Thursday, December 30, 2010

Penny is Such a Doofus!

I bought her a new bed today and she wouldn't get in it. I couldn't figure out why because she was trying to get in Skippy's bed with him over Christmas. I finally put her quilt in with her and she curled up and went to sleep.



Silly Mommy! That baby just needed her quilt!

Oh, I'm teaching Penny to twirl! By George, we've almost got it! Will try to do a video when the trick is perfected. Too funny!

I ran all my errands today, and now I'm home until Monday! Hair cut, UPS Store, Bed Bath & Beyond, the quilt shop, the market .... all in the beautiful sunshine! More rain expected, though, over the weekend. I need to grab a picture of our snow-topped mountains before they're encased in fog and rain again!

Will be cooking traditional Southern fare on New Year's Day. Jane, her sweet DH and Skippy will be coming over to share. Maybe Skippy will give Penny lessons on curling up in her new bed!

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Stash Report 2010 - The End!

I was a good girl this year!



Very, very good!



Sure have Jolly Old St. Nick fooled, don't I?


2010 Total:

Busted: 447.98 yards
Purchased: 654.565 yards
Net YTD: (206.585) yards busted :(

Friday, December 24, 2010

Merry Christmas!

How did this ....



Turn into this?









I give up!



Merry Christmas to one and all from Penny and Vicky at LA Quilter!

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Stash Report 2010 - Week 50

I surely wasn't good this week. Heck, I haven't been good all year. I was doing good, but then completely fell apart in the last quarter. Story of my life!

La Petite Ecole picture was already posted earlier this week but I'll post it again because I l.o.v.e. looking at that gorgeous stuff. 26 yards.



The automatic shipments got me this week. I'm not reporting a couple of things because they're gifts. However, two of them are in their forever home and I'm selfishly keeping them!

Scrap Basket Surprises Club - this quilt is from the Maison de Garance line by French General. I l.o.v.e. French General. Penny does, too. Of course, I had to again lighten the picture so she doesn't blend into the shadows. 7.45 yards for the kit and 4.33 yards for the backing.



The other one I'm keeping is this month's shipment of Prairie Women's Sewing Circle. Sadly, I haven't done any of these quilts this year, but I want to do all of them next year. (You know, next year when I'm only going to sew on the things I'm excited about.) 7.5 yards for the Prairie Women's kit.



Seriously, though, if Kimberly at the Fat Quarter Shop ever again offers clubs like Scrap Basket Surprises and Prairie Women's Sewing Club again, you all MUST join in. Those were both awesome clubs.

Year-To-Date:

Busted: 428.27 yards
Purchased: 644.565 yards
Net YTD: (216.295) yards busted :(

Oh, yeah, Judy's UFO Challenge 2010 - don't forget to sign up for that. No pressure. If you do them, fine. If you don't, fine. I'm going to try my best to get them done, though, at least to the flimsy stage. There's a button in my sidebar if you want to check out how we're faring through the year. Will be pulling out the rest of the UFO projects to photo and get posted. You know, saying it out loud and in public might make me just get 'em done!

AND my internet is finally fixed, I think, and Direct TV is back on line after being down for two weeks, and I bought my Christmas present to myself, a new TV for the bedroom. Yep, all is well at the LA Quilter household!

Oh oh -- sorry, I keep thinking of things -- I busted another quilt from my stash yesterday. It was a bright quilt on black background, which really isn't my cup of tea, but the recipient was delighted! Just goes back to what I've always said - every quilt deserves to be loved. Just make them and it will happen!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

UFO Challenge 2011

Judy at Patchwork Times sure does her best to keep us motivated, involved and sewing, doesn't she? She's been beating us up for three or four years to bust stash. She's providing a ton of gorgeous quilt patterns for us to sew up during Quiltathons and sew-alongs. And now she's insisting we bust our UFO stacks! I have it on good authority that she was a drill sergeant in another lifetime!

Just kidding, Judy! You know I love you more than my luggage! (Name that movie!)

Anyway, there's the new UFO Challenge 2011 that I am determined I'm going to do. I'm not linking very well tonight, but I snagged the click-on button that's over in my sidebar, towards the bottom. Just go over there and click on it and you'll get all the info you need. Please, do it! As Mom used to say ... let's hold hands and do it together. It won't hurt so badly that way!

I'm going to list a few UFOs here that I want to get finished up next year. I'll be changing around the order of them over the next week or so to accommodate my busy life at work the first few months of the year. But after a year of practically no sewing, I'm going to just do it!

1. Bears in the Barnyard -- figure out those pesky mitered borders.



2. Judy's star BOM - blocks are made. Assemble and finish.




3. Designer Mystery BOM from the Fat Quarter Shop. Was that 2008? 2009? That gorgeous Moda Peace on Earth fabric. Blocks are made. Assemble and finish.


4. Rabbits Love Embroidery by Bunnyhill Designs. Figure out appliqued scallops on borders.



5. All Things Christmas by Bunnyhill Designs. Figure out appliqued scallops on borders.



6. A New Day by Brenda Riddle at Acorn Quilts. Assemble and finish.



7. Borders and backing for Diagonal Four-Patch Medley.


8. Borders and backing for Heritage quilt. For my bed!!


9. Holly Jolly quilt -- take apart and fix the border I messed up.



10. Pennsylvania Dutch BOM - finish last two blocks. Assemble and finish.



11. Sweet Treasures BOM - Assemble and finish.




12. Whatever.

Well, that list obviously needs tweaking. It's amazing the amount of unfinished projects sitting around here, most of them just needing a final border. Like Jane says, when we get to that point, we know what the quilt looks like!

I'll come back later and add pictures - so I can remember what they are! :)

Okay, I'm committed! I hope you are, too!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

La Petite Ecole



The year's end is coming soon, so surely there can't be too many more boxes landing from the Fat Quarter Shop, right?

I swear, Kimberly packs so neatly. Whodathunk this was 26 yards?

One more box coming and I'm done!

I always say that, don't I?

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Stash Report 2010 - Weeks 48 & 49

Nothing much going on here. In fact, nothing at all is going on in the sewing department. I am making headway organizing, and hope to start the new year off with renewed resolve to happily quilt and bust stash.

I only busted two yards in the last two weeks, and only received in 5.25 yards backing for the Paris in Fall BOM. Next week should bring more stash additions as La Petite Ecole yardage has landed at the Fat Quarter Shop! I think the Fig Tree Club is also going to land. Uh oh.

I am going to bust a couple of quilts for gifts out of my quilt stash. That's a good thing! Far too many I've made are piled up here and need to go somewhere to be loved. My goal next year is to gift away more from the quilt stash. It's funny, though, when I was looking through quilts, there are so many I want to keep -- my first quilt, my first applique, first paper piecing ... the list goes on. Oh, well, nowhere is it written that I have to give them all away! And then there are those quilts I've acquired through auction or purchase from my favorite designers. Those are here to stay. They are in their forever home! They ARE loved!

Year-To-Date:

Busted: 414.02 yards
Purchased: 599.28 yards
Net YTD: (185.26) yards busted :(

Ewww..........

Tuesday, December 07, 2010

Needlework Bag Kit Winner!

There weren't very many folks who entered this time, but that makes it better odds for those of you who did! I hate that there's only one prize to give away!!

Penny didn't cooperate at all tonight in pulling a name. She's in a snit because I wouldn't give her any of my burger. LOL. Oh, gosh, I guess I'm in deep cah-cah now!

The winner of the Needlework Bag kit is ......

COLLEEN of Crazy for Primitive Quilts & Gardens!

Congrats, Colleen. Please email me with your snail mail address and I'll get it off to you tomorrow.

And neither Colleen nor anyone else, for that matter, figured out what I was looking for for the lagniappe prize. Shucks! Maybe it was a little too obscure this time. Today is 12/7/10, the 69th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. I was looking for any reference to that at all. I know this was before our time, but just like 9-11-01, we should never forget!

I'll have probably one or two more give-aways before year end, so stay tuned. I just need to get up in the stash room and root around for something good!

Saturday, December 04, 2010

Needlework Bag Kit Give-Away



I pulled this out a month or so ago for a future give-away. No time like the present time!

This is the Needlework Bag pattern by Pat Sloan. I purchased this back some time in the early '00s. I know it was that long ago because I bought it from The Quilted Garden, which is now The Quilted Crow, back when Marianne owned it. Some of you historians should be able to date it.

It's an interesting kit. It has roughly two yards total fabric, ribbons, a neat button, and other stuff to complete the bag - prairie cloth, ticking, a piece of linen. I don't think the floss is included and I didn't check to see if a Velcro fastener is in there, but if they're not, that's all you'll need to pick up to complete the project. There's obviously a little applique and some stitchery involved but I think it's a really cute needlework bag.

Let's make this a short give-away. I'll do the drawing on Tuesday night, 12/7/10, when I get home from work which is usually by 7:30 p.m. My internet connection here at the Quilting Condo has serious issues (grrrr....), and I'm scheduled for *another* tech to come out today. If for some reason I don't post the drawing winner Tuesday night, you'll know why. But it'll be posted by the next morning.

Nothing special about the comment you need to leave this time. Just make sure it either links back to your blog or you give your email address so I can contact you if you're the winner.

AND don't forget the "lagniappe" prize for the winner if she/he has that extra little something special I'm watching for in their comment or on their blog! Hmmm.....

Good luck to everyone!

Wednesday, December 01, 2010

Is anyone else --

Is anyone else as bored as I am lately?

Surely nothing exciting to report from the LA Quilter household!