Friday, August 29, 2008

DQS4 Quilt Done & Gone!



My little quilt for the Doll Quilt Swap 4 is in the mail! I really enjoyed making this one. It was fun and fast! The little Bento Box went together perfectly. I used 1-1/2" strips to make the squares - 36 of them in all. I love pink, and am very happy with how the fabrics came together. The quilting was simple, too. Long wavy diagonal lines across the quilt. Now I hope my partner likes it, too.

The swaps have been lots of fun; I've done 3 rounds of the Doll Quilt Swap and all four of the Four Seasons Quilt Swap. I've tried to make all my quilts different from the last. I'm trying to improve my piecing and quilting skills and look around for a new challenge with each new little quilt. I'll be looking for more swaps to do. I just have to be careful not to sign up for too many; I have other projects I need to be working on, too. (The swaps are just too much fun!)

Well, the first week of school is over. I'm adjusting to the new schedule. Our school district is not providing busing to the high school due to a failed school levy and my daughter started there this year. So I now have to drive the kids down to school in the morning and go back in the afternoon to pick-up, twice. Once after school (DD) and again after cross country practice (DS). Three trips a day, every weekday. Man is that gonna get old! And the traffic is awful. We live in a small town that has overgrown itself and there is only one road to both the Junior High and High School buildings. One lane in each direction, thru a quaint little downtown with cross walks at every corner. Bumper to bumper with school buses and 16 year olds on cell phones. Talk about stress! I'm going about 1/2 hour early and 1/2 hour late to try to miss the worst of the traffic, but it is still unpleasant. We just have to hope the levy passes in November so the community can have its streets back, and I'll get my time back. (Not holding my breath...)

So that's enough whining from me. I did spend my time at home today cleaning up my sewing room and getting organized for all the projects I'd like to accomplish. Boy is that list long! I really have to stop buying fabric. At least until after Christmas!

Happy quilting!

Thursday, August 28, 2008

It's Here!!!


Look at what the mailman left in my mailbox! A lovely, lovely quilt from Luisa of Portugal! I'm so happy I am the lucky recipient of the fabulous fishy quilt that I fell in love with when I saw the pictures over at Flickr. The colors and quilting are just perfect. I will treasure this little quilt and find a special place to hang it. Thank you Luisa!!



I've finished my quilt for the DQS4. I'll post about that one tomorrow.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Go Michael! Go!!

Don't you just love the Olympics? My family is enjoying lots of coverage, both live and TIVO. And of course, Michael Phelps is such a pleasure to watch. Such amazing accomplishments so far. My kids (both swimmers) are getting such a thrill watching him go for 8 gold medals. And of course, we're loving all the other sports, too. I love seeing all the athletes perform their best. I feel bad for the ones who have a bad day on their big day.

We're slowly getting back to normal here. The vacation stuff is all tucked away until next time. We've done a little back-to-school shopping. I've been sorting out my sewing room; I really need to get more organized in there. I always have to clean up before I can start something new. Doll Quilt Swap 4 is on the cutting table; I want to make some good progress on that one by the end of the week. I'd love to have it done before the kids go back to school, but I'm not sure that will be possible. But it never hurts to try!

Sadly, my Four Seasons quilt hasn't arrived yet, so I'll have to be patient awhile longer. The pile of mail held during our trip arrived without any quilty packages. It was quite large and most of it was sorted directly into the recycling or the shredder. The rest was bills and a few magazines. Two new quilting mags for me. Yippee!!

Here's another vacation picture, just because I miss the beach:

That's Sanibel Lighthouse, just a short walk from where we stayed. Pretty, isn't it?

Happy Quilting!

Monday, August 11, 2008

Home Again!

Back to the real world. We traveled home over the weekend. Two whole days of driving! That is probably the worst part of living in Ohio; we are such a long way from the ocean. And I love the ocean. I'm always happiest by the sea. Our vacation was lovely. Sanibel Island was a very nice place to spend a week. The beach was beautiful with many, many shells. The water was very warm and very calm. It was very peaceful and restful. But now we're back and need to get back up to our normal pace of living. School starts on August 26, and we have a lot to do before then.

While in Sanibel, I visited a quilt shop called Three Crafty Ladies. It was a quaint little shop. I picked up a little kit and a pattern which I will have to add to my list of projects to do. Somehow it never gets any shorter... At the top of the list is my Doll Quilt Swap 4 quilt. The fabric is all there, I just need to decide on the design and get it made. I want to do something a bit different this time.

I've been checking out Flickr to see all the quilts in both the Four Seasons Quilt Swap and Doll Quilt Swap groups. I've seen many I would love to own. I don't know if the one I am to recieve is one of the ones posted or not. Our mail was held last week while we were away and it is due to be delivered today. Hopefully there will be a package containing a quilt in with the mess of magazines, junk mail and bills.

I also need to get busy and make some things for Etsy. I've got some ideas but they seem to take some time to develop into actual finished items. Realistically, I'm not going to have much productive sewing time until after school begins. My kids are growing up so fast; I'm going to just enjoy the rest of the summer with them and worry about my shops when they're at school.