together. 

I have also started my piece for Lee's Older but Better challenge.  Maybe I'll finish it by my birthday... no promises, though, since I still have the majority of my Crazy January Challenge pieces in the works. 

I will curb my urge to vent.... but I will say I'm a little on the tired side of people complaining about the weather.  IT'S MARCH IN THE NORTH EAST.  What do you expect?  We had snow on Mother's Day last year, for heavens sake.  I never decorate for spring early.... it only makes it seem that much further away.  I was even resistant to changing my background to something flowery.  I was ready for a change from the snowman but couldn't find a working background of mud.  Ha...... see, that's the upside of snow in March.  It covers the mud and you can see the birds better.  People must learn to look at the upside of more things... especially when you can't do a darn thing about it.  Get over it, get on with it.  Life's a whole lot easier to take that way. 

Thank goodness it's Monday

because I need some rest.  I was counting the minutes until the kids left so I could get back in bed this morning.  What a weekend.

I am not a night person.  Anyone who knows me, knows I like to be in bed by 9...... 10 at the latest.  I am a morning person.  Up before dawn and in bed with the cows.  This weekend I was up so much later then I'm used to.... first was the all night cast party at a nearby home.  The kids came home after the show, with a few other kids in tow, to shower then head to the party.  Then on Saturday night they went to a midnight breakfast where they were out until 1:30.  We are all in need of a little extra sleep. 

Anyhow, the weekend was a great success.  Dinner was eaten with gusto.  Those kids are great kids.  I was impressed with how they waited at the door of the cafeteria until we told them they could come in and eat.  More then one kid thanked us for having a meatless option.  One young man was so polite I looked for his mother at the play to tell her but didn't see her.  Everyone should take heart that there are still some decent kids in this world!   

 "Sister' Buttercup and the butler 'Franz'.  You should see the make up on that shirt!  If Fels-Naptha dosn't work, it's going in the trash.

Now, for the promised sewing project....

Remember this fabric? It's from my post on January 20th where I talked about a challenge we're doing in my quilt guild.  We each put 3 half yard cuts of fabric in a bag.  We anonymously picked a bag and have to turn that fabric into something.  The big reveal will be at our June meeting.  I got these 3 fabrics.  We were allowed to add 1 additional fabric, which I ended up doing.  I didn't really need to, I just found the perfect compliment. 

And, here's what I made.  I think I can safely post about it because I am pretty sure my person isn't a blog reader.

(You can click the image to get a better look.)

A table runner that show cases the horse focus fabric.  The fabric I added was the brown with the horse shoes.  Since it was something I added, and not a fabric included as part of the original 3, I didn't want it to over shadow any of the other fabrics.  I did, however, use big strips on the back. 

I am quite pleased with the end result.  I have the left over HSTs that I cut off when I made the 3 main squares that I might use in a candle mat.  We'll see how inspired I'm feeling.   Now, I can't wait until June.

I've missed my sewing room these last few days, so I'm off to see what kind of mess I left last week.

Another finish!

I feel like I'm stitching in slow motion.  I haven't been in the mood for stitching these last few weeks.  I think my mind is on quilting.  I have, however, managed another Crazy January Challenge finish. 

 Wonderful Time of the Year by Heart in Hand

The buttons are just sitting on top.  I am not sure how I'll finish this and I don't want to worry about melting the buttons with the iron. 

I am almost done with another project, not cross stitch though.  Maybe tomorrow I'll have it done.  I also plan to show the quilt blocks I worked on last weekend at my quilt retreat.  I have 28 blocks done..... each with 40 pieces.  There are 28 more blocks, but of a much simpler design.

Tonight my husband and I are feeding the entire cast (60+) of The Sound of Music.  The play opened last night for local senior citizens.  We'll go tonight..... and tomorrow night.... and Sunday afternoon.  Somehow, when it's your own kids on that stage, you can't imagine missing one minute.  The boosters feed the kids the entire last week since they're working so hard.  We volunteered.... and after much discussion... will be feeding them goulash.  I know...... goulash?  to high school kids?  It's better to just accept it and move on.  It's a long story.  The cookies I spent yesterday and today preparing look awesome, though! 

Queen Bee's Wild ride

Seriously.... something isn't working right.

I logged in a few minutes ago to find my blog had been removed for not honoring Google or Blogger's policies.  I'm not sure where I went wrong on that account but after leaving one ISP and logging on thru another, I found my account and my blog.  On first try, I couldn't log into my account thru my blog but did thru Google.

So, what I'm working up to is..... if I seem to be away for a while it could be because I can't log on. 

In the mean time, I'm going to my sewing room to work on something worth taking a picture of and posting about.  Wish me luck.........

Back in business...

....not.  Same posting problems even when I try to use Internet Explorer..... doesn't bode well. 

So, I'm back from my retreat where I was B....A...D about taking pictures.  I do have this shot of my friend Peg holding up Jodi Barrows' new design..... Pony Express.  I loved the Americana look.  Peg is a certified Square in a Square (Jodi's piecing method) instructor.  I love taking classes from her. 

Recently, I bought the book  Country Comforts by Cheryl Wall and, low and behold, her trunk show was at our retreat.  Fun to see the models used in the book. 

I also snapped a picture of another Americana quilt stitched by the women on the left.  It's called Log Cabin Hidden Stars from the book:  Jelly Roll Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintott. 

Now I need to catch up on sleep and get back into the swing of things. 

I'm hoping to get this posting thing figured out because uploading pictures wasn't easy and I can't change the alignment of my sentences.... hence the variety of lines.... some over to the left and others centered.  And, let's not even talk about any spelling mistakes and the lack of links...... I'm not a happy camper. 

Could this work?

The post I was trying to write.... well, actually DID write then lost because it wouldn't save..... then I couldn't do ANYTHING..... was about my latest quilt finish.

1600 2 1/2 inch squares sewn together....

into this 'postage stamp' quilt. It uses jelly rolls. I used part of 2..... Oasis and Antigue Fair by Moda for the prints and Primitive Gatherings: Primitive Muslins jelly roll for the solids. It's heading off to the long arm quilters this weekend. (For you non-quilters..... there are lots and lots of strips sewn together then cross cut, then sewn together again...... I'd be a nut case to actually cut out 1600 squares and sew them together!)

Well.... so much for the post.... while I did get the picture to upload, none of the tools are working so posting a link to the blog isn't happening. (Spell check won't be happening, either... and boy, do I rely on that to help offset my lack of spelling skills!) What a bummer because I'm leaving this morning to go to my annual quilt retreat and should come home with some good project photos. I sure hope Blogger works out it's problems by then. Also, the window that shows everyone's latest posts is empty.... another problem I saw on the Forum yesterday.

Cross your fingers and knock on wood it's something that will be fixed by 'the powers that be' when I get home on Sunday......

Posting problems...

I'm unable to post properly today. Not a single one of the tools on the toolbar above this dialog box work.  So, without being able to upload pictures or create a link, I don't have anything to write about!  I looked on a Blogger Forum and see other people having the same problem.  I wonder if it has to do with the AOL update I downloaded the other day.  At any rate, I'll be waiting for someone who understands these things to figure it out.

Hopefully, I'll be back in business soon since I have pictures and projects to show!

Another start?

I know, I'm not supposed to be starting anything but have you seen Lee's post about her birthday project?  The appeal is that I will start something really old.  Or old'ish'.  I started cross stitching in 1981, back when patterns were very simple.  I don't have anything from the 80's but do have 2 patterns from the 90's I would like to stitch.  One is from the 1994 Leisure Arts Magazine and the other is a 1997 Dimensions kit by Debbie Mumm.  I love Debbie Mumm's patterns, although I can't think of a single one I've stitched.  I have a number of her quilt patterns, too.  And a few quilt books, and a cross stitch pattern book..... Let's not go there.  This wasn't supposed to be an exercise in revealing my stash.  That's why the dictionary defines stash as: to hide away something. 

So, I'll be joining Lee in stitching an old pattern.... I'm just not sure which it will be. 

I'm leaning towards the Debbie Mumm snowmen.  The drawback is this jumble of threads...... who likes sorting this kind of mess?

I'm not a fabric snob so am not put off by the Aida.... I just know that working on a dark color won't be fun.  I can stitch much faster on Aida, so that's an upside.  I have Aida of a higher quality in my stash, I just doubt I have dark blue. 

Is anyone else joining Lee?