Just call me quick turn...

Yesterday the mail carrier brought me a parcel all the way from Lyndsey in Scotland.  It contained Ellen's awesome quilt for the AFFB round robin.  By some stroke of luck, I just knew that the New York Beauty blocks that I had started (for a quilt for me) just had to be added to Ellen's quilt.  While it pains me a bit to think that I have more blocks to make for my own quilt I do love how they fit on Ellen's. 

Happy Birthday, birthday boy, er, dog

Yesterday was this little boy's 8th birthday.

1st professional bath - 1 year old.

A year ago February we had a bit of a scare and weren't sure he was going to make it to 7 let alone 8.  What we thought was a normal Friday evening turned in to a trip to the emergency vet then a trip to Cornell where we found out Odin has an enlarged heart and atrial fibrilation.  Talk about a scary (and expensive) weekend.  We're so lucky to have him and love him to pieces - even when he's randomly barking at a cat or chipmunk, poaching food off the counter, kicking us in our sleep when he's on our bed, stealing food from his little 2-legged sister and hogging the couch.

Halloween 2010

Happy Birthday to our 4-legged baby!

Scrappy star love

AFFB
Originally uploaded by sames5

Dena's quilt made it's way to my house in May. I admit. I was a week late in getting it sent out to the Laney but she has it now and, I'm sure, will be adding something great.

My addition is the orange maverick star in the lower left corner. AND, the teal and green star that's hanging at the middle top. I thought it would be fun to have someone incorporate that star in a later round.

A while back I scored 3+ yards of that orange Denyse Schmidt fabric. Lately, I've been adding it to quilts, sharing with other sewers and using it where ever I can. Funny how something just 'clicked' in my head and a fabric that I didn't want to cut into I am now cutting up like crazy.

Putting on the big girl panties....

Last month was my turn to add to Krista's round robin piece.  I love the black and white theme and am totally enamored with the 'panties' that Lyndsey added - I just had to work the word 'panties' into this blog post title somehow.  My addition (although I cannot take sewing of the block credit because I used a few that were already in my stash) are the three blocks on the right.  And, yes, I did intentionally leave an inset seam for the next addition or addition after that.

Not much to report otherwise.  Like Lyndsey, we've been in the middle of major painting and other repairs.  Ours, however, is in large part due to very old termite damage (thanks prior owners for not noticing or telling us there's a problem).

Life isn't black and white

I love string quilts.  I do not love piecing the blocks.  I had hoped to supplemement the blocks made by the gang in our virtual quilting bee to make a bigger top but, well, I ran out of green.  Even the blocks on the back are from a flickr block swap.  In fact, I think the back might be my favorite.  Now to figure out what I am going to do with it.  I mean, really, how many quilts does a toddler need?  I did all the quilting in square / diamond shapes to mimic the shape created by the green strips.  Finished size ~46" x 48".

Front

Back

Oh, the white-ish blur on the lower left corner?  Yea, that would be a sticky toddler fingerprint on the camera lens.  Corrected now but I am too lazy to go and take more photos.

Round Robin - Freestyle

February was the first month in the Around the Bend and Across the Pond round robin virtual bee.  Say that 5 times fast.  My starter block is here.  Due to slow mail and a quick sewist, eh, sewer (which should it be) I received both the pieces for both February and March the other week.  I was able to get my additions made and sent them on to Laney.

Here is Lyndsey's piece.  She actually  made 2 starter blocks.  The 1st one she made took almost 5 weeks to make it across the pond.  So, thinking it might have gotten lost in transit Lyndsey made another second and sent it along with Trudi's piece.  I used both of Lyndsey's starter pieces (the houses bordered in black) and added the grey and blue chevron sections.  Aren't her starter blocks just the cutest?

This is Trudi's block. Lyndsey added some patch work and machine embroidery. I added the mess of 4-patches on the left side. I love how scrappy it is.

Wonk and Roll

I am almost afraid to type this....it is 51 degrees, sunny and March 3rd.  We've only had 49 inches of snow this season (well below 1/2 our normal).  Is it possible that Spring is on it's way?

I took advantage of the illusive central NY sun to take a few pictures outside.  This is a recent swap mini quilt made for Missy.  The theme for Jan/Feb was log cabins.  I've always loved Jacquie's work and channeled her for Missy's mini - I didn't quite hit the mark but I feel like I am getting closer (and more comfortable with wonky piecing).  This is the 2nd mini I've done with a teal and red color scheme and I have to say, I still love it.  I hope Missy does, too.