I've Lost My Mind

I am leaving for New York next week for a month. I have started a mystery quilt with Mystery Quilts and I have decided to start a Perkiomen Daydreams Quilt from Bonnie Hunter's book, "Scraps and Shirttails...." I thought this would make a dent in my stash. It has not. You would think that you would use a lot of fabric, but when you start to sew and then you cut and then you sew some more, you realize that even though the pieces seem small, you aren't using that much fabric. There are 20 rows by 20 rows of 5.5" blocks in this quilt. I think I have two rows finished. I am trying to use different fabric in each of the blocks, but it is not working out that way. I can't stand to cut up all that fabric and I don't have as much red and yellow as I had thought. I am really going to have some serious withdrawal when I'm up in NY for the month. Thank goodness for the computer, at least I can vicariously see fabric through the internet. I'm sure that this stay in NY will pass so quickly that I will be bemoaning the fact that it wasn't long enough. Anyway, I've lost it and I hope it doesn't come back. Piece. Renée

Double Delight Progress

I was so bored doing those darn triangles for the square in a square blocks that I peeked and decided to do clues 4 and 5 together. I'm doing the square in a square blocks as leaders/enders. I have three more nine patch and four more Rolling Star blocks to finish, but I am NOT laying this quilt on the diagonal. I will lay it out straight and see how many blocks I need to do it that way. I just don't have the room to do a diagonal layout, so I will do it straight. I've noticed that some of the other ladies didn't do a diagonal layout on some of Bonnie's other mysteries, so I will not with this one either. And if I have to wait until someone puts one up in the photos, I will wait. It's not like I don't have a bunch of other things to do, lol. Going back to sew, piece. Renee

I WON FIRST PRIZE IN THE FABSHOPHOP

OMG!!! I just read my e mails and there was a congratulatory e mail from Laurie Harsh of the Fabric Shop Network, Inc. I participated in the Holiday Hop, because I like to go to the shops and look at all the pretty fabrics and the new patterns. When I was working, I would sometimes buy fabric, but I always do the Hops. I never and I mean NEVER even imagine that I would win something, anything. What a shock!! I'm so excited, I'm surprised that you all didn't hear me scream. LOL. Hear I am in sunny South Florida doing a very happy dance. Piece. Renee

Totally off the quilting topic

I have had it with the hypocrisy. Why is it that Israel can get bombarded with bombs from all directions, but if they should fight back, everyone gets all upset? What part of a country defending themselves is wrong? If Israel just sat back and took all the bombings, eventually all the Israeli's would be dead. But I guess that is just want the people doing the bombing want. Look, the USA was attacked on 9/11. What did we do? Didn't we go to Afghanistan to try to find Bin Laden and get or kill him? Isn't that what a country is supposed to do when they are attacked? For years, Israel has been bombarded by rockets and suicide bombings. One of my brother's friends lost a child on one of those bus bombings a few years ago. It's not like the people getting killed in Israel are soldiers. They are innocent people. Why do cowards always pick on the innocent? That's what I think these "people" are, the ones bombing Israel, COWARDS. Come out from behind the innocent, come out from behind the masks. If you are so proud of what you do, why do you hide? COWARDS, all of them.

Finished Clue 1A of Double Delight

These are my Clue 1A of the Double Delight Mystery on Quiltville. The green squares are the only color I changed. Everything else is the same as Bonnie's. I am now working on Clue 1B, I'm usually faster, but these square in a square are really hard and Bonnie has given us a really great technique, but it take a little longer to do. So, slow and steady. I'm going to be the tortoise this time instead of the hare. I have to admit, this is the first time in doing square in a square that it actually comes out square, without it being wonky. They might actually fit together this time. Going back to 1B now. Later. Piece. Renee

Double Delight

On Quiltvillechat we have been having dicussions on fabric, amounts of fabric, etc. I'm doing my in a semi-controlled scrappy. I have different neutrals for each of the clues that call for neutrals as of now. For 1A I am using a fabric that is almost white with mottled pastels; for 2A I am using a variety of scraps and yardage that I've scoured about looking for and I also am using 11 different light pink fabrics; for 2B I am using a fabric that is a little darker and some of it looks almost pink and for 2C I am using a beige fabric with red swirls and blue dots. Don't know how anyone else is doing it, but that's how I am and I'm stickin' to it.

Oh, and by the way. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! I am brain dead most of the time, so forgive me if I don't know what time of the year it is. Hope everyone has a great 2009 with much health and wealth. Piece. Renee

Fabric Changes in both mysteries

Okay, I admit it. I changed out the purple for brown, so the only color that is different in my quilt from Bonnie's is the blue for green.

Now, the fabric for Mystery Quilts has changed out altogether. This mystery calls for 3 different neutrals (of the same tone), one dark and three mediums. So I picked pink as my mediums, without knowing that I should have picked three totally different colors. Lesley was kind enough to let me know that I needed to change to the different colors and then she must have done something on the computer or something, because then she said that the pattern would come out with the fabrics that I had chosen. But, when there is a need for fabric, new fabric, Renee heeds that call. Joann's was having a sale and I needed a ruler for the Double Delight, so I had to go. As I got my ruler, the new Quiltmaker magazine, some pins (straight and for sandwiching) and I was walking around the aisles, where does my wondering cart go? Straight for the fabric. What could I do but follow? So I found a really nice chocolate brown to add to the two that I already had (but didn't have enough of) and then that yellow, green and pink batik started singing out to me. I had to get it. And from there it was easy peasy to find something that went with it. And the funny thing, the name of that batik is Large Wedding Rings, the magenta is called Tango Daisy and the green one is Scroll batik. So with the black and the neutrals, I think this should be a whopper of a colorful quilt. Way out passed my comfort zone. I am not changing it anymore. I probably won't be able to start it until I come home from New York anyway. That's it, I need to get back to sewing up those square in a square blocks for the Double Delight. I'm almost finished with clue 1-A and then on to cutting fabric for clue A-2. Have a great evening. Piece. Renee