Hi all,
It has been a few months since I have posted. And thanks to Joan for the nudge to post. Well for those of you who are interested I have been preoccupied with several things . One of the things is cutting out and starting the CCCQ (Cheddar Cheese n Crackers quilt) at humblequilts.blogspot.com. I decided to make mine a twin size and at the end of the pattern she enlarges the pattern pieces. I was able to take these proportions and plug them into my Quilt Pro to see how many blocks to make, ummm about 80 or so. Well,...This CCCQ has smaller pieces that are browns and pinks and blues but I am going to make mine Brown, red and maybe poison green. In other words I would like for all the 80 blocks to be different fabrics.

Ok for those of you who do not know I have several UFO's (Unfinished Objects). One of those being a DJQ (Dear Jane Quilt). And mabye in the near future you will get to see or hear about some the others. Now what does this have to do with the CCCQ one well I really want to use My Civil war fabrics for the DJQ first. So I unearthed the DJQ container and I blew the dust off of the top. Inside there are more blocks done than I originally imagined. I even tucked away a suprise ..a Civil War Jelly roll. I decided to start a new block and use some brown in the block and the leftovers could be used in the CCCQ quilt. I decided to handpiece all of my DJQ blocks so the process is slow. The smallest pieces of pink ,brown and red leftover from these DJQ blocks can be cut down into 1 1/4" pieces to be used for the Dipped in Chocolate quilt. Now I know this all may seem a little crazy but I am determined to figure out an organizational process so that the pieces can be used in the most effecient way.
Also when I was rummaging around through bins of projects I found the 6 1/2" rainbow baskets quilt. This quilt needs 12o blocks and I have about 30 done. Several of the blocks were cut out ready to go. It would be nice to finish cutting out the different fabrics for the blocks so that I could just open the box and start sewing. There are 2 parts of the block .The top handle is appliqued and the bottom is pieced. And today I appliqued 5 handles.
On the subject of baskets, 2 weeks ago, I started the Trick or Treat quilt from the Cold Wind Blows book by Blackbird Designs. these are fun little blocks and each are appliqued on a different shirting background. The leftovers from these are going to be cut down and used in the Omigosh quilt. Omigosh quilt is a pattern by Sue Garman made with 1", 2" strips of shirting and civil war fabrics. The pattern ismade of 9-patches and Shoe fly blocks. They are simply charming.

On a different note... I am in the process of organizing the instructions for a Lone Star Medallion Quilt I designed for a class I will be teaching at Painted Pony n' Quilts in June. I am also writing the instructions for a Paper piecing class that will be taught at the same shop..

But today.... I went to the most oganized party I have been to in a long time. A friend of ours , Roberta, who attended one of the bees I attend was leaving. Patsie organized a signature block gift for her. Each of us made a block for her with our signature in the center. The 12" blocks were laid out on a table in a separate room and after lunch we all presented them to Roberta. The luncheon was organised so that each person brought a part of a salad. It was really neat. Several ladies bought Chicken strips from KFC to add and there were Cakes as well. really yummy.
Mabye I will post some photo's soon.

Tanya...

Dipped in Chocolate

Today I decided to start on Dipped in Chocolate. I made a total of 20 4 patch blocks. 2" unfinished

Events before Valentine's

Hello there, it has been a while ...and on January 15th my daughter got engaged to a nice young fellow who seems to care for her deeply and Inspires her passions in life mainly music. I am so very happy for her. She is not planning a wedding date yet I am sure she will keep me posted. I am not one of those mom's who want to plan out the entire Wedding for their daughter. If she asks me advise I will be more than happy to help but I do not want to ramrod any of my ideas down her throat.
On another note Valentine's is around the corner. The tree is still up in the living room and I still have a few other X-mas decorations to put away. I really like decorating for valentine's. I really don't have too much. But other than that the house is back to it's normal self.
I am currently working on a Medallion Borders class for the shop. I designed the quilt and I am working diligently to complete the last few steps. I actually turned my living room into a mini workroom for a few weeks to assemble this one. With my design board in front of the fireplace (unlit of course) and A Big Board in the hall of the room. It is driving my family absolutely crazy..(aren't you finished yet?). kind of like kids who are on a long trip...Actually Hubby doesn't seem to mind much we have together time. I might post a peek of it in a few days.

On another note I am completely addicted to my crazy about pincushion yahoo group. Every day someone has something to add about what they created or an idea. We just completed a swap and I recieved the cutest pink camo heart tag along. It was so much fun.

Oh, I also discovered Quilt Alongs. These are neat little groups that start out with a person who wants to make something and invites others to join in the fun. The ones I discovered tonight were. joseph's coat ...
http://dontlooknow.typepad.com/dont_look_now/2009/11/josephs-coat---set-up-preporation-of-applique-shapes.html

nine patch quilt along
http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2009/04/one-day-quilt-along.html

both of these bloggs are so neat, each has followers so you can follow the progress of others. They also have step by step instructions to tempt you. kind of like bait.
I just might get hooked...

I also discovered the Passacaglia-blocks from Tilde
http://tildesquilts.blogspot.com/
these a little Lemoyne stars and it looks as though she has fussy cut them... just stunning.

I am also contemplating which one of my UFO's I will be completing this year. My new years resolution is 2 quilts.
One will be...... Many heart strings. the other must be at least 2 years old.....arrgh
Well thats all for today.......I cannot believe I have insomnia tonight . My son came home at 2:00am and I have been fighting staying awake scince then. Well at least I was able to talk to you.....
Tanya