14 March 2008

But you gotta love this face!

So we have been finding bent safety pins all over the place, and who in this house uses lots of safety pins but the quilter, right? But, I say innocently, I haven't pin basted a quilt lately and my tin of pins is sitting with its lid closed on my sewing table. Then I notice Scruffee, chewing on ... something...


The little nut has been pulling the safety pins out of a basted quilt that I had laid across my cedar chest and then chews the top off and mangles the straight part. Potential for major OUCH, Scruffee!


Here are some happy pincushions I made a while back from this pattern: http://www.quiltmaker.com/patterns/patt95.pdf. (Sorry, I can't seem to make the link thingy work.) They are fun to make while watching TV.

11 March 2008

My plastic bag bag



Here's what I finished last night--my plastic bag bag. I love this bag. It is unbelievably soft, considering it is made out of plastic grocery bags. I'm not a crocheter, but I saw this online and my plastic bag holder was overflowing so I just had to try it. It won't be the last one I make. It was fun but it does start hurting your fingers after a while.

Here's my other recent obsession, pink crumb squares:





I'm not sure how I'm going to use them yet. Right now I'm thinking of framing them with a lighter solid, then sashing them in white. I still have a few more to get to the right size, then I'll start playing with layout. I'm just about out of pink scraps though, and that makes me a little sad. But I have plenty of other pinks to cut into and then I'll have more pink crumbs. It never ends.









10 March 2008

Lots to do

We're moving again. We've been here less than 2 years and we are moving again, this time to Alabama. I'm glad though, because 1) I'm not crazy about northern VA and 2) this will hopefully be our last move (unless we get to go overseas again.) I'm also nervous about 1) our youngest child's reaction (she's a freshman in high school) and 2) selling this house in the current market. So instead of facing it and doing something to start getting organized, I made these potholders.

I told myself I was reducing my scrap pile and making the kitchen look better. I can justify anything.

08 March 2008

My first post


I don't know why this seems so scary to me...I created this blog a couple of weeks ago and just haven't been able to get myself to post anything. I suppose I am approaching blogging the same way I get into a swimming pool: one toe at a time. But here goes nothing...
I think I'll start off with my favorite quilt. It's my favorite because my daughters and I made it together. It was August 2000, when the kids were bored of summer vacation. I got the idea from an episode of Simply Quilts. I gave each girl 1 red and 2 black background squares. Then I gave them each a square of another red, green, yellow and white with fusible web on the back. The could cut any shapes they wanted to applique and they were to trace their hands on the white. I taught the two oldest how to blanket stitch around the shapes and the little one how to do a running stitch. The bottom 3 squares are mine. We had so much fun. They were 13, 12 and 6. I think if we ever had a fire, this is what I would run back into the house for.