Tea Pics

i had to get one of these. no flash. no tripod. no commercial use. apparently blogging is o.k.the two small rooms were quite dark. so no complaining.i could have spent all day looking at these two beauties. but i would have needed a chair and extra batteries to snap every patch i wanted to.i did promise tea pics didn't i.the teapot was on the right side and i rotated once to the left. the teacup was high up and upside down.a simple web amongst all the fancy stuff. did i say simple. shame on me.this is for our friend Eileen.and this one too.i have pics of the other quilts. but that's enough for today. our museum is lovely and my friend treated me to Sunday Jazz Brunch in the museum cafe. the wine and the salmon cakes were delicious. thanks J.

Who Is She

she's a quilt of course. but Eileen called her a bed doll. i suppose she is that too. thank you also to Shari, Des, Gari, Connie, & Sandy for stopping by to guess.my Dad was stationed at Lackland and we were living in San Antonio when he was sent to Vietnam. so we finished our school year and Mom drove back to Connecticut waiting for him to return. well in Connecticut we lived on a street in Portland for others like us. but spent alot of time with relatives in Hartford. this was important as by this time we were always living far away. 3 years in Germany. 2 years in Virginia. 4 years in England. 2 years in San Antonio. i used to spend alot of time upstairs flipping through magazines. my Sister used to spend alot of time downstairs drinking coffee or tea with Grandma and Aunts talking and talking about who knows what. my Mom's baby sister was 5 years younger than me. while my Mom was in Germany giving birth to my brother. my Grandma was here in Hartford giving birth to my Mom's baby sister. she enjoyed very much introducing both me and my Sister as her nieces. back to the story. i vaguely remember why i did this. but i saw a picture in one of those magazines and decided to copy it and make my youngest Aunt a present for her BD. the timing was such that i would be finishing it just days before we were off to England for another 3 years. & by the time we got back she was all grown up and the quilt had been safely packed in the attic. & when she moved to Florida it moved there too.i even did a pattern on the back.a few of these fabrics were cut from clothing i had made. don't they just scream sleeveless tunic with zip in back. and scooter-skirts. please enjoy the ones on the front:and the ones on the back:this one (luv it!) definitely screams found at Grandma's house.i can explain about why the head is flat. but i'll save that for another day. i didn't iron anything. as i plan to pick her apart. wash the fabrics. and make a few small projects as a memento. any ideas on what i should do.

Scrappy Sunday

Block #27

Thimbleberries

look what i won just for showing up for our January meeting. the pretty print on top is going in my see-below-scrap-version.these are the 2009 first quarter club fabrics with my January instruction booklet. i chose the light version.with so many leftovers from the 2008 club fabrics. i decided to pick out the ones i liked. & use to make a second version with the 2009 pattern.the focus from the Lakeside group with boats is being used in my in-progress 3rd quarter project. & the focus from the Lodge group with pinecones was used for The Great Holiday Mystery Quilt. these are the ones not picked but could use if needed.& would you believe that the newsletter called for a scrap fabric challenge. i know. this year is going to be fun. the challenge is to make the club pattern using fabrics from your stash. so here's what i picked out. i started with that red print on the left. & then found pieces i loved that went with it.all my pieces for all three quilts are cut out and need to be ready to take to my next meeting. i'll share the results when i get them done.

Ay It Orward

what's missing.
of course it's the letter P and the letter F.
i'm looking for two more bloggers to sign up.
if you're interested go here and leave a comment.

how about a guessing game.
any ideas what this is?i'll give you two hints:
it was handmade by me as a gift!!!
it was made early 1970's!!!
if you think you know.
leave me a comment.
don't hurt my feelings.
i was really young.

guesses so far include:

NO to pillow, pajama bag, not a doll although meant to look like R-Ann, not a halloween costume although i did make one for a party once, one of many scary dolls, a scarecrow who said that, and not a diaper stacker although i made so many of those in the early 1980's.

YES to out of clothing, for a relative.

One Step At A Time

i found time last night to sew my pinned pieces for part 5. & been sticking close to my computer watching for more instructions. & this morning came part 6.look how amazing those sashing pieces came together to make a star. of course i could have guessed we would be sewing up those strips. but i've been busy. so i waited. one step at a time.want to see more. not yet. next time we're making a border.

Be Smart

this is my Be Smart block before the "be smart" lettering is added. teeny tiny black buttons will be added for eyes. three small buttons will be added near branch.

One Two Three Four

in no particular order.

quilt top for sampler class.
bottom pieced border needs to be attached.birthday 2009 shorts for nephews.
2 down 2 to go.
three each were started for birthday 2008 and one each was made and given in 2008.knitted sweater started for niece for 2007 xmas.
clearly it's almost done. what's my problem. i hope it still fits.remainder of 2008 xmas quilts.
can't say how many are left to finish.
they've all been tied. just need bindings.
clearly it's more than five.i tend to juggle about four projects at the same time. hoping that one of them will get done. before the magnet pulls me in another direction. it's pretty simple what they would be. presents. deadlines. a really old project that just must get done. or an almost finished random project that i can finish quickly because i am about to replace it with a new project.

none of these will be on my 1234 next month. i promise.

Ninety Nine One Hundred

tomorrow i will tell you about my One Two Three Four list. but today. honest and upfront. is what is on the bottom of my list. & will more than likely hang there for some time.isn't it pretty. like a rainbow. yes. but everything about it is overwhelming. very focused quilters are still working on one. my focus is like a rabbit. jumping from one carrot to another. i'm already having UFO nightmares. but i really really want one in progress. so when i happened upon this one. where the colors & fabrics will be picked by someone else. i said that's the one. i signed up and month 1 is here. but i can't start until i get the book or cd. & month 2 will be here before i get those. i can't even imagine finishing. but you can't finish what you don't start. wish me luck. here's my progress so far.buying a green bucket to hold my first 10 fabrics. pretty good so far. stop laughing.

Twiddletails blog also has a Twiddletails store & is taking Rainbow Jane sign-ups for April & started a Rainbow Jane blog & started a Rainbow Jane Flickr group.

Scrappy Sunday

Block #26i've added my scrappy blocks to Flickr so you can easily view them together.

No Time

being busy will prevent me from figuring this one out today.but i managed to pin my pieces into final strips for part 5:i'll get them sewn as soon as i have time to change the thread.

No Sewing

just a few cuts for part 4:

Sew Sweet

don't you just love anything Valentine. well Jessica couldn't wait any longer. a strip quilt was what she wanted.she picked out some great new prints. then mixed with a few of my oldies. wow. she's happy now. i'd like to make one too. but my must-get-done list needs some attention.i love it.

i was going to wait a little longer. but it's time to announce that i signed up for PIF on Shari's blog, Mumsyblossom's World.i'm quite excited about this. i luv to make things. & it's so much fun to make things for other people. so i invite you to participate in this with me. i need 3 people. so if you would like to join me in this. please leave a comment on this post saying you want to be one of the three. other comments are welcome.

the rules for Pay it Forward are like this:

*three people will be chosen to participate with me when they leave a comment on this post asking to join.

*because i have signed up on Shari's blog. Shari will send a handmade item made by her to me-me-me. & also to the other two people who have signed up with her. that's three.

*then i will send a handmade item made by me to the three people who sign up with me.

*i will have a time frame of 12 months to do this.

*if you sign up then you agree to post a similar announcement on your blog inviting three more people to join you.

*& you will send a handmade item made by you to each of the three people who sign up with you. and so on.

*once you have three people. you will have a time frame of 12 months to send those three people a handmade item made by you.

*international o.k. with me.

Tea Pics

three little teapots i don't use for tea.the sewing machine teapot is just decorative. made by Cardew Design in England. bought years ago on QVC. i keep this on my mantle.

the striped teapot is one of those make-tea-for-one-combos. Jessica bought this for me xmas a few years ago. i used it then. but now i keep the jug part to add water to my iron. i love pretty things around me. plastic not so pretty.

the floral teapot is a baby shower favor that my sister Linda and i found at Christmas Tree Shoppe. they cost only $2.99. we bought about 16. the shower was at Anna's house. oh yeah. the shower was for Jessica. we set up little tables with tablecloths and centerpieces to resemble a tea shop. there were many designs for which we let everyone pick the one they wanted to take home. i liked this one. i use it sometimes. but mostly keep in cabinet next to my favorite cups and mugs.

Scrappy Sunday

yeah. i know it's Monday. but i picked 8 new fabrics last night & then fell asleep on the couch. so this morning i captured 4 more to bring you Block #25:can't skip too many times. don't want you to think i have abandoned it. 10 more blocks would bring me out to 3/29. but i really would like to have it all sewn together by then.

I Wonder...

how long a Summer Holiday lasts in Australia.we could be half way finished. here's part 3.since these pieces are big. i decided to obey and not trim out the entire corners. that would be 64. plus save the trimmed-out-pieces for another project.

I Think I Need A Bigger Design Wall

o.k. so it only took me 2 minutes to do this. but now that i did it. it has moved to the top of my to-do list.there's a quilt i want to make that will require the use of a design wall. i don't have book which contains pattern. i am working off of a picture. but as soon as i saw it. i knew it was the one. but i have to get hit in the head at least 3 times. hopefully in the same week. before i take action. (1.) find pattern for fabric collecting for long time. (2.) find accent fabric that ties it all together. (3.) tape scrap of batting to small open space above couch. so i went to my neatly organized stash pile. you don't believe that do you. i looked every where for those fabrics. making a mess of course. swearing the whole time that i had more than i found. and where could they possibly be. but the rotary cutter was happy. i have started another quilt.