Creative sneeze

"The creative itch about to explode into a sneeze" - Numb3rs, Dr. Larry Fleinhardt

I turned this quote from intellectual to creative. It really got my attention when I heard it on Sunday. That is what Sunday felt like for me. I finally got my dad's bento box quilt put together, minus one row where I have to fix a mistake. The backing is organized and now needs to be sewn. I really like it because it has circles on the back, and the quilter has been called.

I also started working on the pinwheel baby quilt for a baby girl that was born in the spring. I have half of the blocks done. I tried something different by pinning graph paper on top of the squares rather than marking lines. It worked pretty well. I also managed to find backing in my stash that will go well with the quilt.

I finally figured out what to make with my Fresh charm packs. I am going to make the Criss Cross quilt . The pattern is by Sandi of Piecemeal Quilts and inspiration is also found by Ang of My Three Sons and Ashley of Film in the Fridge. I wanted to originally make Amy's ZigZag quilt along but the charm packs have very little red in them and I wanted to use what I have. I am going to pick out some other fabrics to make the zigzag quilt.

Lastly, I pulled out an PHD (project half done) from a couple of years ago. I had some problems with it because it was originally a baby quilt pattern and I was enlarging it to make a lap quilt size and made a mathematical error. I have some extra fabric now to fix it and I am going to put it together.

By Monday, the sneeze was gone and I sat on the couch catching up on my shows. Then yesterday, I found out that a friend of mine who I knew was going to be retiring sometime in the next year and a half has decided to retire at the end of December. Luckily, I already have the pattern and fabric for her quilt, plus it is a very simple but pretty design.

I will put up pictures later. Both of my cameras have no battery power at the moment.

Friendship Bag Swap

Lots being happening this week. I just have not had the time to write about it. I received my friendship bag this week from Erika of the Netherlands. The bag is so sweet and in one of my favourite colours. She also sent me a few other goodies as well. The waffle cookies are very good, the shoes adorable and I love the fat quarter. I know it will be one that I won't want to cut into. I love to the wrapping paper she used. It looks like a quilt itself, with small stitching lines.

I received my Halloween blocks as well. They are incredible. I am swapping one more set then I can start thinking about putting it together.

September has been a busy time with start of the school and swaps to finish up. I have finally gotten back to finishing my Bento Box quilt. I took the day off yesterday to get back to it. I have started sewing the blocks together. It is frustrating when the quick patterns are quick only if you have time to be quick. Sometimes I feel as though my quilts drag on and on, but I have to remind myself to be grateful for the time I do have to work on them.

Last night, I went to a lecture by Jodi Barrows who has the sqaure in a square system. I had taken the class through someone else years ago, and it was neat to see Jodi talk about it. She also now has novels, pattern books to go with those novels and fabric as well. Of course, the lecture gave me more new ideas but I have to reign myself in until I get a few things finished first.

I hope you are all having a relaxing and productive weekend.

The Sun is Shining on Me!

It's a dreary, rainy day here but the sun is shining on me! Here is what I received in the Summertime Mini Quilt Swap.






It is so amazing! I took it to work and showed it around. Everything is incredible! The circles, the triangles, the quilting are all breathtaking. I love the border colour. Turquoise has been my favourite colour for a few years now and I may have already mentioned this but I have loved the colour orange ever since my son was born. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you Kathy! She also sent me some lace snowflakes to cool me down after a hot summer. Kathy has a blog as well as a website. Her quilts are stunning!

Ocean Waves

My Summertime Mini-Quilt Swap quilt is finished and in the mail. I am really happy with how it turned out. I call it Sea, Sand, Sky and Sun. It uses a couple of techniques that I am trying to focus more on now ; half square triangles, and the use of white. Except for the sea fabric, all the fabric was from my stash. I hope my partner will like it. Now on to the Friendship Bag Swap!

Hoot, Hoot!

What I like about the swaps is that I get to hoot your horn. I have received incredible items that I feel privileged to own. I did a side swap with Caryn for the Halloween swap. Here is what I received


I love the owl. I am into owls at the moment. It may have something to do with being a former Girl Guide leader. Of course I love the nine patch with the spider web fabric. Caryn was also having a giveaway for her 100th post and I was one of the winners. Here is what I also received :

The pumpkin is a great frangance and I really like the scissors fob. I have been hiding it from my children. The pumpkin pad is so cute. Thank you so much for everything Caryn.


A note about my Summertime Mini-Quilt swap. I now have the top done and need to quilt it. It will be right on time for the deadline tomorrow.

Summertime Mini-Quilt Swap

I have been working on my summertime mini-quilt swap. Here is what I have so far. I was hoping to get a lot done yesterday. When I started sewing again, I realized that some of the triangles are smaller than the others. I am doing paper piecing and had printed out 2 copies. One of the copies must have been scaled smaller and I had mixed up the 2 versions. I think there is only a couple that I will have to redo. Once I get it figured out it will be pretty quick to finish it.

Candy Corn

I did a side swap with Angela for the Halloween Spooktacular Swap and this is what she sent me. I absolutely love, love, them. She does such beautiful work and you can tell that a lot of effort was put into making the blocks. It is so fun to get blocks from people who you blog with. I am eagerly awaiting my other blocks and will be excited to have my 1st Halloween quilt. Thank you so much, Angela.

I see quilting patterns ...

I see quilting patterns all the time. Do you do? I was in a public washroom a week ago and wanted to take a picture of the tile. It was a very modern, simple design. I did not have my camera but I do have it in my head. I took my children to a new park on the weekend and this was part of the playground.






I wanted to spend all day playing with it. There is brown on one side and white on another. I kept thinking of all the different patterns I could make with it.


I am eager to start some new projects but I am in the midst of finishing up lots of other ones. Everything seems to have a little piece here or there that needs to be finished.

I also won this beautiful chequebook cover from Heidi. I was so excited to receive it.

Colour Blocks

I have received my second set of colour blocks. They are all so beautiful. It is really neat to see all the different kinds of fabrics. Some of the fabric I have, and it was fun to see how they were matched with other fabrics. I have a few ideas of how to put the blocks together. Thank you for everyone who participated in it.

Annie

I won this incredible doll from Raggedy Sandy. Her name is Annie. I got her yesterday in the mail. I have been fighting over her with my children, but I think I am going to keep her for myself.

I have finally picked my fabric and pattern for my Summertime Mini-Quilt Swap. Now I just need to start working on it.