a look back

I truly can't believe how fast this year has gone.  Overall, it's been a good year.

I reviewed my list of quilts and realized I didn't finish a lot of bigger quilts.  Most were dolly quilts.

This was as far as I got with my montly self-challenge before I realized there weren't going to be extra dollies for these:

...so I stopped production and made sure the budget would allow dollies for all these quilts, too.  I'm not sure I'll be making dolly quilts again this year, but for those of you who sent me fabric, rest assured that it will be used for a charity quilt of some kind.

There was some organizational sewing...

And some random sewing...

There was a fantastic block swap...

...and someday I hope to be good enough to quilt this on my new longarm...

And even a few quilts I don't have photos of or I can't show yet.  They'll be linked up in my sidebar as I get those.  Under the 2010 finishes column.  But I'm excited to start a 2011 column!  Tomorrow!

Besides sewing, there were a few losses in the family...

Considering the shape they were both in when we traded them in, I think it's probably safe to say we recycled some large items this year!

We also lost Grandpa May.  But he's in a better place and with his wife again, so we're not too sad for the things he's missing here.

And we added a few new family "members" too...

And there were the books...

There were cookies and pies...

(...some came out better than others...)

There was a little silliness on the part of family members...

(...that second one is not me...)

And last but surely not least, there's a new, very large sewing machine in my house!

I hope you all have had a good year as well and I hope we all have an even better 2011!

I'm excited to start some new projects, finish some old ones.  I look forward to seeing what all my bloggy and non-bloggy friends make, too!  And I'm excited to have you all joining me for another year's journey.

Happy new year!

Katie

when all else fails...

Yesterday my mom and I trekked a few hundred miles (round trip) to a shop specializing in longarm supplies.  I was less than impressed with their selection of templates (what I really wanted) and those they had were expensive.

Then I found the bargain bin!  I had a photo of what I got, but my camera seems to eat about one of every 10 or so photos lately and now it's dark out...  I got a set of three circles and an in-the-ditch ruler.  They were used, but what do I care?  They're not broken.  :)

I was on a mission for circles thanks to a comment from Canuck Quilter suggesting those inside the blocks.  I already wanted the circle templates, but this moved them WAY up on my list!

But my biggest circle is 7".  When you quilt outside that (the foot is 1/4"), you end up with a 7.5" circle.  In a 12" block that's a little skimpy-looking.

When all else fails...

...raid the kitchen!  These Tupperware lids were perfect, though they have one little lip I had to work around.

I'm still having trouble with my thread breaking in the middle of sewing, but I got 5 circles in each of the 16 blocks today.  (With a trip to the store for more thread...)

This is one of the best blocks.  Some of the circles are better than others.  But they're ALL better than the last circles I tried to do!

So the top is finished, trimmed and scrappy binding is machine-sewn down.  I should be working on the hand-sewing, but I'm stalling.

My hubby's brother's two kids are going to stay with us tomorrow night (the nephew that stays a lot and his younger sister), and I'm hoping to have this done so one of them can sleep under it.  I better get working!

Happy quilting,

Katie

PS  We also went to a quilt shop near the longarm shop and I spent a bundle.  I'll have to get photos of my goodies and post them soon.  I could have spent a lot more there...it was a GOOD shop and I'm sad it took about a tank of gas to get there and back yesterday, or I'd be back!  (Before you gasp too loudly, a tank is only about 12 gallons and I do get good mileage.)

help!

I'm a little afraid of my longarm.  I'll admit it.

But I only have so many days off work and today was actually sunny!  Which made the lighting extra good. 

So I loaded the blue and green wonky log cabin quilt.

And I stippled in all the borders.

But I'm stumped as to what to do in the blocks.

Any suggestions?

(In the meantime, I'm hoping the kitties don't get too much fur on it!)

Happy quilting,

Katie

christmas reveals

I've handed out most of the gifts, so I can finally show some final pictures!

First is the hubby's quilt.  This is my biggest accomplishment, but I don't have a good whole-quilt photo yet, but here is what I could get of it after I put it on the bed.

I got up at 6:30am Christmas eve morning to finish the binding on this.  He's been home the same time as me so much, I struggled to get it done on the sly.  But he had to work 6-11am Friday, so I set the alarm, got up before daylight on a day off and worked like a maniac, hoping if he got out early (there was a chance) that I'd have it done before he arrived.  A 8:30 it was finally done AND labelled.  PHEW!

I made the bed with it and put a little "Merry Christmas" note on top and he walked right by the whole thing.  How he managed to miss it, I'll never understand!  I had to send him back up to look for it, and being a smart aleck, he came back down with just the note and a quizzical look on his face.  Then he started laughing.  He likes it.

Here'a s closeup of quilting in the blocks, which I think is pretty cool.

(If too many of you can't see it, I'll re-post it and tweak the lighting some more...I know the colors are dark and the thread matched the fabric.)

And on to the keychain wallets.  Here's the loot I crammed inside:

When I found the chocolate coins, I knew that was a no-brainer!  The silly bands were probably the biggest hit overall, but I think once the kids get to spend the gift certificates, they'll have some fun.

But my family didn't realize I'd made the wallets.  I mentioned something about the blood and sweat that went into making these and I got dumbfounded looks.  "YOU made these?" they all asked.  I suppose that's good, right?  They're so well-made they think they're store-bought?  (We won't go with they're so poorly made they clearly came from an inferior factory...)

And last but not least, the little ornaments that went to a couple of good friends at work.

I learned a few things in making these, but my friends liked them and appreciate that they're homemade.  (And understand that homemade doesn't always mean perfect in the literal sense.)

I hope you all have had a Merry Christmas (or any other holiday you might celebrate around this time of year)!

Off to check on my banana bread.  The house is starting to smell delicious, so I think it must be almost done.

Happy quilting,

Katie

2011 UFO challenge

Judy over at Patchwork Times is having a UFO challenge for 2011.  I thought I'd throw my hat in the ring.  I don't have that many projects that aren't finished, but I'd like to have fewer.  So here's my list, in no particular order:

1. French Kiss Quilt in Bliss

2. Quilt from Pure jelly roll and charm pack.  Rose Garden and Garden Lattice from the book "A Baker's Dozen" are possibilities.

3. Birdies on a Wire quilt from Connecting Threads (it's quite a bit further along from this photo, but it's the only one I have right now!)

4. Lone Star quilt - needs to have squares and triangles that are background added.  I'm thinking something appliqued on there.  (This was done using the Radiant Star Quilt book by Eleanor Burns.)

5. Basket Case quilt - needs borders.  I'm thinking something like flying geese around one corner.

6. Blocks 1-4 of Lavender Mist quilt kit from JoAnn's

7. Blocks 5-8 of Lavender Mist

8. Blocks 9-12 of Lavender Mist

9. Put Lavender Mist blocks together (adjustments to numbering will be made if #9 is pulled before 6, 7 and 8 are done.)

10. Blocks 6-9 of Floral Breeze quilt kit from JoAnn's

11. Blocks 10-12 of Floral Breeze plus put top together (again with the number rearrangement if necessary)

12. Freebie month!  I can work on whatever hasn't been finished in a previous month or work ahead. 

And, so we're all clear what my definition if finished is: the top is in one piece.  I would love to quilt them all, but they take up lots of room that way.  When I decide what to do with them, I'll quilt them.

But there are a few quilts I've been eyeing to start this year, so why not list those?  (Because there's a chance they'll end up on the UFO list for next year!)

We'll go with ABCs just to keep things straight...

A. Hallowe'en 1904 (oh please let me be motivated to have this on my couch by October!)

B. A Kitten's Tale.  Oh how I love thee.  I need fabrics, though...where's that $1 fat quarter booth at the quilt shows when you need it?  This was such a splurge at the Chicago quilt show in 2009 and I'm sorry you can't see the photo well.  My camera is having a glare issue today.  :(

C. Tree Weave quilt from Connecting Threads.  My sis-in-law made this and has loaned me the pattern.  I LOVE it!  (The photo just doesn't do it justice.)

D. Garden Variety quilt.  I'm waffling with this one.  It's in the Summer 2010 issue of Quilts and More and now I see Fat Quarter Shop has a kit...uh oh!  But it's PINK and I'm not a girly girl, so if it was in blues and greens, I'd have it by now.   (Oh my gosh, wait, I just went to link to the kit and it's on sale.  Almost half price...you KNOW by the time you've read this I'll have ordered it, right?  Please Santa, don't count this as naughty!  But does that make it a UFO now?  Oh dear!  Well, I guess now maybe month 12 won't be a freebie after all!)

E. Celebrate October quilt.  This another I'm not sure about.  I bought the pattern on a whim a while back and my mom and sis-in-law both like it, so I'm considering doing our own private BOM with it...

Not too bad, right?

Happy quilting,

Katie

christmas goodies

The cookie exchange yesterday was a success.  Only 5 of us total, but this time of year, that's pretty good!

Pretty good loot, no?

And when I arrived home, the candy-making commenced.

3 batches of peanut brittle, 2 batches of fudge and 1 batch of truffles.

Each of my hubby's 21 employees plus my boss and our secretary will get a tin like this in the coming week.

And, as promised, recipes!

Microwave Peanut Brittle

Mix in glass bowl:

1 cup sugar

1 cup raw peanuts

1/2 cup white corn syrup

1/8 tsp. salt

Microwave 4 minutes.

Stir.

Microwave 3-5 minutes more, until light brown.

Add:

1 tbsp. butter

1 tsp. vanilla.

Stir

Microwave 1 minute.

Add:

1 tsp. baking soda

Mix thoroughly.

Spread on lightly greased cookie sheet (or aluminum foil).

I've made this dozens of times and it always comes out well.  And as for that 3-5 minutes, in my new 900-watt, .9 cubic foot microwave, 4-5 minutes was about right.  I have a 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup and that worked PERFECTLY for this...the handle was a lifesaver!

Fudge

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter or margarine

6 cups sugar

2 cans (5 oz each) evaporated milk (or 1 1/3 cups)

2 packages (12 oz each) chocolate chips

1 jar (13 oz.) marshmallow creme

2 cups chopped nuts (optional)

2 tsp. vanilla

In 4-5 quart heavy pan, mix butter, sugar and milk.  Bring to full rolling boil on medium heat, stirring constantly.  Continue boiling 5 minutes (or until candy thermometer reaches 234F), stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and add chocolate chips.  Stir until melted.  Add remaining ingredients and mix well.  Pour into TWO lightly greased 9x13 pans (or 3 9x9 pans).  Cool at room temp.

I've made this for years and my mom has made it for longer and we NEVER use the candy thermometer and we've NEVER had a bad batch!  It originally was on the container of one of the ingredients (marshmallow creme?) but no longer is.  It's delicious and creamy.  I've made it with peanut butter chips and with white chocolate chips (plus a little Kaluha!) and it's also yummy.  Semi-sweet chips give a darker fudge than milk chocolate, but both taste fantastic!

This is also a good recipe to have a big strong man help with, as stirring in those chocolate chips and marshmallow creme wears my arm out!

The truffles recipe can be found here.  It's super easy and I made about 75 and still had dough left over.  (Maybe I made my balls a little small?)  I rolled 1/3 in powdered sugar, 1/3 in cocoa powder and 1/3 in chopped pecans.  Well, the hubby rolled them in sugar and cocoa, if we're being honest here.  :)

And since we're talking about Christmas goodies, I tortured my hubby to get a photo of the whole, finished Christmas quilt this morning.  (You know, biddy stuff can kill a man, right?)  It's a grey day, but with the snow, the lighting was much better outside!

It's called "Trees for Sale" by Pieces from My Heart.  I used the same fabric as the original pattern, Crazy Eight by (I think) Sandy Gervias.  And no, that border is not pieced...it's printed (because one of you asked). 

And the back, because it's too cute!

The colors don't quite match the front, but it's a cozy flannel and perfectly whimsical for my tastes!

And now the hubby had to run into work, so I'm going to haul out his quilt and hope to get that binding finished!

Happy quilting!

Katie

cookie exchange

Tomorrow I get to go to a cookie exchange!

(Isn't that plate cute?  More on how I got that in a minute.)

I'm taking Caramel-Filled Chocolate Cookies.

They got a drizzle of melted white chocolate after they cooled.  Ooh so pretty!

And also White Chocolate Chip Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies (that one of my APQ blogging friends posted a while ago and I can't remember who - I'm sorry!)

(Yikes what a color difference in those photos!)

In addition to cookies (which we're only supposed to bring one kind, but I LOVE to bake and noone turns their nose up at extra cookies!) we're supposed to bring a white elephant (gag) gift for an exchange.  It's always a good laugh.  One year I took a bowling ball!

So two years ago, I got a set of dessert plates and mugs.  You see one peeking out from the cookies above.  There are 4 and they're all Christmas-themed old baking advertisements.  I can't believe someone brought those and didn't want them!

And if all this baking isn't enough, my microwave died tonight!  I put the white chocolate in to melt and it make a popping noise and I smelled electrical burningness.  Then it made some wierd buzzy noises and the light inside flickered.  That's when I pulled the plug!  Thankfully that's all it did, but tomorrow we'll be out getting a new one.  10 years of less-than-(probably)-average use is a good lifespan for a microwave, right?

(And after the one my parents had while I was growing up literally lit itself on fire when it decided to die, I'm even more thankful that this one gave me fair warning.)

But melting chocolate in the oven (I don't have a double-boiler) was an experience I don't want to repeat.  :)

This is the season for baking, right?  Well, yesterday I made a Cranberry Bundt Cake to take to a holiday potluck at work today.  I was a little worried about turning my coworkers into guinea pigs, but it turned out well.  The tartness of the cranberries was perfect and I'm not sure if I should be proud to have outshined all the other desserts or feel a little guilty...  (Sorry no photos of that one...poor planning on my part.)

And my kitchen isn't done yet!  First I have to get a new microwave, but then I'll be making peanut brittle in the microwave as well as fudge and truffles for the hubby to give his employees for the holidays.  I'll post those recipes and photos (if I remember them) when we're done with that madness.  (Yes we...the hubby doesn't get 21 tins of goodies for nothing!)

I know I've promised a photo of the Christmas quilt...working 8-5, I don't see much daylight, so I'm hoping this weekend I'll find time between making batches of sweets to get that photo to share.

Is it bedtime yet?

Happy quilting,

Katie

first quilt on the longarm!

Remember this quilt?

I had basted it about a year ago for quilting on my little machine, then chickened out.  I didn't know what to do and I didn't think I could do much anyways.

I stopped yesterday and picked up some thread.

So unpin, take a deep breath and GO!

I just stippled it around the trees, but it's quilted!

Only a few hours and a bunch of broken threads (learning as I go!) and I was ready to put binding on.

No more sending it off to a quilter and waiting weeks.  Or months.  Yay!

Then make some binding...

Printed diagonally so it looks like I fussed and cut it on the bias!

Trim the extra batting and backing...

Find a place on the couch and fight the kitties for use of the quilt to finish that binding.

Stop to make some dinner (mmm...meatloaf!) and blog, but I've got just a little more than one (short) side to go!

I'm pretty proud of myself. 

I sat down on the couch to work on it and within seconds Emma claimed my lap and the quilt.  I guess it passed THAT test!

The back is flannel.  When it's finished, I promise a good pic of the front and to show you those cute penguins on the back, too.

My feet hurt (I probably shouldn't have worn slippers, but my feet were cold and they seemed the warmest choice...) and my shoulder hurts a little (I tried and tried not to hold onto the machine with a death grip, but I kept having to remind myself...), but I will be snuggled under a Christmas quilt very soon.

And this is the third and final quilt I bought the fabric or kit for when I was on a shop hop last summer.  All three tops were pieced soon after purchase, but this one is the last to be truly finished.

I hope you're all staying warm (unless it's already warm where you are - it's COLD here!) and quilting away.  Or at least dreaming of all the quilting you'll be able to get to after the holidays.

Happy quilting,

Katie

100 books and December book report

I can't believe another month has passed.  My book stack has moved, but here it is:

This sits in the hallway just outside my bedroom door.  It's not ideal, but there are a LOT of windows, so wall space is at a premium!

(And yes, for those of you looking closely...the wallpapers do sorta coordinate.  Someone went wacko nuts in this house and every room has different country blue and tan wallpaper.  Someday it's ALL coming down!)

While sweeping the area (I usually vaccuum) in preparation for their new home, I churned up a lot of dust bunnies.  I found that stabbing them with my broom was the best way to keep them under control.  (Next time I'll vaccuum first!)  I must have looked a little foolish...

But I also thought to put a sticky note on the wall marking the top of the stack.  So next month I'll have a better reference.  (I should have though of this way back in July, though.)

Anyways, it's definitely getting shorter.  Even with being sidetracked with the second two Twilight books.  (For those of you who know about them, I started Eclipse Tuesday and finished Thursday.  I started Breaking Dawn Friday and I'm halfway through it already!)

And since we're on the topic of books, I thought I'd share my version of the 100 books list Lisa put out there a few weeks back.  Funny that a couple of these were in the original book stack above.  They've been read, so they count on the list below now!

The deal:
Have you read more than 6 of these books? The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books listed here. Instructions: Copy this. Bold those books you've read in their entirety, italicize the ones you started but didn't finish or read an excerpt.



1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien

3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

4. The Harry Potter Series- JK Rowling

5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

6 The Bible

7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell

9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman

10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott

12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy

13 Catch 22- Joseph Heller

14 The Complete Works of Shakespeare

15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien

17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk

18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger

19 The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenberger

20 Middlemarch - George Eliot

21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell

22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald

23 Bleak House- Charles Dickens

24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

26 Brideshead Revisited- Evelyn Waugh

27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

28 The Grapes of Wrath- John Steinbeck

29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens

33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis

34 Emma -Jane Austen

35 Persuasion - Jane Austen

36 The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis

37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres

39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

40 Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne

41 Animal Farm - George Orwell

42 The DaVinci Code- Dan Brown

43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving

45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery

47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy

48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood

49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding

50 Atonement - Ian McEwan

51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel

52 Dune - Frank Herbert

53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons

54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen

55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth

56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens

58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon

60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck

62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt

64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas

66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac

67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy

68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding

69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie

70 Moby Dick- Herman Melville

71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

72 Dracula - Bram Stoker

73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett

74 Notes From a Small Island- Bill Bryson

75 Ulysses - James Joyce

76 The Inferno - Dante

77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome

78 Germinal - Emile Zola

79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray

80 Possession - AS Byatt

81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker

84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert

86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry

87 Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White

88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom

89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton

91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery

93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks

94 Watership Down - Richard Adams

95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute

97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare

99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

I've read 31!  And only 4 that I've started and not finished.  So maybe I'll explain those...

Harry Potter...when they found a cat wrapped around a lamp post by it's tail dripping blood from it's mouth I was D-O-N-E.  I've been told the cat wasn't dead, but I don't care.  That was uncalled for JK Rowling.  I'll never read another word of anything you write.  And I'll never recommend anything you've written to anyone. 

Moby Dick...I slogged through about half of it and then realized they were just barely getting out to sea.  Noone had seen the whale.  Heck, there was barely even mention of whaling or Moby Dick up to that point.  So Mr. Mellville, you'd better learn to get to your point sooner or you're going to lose your audience. 

Oliver Twist...when, I believe it was a landlord?, kicked a dog, I was DONE.  Sorry, you don't need to show us how mean and evil a person is by telling us they harm defenseless animals.  Simply telling me he was an evil person would have been enough.

Madame Bovary...not sure why I quit reading it, but I had it at one point.  Can't find it now.  One day I'll find it and read it.

But do you see a theme here?  Animal cruelty turns me OFF!  (I actually had one book I THREW AWAY because they did something horrible to some dogs.  That's about like throwing away fabric!)

So I should probably mention a few of my favorites off this list.  To balance things a little.

Unexpectedly, I loved Dune.  I kept wondering what was going to happen to the characters, though I didn't have any dreams of riding sand worms.  (That might have been fun!)

Tess of D'Ubervilles was also very enjoyable.  Another one I thought I might have to slog my way through just to be able to say I'd finished it.  (And yes, for those of you who have read it, there was a horse injured and killed, but not because some evil person premeditated the act, so I was okay with that one, even if I did cringe a little.)

The Grapes of Wrath was also great.  I love Steinbeck, though.  Travels with Charley was also good.  Different from Grapes, but I enjoyed it.  Maybe because he CARED about his dog.

And I did a book "report" on The Inferno in high school.  I made Postcards from Hell.  I decided to turn Hell into a tourist attraction, complete with postcards.  For each of the 7 circles Dante depicts, I had a guy sending postcards to his buddy back home that had drawings of the things he saw.  (Mind you, this was before the internet and downloadable clip art existed!)  Cerberus, the three-headed dog was a tough one (I can't draw well), but my mom helped a little.  (I know some might consider that cheating, but the concept was entirely my own, as well as almost all of the artwork, but if you can't tell it's supposed to be a three-headed dog, what's the point?!)  My teacher loved it!

Finally, a word about some of the more recent books on the list.  The DaVinci Code, The Kite Runner, etc...  They've recieved recent popularity, which is most of the reason I've read them.  I went "meh" to most of them.  They were good, but I kinda want to ask the writer of this list "what gives?"...they just aren't on the same level as the classics!  (The one exception is Memoirs of a Giesha, but I've told you before I liked that one.)

So this list gave me a starting point for the book sale next July.  6 months to go on that stack!  (And I think reporting it here keeps me going way more than just having a stack staring at me would, so thanks for playing along!)

Off to a family Christmas party.  We have to take a $10 girl (or guy, for the hubby) gift for a gift exchange.  I'm taking a scrapbooking "stack" of papers.  The hubby is taking a box of bungee cords.  I never seem to get anything as awesome back, but we'll see.  Maybe I'll blog about it...

Happy quilting,

Katie

Makayla's I Spy quilt

I've been waiting so long to post this, I nearly forgot I had to do it!

Makayla turned 2 just a few days ago and though we didn't go to her birthday party (it was just family), I gave her quilt to her mom when we went bowling last weekend.  (Mom liked it!)

It's been a long time coming, but here it is!

Makayla's 2nd Birthday I Spy Quilt

I quilted it with straight lines and that was a lesson!  (There are a few puckers where lines cross...)  But I like the overall effect.

I wish I had a better picture, but the wind was blowing so I had to snap fast!

Off to make dinner!

Happy quilting,
Katie