Super Busy!

I've been busy as a bee all weekend, working on quilting and decorating projects. And I have several things to show you too! However . . . most of it will have to wait, because I know you're already pretty excited about the Be Mine Blog Tour and I don't want your head to explode.

So, we'll just talk about two things tonight. First, I finished the Layer Cake Quilt Along block. And, really, the only reason I'm not going to make you wait to see this one is because I need to get it posted to the Flickr group because the next block pattern will be out on Tuesday.

I changed around the placement of a couple of the blocks because I liked the way it looked with my fabrics better, but I didn't change much.

And the second thing? The blog tour, of course! Sherri of A Quilting Life is the designer for day two, and you're going to love her simple to make but stunning runner. Want to see it?

Go on over and visit Sherri--and make sure to leave a comment to let her know how much you appreciate her hard work! Oh, and there's also that other thing about leaving a comment--it will make you eligible to win some pretty good prizes!

So what are you hanging around HERE for? Go!

Just Like Christmas Morning!

It's here, it's here! The Be Mine Blog Tour has begun. Yay!

Today Vickie, the organizer behind this Valentine event, is kicking off the tour. Vickie is the blog mistress of Spun Sugar Quilts, and she has a tutorial posted on her blog, showing us how to make these super cute heart ornaments--

See? I'm not the only one who has a Valentine tree!

I think that most of us--Vickie included--are smitten with the happy new line of Giddy fabric, but I can imagine these hearts made using more traditional fabrics and embellished with buttons and lace, can't you? And Vicky's directions make them super simple too!

By the way, we've set up a Flickr group where you can post photos of any of the projects you make. You can visit it HERE to see what everyone is doing during and after the tour. Please join us! The group is open to everyone.

I've been making paper heart ornaments for my Valentine tree today--because, of course, I didn't know Vickie was going to give us this great tutorial. I guess I should have waited, darn it! I'd show them to you, but the glitter is still drying and I haven't attached the ribbon ties yet. I'll show you another day.

I got together with my stitchery group today and gave them a sneak peek at my blog tour project--they seemed to like it, so all I have to do now is write up the directions and post them on my day.

In the meantime, though, go visit Vickie and post a comment on her blog to be eligible to win some really cool prizes from the Fat Quarter Shop!

Step Away From The Cotton

As someone who loves textiles but primarily quilts, it's always a little scary but somewhat liberating for me to play around with fabrics that aren't the standard printed cotton fabrics we use every day. A couple of days ago, I posted a photo of one of our cats with this pillow in the background--

Want to know how it came about? Well, two years ago, I found this sweater in a thrift store . . .

. . . and I decided to use it to make something frilly for Valentine's Day. A heart pillow seemed just the thing! I liked the button detail, so I incorporated it into the design. In fact, the buttons made it really simple to sew a heart shape and then turn the pillow cover right side out. There's a secondary muslin heart pillow inside that holds the fiberfill. AND the crocheted cover can be unbuttoned and removed for washing. Cool, huh?!

Thrift store garments are ideal for these kinds of projects because they're inexpensive and because sometimes we can find the most interesting textures, prints, and colors in clothing that can't be easily found in fabric on the bolt.

The other day I visited the thrift store and gathered up some interesting pink and white garments for a little creative play.

If you have some free time this weekend, stop by your local thrift store and see if anything sparks your imagination. And here's a great tip: Make sure you check the children's clothing section. Quite often, little girls' dresses are frilly, lacy, and cute as can be--and that's a great start for a Valentine or spring time project. In addition, children's clothing is usually about half the price of adult clothing.

I'll be sure to show you what I make with my treasures!

In the News

Internet headlines. For the past week or two it seems like a BUNCH of Hollywood actors and actresses have passed away, doesn't it? For some time now, every night I'd write my blog post and then click over to Yahoo, only to find a story about yet another one or two passing away. Some I didn't know and some I did. Of course, I had to check the ones I didn't know so I could figure out who they were. I know that Betty White is still around, but is anyone else over the age of 80?

Before I wrote tonight, I thought I'd check Yahoo to see who died today. No one--or no one important--but perhaps they're just waiting for me to post to my blog before they shuffle off this mortal coil. Gosh, do you think it's ME and my blog that's killing them? I never thought about it that way before!

Anyway, when I checked, I found there are some interesting headlines tonight even if no one famous has died. Yet. Figure skater Johnny Weir came out of the closet and announced he's gay. Shocker, right?

Then there's this: "Chemical signal in women's tears a turnoff for men." Seriously, do we really believe it's a CHEMICAL that men don't like? Do men find other men's tears attractive, I wonder, since it seems to be a chemical found only in WOMEN's tears? And what do they mean when they say women's tears are a "turnoff"? Do they mean that when a woman cries, a man is less likely to become aroused? Gosh, that seems like simply a matter of self-preservation to me! If my man got excited when I cried, it would probably only happen once or twice before he'd never get excited again. AND sing in a high, girlish voice. I wonder what kind of chemicals HE'd cry then?

In a potentially related story, "Butterfly sex: Cool weather makes females seducers." Do butterflies have hot flashes, I wonder?

Some people find the news depressing; I find it sort of amusing. It's just a matter of perspective. I guess I'd better go see who's died now. Sure hope it's not Betty White.

P.S.: Yes, I did also see that apparently God was behind the "Big Bang." I've kind of suspected it all along because it's a nice way to reconcile religion and science. And yes, there are all kinds of jokes here too, but I don't want to be struck dead. I'm just not famous enough yet.

I Bet I Could Do Brain Surgery Now Too!

I've been messing around with my blog again, and I think I'm happy with it. I sure hope you are too! Every now and then I get a little crazy and start playing around with the HTML code in the template and, well, I know next to nothing about writing HTML code, so I have mixed results. For a long time there, my blog was kind of lopsided with everything shifted a bit to the right, including the header, but after messing around and plugging different numbers into different places tonight, I think it's pretty much centered again. And, as you can see, I'm getting ready for the Be Mine Blog Tour by gussying up the background and adding all sorts of stuff to the sidebar including a spot for the 11 IN '11 quilts. And yes, I'd sure be happy as punch if any of you want to join me in that goal! In fact, if any of you know anything about making cute buttons and feel like messing around with something for us for 11 IN '11, please have at it. You know me--left to my own devices, I'll start messing around with HTML code again and with my luck, my whole BLOG will explode into atomic particles! But if you want to commit to making 11 quilts this year, after the blog tour, I'll ask you to email me so I can keep a list in my sidebar of participants--watch for it!

(I'd really like to say something about that photo up there, but I can't because it's a secret, okay? Wink, wink!)

One of the things I took out of my sidebar is the list of books I've read recently--because it's been blank or out of date for quite awhile now. I don't know why, but at some point, and I think it was while I was off work with the carpal tunnel problems, I lost all interest in keeping it current. But I AM still reading. In fact, right now I'm reading this book:

It's an interesting book and there's a certain mood of suspense that I quite enjoy, but I'm half way through the book and the suspense is getting a bit old. I was hoping it would be a real page-turner; it's not, but that doesn't mean it's not a pretty good book anyway. Have any of you read it or anything else by Kate Morton? I looked at a couple other books by her but I thought I'd start with this one. If you've read something else by her, I'd be interested in hearing what you thought.

One of the BEST places to find books, I think, is the thrift store. I was in Goodwill the other day and found these books:

I've either heard good things about the books or authors for most of these. Have you read any of them? If so, what are your thoughts?

As you can see, Spike is pretty excited about the blog tour and Valentine's Day.

When I found those books at the thrift store, I was actually there to look for some clothing that could be "up-cycled" into heart pillows like the white one there and other Valentine's projects. I'll have to show you what I found soon! Thanks for stopping by for a visit.

You Say "Self-Indulgent" Like It's a Bad Thing

New Year's resolutions. It seems like everyone makes them, doesn't it? Quitting smoking. Getting more exercise. Eating healthy. Losing weight. Spending less money. Buying less fabric. HUH?! Why would you want to do THAT? Actually, none of these resolutions sound like good ideas to me. I mean sure, I have an ongoing goal to eat healthy, but we all need a nearly unobtainable goal or two, don't we? That's why God gave us stuff like Cheetos! Mostly I'm happy enough doing more of what I've been doing in the past. After all, I've been what I am for a long time now, and the world hasn't ended yet, right?

For me at least, making New Year's resolutions means setting myself up to fail because very few people can stick with a New Year's resolution all year long, myself included. But sure, I think about resolutions. I prefer, though, to set goals. And really, tell me this: Why would I want to set a goal that is difficult, painful, or less than fun to achieve? So here's my "goal" for 2011: "11 in 11."

What does "11 in 11" mean? Well, my plan is to finish 11 quilt projects in 2011. That averages out to one quilt a month with December off. The monthly Le Petite projects don't count, nor do other quick projects like tablerunners, etc. Projects that count toward satisfying my goal have to be projects that are large enough to take a little bit of time. Decreasing the number of unfinished quilt tops I have by getting a few quilted and bound DOES count. So the plan is do-able, I think, but not easy.

On Sunday, I pulled out a quilt top I had pinned but set aside, and I started quilting it. Here's how it looks so far:

I've just finished quilting all of the inside, but I still have the border to quilt and then all the binding to stitch, of course. This quilt is probably lap size, so it's not too huge, but it's not a small project either.

If you've already blown your New Year's resolution and need another to take its place, or if this just sounds like a good goal for you too, please join me! I'm going to revamp my sidebar and make space to keep track of my progress. Hey, it's a heck of a lot more fun than getting on the scale once a week!

(And just wait until you hear about my plans for Lent, when I'm thinking about giving up vegetables! But don't tell Gran and her crazy raw vegan friends, okay?)

Be Mine--A Little Something for You

I know you're giddy with excitement about the upcoming Be Mine blog tour, and I certainly can't blame you--I'm pretty darn excited too! But remember when you were a kid and you just couldn't stand to wait until Christmas day to open your gifts, and so your mom and dad let you open just ONE gift on Christmas eve? Well, this post is kind of like that. I've found some stuff for you to play around with until the real thing gets started. Cool, huh?! Yep, I thought so too!

First is my very own pattern. Here's a photo of the "Be Mine Bird" done in wool applique and turned into a pillow:

I've tweeked the pattern a bit to add some curliques and embroidery details, so it can either be used as an embroidery pattern or for applique. There are no directions on the pattern and I haven't expanded out the different pattern pieces, so if you want to use it for applique, you should either have some experience with applique or check the internet for some basic directions. You can find a PDF of the pattern HERE.

Next, Bird Brain Designs just released their latest freebie embroidery pattern. I love their stuff--they're always cute but simple.

You can get to the Bird Brain website and pattern by clicking HERE. (If you've never visited Bird Brain, look around while you're there--really good stuff!) This design looks great on a tea towel, but I also think it would be cute on white wool and then made into a heart ornament or a pincushion. Or embroidered onto muslin and made into a little bag for holding Valentine's treats.

This frilly heart design can be used on so many different things--

This heart is from Mary Corbet's blog and a link to the PDF file can be found HERE.

Finally, here's a bit more elaborate embroidery design by Andrea Zuill. Her stuff is kind of quirky and you won't find anything else like it. Luckily, she's kind enough to design and post a free embroidery design every month (or two), and this is one she designed a couple years ago.

You can get to Andrea's design by clicking HERE.

I hope there's something here that will occupy you until the big event, but please don't get so busy that you forget to check back here between now and then. (And, by the way, isn't opening THIS better than opening a new pair of Christmas jammies, which was usually what we were allowed to open on Christmas eve?) I have a couple other projects I thought I'd share (and maybe another hint or two about my secret Be Mine blog tour project), so don't forget about me.

My Lips Are Sealed

Do you realize that the Be Mine Blog Tour starts in less than a week? If I have my days of the week figured out right, I believe the first project will be revealed next Sunday, January 9th. How fun is that?! Maybe you've seen it listed on other blogs, but in case you haven't, here's the line up--

January 9th - Vickie E of Spun Sugar Quilts

January 10th- Sherri of A Quilting Life

January 11th - Jen of Miss Punkie Pie

January 12th - Kim of Kim’s Big Quilting Adventure

January 13th - Carol of Carol's Crafty Creations

January 14th - Stephanie Little Lady Patchwork

January 15th -Natalia of Piece n Quilt

I'm supposed to keep the project I've designed a secret. So I won't say anything--my lips are sealed.

But I will tell you that I used one charm pack of Giddy fabric and about a half yard of a neutral background fabric (cream with blue circle thingys) and about a half yard of another borderish fabric (red background with pink and white leaves and hearts)--those are also from the Giddy line. I'm just saying in case you think you might want to make my mystery project using the same fabrics I used--which is totally not required, of course, but I know some people like to use the same fabrics they see in the original design. Oh, and I also pulled some random fabric from my stash to use as a backing and more stash fabric for the binding. So there you go. Something to ponder.

And did I mention prizes? I think I'm allowed to tell you that the Fat Quarter Shop has stepped up to offer prizes, and some of the designers will also offer prizes. I'd like to tell you more, but they'd probably have to kill me. I'll see what I can do about dropping a few hints this week though. Shhhhhhh!

A New Year is Here

How was your New Year's Eve and New Year's Day? Our New Year's Eve ended up being a little more active than I originally anticipated. Hubby and I went out to dinner with Soccer Son and his Lovely Wife to be Someday. We asked them to pick the restaurant and they picked a Thai restaurant, which was pretty interesting for Hubby and I because we've never really eaten Thai cuisine. It was really good! Soccer Son loves spicy food, so I can see why Thai appeals to him.

After dinner, the four of us drove over to the bar where the Wild Child was working. It's just a small hotel bar that's off the beaten path, so we knew the evening would be pretty slow for her, and she was happy to see us. We didn't stay very long, and it was still early when we left, but at least our whole family was together for a little bit on New Years Eve.

And after that? Home and a retreat to the Sweat Shop for some quality quilting time.

New Years Day has been kind of lazy. Around this time of the year, most years, I get the urge to hibernate--all I want to do is sleep, read, and eat. I don't feel like going out and doing anything. Inertia takes over and I become the laziest human being on the planet. Or at least I WANT TO BE the laziest human being on the planet, but I usually force myself to do things--take a bath; clean house; cook; brush my teeth. I think it's partially because the rush, pressure, and festivities of Christmas are over, so I go into recharge mode. Do you get like that?

In the end, though, I got quite a few things done around the house and spent more time sewing. In fact, I just finished this one:

This was the December Le Petite project--I showed you a photo of it before I quilted it but now it's all done. Did you see the parade on Sinta's blog? Click over and check it out if you have time, and from there you can click over to Sherri's blog to see the rest. They're all great!

I love the way the holiday falls this year because it seems like the weekend is super long. I can hardly believe I have one more day to play, but I do. I sincerely hope you're finding a little play time this weekend too!

Happy New Year!

I hope 2011 brings you and those close to you all the BEST!