Skin of the Teeth OPAM Finish

Phew! Kiwi Jubilee is finished and joins Neptune for two completed quilts in June. Can I get a woohoo?!

This will most likely be a Christmas gift for someone. While I do love the colors and the French Braid (and my machine quilting),  I can't keep every quilt I make. This is my first Batik though, so parting shall be such sweet sorrow. (sigh!)

As I obviously work so much better under pressure, how about I whip out a table quilt now for hte 4th of July. Let's see.....3 evenings after work and all day Saturday...shouldn't be a problem, but I need to use the Accuquilt to cut strips and make it a strip quilt of some type. (I knew I should have ordered more dies, then I wouldn't be so limited in my choices. C'est la vie.).

Look at the fabric on the left. At first I was horrified when it arrived and found that a perfectly good red and blue batik had been hideously deformed by the screenprinting of a bazillion metallic gold stars across it's Indonesian goodness.

And then I made the genius discovery that I could flip it over and pretend that the wrong side was really the right side. No more confetti of stars!

The Great Bleach Debacle of Oh-Ten has finally ended. I waved the white (but not bleached) flag before I had a chance for a go at round two (which was daubing bleach on mottled blue fabric to create clouds). A trip to the LQS this afternoon yielded a Fat Eigth of:

which will do nicely. Next Saturday all of this should be well on it's way to being my first 'art'-like quilt, a landscape from the Skinny Quilts and Table Runners book, for which I have signed up for a class (though I am putting my own spin on some of the 'materials' on the list in order to not be a cookie cutter quilter.

The Saturday following, I am taking another 'art'-like class. A little combo piecing/applique wall hanging. Nothing really fancy, but it's time to put on the 'Suz Zwizzle - Art Quilter' hat and see how it fits.

I'm off to the Accuquilt die-cut mines for the rest of the evening. Daughter's table quilt will have to wait....can you believe it's the only UFO I've got? (Well, that's if you don't count sashiko, applique, Strolling the Block...).  Hopefully I'll have something to show you tomorrow.

Have some fun tomorrow! Long weekend coming up.

Failure to Bleach

The folded fabics on top are unbleached, the ones below spent a good 6 hours in bleach. Either this is some indestructible fabric, or I've got a dud bottle of bleach. I'm running out of time to find a fabulous sky fabric for this little art quilt. I've got one more trick up my sleeve...I bought a light blue 'faux batik' FQ and I'm going to try sponging on some straight bleach, or maybe some really watery acrylic paint. Otherwise, it's back to the quilt shops to see if I've missed something.

Well, I'm off to work. Have a lovely Tuesday...chin up, there's a long weekend coming!

Life's Little Mysteries

Kiwi Jubilee -- work in progress

It's been one of those days. I'm sitting here, not sewing, but pondering the whole International Date Line concept. I've always been one to think 'Gosh, if I could just fly to California, I'd gain 3 extra hours in a day and I could finish up some things' (of course, I'm not taking into account the fact that I've really lost 2 hours, because it's a 5-hour flight). Then I went to Hawaii and now I'm all about 'Gosh, if I could just fly to Honolulu, I'd have an extra 6 hours to get things done'. Today, I'm thinking big....'If only I could pop over to American Samoa, I'd have the whole afternoon for a do-over'. But wait, what if something went wrong and we wound up in Tonga...then I'd have lost an entire day....it would be TOMORROW afternoon already! (Can you tell, I'm procrastinating about finishing something?)

I spent all day yesterday working freemotion on Kiwi Jubilee. I tried out a couple of new things....chalking a pattern, and tracing a pattern on exam table paper and stitching through it. It was interesting. It did take twice as long to do designs on 10 blocks because it actually took about 4 times longer to tear the paper off than it did to stitch.

Tweezers are our friends.

So, we're left with a 6" border...to quilt, or not to quilt, that is the question (and now we understand why we are playing Internet search games like "what time is it in ________".)

Since I never left the studio yesterday, rather than succumb to cabin fever today, I braved the 98 degree outside temp (which does not include the heat factor) and headed to my LQS where I signed up for 8 classes in July and August and wait-listed myself for another 2. It's going to be a busy July/August.

In preparation for the first class, I started to look for some fabrics (it's an art quilt) in my stash, and not happy with any of my cheesy cloudy sky prints, leftover from an applique project from long ago, I decided to 'speriment and bleach them.

15 minutes in a half/half mix of bleach and water and nothing. Dumped all but a small amount of water and covered the fabs with bleach. It's been 2 hours. Nada! Seriously, if I had been wearing a black t-shirt, and just splashed a drop of that bleach on me, I'd have had a big ole' white spot in a nanosecond. What's up with that? I think I'll let them soak overnight and if they survive I'll just pull them out and lay them outside in tomorrow's sun and see what happens. (Promise me you won't call Fabric Welfare and report me for excessive cruelty).

I'm off to dinner now, and hopefully will manage to turn on the Bernina tonight and accomplish something. Tomorrow's an office day, and I hate to go back to work feeling I didn't get enough leisure activity in on a weekend.

Keep cool!

A New Winner, and a Lost Week

Sometimes the weekends come on way too fast. I'm not ready for mine. Well, in some ways I am..the house is clean, I've run my errands, I've got projects to work on. It's just that mentally I'm still stuck on Thursday, strange as it seems (maybe it's the combo strawberry daquiris/pinot grigios talking--I'm going to be paying for this mix tomorrow morning, aren't I?)

At any rate, after a bone scan and a mammogram (pat me on the back), I came home and finished up some work projetcts, then I finished cleaning and prepped for the hubs' poker game tonight. After which, I went to the neighborhood ladies-only, drunken revelry we like to call Bunko (we don't actually play, we stopped that years ago when we realized it just interferred with our ability to eat, drink, and snipe on the neighbors who don't attend...plus..no prize payouts meant.more money for alcohol). It was a modest, healthy (heavy on the fruits and veggies) spread tonight, with strawberry daquiris, and a masseuse--yep, you heard me right, a masseuse.

This was a novelty. She didn't come cheap, it was $1 a minute, and I came with empty pockets, and only an hour to party, but her chair was always full, so most of the other guests enjoyed her services. Me, I had to scurry back up the street, like Cinderella after midnight, daquiri in a go cup, to feed the poker players at my house.

I call these 'taco bites'. That platter was loaded around the edges when it hit the counter. I oil up wonton dough, press it into a cupcake pan, bake it until crisp and then fill it with various things. Tonight's theme  was taco. And it's topped with Creme Fraise that has had some chipotle pepper powder whisked in. Creme Fraise is my new favorite substitute for sour cream, which will be short-lived as it costs 3 times what sour cream does and can only be found at Whole Foods. Earlier in the week I mixed it with wasabi powder and used it on fish tacos. Yum!

They've been scooping up the wings. I've never made wings before this week. These are marinated in pineapple juice, soy sauce, marsala wine and more, which then becomes the dipping sauce (after you've boiled it to kill any chicken germs--wouldn't want your guests to contract bird flu now, would we?) They're baked, so they're healthy, and a little sprinkling of fresh cilantro adds a nice little zest. This is 3 pounds of wings 5 minutes after being put out.

I stood around for a minute, fussing over everything, refilling nut and chip bowls, and only 1 of 8 guys even tried the food. Of course, the minute I left, they all dove in. Must be awkward with the Missus hanging around, though listening to the kind of poker they're playing (night baseball, high low), it may as well be ladies night. (I'm thinking about starting up a neighborhood ladies poker night but I'm afraid we'd have to play more studly poker games like Texas Hold 'Em.). I'm considering going down and asking them what they thought of the Real Housewives of NY 3-part reunion show (isn't Bethany the bitch!), except the hubs would kill me, especially if one or more of his friends jumped into that convo--AWK-ward!

Okay, back to business.....Ellen never contacted me about winning the die cut butterflies or the scissor bling, so that left 3 ladies to seleect a new winner from...Morgan, Michele and Gill. So I yelled down to the hubs 'pick a number between 1 and 3' to which he repllied 'what's with the loaded question? there's only one number between 1 and 3, and that's 2!', so CONGRATULATIONS MICHELE!!!!! Email me and let me know if you'd like an envelope full of Accuquilt die cut butterflies, or a scissor bling.

Sorry if I've bored you tonight with the cooking crap. Tomorrow we sew...onward and upward!!!! For now, we venture back downstairs to testosterone (albeit weak 10s, 2s and 4s are wild testosterone) land to refill our wineglass.

It's 11:15, do you know where your Pinot Grigio is?

Ladies and Gentlemen, We Have a Winner

My daughter chose the 'Circle of Gulls' design, as did Morgan, Ellen, Michele and Gill. Now, if I were currently speaking to the hubs (that's another story...let's just say it involves golf and forgetting to call home until 9:15 p.m. and asking me to phone in a carry out order for him (I didn't).) I'd have him pick a number, so let me text my daughter and ask her.....

While we're waiting for her to check in, let's talk about the table top quilt. It's created using the Drunkard's Path die on the Accuquilt GO!. Took  less than 10 minutes to cut enough shapes to make 32 squares (which in turn make 8 large blocks). The remaining blocks will likely be used to make pillow covers, but if she doesn't want those, we'll use them on the back in the beachball formation.

The borders are a mishmash of leftover fabric. Some were cut using the GO! strip cutter die. The layout of them was dictated totally by necessity. When they weren't long enough as I originally sewed them together, I cut them apart and added more vertical strips to, and then had to scramble for more fabric to do it again. Fortunately, they came out fitting exactly, not an inch to spare. Phew!

My daughter has just sent a text to me selecting 2. So, the second comment that chose the layout she did is Ellen from FSQ. Congratulations, Ellen!  I don't have your email address, so please contact me and let me know if you'd like die cuts or scissor bling. If I don't hear from you by the end of the day Thursday, we'll draw another name Friday morning.

We'll have another giveaway coming up early July, so please check back often.

Tomorrow I'll be backing this quilt and hoping to finish it up before I see my daughter on Friday.

That  trainwreck known as Danielle (from Real Housewives of New Jersey) is on Watch What Happens Live, so I've got to devote my full attention to the carnage.

Happy Tuesday!

Which Path Do I Take? (and a little giveaway)

Last night I finished sewing together the Drunkard's Path squares (more on that later). Now to decide on which layout to use, sew those blocks together and then use whatever die works on the GO to create some border action.

Which would you pick?

This is the first layout (above) and it's the one I think my daughter will choose (edited to add that what I think my daughter would choose is often not what she does choose, so don't be swayed by my influence here--it's a crap shoot), let's call this one 'Beachballs'.

The next layout we'll call 'Northbound Seagulls'  (focus on the solid colors and you'll see the bird shape):

And then if we flip a couple blocks, we have 'Circle of Gulls' (again, focus on the solids):

And finally, we have 'Gull Formation':

Leave a comment with your pick and I'll draw from all who chose the one my daughter picked and I'll send you an envelope of floral  butterflies (backed with fusible web, if that's what you prefer) cut from the Accuquilt or a scissor bling.

Back to Accuquilt. Since we can all benefit from each other's mistakes and successes, I'll share my experience with you as I work my way through the dies I have. I'm going to put a 'hints and tips' in my sidebar for easy reference to highlight the important things, so check there often.

The great thing about the Accuquilt Drunkard's Path die is that it cuts a little tab into each piece to make it easy to align.

Put a pin in the middle, then hop over and align the two edges.

Flex it into an arc and pin it together. It fits together smoothly.

1/4" stitch the seam, it's all smooth.

Flip and press (this photo isn't pressed yet). Obviously you can cut these out in less than 10 minutes, but it's going to take you significantly longer to sew them together. It helps if you press with Best Press before you stitch and then again once your squares are sewn together.

Cutting with the GO! is fun and fast, but pinning, stitching and pressing can be exhausting work...just ask Paco.

How Fast Is the Go?

Does 'Warp Speed, Mr Sulu', suggest anything?

Came home from Happy Hour last night just before 11:00 (okay, so sue us, we should call it Happy All Nighter), and I just had to cut something.

Less than 10 minutes to cut Drunkard's Path pieces for DDs table quilt from 4 fabrics. I just slapped them up on the design wall to get an idea of their size. Later today we shall play with their placement. They're quite large (7.5" squares assemble into one 14" block), so I think four of them will work for the quilt in some configuration. The other 4 may wind up as 4 pillows.

Right now I've goto to jump in the shower and hightail it off to work so I can get home and play some more. Oh, it is going to be a long day! (Note to self: pick up winning lottery ticket on way home this evening).

Have a fantastic Friday!

Merry Christmas !!!

And I don't say that because the electric bill came today and it was only $200 (though that certainly qualifies as a gift). And right behind the electric bill, my mechanic showed up with cash in hand and whisked the Corolla off to his 'spa', where she'll be pampered and given a second chance at life.

No, I'm in Happy Holiday mode because the UPS Gal finally showed up just after 2:00 with two boxes. And while she's certainly smaller than me, I must look really old and out of shape because she insisted on carrying them up my front steps for me. (Note to self, join gym this weekend, schedule botox treatments for next week, and get emergency appointment with colorist.)

On second thought, if I do that, I won't have time to play with my new toys, now, will I?

What a haul came out of those boxes....the cutter with it's included die and mat, and 3 more dies and 2 more mats to fit them. And the actual Accuquilt cutter came in a cloth bag inside it's box....much the same as your Coach or Luis Vuitton bag (or so I've heard from my daughter, who has one of each....Mom has a little rule that she will never buy a purse that costs more than she can afford to carry inside it on a regular basis, so that pretty much rules out Designer bags). Anyway, you have got to love a prize that is totally all inclusive. Thank you again AccuQuilt, and Amy's Creative Side.

I've got a Happy Hour scheduled with the neighborhood gals this evening. I know, things must be really bad when the ladies have to resort to drunken revelry on a THURSDAY night, but one is semi-retired so every day is Friday, another works in the school system, so today was her last day before summer vacation--understandably, she is in a mood to celebrate, and the other two of us just go with the flow....if you're pouring wine and mixing martinis, I'm pretty much there, especially when it involves walking across the street.

So a quick run out to the market to pick up something noshy for the party and I should have an hour or two to set it up and give it a test drive.

Here's wishing your dreams can come true too! Enjoy what's left of your day, wherever you may be.

Countdown to Christmas (which is on Thursday)

This is a very, very good week. The GO! arrives on Thursday, and the UPS guy and the Mail Gal are doing their best to distract me.

I'm working my way through quilt books at our public library and recently found two that I could not live without in my own library. The Quilters Catalog: A Comprehensive Resource Guide hits it out of the park for hints, interviews with famous quilters, websites, how to advice...it's a wealth of information.

All About Machine Arts is fabulous, It's got everything (with corresponding projects). Great information on technique, machines, and materials. This is going to be a well-thumbed go-to book in my studio.

A little software can be a dangerous thing. Well, it could be, if I knew how to use it. The EQ7 upgrade for EQ6 (which I have never used yet) arrived this afternoon. Somehow I need to divide my time between the GO! and EQ7. Maybe I should get my Daytimer out and pencil in appointments for everything:

Oh wait, that won't work, I have to actually work during the day....unless I win the lottery this week then we're good (at least I wrote it in pencil).

Fortunately, I picked up a little something at quilt show this weekend that I can do wherever I am. Not that I know how to do Sashiko, and not like I can read Japanese, which is what these instructions are written in. I'll figure it out...at least I hope I will.

This is so not me. But combined with.

My 1930s feedsack repro fabrics, I think I've got the makings of a quilt. The backing and border fabric was 40% off this weekend at one of the shops we hopped. And I also bought a Dresden plate template at another shop, so I'll be piecing something together eventually. I've never done a Dresden but I think it's a cute way to use these prints. Live and learn! 

(We interrupt this blog for a moment....the hubs just came home from softball and summoned me downstairs through the dark family room, out to the backyard to look at the fireflies that are perched 50 feet up in the trees, blinking their little hearts out. Pretty neat Even neater that the hubs has stopped to admire the fireflies...which he probably thought were UFOs as he came up the street.)

Favorite fabric saved for last. I have not been a Halloween decorator since my daughter was young. I switched to Fall....don't have to put it away, only have to change things out once. Well, I couldn't resist this fabric, found at yet another shop we hopped on Sunday. Half yards of the three prints, a yard and a half of the gingham print for backing and border. It will make a cute table quilt. (And I shall now be forced to pick up a little something Bethany Lowe to set upon it). In case you want to run out and pick some up for yourself (and I highly recommend that you do), it's Boo by Bonnie Sullivan for Maywood Studios.

Is it Thursday yet?

I Love Mondays!!!!!

Especially when I get into the office in my new car, the boss is in a happy, chatty mood, the coffee is good, and I finally get to my desk to find a comment in my email from Lis mentioning that now I'll be cheating on my Santa Fe with my GO!. What is she talking about? It seriously takes me all of about 15 seconds to figure out that I have obviously won the GO! giveway at Amy's Creative Side. Small scream (there's a new guy that just started today in the office next to mine, I didn't want to totally scare him, though I do hear that now he's decided to take the office down on the second floor instead of the one up here in the attic next to mine---his loss :) ), as I go to Amy's blog and see my name listed, and that is happily confirmed by an email I find way down the Yahoo inbox (Lis' email came to my work email address). I am ECSTATIC!

I had just seen the GO! in action yesterday at the Annapolis Quilt Guild show, convinced that this was something that would be a long time finding it's way into my studio, what with the new wheels and all. I am one lucky quilter today, and one of the happiest in the land. Thank you Amy and Accuquilt! You'll be seeing some fierce die-cut quilts coming out of my studio now. (Though I did pick up a Dresden plate ruler yesterday to use on my 30s prints, so we'll still be doing some old-school work.)

I am at work, and as excited as I am about the GO!, I really need to do some actual 'work', so check back tonight and I'll tell you all about the quilt show.

I've Been Cheating On My Bernina.....

with my new car, that's right, Johnny, tell us what she's won.....a NEWWWW CAR!!!!! Obviously, I didn't win it (ha ha, I can't win a drawing if there's only two people in it, so I most certainly did not win a car), but I certainly did acquire one..the old fashioned way...we bought it. I've been too busy tooling around in it and expertly maneuvering it into the garage between the John Deer and the lawn furniture in the tiny space the Corolla used to reside, to take an actual photo yet, but I'll post one eventually.

It was a relatively painless purchasing process (if you don't count that I only slept 3 hours Thursday night and was up on the computer at 4 a.m. Friday researching car reviews, specs, what buyers had to say). We had a very easy-going sales guy...skipped all the hard-sell crap...loved him. Went out to test drive Thursday night, took off Friday afternoon to go pick her up. Of course I just drove aimlessly around for 85 miles today getting used to her (and showing her off to anyone who was home).

And in those 85 miles I happened to pass two quilt shops--so I guess it wasn't so aimless wandering now, was it--which resulted in 4 yards of of this attaching itself to me as I walked through the shop.

 It seemed to be screaming 'use me to back those Day of the Dead fabrics you have!'

And then in another shop, I couldn't resist these Halloween (but not obviously Halloween-y, once you remove them from the more traditional ghouls/spiders in the line) FQs. Nine fats, don't know what I can do with them, but I'll figure something out, I'm sure. (Maybe I'll stumble on a time machine that takes me back to 1972 one of these days...I will be SO set. I will become the new Martha, but I will be smart enough to not dabble in Insider Trading, and therefore rule the world by the time I'm the age I am now. Bwah ha ha!)

And then, I don't know what got into me, but my sister had a good laugh when I stopped by on my way home and she peeked into my bags and found not one....

but two

sets of those wrinkly, smear the water around dishtowels I'm always complaining about, with border fabric.  I'm going to make them for gifts, and attach little cookie cutters to them...just like my big sister does....what's that they say, imitation is the highest form of flattery? (unless you've got a team of copyright infringement lawyers in your pocket, which I don't think she does, but maybe I'd better check....).

The hubs and the kid are down at the 9:30 Club tonight. Daddy forgot the tickets, so I had to hop in the Santa Fe and head on down the highway until we met so I could bring them to them without them having to come all the way back home. They might have missed a couple minutes of Buddy Miller's set, but I suppose they got over it. The plan was to spend the evening sewing, but somehow I've not been able to bring myself to turn on the Bernina. Instead, I'm slumming with Bud Lite and watching QVC (Bare Minerals)...oh, this is a very dangerous situation I have stepped into. I just picked up something in Sephora on Thursday....must exercise control...must not cave....

Tomorrow my sister and I are going to the Annapolis quilt show.As if I needed an excuse to take the new ride on another adventure. I don't think there's a lot of vendors at this show, but there is a nice quilt shop in Annapolis that we'll visit. Hopefully it will be a little cooler Bayside.

Have a Pleasant Valley Sunday!

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Two things, actually. One, there isn't a quilt or anything on the sewing machine table. Two, there's no flowers anywhere. That's the ticket!!!! No wonder I haven't been sewing the past couple days, no colorful, sweet smelling, floral inspiration. Must fix that. A stop at Trader Joe's on my way home from the Gangs-R-Us (the Mall)  later will rectify that.

Kiwi Jubilee is neatly folded on the cutting table, patiently waiting it's return to the machine, which should be sometime this evening.

 

I've appropriated a new accessory...it's my 'procrastination basket'. It's where I can drop the sales flyers, the Guild newsletters, the magazines, the patterns I'm considering, the books that arrive. Then, at some point, when I've got a few minutes, I can pick it up and take it with me...in the car, in front of the TV, to bed, and clear something out of it. For the past couple days, I've only added to it, I think the point is I need to remove from it...I need to work on that.

Last night I made the giant leap and phoned the hubs on my way home and said I'd like to actually go out to a car dealer. It's been about 2 months since I decided that I needed a new car, and the Corolla has been a doll cooperating with me for this time, but she's tired, and I don't think she's going to put up with me much longer, without a cash infusion of at least $500 for a clutch, if not more (I think she found out what I paid the plumber last week and she's jealous).

Anyhow, the last place I want to be, next to Hell, is in a dealer's showroom...oh wait, that is Hell, isn't it. I digress. The hubs has this strange attachment to a particular dealership. Our daughter bought her first car from them and it was a pleasant experience, or so I'm told. I refused to participate. That was 5 or 6 years ago, and the hubs thinks that this place has stayed frozen in time and they're still the best game in town. I guess he must think the same people still work there, or maybe he's out buying cars every week and reselling them for sport before I catch on.Whatever, this is his go-to dealer. Now I can live with one of their cars--a Hyundai (though I may be rethinking that whole crossover thing), so this is where we headed.

Fortunately, before the salesman dragged me kicking in the front door, to find a car for me to test dive, the hubs asked their interest rates on loans, which was 4.9%, so I just said No! Nada! Nevermind! Big Mistake! See Ya! Gotta run! I think I left the iron on! Buh-bye!

Maybe it's the whole car-buying phobia thing, but I'm not financing a car for more than I could finance a house for. If I wanted to do that, I'd buy the car with an equity loan so I could deduct the interest on my taxes. Really, everyone is offering 0%, 0.9%, 2.9%, I'd have to be brain dead to take a loan at 4.9%. And, I guarantee, the  minute I signed the papers, they'd run an ad in the newspaper saying financing was now 0%...FISH!. So we walked--rather, I walked and the hubs was forced to follow. And he was not a happy camper. (I think he just wanted to drive something new...like I'm going to let him drive my car to softball games 4 nights a week.)

Next he drove me to the Nissan dealer, where they supposedly have better financing, but when we walked up to the Rogue they had sitting on their sidewalk and looked at the sticker, I panic'd, and said I really didn't want to do this, that I wasn't sure I wanted a Rogue (they didn't get the greatest ratings), and maybe I should go home and do some more research. The hubs sighed, said something about, how it only took 2 months to actually get me within 30 feet of a dealership's door, at least that was a small step, and whisked me out to Baja Fresh for a fabulous take-out burrito dinner.

It's obvious that this is something we are not going to see eye to eye on, so I think I'm going to now be sent out on my own for this task..assuming the Corolla cooperates on the sweet ride front. Oh well, this is seriously going to screw up my creative time and totally go against my New Years' Guidelines (do something you love every day).  Why can't I just use a coupon and order something from the Internet and have it delivered. Sigh!

Here's Another Chance to Win a GO!

Amy's Creative Side is the latest blog to host a GO giveaway. I have absolutely no luck, so while I have entered, I think you all stand a way better chance than I do at finding one of these on your doorstep, so zip on over to Amy's blog (use the link in the sidebar on the left) and enter every which way you can to win.

In the meantime, I'll be upstairs in the studio cutting 2.5" strips by hand :)

Good luck everyone!!!

Neptune Finished/Bling Winners

First OPAM (One Project a Month) finish for June. Neptune is tagged, washed, and slung across a chair in the family room. Pieced Summer 2009, quilted late Spring 2010. Thnis one was most definitely a long time coming.

This is my little signature block, lost in the vastness of it's backing

And now, on the machine is Kiwi Jubilee. Walking Foot work done, working on freemotioning in the borders first. Have already burned through 2.5 bobbins of thread. Hopefully I'll finish this one up before the weekend.

This morning I asked the hubs to pick a couple numbers for the bling giveaway. I numbered the comments on the two posts regarding the contest, threw out mine, the hubs, and one of the duplicate comments and the winners are....Bertie and Victoria. I'll shoot you an email, but if you get your information here before I do, send me your mailing address (susanentwistle at yahoo dot com) and I'll get your bling in the mail.

Tomorrow night is our last Guild meeting for the summer and Secret Sisters will be revealed. Now I can see who gave me all the great gifts throughout the year....they were certainly intuitive with a bunch of them (especially the glittery day of the dead skeleton fabric). Should be fun.

Well, I'm off to finish that row of meandering on Kiwi and then into bed to ..... wait, a commercial for 'The OCD Project'.....I LOVE TV!!!!!!!!! Maybe I should have gotten a DVR when I upgraded the studio cable box to hi def...hmmm.....

The Official Paco Seal of Approval

No pins. Binding is on. Don't have the heart to take it away from him to sew on the label. He's sooooo tired. Poor thing.

The quilt show idea fizzled...an hour of highway driving, and though he said he'd go, I could tell the hubs really would rather not. The discount fabric place turned out to be a discount UPHOLSTERY fabric place (good thing I went to their website before heading up there), so that idea tanked as well. What to do.....I decided that we should drive to Baltimore to a quilt shop I've never been to where I could buy some Broder machine thread for applique. This is the best single ply cotton thread for hand applique on cotton, and it's not easy to find--it's made in France, which might be why. At any rate, 9 spools, on sale for under 3 bucks each....I'm a happy camper.  Exactly what I need for my Piece O Cake Designs project.

After that we drove to Westminster, MD to check out Westminster Mall (they have a Belk, which I love to go to when we're in Florida). Of course we had to pop into the Rite Aid that sold only alcohol (but your receipt had coupons on it for prescriptions). Alrighty then. It was a nice summer day, the hubs was driving, the scenery was great and I was able to bind most of Neptune in the car, and I bought home a bottle of French champagne (it was a French kind of day today, oui?). What more could a girl want.

Check in tomorrow for the giveaway winners, and a sneak peak at Kiwi Jubilee. I'm going to review a couple of patterns for some upcoming projects and I'm off to join Paco in Dreamland.

Scissor Bling Giveaway Reminder

Last call for free bling. These are the two scissor leashes up for grabs this week. You've got until the stroke of midnight Saturday night to post a comment and I'll announce winners on Sunday. Again, be sure if your name doesn't link back to your blog with an email on the profile, to include your email address in your entry. Excellent chances so far...only 3 entries.

I've been working on Neptune. A bit more work in the sashing and then I need to figure out a pattern to quilt in the border...something seaworthy might be nice. I've free-styled some 'waves' (and I use the term lightly---VERY lightly) in the sashing.

Tomorrow's adventure is either a trip to this discount fabric store I just heard about that's up in Thurmont (hmmm...maybe I'll run into Michelle Obama...it is right in the Camp David neighborhood...you think she's interested in 30% off already deeply discounted fabric?) or maybe a trip to the Quilters Unlimited show an hour in the opposite direction in Chantilly, VA. Depends on what the hubs is up for....he needs to play chauffeur to make up for playing softball Tues-Fri, and going out with our daughter Saturday night (Grace Jones and the Nocturnals at the 9:30 Club, and next week the two of them go see Patty Griffith and Buddy Guy..a bit of daddy/daughter bonding over beers and loud music). This is what happens when you're conveniently too booked to take me out for my birthday. Paybacks are Hell, aren't they, honey?