mini quilts and block swaps

old stucco

"old stucco" detail

this is the mini quilt i made for the august STUD swap that happened to go to my very first mini quilt swap partner, kristin. the theme for this month was "buildings" and this is mine... old stucco buildings with the peeling paint and mildew growth was my inspiration. i used all sorts of good stuff in this one: shutter making, embroidery gardening, hand quilting and a bunch of piecing. i know my hubby thought i was off my rocker for making the shutters. they're folded and stitched, then the "frame" portions were sewn on separately to box it in.

then i've been super busy with all my block swaps. unfortunately, it appears that i forgot to take pictures of a bunch of the ones i made. :( not sure how that happened... but i should make a mosaic of all the great ones i received and then post one big picture instead of a ton of little ones. that's a task for after dinner and when boo is in bed.

AND i joined the land of the paper-piecing last night!! i must be crazy. it has this teeny tiny barn and silo on a farm scene that is supposed to finish out at 7"x9" and it's going to go to one of my MILs. she lives in kansas and is a quilter herself. i'll post pictures of my adventure in a bit. if it turns out okay...

now, back to fixing dinner while i wait on my hubby to get home. he was on his way home, then realized halfway here that he forgot his wallet. again. at the office. why is it men do that? i only leave mine purposefully when i know i'm not going to be driving or need the picture id for some reason.

another year starts

this sleeping "angel" started his first day of 1st grade today. our pictures of him last year on the first day of kindergarten were of the biggest and most beautiful smile a parent could ask for with the joy and anticipation of learning. then came the nightmare teacher...who ruined him...on the second day. no-really! he came home and called nanny & papa and asked them if he could live with them so he wouldn't have to go back to school. he would protest going into the classroom by a sit-down and scream that he didn't like the teacher.

so on friday, boo and i met his new teacher. she's older and has experience, vs. the 1st year teaching-something-other-than-daycare-teacher that he had last year. all parents and grandparents are crossing their fingers that it goes well.

i wish i had a series of pictures of boo's outfit choices this morning. the child has sprouted like a week this summer and pants and shorts are all too short. we started weeding through his drawers last week and i ordered a few items (yet to arrive) and thought i'd be able to make it through the first week before i had to start a buying binge. plus, he's getting more pants and shorts from nanny for his birthday next month. um. nope. going to have to buy more now.

first, he comes out in a pair of "camo" like shorts that are actually pawprints in browns/khakis with a long-sleeved hunter green plaid shirt and olive socks. when the hubby goes "oh THAT'S a look..." that is not a good sign. the pair of jeans i told him to keep were not the ones i wanted...this pair had a hole in the knee and were above his ankles. so now we're back to shorts. i hand him a pair of what i thought were long-enough ones. nope. little sticks showing a bit too much. then i hand him a pair of cargos and pull out a polo from the closet. much better and presentable.

but on a different note.... last night, i'm ironing the little button down shirts so he has school clothes ready. i'm looking at the fabric pattern on one in particular and thinking that as soon as he grows out of it, i'm cutting it up for a quilt. sheesh. but it will be a quilt for boo - i've been buying his "drawings" on a quilt square from the church the last few years as a fundraiser and his shirts would make it even more of a memory quilt.

an IBOL update

first of all.... sew mama sew is giving us a fantastic opportunity to participate without having to search and scrounge through our stashes. they're offering an already packaged deal including 5 yards of fabric, scissors, pins and more for a mere $15 - and that INCLUDES shipping! i spent almost that in shipping my box alone!

and second... art, the guy behind IBOL, has posted some updates and pictures of all the bundles he's received. i spotted mine instantly right there in the front left. and be sure to read all of art's blogs. he's quite a humorous guy and the background for the project is awesome.

bbq

bbq
Originally uploaded by delgrosso

i'm rolling on the floor laughing at this one. i love it.

(if the caption doesn't show up, click on it and read what photographer wrote for it...)

IBOL - little bundles of goodness

ok folks... i know there are some fantastic people out there who help in every way needed. here is another one of them. IBOL - or iraqi bundles of love is something i stumbled across yesterday and again and again this morning. i read the details today since i didn't have time when i found it before and i am all for this one!!

simply put: gather your big pieces of unused or unwanted fabrics, yarns, pins, needles, zippers, and other fabric/crafty stuff, put it in a box all wrapped up with a ribbon and ship it to a generous servicemember who will distribute them before his unit leaves next month. he's got a nice FAQ section to help you along. we can help teach others to sew in a sense and our unused stash goes to a very worthy place.

i don't know why or when it happened necessarily, but a once-lukewarm sense of patriotism within me has blossomed into an overwhelming desire to help our wounded and share a passion with others. maybe it's the quilter in me. i definitely know that being a military spouse has helped fuel that fire though. i've always been a giving person from the values my parents instilled in me, but i cannot explain how much i support those who are fighting for our freedoms and the freedoms of others.

so pop on over to ibol and ship off a bundle of love.

my hubby's reactions

my hubby has been laughing at me lately. not for anything particulary funny that i've done. in fact, i find it serious business.

he's laughing at my swaps...quilting...craft-stash-busting...blocks...bees...whatever... so, yes, it seems that's all i do lately, but it's all good! i get to use up some of my stash and i get good things in return. i get to trade out fabrics i don't need/want anymore for new ones and it only costs me postage. how fabulous is that?! i've even traded patterns i no longer have a use for.

snappy asked me last week after i opened up the envelope to a fantastic fabric swap: "how do they know what you're sending them?" and as i was heading to the computer to show him...he exclaims "you take pictures of your fabrics?! when do you do that?!" well, he does work late hours and sometimes on weekends. i do lots of things while he's out. like this blog. he knows i used to blog on myspace, but he doesn't quite know about this one. although, he has seen my nifty new calling card that i had made for my swap groups and this blog is listed on it.

as you've noticed, i have this obsession with making QOVs lately. it's a very healthy and worthy obsession i might add. as part of my swap this month here and here, i'm having my swap partners make 12" blocks in any combo of red/white/blue. the one is anything goes and the other has a theme of stars (we're all making stars in the colors/fabrics requested). this way, i get to make at least one, if not two, QOVs that will be essentially part of a quilting bee. all i have to do is make a few blocks myself, put in a sashing between all the blocks, and find a backing. then, ship it off to the longarmmer and VOILA! another QOV for our wounded.

and what i haven't told the boys in my house is that i've joined a kid's block swap group for my son. he's been begging me to teach him to sew and how to make quilts, so here's a great way to do it. when he piece well enough, i'll let him make a QOV top like he's asked to do too. i guess i have to teach him soon, don't i? if you've got kids who sew or want to, check out the group. we're looking for more kiddos to join.

august STUD inspirations - buildings

august STUD inspirations - buildings
Originally uploaded by greeneyedsilversmith

i'm participating in my first STUD swap this month. i'm excited about this swap group - they're extremely active and everyone seems very nice and funny from what i've read and seen. there's a few people in it that participate in some of my other flickr swap groups, so we're a little familiar with each other. in fact, my swap partner is kristin, who was my very first mini quilt swap partner this summer.

this month, the theme is buildings. i had a plan for what i wanted to do, but i may be changing my mind. looking through the photos on flickr, i found some wonderful inspiration. a wide variety of buildings with their shapes and colors. these are some of them.

what's your favorite building here? i haven't decided on my favorite yet - they're all juicy and eye candy in their own way.

hot diggity dog! it's my birthday all over again!

tonight, i stopped at joann's on my way home from work. i needed to see what they had in 30's repro prints (um...nothing...) and as i walked by an endcap of fat quarter bundles....these popped out at me!!

ok, so the riding boots was the one on top, which also includes the horses in blue and 3 others from that set. then, i found the russian stacking dolls, which has the floral stripe and some other good ones in there. how much did i get these fantastic heather ross bundles for? $9.99 each!!! can you believe it?! they were the only two there. believe me - i looked and looked. i've never seen heather ross at joann's before. some robert kaufman, some alexander henry. sometimes someone else good... but never heather ross.

now, if only i had found these last night on my birthday. but today was just as good. :)

i also got the first block from QBE's august swap in the mail today and one of my fabric swaps. what a lovely day in the mailbox.

isn't it lovely? this block will join some i make and at least 6 others from QBE for a fantastic QOV. the 6-12" mini swap this month has the theme of stars for the blocks, so i'm opting to do blocks instead of mini quilts. of course, i requested red, white and blue combos so i can put together the QOV with them as well. it's just a big happy virtual quilting bee!!