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