ICHDW?

I can has dezine wallz too?

YES I CAN!!!

The weekend's evolution:

Forgive the poor picture quality - I left my camera at work, so I was using my phone for these.  All the blocks for my quilt have been sliced and diced, and now I'm working on sewing together the rows.  It's a slow process, so I actually took a break and started on the last QFK that I have in my pile...think I won't be requesting more from them for a while, as every time I do it seems to take me MONTHS instead of the weeks they request.  Maybe next year I'll be more active.

In any case, regarding this "me quilt".  I won't lie...I'm not completely in love with it.  There's too much red I think.  I think at best it'll end up being a couch quilt or maybe a guest bed quilt for people who come visit in February.  I'm sort of a little considering selling it...anyone interested?  It's 4x6 blocks, and blocks are roughly 15 inches to a side (probably closer to 14 by the time hacking is done)...so what's that, 56x84, give or take?  It'll fit a full-sized bed nicely I think.  I haven't done anything even close to quilting yet (in fact, I don't even know that I've got batting for it right now), and the backing is up in the air.  If you're interested, shoot me an email or leave a comment and we can discuss.  Otherwise, come visit next February and enjoy it yourself!  :-P

This weekend turned out to be pretty great.  MOTU and I had a little tussle on Friday night, but mostly that's because I hadn't really realized how *real* this USMC thing is getting, now that he's going through MEPS (he went Wednesday).  I keep saying I've come to terms with it, and that I'm supporting him...I have and I am, but the fact is I don't want him to go.  Like, seriously.  If I could live with myself telling him to forgo his passions because I'm too selfish to want to see him hurt or killed or worse, I would.  But as the woman who's 2.5 months shy of promising to love, honor, and cherish him for the rest of our lives, I simply can't take this away from him.  My God I wish he'd pick anything else in the world to be passionate about though.

So maybe next year will see a shift in my patterns and causes.  Maybe I'll find a VA hospital to volunteer at and donate to.  Maybe Kini will be calm enough to be a therapy puppy (HA!) for the veterans there.  Maybe it'll all work out like it does in the movies.  Or maybe it'll work out  better because we're stronger than those silly 2-D movie personalities.  At least we don't have real kids yet.  Just strange 4-legged ones.

Speaking of, the balance in the house has once again shifted.  Kini is back in the kitchen, but so is Shelby.  She's moved out from under the sink in the bathroom and now sleeps on a towel on the floor by the fridge. I think we did this to ourselves...we've been getting food for her from the fridge to reward her for being 'brave' and coming out of whatever room she's haunting at the time.  Now, you can't even open the door without her stepping into the darn thing.  Last night I was the most loved person in the world.  I was in the kitchen, making a PB&J for MOTU, and every last one of the critters (MOTU included) was arranged around me, staring expectantly at what I was doing up on the counter.  I had the sad job of informing all but one that they were not to be eating what I was making.  Shelby didn't even hiss at the other two!  I wonder if peanut butter could solve that whole fiasco in the Middle East...maybe I'll send MOTU with a few jars when he (inevitably) gets deployed.  It'll help him make friends with the locals, I'm sure of it.  :-D

In any case, I need lunch.  If you're curious what I'm eating, check out my cooking blog!

Me Update

Just a couple of quick pictures.  I got a few more blocks "done" (and by "done" I mean in their unsliced, 9-square form) last night.

Here's the more traditional version of disappearing 9-square, which I hadn't tried before:

 Here's 4 blocks in this traditional version:

 Here's the progress as of bedtime last night:

 Here's another option for layout...I think I want to see how this looks on the design wall, because it might be more my favorite, I dunno.  I'll post when I have more pics.

Me Me Me!

That's right folks, I'm finally taking some Me Time.  No seriously, this time it's not even "me time that's really working on a project for someone else".  It's "me time and this time I get to keep the damn quilt". 

In February, I found some VDay fabrics that weren't too horribly Valentinesy, and bought myself a couple yards worth.  I'm finally getting around to doing something with that.  I've been dying to try a disappearing 9-patch, so that's what I'll be doing with it. 

I put together the first block but can't decide how to arrange the pieces:

 I think I like this one best.

I didn't try the traditional way (turning two pieces 180 degrees and leaving the other two alone), but I'll try that tonight and take a picture.  This one doesn't even have my totally absolute favorite of the fabrics in it either, so I'll get pics of that too.

In other "me" news, I'm in another blog!  Natalie has this fantastic weekly thing where she posts definitions of "beautiful", as defined by her readers.  It's really cool to see what others think (a lot has to do with child-rearing, I'm noticing) and has been inspiring for me to come up with how I define beautiful.  Swing on over and check her out!  She's an inspiration to me personally because she is so independent, strong, and convicted in her faith.  She's an LDS woman, and as the prevailing stereotype would lead you to assume, that's not always easy to find.  I'm glad that she's a leader of young women and that she uses her independence for good to inspire other women to be, well, better women!  I've never given much thought to my gender, but reading her blog makes me proud to be a woman on a daily basis.

In any case, back to me.  :-D  I had another finish the other night, but I don't know who reads this so I won't post pics until the person in question gets the finish.  It might be a while.

Another project I want to work on for myself is making grocery bags.  I've found all kinds of cool remnants of upholstery and sturdy apparel fabrics that just scream "make me a tote!" I have a stack in my stash, and I'm hoping to just go to town one of these nights and make a whole bunch.  If you have a nifty (and quick) pattern to try, I'm open to suggestion. 

Breath of Life

Last night, I finally got to revive my sewing machine and get some work done!!  I even finished a quilt!

Quilts for Kids number...what, 6?  It's called "Half Pipe Dreams".

Here it is in the box with the other finish...I have one more to go, and I actually need to wash HPD anyway, so it's not ready to be sent...just close.

I also got some quilting done on Ride a Cowboy last night.  I stitched in the ditch down the blue lines, with variegated blue on the top and light blue on the bottom.  Tonight I'll do down the brown lines with reddish brown on the top and tan on the bottom.  I'm thinking I'll do something down the centers after that, for good measure - probably freemotion, but we'll see.

Here's the current setup.  The door stays closed, so no critters allowed in this space.  Kini might be allowed in later, if she can learn to stay in her spot.  We'll see.

And last but not least, the design wall!!!  This is Mai's quilt, so far.  It's smaller than it looks in the picture, but the effect is there.  I need to sew the strips together, then do some hacking and slashing (and praying) to get it to its final look.  I hope it turns out like I'm thinking, but I'm not sure...I suppose we'll see.

I'm so excited to be able to join this month's Friday Night Sew In!  MOTU will be heading on his boys' trip that weekend, so I'll have the house to myself...ish.  The kitties will have to sit outside the door and Kini will just have to be good for a few hours. 

Good to be back!!

Practically Super Models!

Yesterday, MOTU (Nick) and I had our engagement shoot with our photographer (well, the first of two shoots anyway...Helen wasnt ready for her closeup, so we did half this weekend and will do half in August).  They turned out incredibly well!  We took Kini with us for this shoot, and she was the best puppy ever.  There are some great shots with her smiling face in them!  All images copyright Margaret Michaels Photography. Enjoy: 

 Man, even just looking through them again, Im just floored by how well they turned out!  I cant believe thats us!  Margaret is just phenomenal (and she does baby/belly/family/senior pics too!) and super easy to work with.  By far, shes my favorite vendor.  

The location is where we.ll be having our reception, at Snow Farm Vineyard, in South Hero on Lake Champlain.  I highly recommend stopping by for a tour or a tasting if youre ever in the area.  Harrison (the owner) is a hoot and kept telling us to ..quit necking!..  (Sorry, my apostrophe key is DOA right now.) 

We hammered out some of the timing details for the big day, and that actually  took a LOT of weight off my shoulders.  As Im typing this, Im taking a break from (you ready for this?) organizing MY NEW SEWING ROOM!!!!  It has been a fabulous weekend.  I might even have a design wall again soon!! 

Anyway, enjoy the pics and enjoy the weather...its been great up here! 

http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=231545&id=102318335878&ref=mf

Holy Unintentional Sabbatical, Batman!

Oy vay!  Sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything even remotely entertaining!  Life's been CRAZY the past few weeks, and Shelby (the 6 lb little troll MOTU calls a kitty) has kept on with her campaign to puke or pee on everything dear to me.  Seriously.  MOTU is out of town for a week, and Monday night I came home and couldn't find Shelby...she was sitting in the bathtub, all but beaming over her "handy work" on the new bath mat I bought Saturday.  ARGH!  She couldn't have just peed down the damn drain???  Now she's sleeping under the sink, in the cabinet.  I don't get it.

In any case.  The wedding plans are coming along nicely.  I've been watching unholy amounts of wedding shows while I work on the bouquets, etc. and it's doing me no favors...either I get a complex (thank you, David Tutera) or I get all paranoid that I'm a brat (thank you, Bridezillas).  Not to mention Girl Meets Gown (way better than its TLC counterpart), Say Yes to the Dress, Bridal Bootcamp, etc.

The new room is coming along nicely...I need about 6 more coats of paint total (3 coats in 2 colors), and then I can move bedroom stuff into the bedroom and reclaim my sewing space!  Since Shelby's taken up residence in the bathroom, the bedroom has become critter-free, and I'm hoping to keep it that way.  Kinda want to keep the bedroom that way too, but we'll see what MOTU has to say about that. It would reduce the amount of dust kitties floating around for sure.

Given that I started this post 3 days ago and am completely scatterbrained now, I'm going to leave it at this and post when I'm more with it.  thanks for your patience.

2010-06-28-17.13.29