A bunch of finishes...

I finished my mom's quilt before Friday, but I didn't take pictures of it until later.

Here it is before washing. (I didn't take any pics post washing for crinkly goodness, but I have already packed it up to come to my parents with me.)





The handquilting was really time consuming. I'm not sure I'll be doing it again soon.

I finished my Charmed Prints quilt.
Originally, it had a pink border (the pink I used for the binding).
Unfortunately, I did the math wrong somewhere and the piece of flannel I had to use wasn't wide enough. (It was long enough, but not in both directions.) So, I took off the pink border and used it for binding.)



It's going to a best friend from college who has had a hard year. I wanted to make her a lovey quilt...so if she's having a bad day, she can snuggle up to it with chocolate or Chinese food. It will also act as a visual cue for her sweet hubby to give her a big cuddle.
I hope she likes it.

I finished my string blocks for Val over at PinkPlease! for her Heroes quilt.


I made a super secret present for Trollop (my best girlfriend).
I have to check and see if she's been reading this blog before I post pictures.
Needless to say, I practiced my free motion in a really random and awesome manner.
Pics will be forthcoming once I check in with her.
I am incredibly (ridiculously) proud of solving a design challenge.
It involved bacon. I'll leave it at that for the moment.

I have to finish my pouch for the giveaway and will finish my quilts for kids blocks tonight.
I'm 2 blocks behind in my skill builder, but I'm not a huge applique fan, so I'm not sure if I'll do them. The circle one is bringing back bad flashbacks to a quilt block I did for a school bee.

Is it weird that I just realized that most of my friends don't read this? Do y'all live in the quilting closet or do all your BFFs read your blogs?

Giveaway winner!

Mr. Randomizer picked #75, which is Tamie.

I'll be contacting you via email to confirm you color preference and mailing address.
Congratulations!

In other news, I finished the quilt for my mom.
I'll post pics tomorrow. It's, I think, my all time favorite ever....love love.
What I didn't love, however, was the hand quilting. The back is really bad.
It took HOURS and HOURS. I'm glad it's going to my mom, because she'll be ok with an imperfect back and will "get" how long it took to make.

Giveaway!!!

I'm hooking up with

I'm giving away a pouch! It will be custom made for you in your favorite color.

Note: It's not going to be one of these pouches, but you can get the idea of what I mean by the picture....


The giveaway closes at 5pm PST on Dec 16.
You don't have to be a follower!
I would love to have you join if you are so inclined, but no pressure.
(Although, *cough* I'm planning another give away when I hit the 100 follower mark.)
For one entry, just leave me a comment. Please make sure I have a way of reaching you.
If you are a no reply commenter, PLEASE include your email. For fun, tell me your favorite song.

For those of you following the progress on the wonky star for mom, I've got 16 out of 25 stars handquilted...
Oooo...bonus entry if you have advice for washing hand quilted quilts.

Be sure to check out the other giveaways at SewMawaSew.

Paying it forward...

You may have seen this around.
I think I've signed up for this at least once around..but I just did it over at Hitch and Thread..and I've done something similar with a group of journally blogger folks at one point (we were all crafters of varying kinds).

I'm picking three folks (the first three who comment that I can contact) to make something for.
It will come some time in 2012. I'll ask you for some hints about likes/dislikes.
In return, you need to post your Pay it Forward button within 48 hours and pass it on...

Any takers?
Also, I have a giveaway coming for SewMamaSew giveaway day.

I can't believe it's Friday.

I haven't gotten nearly as much done this week as I intended to.

I sammiched mom's wonky star quilt.
I'm hand quilting around the stars. I have 4 out of 25 stars done. Um...three took me about 4 hours.
This is not going to be pretty...well, it is.... but.......you know what I mean.


I still have 2 sets of charms from the Black, White & Grey swap to mail out, but it seems like they are getting where they need to go and folks seem happy with them.
I may run another swap, but probably not until March. This one took a long long time.


I got home today from work (kids be crazy approaching winter break).
A lovely lovely package (in addition to some bee blocks) was waiting for me.
It was an AMAZING pillow from the lovely Jacey from Jaceycraft.
She blew this one out of the universe. I love the Middle Eastern vibe.
She used 1001 Peeps, which is the line I used for my Across the Sea quilt. It's one of my favorite lines.
She also included some fabric lovelies!



I'm off tonight to see a Santa Lucia celebration and try to make a bff's birthday party afterwards. I hate it when two loved events are the same time slots.
I made her a 241 bag for her bday.


Oh...and I had a shark in my classroom today. It was a shark dirigible. The kids had a blast with it...um...after we got it down from the rafters...twice.
Much love, y'all.
I've got a giveaway coming Monday, Dec 12.
Assuming I can get my mom's quilt and a technology assignment done this weekend.
Phew.

Wrapping up Nov. Also, proud.

I finished up a LOT of work in Nov.


I am also kind of proud today...
Even though I didn't get a callback, I auditioned for a play today.
I haven't done that for years.
I have to say, I do kind of wish I had gotten at least a callback, but I am proud I at least took the risk of trying.
It's been years since I've auditioned.
I'm not sure I'll be doing it again any time soon, but at least I tried.
God, it was terrifying.

Phew...

Today was a bit of a whirlwind...
Packaged up all the Black, White & Grey swap packages.
Drove to a dance studio to check out the place for a performance tonight.
Drove to a theatre to find out where auditions are tomorrow.
Came home to finish some laundry.
Dolled self up and tried to get into bellydance head space.
(I was wearing the pieces from the Japanese Scrap Bag challenge from Pings and Needles.)
Danced in a show. (Did not wipe out going from stage to floor. Woo!)
Stopped by post office after show (WHILE STILL IN GEAR).
Attempt to mail packages thwarted by broken slot/handle thingie.
Came home to scarf some dinner.

I am going to have to mail out the packages tomorrow.
On a totally unrelated note, my house is so dirty right now that it looks like hoarders live here.
It is particularly bad since my complex does not have recycling, but, because I believe in it, I collect it and drive it to a center. I just haven't had time in over a week.
Also, there are Xmas packages I need to mail lingering around the dining room, as well as boots that need to be mailed back and bags that still need to be unpacked.
That is my confessional for the day....I am spent now.
I missed y'all.