no more nonsense - quilty stuff!

I've actually gotten myself into the sewing room this morning and have a few finishes for you...

First, the elephant:

I want to name him, but I'm not sure what.  Since most of him was made during the Superbowl, I thought maybe Peyton or Drew, but that seems silly...any thoughts?

Then I went on to finish the dolly quilt:

The purple looks darker than it is.  I stitched the faces with DMC #333 if you want a reference.  It matched the purple almost perfectly.  It finished 16.5" square.

I had a small strip of Kitty Cucumber fabtic left from the back.  What to do with that?

Kitty toys!

Probably should have used the close-up option on the camera - seems it thought the scratching post they were leaned up against was my focus, but you get the idea.  Kitties LOVE them!

And this past week, I finally got the last of my books (remember how I beat the hubby by losing 4 pounds?).  I bought it for one pattern in particular, but I love just about every one in the book.  It's all I can do to keep myself from starting another project!

I'll probably go quilt some more L's in the pink and brown stars/log cabin quilt now...

I won't show you picutres of snow.  It happens here every year and sticks for about 6 months.  Sticks long enough to get pushed around and turn dirty and yucky...

I may end up helping my brother finish fixing my car.  In October it shredded (not just broke) the timing belt.  Now I don't exactly understand what it is, but it's at least part of what makes the engine go.  And in my car and particular engine, it's not just a replace-it job, it bent stuff inside the engine and (thanks to my ability to have worst-case scenarios happen) that cracked the engine itself.  My brother is a mechanic by day, but did this at home on evenings and weekends (much cheaper labor that way!) and it took until just this past Sunday to get back.  Then a seal went bad (one he'd had trouble with) and it started leaking oil.  He's supposed to be down later today to replace the seal (for once, a relatively easy fix) so I can keep driving it.  I LOVE my car.  It's purple and almost 12, but there is NOTHING I'd rather drive.  The hubby tried to talk me into something else when it initially broke and the price to fix it was $1200 IF the engine wasn't cracked, but my brother gave us a good deal on labor (a big part of the cost) and got a steal on the "new" engine when it needed it.  I've been driving the hubby's car (he also has a pickup) and we have a mutual dislike of each other.  Every time I go to Wal-Mart, it stalls.  I seem to be at Wal-Mart a lot...

Okay, time to do something productive...

Katie