Time for some lovely, um, photos...

Ok, so a day late, but y'all should be used to that from me by now...

First, I have to show off the present that Jay got for me at Target this week...




It's a turquoise, black and white argyle mug, with lime green lines...and a skull and crossbones on it! I literally squealed and hopped around the kitchen like a moron for a full minute after he gave it to me. It is officially my new favorite coffee mug! *grins dopily*

And of course, drinking a whole mess of coffee to test-drive my new mug, I managed to get a smidge of fabric cutting done...



I'm doing double-duty as I cut. The squares are 2.5" for AmandaJean's 9-patch quilt-along. (It's not too late to join, sign up over here.) I've noticed a new trend of 9-patches being done with a light or dark square in the center, different from the other fabrics in the block. I decided to do light squares in the center of my blocks for this go-around, and we'll see if I like it. Those have all been cut now, for all 70 blocks. I'm about a third of the way through the other, darker fabrics for this project.



I love this particular fabric. It's about 8 years old, and I honestly have no idea who made it. It came as a part of a FQ bundle of oriental fabrics, several of which are showing up in this quilt. I just love the tesselating pattern.

So, as I cut the squares, I'm also cutting triangles...


For my eventual flying geese quilt. Since I've long-planned to do this in oriental-themed fabrics, I figured I might as well kill two, ahem, birds with one stone... Don't know just why this decided to turn on it's side, but I'm too lazy to change it. :)

In other news, I have gotten "official" confirmation that my machine "should" be back on Thursday, meaning I "should" be able to go and pick it up on Friday. We'll see, at any rate. I'm anxious, but trying not to be hopeful. Nothing worse than a crestfallen quilter with three days off and no machine, am I right?

Also, has this ever happened to you? A coworker came into my office the other day, wearing the most striking blouse. Navy, aqua and white in this vaguely floral, large-scale swirling pattern. I was instantly smitten with the colors and the design. I have a quilt based on the color combo brewing in my little brain, and I'm not sure it's one I can ignore. We'll see what unfolds.

For now, however... Sleep.

Steamy Saturday

I got home last night to find that we had no power. It was warm and very humid, and no fans made it even more uncomfortable. My husband came home and took a nap, and I chilled out on the couch and read while it was still light. We finally got power back a little after 7pm. We went around and turned on fans, Jay disappeared down into the Man Cave, and I made some dinner--sandwiches, cuz there was no way I was turning the stove on in that heat.

Overnight, even with the fan, it was uncomfortably warm and sticky--when I got up at 7am today, it was still over 70. ewwwww! You know, the kind of morning when you try to put makeup on, and it just melts right off your face? Yeah. While I normally am not a huge fan of working on Saturdays (I work them on a one-on, two-off rotation), I actually looked forward to coming into the AC today!

The warmer weather makes everyone irritable. Me, my hubby, our cats, the public in general. Speaking of the cats, there is nothing worse than a warm cat who wants to snuggle at 4am when it's 75 degrees and sticky. Zoe would NOT take no for an answer last night, and kept me up for about an hour, constantly trying to wedge herself between me and my husband. Granted, she was trying to make up for the fact that she freaked out and clawed my foot last night (no one's fault, these things happen in a house with *mumbledy* cats), but snuggle-time was overrated!

So, I have a confession to make... I joined AmandaJean's one-a-day 9-patch quilt along. I missed out on the last one she did, and looked on with envy the whole time. When I read that she was starting another one, I jumped in with both feet, because I knew if I stopped to think about it, I'd find an excuse not to do it. Like, oh, I dunno, my machine is in the shop til next Friday at the earliest, and I'll start out the challenge a week behind? Yeah, like that. The kickoff for her challenge is this Monday, so I suppose I ought to dip into my scrap bag and do a bit of cutting to at least have some blocks ready to sew, then I can catch up next weekend. At least it means I can do some stash-busting at the same time!

Tomorrow, I have the day off, so I'll do the cutting while it's (hopefully) cool in the AM, and you know what that means? Pic post! See you then!

Quickie Monday Update

No photos today, I'm afraid. I managed to be quite industrious on my day off yesterday, and sifted through my stash, coming up with one half-yard cut of background fabric, as well as a dozen FQs and a couple large scraps and sat down to cut. And cut. And cut. I now have enough 5" squares cut to make 24 large 13.5" (i think?) 9-patch blocks, in green and violet and cream. Sashed, this should make a long twin quilt or if I make another 9-patch, I can do a 5 x 5 setting for a large throw. OR two large crib quilts. I haven't sewn a stitch yet, but I'm so excited! And the best news was all of the fabric I used was in my stash already--NO new purchases. A drop in the overall bucket, but a small victory.

I would've started sewing right on the spot, but my back was really bothering me yesterday, so I spent the afternoon on the couch and the evening in bed with an ice-pack. I slept ok last night--the pain didn't keep me up too much. (I had a ruptured L5/S1 disc back in October, and had surgery to "fix" it in December '08. The result is that I still have back pain and numbness down my left leg/foot.) But I did manage to hand-piece another 5 pinwheels, bringing me up to 12 pinwheels and one chain block. Good gods, it sounds endless when I say it like that! >.<

There is literally no time to sew again until Thursday--the DH and I are going to dinner and a movie (he picked Transformers this month. I'm holding out for Julie and Julia in August!) for our monthly date-night tonight, then I work late tomorrow and have plans Wednesday, too... But my little at-home retreat starts with a cup of coffee and some gorgeous 9-patches bright and early Thursday, and that's enough to get this librarian through the end-of-the-fiscal-year nightmare at work this week!!


ETA: Nedra is doing a week-long Blogiversary giveaway! Go check her out!

*grabby hands*

I am the worst Stashbuster ever. *sigh* Maybe it's the gray days that just won't let up that make me crave bright colors? I am being good and shopping sales, if at all, and cut myself off at $30. But I need to go back on buying hiatus--my stash is kind of ridiculous. I have pics, which I suppose I should post later today. Getting into this Project Linus thing is kind of dangerous, I think. I can piece a LOT of tops from stash, but here's the thing.

Most of my stash is NOT kid quilt material. I have a lot of Civil War era repros, a lot of tone on tone and darks and neutrals. I have a small amount of fabric that is novelty, and a very small amount of pastels. I don't do brights, or pink, or pastels, by and large. So what I have to work with that would be remotely kid-appropriate for what my local chapters want would probably fit into a shoe box. So, I'm doing a bit of sale shopping to boost that part of my stash. I'm having such fun with the current top--I love the bright yellow with the denim blue, the primary colors, the small size of the project that allows me to finish in a couple of weeks instead of a couple of months...

See, I basically only get to quilt on the weekends. And every third weekend, I only get one day off. My evenings have already been spoken for by work and friends and my husband, so I might get one evening a week to myself. Sometimes I read, sometimes I quilt, or watch a movie, or just go to bed!! I just feel like I need more time!!! Don't we all?

Until next time,
--Meg

Oh, but ps--there is still nothing like finding an amazing fabric from a great designer for only $2.98/yard. I'm just sayin'...