Since I made Nick hold this up...

...I'll post this picture now.  Here's the full frontal of the Wrapped in Hope quilt. 

Kini is suspicious but I think she likes it.  You can tell how long it is by realizing MOTU is holding it above his (6ish foot tall) head.  I think I calculated it was about 70x76.  I haven't decided what to name it yet...any ideas?

Finished Pictures

 My quilt is done!  Top!

Back!  I used a charm pack of Martinique for the rows on the back...I think it ties the whole thing together quite nicely.  The binding is stuff I cut off the sides, so there are little splashes (I like that name too Jo!) of Martinique along the sides as well!  Love love love! 

It's in the wash now, so I'm finding ways to delay going to bed so I can put it in the dryer before I sleep so it'll be ready to show off at work tomorrow.  I have a fan club, what?  :-D  Ok, not really, but I've been trying to describe this one for weeks, so its time is due.

The One That Didn't Get Away

I've officially decided to keep this quilt.  I'm in love with it.  I even had fun with the backing. 

Naturally, I needed the quality inspector to make sure it was worthy of completion first.

Here it is all laid out.  I've quilted it too, but I don't have pictures just yet.  I used a grey thread that matches the backing, and simply stitched down the diagonals.  It's definitely a "don't look too close" quilt, but it's mine.  :-)  Hoping to put the binding on tonight so I'll have done pics tomorrow.  And I'll likely bring it in to the office to show off.  :-D

Design Strip Twist Monday

The strip twist top is coming together nicely.  I have the top three rows sewn together...just 5 more to go!  I'm not sure what I'm calling this one, nor what I'll do with it when it's done.  I'm starting to think I might keep it for myself...selfish, I know.  :-)  I got this fabric to make a bed quilt for MOTU and me in the first place, so I guess it's not so wrong. 

I got these two sets of fabric to make a quilt for our sainted neighbors (right) and possibly another one for me to keep (left).  It's hard to explain the pattern I'm going to try, so I won't bother until it's in progress.

If all you want to see is quilts, stop here. 

This is our back yard right now.  That mound is actually a car...no joke.  Fortunately, it's not one we use frequently, but still.  Anyone out there in a warmer place need a nanny or something for the winter? 

The snow is so high that Kini doesn't have to jump up to the window anymore.  She can now simply walk up the pile outside the kitchen window and poke her nose against the glass. 

I spent 3 nights in Cambridge last week, and this was the view from my hotel room.  Pretty spectacular.

Different day, same window.  Love it. 

Superhero Near Disaster

Long story short, don't keep candles in your sewing room.  I got the bright idea that I could put candles on my space heater and melt them to get the scent, so they wouldn't be lit.  Good thing, or else this puppy would have gone up in flames Friday night.

Yup, one was even red.  Yikes.

After a couple of runs through the wash, it's fine...turns out highly-scented candles are mostly oil, so the wax comes out a lot easier when water/drier temps are high.  I haven't decided if I'm going to donate or sell this one yet. 

Here are a couple of glamor shots:

Seriously, I love this one.  I didn't do much in the way of quilting (I used the button function to "tie" the layers at each vertex), but the fabrics just make me smile.  There has to be a little boy out there who's meant to have this one.

 In other goings on, I made a little wine glass coaster...because I could.  It's quilted, and the other side is blue.  I'll get a picture of that later.  You may recognize the scraps from Abbey's Road.

 I finished the backing for the Valentine's Day quilt, and just now finished quilting and trimming it.  Tomorrow I'll slap some binding on it, take some glamor shots, and throw it up on etsy. 

 Kini's latest trick is telling me via window when she wants to come in.  Or just spying on me, I don't know which.

 MOTU has been recovering this week, so the Lego space shuttle (courtesy of my grandparents) came out to play. 

 Fun Lego dudes.

 Seriously, we had no idea there were SO many pieces, and that they were all in baggies in an as-of-yet undiscernible order.  But that's the fun of it.  :-)

Small Projects

 It was pretty nasty out yesterday, but Kini kept wanting to see what it was all about.  This is my sewing room window.  She's figured out that, if she jumps up and looks in, she can make eye contact with me and run around to the back door so I'll let her in.  Smart dog.

I'm also playing around with some space-themed flannels I had lying around.  It won't be big...maybe 30x40 tops, but it's cute.  Maybe I'll add some borders to make it a little bigger, I dunno.  Anyway.

Christmas Report and a Perplexing Puppy

Merry belated Christmas, everyone!  We had a great time...it was bittersweet for me, since I didn't get to see my blood family, but instead I got to spend it with my pull-in family...not exactly torture, but I definitely missed my side! 

We went up to VT to have a white Christmas (and boy did we ever!), but first we had a mini-Christmas at home, to avoid hauling a whole bunch of stuff up.  First, the critters got their gifts:

Kini took to hers immediately, and has been sleeping on it ever since.

Grisgris wasn't convinced at first.

Shelby tried, but wasn't too sure either.

Eventually, Grisgris found his spot though, and he hasn't stopped sleeping on it since.

Shelby too.

This was the aftermath of Christmas in NH.

What, no more presents?

Oh wait, those are for me, right?

What do you mean they're not for me??

Best Christmas present of the year!

She kept working on this all weekend!

Finally, we were on the road.  Kini was excited at first.

But eventually she got comfortable...

...and zonked right out.  Love that dog.

When we got there, we had a quick turnaround time and headed out to ice skate...first time since early college for me - yikes. Nick's definitely holding me up in this picture.

This is Courtney, who will be referred to as "MOTUATS" after this (master of the universe and then some). 

The whole group (Jen is in the green scarf).

Kini wanted to skate SO BADLY.

Norm's tree - very nice.  This picture doesn't really do the sheer size of it justice. 

Christmas morning, putting Aunt Margaret to work first thing! 

Breakfast was monkey bread, eggs, and bacon.  Yum!

The whole group (minus me) at breakfast!

Stockings, all lined up and waiting to be opened!  The blank one is Margaret's. 

Even I got one!

Courtney opening the present I couldn't mention...I made her plushie Angry Birds! 

She's addicted, so it was a big hit. 

Action shot!  Maybe the best picture from the whole morning. 

Skiing piggy bank!

We got a Kinect and some dancing games!  Good times had by all but the puppy, who thought we were playing with HER, then would get kicked on accident...then came back for more.  Sigh.

Christmas dinner...banished back to the kids' table somehow.

Sweet potatoes, ham, meat pie, salad, scalloped potatoes...yum!!

Last time we went to visit Nick's grandmother, she was sitting by the window a lot, and she just looked like she needed a lap quilt.  I made this one out of the Verna charm pack I'd won months ago during my first Friday Night Sew In.  The backing is flannel, and the quilting is more complex than I've done before or since.  She LOVED IT.  She tucked it around her legs and sat there grinning like a kid the whole night.  Her reaction made my whole Christmas. 

Too cute.

This is Phoebe.  She has thumbs and a lot of mass. 

Kini wasn't allowed upstairs.  She didn't get it at first, but eventually she caught on and sat down at the bottom whining.  She tried to sneak up a couple of times, but inevitably got caught.  She is not a people.

She also eventually figured out it was best to lie very still while we were playing Kinect. 

Very, very still. 

The roads on the way home were pretty bad.  Drivable, but not ones I'd've taken the wheel on.  And that reminds me.  I love Nick.  I am glad I married him every day.  Sometimes though, he does things that make me so proud of him and love him so much I come close to tears.  Like yesterday, when the truck in front of us fishtailed and hit the guardrail...Nick calmly slowed down, kept our SUV in control, kept tabs on who was behind us and what they were doing, and in the end kept us safely on the road, no problem.  He's so good at that.  Even when we're the ones spinning out (it happens, it's VT in the winter), he's very calm and very collected, and knows exactly what to do to minimize damage and injury.  I am never afraid with him at the wheel, and it took all my willpower not to cause another accident by hugging him yesterday when he kept us all safe.  I love that man.

And now, our puppy of questionable judgment.  We got out to let her pee, and she took a running leap into a snow bank, nearly pulling me with her. 

Then she just sat there.  Stupid dog. 

We finally got home last night to find that our angelic neighbors had snow blown (not plowed, snow blown) our driveway...all 12-15 inches of snow down the whole long thing, even up to our cars so we could get out no problem.  I've never been so grateful in my life as I was seeing that driveway empty last night.