unfinished business being finished

um..yeah... so, i rediscovered some knitting this afternoon during my lunch break. i was knitting on the shawl i started during the christmas roadtrip to kansas (which i had not worked on since january) and when i peered into the bottom of the bag, i noticed this pale lemony-green yarn. what could it be?!

a scarf i started almost 2 years ago. seriously. the scarf was started for a friend with the intentions of being a christmas present. didn't finish it in time since i was planning a wedding for myself and was too busy sewing for that. then, i started working on it again, but the friend disappeared (result of her own wedding a year ago this past weekend) and has not resurfaced in 9 1/2 months. now i'm thinking of finishing it for either my sister or my sister-in-law for this christmas. probably my sister-in-law: she's moving back to washington state next winter and she'll get much more use out of it than my sister here in texas.

hmm...maybe i'll get it done in time for the "spring to finish challenge" at the end of this week. there isn't as much as i hoped for that and this is definitely one big UFO.

the postman came knocking...

and he brought me this box of goodies! do you see how stuffed to the brim this box is?! a little while back, i entered a giveaway on artsymomma's blog and i won. this is what i received today - yarns, papers and stickers for scrapbooking, a ton of different fabrics in all colors, prints and sizes, buttons (you can see the red ones peeking out in the photo), vintage zippers and a gift certificate redeemable at fabricworm. i've never been over to fabricworm before, so i have a new adventure.

it's going to be hard to live up to steph's box of wonderfulness. later this month, i'm participating in SMS's giveaway day and i have no idea what to giveaway yet. hmm...must finish something since i picked my category already.

this weekend was houston's armed forces day -military ball. that's my sweetie giving me a peck before we headed out in the rain. i made the dress and it's the most wonderful turquoise shantung silk. it has a linen-like look to it and drapes beautifully. the dress has a fishtail hem, which you can't see here, but it's pulled towards the front.

spring to finish challenge update: um...nothing much to report. i had expected to finish and ship off QOV #2, but it was returned from the longarm quilter unfinished. QOVF instructed that i go ahead and finish quilting it by hand. none of the borders were quilted - just the main portion was stippled. not sure why and this sets me back on getting it out. QOV #3 just needs borders and that top will be done and ready for the next longarmmer.

i was bad.

april 30th couldn't come soon enough i guess.... i tried very hard not to buy fabric or start new projects during the spring to finish challenge last month.

now, jacquie has decided to continue the challenge to the end of may. which should be a great thing. but i feel guilty because i was bad... see what arrived today from fabric.com?

don't tell my husband....

i'm really thinking i have a fabric addiction. i'm past the denial stage and into acceptance. i tried not to buy any fabric unless i absolutely needed it for something i was trying to finish. it lasted a month. there are toooooo many ideas and projects in my head and i don't know where to start. or maybe it's where to stop.

and lately, the dedication to making QOV's is overwhelming. i told myself i was going to do something for me, or at least my household, before i started the next quilt top. i did make a skirt. and i wore it yesterday! but i started cutting a fabric yesterday for the QOV #3. i stopped myself quickly...then started cutting the fabrics for my dia de los muertos quilt. it's a fairly simple quilt pattern, so i'll put it together and then work on the QOV.

i need a QOV sponsor. i keep buying fabrics. in the stash that came today, the oranges, the red rope fabric and the biggest piece of blue fabric (backing material) are designated for QOVs. the oranges are for the coast guard. the red one can go for either usn or uscg - it's just simply nautical.

now i'm off to check on my kiddo who is losing his voice. let's just hope he doesn't get sicker and i have to squash the thoughts of H1N1 virus. i'm in the greater houston area....we have it here...

updates on spring to finish challenge

as part of tallgrass prairie's spring to finish challenge for the month of april, i've been working my fingers to the bone in attempts to complete items in my ufo stack. since i handquilt and do illustrations - it's all done with my hands and fingers. whew!

so here's my update with one day left to go. only one...i need more...

i put the finishing touches on elliott's quilt this evening after i pulled this adorable little quilt out of the dryer. i started working on it as soon as i heard my sister-in-law was pregnant. lucky for me (and elliott) the international quilt show was about a week later, so i picked up a bunch of great fat quarters there.



and here's a view of the backing fabric and label. i've had this turtle print for almost as long as my son's been alive, waiting to use it on the perfect thing. i also included the green striped border fabric and the background fabric (it has dragonflies on it in natural print) from my stash that have been used on multiple quilts. see!! not only did i get my bum in gear, but i used fabrics from my stash instead of just things i bought for a project only...




next is a 5 1/2" block for the "mini quilt in a bag swap" group's baggie bingo. i'm ready for it!

all fabrics on this one came from my stash - the black/white ones are going into the quilt i have **ahem** started and the red is from my 2nd QOV. i turned the red to the backside of the batik so it's not quite as bright. it's also my first unstructured and free-form block. yes...it's a log cabin and it's easy, but i haven't done something that's not straight and even lines before. i like it. so many of you out there have great "wonky" and liberated blocks and quilts and i want to attempt some of those. i'm probably too uptight to do it. i could never do too much modern or abstract art. i like my anal-retentiveness when it comes to that.

speaking of...jacquie got me moving in terms of finish projects. or at least hoping to finish. i'm not done with the drawing, but i'm a bit over half done. i was thinking of pushing myself to finish it before tomorrow night, but if i do that, it won't have the quality i want. i'll keep working on it, but considering i did the outline for it oh...about a year ago.... actually, i have a drawing that i want to finish that i started before i married my ex-husband. i started it in the mid-late 90's. it's a fantastic drawing, but i got stuck in a rut on a portion of it and unfortunately, it wasn't a place that i can just crop the paper on. poo.

that's all for me tonight. i'm putting my chicken soup in the fridge since it's cool now and heading to bed.

happy arbor day and other thoughts

so, i may not plant a tree today (landlord....) but i can plant some herbs. i wish i could plant a tree - we have a gorgeous oak in the backyard that is not so gorgeous anymore. hurricane ike broke it apart and it's struggling to survive. half of it is missing.

my hubby was funny this morning. he was chatting with a relative and had this grave look on his face when he told me the relative's wife had headed back 'home' for the weekend and her shower. my gift quilt is almost done and he thought i was now late in getting it to them. good thing she's having two showers and i'm participating in spirit to the second one. on mother's day no less. i might have it finished this weekend. yes, i said that last week... but i mean it this time. plus, i'm cutting it too close to the shipping date. i was going to make a bunch of other things to go with my package, but i don't have enough days left to work on them.

plus, if i started something else, that would go against my "spring to finish" challenge, wouldn't it? i'm trying desperately not to start anything else until may 1. there are wonderful fabrics calling my name to be made into a skirt or dress. you know - something for me and not someone else for a change? oh my goodness!! what a novel idea!! :) 7 days left.... i won't have as many things as i hoped for, but i'm getting my stack of ufo's down. sort of.

here's a question: i'm going to do a dia de los muertos (day of the dead) quilt. i've been collecting fabrics for about 8 months now and all before i saw robert kaufman's small line of fabrics. i did buy one of the black ones for a border, but i've collected other skeleton/skull fabrics and lots of bright florals to make something. big and bold prints and colors. just like the celebration. so...after my rambling.... do any of you have a suggestion for a quilt pattern? i'm stumped.