Real Job

Real job is getting in the way of me goofing off, but I did find some spare time to sew more log cabins. Four more to go. Purple and black and white color schemes are up next. I guess I shouldn't complain about having work. As a small business, I go through slow periods which allows me more sewing and goofing off time, but it sure doesn't pay the bills.

We have a big weekend planned. Our local eatery is hosting their second annual Gumbopalooza Saturday. Apparently Inspector Gadget has offered his blue crab cleaning instruction to customers. I taught that Midwesterner everything he knows about breaking down a blue crab. He'd never seen a blue crab before he met me. Lucky for me he enjoys having crab feasts. He knows they are my favorite food. I'm not sure anyone who has never had blue crab would order them in a restaurant for the first time, but we shall see.

Saturday evening is my friend's sixth annual Chili Cook Off. I think we've attended every year except one. I won second place the first year. This year, I'm making a Jamaican Jerk Chicken chili. There were 18 entries last year and we tripped a breaker with all our crock pots. My friend just had her kitchen redone and the electrician beefed up the power in anticipation of her annual event. I can't wait to see her new kitchen. A kitchen spruce up is on my list for 2013.

More Voting

If you live in the US you're probably sick of hearing about politics and voting. And how about those robo phone calls and flyers in the mail? I don't think I'll miss those in the least. But I do hope you voted. And if not, there's still time. Get out there! Today's the deadline. ;)

Voting has begun for the Blogger's Quilt Festival too. Vote here. My buddy Rene' has a quilt in the Favorite Rainbow Quilt category. It's a beauty! Fellow blogger Beth from Love Laugh Quilt has a wonderful postage stamp quilt in the Scrap Quilt category. To see all the finalists and vote, click here.

This was an unpaid political advertisement approved by me. Have a happy Democracy Day.

Let's Get This Week Started

Six more scrappy log cabin blocks to add to my growing collection. They're still not putting a dent in my scrap stash. I have 22 blocks complete. I think 10 more and I'll be done.

Any scrap or trimming under 1.5" square gets tossed. Look at my colorful trash.

Yumi, my friend from Japan, has been busy creating beautiful quilts for AAQI. Here's her last batch. I need to get these registered along with a few of mine. She also sent along some snacks that we loved.

AAQI kicked butt selling quilts in Houston this year. A banner year; they beat all previous records. I don't have the total amount they raised for Alzheimer's research, but I borrowed this image from their Faceplace page. Each pin represents a quilt sold at the Festival.

Sunday Stash #62

Not much to show in the way of new stash, but I did get to add to my newsprint and black and white collection. The Sewing Standard is all about sewing. Great graphics and photos too. Thank you enabler, you know who you are! It's really too easy to buy fabric with your phone.

Speaking of phones, after Friday's flub of making a too small case for my phone, I adjusted the measurements and gave it another shot. I was craving crabs that day. Luckily, our local hang out had a stone crab claw special that night. They were so good. We had some oysters too.

I'm trimming half rectangle triangles this weekend. Yawn. At least I can watch movies while I do it.

Friday Flubs

I attempted a case for my phone this morning. I used my own measurements. It would probably work if the phone wasn't in the Otter Box Inspector Gadget insisted I have. Oh well. The tutorial was easy. I may give it another try. I just wanted something to put it in when I drop it in my cave of a purse. I didn't put the scratch guard thing on the front. It looked like it was a big sticker and might hurt the phone. But I would like to avoid scratches.

Had some fun yesterday making Polaroid blocks. I ran out of that grey fabric, so I'll have to find something different for the others. I'm not sure what I'll do with these, but they were fun to make. They're only 4.5" square.

Dinners have been simple the past few days. I threw together a salad last night and made croutons out of some bread I baked. Goat's milk blue cheese was our protein of necessity. I'm out of almost everything. Meat, tomatoes, bacon, bread, grapefruit juice, dog food, etc. My car has been MIA all week. I need to get to the grocery store. And vacuum. And fold clothes.

Well, I was going to fold clothes. I guess Bones' pile of quilts on the couch just weren't as cozy as a basket of warm laundry. I let him sleep and went back to my studio to play.

It's Halloween!

And the last day of Blogtoberfest! Yay! Thanks to everyone for sticking with me if you did. Y'all are precious. I finished a table runner on Monday. I had made the top a while back but never had the nerve to quilt it. I didn't want to mess up those beautiful Kaffe prints! I ended up doing some waves with my walking foot. Easy.

The backside works for Halloween. Since I ate the pumpkin that was my only decoration, I had to find a ghost.

This spicy tomato soup was really good. I didn't put the honey in because I hate sweet tomato soup. I used a goat milk blue cheese in it. I could only handle a small ramekin for lunch because I filled up on cheese and crackers. I was also eating a taleggio cheese from Italy. Yummy.

I watched this film yesterday. What an odd movie. Loved all the 1950s stuff. Atomic era stuff is so cool. So was the music back then. I hope everyone has a fun Halloween. If you get any banana Laffy Taffys, send them my way.

Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative

The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) is busy this time of year. The Celebrity Invitational Quilt Auction is November 1-10. The quilts are really wonderful. Our guild member, Mary Sorenson has a beautiful appliqued entry. It in the top row, third from the left.

"The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative® (www.AlzQuilts.org) is a national, grassroots charity whose mission is to raise awareness and fund research. The AAQI auctions and sells donated quilts, and sponsors a nationally touring exhibit of quilts about Alzheimer's. The AAQI has raised more than $773,000 since January 2006."

AAQI will also have a booth at the International Quilt Festival held in Houston, Texas each year. They have 2,000 quilts this year. Ten of my quilts will be attending market, so that's always exciting. If you've never made an AAQI quilt, I encourage you to give it a try. It's a great organization and the small format (9" x 12" or smaller) is easy to accomplish.

Here's my latest AAQI creation. Inspector Gadget thought it was a coffin. What is wrong with him?!

In other news, I started a new quilt. These Half Rectangle Triangles intrigued me. I even copied the color scheme. I guess I wasn't feeling all that original that day. Plus I loved the red, yellow, gray combo. The blocks are pretty easy to put together and I'm mostly getting the points lined up.

This Kitty Chronicles fabric is kind of funny. I'm not a cat person, but I do love newsprint motifs.