Remembering to breathe

Things have been a little wild in my world since my last post.

First of all, my fiance and I decided on a wedding date!  And it is 6 weeks from today.  I was in full panic mode last week about all kinds of details.  I've settled down since then.  My dress and the suits have been purchased.  My maid of honor has just purchased her airline ticket and sent me a link to an adorable LBD that she plans on wearing.  Hotel rooms have been booked.  Ok, the to-do list is now manageable.

Secondly, my mom and my daughter will be moving in with me in the next couple of weeks.  So there has been some re-arranging of furniture.  I'm looking forward to spending girl time together.

I finished a lap-sized Sponge Bob quilt for a friend of mine back in Washington.  I forgot to take a picture of it before I mailed it to her  :-(  Hopefully I can get her to take a picture and send it my way.

I'm now in the process of marking another quilt for quilting.  One more thing to cross off my list.

Of course there is always the job thing, too!  Need to keep going there to pay for all my toys.

Oh, and did I mention that I'm getting married in 6 weeks and I'm excited beyond words?!? 

Happy quilting everyone!!

Update: Frosty Wreath

Yes, I can be called tenacious at times -- probably many times.  It was really driving me crazy that I couldn't remember the designer of the wreath quilt.  I remembered it was someone's initials.  So Google and I got cozy and I finally found it!  The wreath is by MH Designs.  I love her work.  I have a couple of other patterns of hers buried in my stash.  Take a trip over to Mary's website and wander around the patterns for a while.  You'll have a great time.  The wreath is in the Christmas section.

Daydreaming...

It's been a roller-coaster week at work.  I'm sitting in my cubicle pounding out SQL code, but I'm daydreaming of quilting.  I think I need a little quilt therapy to counter-act the work week.  I'm anxious to get my Sponge Bob lap quilt done so that I can try out my new pattern and tools for the Less Than Traditional quilt.  Has anyone done one yet?

A frosty wreath

This is my paper pieced Mona Lisa!!  Again, my poor camera doesn't do the fabric justice as they are all Fairy Frosts.  Unfortunately I can't remember who the pattern is by.  I know I still have a copy of the pattern buried somewhere in the sewing room.

Anyway, this was definitely a labor of love.  It has 20 flower blocks in it and each one has many seams.  I believe at one point I thought it was going to be the never ending quilt.  As you can tell, I haven't gotten around to the actual quilting part.  I'm scared to death to quilt it!  Isn't that just silly??  It's so pretty I'm afraid I'm going to mess it up - LOL.  The quilt is about 21" unfinished.  And one day soon I WILL tackle it.

Leftovers

My ex-husband and I attended the wedding of one of the ladies that worked for him back around 2000.  Being the nut that I am, I decided they needed a quilt for the wedding.  Yeah, and I decided this a couple of weeks before the wedding.  I know, we've all been there and done that.  Needless to say, the quilt didn't get done by the time of the wedding, but it did get done before their first anniversary.  This little quilt was made with some of the leftovers from the wedding quilt.  My camera doesn't do the colors justice.  The fabric has several shades of blue and a mossy green in it.  I fell in love with it the minute I saw it, and I'm not really a blue person.

When I discovered I had enough fabric left over for a mini, I knew I wanted a bears paw.  This has always been one of my favorite blocks.  The quilt measures 20" square and is not paper pieced.  Like the Mary E. quilt, it has been in my office, several cubicles and now resides on the wall of my sewing room.

My first finished quilt

This was my first fully completed quilt.  I think I finished it in 1998 or there abouts.  I had tried quilting several times without a lot of luck.  Blocks weren't squared, my 1/4" seams were gone, etc.  This really frustrated me because I had been a seamstress for so many years!  At a quilting and sewing expo in Puyallup, WA, I wandered into a booth where a lady was sewing on paper.  Of all the things!  This completely fascinated me.  She let me try and before I knew it --- I had a block!!!  I was hooked.  I bought this pattern and a few others, took them home and used my scraps to start piecing.  And wouldn't you know it, I suddenly understood the mechanics, if you will, of quilting.  Shortly there after I bought several software packages just for paper piecing.  I still love to paper piece.

This is still one of my favorite quilts.  First of all, I love Mary Engelbreit designs so this always brightens my day.  Secondly, it represents my overcoming of an obstacle and an introduction to a new love.  The quilt hung in my office when I was a professor and has been on many cubicle walls.  Sadly, the colors are starting to fade a bit, but I still love it.

It is currently hanging in my very first ever dedicated sewing room!!!!

Comments

Thanks to the ladies of the smallquilttalk yahoo group for testing my blog for me!!  I figured out how to allow anonymous comments.  So comment away :-)

Introductions...

I've been a database geek and developer for almost 20  years and this is my FIRST foray into the blogging world.  Wonder what took me so long?? :-)

I'm a native of the Pacific Northwest...born and raised there.  Just over two years ago I moved from the lush green to the beautiful desert for both physical and mental stability (there's a story about an ex-husband there).  The move was life changing and life affirming for me.  I've truly blossomed here in the desert.  With both of my children now out of the home I have more time to devote to crafting (in theory).  

As usual I have lots of WIPs going on.  My current ones include two lap quilts that have the tops done and are waiting for me to finish the quilting.  I also have a baby blanket that I'm knitting and a couple of cross-stitching pictures that need some attention as well.  The hard part is finding time to do all of them!

I'm contemplating getting into the writing game.  I'd love to put together some quilts for a small book.  We'll see how it goes.  I also have some ideas for a novel as well.  But again, it's all about time.