Another Block Party Weekend

Finally, after all the wonderful craziness and chaos that was summer here in our family, I think things are finally - kinda - back to some kind of normal.  A new normal, to be sure, since WH decided to go to law school and thus I am home alone.  I am, of course, desperately behind with everything, and so my plan for the weekend was to start getting caught up.

My VQB friends have been very patient as I totally dropped out of everything to make a wedding happen.  I am glad to say that the dress - and the wedding - turned out wonderfully, and BD#2 and DSIL#2 are happily embarking on their new life together.

And, after a wonderful visit, BD#1, DSIL#1 and beautiful little Abby have gone home.

So this weekend, I planned nothing but catching up.  First, my friend had a birthday a month or two ago, and luckily she was understanding about the whole wedding thing.  I'm sure you'll agree that a friend like that deserves a gift, after all.  So here it is, more than a month late.  (Hopefully she will receive the gift before she reads this blog!)

I guess her kitchen colors are the same as mine, because this would go great in my kitchen. I toyed with the idea of keeping it....  But no, that would just be too lame.

Then on to the blocks...  First thing was to finish the Christmas Fabric Bee. This bee should have finished up in August, and here I am dragging it out and preventing everyone from getting their quilts done for Christmas.  These ladies have truly been very understanding.  First, for Kari.  This one was a humdinger. 

These blocks are gorgeous, aren't they?  And they are just about as difficult as they look.  And since I apparently can't READ instructions (I was following the pictures in the tute) my seam ripper and I became even better acquainted.  I was actually afraid there wouldn't be enough fabric left to sew it together.  Should you decide you want to try it, the tutorial is here.

Next, the August blocks for Cassie.  These are drunkard's path blocks, which I had never tried before, but the curves aren't as hard as you might think.  The tutorial for these is here.

There.  All done.  Another bee officially finished.  It's kinda sad, really.  These ladies were great to work with, and lots of fun.  I love a bee that stretches your creativity and skills, and this one certainly did that.

Some of these same ladies are in the Fall Bee, which turns out not to necessarily be fall-themed since it goes into February or March.  It should maybe be a holiday bee.  The first block (August again) was Halloween, so that one qualifies as fall.

This one is a Triple Irish Chain, and it was really easy.  I enjoyed putting this one together.  Easy peasy.  I'm not a particularly Halloween-y girl, but I can't wait to see this quilt finished.  Love the purple in it.  Very fun!

This starburst block is supposed to be fall, but to me this block screams SUMMER!!!  I'm not great at paper piecing yet, and this block has its issues, but Carrie said she wanted wonky, and I think she got it.  I made the mistake of doing one side with the "ink" toward me as I worked, and the other side of the block with the "ink" away from me.  Needless to say, the centers did NOT meet.  So wonky it is. Still, I like the block.  It is so wonderfully colorful.  I'm thinking of this as the inspiration for my next pillow talk swap pillow.  What do you think?

Sarah wanted a Christmas-themed block, and what's more Christmas-y than a present?  Well, lots of things, perhaps, but a present it is, nonetheless.  This block too was great fun to put together.  I'm thinking maybe one day a whole quilt of presents, all different fabrics and shapes and sizes.  Wouldn't that be fun?

And, in my spare time this weekend (mostly while watching General Conference), I made 100 thank you notes for the newlywed couple, so folks don't think they're ungrateful sots. (I find that I'm more successful at watching GC if my hands are busy with some mindless task - it helps me stay awake and lets  me focus on what's being said.)

Now, what do I have left to do?  Well, I'm participating in the Scrappy Bow-tie Block Swap, so I need 20 bow-tie blocks by Saturday.  I also need the next installment of the Santa Sack Swap to magically get in the mail tomorrow (no, I doubt that will happen), and I leave Wednesday to visit family and head off to Sewing Summit, so naturally there's packing to do.  Of course, I had planned to make the CUTEST name tag, a tote bag, and some other stuff.  Nope, don't think that will happen either.  And, I think I can have fun at Sewing Summit without any of that.  I'm excited to meet everyone and learn some fun new stuff.  Hope you're going too.  See ya there!

Best Wishes Mr. and Mrs. Quinton

The past 3 weeks have gone by in an absolute blur, but the dress is finished the wedding is over and BD#2 and her new husband are off on their honeymoon.  BD#1 and her husband were the most gracious hosts and allowed us to use their home as a base for all of the chaos.  The wedding and reception were lovely, and it was great to see some old friends who came to share the day with us.

Now that it's over, it is time for a much needed rest, and then perhaps back to some of our normal activities.  At least, I hope so.  I have missed quilting and swapping and following the exploits of my blogging friends - as soon as I catch up on some much-needed sleep.

I FINALLY Remembered to Take Pictures - A Bridal Shower Story

Last Saturday, our friend Bonnie gave BD#2 a bridal shower.  We had so much fun!  

The food was wonderful, and there was a ton of it.  We ate and ate....

We looked at photos of BD#2 when she was growing up....

The bride got some great gifts...

There was lots of love shared....

We added a little bling (sorry Mitch, but this one is BIGGER)....

And we laughed and played dress up and just had a lot of fun (wasn't she a good sport?)  Check out the "LOVELY" garbage bag wedding dress, complete with sleeves and a bow in the back...

Thanks, everyone, for a memorable day!

Lucky, Lucky Me!

Several weeks ago, when life was somewhat less crazy, I was flitting around blogland when I ran across a fun giveaway at my bloggy friends Renee and Yvonne's blog. You might know them in Flickr-land as Nellie's Niceties and Nellies Niceties Too.  I just know that if I met these ladies in person, we'd be fast friends in real life.  Anyway, they were having a giveaway, and the giveaway items were fab-u-lous!!!  I immediately fell in love with the pillow Yvonne made from Aneela's Sherbert Pips.  (I have a bit of this fabric, but haven't had a chance to play with it yet.)

You know, I often say I never win anything, but this year I have, in fact, won a couple of things, including some Aurifil thread from my friend Leona's giveaway (that I haven't had a chance to try yet either) and the above FAB pillow cover - or cushion cover, as Renee put it.

This pillow is perfect!  Totally fun fabric.  Hexis.  Gorgeous hand stitching.  Cheerful colors.  And a perfect size to fit the only pillow insert  I own.  Oh - and the back is as fun as the front.  Now how perfect is that?

Check out Yvonne's wonderful hand stitching!!

And here's the back of this gorgeous pillow!

I truly love the hexis on the back.  I'm often too lazy to embellish the back in any way.  By the time I get the front put together, I just want to BE-FINISHED-ALREADY, so I just slap the back on it and call it done.  Not so this little lovely.  You can tell that a lot of care went into crafting this beauty.

So thank you Yvonne and Renee.  I am, as y'all say in England, "chuffed" to have won such a beautiful cushion cover!

And Yvonne, I wish you a speedy recovery!

Fun Bloggy Stuff

Hey y'all!  Did you see what my talented daughter created???  Yes, I'm the proud mama and I just have to share.  Isn't this gorgeous?  It's Tula Pink's Prince Charming which is pretty darn yummy fabric (I know.  I've been playing with it myself lately - when I'm not playing with wedding dresses...)

Anyway, want to win a charm pack of Prince Charming - or another charm pack of your choice?  Head on over to Leona's blog and leave a comment (or four).  One lucky winner will be able to choose a charm pack from BD#1's Etsy shop.

See, I told you it was fun!

Make Mine Modern

My Make Mine Modern Swap package is in the mail.  I've actually had it ready for awhile, but the mail date wasn't til the 10th.  Since BD#2 and I are sharing a car, I didn't actually mail it til Saturday.

The package actually consists of the pillow, done pieced square in a square fashion...

A little zipper pouch, that would be great for holding things like crochet hooks or seam rippers, or maybe even a little travel sewing kit...

A little embroidered hoop...

A pinnie...

And of course, the purpose of the whole swap, 1-1/2 yards of fabric, which in this case is 6 fat quarters of Tula Pink's Prince Charming, purchased from my fave web shop, Westwood Acres.

Partner, I hope you like it!

So Why Do I Never Remember to Take Pictures? Part 2.

You would never know it from this picture - because I forgot to take a new one yesterday when she tried it on and it fit!!!  I finally got the courage to cut off the excess and sew it back together, and when she tried it on, it was perfect!  One step down, several more to go, but still...  progress.

I nearly wimped out after she tried it on last Friday, and I called two alterations people to see if they could do it.  The first, my friend, gave me some wonderful hints, but said she just couldn't do it at this time in her life.  I do understand, and I appreciate her honesty.  The second was a "professional" and boy was that adventure a little mistake.  She hemmed and hawed and drew little pictures, and MADE AN INK MARK ON THE DRESS,that I have to figure out how to remove without leaving a spot.  And finally, she said she couldn't do it.  The good part about this adventure is that it made me so mad I came home, sat down, and made it fit.  Even the corset fits (thanks for the hints, Gloria).  And to top it off, I even have a pretty good pattern for the top.

So now, the next puzzle.  I have just one piece of fabric - a matte satin .  It has lovely weight on its own, but I don't want to mark the embroidery design on it, and I'm afraid to just be random.  So do I leave it whole and embroider it?  Cut it out and embroider it?  Or do I add the pieces to the dress and embroider it?  What is the best stabilizer to use?  Is there a stabilizer that I can mark the embroidery lines on that can be removed cleanly without leaving residue or little tufts of paper on the fabric? Anyone have expertise in this area they can share?