41.18%...

of the people who work in my area of the office are sick. That's 7 out of 17. Unfortunately, I'm one of the 7. :(

Fabulous House Block for Julie

Miss September -- aka Julie -- asked for "fabulous house blocks" for her birthday. Here's my effort, sort of a cozy cottage. I used a Mary Englebreit pattern and enlarged it to fit her specs. Julie was looking for a "toasty warm" feeling... I think I accomplished that, but couldn't resist a little pop of red ;) This will be a 9" finished square.

Mini Booty Complete!

My Miniature Booty II swap partner received her quilt on Friday, so I can talk more openly about it now! First and foremost, I was delighted to have a little challenge with Rose Marie as my partner. She requested colors of blue, green and yellow, and, from visiting her blog, I could quickly see how much she enjoys applique. (And does it beautifully, I might add.) Her pics are better than mine, so be sure to click through to her blog to see them. (She said all kinds of crazy-nice things about the quilt too, which are only half-true, but I appreciate them anyway!)

I had already fallen for the shape of the tulip in a pattern from the fall Quilt Sampler magazine, and this was the perfect opportunity. I was going to do some detailed fill background quilting to set off the simple shape (reality soon intervened...)

A trip to my stash revealed the perfect fabric combination; a few minutes with EQ6 resulted in a plan, and off I went. I put the top together really quickly, then worked on my Mariner's Compass block for the birthday swap.

Then my back went goofy. And I couldn't do anything. For what felt like forever.

When I could finally quilt again, I quickly realized I had to simplify my quilting plan. I ended up doing lots of echo quilting around the applique -- which really mashed down the background and made the tulip a little puffier than I would have liked -- then radiating lines in the lighter blue. A simple kind of loopy half flower thing in the checked fabric with some stippling, and I was done. And gee, at that point, I was only three days late.

Of course, I still needed binding. I had to get a little creative there, since I didn't have anywhere near enough yellow fabric to make a double binding. I ended up cutting the strips as wide as I could afford, then cutting a wider strip of the light blue. I strip-pieced them together, then folded in half to get the binding. By cutting the blue wider, I didn't have to worry about getting it on perfectly so the seam was the edge. I did the hand stitching in Harrisburg PA at the PA quilt national extravaganza (whatever) show, and managed to mail only 10 days late. WHEW.

Coming soon... pics from Harrisburg and the goodies I bought there :)

A winner... and a break!

In the opposite order advertised. I took a break from my computer yesterday -- it was a holiday, after all. The wireless issue still has me cranky, so rather than try to resolve it, I resolved to ignore it :) Productive solution, no? Anyway, I was online at some point Sunday, maybe early afternoon, and never went back. It was nice, for a change!

In other -- more interesting to you -- news, we have a winner! Kathie guessed where I went on Friday -- WEGMANS. (There's photographic proof at home, but I'm not there at the moment.) It was like going home again... the signs are familiar, the brands are familiar, the aisles are wide enough for two shopping carts to pass without anyone having to do yoga moves, and the cashiers DON'T expect me to bag my own groceries. I miss it, I really do. Again, evidence of my somewhat-sad existence, to be so happy about the grocery store, I know, but somedays these things make a difference.

And I smiled all the way through the store. (Yeah, people probably did look at me funny, but I didn't care!)

Kathie, I'll be in touch...