changing things up a bit

I'm changing things up a bit on the old blog template. I had a lot of fun adding the page elements to the old one, changing the colors and finding the little graphic elements but I was ready for a little change in appearance. Pam, Cher and I dinked around with this a bit when we first started out though Pam has her own website based one now and can play with hers all she wants, LOL. I know a lot of people, myself included, follow our blogs through various readers (bloglines, IE feeds, sage, google reader, etc). We don't always have reason to go look at the page anyway until we are ready to comment. It just occurred to me that the stash ring stuff is gone though and I should get that back on here! May be asking for help, JudyL.

So what are you looking at here? On my way back up to Boaz when I delivered the t-shirt quilt last week I stopped at Petco in the strip mall area on 431 in Gadsden. Skyler needed was almost out of a couple of items and I was looking for a play tunnel type thing. I had been making a little tent out of his heating mat (atop the couch back at this photo taking). I would toss his favorite cat toy in there and we both would have a high old time. It worked but was too flimsy for sustained play. This little cube has a hole on both ends, fleece on the bottom with a zip up pounch to stuff with cat nip plus it will press down to make a bed for sleeping. He does crawl in there for privacy at times but mostly we still play mouse attack. Even better, it was on sale. He has gotten a good 20 bucks worth of fun out of it and kept DJ and I entertained, LOL.

So what have I been up to? Not a whole lot though the quilt group met yesterday. Silly me, forgot my camera and we had some pretty tops laid out on the floor. Some we pinned, some will wait. I came home with three to quilt---none that I pieced but that's okay. I'll get to them at some point---I think there are currently 10 in the donation stack. Jane, Lois and I were pretty much manning the pinning table with some help from Linda C. Linda M and Frieda were looking at patterns for something for the JOY group, I believe while Pat M dropped off her completed challenge quilt which is one of the tops that is in my pile. Very pretty Dresden Plate.

It was funny---Lois had several tops that she had pieced with elements of fabric that Linda C had given away. Linda recognized those bits right off and commented that she had no idea that they would look that good done up. She is fairly new to quilting so has not seen some of the scrappy quilt ideas that others of us may have. One was a Puss in the Corner or Uneven Nine Patch that Lois had made using the Billie Lauder method in Quick Quilt Tricks. Another was "Twin Sisters" from Eleanor Burns' Quilts Through the Seasons. I know there was a third one but it escapes me at the moment.

Linda C had finished up a "12 days of Christmas" lap sized quilt that used some panel pieces that were then pieced into pears. Not sure where she found the pattern. The other unusual one she had was the large Feathered Star shown in the Sept/Oct 08 issue of Fons and Porters "Love of Quilting".

Linda has also wanted me to show her the fundamentals of hand quilting so I demonstrated on the motif I had marked on the Railroad Crossing. The rocking thing, pushing up to make the mountain and pinching motion on top. I still need to finish quilting the rest of this thing on the machine but it sure was fun to sit and hand quilt for a bit yesterday. I found this little motif in the Shirley Thompson Finishing Touch book. Sort of reminds me of two wedding rings and this might be his anniversary present--sorta Celtic looking which does not have any particular significance, just that I liked it, LOL.

I had brought a dinner salad to share along with a chocolate cake I had made. LOL, I said and not entirely joking, that I made the cake just to go with the fluffy chocolate frosting I had a taste for. (From the Cake Mix Doctor cookbook---yummy!) I figured I better definitely get that out of the house to lessen the temptation. Last time I made those cupcakes with this icing DJ said I should not have given some away to the neighbors. He said he didn't care if I took his treats into the quilt meeting but I shouldn't give away something he liked to them! I am pretty sure he meant that.

Judy came by with her friend who was visiting from California with a xerox paper box loaded with those feedsacks. Boy, it did not take long for that box to be emptied out and dug through. She did not go home with many leftovers, let me tell you! Thanks, Judy for sharing.

And speaking of challenges----I have mulling over what to do about the quilt group challenge. One of the girls on the WTIL list had given me several large bits of yardage last year so we are set for challenge fabrics for a couple more years to come. A couple of the girls already have their tops done but I have not even started. Last week I found a pattern though that I think is my final choice---Jungle Nine Patch from Quilt Woman. I had a few pieces of fabric set aside with the animal fabric---some that my mom sent back with me earlier this summer. Then I dug through the box she sent down with my family members in July. I think I told you that we had spent several days pairing up patterns with fabric stacks of donated fabrics when I was back. What was leftover once she had kitted her things up she split and sent to me. A few pieces I had here at home but I was determined to use what I had in the stash if possible. Oh, I would switch a few things around if I had access to a quilt shop maybe but this will do. After all that fabric from the donor needs to be used as we promised it would be--- donation quilts for the kids. Stash needs to be busted as I am bursting at the seams. I DID end up ordering a piece of darker brown moda marble online to frame the challenge fabric as I needed a higher degree of contrast that the greens and rusty tones. That will make more sense if you take a peek at the pattern, LOL.

I had an appointment this morning so I have not done a lot other than the computer and finish up my home study program CEUs so I could renew my nursing license. Alabama now allows you to retire your license but if you should need it in the two year period after you do so, it will cost $500 and the renewal cost of 75 bucks. OUCH!!! No thanks. Pay out that kind of money and you definitely would need to be employed.

Guess I'll work on my redwork for a bit or go read--getting to the good part of Janet Evanovich's Fearless Fourteen. Hope you have had a good day-------