Hot Streak

I'm back! It's been a while, but I didn't want to miss out on this month's

 NewFO Party over at Cat Patches!

 

 I have been pretty busy, so I'll just get right to it!  

First, I took a class at the end of June at my favorite LQS, Country Quilts and Bears, with my Sister-In-Law. She had never used a sewing machine, so it was fun to share the craft and knowledge with her. The quilt is called "Color Splash", and is made from a package of charm squares and a solid fabric.  Actually it will be two quilts, a big one and a small one. The small one is made from the scraps of the first. Pretty cool!

Here are a few of the big squares laid out. I think there were 64 in all, so I will have much arranging to do, sometime in the future. The photo makes the fabrics look darker than they truly are. The main fabric is a bright green.

Here are the leftovers that will be made into a smaller quilt. 

 

 Back in May, I signed up for my very first Quilting Bee. My friend was telling me about how she had done it several times and maybe I would like it. As if I needed another project! Ha! It actually was enjoyable, as all sewing and quilting should be! Well, that is after it took me a month to decide which block I was going to make.  The way the Bee works is that each of the 7 "Bees" in your Hive share which 3 colors they would like in their block and their fabric likes and dislikes. Then each Bee is free to make what ever block they want, the same block for all six fellow bees, in the colors they asked for. You have 3 months to make them and there is a deadline for everyone to mail their blocks out.  I started off with over 50 blocks patterns and it took me over a month to finally pick the one I wanted to make. I actually went out and bought all the fabrics before I even had the block picked out. One of the bees asked for "rainbow colors, in order", which at first made the task of choosing the block extremely daunting. Finally, I had a breakthrough and here is what I ended up making. It is called a Dutch Rose (click the name for a link to the free pattern)

 

 

 

 

 

These are the blocks I received. My colors were Bright Green and Pink. Pretty aren't they?

  

I also started a quilt for my niece.  I have promised her and her two brothers that I would make them each one, and now I'm on my way to fulfilling that promise. She's kind of a tomboy and her favorite colors are blues and purples and black.  I just went with the blues and purples.

 The pattern I'm making is Hugs & Kisses by Jaybird Quilts and can be found here 

Here's their version, just to give you an idea of what's coming. 

I've been neglecting my cross-stitching for a while, and I've been missing it, so I started (and finished) my first Black work project. 

Oops! When I first drafted this post, I accidentally posted the above picture, which is actually the back of the piece. I decided to leave it up, just to show you how proud I am that I kept the back pretty tidy. Hiding tails in a cross-stitch isn't very difficult (well, I've been doing it for over 20 years), but this was new to me and I gave myself a little "atta girl" for my efforts. I still have to wash it and iron it, and frame it.  

 That's all for the crafty stuff.  In other news, Bruce made these adorable little awnings for the front of the house. We get full afternoon sun and with the old windows, it gets mighty warm. The window on the left, is my cat / craft / office space. I can testify that the awnings have cooled it down and kept me from having to close the blinds and hang curtains over them to keep the temperature and glare down when I'm sewing after work. And they added some much needed character to the front of the house. It still needs some fresh paint and landscaping. One thing at a time!

 

 A few months back, I went to my first ever Green Thumb Festival. Apparently it's been going on for years, and several of my neighbors go every year, but no one bothered to tell me about it! It was actually the wonderful man at the nursery where I bought the flowers for around my Palm tree, who told me about it. I loved it. I purchased three of these adorable "Desert Rose" plants and this one, just got it's first flower! I am very excited about it.

 

At the Green Thumb Festival, they also gave away free plants. I was given a tiny little thing, and was told it was a "Spider Plant". I potted it a hanging basket and look at it now! I wish I had taken a picture of it when they gave it to me. It was a scrawny little thing with 8 or 10 leaves sticking up. All the rain has got it off to a booming start. I can take the little bunches off the stringers and plant them to propagate it. Very cool, self replicating plant! 

Whew! That was a marathon post! 

Dot says it's time to stop and relax, and who am I to argue with her? 

 I hear my recliner calling my name, and there's a new black work project nearby..... but that's for next month's NewFo post.

  Thanks for stopping in! ~Amy

Marching along

 Another month has flown by.  I am getting so far behind in my posts.... When I returned from my trip to Arizona in February, we were very busy at work, preparing for St. Patrick's Day events, and no sooner are we finished setting them up and then taking them down, and BAM! Get ready for Easter events! I didn't have much time at all for sewing. I also have been trying to reorganize my sewing / cat / computer room.  I bought a new cabinet to put Bruce's overabundance of clothes into, but I have to wait for two of the shelves to be completed. I can't wait to get that out of the way. And get all my laundry baskets back!

For now, I am linking up to the NewFO Party for March. Hosted by Barbara at Cat Patches.

 The only thing I got started in March was finding and buying some of the fabric for projects I want to do. I did get to sew the beginning pieces together for the Hello Moon Quilt Along.  

I am looking forward to participating in this fun project. It will be my first Quilt Along.

I had planned on getting so much done last weekend. I started out on Friday night by getting our new cabinet assembled and then discovered it was short 2 shelves, which I am hoping will be here by Tuesday. Then I was all set to get my errands run and go to JoAnn's and maybe even a quilt shop to get some of the materials I wanted for projects I want to start. I got as far as depositing my paycheck into the ATM when I received a call from Bruce. He had gone to the storage yard and picked up the boat and towed it over to a friend's workshop to install some new electronics in it. When he unlocked the cabin, he discovered 5 furry surprises. 

I spent most of the weekend caring for the little loves. They were approximately 3-4 weeks old and needed to be fed about every 4 hours. I had to prepare formula and feed them and clean them. It took about an hour and a half each time, since there were 5 of them. Funny how Bruce found them, but I did all the work! Monday morning I finally found a rescue who had a nursing mom cat.  She took them in and they are doing great. It was very hard to let them go, after getting quite attached to them, with all the feeding and care.  I would have loved to keep one, but Bruce said "NO".  Insert big lip pout here.....  I know that I don't need another cat, with the six I already have (plus the two dogs), but when has need ever had anything to do with me getting another furry family member?  In the end I did what was best for the kittens and am keeping in communication with the rescue about possibly trapping the biological Momma cat (and any other strays in the vicinity of the storage lot) to get her spayed and released. 

So, in my defense, I was a little too busy to get any of my projects worked on.  Yesterday was all about getting my Jeep's issues straightened out. Today we slept in, and then after a lovely little boat ride and boat wash, I was finally able to work in my craft room for a while. I am hoping that this week, after work will be a little more productive and fun. I am currently hand sewing the binding on my Arizona souvenir quilt. How nice it will be to have something to post in the 2013 Finishes! 

Thanks for stopping in! ~Amy