Delivered!

Finished up the pillow shams yesterday and delivered everything yesterday afternoon. =) My customer was really happy with it and I'm thankful for that. This picture shows the quilt and shams on the bed.

Gratitudes:

1. Am finished with this commissioned quilt.

2. The book with the Praxis Info in it (review quide and practise study tests) arrived in the mail yesterday.

The end is in sight.........

.........I've finished the commissioned Double Wedding Ring quilt! And love how it turned out. =) The quilting is great, and I'm thankful that Trish was able to get it done so quickly for me. Am working on the matching pillow shams at the present time and the plan is to finish them either today or tomorrow so I can deliver them tomorrow. =) Here are a couple pics of the finished quilt and the quilting.

Gratitudes -

1. I had just enough of one of the green fabrics to make the right number of arcs for the quilt and the pillow shams.

2. For Trish slipping this quilt into her line up and quilting it for me.

Molly's lotto block

I'm in a monthly block exchange with a group of friends. And love making the blocks because the blocks always stretch me in some way and help me to grow as a quilter. This month's block is for Molly and she sent out civil war fabrics to everyone, along with different block pattern. She sent me the Swamp Angel Block pattern and plenty of fabric for it. =) Finished it up last nite and will get it in the mail today tomorrow.

And I received a block yesterday that was made for me by Cap'n Nancy. Thanks Nancy for the great block! Love how the block turned out - esp. since I had no clue what to do with the set of Fq's that were the starting point for the blocks made for me this year. =) Am looking forward to seeing the rest of the blocks and thinking about what I want to do for alternate blocks.

Gratitudes -

1. For the room that I'm renting and the room I have to sew there.

2. For the the way that God will continue to lead me as I consider going into teaching.

Dreams

In the early part of September I received a newsletter by email from Crown Financial Ministries. One of the articles that was in the newsletter this month had the following couple of sentences.

"But now I’d like to ask, “What dream has God put in your heart?” If you know it, let me encourage you to go for it with all of your might. Follow the leading God has given you, and don’t let anything stop you from fulfilling His special purpose for your life!"

I've been thinking about this since getting the newsletter, and about what dream He has given to me. Still don't have an answer to that at this point........... What about those of you that are reading my blog - what dream do you have and what are you doing to fulfill that dream?

Gratitudes -
1. For a God that never leaves us alone no matter how dark our days can seem.
2. For a church family (near and far) that cares for me.

Finding my quilting mojo

Am finally finding my quilting mojo again........and have managed to finish a quilt that is to be a gift for the oldest son of good friends. The stars are made from 4 brushed cotton fat-quarters that were part of a set given to me by a friend. The quilt for his brother is being quilted now and also has fabrics from the same set of FQ's.

Next up are the two Pillow shams that I need to make to match the DWR quilt. Along with blocks that I need to make for a private swap I'm doing with a couple of good friends............

Gratitudes:

1. For the blessing of being able to quilt and sew.

2. For God's provision in all things.

DWR quilt top is finished!

Yippee-skippee..............the quilt top is finished as of this morning. Am sooooooooo glad to have this much done. It's going into the mail this morning and will be off to the gal doing the quilting for me. Now onto the two baby quilts I've been commissioned to make.

Gratitudes:

1. The short sale of my house was completed on time and is now totally gone for me. Hallelujah!
2. The beautiful, cool fall weather that N. Tx has had so far this week. Am loving it!

Progress...

....has been made on the DWR that I'm working on...........and other than a sore finger from all the hand sewing, I'm loving how it's turning out. =)

Have started sewing the rings for the next 5 full blocks and 4 quarter blocks. The current plan is to get them together and pinned to background squares so that I can take them with me to work on when I make a flying trip to Northern CA for an in-person interview Wed of this week.

Gratitudes:
1. For still being able to sew and quilt even with most of my stuff in storage at this time.

2. For the coming interview this week.

The ending of an "era"

An "era" is ending for me as I get closer to moving out of my TX house. Moving day came and went yesterday, and most of what was still in the house is now residing in my rented storage unit. Frig and sofa will be moved there sometime this week, exact date depends on when closing gets scheduled for. I need to call the gal I spoke with about rentring a room from so that I have somewhere to move when the short sale closes.

This coming Wed I fly to Oakland CA for a job interview (contract job possibility). Am making the RT all the same day 'cause I had to pay for it..........will be a long day, but Lord willing it will go well. Haven't heard anything about the job possibility in MA............which is a bummer 'cause I'd really like to get that job. Love living out there as well, but will go where ever God opens the door for the next job.

Meanwhile have been enjoying continuing to work on the DWR quilt. Have 2 more full blocks finished and am working on the third. Am also working on making arcs for the next 5 full blocks and 4 quarter blocks. Am planning on taking those with me to applique down as I make the RT trip to/from Oakland next week.

Gratitudes:
1. God has opened the door for a job interview in CA.
2. The phone interview last week went great!

Roller coasters of life....

....that's what it has seemed like was happening to with the short sale of my house this week. There were many twists and turns, but thankfully everything is now falling into place (dont'cha just love how God works things out) and it looks like it will close late next week or the first of the week after that. I'll be happy to have it over and done with...........

The quilt pic on the right is the first DWR block that I made as a test block. It's in RWB colors and I have 8 more blocks planned to go with it. It will be the center medallion of an American Hero quilt when I'm finished with it. The planned blocks will not be full blocks like this, but when finished and together it will look like there are 5 interlocking rings.

The picture on the left shows two orphan blocks that I found this week while going through stuff. Both are paper-pieced and made with Hand-dyed fabric. Am thinking of maybe making a table topper of some sort with them.....

Gratitudes -

1. Cooler weather today

2. Good friends who are willing to help me move stuff into storage.

Quilting Mojo

One of the things that vanished during July and most of August as well with everything that was happening was my quilting mojo...........it's been a long time since i have felt so wiped out, so much so that I wasn't even quilting.

However, I have found it again and am once again quilting. And other than needing to get the border on a quilt so I can send it off to be quilted, I have started a double wedding ring quilt that I have been commissioned to make. I love the colors and love how it is turning out. And even have plans to make a second one to use the sample block that I made in RWB colors. It will be going to American Heroes when finished. And yes, there was a time when I had sworn I would never make one............

Meanwhile, here is a picture of what I've got completed so far. I'm paper-piecing the arcs using 6 shades of green. Two shades of lavendar are in the arcs. And because I stymied in getting the attempted machine applique to look good, have decided to hand applique the rings down to the background fabric squares. Yes, I can applique, and it even looks decent...........but the laugh is on me because I had never wanted to do a hand applique quilt because it is a "slow" method. I do like how it's looking, and will have no excuse to not use hand applique to do one of the BOM's that I have stashed away.

Gratitudes:
1. Thankful for the fact that I'm a fast stitcher 'cause I need to get this quilt done quickly!

2. For understanding clients.

Musings

I've been remiss in posting because of a whole mess of stress and turbulence in my life over the last couple of months. Among that stress was packing to put everything into storage, getting most of it into a storage POD and then at the 11th hr having the sale fall through. Have a second, approved offer/contract for the short sale of the house here in TX but are waiting now to find out when we'll have to close. Could be as early as the 31st, or around the 10th of September.....all depends on if the foreclosure date is moved out from 9/1 or not.............so this week is going to be crazy with getting everything else here packed up (final stages of it) and into the storage room. Still need to make final decisions on where I'm going to live as well...........sigh......

In the meantime, the following poem is one that I found while I was cleaning up the desk where my computer is at the present time. While not directly drawn from scripture, I thought it worth posting since I have been praying for the will of God to be done since I was laid off in September of 2007.

The Will of God,
Author Unknown

The will of God will never take you,
Where the Grace of God cannot keep you,
Where the Arms of God cannot support you,
Where the Riches of God cannot supply your needs,
Where the Power of God cannot endow you.

The will of God will ever take you,
Where the Spirit of God cannot work through you,
Where the Wisdom of God cannot teach you,
Where the Army of God cannot protect you,
Where the Hands of God cannot mold you.

The Will of God will never take you,
Where the Love of God cannot enfold you,
Where the Mercies of God cannot sustain you,
Where the Peace of God cannot calm your fears,
Where the Authority of God cannot overrule for you.

The will of God will never take you,
Where the Comfort of God cannot dry your tears,
Where the Word of God cannot feed you,
Where the Miracles of God cannot be done for you,
Where the Omnipresence of God cannot find you.

Gratitudes:
1. The bank pproved second offer on my house.
2. For friends who have said they will help me move when needed, even on short notice.

A "Kept" Woman

A friend sent me the following and I thought it was truly applicable, especially with all that is going on for me these days.
********************************
I Am a 'kept' Woman

You see, there were a few times when I thought I would lose my mind,
but GOD kept me sane. (Isa. 26:3)

There were times when I thought I could go no longer,
but the LORD kept me moving. (Gen 28:15)

At times, I've wanted to lash out at those whom I felt had done me wrong,
but the LORD kept my mouth shut. (Psa. 13)

Sometimes, I think the money just isn't enough, but GOD has helped me
to keep the lights on, the water on, the car paid, the house paid, etc. (Matt. 6:25 -34)

When I thought I would fall, HE kept me up.
When I thought I was weak, HE kept me strong! (I Pet. 5:7, Mt. 11:28-30)

I could go on and on and on, but I'm sure you hear me!
I'm blessed to be 'kept '.

Do you know a 'kept ' woman?If so pass it on to her to let her
know she is 'kept 'I'm 'kept' by the love and grace of God!

Abraham Lincoln

The following quote has been floating around cyberspace lately and attributed to Abraham Lincoln. While I can't find confirmation that he actually did say this, I still think this is worth thinking about in light of the current political and economic situation here in the U.S..

*************
You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence.
You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.

***********************
Gratitudes:
1. For a God who provides all I need to live no matter what is going on around me.
2. For the time that I have to get everything sorted through, weeded out, packed and ready for either storage or moving before the end of July.

UFO progress

Finished off three quilt tops this week - 1 ufo and 2 tops from stash. The ufo started with 10 9-Patches featuring fabric with yellow roses I made 7+ yrs ago or there abouts, don't remember exactl when they came to be. I think the were leftover after making a quilt for an adopted aunt some years back. Also in the quilt are the 4 remaining block from the only millenium swap that I took part in. Made 12 setting blocks and put them together with some white-on-white background fabric and ended up with the quilt shown. This will be going to American Heros.

The yellow/green quilt with Boyd's Bears fabric as the main print started as three remnant pieces of flannel. It will be going to Sunshine for a kid somewhere in the world. =)

The RWB quilt was made from the precut squares of red, white & blue fabrics that I have........it ended up almost a twin sized quilt and didn't make a dent in the number of squares I have cut. This will be going to American Heros.

Gratitudes:

1. For a God who is never surprised by anything that happens to us.

2. For the progress made in getting the short sale of my house approved.

Quilty Finishes for last week

Finished off a quilt top made from some 9-Patches that I'd been given a while back. Everything except for the blocks came from my stash.

Have also packaged up my swap package for the Summer Pincushion Swap that I'm taking part of at the moment. Found the perfect fabric for the swap and had fun putting goodies together for it. Will be putting it into the mail tomorrow. =)

Gratitudes:

1. for a wonderful stash that I can go "shopping" for my quilting.

2. For the two groups that I send quilts to and the good work they are doing.

Optimism...........

I've been scheduled for an in-person interview (3rd interview) for a job that I really want on Friday of this week. I'm so thankful to have made it this far in the process and am praying that God will open the door for a job offer as a result.

Meanwhile I'm continuing to pull my hair out dealing with the short sale of this house..........ugh.....

Gratitudes

1. That God is in control of everything and no matter how helpless I feel at times, He will provide all that I need.
2. For all of my friends, both near and far, who are praying for the interview to go well.

Catching up part 2

Pics of the Sunshine quilts I've finished during May -

Gratitudes -

1. for a plentiful stash that allows me to create quilts for others

2. for a God who is always there with me, no matter how the circumstances feel.

Catching Up....

It's been a while since I posted pics of the quilt tops that I've finished lately, so I thought I'd try catching up.........the following pics are all of tops that have been finished for American Heroes during May.

Gratitudes -

1. Good friends who are always there for me.
2. For the progress made in getting approval from the lender for the short sale of my house. and for God's provision in the final details of getting approval.

Finished UFO...

I finished up another UFO the first of this week. It was one that I had 'inherited' when a good friend retired and she and her DH started fulltime RV'ing with their 5th wheel trailor. Paul had actually started this quilt and had the strata sewn together..........and it stayed that way for at least 5 yrs with me, and thru several moves. Am glad it's done, and am not planning on making another bargello quilt. It will be going to American Heroes unless Paul decides he really wants it back. I rarely name my quilts, but if I were to actually finish this quilt as a gift it would be named "Froggie has a heart" because of all the frog-stitching that I did on it.

Gratitudes -

1. there has been some progress on the house, and we have an approximate time frame for when the bank should have a decision made on what they want for it.

2. I have a second interview scheduled for Thursday this week for a perm position.

What a week.........and Gratitude

One of these days I'd really like a boring week where nothing exciting happens......however, God has not seen fit to bless me with that at this point. The week started out innocently enough, but then went awry Monday evening when life got more than a wee bit dramatic when I was involved in another car accident on the way to a meeting. I'm thankful though that I only had minor injuries, mainly bruises, because it could have been much much worse than it was. I'm still waiting to hear if it is repairable or if the insurance will total it. I'm praying that it will be repairable because if it is totaled I have not clue how I'm going to manage to get a replacement vehicle. If it is repaired, then I'll be w/o it for about 3-4 weeks depending on how long it takes to get the parts to repair it and everything fixed..........



Last week my niece Bekah, gave me a Gratitude award. Little did I know that I'd soon have another reason to be grateful. And in spite of everything I am very thankful for all the blessings that God has given me and for how He has provided for me over the last 18 months as I've dealt with unemployment and everything else that has happened in my life. And I'm thankful for the gift of being able to quilt because it really does help manage the stress in my life.

Ideas Please..............

I've added a pic of a quilt top that I'm working on at the moment. I want to add a border but at the moment I'm drawing a blank on what to do for it. Anyone have any ideas?

Gratitudes:
1. For the wonderful rains North Tx has had over the last couple of weeks, and thankfully no damage from them!
2. For friends who are willing to let me stay with them if I need a place to live once I'm out of this house if I'm still unemployed at that time.

Weekend UFO Finishes

Over the weekend I've managed to finish of three more of the UFO's that have been nagging at me. The first one is a pillow that I made out of a CQ block. The block was the first one that I sent around in an round robin that i'm in with several online friends. And it started with a block that was leftover from a swap I'd been in many yrs ago. Susan, Gail, Karrin, Candi, and Fran (?) all worked on this lovely block.

The second quilt finished up was the top for a patriotic quilt going to American Hero quilts. It will be quilted by someone else so it is finished for me. yIt eventually will be going to a wounded soldier. This quilt started with leftover red and white strips that when sewn together and squared up made 5" unfinished blocks. I set them with blocks of a blue starry print to form the center of the quilt. I then added the borders of gold and blue, followed by the red & white piano key border to finish it off.

The final quilt top finished this past weekend was one that will be going to Sunshine quilts and eventually will go to a child somewhere in the world. I did a 'woven' look to the setting blocks in this quilt for a lattice feel to it. The pillow panel in the center of the quilt is one that i've had for 5 yrs or more.

Gratitudes -

1. For the blessing of having a large stash to work from while unemployed.

2. For opportunity to bless someone else through the quilts that I make for American Heroes and Sunshine.

It's Monday.....

Am still waiting to get feedback from the in-person interview I had on the 10th for a perm job here in the Dallas area. And while it seemed to go ok to me, the longer I end up waiting for a response the more I wonder if I totally stunk in it and the only news that I'll get will be a rejection. Ugh................ I'm continuing to wait on and trust in God, and know that He will always supply my needs even when I have no earthly idea of how he is going to do so. Am still waiting to hear back on the job possibility in Northern Illinois. Hoping that it hasn't evaporated as well.............

This past Friday I got my car back finally after almost $9400 worth of work was done to it. Thank goodness for insurance - esp. since it's the other guy's insurance that is going to have to pay for it!

Have been continuing to work on getting UFO's finished up. But will write about them in the next post.

And last but not least, thanks go to my niece Bekah for the KreativBlogger award that she gave me last week! I appreciate the thoughts!

Gratitudes:
1. For Gods mercy and grace that he pours out on all of his children.
2. For my car being repaired and back home. And for the insurance that will be paying for the repairs.

Woohoo .....

For several months now I've had a quilt kit that was to make a queen-sized quilt for American Heros, actually it's more like 6+ months...........I confess I've dawdled over it because I hate making the block that was the center of the 12" blocks in the quilt. I don't mind making Variable Star blocks - well, as long as I can make them in 12" sizes or bigger. But I hate making them in a 6" finished size. And guess what I needed 22 blocks of? Yup, the 6" size. UGH..... Finally 3 weeks ago I dug the kit out and started working on it. And once I got the 6" blocks done it went together fairly quickly. And last nite I finished sewing the borders onto the quilt......Woohoo........... This quilt will be going to Sue to quilt and then give to a wounded soldier. So it's done for me. I like how it turned out, but there's gotta be an easier pattern to use for the center of those blocks.


I have also started to put together the blocks I received last year as a result of a challenge that I gave to the Sunshine Quilts group that I'm a part of. The quilt shown to the left will be going to a child somewhere around the world. In it I used the 6 blocks I recieved from Nancy Z.

What is nice, is that my itch to quilt has been resparked now that I've got the Am. Hero quilt done for which I'm thankful. The last few months I've hardly done any sewing or quilting because of stress with the job search and everything else going on in my life. And for me to not be sewing means that I'm wayyyyyyyy over stressed.


In the works for this weekend is finishing off a quilt top for Am Heroes, finishing a pillow top from a CQ (crazy quilt) block, making a BD present for one of my best friends, and who knows what else I'll find to work on. The house is also being shown twice this weekend - this afternoon from 2 to 3, and then tomorrow evening from 5:30 to 7. I'm thinking about either going to see a movie tomorrow afternoon (The Soloist looks really good, but I don't remember when it starts) or going out to dinner (have a gift card that needs to be used!) And hopefully I'll get my car back this afternoon........ It's pouring rain and windy to boot this afternoon, so I'm not sure where I'm gonna go while the showing this afternoon....maybe just down to Sonic where I can park under the covers and sit and read while waiting.


Gratitudes:
1. The good interview I had last week with Lockheed Martin. Lord willing it will result in a job offer....
2. For the continued showings of the house. Hopefully one of the offers will be accepted before much longer by the bank.

Packing Up and Moving to CA

Last week I posted about the car accident that I was in on Monday Night. What I haven't had time to post about was on Tuesday I received a job offer for a contract position in Northern CA and have accepted it. That's the good news.....the bad news is that they have no idea of how long the contract will actually because of things going on at the company where I'll be working. Could be a month or could be 12 months, or I could get out there to find the contract evaporated before I could get there to even start work. You wonder why I accepted the contract and am going to CA when they can't tell me how long it will last? Well I didn't have a choice in reality, because unemployment 'rules' says that I have to take any valid job or I lose unemployment. And that would leave me without an income. Time will tell what God has planned for me.

And to make life more fun, I have a second (in-person) interview with Lockheed Martin the morning of Friday April 10th from 8:30 to noon. The job is a permanent position and one that I'd love to have. Wondering why I'm still following through on the interview - well this job possibility started before the job in CA, and it's one that I would love to have. (Not to mention it's a perm job!) Well, when I accepted the contract position I made it clear to the recruiter that if either this job, or a second possibility in northern Illinois come through, I will accept them and give notice to the job in CA.

One of the things that I have to do as I get ready for the move is to put all of my stuff into storage before I leave TX because the house is for sale and hopefully will be under contract soon. And as I do so, I'm getting what I want/need to take with me ready. Part of that will be my sewing stuff because there's no way I'm gonna go w/o my quilting so that I stay 'sane' in the midst of turmoil. One of the projects that I'm taking is a CQ block. Pics of it are below. I've got a couple of others to get made before leaving because I'm not planning on taking any of my CQ fabrics with me. The stitching that I've done on this piece so far was inspired by a picture of the CQ quilt that won best of show at the AZ Quilters Guild show in March this year. I'm hoping my friend Susan sends me more pics of it because I love the inspiration.

Gratitudes:

1. For the job that God has provided for me.

2. For the 2nd interview that I have this coming Monday.

Blessings.....

.......God's protection was working overtime I think tonight for me as I was headed to a Career networking meeting. Instead of making the 30 mile trip to where the church is that the group meets at, I made it about 4 miles before being rear-ended this afternoon. Thankfully the rear bumper and back door crumpled as they were designed to do because I had just filled the gas tank minutes before being hit. Thankfully the gas tank seems to not have been damaged in the accident or the results could have been dramatically different. Tomorrow will be interesting to see how I'm feeling at that point. I decided I'd be much better off just driving home and staying in for the evening rather than continuing on to my meeting.


I get to deal with insurance companies tomorrow to find out where this has to go for his insurance to decide whether to fix it or replace it. And get a loaner car as well. While I drove it home, I am not going to drive it too much until repaired.

In other news today, i've finished putting all but the borders of a UFO that I've been working on. The plan is to finish it up this week, and then it'll be ready to send to American Heroes for quilting and eventually to be given to a wounded soldier. Above is a picture of the quilt w/o borders.

Blessings -

1. Safety in the accident.

2. The several different job possibilities that I have at this point.

Hopeful.......

Lots of things have been going on the last couple of weeks. Two weekends ago I went to Austin to visit longtime friends, Pam & George, that are living there now. George was the Pastor of Music at my church in Phoenix for over 20 yrs. I've been privaledged to know them and to call them friends for over 22 years now. My two days down there was a time of refreshment and I was richly spoiled by them. =) It won't be another 2 yrs before I make another trip down to see them.

On the way back to N. TX where home is on Monday 2/9, I stopped off by other friends to deliver some stuff and ended up having dinner with them and their 3 kids. Another rich time of friendship that I'm thankful for.

The next day, I went to two different job fairs. With the economy what it is these days, both were overwhelmed with the number of people that showed up for them. The first, put on by Dice.com, was not well organized and in a room much too small for the number of people that showed up. The second one. put on by Lockheed Martin, was well organized and moved smoothly. My resume was pulled for a call back for an in-person interview. That was supposed to have happened some time this week. The first one, which I almost didn't attend, has resulted in a phone interview with Interstate Batteries that was represented at the job fair. The phone interview was yesterday, and has resulted in me being scheduled for an in-person interview on Monday, 2/23. Both opportunities are for permanent positions and would be good ones to get. Lord willing I will do well in the interview on Monday, and if it is his will that I would get a job offer from the company.

Meanwhile, the house continues to be up for sale. We've dropped the price several times, but still only three people have looked at it. I've been using the time to really go through things and get rid of things that I don't use/need and don't want to have to pack up and move and/or store again. Things like a mini stereo system that had been packed for 3 yrs, and not used for several yrs prior to packing to move into the house in Phoenix. Didn't think I'd really miss it if it was gone........... Have pulled out a bunch of stuff that I'm going to work on listing on eBay this weekend as well. Hopefully it will sell 'cause I could use the money. Have also listed a bunch of quilt stuff for sale on a yahoo list that I'm on.

Have a bunch of quilts I'd love to sell.........but have been struggling to know where to list them. Etsy is one option, but I haven't sat down and figured out how to list things on it. Anyone else have any good ideas on where to list things like my quilts and quilted postcards for sale?

Gratitudes -
1. That I have a job interview scheduled for this coming Monday.
2. For the long-time friends that God has placed in my life - they are a blessing to me.

The Angels are Done, The Angels are Done....

.....And with that allusion to Paul Revere's ride, I am happy to say that I was able to finish using up the remainder of the angel swap blocks that I had. Pictures are below. I'm going to keep one of the quilt tops as a headstart on the next time I need a gift for a baby girl, but the rest will be going to Sunshine Quilts.

Gratitudes:
1. For a mortgage company that is willing to work with me, even though they are aggressive in pursuing foreclosure.
2. For a God who has a plan for my life and is not surprised by anything that happens.

Finished UFO

Just after the first of this year, when I finally got home from Phoenix and my trip out there, I found out that I needed a baby gift for a shower later in the month of January. Because it was easiest, I finished up a UFO. I had started working on the border for this panel and never finished. But was perfect for the new baby. =) Now to decide what UFO to work on next.....

Gratitudes -

1. The weather has been lovely here in North Tx after last weeks ice storm.

2. Last week was a good week for resume submittals.

Postcards for Sale

One of the things I'm hoping to do this year is to be able to start selling some of the things I make, such as the quilted postcards that I make. I've finished off 7 this week that I will be putting up on Ebay this weekend. I've added a couple of pictures of them below. Let me know what you think of them.

Angel UFO's

One of my oldest UFO's is a set of 12" swap blocks from a year-long swap back in 1998. For the most part these blocks have lanquished at the bottom of whatever tote I happened to be storing my umpteen sets of swap blocks in at the time. One of my goals this year is to work on finishing up my UFO's and I decided to start with these blocks. Most of these will be donated to either American Heros or Sunshine Quilts, so for me these are finished. At this point, one of the quilt tops I'll be keeping for a future baby gift.

Step one was to count the blocks and then put them into groups that went together. I counted 57 blocks, and ended up with 9 different piles of blocks. A couple of the piles I added some other blocks too to round out the numbers of blocks going into the quilts. Over the last ten days I have managed to finish 5 of the quilt tops. The last one was finished at about 2:30 am this morning and the last couple of rows drove me nuts......not only did i have to frog-stitch one whole row thanks to sewing it on upside down. But the machine I was working on decided to stop working right. So i have to try to fix it now. THank goodness for the old kenmore.........maybe it's time to pull out the bernina that I have tucked away and start using it.....

At any rate here are pics of the 5 quilt tops I've finished so far, click on the pics to see a larger view of the quilts.



















Gratitudes -

1. Multiple sewing machines that mean I almost always have a machine to sew on.
2. Lovely weather this weekend after the ice storm earlier in the week.