Christmas is Coming!!

One of the youg women in my Sunday school class won a local dance team composition and they get to go to the regionals in Florida.  In order to earn some money to go, they are having a dinner and a silent auction.  I offered to make a few things for the auction.  This is the first item I made:

  I started out with just the panel

and cut several 2-inch strips of fabric - I had 11 different fabrics I could use.  When I decided how wide to make each strip, I measured the width and length of the panel and figured out how wide each FINISHED strip should be to go into the length and wide evenly and then I added 1/2" to each strip to allow for the two 1/4" seams. 

I then sewed the strips together with a 1/4" seam.

When deciding how wide to make the border, I looked at the panel and decided how wide I wanted the border to be.  I decided 4-inch strips would look proportionally correct and luckily, that way I could get 10 full strips out of the fabric width.  The choice though is yours and yours alone.

I had eleven strips and that was not long enough to go across the top and bottom so I had to add some of the blocks from a second set to the first set, removing the extra blocks to make it the correct length.

As you can see, there are 15 blocks running across the top.  Now, if the length of blocks is not exact, you will need to made a little tiny wider seam in one or two of the blocks if the length is a little too long or if is a little too short you will need to make 1/8" seams in one or more of the block seams.  After putting the top and bottom borders on, I cut 4 corner blocks.  Now, Since I made the border 4" wide, I cut the corner blocks 4" x 4" from one of the fabrics in the border

I made adjustments in length as needed going through the same step as when I prepared the top and bottom borders.  I then sewed the corners onto the border pieces and sewed the full border onto each side.  I pressed all border seams toward the panel which helped eliminate the thickness along those seams.

  I think it turned out pretty cute!!  I am just making the top and including enough fabric for the binding.  Now, lets hope it brings the dance team a good price.  On to the next auction item - hotpads!!

This Is The Reason I have No Time For Quilting Right Now!!!

Some of you may remember that at the beginning of the school semester I enrolled in a basic computer programming class.  And how excited I was to be learning how to program and write code.  Well, once I got into the class, I was amazed at how very hard it is to learn to write code.  I actually went into the Professor last week and told her that I was going to get an "A" in the class NEXT semester because for sure I was going to have to take it again.  This class is a pre-requisite for all the other classes I need to take for my degree so I have to pass it.

Now, here is the exciting news - this past Saturday a light bulb went off over my head and I figured out how to write the code for an assignment that was due about a month ago.  I knew I would not get any points but I once I figured out what to do, I had so much fun that over the weekend I must have spend 10 hours writing the code for my six dogs!!!  To be REALLY impressed you have to realize that each of the following six dogs have dfferent code - thats why it took 10 hours!!! 

So, now I am on a roll!!  And when I went into the Profeesor's office this morning to brag on my six dogs (she knew how much I have been struggling with this geek-brain stuff), she said she actually was giving credit to any student who finished a project, even if it was late!!  Well, halleluiah, I may get a good enough grade to just get through this class so next semester I can take the classes I really need to be a Website Designer!!

If you want to see a bit of the detail, first of all you might be a computer geek and two, you can click on each picture to enlarge it!!!  :-))

 HAPPY DOG

(Check out the 3 little hairs on top of her head!!)

ANGRY DOG

(Notice the perfect teeth!!!) 

SLEEPING DOG 

BORED DOG 

HUNGRY DOG

 (Notice the dog food bowl with Pollie's name on it!!) 

DEAD DOG (Notice the XXs in the eyes!!  :-))

Well, I am off to work on the next project!!!  Thanks for letting me share!!

A Funny for All My Bunnie Friends

For Lovers of Kaffe Fassett Fabric

I was just over at the Tattered Garden looking at the gorgious quilt Nancy had just finished called Hearts and Flowers.  Check it out, it is simply fabulous!!!  I left a comment and she emailed me back to tell me to look up a fairly new blog called Glorious Applique IF I liked Kaffe Fassett fabrics.  What??  IF??  There is no IF about my love for Kaffe's fabrics as anyone knows who visits my blog.  So, I checked it out and it is a fun, fun blog!!!  It looks like the blog is a compilation of work by many different contributors and its all about applique using Kaffe fabrics.  Click on the picture below and take a look, you won't be sorry:

Now, I must say, I have shied away from applique except some machine applique around the hearts I make for an on-line group called Love Quilts that I belong to:

But other than that I have been real apprehensive.  I did purchase the pattern for Aunt Millie's Quilt:

and the blocks in this quilt are yummy and would probably be great in Kaffe fabrics:

But am I a brave enough soul???

I Just Can't Get Enough of This Guy!!

The UPS man brought me a new batch of Kaffe Fassett fabric and I think these are some of the most spectacular yet.

The second one from the top is really different and I am not sure what to do with it yet but I am sure I will find something!! Oh yeah!!

Enjoy this spectacular autumn day!!!

Its a Beautiful New Day!!

Several years ago my dear friend Regena gave me bunnie gift and she said this is to add to your collection.  I promptly said, "I don't have a bunnie collection," and she proceeded to show me bunnie after bunnie after bunnie in my home and in my garden.  Oh my gosh, I have been collecting bunnies for years!! 

Then several years later I married a guy who showed bunnies as a hobby.  Small world - although I am no longer married to that guy (no more said) and during the short period of time I was married to him, I hated that all those beautiful bunnies just sat in cages all day long waiting to be feed.  I was not allowed to hold them in my arms or play with them outside their cages or even pet them when they were in their cages.  But it has always been a dream to have some pet bunnies some day and it is so fun that some of the blogs I follow are also huge bunnie lovers!!

Well, I have been visiting some of my favorite blogs this morning and it is so great to see the talented and wonderful folks that are out there in the world!!  A couple of the bloggers are real bunnie lovers and they have both inspired me to work harder to get a place where I can have those sweet bunnies and now, I plan to make those little bunnies be rescue bunnies just like my sweet puppy dog Pollie.

Pollie and I became mother and daughter two summers ago when I found her in a rescue that kept 25 dogs in the house and had about another 2 dozen outside in kennels.  Pollie is commonly known as a Catahoula but her full name is a Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dog.  Pollie is my very best friend!!!

Thanks to each and every blog master I visit for really making my day full of fun and for supporting me in my passions of quilting and blogging!!

Live, Love, Breathe!!!

This is the name of the beautiful hand-made necklace I just received from Mandy Saile of BIJOU'S WHIMSY.  This incredable young woman does some amazing work and I fell in love with several of her pieces.  This is the one I got - lucky me!!!

After opening the package from her, I wanted to leave some feedback at her Etsy store where I purchased the necklace.  So, I went to her blog, Bijou's Whimsy, to find her Etsy store to leave the feedback and I saw that she has this great give-a-way!!

This is an original piece - a lino-cut which has been hand-burnished/printed onto beautifully textured/soft Stonehenge paper and then some colour was added with coloured pencils and a bit of gold paint.

Interested in having a chance at winning this wonderful piece on October 28th?  Check out Mandy's give-a-way page HERE to win!!!

2 - Hour Lap Quilt Top!!!

When I got my "Collection for a Cause" kit last week, I also got a "Layer Cake" of fabric in the same collection.  In the event you have not seen a "Layer Cake" pack, it is an assortment of fabrics from a collection that is pre-cut into 10" squares.  There are typically 40 squares in the packet. 

On the back of the pack is a page that gives you ways that you can slice a layer cake.

After looking at all the different ways to cut the fabric, I decided that I was going to see what a quilt would look like if I just kept the 10" squares intact and sewed them together randomly.  Here is what I got:

I like the look and I think after it gets quilted, it will be a fun place to snuggle under with a hot chocolate and a good book.  A friend of mine quilted a lap quilt like this one using a Minkee-type fabric on the back and oh, my, its wonderful!!!

And the best thing - this quilt top took about 2 hours to complete!!! 

Oh My - How Time Flies

I was sitting here looking at the calendar this morning

and started thinking about how fast the time seems to go!!  I can remember one time as a child I told my Mom I wish my birthday would hurry and get here and she told me not to wish my life away because when I got older my life would go much quicker than I wanted it to go!!  Boy, was she ever right!!!  I can hardly believe it has been a whole week since I have posted anything here!!!

Life has gotten so hectic and fast-paced since school and my two little jobs have started that I don't seem to get much quilting and me time in these days!!  I am hoping things calm down here soon - I need a quilting  fix!!!  I just got my little blogging fix!!  LOL!!!  Do any of you feel like there is just too little time these days??

My New Collection for a Cause - "Hope" Kit Came in the Mail Today!!!

and I can't wait to break into the jelly roll and see all the gorgeous fabrics!!!  This Moda Collection for a Cause quilt is called HOPE with Howard Marcus as the designer.  The fabrics are reproduced from a circa 1830-40 Lemoyne star quilt from upstate New York.  This is the 6th quilt in the Collection for a Cause Series.

The proceeds from this collection will be donated to the ALS Association, whose vision is to care for and support all people living with Lou Gehrig's Disease as they leave no stone unturned in their relentless search for a cure.

Lou Gehrig * June 1903 - June 2, 1941