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 :)

Mini Booty Sneak Peek

Clever, aren't I? I don't want the real colors to give it away!

It's not done yet, but I *am* working on it... I'm sure glad to have all that echo quilting done! Since I haven't been doing really any sewing or quilting since I messed up my back, I didn't trust myself to do this properly in free-motion. So yeah, I used the walking foot. Sue me. It's mostly even that way, and the piece is small enough to make it possible. Miles to go before this one's done, but at least it's progress!

I'm alive :)

And finally doing better, although my back is still a problem. Most days, I can walk fully (or almost fully) upright, and the pain is more of a dull ache than a huge roar. Of course, I discovered that *not* spending the entire evening with the laptop helped... let's call that the reason for my silence this week. That, and that nothing interesting happened -- just a whole lotta work ;)

Except, I got a GREAT deal at Lord & Taylor on Friday. It's clearance time, of course, and I had coupons for an extra 15% or 20% off sale or clearance items. I stopped in Friday after the chiro, and found a great suit. Making a long story short, I paid less than $48 for a $300+ suit, in a classic brown and white small herringbone. The jacket needs to be tailored, but even allowing for that expense, it's a great price on a three-season wardrobe staple. (Yes, I wear grown-up clothes for my real job, with stockings and heels and everything!)

OK, I need a shower and then I'm going to baste my mini-booty quilt. Toni reminded us that the deadline is just two weeks away, and since I screwed up my back, I've barely been able to stitch!

Mini Booty Progress and Little Snowpeople (UFO Reveal #8)

Well, the Apple Core fever is out of my system... and you won't be seeing the results! I opted for a little different approach to my Mini Booty II quilt, and I'm happy with how it's going. In fact, the top is done. I hope my partner likes it! Here's a preview of just the fabrics:

And the UFO parade continues, this time with a definite winter flair! Must be the heat and humidity getting to me -- I'd love to get close to one of these little guys or gals right about now ;)

My mom cross stitched them, and they're really cute! She swapped me these for a finished top (OK, a top that she helped me finish, but it was still done!), and I designed a little 24x36 quilt for them in EQ:

I remember searching for -- and buying -- a light fabric to match the Aida cloth, and even looking through my stash for other fabrics. So why are these little blocks in the UFO box? I probably got distracted by something else. Story of my life. And potentially a problem with evaluating all these abandoned projects -- now I want to work on all of them again!

Mini Booty tease...

Here's a little sneak peek at what I'm working on for my Miniature Booty II quilt... I've wanted to do something with Apple Core blocks for a while, and this seemed like a good time to try it out. Yeah, this will get that crazy idea out of my system ;) It took a while to get everything in the right position, so I took several photos of the layout for reference, since it's going to be very easy to mix these up!

Pssst...

If you want to see my ALQS contribution again (and really, why wouldn't you?!), visit Teresa, who managed NOT to overexpose her photos :) Check the group blog for some amazing eye candy from 41 talented quilters from around the world.

The Big Finish

Well, it's still slightly overexposed, but my post-processing skills aren't up to the task of fixing it! This is my finished quilt for Another Little Quilt Swap, and it's just shy of 20" square. And yes, it's square, although you couldn't prove it by the photo! There are five 6" blocks, and four tiny 3" blocks. Three of the 6" ones are from Beth Ferrier's Moondance Block of the Month (top right and the bottom two); the top left is from an Edyta Sitar pattern pack, and the center (which is my new favorite!) is straight out of EQ.

The Beth Ferrier blocks and the 3" blocks were sitting quietly waiting to be used in a quilt, so when faced with the need to make a new one and stat, they kindly jumped up and offered their services! Luckily, it seemed to work out -- I'd probably do a couple of things differently if I did it again, but all in all, I'm happy with how it turned out.

Here's a closeup of the middle, although it's rotated. Oops!


I quilted a simple starflower-type pattern in each of the 6" blocks (thank heaven for Golden Threads paper!) and then meandered the rest. It's all done in a Sulky rayon thread, which matches beautifully but is a little shinier than I would have liked.

Who IS the recipient you ask? Why, it's written right here on the back of the quilt:

Huh, must have erased that info accidentally. Guess I *do* know a little bit about post-processing photos after all ;) Nonetheless, the quilt is is now making it's way to someone... I hope that someone likes it!

Sneak Preview Redux

Not the world's greatest photo, but it'll do... my NEW mini quilt is done, and ready to mailed yesterday to... someone who hasn't received one yet ;) This is just a part of my new offering -- my co-worker who ALWAYS has her camera, didn't. We took two pics using the built-in camera on her Macbook... I was too close, so they're a little overexposed. Nonetheless, it saved me waiting around Walgreens for an hour waiting for one-hour photo processing from the film camera (which I did find). With luck, those will be exposed more properly and I can show you the full finished product later.

WHEW!

Doin' a Happy Dance!

I'm all but done with my new ALQS quilt -- just half of the binding still to stitch by hand. I'm not sure I'd want to make a quilt under this kind of time constraint every time around*, but it did force me to make quick decisions and set reasonable goals. There are things I might do differently given the chance, but all in all, it's quite a nice little quilt if I do say so myself! In some ways, I like it better than the red and white one (even before it had a pink problem). I promise I'm not going to wash it -- I'm taking NO chances -- although I will carefully run the lint roller to remove the cat hair ;) One of my coworkers should be able to photograph it for me, too... sure wish I could even *find* the film camera -- I know there's a partial roll in it!

*For the record, Kate offered to talk to my swap partner to secure me an extension, but I wanted to at least try to finish on time. Fingers crossed, that won't be needed.

Weekend Update

My *new* ALQS quilt is already a top, and I've assembled the backing. I was truly stunned to find appropriate thread in my bin, so I just need to get it layered and quilted. I'm a little surprised at how much I like it, to be honest -- not that that's a bad thing!

Plus, I spent half the morning at the DMV and on the phone with GMAC -- again. After phoning their call center many times over two weeks to request a copy of the lien release letter so I can title my car in NJ, and getting the same "you'll have it in 24-48 hours" answer, I had a fit on Friday. I called, and refused to speak with anyone but a supervisor... I did relent on that point when I could hear that my call finally got routed to someone in the United States. She explained that there was no request in my account for this paperwork. I guess that's why I never got it! Twenty minutes later, she called me back to say it was being faxed at that moment to the DMV and my office (for my reference, and as a safety net!). Since I was already on the way home (we have half-days on Fridays in the summer), I decided to go to the DMV this morning. Where they did not have my fax. I went to the office, and I didn't have it either. Luckily, the woman I talked to in Kansas yesterday gave me her number, so I called it. Someone else answered, but she was able to get the paperwork off the other person's desk (where it had the fax receipt attached, mind you -- where do lost faxes go, anyway?) and send it again while I waited for it. Back to the DMV and HALLELUJAH we got the job done! I've got plates and my registration; just need an inspection and I'm set.

In some ways, that feels better than getting my (second) ALQS top done ;)

What's red and white and pink all over?

I've been debating whether I should talk about this... and decided today that I might as well! My red and white flying geese ALQS quilt isn't as red and white as it once was. For those who have been coveting it, I'm afraid I won't be sending it to anyone.

See, being such a traditional quilt, it really wanted to be washed so it would crinkle a little. Plus, the leave-in foundation "paper" I used (not the nice stuff Kate has, trust me!) felt a little stiff. I made a sample to be sure the ink from the printer wouldn't come off if it got wet... since the sample passed the test, I simply doused the quilt in cold water and tossed it in the dryer.

You know what happened, don't you? One (or more, I guess) of the beautiful reds from my scrap bin apparently isn't colorfast. It. bled. like. a. bitch. And then went into the dryer for 45 minutes. I cried when I pulled it out and saw it was now red, white and PINK.

And every time I look at it, my heart breaks again. I loved how it turned out. My feeble attempt at removing the pink wasn't successful, and I can't bring myself to try anything more drastic in case it makes it even worse.

So, I've started on Plan B, which is actually coming together quite nicely, given I just dreamed it up this afternoon! It's quite different from the original quilt -- and my blocks are almost finished... a little math, and I'll be on my way again tomorrow. I like how it looks so far... too bad you can't see it ;)

I think I might be infected...

with the swapping bug again! Yes, I have more UFOs than I dare count. Yes, I have more fabric than I need. Yes, I have as little time to sew as ever. And YES, I'm in love with these little quilts!

Kate only nudged me toward the edge, I jumped joyfully into the abyss ;) I signed up for The Quilting Pirate's Miniature Booty Swap #2. There's still room if you want to dive in, too...

The best part is that one doesn't end up with a pile of blocks to add to the UFO pile until guilt turns them into something -- the actual FINISHED quilt arrives in the mail. One has only to hang it on the wall to enjoy.