Three for Three!

That is to say -- I've finished my third quilt for the UFO Challenge, and just in the nick of time! It's a 4-patch stack & whack quilt from some fabulous Alexander Henry fabric that I started 2 or 3 years ago. I made one significant error along the way -- all the setting triangles are cut the wrong way, so the whole edge was on the bias... I don't think I'll make that mistake again! I also ran out of fabric and had to search for more.
Because of the bias edges, I figured I couldn't really give it to someone to quilt on a long-arm, so I started doing it myself, hated it, crumpled it up in a corner of the closet for at least a year and a half, and finally pulled it out and picked out the quilting I had done in about 10 of the blocks. When Nancy came up with the UFO challenge, I knew this had to go on the list, and I am soooo happy to have it done.

Here's a picture of the whole thing:And a close-up of the fabric in the setting triangles. (the color is more "true" on the photo above)
It's my favorite combination of bright colors on black, and I love the Art Nouveau style. Happy April!

quilt day round robins

One of my local mini-groups started a round robin project a couple of months ago. In honor of national (or is it international?) quilting day, I thought I'd show you our progress so far...

Most of us started out with the usual "center block", but not our maverick member Kathy! She showed up with a big string-pieced background on which she wanted us to create a 3-dimensional garden of poppies. We were all a bit taken aback at first, but clearly we're warming to the project... here it is with a flurry of poppies from Kuniyo and the seed-pods I added today:
here's a close-up of the seed pods...This is Enelda's center with borders by Kathy and Kuniyo. I have this one to work on now... and no ideas yet.
This is Kuniyo's project with my flying geese and Susan's trapezoids...
And this is Susan's center with Enelda's first border; Kathy then cut it up, quilted it in two pieces and attached it to a geometric print backing! (told you she was the maverick...)
and finally, this is my center with Susan's and Enelda's borders.
I hope you enjoyed the show!

surprising new footage!

I can't help myself... I'm addicted to socks! I have not spent a penny on fabric in 2010 but I have definitely bought some yarn. I'm done for a while though. Honest... Here is the first Mockery Sock, finished on the plane back from Chicago last Sunday. The second one is underway. This is a yarn called "Frolicking Feet" that I bought from someone on Ravelry who was de-stashing. It's all wool but actually feels more like cotton, and it's fun to knit with. I like patterns that have some texture but are easy enough to memorize so I don't have to keep checking the instructions, and this definitely qualifies. I know I'll make it again in a more solid colored yarn.

My favorite Bucky pose is when he's all stretched out as if he's doing yoga:Love that striped tail...
I promise to have some quilty content again soon!

Miss Golytely...

Since I'm going through the delightful -- or should I say "delyteful" prep process today, I thought you should all have to share my adventure! I'm thrilled that my doctor prescribed the 2-liters of disgusting liquid version instead of the standard 4-liters, but still...

I'm cranky! Somehow tea and lime jello just isn't a satisfying breakfast, lunch and dinner. I have apple juice, too. Does white wine count as "clear liquid"? I think so.

Should I stop torturing you now? Seriously, if you haven't done this and you're "over 50", you really should. The procedure itself is humiliating but painless -- especially if you find a doctor who believes in pretty much knocking you out! It's just one more little thing to check off your list. Do it.

edited several hours later to add: damn, this liquid stuff is disgusting! I think I still have several glasses to go and I'm already way behind schedule. And it's totally not fair that DH just made himself a huge bowl of popcorn that's smelled up the whole house!

and the winners are...

but first, a digression!

I don't know if anyone else noticed this, but for many years on the Academy Awards, the presenters who opened the envelopes always said "and the Oscar goes to..."

And for many years on Jeopardy!, when a contestant chose a daily double clue he/she always said "I'll wager $..."

But just recently I noticed that the Jeopardy! contestants are now saying "I'll bet..." and on the Academy Awards this year the presenters all said "and the winner is..."

I'm not sure what that means really, but I think it's interesting! It's like some veneer of fake civility has been stripped away and we're now free to talk the way normal people do.

Anyway, back to the give-away!

The Fat Quarter Frenzy book goes to LC, and the Fabric Leftovers book goes to Barbara C. I need a couple of days to figure out what's going with them, and then I'll make a little trip to the post office! Thanks to all of you for playing and for reading my "intermittent ramblings".

design wall Wednesday

Just a quick post to show what I finished up the other night -- it's the blocks for a Weed Whacker quilt from Quiltville.

I am bound and determined to reduce stash and scraps and this actually made a small dent! I probably won't get it put together and border for a couple of weeks, but watch this space...

Next up is a short trip to Wisconsin for some in-laws/family stuff, followed too rapidly by a day in Sacramento for work. Then I'm hoping to have a little time to relax and sew again.

Don't forget to comment on the previous post for my blogiversary giveaway.

Post #300 and anniversary - Giveaways!

Some bloggers get to post #300 in a matter of months... not me! I checked the list and it's actually been just about exactly4 years... but then I'm not super talkative in real life, either.

Anyway, in honor of those two milestones I've decided to do two giveaways -- both are designed to help you (and me) use up some of the fabric you've been collecting.

First up is a book called "Fat Quarter Frenzy" by Susan Purney-Mark and Daphne Grieg. It has a mix of contemporary and more traditional quilts that would be great in scraps, FQs, or ...The second book is "Fabric Leftovers" by D'Arcy-Jean Milne. It has lots of ideas for accessories and decorative objects made from all sizes and types of scraps.
Each book will be accompanied by some fabric and some other doo-dads I haven't figured out yet!

To enter, leave a comment on this post with your favorite color pallete and whether you have a strong preference for one book or the other. I will do a random number drawing on March 15 in the evening, Pacific Coast time.

fluff

This is sort of a filler post because it's #299 and I want to be able to post #300 soon!

First, in case anyone was wondering, the photo in my banner right now is a close-up of some moss that's growing on my front steps. It looks like a little forest to me -- maybe I need to add some tiny deer.

I can't believe I watched the whole Oscars broadcast last night; must have been in some sort of stupor. I only saw a few of the 10-best nominees (Up, Up in the Air, Inglourious Basterds, An Education) and liked them all, but mostly I was happy to see that the big blue monster didn't win. Yay Academy! I've added the Hurt Locker to my Netflix list now, along with a couple of the others. I just can't get excited about Avatar, especially after hearing about people getting physically ill watching it in 3D! And I like a little plot with my special effects... no one ever talks about the plot.


Finally, I can't have a post without at least one picture, right? I have no idea what this means, but it's from the parking lot that I use several times a week...

Sunday stuff

I finished up my pooley socks a few nights ago-- here are front and back views.
Funny how the heels are similar but the rest came out so different! I sort of like the zigzag effect on one of them -- every time I look at it, I think "Shazzam!" (of course I've already started another pair...)

I was lucky to win the block lotto again in January and all of my blocks have now arrived. They're wonky tic-tac-toe blocks and I received 48 of them. Here are the girly colors:
And here are the boyish ones, arranged from skinning to fat:
They'll probably get stacked up for a little bit while I figure out some interesting way to put them together. I don't think I want regular sashing, but I think they need something.