Playing catch up

Just on my blog posts really, I've been keeping pretty busy, so here's photos of what I've been up to:

 

I participated in my first Quilts of Valor Sew In with some ladies in my guild.  I was only able to stay for half the day, but it was a lot of fun and I look forward to contributing again in the future.  My machine is the unmanned one at this table :)

 

 

Tried my hand at the disappearing hourglass, a mini of course, look at how tiny this thing is!

 

Treated myself to the Tri-Recs ruler so I can work on this awesome wall hanging I got from Connecting Threads.  So far I have everything ready to sew it all together, and the ruler made the cutting so much easier.

 

Thomas decided this was where he was going to lay at that moment, and nothing phased him for 30 minutes.  It was his spot.

 

I modeled my 2nd Snapshots block after my own machine, I may or may not keep it that way, I'll wait til we make the other blocks.  I do have plans to alter the vehicle block to look like my truck, and will change the teapot into a cocoa mug (I just have no teapot association at all...)

 

#fqssnapshots blocks one and two

 

And finally, John and I have been getting out into the sunshine, it's been great to get some walks in.  Today it was only 30 degrees, but the last couple weeks it's been in the 50s.  Weirdest winter, and I so wanted snow on my birthday last Wednesday.  But I settled for a delicious homemade steak dinner (which I made, my mom and I share a birthday so we had dinner with mom, dad, and my sister at my mom's house).  I actually had a really fabulous birthday!  Hard to go wrong when it starts with a foot massage.

 

And here's some happy cats:

 

Pillow Talk

"My kitty!" Thomas is telling me

Ahhh, sunshine

 

Have a happy day!

~Brandy

There are some perks to being sick...

Such as actually having time to write a blog post!  And getting some lap time with the kitty.

 

 

Belle has become quite the snuggler, and is actually asleep on my lap as I type this.  Thomas is getting better about letting us pet him, and occasionally hold him for a few moments.  Belle doesn't like being held.  I'm still very happy with how well they are adjusting.  Also, a plug for Fresh Step cat litter, WOW!  That stuff is incredible, and saves our home from smelling really awful.  Thank you to that company and the people who made such a thing possible.  I still think we ought to train the cats to use the toilet though... lol

 

So I am participating in a parade!  Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts is hosting a sew along for this adorable pattern she came up with, and I was instantly attracted to.  I love the colors.  I'm not obsessed with elephants, but I have a friend who is, so I made this for her:

 

 

 

 

 

I have it basted and ready to quilt, and hope to get it done in the next couple days to send off, she lives in Texas and has no idea it's coming

(as far as I know she doesn't read this blog...)

 

I actually had a customer recently!  I had dropped business cards at the quilt shops in case someone needs a small quilt quilted, or for when people who don't sew ask at the shop if someone can make a quilt for them, then they have my information, and a lady called with a top finished but needing quilting.  I was so excited!!  I did learn that I did not charge enough, basically I ended up being paid $5 an hour to quilt this for her, so lesson learned.  I underestimated how long it would take to do this (took over 8 hours) and I will not undervalue my time!  I'm worth more and am well aware of it.

 

 

I ended up not quilting on the bear, but did outline any place with lace, mainly to make sure the lace wouldn't get pulled out by small hands.  Also, that binding was from a yard sale, a JCPenney brand of pre-made binding which was in surprisingly good shape, but probably 40 years old.  I was a little nervous about it, but we shall see if I hear back from them.

 

Super Bowl Sunday was exciting, I made this block, which will become a pillow sham, and I'm trying out a different method of assembly which I will share in the future, when I actually get it finished.  I just LOVE this mottled brown I got, perfect football color.  I made this block based on the Touchdown pattern by Cluck Cluck Sew

 

Made some homemade bread for our chili cookoff, we all ended up winning, because the best chili was made by mixing all 6 of them together!

 

And look!  We used my table runner, Woohoo!

 

 

And I made this bag for my co-worker's other niece, who is a math teacher.  Perfect fabric find!!  Tried an Orange Peel quilting method, and it turned out ok, but next time I will make them smaller.  These were on a 2 3/4 inch grid, and weren't as tight as I would have preferred.  But it turned out pretty well.

 

Ok, off to the doctor's office, I hope you all are staying healthy!

 

~Brandy