Lucky me!

I got my quilt from the ALQS today-I am beyond thrilled. I saw this gorgeous little tree of life quilt on Cathi's blog and knew I would be so jealous of whoever got it because it was perfect. When I opened the mailbox today and saw a package with a postmark from Ireland it was all I could do not to sit down right there and rip it open. I practically skipped back home and tore into it the second I got in the door.

Isn't it beautiful!

I couldn't get a good picture of the quilting but Kathi used a stipple in the middle for the tree lovely loose feathers in the corners that really complement the top.

She also sent me some some lovely bits of fabric and a Bailey's Irish Cream Truffle Bar. Our post man decided to flatten the chocolate bar a little bit when he stuffed it in our mailbox but you know what-squished chocolate tastes just as good-lol-I can vouch for that because I've all ready sampled the goods.

Thank you, thank you, thank you Cathi-in case I didn't mention it I'm thrilled!

Look at me go!

I was all set today to show you my progress on my mini quilt for the ALQS swap I'm in but in a fit of productive energy last night I finished it! Ok, ok, I still have to write on the label so 99.9% done.

Here's the top...


Close up on the quilting...

A look at the little hanging tabs on the back.

This is the first mini quilt I've ever made and I found the process to be quite enjoyable. Good thing too since I've already signed up for the next round of the Miniature Booty Swap. We should be getting out partner info for that swap soon.

I learned a couple things from this swap-one is that it's nerve wracking trying to make a quilt for someone else! I really hope my partner likes this.

I think the next one I make I'll choose a block where there's not so many seams meeting in the corners. The points where 4 star blocks come together were definitely bulky even using a smaller seam allowance and it was definitely a challenge trying to get those points to match up.

DD is going to Grandma's this weekend so that means some lovely quilting time for me so hopefully I'll be showing you pictures of my row for the Row Robin I'm in either tonight or tomorrow.

I also signed up for the Birthday Block Swap Round 2 so hopefully I can work on a couple of those blocks with weekend. Not really because I need to but just because they're so darn fun. This is one of my favorite swaps. Last year I was in two groups-one theme was Halloween stars and the other was Chocolate covered cherries. I got gorgeous blocks from each of those. This year I'm in one group but it's a big one so I'll get as many blocks as I did from the last swap where I was in 2 groups. Instead of picking a theme I picked the Brasstown Stars block done with batiks on black backgrounds. I can't wait till September when I get my blocks!

I see your true colors shining through....

I finally got my quilt top together for the ALQS and took it out in the sunshine to take a picture of it. So now instead of me posting a pic and saying "it's not such a hot picture" I can officially say look-this is what it looks like!



See the shadows on the left hand side. We have this gigantic tree right in front of our apartment-it's absolutely gorgeous and even on the hottest sunniest day our patio is in the shade 95% of the day. There's about a 1 hour window where it gets full sun but even then I've got some shadowy bits. So now you know why all my pictures turn out so dark! I can't complain though-it's only on the hottest days we have to run the air with all that nice shade so that big tree saves us a bundle.

After I took the picture I sandwiched the top and started quilting it-I've got just over half of the top quilted so I'm really pleased with the progress. Originally I'd planned a pieced border to follow the purple (which was going to be thinner) but once I got the purple on it just looked right so I decided to listen to my quilter muse and stop.

And then there were four....

I had such good intentions to post last night. I was going to do a little piecing during the Dallas/San Jose game and then post once the game was over. That of course was before it went to 4 overtimes. The game finally wrapped up around 1:30am with a win by Dallas. After that I went straight to bed and crashed-hence no post. Very exciting-this is the farthest Dallas has gotten in quite awhile so I'm thrilled. Fingers crossed they can keep the streak going!

The upside of 4 overtimes is that I was super productive and got way more done on my ALQS quilt than I'd expected. I've got 15 1/4 blocks done and quite a few more in progress. I need 48 quarter blocks to make the quilt so I'm cooking right along.

Anyone got the pattern figured out already?


These little sprouts are zinnias-or will be zinnias providing I don't kill them...


Dd and Grandma planted them and we're planning on taking them down to Grammy's house for Mother's day to plant in her garden. Of course we'd no sooner placed them in the windowsill after we planted them than the cat tipped them over and played in the dirt so some of our carefully cracked eggs look a little worse for the wear.

Fabric, goodies, and swap blocks

Look what the mailman brought today-these are Lucy's blocks for the HST swap. Hmmm...I'm sensing a purple and yellow theme amongst our swappers. Wouldn't purple and yellow make a pretty quilt? Might make a good swap-but what block to use?
I also did a bit of shopping today. I'm taking part in Kate's Another Little Quilt Swap. I decided on a pattern the other day and went to the quilt store to pick out fabric today. I hunted around and grabbed a few different bolts of multicolored focus fabric and decided I liked this orange dot best. Then I picked out the gold and dark plum to accent it and the creamy tan for the background. It's not the best picture of the fabric-it's a cloudy day here so not much light but I love the fabrics. I can't wait to get started on it. I'm planning on doubling up and making 2-one to keep and one for my buddy. Someone posted that they did that in a doll quilt swap they were in and I thought it was a neat idea-that way I won't be so sad to see my little quilt take off for it's new home.

I also went to Hancock's to pick up some fabric for a border on my Halloween quilt (which I hope to have done before Halloween this year!) and found some goodies for the crazy quilt swap I'm taking part in. I wasn't actually planning on shopping for the swap so I didn't have my list of swappers preferences with me so I stuck with neutrals that would work with most everyone's stuff.

For embellishments I got some seed pearls, gold dragonfly charms, 3 yards of ribbons, some silver key charms, some cream colored flowers, and some little silver charms that say "Believe" on them.

For fabrics I got some cream colors satin, some peachy/cream silky stuff-I can't remember off hand what it is, and some creamy paisley brocade. The 2 FQ's are cream colored jacquard I picked up while I was at the LQS. I still have more shopping to do for this swap but that will have to wait until next week.

My LQS is in the middle of the city but the parking lot butts up next to a little wooded area. It's not uncommon to see deer there and today when we pulled up there were 3 deer, a mallard duck in a big puddle, and some little creature we couldn't identify. We watched it for a long time trying to figure out what it was but it was far enough away and the weeds were high enough that we couldn't ID it. I don't think it was a possum or raccoon. It walked like a badger but I don't know how likely it would be to see a badger walking around by the LQS. It has that sort of elongated body though like a badger or weasel shape. So that's the days mystery-the Quilt Ness creature.