My first bag!

This is my first attempt at a bag.

It feels larger than I thought it would, but I still love it.

The bag's outer material is Fredrika upholstery from Ikea and is lined with green ticking from JoAnn's.

Stella's not impressed. She refused to get in.

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

Icepalooza has taken over the Midwest.

I woke to this kind of icicle action:

Just a mere week ago, we had this much snow:

(and I'm hoping for much, much, more)

Oh, how I love a winter storm.

And, of course, my trusty sidekick can't get enough of the magical white powder, either.

Today, I took advantage of the time iced-in and finished up two quilts.

The Striped Monster....

100x100 inches.

I have been collecting striped fabrics for years. years.

Finally, I finished the quilt top with them:

I braved the cold for a few photographs.

It was treacherous!

And wonderful.

This is a second, baby/lap size - about 40x50 inches.

The stripes came out a little screwy - I think it was too much for my baby camera to handle.

First Snow!

Winter's finally here!

We woke to our first snow....

Stella couldn't be more pleased.

You can't see it too well in these photos, but Stella's sporting a new collar from Dublin Dogs!

It's the eco-Lucks Blitzen. It's a nice festive splash of color.

This is the "come out and play" look she's perfected.

The gods have given us snow... let's not waste it.

Tho, she's been in the holiday spirit for weeks!

Snowy weather is perfect for sewing....

I have been working on two very similar quilts - one for my niece, Ashley, (commissioned) and another, smaller, quilt for a new friend I met when I bought something from her through craigslist.

Here's a sneak peek of them.

This is the smaller one, created for my new craigslist pal:

I finished and shipped it and realized I didn't photograph the finished piece.

Take my word for it: it turned out great!

I think she'll really like it. The cobalt blue flannel on the back will make this a great lap quilt for her.

Next, is Ashley's quilt laid out on the floor.

The key to the plainspoken pattern is variety within the palette!

And, for the back - purple camo flannel!

what a hoot.

I hope she likes it.

Hourglass Updated: FINISHED!

My hourglass quilt is finally finished!

The reproduction fabrics are so fun!

This is another huge one - the total size is about 100 square inches.

Again, shadowing from the trees hides the sharp & crisp quilt colors.

I used a reproduction light blue fabric for the backside, and a solid red binding.

The patterned white contrast very well to show off these fantastic fabrics!
Light showing thru to the back side:

Stella's none too pleased :(

Tinkerbell D9P update - It's finished! and a bonus tutu

Here's another gratuitous shot of the tutu. It's super cute!

I quilted the Tinkerbell quilt myself on the Juki:

Here's the finished project. It's naptakular!

And another close up of Jasmine's name embroidered:
A matching pillowcase:
With French Seams -
My favorite quilt model, Stella, showing off the purple polka-dot flannel on the backside.

I see many naps in Jasmine's future....

Roadtrip!

Road trip to NC with two fabric shop stops.

Two new-to-me batting.

Dream Green is made from recycled plastic bottles!

And the Simply Cotton from Maryjo's.
Bonus greens for a pal's green scrappy quilt:

I scored some red & turquoise for the next project - to be named.

Here's Maryjo's in the background.
The second quilt shop was in Tennesee - Little Blessings Quilt Shop
A happy dog retrieving a bumper somewhere in the northeast:
and in Lake Norman
On the road
I got lost in Ikea.
Hot. Jungle hot in NC in July.

Today @ the Lake

We took a little walk around the lake today.

Ok, so Stella got in the lake today.

In this photo, altho I was calling her name and making her special noise, she was preoccupied with the possibility of eating a wasp. Which she did just after I snapped this one.