one shabby chick

Rebounding

Thanks for all the tips on the "quilt that shall not be named" - ha ha...

It's gone into the drawer and we'll see what happens.

I've moved on now...

Finally got some pictures of Bela's quilt.

This quilt was a combo of two quilting bees. The house blocks are from the Block Swap.

And the stars are from A Notion or Two (round 1).

Spent the majority of the day (seriously, these paper-pieced blocks take forever!) working on this block for Lynne.

It's her month for Ringo Pie and her theme is design classics.

Hope this works for you Lynne.

And since I wanted to rebound from my quilt yesterday, I started on a new one with the scraps.

I also have a bunch of teeny, tiny scraps from this quilt that I thought someone might want - they are all hard-to-find fabrics...paint by number birds, fmf, Urban Chicks, old Amy Butler. But they are pretty tiny - like 1" x 2"-3". Some are a little bigger - guess you could use them on a ticker tape quilt.

So if you want a bag of them, leave me a comment and I'll pick a winner next week.

Some good news and some not-so-good news

OK, first the good news...

Check out this gorgeous bracelet I won on the hapa hale blog!

It's from a local designer and is so pretty! I was so excited when I got the email saying I had won!

I finished this quilt and now just have to hand-sew the binding...and make a label.

and the not-so good news....

I'm not sure how I feel about this quilt.

Maybe I'll like it more after I quilt it?

I don't know - what do you guys think?

** Edited to add: The more I look at it, the more I know I have to rip it apart and start again...which I NEVER do (because I'm too lazy). But since I can't get most of these fabrics now, I'll do it...

I'm thinking a wonky star block with {maybe} the black text fabric as the center square...and different size stars. For now, it's going into the ufo drawer - I'm admitting defeat on this one.

A few of my favorite things

~ cutting into all my *oop and *htf fabrics for a patchwork quilt ala Amy

*out of print and *hard to find

~ another quilt that needs binding

~ pinterest - fun and addicting and completely inspirational

I didn't get pictures of Bela's quilt yet - rainy today so I'll try tomorrow!

And my friend is selling her fabric stash on Etsy right now - she used to sew but now makes amazing cakes instead. She'll be listing it for the next few days...I think she has a lot of htf fabrics - Amy Butler, Uptown, Alexander Henry.

Alone

That's how I spent the 4th - pitiful, isn't it?! My family went to the beach in the AM and I stayed home with the boy since he couldn't be convinced to go to the beach (I think he has a fear of it now).

He is doing SO well and not wearing his sling and using his arm a bit to - kids sure heal fast!

So I stayed home with him and finished the quilting on this:

But in doing so, I managed to wear myself out completely. I've had a sore throat for a few days now and just feel exhausted but stupidly tried to play soccer on Sunday and then that evening we had a party for the birthday boy with our family. I just overdid it.

So instead of bowling and fireworks, it was a movie and binding for me. And some trashy tv.

I'm still feeling tired today but I'm  trying to just take it easy. If I don't get better, I may have to head to the doctor.

I did get some very fun mail today though.

My swap package from Naomi:

So fun - can't wait to cram all my plastic bags in this.

She also sent two knitted dishcloths, a linen handtowel, and a super cute potholder. Love it!!

I also got these gorgeous fabrics (from here)....

I want to use that black newsprint fabric in a quilt like Amy's.

And I finished up the binding on Bela's quilt today (while watching soccer, of course).

Just need a tall person to come home and hold it for me so I can take some pictures (my giant son is at the beach - he's now 5'8" - how did that happen?!).

Freedom

{source}

 

We on this continent should never forget that men first crossed the Atlantic not to find soil for their ploughs but to secure liberty for their souls.  ~Robert J. McCracken

{source}

Happy 4th of July! Thank you to all the servicemen and servicewomen who fight and have fought for our country....

Nine

How did that happen?

How are you nine years old already?

Am I sounding like Tevye yet?

Happy Birthday my sweet boy...

Hope you arm gets better soon so you can be back to your fun, energetic self....

and you can ride your present (we got him a new bike). Hubby got it unassembled so they can assemble it together - too cute!