WOW!!! I can't believe I haven't written in such a long time!

Where did August go...???!!! Well... for that matter, where did OVER HALF OF THIS DING-DANG YEAR go???!!!

I'm still in the SewConnected quilting group on Flickr. I have been a good little girl and gotten all of my monthly required blocks finished and sent back to their homes within the first week or two of the month. Well... not August... Part of it is because I've felt time-challenged (though I don't really know what I've done???), part of it is because I've been lazy and the other part of it is because the fabrics didn't even arrive until August 8th.

The blocks for August are very, very simple blocks-in-blocks blocks, but I just couldn't get up the gumption to work on them until today. I drew out the squares in CorelDraw then had to sit down and calculate how wide each strip needed to be to make up the size squares I'd drawn out. I AM NOT good a calculating anything!!!

Anyway, I was going to do 12.5" squares, but she didn't send fabric long enough for me to work with that size. Instead, I'm doing 9.5" and 6.5" ones.

AND... I've already received my September fabric: a fat quarter of white Kona cotton. We're supposed to use our own scraps of fabric to make tiny houses in the center of a 15.5" block. The houses can't be smaller than 3x3.5" or larger than 4x4.5. Dangit! Another something I'm going to have to calculate!!!

July SewConnected Block

I'm totally freaking out about this month's SewConnected block.

#1. This is JacquieG's month, and she is the very JacquieG from Tallgrass Prairie Studio (BTW, I always have to look up how to spell "prairie") who does some of the MOST OUTSTANDING work I've ever seen and therefore am completely intimidated by her. Here's her blog: http://tallgrassprairiestudio.blogspot.com/

#2. She wants us to make a block that is inspired by a drawing her son made for her which is very Frank Lloyd Wright-esque. I'm trying to get my head around this, but I guess THINKING about it just isn't cutting it (ha! ha!)... I need to go start cutting some test fabric and see if I can figure out what I'm doing...?

Here's the SewConnected Flickr group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/sewconnected/

Mini Art Quilt for RyverChyld

RyverChyld received the art quilt that I sent her so I can finally post photos of it!

I was so afraid that RyverChyld would be disappointed in it, but she posted photos of it in the gallery, and wrote some really nice things about it. It IS cute; it's just not up to the standards of her quilting!

#1. This is the first art quilt I've ever made. It really sparked my imagination, and I can't wait to make more!
#2. Quilting is NOT my strong point. I really need to work on that!
#3. This is the first time I've sewn the binding on. I usually flip it over and stitch it down by hand. I saw a really cool Elmer's glue trick on the internet, and I tried it to tack down the binding on the backside so the stitches would catch it from the front. Worked like a dream!
#4. Speaking of glue... I used glue stick to tack down the rick-rack around the border. Also worked like a dream!
#5. I had NO idea how to add hanging tabs on the back. I kind of winged it (and it shows!!!). RyverChyld's quilt to me has perfect hanging tabs--a real "ah ha!" moment for me. Now I know how to do them!
#6. This was FUN, FUN, FUN!!!

Completed ABC ATC set!

I've been participating in an ABC ATC swap on Craftster.org for a year or more. The alphabet just finished. I am sooo happy with my set. Here they are:

RyverChyld's Art Quilt For Me!!!

Last week, I received the art quilt that RyverChyld made for me!!! WOW! It is really, really cool. She did lots of techniques on it: the sky is crazy-pieced with silver embroidery; the grass is made from layers of pleats; the trees are appliquéd; the corners have folded fabric roses; and "live" "laugh" "love" is embroidered across the top!

It's bigger than the one I sent her--I think she said it's 20x24. The one I made her is 14x18.

Anyway, she did some beautiful work. I hope she's not disappointed in the one I sent her. I spent alot of time on it, and I learned SOOOOOO much making it, but it looks so Plain Jane and simple compared to what I made for her. It's too late now since I already put it n the mail!

Small De-Stash Swap

My package from astormorray arrived yesterday! She made my cats a little catnip mouse out of red and black yarn she found in her stash (she hates red so she was surprised to find it). She said he's stuffed with "second cuts" (whatever that is) of a fleece she's been spinning, and he has a little heart bead inside him (which is a family tradition based on Raggedy Ann). She was disappointed that he was so small so she included a hand-carved wooden stamp she thought I might appreciate.

This was a very fun swap, and I'm glad I participated in it. The next one is in February, and I think I'll participate in that one, too.

Mom's Cards and Swap Cards

I've already posted these as I made them, but I like playing with Flickr Toys so here's a mosaic of the swap cards I made my swap partner:


And, here's a mosaic of the cards I've made for Mom:

My New Swap Partner!

Yesterday, feelix assigned swap partners for the De-Stash swap I'm in. I was soooo upset because my partner asked for a doll blanket or stuffie for her 2-year-old, a reusable grocery bag, polyclay stitch markers or resin jewlery! OH NO! I can't make ANY of those things for her!

I PM'd her last night and told her I was destashing paper, and I can make her handmade cards. Fortunately, she's "quite pleased" with this because she sends her grandmother cards/letters all the time. Oh, YAY! I was really nervous.

I've already made a few cards I know I can send to her, but I'll make her a few more. I think 10 is probably a good number to send plus some mini cards.

Craftster.org block swap

Last month, I joined a quilt block swap on Craftster.org. This is the third one they've done, but only the first one that I've joined. This is how it works: We're assigned to a group of 12 people (so me plus 11 other people); then we each buy fabric that we want made into a sampler quilt, cut it up into chunks and mail it out to each of the other 11 people. Those 11 people make one block out of each other person's fabric and return the leftover fabric and the finished block back to its rightful owner. At the end of the swap, we each end up with 12 blocks: 11 blocks made by other people plus one block we make for ourselves.

Several people are in multiple groups, but I was too nervous about cutting other people's fabric to be in more than one group for this go 'round.

The fabric send out date was August 1 and the finished blocks must be returned to their owners by October 1. However... most people were so excited that they sent out early. I've already finished 9 of the blocks (and it's only August 10!). One block I'm waiting on extra fabric for and on the last block, the girl was very late in sending so I don't even have it yet.

So far, I've been VERY pleased with how all of my blocks have turned out--except for one, and that's the one that I'm waiting on extra fabric. I don't like the fabric very much, and that totally messed up my vision! I wanted to really *WOW* the recipients, but this one just didn't do much for me at all. Plus I paper-pieced it together, and that takes me for-ever to do so I was disgusted with the amount of time I spent working on it, and then was very disappointed in what it looked like. Anyway, I asked for more fabric so I can fix the corners... it just hasn't arrived yet. I pm'd the owner and asked her if she'd sent it yet, but I haven't heard back from her yet.