Cleveland ROCKS!!

I have been working like a dog!! and so a reward from my boss! He has a friend who works at ESPN and I now have two tickets to the Women's Final Four in Cleveland!! I have been cruising the net for airline tickets and a hotel room. No easy task as most everything was sold out. But we have seats on a plane and a room to sleep in! I am meeting with the cat sitter from Wagging Tails tonight about taking care of Holly and Bailey while we are gone. We will be leaving this Friday and will return late Wednesday. We haven't been to a Final 4 for a couple of years so we are pretty excited! Only sad note is that my beloved Huskies will not be there. The Lady Huskies got their tails beat by LSU on Monday night, but I will be rooting for the Tar Heels and Miss Ivory Latta to win it all.

I have missed a few doses of PQP of late with all the basketball going on but I did get all 81 blocks made for my Spring/Summer quilt and don't like them much. Hmm, now what to do! It's a very simple block which I think is the problem but I wanted something fast and easy since it was queen size. I think I'm going to cut them up and swap bits around to make it look a little scrappier. But that will have to wait for my return.

I have made 4 summer purses out of hand dyed and batik strips. I am teaching a class at my LQS in May called "Saturday Morning Surprise". In two hours, you start and (here's the best part) FINISH a project. We are keeping the project a big secret and giving a supply list that won't give away the project. All the brave souls who take the class won't know what they are making til they get there! Anyway, one of these purses is a sample and the other three will be gifts. I wanted to be sure I could put the purse together without directions!

Sewww, won't be around for a bit but look for me on TV! LOL

This is March ??!??

TOP OF THE MORNING TO ALL AND

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!




Here is a picture of my yard yesterday afternoon. We got about 14 inches of snow, sleet and rain between Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. By noon, today the sun was out and the melting had begun. The last gasp of Winter, I hope.


I don't really mind since this weekend is the beginning of MARCH MADNESS. My DH and I are huge Women's Basketball fans! Go UConn Huskies!! The first and second rounds are this weekend and we will be glued to the TV all day. Yesterday I cut the pieces for my spring/summer quilt and I have a table set up in front of the TV so I can sew and watch BBall at the same time..
















I am also posting pictures of my February Journal page. My idea is to do something every month based on the calendar and try a new technique or style of quilting that I have never done. You may remember that January was a little landscape called "Left Behind". This month's theme is Crazy Quilting . In addition to February being the month of Valentine's Day, it is also the month my DH and I were married. February 20th, it was 24 years. On the block, you may be able to see a little piece with our names and the date we were married. I call this one "Still Crazy After All These Years". I spent a good 20 hours on this 8 x 11 1/2 page and could have spent 10 more hours! Crazy quilting is addicting!! I really enjoyed the process but felt a little pressured with a deadline for the class. In addition, I was able to meet Judy of Sunshine Quilts challenge to use a fabric that had been in my stash for about 3 years. The peacock feather fabric is a Liberty FQ that I had not been able to cut into. I LOVE this fabric and actually would pull it out and pet it, it's sooo soft. But, I cut it and used it! Not only in the front where you see just little bits of it, but I used it for the backing of the page. I now need to start on my March page which of course will be IRISH IN NATURE! Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

What a daily dose of PQP can do!!

As many of you know, I have been rising before the crack of dawn and squeezing in an hour or so of PQP. It is definitely easier than I thought, despite Daylight Savings Time, and makes the start of my day special. Sewww, I thought you would like to see the results of two weeks of a daily dose of PQP!

These two quilts are for Valentine's Day! Ooops!! Well, the one with the hearts was done just a couple of days after the actual day and is hanging in my sewing room. The hearts are string pieced and the two baskets were from a Moda panel that included the two flower blocks in the other quilt and six Valentine postcards which I assembled and mailed BEFORE VALENTINE'S DAY!!

I am showing you a close up of one of the blocks for what I call the FLOWER POWER quilt. I hope you can see the glittery effect. I am in love with Art Glitter and have been using it profusely. In fact, when I was putting it on this quilt, my kitty, Bailey, jumped up on the table and he was glittered also!! I started quilting this one today and should finish it tomorrow. The sleeve, label, and binding are already made. (I find if I don't do those two bits beforehand it can definitely hold up the completion of a quilt)

This next picture is of the thirteen pillowcase parts cut for our service project for the Hole in the Wall Gang. We were supposed to meet and put them together but it had to be postponed due to SNOW. The four little pincushion hats sans their ribbons are the favors we are making for our Victorian Tea to be held in April. This is the second time we have hosted a Tea and it is a big fundraiser for our guild.

This little quilt is going to be for our silent auction which will be held as part of our Victorian Tea. I started this project some time ago. I didn't have an intended recipient for it so it seems a good candidate. I will finish the crazy quilting on it, add some borders and send it on its way.




This next picture is the snowball and friendship star blocks each of us are making for the Relay for Life quilt the guild is donating. It is a local walk for cancer and all survivors are encouraged to sign the blocks. This takes place in June and many of our members participate and help coordinate this event.

I also completed my February journal page but I haven't taken a picture of it yet. Will post later this week.

Now that I have some of these guild commitments done, I hope to concentrate on a queen size quilt for my bed for the spring/summer and get some samples made for a couple of classes I will be teaching at the LQS.

Guess I better get moving!!!. HMMMM, maybe a double dose of PQP is in order!

Hubby of the Year Award

I am nominating my DH, Bob, for Hubby of the Year and here's why! On Saturday morning, we got up and he told me that we were going on a little surprise road trip. So we got in the car and started driving. Two and a half hours later, we were in New Jersey. I figured we were going to visit friends but I was wrong. Next Stop- the Mid Atlantic Quilt Show in New Jersey!!

I had never been to a quilt show with my husband and it was really interesting to see what quilts he liked and his response to different types of quilts. We saw some really beautiful quilts and I will post a few pics later in the week. But, this is about my super-duper Hubby!!! He even endured the vendors with me!!. Now you ladies know that in the company of your gal pals, $$$ slips from your hand with all the temptations around you!! But I was being really good and was almost out the door with a FQ and some bias tape (under $20.00!!) but then I came upon this.....


THE BABY LOCK EMBELLISHER. My eyes popped out of my head, I was drooling!! I asked my DH," just let me take her for a spin around the block." Welllllll, OK, he said.

Once I was behind the wheel, there was no turning back. I had been looking at this machine online and salivating over all the fun I could have. I had even found a blogger (http://fembellish.wordpress.com) who was constantly posting cool things to do with this beauty.

But I was as cool as a cucumber, when Mr. Salesman came over and asked "How do you like her??" I hemmed and hawed, "I don't know, I already have three machines". So I wandered off and started looking at this.... the Janome Gem Platinum.

Now, I have the Gem Gold2 and have loved it for taking to classes and retreats,and at 11 lbs., it's fabulous! But the Platinum is the Cadillac. It has needle up/down, 60 stitches, it has the true daylight bulb. We talked about it, Mr. Salesman told me the price. I hemmed and hawed some more and told him that I already had a Gold which I would want to trade. He said he'd take my trade and pay to ship it back to him." Wellll, I don't know, what about a deal if I buy both??? " Now it was my DH's turn for eye popping and foaming at the mouth!! Mr. Salesman tells me the price. I get Mr. Salesman to throw in a couple of books for the Embellisher and I sweetly say"I have to talk to my hubby". So I take DH aside and explain what a super deal this is for the two machines plus the books and because the machines are being shipped to my house, NO SALES TAX!!

A couple of kisses and a BIG hug later, and I'm the proud owner of both!!! Now really ladies, is he deserving of the prize or not!!??