SSCS 2008 = gifts from my Secret Santa

Okay, we got so excited with the package, that we opened it up and tore open all the lovely packages inside. Vanessa sent along a really lovely letter along with all these lovely gifts. There was another one, but my Dad really loves licorice and he tore open that package as soon as the wrapping was off it. So they didn't last too long. I don't know if you can see the great koala fabric that everything is lying on, but I have been collecting anything koala for almost 30 years and this was such a wonderful surprise to receive. Vanessa sent along two other Australian fat quarters, but for the life of me, I don't remember where I put them. I have been trying to straighten up the den before my trip to NY, so I must have put them somewhere where I thought I would remember, but......We haven't had any of the Vegamite yet, I think we're scared, lol. I have been using the pin cushion, and I found two pins in it before I took the picture. It is a staple beside my sewing machine and I have another one that I received in another swap on my cutting table. And the wall hanging. What can I say? I don't think any picture can do it justice. Just beautiful. I am in awe. And it jingles. Vanessa put bells on the bottom of each panel. I have it hanging on a lamp shade right by by cutting table so I can see it all the time. I'm sorry I didn't take pictures of everything when they were still in the box or before I ripped into everything, but they were wrapped in red tissue paper with green ribbon bows, really pretty. Thank you so much Vanessa, I appreciated everything you sent and I really do hope that I can get over to your country before too long. This has been a really fun swap and I hope everyone has a very happy, healthy and quilty New Year. Renée

Double Delight

This is the last time that I am going to change my fabrics. I have FINALLY decided on these. I don't know if you can see, but the top fabric is dark purple with light lilac flower on it. I am using that as my indigo, the green is my brown and everything else is the same. I might make just one more change and that would be to get some solid or tone on tone green and purple just to help make the pinks stand out more. We shall see if I get inspired to go out today or tomorrow. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much and have a wonderful New Year. Renée

SSCS 2008

Here are the steps in my Secret Santa Swap gift for Jo in Tasmania. Even though it was paper pieced, it still came out wonky. The sashing was supposed to be flying geese, but I just couldn't work with such small pieces of fabric, so I ditched that idea and just used a regular sashing. I didn't have much in the way of Christmas fabric, so I used what I could find. I loved that holly fabric. I had this done in August and then just put if off to the side. Before I knew it, I was receiving e mails from Chookyblue and it was time to mail and I still hadn't finished it. Oh, what to do. So I attempted to quilt it myself, that was a big mistake. I wound up just tying it. And then to bind. What's a girl to do? I took the easy way out and I just pulled from the backing and sewed it to the front. I did the best I could with these fingers of mine. I hope the boat load of fat quarters I also sent will take the edge off the disappointment that Jo must feel getting my meager offering. So sorry. Renée

Finished One Mystery, Starting another

Well, I finished the Christmas mystery and now, thank goodness, Bonnie has decided to give us a New Year's present and is doing another mystery called Double Delight. I have picked my fabrics and this one is not going to be scrappy. I found some yardage in my stash and I am going to use that. Of course, I am changing some of the colors, mine to be pink, green and purple. This is going to be for me, me, me. I've done enough gifting of quilts lately, I would like to have one for my bed.

Those are the fabrics, up there and the other is the finished top of the Christmas mystery. I am going to attempt to quilt that one myself, we shall see. I hope everyone had a great holiday. Renée

Next Mystery Project

Here are my fabric choices for the next mystery quilt that I have decided to do. One of the nice ladies on Quiltvillechat told us about this group, A Pocketfull of Mysteries, on yahoo. So, since I do not celebrate Christmas, I've decided to do this mystery as it starts the day after Christmas. I won't be busy with all the things that you are busy with after Christmas, so I should have loads of time to do this mystery. Lots of the women from Quiltvillechat will be here with me, so I won't be alone. It took me quite a while, at least four days, to finally decide on these fabrics. Thank goodness I asked for help and Dorothy Young, who runs Apocketfullofmysteries, said that they were okay. So, Thursday I will cut the fabrics, although the focus fabric is already cut, as I was using this come heck or high water. I might do another with the top fabrics, as I really don't know what to use those chili's for. I can make the duck one for my new grandbaby and I can donate the chile one. So, I will keep myself busy until I have to pack for my month up in New York, ugh. Cold weather. Yucky. I will be taking pictures of my SSCS 2008 gifts shortly and will post them on Thursday or maybe Wednesday night as the Aussie's will have already celebrated the holiday. I received amazing gifts. Unfortunately, I am not a needle work person. The only needle work that I can do by hand is needlepoint and some small amount of binding. All the ladies are so talented, so creative, so wonderful, my work cannot even compare. I hope I haven't disappointed Jo too much as she is one talented and creative woman. Well, off to watch some football, GO JETS!!! Have a happy, quilty day. Renée

4D Sonogram of my Granddaughter

This is just way cool. That's my grandbaby down there in that picture. You can see her eye, nose, mouth. Isn't she just the cutest thing? She looks just like Ally. I hope she's as healthy as Ally was and as good a baby. They broke the mold when Ally was created, that's why we didn't have anymore. Ally gained one and a half pounds in two weeks. She goes back to the doctor on the 23rd and then she starts once a week visits. The baby is 4 pounds, 3 ounces. They couldn't tell how long she was as the screen for this sonogram is too small. However, how awesome that you can actually see the baby's face? I'm trying to get myself into gear to go up north, but I am not looking forward to the COLD. I haven't even gotten my ticket yet. I'm going to have to go up for a month because of President's week. The weekend that I would like to come home is the last weekend of President's week, so the ticket prices were incredibly high. So I'm going to have to go back on the Monday after President's week. Oh, well. I'll go to Brooklyn and bond with my grand nephew and grand niece. And my big brother will take me to the airport and my daughter can look after her daughter and herself all by herself. Anyway, going to bed now. Isn't she cute?

MC Blocks

Here are two of the lovely MC Blocks that I've been swapping. These were two of the blocks that were sent to me. As you can see, I chose pink and purple as my colors. I'll post some of the other blocks soon. This was an experiment. It seems that I cannot upload to an e mail, but I can upload to my blog. How confusing. Anyway, really nice blocks, huh?

Way Too Many Projects

Well, finished most of my swaps. Mailed off the Ohio stars civil war fabric, the batik stars, the nine patch blocks for December, January and February and I have the Maker's Choice blocks all ready for mailing. I will NOT be doing so many swaps at one time again. One or two is quite enough. So, I will be staying with my Maker's Choice groups and whatever else we decide to do after and I will be staying with the Quiltville Swap group as Quiltville was the first group that I joined. These groups seem to be the most flexible and agreeable and forgiving with all the foibles that we quilter's have. I cannot show photos of my SSCS swap as I just finished putting it all together in a box to be mailed off. I will post photos after Christmas. Above are two quilts that I just picked up from the quilter on Saturday. The alphabet quilt is for my grandchild, I am working on another quilt for her. Can you see the quilted dog? That's what I picked to have quilted on the quilt. It's just too cute! The Carolina Crossroads is for my Mom's friend. Finally finished. Hopefully I will get to the other Bonnie quilts that I am in the process of finishing. See you all soon and have a very happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Proud To Be An American

I live in the greatest country in the world. I'm so proud of us. Let's hope that intelligence will rule the day. Stem cell research, Roe v Wade staying put, a more balanced Supreme Court, and maybe, hopefully, a more united nation.

Well, the PO has lost another swap of mine. I'm going to have to spend the extra money and send everything from now on Priority. Seems that only the Priority gets to where its supposed to.

I'll get to some new photo's tomorrow, as I'm going to bed now.

Keep the piece. Renée

My, How Time Does Fly

I know, I know. I haven't been here in a while. When it comes to the end of September, I just go into a funk. My husband passed away the day after my 40th birthday, sixteen years ago. Ten years later, on the eve of my 50th birthday, his brother passed away. Almost ten years to the day. Some years I just don't get out of bed. And this year, more drama. It seems that my daughter's in laws are planning a baby shower for her. Very nice. The problem is it is already the middle of October. When are they planning to have this party? And when are they going to tell me? I took it upon myself to e mail Ally's sister in law and was informed that they were planning for Thanksgiving weekend. When were they going to let me know? I have to make airline reservations. Don't they know how expensive it is to fly during the holiday? Well, turns out that I can't afford to go up for the shower and for when she gives birth. I had to prioritize. Going up for when she has the baby is more important to me than being there for a party. I know she is upset, but there is nothing I can do about it. She'll get over it. The party is six weeks away and they haven't even sent out invitations. I hope Ally isn't too upset when she looks out over the party goers and doesn't see any of her family there. Half our family lives down here in Florida and the other half lives in NY (Brooklyn). The problem is the holiday weekend. We here in Florida can't afford to pay close to $1,000 for a round trip ticket to go to NY for a party over the Thanksgiving weekend and the NY family have family of their own coming in and they can't attend. It just comes down to the fact that since I live here in Florida and they are all up in NY, they don't even think about asking me, and I feel they don't even think about me. I'm hurt, but I won't bother Ally with this now. I'll wait until she has the baby and then I will unload on her. Because she is not innocent in all of this either. Sorry, don't mean to vent, but this is the only place that I can. On to some quilty things.

I am turning into a swapping queen. I've joined a Round Robin group; a batik strip swap; a star block swap; a Maker's Choice swap; a monthly swap of either fat quarters or blocks, and of course, the Christmas Swap. I've finished piecing the Christmas swap and I actually have it sandwiched, awaiting to be quilted. I can do the quilting, I just can't do the binding. I'm going to have to go up to my LQS and have her show me how to do the mitered corners. I've received my first round of the Round Robin and I've pieced on the border to that one and it's waiting to be mailed for the next round. The block above is my test block for the Galaxy of Stars quilt block swap. I'm doing 5 friendship stars with a square in a square center and an eight pointed star with a different color in the center than the star tips. I'll post a photo of that when I do it later.

I'm getting off now as the thunder is really getting bad. I'll be back later on. Renée

IKE

We subscribe to DirecTV. Right now we have a live feed from Channel 11 in Houston, Texas. They have been broadcasting 24/7, no commercials, since the start of Hurricane Ike. My heart goes out to all citizens of the Houston area. This storm has been horrible. As someone on the low end of the economic scale, I can't for the life of me understand why someone would want to build a multimillion dollar house right on the beach, when they know that it can be gone in a flash by a storm. The devastation on Galveston Island is horrific. And if these people have insurance, the price that everyone else is going to pay for them to rebuild is going to be astronomical. I really wish that all governments, local, county, state and federal, would not allow anyone to build on the beach. When you have to build your house on stilts, that should be an eye opener right there. I live in South Florida. We have hurricanes here too. We might have some very large condos built on the beach, but as far as I know, we do not have any houses built on stilts on the beach. I know there is a place called Stiltsville out near Miami, but those house are built not on the beach, but in the ocean. And when the last one is demolished by any kind of storm, they are not allowed to rebuild. State Farm wanted to have an increase in premiums here in Florida of almost 50%. Thank goodness the Florida legislature turned them down. And when they tell you that you better evacuate or you're gonna die, got the heck out of there. There are thousands of people who didn't listen and now they are being rescued and then shipped out of the area. This is so devastating, whole communities have been wiped off the map. The area looks like a pile of rubble. I don't know if it is even worth it to rebuild these places. The whole infrastructure of the communities have been compromised. Water is everywhere, houses have been blown or swept onto the roads. There is no phone service, no electricity, no sewage, no nothing. Complete and utter devastation. If anyone remembers what South Dade looked like after Andrew, this is worse. Much worse. This is going to be a really interesting development. Let's see how long it takes for this to be rebuilt. To me, this is worse than Katrina. Katrina left the buildings standing. This storm took the buildings and everything else with it. Even the streets. This is horrible, just horrible. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone impacted by this storm. Renée

IT''S A ......

GIRL!!!!!

Update and updates

Okay, I know it's been a while, but I've been busy doing the Old Tobacco Road mystery on Quiltville. This one has been really trying my patience. For whatever reason, I cannot for the life of me figure out how to put the darn thing together. So, I'm going to put it away for a while and work on some other things. My nephew and his wife, my niece, are celebrating their tenth anniversary with a party this Saturday, so I'm going to start making a quilt for them. I know it won't be finished by the time of the party, but they will get it eventually. LOL!!

My doctor's appointment was okay. She prescribed my high blood pressure medication and then told me to go for some blood and urine tests. Those came back as I expected, except for the urine test. Seems I might have an infection, so I've been drinking cranberry juice. My cholesterol is high, both of them. I have another appointment on the 16th and we'll take it from there. I'm sure I'll get a prescription for a high cholesterol medication. I have to get a mammogram, but without insurance, I'm looking for one of those free mammograms. We were going to go two Mondays ago, but we had Fay come for a visit and had to postpone.

Ally goes for the sex sonogram on Wednesday. Then we will know if we are having a Dylan or an Ursula. I can't wait to see the sonogram. Boy, I wish I were there.

Thank goodness we didn't get Ike, the hurricane. We got some wind and some rain from Hanna, but we have been dodging bullets all hurricane season. Just as long as they stay away from here.

That's it for now. Going to bed. Keep the piece. Renée

Thinks I did this summer

This is a frog quilt that I made for my niece Joslyn. It is not quilted yet, as I have five tops at the LA already. I'll get to this one when those come home.
Le Ann Weaver of Persimmon Quilts collects autograph blocks to make QOV's (Quilts of Valor) for our wounded veterans. This time she put out a call for string autograph blocks. These are not them. My blocks are in an envelope ready to be mailed. This is what Renée does when she finds a new technique. She makes a whole bunch. Le Ann asked for one block and I sent 20 and then made this. Great way to use up strips of fabric.
This is a Seseme Street quilt that I've decided to give to Ally's friend Stephanie for her son Max. It also is not quilted yet. I've been looking through all my UFO's and this was one of them. So I've done three UFO's this summer, yippee.
This is my pink and white version of Bonnie Hunter's Smokey Mountain Stars. I'm still putting this one together. I have a few more rows to do and then I will attach the rows. This one if for ME. Finally.
These are the fabrics that I have taken out to make Bonnie's next mystery quilt. Those fabrics are actually green not blue. These are all fat quarters that I've rescued from my POD. I can't wait to get the other four boxes that are in there.

I'm also still making my Blue Ridge Beauty as a leader/ender. It is almost ready to be put into rows, but I have some more blocks to make.

Okay, Fay is wreaking havoc here and before I get zapped I'm going to get off. Take care and keep the piece. Renée

Found Picture of Ally

I found the picture of Ally on my computer so here she is in all her pregnant glory. She's 15 weeks along in this picture. She's gained two pounds and the baby is due in January. Isn't it exciting? Keep the piece. Renée

What the heck am I thinking?

Okay, what am I thinking? I am going to do the BOM from Judy Laquidara at PatchworkTimes.com. I've already decided that all my blocks are going to be in the same colors, but different fabrics. I don't have yardage, I have scraps and fat quarters, so I don't have enough yardage to do the whole quilt with all the same fabrics. Besides, I'm trying not to buy any new fabric, so my quilt will be pink, purple, green and yellow. Now I am going to do the first block . The second block comes out tomorrow so I better get busy. I'm going to try to get the logo thingy on the side of my blog. This should be fun, NOT!!!! Keep the piece. Renée

Update on my very good friend

I realized as I was reading my blog that I haven't let you all know how my friend is doing. Her husband called me right after the operation and said that everything went well and she was in recovery. Well, she called me when she got home and she was very glad that she was home. She felt a little weak but other than that she felt really good. Her friends and neighbors have been sending food over so she doesn't have to cook or go out. She said everyone has been really great and treating her like a Queen, which she is. She is going to need some after care, but they don't know if she will have chemo and/or radiation. They are still waiting for the pathology report.

On to better news. Ally went to the Doctor yesterday and she has gained a whole two pounds and she heard the baby's heartbeat. Next month they do a more intensive sonogram where they will be able to tell the sex. She wants to do the sonogram before she goes to the Doctor so that the Doctor will have the report on the sonogram when she goes for her next visit. Alex will go with her for the sonogram and hopefully to the next Doctor's visit.

Okay, that's it for the updates. I'm going to see if I can get a photo of Ally up here somewhere. Have a great day and enjoy the Olympics. Keep the piece. Renée

SSCS

Hi All,

Well, I received the name of my swap partner today and I am busy sewing way out of my comfort zone for this swap. I sure hope that my swap partner will take into account that I am only a quilt piecer. I usually don't quilt and I don't bind either. Since I am paper piecing this mini quilt, I think I am going to give it to my long armer to quilt and then have the binder bind it too. Although the pattern suggest fabric and colors, I am making this a little scrappy and trying to use whatever Christmas fabric that I have. I will admit that if I don't like the way it comes out, I do have some other ideas in mind. I will give kudos to Bonnie Hunter though for giving me confidence in going out of my comfort zone. These little squares would not be possible without the paper piecing and I am getting better at it the more I do. I would post photos, but I don't want my partner to know what it is that I am doing. I will take photos as I go along and post when I know that my partner has received and opened her swap. Since I've been watching the Olympics, I've also been sewing. It's been exciting watching Michael Phelps going for all those medals. Can't imagine how proud his Mom must be. Going back to the piecing, have a great day and keep the piece. Renée

Updates

I have been busy piecing. Le Ann Weaver, from Persimmon Quilts, sent me an e-mail about their autograph blocks for quilts for the troops. The autograph block is a string block with a white stripe down the middle. I've never done a string block before, so I was intrigued to do this one. Le Ann did give one caveat, they are addicting. She was right. I didn't do just one, I did 20. They are now in an envelope waiting to go to the Post Office. I have some fabric that I had put away for Ally which I am now going to cut up into strings and do a string quilt.

I've also begun the Mystery Quilt #5 from webequilts.com. This was fun and I started late but caught up quickly. The last clue came out yesterday with the directions on how to lay out the quilt. I'll get to that part over the weekend. It was a red, white and blue quilt. I was going to do it for QOV, but then I decided to make it a little more juvenile so that I can give it to my niece on the birth of her baby in October.

I was also going to do the Fuzzy Tail quilt for Ally's baby. But she has informed me that I am making too many quilts. How can you make too many quilts? But she had a point, how many alphabet quilts does one need? Since I have already made an alphabet quilt for her, I don't really need to make another one. Maybe I'll use the fabric in a string quilt, lol.

I've finally made an appointment with the doctor. Of course she is so busy she can't see me until next Friday, the 15th. Good thing I'm not in dire need of an appointment. I'll give the update on that next week.

Now, let's see if I can upload the pictures. For some reason blogger was having trouble yesterday and my post didn't post and my pictures didn't upload. Here we go. Okay, now my camera is giving me fits. I really do need to get another one and soon. I'll work on this and get back if and when I fix it. Have a great day and keep the piece. Renée

I'M GONNA BE A GRANDMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi All,

I AM DOING THE HAPPY, HAPPY DANCE!!!!!! When I arrived in New York on Thursday night and I walked into the room that Ally and Alex had set up for me, propped up on the pillows of the bed was a Grandma's Brag Book. So of course I screamed and then turned and hugged Ally very hard and didn't let her go for quite a while. She and Alex and his whole family and all their friends have known for quite some time, but she wanted to tell me in person and as I was scheduled to be in New York, she waited for me to come up. So, this time next year, I'll be a Grandma. Ally is due at the end of January, 2009. Inside the brag book was a sonogram of the baby. First sonogram of a baby that I could actually tell it was a baby, without arrows pointing at things. When Ally has her sonogram in September, we will know what we are having, boy or girl. So we will know if Dylan or Ursula Georgina is coming into the world. So, can you all guess what I'm doing? Making baby quilts, of course. I have so many, Ally is going to kill me. I guess I'll just have to make them and then just send them once a month, hehehe. If I could afford it and stand the cold, I would move back to NY in a NY minute. Okay, that's it for now. I'm off to the sewing machine. Keep the piece. Renée

Very Sad News

I received a call from my very good friend who informed me that she has uterine cancer. I'm very upset. She's up in NY and I'm down here in Florida and I can't help her. I'll be up in NY on the 24th, but I think she will have had the operation by then. She told me that if she could she would have it today. Ugh, yuck, ick. F...

It is thundering here, so I guess that's why I have a headache. I'm going to lie down. Keep the piece.

It's Been So Long

Block #9
Block #10
Block #11

Hi Everyone, I'm back. Sort of. I realized it's been a while since I posted anything. I have not been in a quilty mood. Today I finally put together blocks number 9, 10 and 11 for the Star Quilt Along on Amandajean's web page. As you can see, for #11 I did it the way they gave directions on the Quilters Cache page. And what is it about that scant 1/4"? Why can't they just give directions using the regular 1/4"? Most, if not all, of the Quilter's Cache block patterns use that scant quarter. I don't listen. I use a regular quarter. Tomorrow I will cut up fabric for the sashing and see about putting the borders together for Amandajean's first quilt along. I did that one too. The purple star blocks are the second quilt along, the pink blocks are the first.

I just finished my first block swap. That was fun. I was finally picked this month, so I am receiving blocks. I sent out all my blocks to all the lovely ladies in the swap. I was on a roll and just did them all at once. They were Friendship Blocks, also from Quilter's Cache. And of course, the Snowball Swap. The second batch is finished and I go off to the Post Office tomorrow to get them out. I put "fabric" on the envelope in hopes that they don't think there is anything valuable inside. The last batch I sent, I sent fabric pinned to the block, you know, "keep the piece", and maybe someone thought there was something valuable attached. Anyway, nothing attached this time. I also put my name labels all over the plastic bag so if the envelope does get ripped open, at least I might get my blocks back. Time to get back to cutting more fabric. Keep the piece. Renée

Blocks Lost In The Mail

Just another thought. I am a member of Eons.com. For all you youngsters, it is a group for all us people over 50. Anyway, within that group is a quilters group and I joined that. They decided to do a Friendship Block swap using snowball blocks with 30's fabric in the corners. I think I would have rather done the Friendship Star block, but that was what they decided on so off I went to find some 30's fabric and some unbleached muslin. No muslin, so off to the LQS I went and spent a weekend making the blocks and signing them. I even bought some fabric pens just for this undertaking. Well, after finishing them, I got my Priority Mail envelops together. We had to send a SASE with our blocks so the coordinator can send blocks back to us. Anyway, I spent almost an hour at the Post Office last week and sent everything out. Last Thursday I got an e mail from the coordinator telling me that the envelop was ripped in the back and the only thing in the envelop was my return envelop to her. All my blocks were lost. Now I need to do 30 more blocks. Yucky. I've got half of them done. I'll spend Sunday doing the other 15 and then I'll spend Monday back at the post office. Thank goodness there are some other ladies who haven't sent in their blocks yet, so no one is really waiting on me. We were supposed to have 30 blocks done and sent by the end of May and here it is almost the end of June and some of the ladies haven't even started. At least they know that I sent mine, even tho they were lost. Okay, just want to get that off my chest. We pay so much for stamps and services from the Post Office and they can't even take care of our envelops. I guess they don't care how they treat our packages, they just care about the paycheck at the end of the week. And to think that every time we buy stamps, it might be going into someones paycheck. You would think they would care about that more. Now I'm really going to bed. Take care. Renée

Number 80

Hi,

Camera is broke. It dropped on the wood floor and the tab that covers the batteries cracked in half and now I have to tape it shut in order for it to work. Pain in the tush. I'm hoping to talk some relatives into buying me a new one for my birthday (in September). We shall see.

Tomorrow I go for a pedicure. Sheer heaven. After the pedi I go up to the Long Armer. I have two or three quilts to be quilted. One is a gift (first CC) and the other two could be one gift or two. It's the same quilt, I'm toying with using it as a reversible, or not. I'll wait and see what Cathy says when I get them to her. If she says no problem doing the quilting as a reversible, then a reversible it shall be. Saves on backing. Saturday is my tee shirt quilt class. Ally (my daughter) sent me the tee shirts she wanted to use in the quilt. She sent down 11. I think I'm not going to use that many. She sent one shirt that was navy, one shirt that was sort of a browny green, two that are black and the rest are white. I'm going to use just the black and white ones. I added a couple of mine, but she didn't go to those concerts, so she really doesn't want them in her quilt. I'll do my best with what I have and if I need to, I'll use the front and backs of the shirts. Jeff, the teacher, said we can do that and it will also make the quilt a bit bigger. So, it will either have nine, 12, 15 or 18 blocks. If I need to stretch it, I may be able to squeeze a few more blocks out of those shirts. The squares are 12 1/2 x 12 1/2 and the logos are so much bigger than that. So I'm going to have to cut some of them in half. If that happens, I will have double the amount of squares and I will be able to make the quilt bigger. I really don't think nine squares is big enough. We'll see. And I will take pictures. I might even take the camera, taped up and all, with me to class.

As I'm eating dinner, I've been going around the ring. When I got to mine, I realized that I haven't been here for a while. And I also got some comments on that fact. Sent off an e mail to Amanda, thanks for caring and now I'm letting you all know what's been happening.

I tried my hand in doing a really small (5" x 7") quilt project for another one of my groups. Thanks goodness only two other ladies decided to participate in this, so I only made two. First real project using appliqué and quilting. Although I didn't bind them. When I received one of the other participants quilt I realized that it wasn't bound, I decided not to bind mine either. I just can't figure out how to do it and I can't hand sew it down either. I just hope they like what I did. I'm a piecer, not an artist. These women do all sorts of fabric art stuff and they seem to have a more creative mind than I do, so I did my best at least.

I have a headache, I'm going to bed now. I'll be back either later tomorrow or not until Saturday night or Sunday morning. Have a wonderful weekend and do lots of quilty stuff. Renée

Megan's 100K Post/Binding Help, Please

Hi All,

It seems that Megan has reached her 100,000 blog posting. She has decided to give away a really cute little quilt. Go on over to http://growingnotes.blogspot.com and leave a comment and you might get picked to win that little quilt.

Okay, I have a problem. I just made a cute little, teeny, tiny quilt. It is 5" x 7". I even put on appliqué. I've even quilted it. Now comes the binding. I've read and reread and reread Bonnie's tutorial on binding and I quite liked it. The only problem, I'm really binding challenged. I don't understand. I've never quilted and then bound anything, so I am really challenged here. Does anyone know about a YouTube tutorial on binding that is out there? I need step by step instructions that I can see. Somehow or other, when it is written down, I don't seem to get it. I would greatly appreciate any help. Thanks everyone. Keep the piece. Renée

Question for all you nice Visitors

Hi All You Nice People,

My question to you is this: What is the etiquette in answering comments left on a blog? Does one have to respond to a comment? Would it be presumptuous of me to ask people to leave their e mail address when they leave a comment? If I had an e mail address and/or a blog address, I could respond to the comment. I try to spend my Sunday's reading the blogs on the Quiltville Blogring and I leave my comments every now and then. But, come to think of it, only a few have replied to my comments, but I do know that I read every one. And, I enjoy knowing that there are people out there, who I don't know, who are reading my blog. I have met some really great people through this blogging thing, from all over the world and I find it a great way to meet others. I just don't know what the "rules" are for this blogging or if there are any. Okay, that's it from me, just wanted to know so I don't hurt anyone's feelings. I am also taking this time to thank each and every person who has been by my blog and left a comment. Keep the piece, Renée

FINALLY - CC with Borders

Well, here she is all laid out on top of the backing fabric. Worked on it this morning and afternoon and finally put the last border on a little while ago. Now she is ready to go to the Long Armer. I'm off to try to finish the borders for the Pink Grapefruit Crush quilt that I'm working on. Have a great day everyone. Keep the piece. Renée

Pink Grapefruit Crush

Well, here it is laid out on the bed. And you know what? I'm leaving it just the way it is. I did have to move some of the stars to make the four patches go across the quilt, but other than that, I'm leaving it. I hope to get this sewn together by tonight and maybe I'll do some borders tomorrow. I'm thinking maybe a strip of orange before the pieced border, but we'll see. Keep the piece. Renée

Orange Crush/Pink Grapefruit Crush

I really don't know how I did it, but I managed to get the logo onto my blog. I wish I could get my signature on as easily. Now onto putting the Pink Grapefruit Crush together. Keep the piece. Renée

What was I thinking?

I decided to take a class with Quilt University, its an online class. The class is called "Jane Was Nuts". Its a take off of the Dear Jane quilt. The instructor is Carol Miller and we have people from all over taking the class. I must say, this is my second or third class with them and the last one I took had so many people in it that I couldn't keep up with the discussions in the discussion room. This time there aren't as many and the people aren't chatty. I've done six blocks and the blocks are four and one half inches big. My fingers hurt. Tomorrow I'm going back to the tumbling blocks. Just wanted to finish these small blocks and now I'm going to bed. Good night and keep the piece. Renée

Week 6 - Quilt Along Photos

Well, it's week 6 already. It's been going by very fast. This block was quick and easy to piece. Maybe I'm just getting better. Don't know. I received my current issue of Quilter's World and on page 80 is a pattern for a elongated tumbling block. I've always wanted to do a tumbling block quilt, but they seemed
too intimidating to me. This one is easy peasy. I'll post some pics later on. I'm just wondering, the pattern says that the block is 6" x 6". Does that mean finished, in the quilt, or unfinished, still a block? I've always wondered about that and it makes it difficult for me to square up a block. The quilt in the magazine is using red, blue, brown and green colors. I'm using pink, purple, brown and green. I'm using fabric from my stash and I haven't even put a dent in it. Oh, well. I have four 4" binders filled with patterns that I can make, so I'm not worried. Going back to my piecing. Have a good day. Keep the piece. Renée

Star Quilt Along - Week Five

Well here they are. The last three blocks for the star quilt along, along with the blocks for the first quilt along. I'm doing this as a reversable quilt, one on each side, back and front whatever you want to call it. I've been leader/endering the pink squares for the borders on the pink quilt and I am almost done putting them together. I think I will just do a two row border around the quilt and a fabric border around that. I'll see what happens when I finally put them together. Now I have to go and put together a teeny tiny quilt for a swap with another group that I'm with. Keep the piece. Renée

No New Job, Yeah!!!

Okay, here's the deal. I didn't have any idea what this job was about. My Mom's friends' daughter works there and she mentioned that they were looking for people, but she never did say what they did. It seems that this company "sells" enrollments into a program for diabetics and people who have respiratory problems. There is no money involved, insurance, Medicaid/Medicare would take care of it. But you have to get people to trust you enough to give you their Social Security numbers. I know I would NEVER give out my SS # over the phone, not EVER. So this is a really hard job. And to tell you the truth, I am not good on the phone. As a matter of fact, I HATE it. It's one thing to call someone who is expecting you to call and its a whole other thing to call someone cold. Not my cup of tea.

Now to get back to quilty things. Thanks so much for the comments about my blocks. I sometimes wonder about my color combo's, but then I try to "hear" Bonnie talking about how it doesn't matter, its my quilt and I can do what I want. I was tempted to use a different, brighter green, but then I decided that those oranges are so bright that I would just overload the quilt with brightness, so I stayed with my first choice. I also have started a Blue Ridge Beauty, and am now using it as a leader/ender. All the pieces are cut, now it is just how long it will take for me to sew them all up and then together. I do have the pattern from the magazine, but I really don't want to make it as big as it is there, and they do have directions for smaller ones, but all they tell you is how much fabric you need and how many blocks, not how many pieces. So I will sew up what the directions say, and then when I go to put it together, I'll only do it for a smaller one. Maybe I can get two out of it instead of only one.

For all of you guys on the other side of the pond who were curious about our election process, all the pundits are saying that this primary process is going to be over by the middle of June and then the Democratic Party candidate will be decided at the Convention to be held in August in Denver. But with all that, I am pretty confident that I can say that Barack Obama will be the Democratic Presidential Candidate and he will start the main campaign before August, as he needs to do as Mr. McBush, oh, sorry, McCain, has been campaigning for a long while.

Now I am going to get back to my piecing, which is a whole lot more fun than working. Keep the piece. Renée

New Job, UGH!

Tomorrow I start a new job. It is up in Boca Raton, which is north of where I live. Now that gas is up to $4 a gallon, I don't know if I am going to be able to afford to take the job. If all the money is going into the gas tank, and not into my fabric stash, then why should I take it? I guess I'll find out more tomorrow.

I finished clue #5 of Bonnie's Orange Crush (Pink Grapefruit Crush for me). I was furiously piecing all day today and finally finished the last of the 4 corners a little while ago. I've posted pictures, they are probably up on top. The album blocks are 5 different oranges, but the rest of the triangle blocks all have the same orange fabric in them. I have some of the step 2 blocks left over. Some of the ladies in the group were saying that they did too. We are wondering if Bonnie is going to use them in something else. I guess we will have to wait for the next clue.

I've also cut up some blue and cream fabric to make the Blue Ridge Beauty that everyone has been talking about. I've been doing it as a leader/ender and I have quite a ways to go. But I do find that the leader/ender method sure does keep the waste of thread down to a minimum. I love it.

Going to bed now. If I don't post in a while, it's because it did pay for me to take the job and I'm too tired to type. Have a wonderful week and keep the piece. Renée

Rally in Sunrise

Yes, I was one of 16,000 who showed up on a very rainy Friday afternoon to see and hear a Presidential candidate. Very exciting, but I think Mr. Obama was very tired. Actually, now I can't wait for January for all of this to be over. And we were sitting so far away, that in order to see him, we had to look at the Jumbotron. Going to bed now. Have a great Memorial Day weekend everyone. Keep the piece. Renée

T-Shirt Quilt

This is the class example of the T-shirt quilt that I am going to be making for Ally at the end of June. She hasn't sent me her shirts yet, but there is still time. Another black and white quilt for her. Been busy going to quilt classes, have another one tomorrow and then a rally on Friday. My first rally. Exciting. Hopefully I'll have some pictures to post Friday night. Take care and keep the piece. Good night. Renée

Four New Finished Quilts

I really can't stand the fact that I cannot figure out how to get my pictures where I want them. So I will try to let you know what all these pictures are. The Winnie the Pooh up there is the back of a baby quilt for Ally's friends Louise and Matt who are expecting their first child in June.

This is a quilt for the great grandson of the couple who clean our house. Believe it or not, it is the same pattern as the Pooh quilt, only this one has the name of the child on the left side, Dylan, and then the rest of the quilt.
This is the back of the Dylan quilt. It is white letters on green fabric.

This is a quilt that I made with the Moda fabric called Cornucopia. It is for my cousins who have just moved down here to Florida.
This is the back of my cousins quilt. I just love this fabric and I am so glad that I have some left over to use in a quilt that I will eventually make for myself.
This is a Baby Genius quilt for my nephew Ben. He was born in January.
This is the back of the Baby Genius quilt. I had four fat quarters left and all these squares left over, so because I didn't have anything else, I just sewed them all together and created the back.
This is the front of the Pooh quilt for Louise and Matt. I think they are having a boy and his name is going to be Gavin, but don't quote me. Trying to remember all the things that Ally tells me is quite hard.

I signed up to take a T-Shirt quilt class and I am waiting for Ally to send me the t-shirts that she wants me to use for the quilt. Yes, I am making this one for her. I was over at the LQS that is giving the class and I was going to get some of the stuff that I needed for the class, but they told me to wait, so I'm waiting. I also found out that the class is at the end of June not the beginning, so if Ally didn't send me the shirts yet, she has time. I also signed up for two other classes, a machine quilting class and a machine applique class, and I am going to use my Bernina for these classes. So, instead of taking those Mastery classes, I'll just take all these kind of classes. I really just want to learn how to use the Bernina to do quilting stuff, I don't really want to learn how to put in a zipper, cause I don't make clothes, I want to learn how to use the Bernina to make and finish quilts. I guess I will now. Can't wait. Keep the piece. Renée