Yep, It's The Weekend!

Anyone getting excited about the Modern Quilt Guild's first conference? QuiltCon is being held February 21-24, 2013 in Austin, Texas. And yeehaw, I'm going and bringing my boots. The block challenge for the conference yielded over 375 creative blocks. The Orlando Modern Quilt Guild is represented. You can see some of the blocks right here in the Flickr pool. They are all really cool. Go Modern Quilt Guilders! The blocks are being used for a raffle quilt and the balance will be made into quilts for a children's shelter in Austin.

My cousin was looking for a cross stitch project, and I found this pretty poppy kit the other day. I'm hoping it will cheer her up and help pass the time when she's not feeling well.

I bought a somewhat matching embroidery hoop and put everything in the failed netbook case. See, I knew I could find a use for the case. It's always nice to have a project bag to keep everything contained. She can tuck in scissors, extra needles, and a needle threader. Actually, she got the good eyes and probably doesn't need a threader. I hate being the eldest, creakiest cousin.

My daughter watches after a little boy when she isn't blending smoothies, attending college, making me laugh, stealing my car, eating, and shopping. That kid stays busy. I showed her these Angry Bird hooded bath towels and she asked me to make them for the little one. He's only three, but crazy about Angry Birds. She bought the towels and I whipped them up. I thought they turned out cute. I even added a tuft of black feathers on the head of the yellow bird. She said the kid is going to flip.

Yumi and I are still making quilts for AAQI. I unearthed a little ladybug block and added some picnic gingham. I just need to find some tiny black buttons for the ladybug spots. I have buttons galore, but no tiny black ones.

For this one, I was just playing with scraps to make a pumpkin. The deadline to mail quilts to AAQI for the International Quilt Festival display is August 31. They're doubling the amount of quilts they usually bring, so Ami put a call out for more quilts. The festival starts on Halloween, so I thought a pumpkin mini might sell.

Just look how this grass roots organization is growing. Ami, you and your volunteers are da bomb! And I know a lot of quilters who really love making these little creations. You all rule too. I enjoy seeing all the creative quilts made by enthusiastic and talented quilters. If you'd like to learn more about this organization, this video is informative. I hesitate to say this, but I think all of us will be directly affected by Alzheimer's disease sometime in our lives. Whether it's a family member, friend of a friend, admired movie/sports star, we're going to hear about this disease. Doctors and scientists are working hard to find medicines to combat this disease and possibly cure it. This little organization provides funds to help those minds work. Something we may even benefit from.

It's Raining!

I whipped up some potholders using this tutorial from Sew Happy Geek. My walking foot was not very happy with all those layers. I did learn something about Insul-Bright batting from this tutorial. The shiny (reflective) side should face the hot pan. Makes total sense. And yes, it says so on the wrapper, but who reads all that fine print?

I made chicken pot pie last night. Now I know why it was hot. Look at all that black pepper! I'm hooked on Penzeys Spices and their black pepper is fresh and sturdy! To make it pot pie, I cut out heart-shaped biscuits and baked them right on top. I have at least three biscuit cutters, but I can never find them, so I used a cookie cutter. It was delicious and of course I forgot to take a picture before we dug in.

The challenge flimsy is finished! Yay! Kind of Gee's Bend-ey, huh? I love those quilts. Now the scary part, quilting. I need to figure out some backing fabric too. To the stash cave, Batman.

Look at this adorable house block someone sent me. Love the hand embroidered vine and the tree! There are some talented folks out there.

I still haven't tried my new knitting hobby, but Make It and Love It is having a knitting series from the talented Rebecca Danger, author of Knitted Monsters.  The Cast On is up first, so I'm going to give it a try. And yep, it's raining today. Wash all that oak pollen away please. I'm dying here.

Meh...

I finally got around to reading these. They're okay, but I wasn't hooked. Maybe the hype did it. I do want to see the movies now. The eye candy alone will probably be worth it! ; ) I did see Kristen Stewart on Regis and Kelly this week. What is her deal? She seemed a little...off. Maybe she stayed up too late for the premiere of Eclipse. Grandpa Munster is still my favorite vampire!

This has been my quilting pace this week. Work hasn't been that busy, but I find other ways to stay in trouble. Mostly feeding teenagers. Can I claim these kids on my taxes? I'm kidding. I'd rather they all hang out here, but it does get loud and they kill me in Scrabble. Little smarties. I did start quilting on my DQS9 quilt and I hope to start another mini today.