ALQS Sneak Peek and other Wednesday Happenings

Here is a teaser for the quilt I am making for Another Little Quilt Swap. I have been working diligently and it is actually quilted now. In fact, all I have left to do is bind it and label it. I have enjoyed the research and the 'stretch' this little quilt has made me do. I do not know if you do this, but in the swaps in which I participate, I stalk my swap partner. What I mean by that, is I read her blog and look at her flickr site(s) to discern likes, dislikes, style, etc. This little quilt is basically an abstraction of one photo that I saw on my partner's blog. I hope she likes it.

In other news, I have been working on the PI shawl. O. My. I have to unknit about every third row. What made me think that I could knit lace? I had this same problem when I knit this item. I guess I really need NO distractions when I knit lace. But sometimes that doesn't even help because I find my mind wandering and then Oops! there is a mistake about 3 rounds back.

I started riding my bicycle to work again this week. Remember how far it is? It is 10 miles (16 km) round trip. It felt good to be moving again. I have been sedentary for far too long. I guess I subconsciously felt that if CarGuy couldn't do it (move around, walk, etc) then I wouldn't do it. I need to change that way of thinking because it really, really felt good to exercise. Now how often do you hear that? I cut my riding time by five minutes this morning. This is a good thing because it means that I'm not coasting as often. But the bike needs to go to my peeps at the shop to get the front brakes adjusted. Boy are they loud!

Have any great and exciting plans for the weekend? Me? I'm going to finish up a paving project TheKid started, reconfigure two zones of a drip irrigation system, plant some tomatoes, chop down some weeds and tall grasses and other assorted garden stuff. Once I get the bag of sand for the paving project out of the back of the truck, the pop-up camper can go onto the bed of the truck for the summer. Then I can mow the grass and weeds in the back section. It's one of those domino effects, you know. This can't happen until that happens which can't happen because this other thing didn't get done. I hope that by the end of the weekend I not only will be caught up with the yarden but be a slight bit ahead. Does that ever happen?

If I have any time left over, I do want to get the binding done on the ALQS quilt. And make a bag. I warm up for free-motion quilting on a fairly large quilt sandwich which is almost covered and decided that my practice pieces like this would make excellent quilted bags and use up stash! Maybe I'll have something to show by Monday or Tuesday next week.

A Quilt Show

I went to the 2008 Denver International Quilt Festival several weeks ago. Here is a sampling of some of the spectacular quilts. If you are reading this post through a newsreader like Bloglines, I suggest you click through to my blog so you can view the slide show.

More on the Homespun Arrowhead Puzzle Block

This is the Arrowhead Block from the last post. I played around with it in Electric Quilt. These are 6" blocks, no sashing, 40x52 final size. Using these colors reminds me of Christmas wreaths with red berries on them.

Homespun BOM: Arrowhead Puzzle

Since the next meeting of the Material Girls is fast approaching and the latest installment of the Block of the Month will be distributed, I thought it was time to show the April block.

I am not too fond of this block and hope it will 'bury' itself in the top. Maybe it is my selection of fabrics? I dunno. Electric Quilt will help with the 'burying' of the block. Each month I plug the latest block into my quilt setting. And shuffle them around. And rotate them. And shuffle some more.

This is 'Arrowhead Puzzle' and the pattern for the block can be found at Marcia Hohn's Quilter's Cache site.

If you are playing along with me, there are only 4 more blocks left after this one and you might want to consider thinking about your own layout.

4SQS-Summer Sign Up

The summer round of the Four Seasons Quilt Swap is about to begin! You can find more information on the 4SQS blog. The swap will be capped at 75 participants whichever comes first, so act quickly!

The Duel: The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat

Michele, over at With Heart and Hands, A Quilting Journey had a post on Friday honoring her mother. The poem that she posted reminded me of this little quilt.

I did not make this quilt. This was published in McCall's Needlework & Crafts Bicentennial Quilt Book (1976). Here is the blurb:

"Two favorite nursery pals are multiplied by three for six go-to-sleep friends. Applique each dog or cat with bright scraps of calico or gingham , add winsome faces with simple embroidery, and frame in cheerful yellow calico. An interesting square-in-square quilting design sculpts the border. Quilt measures about 34" x 44". Designer is Gertrude M. Rice."

It's a cute little quilt, don't you think? The fabric choices are O-so-70's, but that is what was available.

I also went on a search through my book shelves. I found my little book: One Hundred Best Poems for Boys and Girls compiled by Marjorie Barrows, published in 1930. This was my mother's book and now mine. The poems in this book are illustrated with silhouettes and have such titles as Pirate Don Durk of Dowdee and The Night Will Never Stay and The Owl and the Pussycat. The Duel by Eugene Field is in here along with my all time favorite:

The Purple Cow
by Gelett Burgess

I never saw a purple cow,
I never hope to see one.
But this I will say anyhow
I'd rather see than be one.

Yes, I have been quilting for this long.
Happy Mother's Day!

Add to Shopping Cart

I'm doing my part to help the economy. The wonderful little pattern, Zigzag 9, was won from Suzanne at Salt Creek Quilt Co. I purchased the Pajama Quilt DVD and workbook combo. I wanted to show more of the Zigzag 9 pattern cover but the wind was blowing and this was the configuration that worked to take a photo.

You know, I seem to shop online when I don't have time to create. I find myself in the wee hours of the morning poking buttons. I have lately begun shopping for Auntie online because I just can't find it anywhere else. In fact I just purchased this and this. In my defense, I did it online after I scoured all the stores in the area for the table. And frankly, the shoes could only be purchased at this type of store. Of course, that does not explain the two books I added to the Amazon order to get the free shipping or the order from Clotilde for the Miranda Day Bag pattern or the order from the custom cane store for CarGuy's birthday present. This purchase of a cane for him was a necessity more than a luxury. It is a hand-carved hickory cane with a Derby head. There is a band of sterling silver where the head meets the cane and the cane is carved in a diamond pattern similar to this.

Who says that a utilitarian item needs to be ugly? Think of a quilt!