Another Local Quilt Shop is Closing!

I heard the sad news that another quilt shop is closing its doors. Pieces Quilt Shop is located in Renton, Washington. When I had a regular contract in Renton, I went into this shop quite regularly. But that was a couple years ago.

Since then, I've only made the drive down there once every couple of months. I made the drive because I believe that we should support locally owned businesses. I really do. It makes me sad that big corporations are taking over.



Now don't get me wrong, I do still shop at Joann's. It's really the only other place I shop at besides my local quilt shops because we don't have any of the other chains near us. The only Wal Mart is also in Renton, I don't even know of a Ben Franklin near me. Although I did hear about a Hancocks Fabric somewhere in Kirkland, only about a ten minute drive.

But I make it a point to support local businesses. Family owned restaurants, dry cleaners ~ ok, well it's not very often I visit a dry cleaner, but you get the idea. I drove down to Renton, at least a 45 min drive, every couple of months with the idea that I would buy something. Not because I needed something, but because even a couple of small sales help small businesses.


I heard a statistic that said that small businesses only need 5% of the sales large corporations get to stay in business. It's not that much is it? To give 5% of our sales to local businesses?

And where do I shop? Well, I certainly didn't give Pieces 5% of my business. I shop primarily at the quilt shop in Bellevue, Quiltworks Northwest, also at a local chain called Pacific Fabrics, and at the ubiquitous Joann's. But I do a lot of online shopping, and those are often small businesses.

What does all this add up to? Well, not much really. I don't have any great lesson to share, or any wise pithy remarks. Pieces quilt shop is closing, and I'm sad about that. That's all I'm saying.

Cheers,

Dionne

Block Party Quilters Quilt Show

For your viewing pleasure, I'm sharing some pictures from the Block Party Quilters quilt show.

Kekapakeakeanuhinenui

by Nancy Lee Chong

Nancy was the featured artist of the show. She is well known for her hawaiian applique patterns and art quilts. There were many of her pieces showcased at the show, but I only took a picture of this one, which was a bit of a departure for her.

Her quilts are huge and all of them are hand quilted.

Strippy Scrappy Trees

By Jean Whiteaeker

Sorry this picture isn't better. I took it on my iPhone.

Miniature Obsession

By Diane Becka

My hand should give you a good idea of the scale of this little piece!

Colonial Applique

By Charlotte Tucker

Stairway to Cat Heaven

By Audrey Fisher

This pattern if from a 1997 McCall's Quilting magazine

Daisy Wholecloth

By Linda Tellesbo

This whole cloth quilt uses the shadow applique process which creates the cream colored fabric and white trapunto.

Airing the Quilts by Donnah Burke

This quilt is an original design by Donnah. She both hand and machine pieced the quilt. The quilting is machine quilting.

Donnah took commercial green fabrics and overdyed them to get the variety of greens she wanted.

Bali Wedding Star

by Linda Tellesbo

Hexagon Mosaic Quilt

by Eileen Merrick


Eileen said she got her inspiration from a quilt she saw at the Bellevue Art Museum made in 1845. It took her almost a year and a half to complete.

The quilt was hand pieced and has 11,374 half-inch hexagons.

This quilt was hand pieced and machine quilted. This shot with my fingers gives you a good idea of the scale.

Bodacious "Lady of the Lake"

by Martha Olson

History has this old quilt design made up of a larger half-square triangle surrounded by smaller half square triangles as being named after Sir Walter Scott's beloved 1810 poem "Lady of the Lake"

It is one of the few designs that have no other name. Found as early as 1820 in Vermont, I still see it often today.

Scrappy Triangles and Squares

by Valerie Bishop

I like this quilt. I love scrappy quilts and I love triangles. This is a simple, traditional quilt and I like how the border is also scrappy.

There were so many more quilts that were beautiful! Leave me a comment and let me know which of the quilts pictured is your favorite.

Cheers,

Dionne

My Day with Bonnie

If you haven't heard me talk about Bonnie Hunter on this blog before, either you are a completely newbie to me ~ in that case WELCOME! or you are just skimming the words and only looking at pics ~ in which case you aren't reading this now, so... oh, well.

I recently had the opportunity to spend the entire day with Bonnie at a workshop hosted by the Washington Stars Quilt Guild in Olympia. Yes, I did have to drive 2 hours to get there, and yes, I did have to wake up at 6am to make it on time, on my day off. But it was well worth it.

The workshop was her Star Struck workshop and she had several copies of her book, Scraps & Shirttails: Reuse, Re-pupose, Recycle! The Art of "Quilting Green" with her.

Bonnie was great with so many tips and tricks, as well as funny stories. She also just hung out and chatted a lot with us. The ladies of the Guild were also so very nice. It was great to hang out and sew with everyone, especially considering I didn't know anyone. You'll see everyone's work taped to the wall, I love seeing how different fabrics make the same pattern look so different.

My work isn't pictured here, I forgot to take a picture of it! And actually, I left several of my blocks taped to the wall, I had driven half a mile when I suddenly realized I had left something behind and had to turn around to get them!

A few of the guild ladies and Bonnie were all going out to dinner between the workshop and the evening lecture. They were kind enough to invite me along, however, my dear sweet husband had a very challenging day with the children (who are very well behaved) and I figured I ought to get home. After all, I got about 5 calls that day (not all from him mind you)

But as soon as I pulled into the driveway, he was all smiles ~ "Oh, you should have stayed. We're fine, go back, have fun," he says.

"It was in Olympia, I can't." I'm devastated, I could have stayed. Why didn't I ask to see how things were going!? I'm kicking myself mentally at this moment!

He turns and looks at me incredulously, "You drove two hours for a quilt class?!" Then he turns to walk in the house. "You should have stayed."

I should have stayed.

If you have the opportunity to go to dinner with Bonnie Hunter ~ go!

Empire Quilters Raffle Quilt

This has been auto-posted by my blog-bot. Cheers, Dionne

This quilt is the 2009 raffle quilt for the Empire Quilters of New York City. I think I need tickets!



The picture is very small. Click on it and it will take you to a large picture where you can click on every block to see its detail and also see the back of the quilt.

This quilt is BEAUTIFUL!!

We can all do something...

I saw these images, and have heard the news. My heart goes out to the people of Australia and those living in Victoria.

There is so little I can do from across the globe, but something, anything is better than nothing. If you, like me, would like to help in some way, I have listed a few links:

• Tia at Camp Follower Bags has started a Flikr group called the Bushfire Quilt Project. She is collecting star squares that measure 12.5" to make quilts to be sent to the recipients in Victoria, Australia. For more information check out her blog at Camp Follower Bags
  



• Pip at Meet Me at Mike's has a wonderful list on her sidebar of things you could do. Of course you will find a link to the Australian Red Cross to donate funds but you will also find:






• Thank the Fireman



• Bid on Silly Gilly's doll. Actually Silly Gilly is also hosting some ebay activity to help raise funds as well.
She has many more links as well!




• Melly and Rosie of Melly & Me is hosting a silent auction, with 100% of the funds going to directly to the cause.
  



• Handmade Help is another great resource, here Cindy will be listing all the auctions and sales of items from which the proceeds will go toward assisting victims of the Victorian Bushfires. If you have an Etsy shop and would like to donate all or a portion of the funds from your sales, she will list you on her site as well.

I wish there was more I could do, but if we all donate some of our time, some of our pennies our prayers, good thoughts and well wishes it will add up to some comfort to those who have lost so much.

The images on this post are from the AP wire.

I'm an Annie's Stash Winner!

Wow! Talk about a lucky streak!

Annie Smith of Annie's Quilt Stash had a giveaway that she announced in episode 141

Annie announced the winners in episode 154 there are 11 winners in all!

What did I win? This beautiful book, Teapots 2 to Applique by Kay Mackenzie.

I have been resisting learning applique for years. I enjoy applique quilts, but the idea of attempting an applique project makes me nervous! I guess this is my little nudge to learn how to applique. Pretty apt because I LOVE teapots, and everything tea!

Oh, I'm a winner!

Isn't it fabulous when you win!!

Lynne at The Patchery Menagerie hosted a giveaway and I won!

I really love this pattern and I think it would look great in Pat Sloan's new fabric line Arabella:

Pat actually specializes in beautiful applique. I don't do applique. I love piecing and I don't blink twice at a million little triangles, but give me the simpliest of applique and I quake in my boots!

But if you are an applique type of quilter you might want to check out the lovely kit that Pat is putting together on her website and blog.

Come See Ricky and Alex with me!!

Calling all quilters in the general Pacific Northwest!





On Aug 20-22, 2009 - Lynnwood, WA
Lynnwood Convention Center


Lynnwood, WA


Thursday, Friday & Saturday





What is a Ricky Tims Quilt Seminar?
Well, imagine...

•Not missing out because you wereput on the waiting list.
•Not having to gather items for a class supply list
•Not having to haul a sewing machine to class
•Not worrying about irons blowing power circuits
•Not having to measure, cut, or sew in a tiny, shared table space.
•Not fretting that you brought the wrong fabrics for the project.
•Not feeling the pressure of keeping up with your neighbor.

The seminar registration fee includes entry to all sessions, the seminar syllabus, the quilt show of award-winning quilts by the presenters, the Ricky Tims' concert, and the opportunity for chatting and autographs with Ricky, Alex, and Libby.



Okay, so why am I presenting this little commercial? Well, it's really for self-serving purposes actually. If I can pull 10 people together, we can get a significant discount on the tickets!

If you are interested in joining us, we have about 4 people already, just send me a private email and we'll send in all our applications together.

Absolutely everyone I know that has gone to this seminar has said it is WELL WORTH IT!

Here is the link for more information:

Ricky Tims Seminars

Quilting Stars All Around - An Introduction

I really think that the heart of our wonderful quilting community is.... QUILTERS! I know, that's a bit obvious, but I don't mean all the 'famous' quilters we watch, read and buy from. It's us, you and me, who:

• make more quilts than we could ever use,


• have even more unfinished projects in our cupboards,


• spend our spare moments


• stitching, and
  
• ironing fabric that we've washed, and
  
• folding our freshly ironed fabric, and
  
• then un-folding it, ironing it, cutting it, stitching it, only to:
  
• iron and stitch it some more!


• we read magazines about it, talk about it with our friends, join guilds to talk and do some more, listen to podcasts about it, then read and write blogs so we can talk and learn even more!


• Many make some extra money teaching, doing long-arm quilting, or more. Lots more don't make money, but... do our part to help support our economy ... with our fabulous habits.


• Well, this list goes on and on about all the things we do in our pursuit of the fabric arts.

There are a lot of sources out there that gives us the opportunity to listen to interviews of the famous, semi-famous, or up-and-coming quilting artists. I want to hear more about us. And I figure, if I want to hear more about us, then maybe YOU want to hear more about us too!

So once a month I'm going to feature someone on my Quilting Stars All Around Report. I will model this interview just like I am Katie Couric (well, no, I don't like her) so like I am Annie Smith and you are Alex Anderson!

NOTE: I just received this wonderful comment that I really wanted to share with everyone! It's from Gina:

Dionne, please add to your list:- You QUILTERS also INSPIRE people, from all corners of the world!I am a beginner and am learning a little bit everyday... so a big Thank you.

Dear Jane(s Blog)

Several months ago, I had the great fortune to listen to Jane Moxey talk about her career as a Quilt show producer. She was brilliant and funny, it's a shame that most people don't know who she is or all the hard work she puts into her work. She does the ‘At Home with the Experts’ Series from P & T Publishing.

You will hear lots more about that series in the next several weeks as one of my New Year's Resolutions is to learn many new techniques this year, and her DVD series is BRILLIANT! I love that medium, it's almost as good as having a private lesson!

This is Jane and me. She had a particularly funny story about the time, several years back, she met Sean Connery, he was wearing nothing but a rather short robe. Oh to be that lucky!

Anyhow, Jane sent me word just the other day that she has started her own blog! You really must check it out, I'm very excited for her!

It's called Moxy Musings.

My Quilty New Year's Resolutions!~

Yes, as you've probably already heard, I LOVE New Year's Resolutions! So here are mine:

1. Unfinished Projects- I want to keep track of my UFOs and diminish them GREATLY. I mean really, you saw the number of UFOs! Considering that not too long ago I lost ALL my unfinished projects, it’s really quite ridiculous to have this many!
   
   To do this, I will put 6ish UFOs on my active list. Once a month I will report on my progress. The rest of my unfinished projects will go on a 'Backlog.' Furthermore, I will not add any more projects, until I've completed an item already on my list.
   
   I could get tough here and say I have to complete 2 items, thus reducing my list. Because as it stands now, I could potentially never decrease my list. But at least I'm keeping on top of it right? And besides, rules are no fun if they are TOO harsh (don't tell my kids I said that!)



2. Skills - Okay, I'm the queen of only doing the fun stuff! But I really want to increase my skills. Also, there is so much GREAT talent out there in the Quilting Community that I have not even tapped into yet! So, I'm going to actively increase my quilting skills. To do this, I will try one new thing a month. It doesn't have to be a block, or a big project or anything. Also, it can be something I'm lousy at already and want to get better at (binding comes to mind ~ ouch!)



3. Books - Okay, this really is a little bit a part of resolution #2, but there really are some Wonderful quilters out there and I want to get to know what they are publishing! So I am going to actively review more quilting books. Not just read them, but I am going to try something new in each and every book. I'll post all the results of course! So help me out here, if you know any great books, or have published one yourself. Let me know! I'm looking for all the great talent out there that I can learn from!!



4. Quilting Community - Right, right I know, this is really more of the same. But actually, you don't have to be published or sell your patterns to be interesting. I really want to get to know everyone in the quilting community. We're a great bunch of people (If I don't say so myself!) SO, I am going to be looking to the rest of the folks out there as well. Got a great blog, know a great blog, know a fabulous and interesting quilter? Let me know. I want to blog about them. Let's get to know each other! (PS - I would love to find Jane Moxey! Anyone know her?? If you do, send her my way. I'm a big fan!)



5. VLOG! Ok, this last one might be a stretch. But my kids love this show called iCarly. It's about a girl and her friends that do silly things, video tape it and put it up on her blog. This is a nice show (not like some of the not so clever things people video tape themselves doing). But I thought it might be fun to put a little motion and voice behind my little blog. I haven't figured this out yet (and nobody might be interested) but a girl can dream, right?

Ok, so you might have noticed that all the altruistic things (Be a better person, recycle more, eat less, etc) are missing from this list. Yes, I do want to do all those things as well. But I figure everyone has those and this isn't really a forum for that. So, rest assured, I will recycle more this year AND eat less. I just won't bore you with those yawn, yawn details!

UFO Sighting!

Well, I did it, I went through my entire cupboard and counted up all my UFOs, including photographic evidence!

Here is what I've un-earthed:

1. UFOM #1 - My First Quilt. This comes from a sub-set of UFOs called UFO Miracles, see earlier in my blog for details on this tragic tale. Status: Halfway done with the binding.
   Photograph: Well, I've blogged about this one enough before, if you want to see a picture, CLICK HERE I put a few pics on my first post.




2. UFOM #2 - Yes, it's a Quillow! and done in the country style that was so popular when I started this project. Which is not to be confused with today's country style. As if I have my finger on the pulse of the Home Decor world -- NOT! Anyhow, still not done! For more pictures CLICK HERE I posted about it shortly after it was "re-discovered"




3. UFOM #3 - Flannel Crazy Quilt. Not even touched since it was "Re-discovered" To see pictures of this Crazy Project: CLICK HERE




4. UFOM #4 - Almost Almost Done Christmas Wallhanging - Well, this one my children have helped me decide what to do with the blank panel, we're going to put in Christmas Stockings, and they will help finish the decorations on the little trees. We've decided that this one will be done by next Christmas, so progress will be slow, but steady! For Pictures CLICK HERE




5. UFOM #5 - Woodsy Center - Okay, I don't know what I was thinking when I started this! And I was such a new quilter back then (16 yrs ago?) that my inexperience really shows. All I can say is, maybe it will go on a quilt back~! If you dare see pictures CLICK HERE




6. UFOM #6 - The Really Big Kaleidoscope Quilt - Well, this one I've lost a critical piece of equipment: the ruler I was using! I'm pretty sad too because I was really hoping to finish this one up. I remember throwing out the ruler in a moment of disgust, because at that time, I thought I had lost my complete quilting stash - fabrics, UFOs, tools, everything! Well, I did lose most of it, except for 6 little miracles! For the complete Tragic tale CLICK HERE and for pictures of my Really Big Kaleidoscope Quilt CLICK HERE and if you happen to know where I can find this tool:
   
   
   
   And earn my undying gratitude, please contact me immediately!




7. Tree of Life - This is just the center block. But I don't know how to finish this. I don't have any fabrics to match, so I need to bring this piece to the store to find some fabrics. CLICK HERE for a picture.






8. Road to California - This wonderful project is actually a win from the Stichin' Post Lottery challenge. I love the blocks and I've only to assemble them into a beautiful Queen or King size quilt on-point. I've purchased additional fabrics for the sashing and this one is high on my list to complete. CLICK HERE for pictures




9. Botanical Shop Hop Quilt - This is the first quilt I've ever started that was meant only for me to put on our bed. Still not finished. But I am more than half-way through creating the blocks. CLICK HERE for pictures.




10. Old Tobacco Road - This is a Bonnie Hunt Mystery Quilt. I love Bonnie's patterns and books. If you aren't familiar with her work check out Quiltville.com Right now I'm still making the pinwheels. I need 100 pinwheels made out of 1.5 inch half-square triangles. That is a lot of work left to do. This UFO is my Sew-Between. (That is the quilt I work on in between my other items. I make a HST or a pinwheel as a Leader or an Ender for every chain on my current project) CLICK HERE for more pictures




11. '07-'08 Thangles BOM - This project is all in batiks and well... let's just say I had a brain block on my math. I need to finish it, but the sashing isn't going to align well. Too bad, but it will make a great lap quilt for watching TV.
    
    
    
12. Marisa Pinwheels - This is a very pretty little lap quilt that I had started for my MIL. But it was getting very close to Christmas and so I needed something I could finish right away, so this got shelved and I made something else. I'm about half through the piecing. This is a pattern from Roxanne Carter I have a few of her patterns that I am meaning to make!






13. Cinder's Best Day - This is a quilt I designed for my little girl's cat. I knew he was getting sick, he's always had trouble with his kidneys. So I wanted to make a quilt for her so she could remember him. But the poor guy went quicker than I thought and my little Cricket was too sad to stand it! I had planned a chenille cat and some applique. Now that the sadness has passed, we are going to finish this quilt together.






14. Garden Path Mosaic Pictorial - I don't know if I should include this in my list of UFOs. I wasn't even going to keep this. About 10 years ago I decided to make a mosaic picture because.... well, just to do it. I did this garden path. It was ok, but I wasn't enamored with the mosaic style. So I was going to toss it. My my middle child, a baby then, grabbed on and wouldn't let go. So it became hers. It was never finished and I noticed that the edges were VERY worn. I told my daughter ~ almost 10 now, that I would finish it off for her if she wanted to keep it, otherwise it would fall apart.









15. Lost Blues - This is a quilt that I started, then I moved one last time. I don't remember the name of the pattern or even have it. It's only a little bit pieced and has large bits of fabric that remains uncut. I suspect I will dissolve this UFO into the fold. Uncut fabric into the stash and pieced blocks into scrap bins or the orphan box.
    
    
    Now we are getting into a sub-set of my UFOs. This is a list of quilts underway, but that will progress slowly as it is part of a SWAP, a BOM or something else that meters my progress:






16. '08-'09 Thangles BOM - This is actually two quilts I am working on at once. My LQS is doing this in two colorways: Brights and Yellow, White and Blue. I am doing both simultaneously!






17. Friendship Star - These blocks started in an open swap and I'm now continuing this swap as part of a private swap club I belong to. Not sure how many blocks I'll end up with, but they are all fun and beautiful!







18. Disappearing 9-Patch - This started as a swap, I only have 8 blocks for this quilt and I want 12. So I am going to host one last swap at my club and should finish this one up very soon. I love this pattern, it's simple and pleasing.
    





19. Lap Quilt Swap IV - I am SO happy to be a part of this swap hosted over at Craftster.org. I have been watching jealously as Audrey worked on the previous swaps and finally had the opportunity to join. I've had so much fun creating blocks with everyone's beautiful fabrics and have received WONDERFUL blocks in return. I want to highlight them each on their own later (been in a Christmas rush the last few weeks).
    
    
    
    This is the last sub-set of projects on my UFO list. These are projects that I haven't even started:






20. Postage Stamp Quilt - For this project, I am finishing up a pattern (yes, I caved and am creating a pattern!) and also I am organizing my squares. I think I don't have enough of the colors I want and too much of colors I am eliminating. Bummer! Lots more work to go.






21. Midnight Garden - I LOVE LOVE LOVE this pattern by Roxanne Carter, and I have the Perfect fabrics that I searched High and Low for! I mean I called every Quilt Shop this side of the Mississippi! I can't wait to start this project!









22. A Girls Work is Never Done - This is going to be a lap/baby quilt. It should be cute. I have one fabric missing. But I must confess, I haven't tried to find the perfect fabric for finishing this off. So there it sits, the pattern and almost all the fabric! But now I know the perfect little baby for this little quilt, so I must put it on my active list!
    
    
    
    
    
    





23. Bold Over Batiks - This is a lap quilt that I wanted for myself, and like all those quilts I want for myself, they never get started. This one has all the fabrics just waiting to get started.







24. Cam's Snake Quilt - I found this great pattern for a Snake Quilt. Now my little boy is ALWAYS asking me to make him a quilt. He loves to go through my crumbs and hands me little pieces and tells me to stitch that into his next quilt. I now have many crumby blocks for him, but this snake quilt will blow him away! I know he will LOVE it. I just recently acquired all the fabrics needed, but have been busy working on his (and other) Christmas projects!

I also have 3 aprons, 2 Halloween bags, and a pillowcase that needs finishing, but they don't count as my Quilty UFOs!

So that's my UFO Report, Have you seen any UFOs hovering around your sewing closet lately? Inquiring minds want to know!!

• What is your oldest UFO?
  
  
• How old and why did it become a UFO?
  
  
• When do you plan to finish it, if at all?
  
  
• How many UFOs do you have?

Another Podcast Review: Annie Smith~Quilting Stash

Did you Freda's Hive Today?
And if you did, then ask yourself... Are you feeling lucky? Well, are you?!

Fellow Blogger and quilter extraordinaire, Paula - The Quilter, recommended Annie's Quilting Stash. Well I had a listen and it was really great!

Annie Smith does a bi-weekly podcast (her website is linked above, also try getting it at iTunes as well). The latest one features two fabulous interviews:

First Annie speaks with Karey Bresenhan, founder and president of Quilt Market and Quilt Festival. Karey is a real down-home girl and the interview is wonderfully personable, full of interesting stories and little tid-bits. Their website is of course: Quilts, Inc. http://www.quilts.com/

Then Annie has an interview with Beth Hayes, editor and chief of McCalls Quilting Magazine. The audio quality on this interview isn't the best but the content is still pretty interesting. McCalls Quilting is a part of CK Media which includes: Quilters Home, Quiltmaker, Quick Quilts, and McCalls Quilting among many others!

Another little tid-bit of information revealed in this interview is that McCalls is looking for cutting edge fabrics in somewhat traditional patterns. So if you want to get one of your brilliant patterns published there, that is what Beth Hayes is looking for!

Well, all-in-all, this is definitely a podcast to subscribe to.

Annie's Quilting Stash: Recommend!


If you have an ipod, you can set it up to download weekly all new podcasts. If you are new to the ipod and want to know where to look to get it all set up, just send me an email!

PS - For those of you who are not familiar with podcasts, most of them are offered for free, or ask for a small donation.

Quilty Podcasts?

Did you Freda's Hive Today?
And if you did, then ask yourself... Are you feeling lucky? Well, are you?!

Yes, it's true! You can now (probably for a while actually) download audio podcasts all about quilting!

There are several out there to choose from! Of course there is Alex anderson, who does a nice talk about what's going on in her busy life. But there are several. Who Knew!!

I'm going to go through each one individually and give you my take on them.

Today, I listened to Alex Anderson. I actually listened to a few of her podcasts and they are all very good. It's way more personal and casual than her tv show. She really talks about what she is doing in her world of quilting. The last few were about going to Paducah, going to Houston, to Chicago and her 1 year anniversary with Ricky Timms ( they did that one together with him on the phone with her)... but woven in to her experiences at each of these shows, are also lots of personal stories and interesting tidbits.

I found the podcast very enjoyable. Ms. Anderson has a nice speaking voice - perhaps from years on tv which make for an easy listen. But mostly, she comes across far more down-to-earth and personable in this easy casual format than she did on her show. Of course, I did watch her show and quite enjoyed it.

So if you are thinking of adding a podcast to your life. I recommmend 'Alex Anderson Quilt Connections'

I'll have more reviews as I listen to each of the podcasts. Meanwhile if you have any favorites let me know! Also, if you were to subscribe to a 'Quilty' Podcast, what would you want to listen to?

31 Projects Done!!! Woo Hoo!

Although I haven't finished anything in Finn's New Years Eve Challenge, many have.

Look at what All these women have accomplished!! It's wonderful! At the time of this writing, I have finished Nothing! I don't feel too bad because there are others like me who are still making progress.

But these 20 women, have commited to 94 projects and finished an impressive 31 projects! Check out some of their working! It's Awesome!

• Babs ~ 6 projects *2 done!
• Bren ~ 5 projects * 1 done!
• Cindy ~ 3 projects (plus a small immediate one) *2 done!
• Clare ~ 6 projects (or more) 1 done!
• Em ~ 6 projects * 2 done!
• Ethne ~ 3 projects * 1 done!
• Finn ~ 5 projects * 4 done!
• Granny Lyn ~ 4 projects * 1 done!
• Jacquie ~ 8 projects *1 done!
• Julie ~ 5 projects * 1 done!
• Katie ~ 2 projects * 1 done!
• Myra ~ 5 projects * 3 done!
• Paula ~ 3 projects * 1 done!
• RoseMarie ~ 5 projects * 1 done!
• Ruthie ~ 8 projects * 1 done!
• Sandy ~ 4 projects * 1 done!
• Solvi ~ 5 projects * 1 done!
• Suzette ~ 3 projects * 5 done!!!
• Sweet Pea ~ 8 projects * 1 done!

I'll be on this list soon! I'm very close, just have one to quilt actually!

Keep Quiltin'

Dionne

New Year Challenge... Can she do it? Yes, She Can!

Well Finn has issued a challenge! A New Year challenge to finish up your UFO's and projects! See her post at:

Finn's New Year Challenge

So I'm taking on the challenge with Five!

1. The Mystery Quilt: Old Tobacco Road (seems a bit self-indulgent but what-the-hay)
2. My Very First Quilt Ever, one of the UFOMs (UFO Miracles). This is already a finished top. (Finished like forever ago!)
3. Jelly Pinwheels, this one I haven't even started yet. But it's a gift for my Mother-in-Law, using fabric my husband picked out. It will only be throw size so not too big, but she lives in Grangemouth Scotland so I can't wait too long to mail it!
4. Cinder's Best Day, this is a "commemorative" quilt for my daughter who was devestated when her cat Cinder died of kidney failure. This is a quilt I started just before I started blogging, and haven't worked on it since. Thus no pictures uploaded.
5. My Botanical Shop Hop Quilt - This is the first quilt I have ever made with the intention of keeping it just for us! Which is why, as my husband likes to point out, we have no quilts ourselves. I have given away absolutely every thing I've ever finished.

Ok, that's it. My challenge five! And by finished, I mean, done-done: top, quilting, binding... EVERYTHING!

Can she do it? I hope so... No, just kidding, of course I can do it!! Now, if the teachers would just go back to work so I can get a little piece during the day!

:-)

Woo Hoo, my first Swappie squares have arrived!

I'm so very excited! I was a bit nervous, as I'm very new to the whole swappie thing. But I started easy with a basic 9-patch swap, and look what came in the mail today! Oh, lucky me.

Crystal, my very first swap partner, is an old-hand at it though and sent me a whole bunch of squares to get me caught up.

It's so very fun to get squares in the mail!