A little news

A change to programming here at You Must Begin.

The reverse side of Ocean Waves: Baby Boy Schaffer (Scrap) - 33.5" x 47"

With the completion of this baby quilt, I have made the decision to post quilting conversations and photos at another location.

Not long ago I began another blog pertaining only to the quilting aspect of my life, so if you want to read about or see any photos of new quilts, old quilts, project plans, quilt updates, etc., you will need to save this link in your browser or "favorites": http://www.truenorthquilter.blogspot.com/

It will be just as easy to travel there as it is to visit and read here, but for those only interested in the sewing side of life...here is the answer. I hope it helps, and I hope you stop by there and offer your encouragement, ideas, thoughts and comments often.

Baby Boy Schaffer Quilt Update

Please remember, all quilt blogging and photos now posted at: www.truenorthquilter.blogspot.com. This is the progress thus far...and all in under a month! Pretty good for me, and I didn't even get to work on it straight through as I had hoped. Truly wanted to have it finished for the arrival of the little critter, but sometimes you have to take things as they come. Dearest Edison Henry, I hope you enjoy looking at the colors and staying warm under it's folds.

Here are a number of photos of the progress...and the steps to get there.

I still have the four corners to fill (to the inside of the quilted border) with some sort of pattern to keep the batting stable (they are large triangles - about 10" on the longest side, and 8" along the right angle sides), and then two smaller triangular shapes to fill (along the center of the two longest sides).

The safety pins are my method of basting the backing/batting/top 'sandwich' together for the quilting process.

As an area is stitched, the basting pins are removed, and voila!

I went from stretching and pinning the quilt on Wednesday morning, to stenciling and quilting the majority of it over Wednesday evening and on through Saturday afternoon. Cut and applied the binding Saturday afternoon, then began to slipstitch it to the back the remainder of the evening and through Sunday morning while the laundry did it's thing in the dryer.

Once I got back home, I easily pieced two separate stencils together to come up with exactly what was called for in the largest areas. The two smaller spaces will be taken care of shortly. I will be able to accomplish the remaining quilting Monday evening, after a busy day of catch up.

More later!

Photos of the baby quilt progress

Taken while at Gram's; I call them "I Miss My Layout Wall," and "I Really Miss My Layout Wall."

Moving right along

Please remember, all quilt blogging and photos now posting at: www.truenorthquilter.blogspot.com

Simply, another photo of the baby quilt.

I won't have time to work on it at all in the next twenty-four hours, I have made plans to get something else done and to run a few errands, but here it is, as is, for the time being.

The patches go together very quickly, so the assembly should be a snap - aside from the matching of the points on all of those triangles - ay carumba! There are two main block components for an Ocean Waves; a series of four by four rows of triangles, containing 32 pieces, and the large center square on point, with triangle corners (these blocks consist of 17 pieces each). It can add up to an awful lot of triangles, squares, half squares and quarter squares cut and pieced by the time it is all together. The piecing has to be tight and consistant, and the seaming and pressing must be done without stretching the bias cut side of the pieces, or else, you can have one rippled quilt top when it comes time to quilt.

More later. Have a colorful day!

March divided by 7 days/wk = the 21st

Please remember, all quilt blogging and photos now posting at: www.truenorthquilter.blogspot.com

In other words, it's 3/21. I just thought it was a mathematically neat coincidence when I saw the date, that's all.

Oh, and yes, I've been working on the baby quilt, and I've managed to add new materials to the fray. Crazy, I know, especially given the palette I began with...but I can now say - without fear of reprisal or noisy guffaws - it is a good thing I have a decently sized collection of material to work with at my fingertips. I haven't had to go back to the store yet to buy something "just right" to fill in a hole (although, I wish I had more taupe colored yardage to choose from).

Ah well. [heavy sigh]

On the brighter side: it looks as though the pieced squares may be larger (when finished) than I thought, in comparison to the overall Ocean Waves pattern, so I may not have to make as many pieced blocks as I thought I would in order to complete the top. This could be a good thing, or I could be regretting the scale of my cut work in a short while.

It was suggested that I make a twin size quilt instead of a baby quilt, but I am not sold on that idea, as it would require more quilting overall to finish it, and I am on a tight time table. I do know that over time it would mean the quilt would see more use if it were larger, but I am going to have to get closer to having the thing pieced (as is) before I make up my mind one way or the other.

Here's a photo of the work so far, not too bad (if I do say so myself). ;^)

That baby quilt update

Home from Livonia and I can now load the first photos of the new quilt project. For some reason the lovely old Mac at Gram's can't read my external hard drive, and the one thumb drive I had in my purse is also too big for the Mac's capabilities, so I have to wait until I can get online with compatible equipment to upload pictures.

Isn't technology a nightmare?

Anyhow, these aren't anything more than the beginnings of the project - color selection, material palette, cut pieces and the like, but at least you can see the progression. It took three solid days of daylight hours to get this far, after sketching out (then discarding) the original sampler block idea, and then deciding upon an Ocean Waves design instead.

I would like to finish this little thing before/in time for 'boy Schaffer's' arrival, but it's more likely I'll have it completed shortly thereafter. Time will tell. Laura (and Scott) decided on a cute sheet set called JJ Coles "Blue Bullseye" for the baby's room, and the paint scheme is of the same palette, so I figured to follow suit. It's a striped motif, and the colors are clear, but on a more grown-up level. Chocolate brown, baby blue, khaki, (a small amount of) olive green, a clear orange, tan or taupe and the creamy muslin all together - not a bad palette to work with, but it did become quite clear to me that incorporating all of them into various small scale blocks wasn't going to be as quickly accomplished as I thought in the beginning. While cutting the strips I realized I had to change the overall quilt to an Ocean Waves pattern, instead. Above: "Boy's Nonsense" using a four of the materials selected from the stash for the baby quilt.

This was to be one of many different blocks in the overall quilt top, but to get the sampler result I wanted was going to take too many "me" hours (I am too much a perfectionist), and a scrappy look for me is still way too planned.

This assortment is approximately 750 triangles, and I am certain it will take another few hundred to finish the top. I also still need to cut 18 squares and many half squares (on the diagonal), to finish the alternate blocks of the overall pattern. Note: Oranges are hard to work into anything, and as you can see, I have three different solid oranges besides the three prints.

More on this as I have some progress. Thanks for looking in!

Oh, I almost forgot

Here are a couple shots of the orange and brown quilt ("Snails Trail 1"). I have the first of two borders on it, and had plans to assemble the back and finish the border while here in Livonia, but I am not certain I am going to get that far this week.

But here it is...as far as it is. Thanks for looking in.

Groovy!

I figured out a way to get my photos loaded - even while here at Gram's.

Yup, I found one of my memory sticks (thumb drives, for you techno geeks) at the bottom of my purse. I figured out I can transfer the photos from the SD card in the camera to the memory drive, then use the thumb drive to get the pictures loaded onto this ol' Mac (which doesn't like my card reader...but will recognize the memory drive).

At any rate, here are some current progress photos of the latest projects.

Dog 1 (as seen above), was something I began last year (I think it was last year) and then, for some reason, I lost interest and began another quilt project (or two) and picked up work on other projects I had long since put away. Well, I am back at work on ALL of those beautiful creatures, and happily fulfilling a promise I made to myself to finish things before taking off on another tangent.

That doesn't mean I am not still planning other colorful quilts to come, it simply means I am trying to clear my decks before creating more work and piles to move from here to there, taking up space and gumming up the works.

The safety pins are my basting tools - simply because I am too lazy to baste the entire quilt with needle and thread, only to apply more stitches to actually quilt it; the pins come out quickly enough as I work through an area. I draw the stippling lines onto the black pieced borders surrounding each dog motif, then quilt them before they can rub off. The stippling adds a great deal of texture and visual dimension to the squares.

Here is how it looks once quilted. The differences between the feathered quilt application on the white, and the tight meandering line of the stippling, makes the little dog patches 'pop!' As you can tell, I machine quilt, BUT I do so free-handed. The imperfections and unevenness gives it a charming look - I think.

Here's a shot at the back - you really get to see the stippling from this side.

I plan to keep working on this one and get as far as I can while I am away from home. At this time, I have three more black borders to stipple (draw out then quilt). From there I will move out to the small white squares and then onto the borders. That should all go very quickly. Once I am through quilting, I will make a sleeve for hanging and apply it just before binding. Hopefully, Dog 1 will be completed before the end of next week!

I'm ready

Ready for all kinds of things. Getting a job (at long last). Crossing things off of my to-do list. Having the dam* state agency (agencies) finally make good on some of their talk and vague promises and insincere concern regarding Karl. Losing some of this weight, which accumulated during Harvey's reign of terror. Finishing projects - which, truth be told, could be considered the same as "crossing things off of the ol' to-do list," right?

...maybe.

I have actually been crossing stuff off the list for the past couple of weeks (yes! really) - getting little things done here and there around the house, and in the sewing corner. Every time I knock something off the list I get such a sense of accomplishment....and then I sabotage myself for the next thing by wondering WHY I didn't do it before now?! My euphoric phase barely gets off the ground before I kick my own butt over the delaying I managed to do beforehand.

What I need to do is give myself permission to wallow in that accomplishment...really take the time to have pride in the finished work, and enjoy the fact that I managed to get it done, instead of rushing to harsh judgement over having taken so long to just do it in the first place.

I've mentioned before how I always seem to derail whatever task I set about to do by thinking about the other dozen or so things I should be doing instead. I rarely let myself invest fully in something without some bit of guilt about undone work waiting elsewhere.

I finally finished mom's lap quilt - a project I have let slide for a couple of (probably more like a few) years. But, it was packaged and sent on it's way to Marquette last week, and should be in her PO box some time mid-week.

Here are a few photos of the final project.

Pretty simple quilting, an undulating crisscross, and in the corners a large feather motif (an afterthought, more or less).

The colors are some of her favorites - deep greens, and brick red and rusty reds, too. Not my best work, but I began it so long ago, I wanted her to see what I could do and that my quilting wasn't just a way to spend money and waste time.

The overall size of this scrappy quilt is 51" square, and yes, the block pattern is a Log Cabin in the "Barn Raising" or "Town Square" configuration (it depends upon where you are in the USA as to what you may call it).

Anyhow, it's done!! and the boys also finished their Christmas thank you notes to mom, so I was able to stick them in the box for a little extra cheer!

I also finished mending Brian's fitted flannel sheet (something that has been on the mend pile for ages, it seems). Figured I may as well, since all I ever did was shuffle it from the ironing board to my bed during the day, and back to the ironing board when it was time to go to bed. Took up a lot of room and time, and was really just a rotten reminder of what I have been meaning to do but never gotten around to.

So much wasted time over such a long period.

Also managed to get the Christmas ornaments put away. Not only that, but I also sorted the many boxes into appropriate catagories (reds, golds, blues....you get the idea), and all of the boxes are on the shelves and labeled and out of the way!! The trees still need to find their way to the garage for the rest of the year, but I did get the worst of it done...so yea!

Tonight, I cleaned the dickens out of the tub and caulking - which is next on the list (replacing the caulk, that is).

I wandered Home Depot one day while waiting for Karl as he attended yet another 'evaluation' in Southfield (one of four days). I love HD - and Lowes - and even though I couldn't use half of the stuff in those places without lessons, I love the idea of the tools and supplies all lined up on the shelves. So much really cool inspiration and know-how haunting the aisles and waiting for some willing participant to come along and be creative!

Anyhow, I bought caulk and a caulking gun, which I will put to use as soon as I return from Gram's. So to prepare, I cleaned the gunk as best I could, and will strip the old cracked caulk when I get home, just lightly cleaning all the surfaces once more to be 100% ready to put down the new bead. Tonight's prep was to make the next cleaning a breeze (plus, it looks so purdy). I even went to the extreme of taking down the poorly hung shower curtain rod and re-installing it correctly with new anchors and all! I felt pretty doggone handy afterwards, and I enlisted Karl's help while performing the rod work - much handier and more efficient (not to mention, not as aggravating) having somebody there to hand you things and take over the screwdriver work when you wrists and forearm get tired. Plus, he had fun doing that little bit of manual labor (and no complaints!) and working with me. Even though there is still the tiniest little bit of a dip to the rod (but nothing like it was), I am perfectly happy to have the liner not draping along the bottom of the tub and coming in contact with the exterior curtain as it gets wet during a shower. It always wicked the water straight to the floor, and the boys never noticed this until they stepped out of the tub after their showers into a mini lake or a soaked bath mat.

I just feel so empowered and happy with my little improvements and accomplishments! They may have been a long time in the off-ing, but they are ticks on my checklist in the "done" column.

Yes sir, I am ready!

Odysseys abound

There is an expression, "camping in your own backyard", but doggone it! We are not in the yard!

I like to wander and experience adventure as much as the next person, but I do not believe you should have the camping experience in your home!

The furnace repair person has a four hour window to get here, but that four hour window doesn't start for another 2.5 hours! Thankfully, we are now in the daylight hours so the temps will begin to climb soon. Also, it could have been much worse weather-wise, making being here much more miserable in turn. So, I am thankful for that, too.

I went to East Lansing late yesterday afternoon, with Jean, to see Barb practicing with the marching band - prepping for the MSU homecoming game. It was very cool to watch all of those crazy students high-stepping it and performing their choreographed routines in bone-chilling weather. I had the video camera with and got some neat shots, as well as another pass at the Faygo song, as performed by the Hooahs (most of them, anyway). Now I simply need to edit together the entry for the contest. I'll keep you posted.

Lastly...the quilt is progressing slowly, but here is another shot of what has been achieved, to date. As you can see, I stitched the blocks together into rows, and then assembled a couple of rows together just so I can feel a little more progress over the entire thing. Seeing the rows built gives you a bigger feeling of accomplishment. Yesterday, I spent no time at all on the thing (nor did I work on it the day Karl went to Detroit), so I guess I can feel a little less guilty about working on it today for a while, eh? Not much of an adventure, admittedly, but I will take my little odysseys where I can get them.

Oh, yeah, a photo of the latest project

It's fall, so I have begun another quilt...why not.

What else, right?

I happened to be in a position to go into "The Icehouse Quilt Shop" this summer, and after having heard so much about it from a few sources, I was expecting a phenomenal experience. A superb quilters mecca retreat. A feast for the eyes...blah blah blah.

It wasn't what I expected fabric-wise - to say the least - there was a very limited selection. After being spoiled by living near (and shopping at) so many noteworthy quilt shops over the years, with tremendous amounts of material to choose from, I was non-plussed by what I encountered.

Although the building (with it's neat history and lovely antiques scattered here and there) was fun to visit, the real reason I ventured inside was met with disappointment...sad to say.

I did manage to find a few funky materials that sparked a creative note, and I happily bought small amounts of each, making the clerk cutting the third- and half-yard pieces wonder (and ask) 'why so little?' Well, at nigh on $9 per yard, I would have to use the lovely bits sparingly.

Usually, I steer away from oranges and really garish prints, but something about these spoke to me. Just over this last year I have actually been keeping my eyes open for opportunities to add orange to my stash, sparingly and in a very choosey manner. One of the new fabrics was almost retro in appearance, and the other was just too homey and childlike in it's pattern and color palette to ignore. They dared me to touch them and dream.

And so I did. Here are some pictures of the resulting mixing and matching, and the beginnings of the new endeavor.

Snail Trail

It takes about an hour to assemble (2) perfectly stitched squares, resulting in half of one finished block. There are (20) pieces per square, and I scaled the pattern to result in 6.5" sq. raw blocks, so when they are sewn together, the finished blocks equal a foot each (not including the seam allowance). Bound, the quilt will be 3'x4' - unless I add a border or two (and when have I ever not added a border?).

Yes, the blocks are rather small, but I think the time and effort to make this load of triangles come together perfectly is worth it.

I have been working to move a little quicker with the construction, so that the time utilized for each block is less than an hour, and the fastest I can assemble two squares is about 45 to 50 minutes. I must be careful, though, not to stretch or skew the biases during sewing and pressing, or it means a lot more time wasted in removing stitches to reassemble it.

I do love perfectly square blocks.

More later.

Another little wallhanging

In trying to clean a little bit more, eliminate clutter and put things in order ('everything in it's place'), I found another quilt top I had finished quite a while ago.

I dug it out in late fall of 2007 to show the classmate who wanted a quilt made for her mom, using old **Sun Bonnet Sue squares she had from an aunt. The squares were ages old - some stained - but still usable. Through years of storage and lots of handling they were quite tattered and mis-shapen, but if they were carefully worked into something (like a wall hanging), sooner rather than later, they would be preserved for her mother to enjoy for years to come. Who knows, maybe she would even be able to pass the quilt down to my classmate! [**See the finished lap quilt (and others in progress) in photos posted February 1, 2008]

Well, the little top I uncovered is all in spring colors. The palette I used was peaches, pinks, goldenrod and yellow, with a pastel-ly orange, and very muted purple thrown in for good measure. I remember making it, and I remember packing it, and I was tickled pink when I found it again. And I am even more tickled that today I stretched it and will begin to quilt it tonight (or tomorrow). Either way, it is one more thing I can say I completed - and that is always a good thing! Besides, maybe someone will take a liking to it and offer to purchase it!

The measurements are approx. 45" square, and the corners are mitered, as is the quarter inch plum highlight between the border and the squares themselves. The pattern is a Pinwheel 4 Patch, and is nothing but triangles in two sizes.

At this rate, I will have quite a few smaller quilts and wall hangings to sell at craft shows and bazaars (maybe even the Farmer's Market in town) this fall.

Besides all of that, it simply feels good to be creative and to stick my fingers into that fabric stash of mine and watch something come together - it's like planting a seed and growing a flower garden!

Enjoy your endeavors, whatever they may be.

P.S. Apologies regarding the photo quality lately. I am using a borrowed PC and it doesn't have a decent photo editing tool, so I cannot make adjustments to the pictures as I normally would. Thanks for your understanding.

Quilting progress - This is a Double Nine Patch

Please remember, all quilt blogging and photos are now at: www.truenorthquilter.blogspot.com

Ok, I know. I need to take a photo or two of the dog quilt, but for the time being here is the cat quilt I have been working on off and on.

This is where it begins - choosing colors and the pattern, of course. I always seem to go back to primaries, although I have a hard time making myself stick with a limited palette.

That is to say, I do love a scrappy-looking quilt, so I used at least 3 to 5 calico's and prints of blue, red, green, yellow and orange with this quilt. Then, I began to realize it really needed the punch of purple, so I added a huge assortment of prints from the deep purple end of the spectrum. I punctuated it with solid, inky black and multiple faded or very petite white-on-black prints.

I then begin to assemble the patches on the wall and step back to look at the balance. As I stitch the 1.5" cut pieces (and the 3.5" larger nine patch pieces) into blocks, I begin to fill in with row ends and corners so that I can reward myself with a vision of what the end result will be. The trick is making certain to assemble these in the correct position as I lay them out. I do sometimes get distracted and end up sewing something out of order - or in this picture, forgetting one of the cut pieces in the layout. Can you see the omission?

Once enough blocks can be sewn into rows, I begin the real assembly process, and it starts to get exciting.

I ended up having to turn the quilt upside down to be able to work on it more easily. The little dots are pins keeping the blocks and rows in place against the material farm behind it. Yes, America, that is my stash.

The addition of two interior borders (a 3/4" black border for separation from the color blocks, and the multi-striped jungle grass) is always the most nail-biting time for me. Why? I am always trepidacious to commit to cutting borders...afraid I will choose the wrong width and doom the poor quilt to an odd look. I don't want the border(s) to overwhelm the rest of the work. I want the border to finish the look of the whole piece, and enhance the interior where the bulk of the piecing was done. It should be a beautiful frame, and I am always fearful of over-, or under-doing it. But as a matter of pride, I would like to point out that I once again mitered the corners for each of the three borders.Before the final black border was added to finish off the top, I worried over how wide to make each one. I am too much a perfectionist - but I am learning to cope with this aspect of myself.

As I neared this point, I began to ponder the quilting style/motif I would use, and came up with the idea of FISH. Maybe I will add a bird or two here and there...but it will be simple and fast in the multi-colored nine patch blocks using grid (ditch - maybe) quilting, with the more elaborate critter motifs along the borders and solid black areas. We shall see.

For now, I need to get it stretched and pinned so that I can start quilting it.

Thanks for looking in.

Another quilt offering

Just in case you've been wondering if I've been working on any quilting, lately. Why yes, I have.

Thank you for asking.

These photos will show you where I am, progress-wise, with the latest pet quilt offering. As you can see I have returned to primary color studies with black. The contrasts really get my creative juices flowing and I feel less like I am drowning in other areas of my life.

Apologies for the yellowness of the photos...I didn't take the time to adjust these before posting.

Been too long...here's some fluff

Hey, Mom, if you're looking for those photos I said were in the blog (and it turns out I was wrong), here they are! It seems I have been slacking on the blog lately. The pics are fairly self-explanatory, but I will elaborate a bit, for those who wonder how you get started.

I first decide which pattern quilt block to construct, generally with a color scheme in mind...or a theme of some sort. In the last couple of wall quilts, it has been animals - most specifically, dogs and cats. You find a base fabric, and then identify other complementary fabrics to fill in with.

Sometimes it does work better in the reverse - having the group of fill materials and then attempting to find that one great object material...but more often than not, you are working with a topic (main) fabric and finding the rest to support it. The most general exception is if you are constructing a scrap quilt, then there are very few rules or "restrictions" (especially when it's your imagination and colorful desires).

In the case of the first cat wall quilt, I found the first pattern I wanted to use to be too small to accomodate the cat print material - so I found a better-suited pattern to use. The colors of that material dictated the brighter primary palette for the complementary materials selected. Also, I had been looking at (and working with) the dog material on the much darker quilt for a short while, so making a brighter quilt next seemed almost necessary (to break up the color dolldrums I was suffering mentally).

Yes, I will be making a cat quilt using browns and or greys to hang with the nearly completed Dogs1 project. You can see the darker cat material in one of the photos in this set. Actually, if you click on the photo of white materials, you can see the darker cat material for the planned brown quilt in the upper right corner.

So, to date, you see the progression of the cat quilt (the first in a series) in planning and preparation, and below are a few of the first squares constructed from the many pieces cut of whites and creams and primary prints and solids. Soon, I will add a photo of the brown dog wall hanging in it's state of morphing - I began the quilting several days ago, and have a bit to do before I can begin to bind it for completion. My hope is to take it to a veteranarian's office (as a set with a cat quilt) to hang, and eventually sell. Whether the vet buys them outright, or allows me to hang them for viewing and for sale to a customer there is inconsequential. Just show me the money!

People have asked...

"What is that behind the quilt squares?"

The question is regarding the multi-colored wall behind the partial dog blocks (and behind the Sun Bonnet Sue quilt). If you look at the photos loaded into the February first entry, and click on any of them to enlarge and navigate around in them, you will see that the colors are, in fact, other flatfolds of material. This is what is referred to as a 'quilter's stash'.

Yes, I admit it may look as though I have an eensy problem with self-control...but ain't it purdy? And my diligence and dedication to the craft has helped me find just the right colors for my projects because of my (somewhat OCD-like) zealous habit of purchasing those fabulous fabrics. But hey! Some of those - no! A LOT of those are never going to be printed again, and I have them for when they are needed. So there...nyah!

Thanks to Mark (another RTV 09-07 classmate), I have the perfect way to see and use my calicos (and other sewing needs/tools) - as well as store them! He works at Ikea in Canton, and granted me the honor of sharing a shopper's "meca" discount pass during one of their 'friends-and-family' 3-day ordeals last fall. It was incredible...and as you can see, afforded me a way to bring all of my beautiful material in from exile [storage/damage] in the garage, to where they can be used and enjoyed.

Mark, I hope you can see that your generosity was put to good use.

I also hope to finish installing the wood floor in a corner room of the lower level this week/weekend, so that I can also assemble and use the fabulous wardrobe/closet piece I bought with the same discount pass. A photo will be posted soon, just so you can understand what it is I am talking about.

'til then, hugs all 'round, and happy thoughts to everyone. Here I come, Mr. Sandman.

Oh my gosh! It's February!

Well, you have to love these unexpected (unscheduled) extra days out of school. A "snow day" for the grown ups - wahoo! Although, it did impede my ability to get signatures on the necessary paperwork for unemployment compensation to cover the past two weeks. [Sigh] Payment will be somewhat delayed, but I think everything will be alright.

Happily, the first (yes, that's right, the FIRST) restitution payment from the crackhead who broke into my home in 2004 showed up in the mailbox this week. Talk about your good timing. Thank you, God. Although it is a pittance compared to the overall amount awarded by the judge, I can use it every penny right now, so I am very thankful. I think it will be another year before anything else gets here from that source, and I haven't been holding my breath for anything all this time, so needless to say, this is a great thing.

The skeezer jumped bail the first time he was arrested...if he had been a good boy, I could have been paid the $1400 plus way back when. Ah well. There's a reason and a purpose to everything that happens, so let's strap ourselves in and enjoy the journey and see what's around the bend.

I began another small wall hanging as I was finishing the Sun Bonnet Sue quilt for a classmate - I came up with a funny thought/idea I hope pans out $-wise. There are numerous vet offices in the area (not to mention daycare centers and pediatrician offices), and JoAnn Fabric has quite the selection of animal prints on their shelves (and I have a good assortment of child-oriented prints in my collection), so why not make wall hangings and walk in 'armed' to see if one of those places may buy one for use in the outer office in place of artwork. It's worth a shot.

Anyhow, as I said, I began a new quilt top, based on dog print material, and all but finished assembling it today. Will apply the borders and attempt to stretch it on a backing piece before the weekend is over.

I also picked up cat material - though the pickings are slim in the non-cartoonish patterns for the feline set. The dog prints are rendered very realistically, but their ideas of "realistic" cat prints suck. I will do what I can with what I have, and will also start assembling quilts for the pediatric offices. Smaller quilts have a better chance of selling, so I will 'work small' for a while and make the best of the miniature palette. A fun challenge.

I have photos of the finished Sun Bonnet Sue (which really turned out beautifully), and pics of the interior portion of the dog blocks...all of which I can finally share, but the PhotoShop SW on the PC is screwing up the ability to use my Pentax card reader to download photos. Karl and I have worked out a routine whereby he downloads the pics to his PC, then to a flash drive, then onto this PC. A definite hassle, but at least it's a work-around. Will have to work out the kinks now in the system. I have posted a few - as you can see - if you want to see more of these or other quilt tops, please ask.

In the meanwhile, I am away from the keyboard and back to the needle and thread.

My love to all, and hugs and shiny thoughts all 'round.

Oh, and welcome to 2008, February.