on my mind

Freddy and Gwen Collaborate Again

p. 161

(mostly) wordless wednesday

more pics of our trip on flickr

and blogger's still being a booger

placemat quilt swap 2

13" x 17"

free pieced

top made with scraps from my scrapbox

machine pieced, quilted and bound

We're home from the beach! It was fun, but we're glad to be home. Nothing like your own bed, your own tap water, your own toilet (you know's it's true) and your own space (from each other). I'll try and share some pictures later on this week.

I mailed out my placemat to Kristin/knit one quilt too the Saturday we left.

Remember what I said in my last post about perfectionism? And that a few parts of the placemat were bothering me? Well, it was a couple of letters. Part of me wanted to leave them, but then my husband wisely pointed out that if I want the words to be read, I'd better change them. Good point.

Kristin and I had decide to make placemats with a fall theme, use free pieced letters and use as many scraps as we could.

Thanks Kristin! It was a fun swap!

PS blogger's being a real booger. grrrr.

been a long time

since I last posted! And since I'm super busy lately (it's the last week of soccer for both kiddoes, and we leave on Saturday for a week at the beach) and because I'm lazy, this post will be just a quick review of this past month. Ready? Here we go!

I'm hosting a placemat quilt swap over on flickr. And wouldn't you know, I lost my mojo. Nice. But I did get lots of reading done.

One of our good friends just turned seven. So since it is the year of the placemat, the kids picked out some scraps, and I sewed them up.




(Hi Stephanie!)

I received my placemat from my partner in the swap. Obviously she hasn't lost her quilting mojo! I love this! Red is one of my favorite colors. Especially in quilts. Kristin (from Knit One Quilt Too) and I decide to use as many scraps as we could, do free piecing (including letters) and have a fall theme. Thanks Kristin!



(the other side is wonderful too, and she sent lots of goodies!)

side note - Here is something you should know about me. You know those people that send awesome swap packages like Kristin? I'm not one of them. I'm a little "extra goodies" challenged. I hate to admit that, but it's true. So if you like to receive extra goodies, you don't want to be my partner.

another side note - (and this one is one of those dumb things from childhood like thinking tigers were female lions. hey! I was little, don't you judge me!) But I don't associate apples with fall. Growing up in Florida where there aren't any apple trees, I think of citrus. I've grown up having citrus trees, and we have citrus trees of our own now. Citrus is really a winter fruit for us, but it's ripening as I type. But I love the apples Kristin sent on her placemat. All that delicious red! yum!

I made the kids Halloween costumes. We already went trick or treating with some dear friends.




I finally started on my placemat quilt. I'm not thrilled with parts of it. And I'm trying to decide if I should fix it, or get over it. I think as quilters (and crafters) sometimes we get carried away with making it "perfect". But that's a whole 'nother post.



And here is what we have left to do this week:
finish our week of school
finish our last week of soccer
wash laundry, plan and pack for our trip
and we'll be on our way to.....



We've been going to the beach every fall for 10 years now. I was pregnant with Marguerite the first time we went. I love this family tradition. And I thank my Grandmother for giving us the use of her time share every year. Such a blessing to us. Thanks Grandma! no, my grandmother isn't internet savvy, but she is worth thanking!

And how was your month?

wordless wednesday

fabric

randomish thoughts on fabric in a list
cause i'm lazy like that

i was tweeting with a few friends on twitter this morning
and one of the things to come up was fabric
the lure of new fabric
and fabric diets
as quilters we love fabric
right?
i could buy and buy and buy
i could upholster rooms in my house with some favorites
sometimes i feel the urge to buy the whole bolt
i never do act on that impulse
mmm, fabric
even joann's can give me a thrill sometimes
though i have never bought fabric online
and i don't keep up with designers
and who makes what
and i've never bought a jelly roll
or a fat quarter bundle of one designer
i buy what strikes my fancy
what strikes my fancy?
lime green
a good orange
or yellow
polka dots
black and whites
good ispy prints
piratey prints
peanuts
i can never resist a new snoopy/peanuts fabric
i usually buy 1/3 of a yard
or more if i really like it
but what about those fabric diets i mentioned earlier
why do we need to control our fabric acquisition?
why do we need to satisfy our fabric lust by buying fabric?
do we need more?
are these the last new fabrics?
ever?
when is enough enough?
do you buy more fabric than you use?
do you still love the "gotta have this fabric" months later?
years later?
do you use it?
do you hoard it?
let's put it in other terms
my sweet daughter: "mom i want to buy more my littlest petshops"
me: "you just bought one last week"
daughter: "but there are new ones"
me: "but you just bought one last week"
daughter: "and i don't have all of them yet"
me: "even if you did, they will still keep making more"
daughter: "and i'll keep buying more"
me: "aren't you satisfied with what you have?"
daughter: "but i want more"
me: "don't you like what you have?"
daughter: "yes, but i will like the new ones too"
me: "let's have a conversation about contentedness...."
let's put it adult terms
is this "gotta have more" mentallity limited to fabric?
do you continually change your decor?
do you buy all the latest fashions?
do you change your holiday decorations each year?
do you buy more decorations each year?
do you buy more craft supplies?
more than you need?
more yarn?
more scrapbooking papers?
more stamps?
more! more! more!
why do we allow ourselves to be obsessive about fabric?
are we not content?
are you content?


from Galatians 5:22 and 23 (NIV)
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

did you see that?
self-control
hmmm

the fruit of the spirit are what i strive for in my life
and in my children's lives
i use this passage to train my children
and myself

i'm on somewhat of a controlled fabric diet
i still buy some here and there
stuff i need
not necessarily stuff that calls my name
it's more of a money issue
and a space issue

and you?



***no new fabric was bought to take these pictures. these are old pictures of fabric for quilts for each of my children. pirates for zach. peanuts for marguerite.

DQS7 sent!

and received my millie quilts! In a post to her partner, Lynne (millie is the cat) asked for a quilt for her bathroom made with bright colors and lots of black and white. So I went all out. It was a pleasure to make. And Lynne assures me that she loves it.



My inspiration for this quilt came from Gwen and Freddy's book Collaborative Quilting. I had never done a medallion quilt, used so much black and white or made a spiky border.



I love quilts that hold my attention. There are lots of beautiful quilts out there that I'm done looking at in just a few minutes. The ones that really grab me are full of "surprises". Here is a list of surprises that I put in the quilt for Lynne:

lots of scraps
lots of black and white
checkerboard fabric
lots of dots
lots of different fabrics
selvage dots (she works with selvages alot)
a wee little kitty face to represent her Millie
a make-it-work-people lopped off shoefly
a churndash to stand in for a shoefly
fabric substitution in the spikes
fabric addition to make the spikes fit
a wonky house



It was fun to make and I'm glad she likes it. Her enthusiasm for it gives me great joy.




On a different note, things might get quiet(er) around here. I feel that I need to make changes in my life. I have been spending too much time focused on quilting (gasp!) and farting around on the computer. I need to be focusing on my children and their education, our home and family life more. I would like to be able to balance the two, but I haven't been able to of late. So if I can't get my act together, I might have to severely limit my computer time. blah blah blah. Thanks for sticking with me folks, and thanks for all the great and encouraging comments you leave.