Catching up ....again....

Goodness! Has it been several weeks since my last post?!! This time of the year is always a busy time for me. The kiddos are back-to-school and have settled in with their newly routines. My Buddy is a senior and Sweetie Pie is in 6th grade this year. That means I will have two graduates in 9 months. I know the time will pass by soon enough.... so I am preparing myself mentally for it now. It seemed just yesterday that they were just starting Kindergarten....*sigh*


Anyway, not a whole lot of sewing being done here as my part-time job at a retail store is picking up. I'm putting in LOTS more hours there and expected that it probably will be that way until after the Holidays.


Over the summer, I signed up with the Doll Quilt Swap 7 swap. The mailing deadline was on Tuesday. Look what came in my mailbox earlier in the week....

IS IT ADORABLE OR WHAT!! :o)

... the back and goodies...

This cute little quilt is all done by hand!

All the buttonhole stitches, embroideries, and quilting were done by hand. I do a lot of handworks myself, so I know how long it must have taken. I appreciate all the time putting into it and love love this little quilt!

My partner also sent me a charming stationary set and the scraps from the quilt. Ahhh... she's been reading my blog... as she knows how much I love to make scrap quilts. You may see these in a quilt soon as I already have in mind what I want to do with them. :)

And who was my partner?

It's Jennifer at Jennifer Can Quilt!

Thank you, Jennifer!!! I do so love my little quilt and very appreciative of the time you've spent in making it. :D

Do you remember the little Zig Zag quilt top?

Here it is all done... "Tweet Tweet" is it's name.
It is on it's way to ???????? I will reveal who's my secret partner is once the quilt arrive at its destination.

I must admit that it was very difficult for me to let this one go. It's my favorite little quilt as it would be something that I would make for myself. The inspirations came from my partner's Flickr favorite photos. I found that my partner and I have very similiar likes, so this little quilt came to be.

Here is the back side. I used a the leftover zig zag blocks.

I also included a Cathedral Window pincushion and some FQs of my favorite fabrics at the moment.
I hope my partner will like what I've sent her.

It's a slow progress, but I've been working on my Aunt Millie's Garden blocks. I started the 3rd block, then found the fabrics for the 4th block when I was at the quilt shop one day. Of course, I had to start on that block. :) A peek...



Then, whenever I have a few moments, I sat down at my machine and just sewed 1-1/2" strips (mindless sewing) of Kaffe Fassett fabrics together to create this strata. Stay tuned to see what it will become....

Lastly, a cute pic of my baby girl.

Have a great weekend!

Started 3rd block...

I have prepared the 3rd block of Aunt Millie's Garden. As you can see, the pattern is traced onto the back of the background fabric for my favorite method of applique, the back-basting or no template applique. The fabrics I'm using are mainly Kaffe Fassett.

Another quick post for tonight as I'm excited to start working on this block. Also, I like to thank you for the wonderful comments on my blocks so far. I usually like to send a note back personally, but some of the comments have been coming in as "no-reply".... so I'll do it here.

Have a good night! :)

2nd block and .... Elvis....

Woo hoo.... I finished my second block of Aunt Millie's Garden last night.


Look who was in the house on Saturday night!
Elvis...

It was my friend's 40th surprise birthday party.

Her husband had Elvis came to their house.

It was a blast!!

WISP

I posted a peek of this block wayyy back in February when the block was almost done. Well, it was finished a short week later, and I didn't get a chance to get a picture of it before putting it away.

This is the first block of my Work In Slowwwwww Progress (WISP). The pattern is called Aunt Millie's Garden by the Piece O' Cake Designs . I love their applique patterns.

Originally, the plan was to make this as a block a month so that by the beginning of next year I can put the quilt together. Well, scratched that plan... at this rate, I think I'll be done in 10 years. LOL

Not wanting this quilt to be a 10 yrs. project... ok, maybe cut it down to 5yrs... *lol* I pulled the project back out a couple of weeks ago to continue on this second block that was started back in February. I usually like to applique in the evening during my down time, but I've been too tired to work on it. Instead, I bring the block along to Sweetie Pie's tennis lessons during the week. Well not much was done there either because I ended up watching the kids practiced.... So maybe it will be a 10yrs. project afterall. lol

This quilt will be for me, and for some reasons I can never stay on task making things for me. Therefore, I'm hoping that some nice bloggy friends will help keep me going. OK?

Oh... one more thing, I decided to go with this robin egg's blue background because last summer, while stocking up more Kona Snow fabric, I came across this new Kona Robin Egg's blue that I fell in love with and had to have yardages of it without a plan for it. Then, when Aunt Millie's Garden came along, I just have to use it. :o)