Despicably Yummy

Have you seen the movie Despicable Me?   Actually, I just saw that #2 is coming out this Summer.  Here's a little sneak peak.  I take absolutely no credit for this dessert.  My neighbor had a birthday and brought over some cupcakes for the kiddos.  Aren't they cute?!  This may be the best use of the Twinkie I've ever seen.

I'm Linkin' up to Tuesday at the Table.  Have a lovely Tuesday!

Between Shades of Gray

source

No, this is not the trashy novel that's so popular these days.  This book is quite the opposite.  Here's a description of Between Shades of Gray:

"In 1941, fifteen-year-old Lina is preparing for art school, first dates, and all that summer has to offer. But one night, the Soviet secret police barge violently into her home, deporting her along with her mother and younger brother. They are being sent to Siberia. Lina's father has been separated from the family and sentenced to death in a prison camp. All is lost.
Lina fights for her life, fearless, vowing that if she survives she will honor her family, and the thousands like hers, by documenting their experience in her art and writing. She risks everything to use her art as messages, hoping they will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive.
It is a long and harrowing journey, and it is only their incredible strength, love, and hope that pull Lina and her family through each day. But will love be enough to keep them alive?"

This book was heart-wrenchingly, wonderful.  I've read tons of books that take place during World War II (in fact, my husband teases that we often only ever read about WWII at book club), but this is the first book I have ever read about what took place in countries seized by the Soviets under Stalin's rule.  I feel like this particular part of the war is very hidden in comparison to the plethora of information we have about Hilter and the Nazis.   I learned a lot more about the War just by reading this book. 

I felt a particular connection with the mother in this story and I confess that I had a hard time putting down the book, because I simply had to know what would happen to the family.  I won't ruin the end for you, but I freely admit to shedding quite a few tears while reading it.

The author gives an account of how she came to write this book.  The small video clip made me love her even more.  Go here to watch the video.  It's definitely worth a watch.

Finally Crossed Off the List

I feel like a huge weight has been lifted.  Two years ago I started putting together something for Halloween.  I think I was thinking table runner at the time, but it ended up being way too big for a table runner and I really didn't know what to do with it.  I couldn't decide how to quilt it, got mad at it, proclaimed my extreme dislike for it, and shoved it in the bottom of my UFO bin.  It remained there untouched for over 2 years. 


This is was the UFO of all UFOs for me.  Prior to making this, I was a one-project-at-a-time girl.  I made one quilt and finished it and then started a new project until it was finished.  But...when I put this in the bottom of my bin it all of a sudden became easy to not finish a lot of projects.  The UFOs (and excuses why I wanted to start something new without finishing the previous project) began to pile up.  Then a couple of weeks ago I saw Leah's post about re-evaluating your UFOs and deciding if they're worth keeping.  The first thing I thought of what that stinkin' Halloween thing that was plaguing me from the back of my closet.

I decided that even if I hated it I could at least practice FMQ on it.  I found 2 Halloween designs and went to work.  I almost liked the thing once I finished the quilting...almost.  I put the binding on right away before I could talk myself out of finishing it again.  I played with a decorative stitch for the binding to amuse myself and completed the entire thing that day.  You'll notice it's currently clipped to a hanger, because it's not stiff enough to lay flat with the ribbon I attached to it for hanging.  If I decide to keep it up much longer I may need to put a sleeve on the back and add a pole.

It's hanging in my front entryway not because I love it, but because I'm thrilled with what it represents.  It feels like a huge accomplishment and after 2 years my husband finally can't say "What about that Halloween thing you never finished?" every time I talk about a new project.  :)  I'm not going to lie, he was probably more thrilled than I was when I actually finished it.

Linking up to TGIFF & UFO Sundays and 2012 Finish Along - original goal post here.

A Whole New Level of Productivity

I'm so excited!  I finished THREE projects this week - count 'em, THREE!!  It feels fabulous to scratch so many things off my list.

1- Grooves Quilt:  full post here.

2- Baby Roar Quilt:  I was happy about the Flowing Lines design for the Free Motion Quilt Along this week, because it was perfect for the outer border.  It's a fun variation to organic lines and I really liked it a lot.  I chose to quilt it length wise instead of width wise and it changes the look of it a little, but I like it.

3- Halloween Hanging:  (full post coming later this week)  This wall hanging has been sitting in my closet for 2 years, and I finally pulled it out and quilted it.  I used Leah's Pumpkin Patch for one panel, and Spider Web for the other.  The only thing I changed was making the base of the spider web straight lines.

Next up is to start working on my blocks for 4x5 Modern Quilt Bee.

It's been a while since I updated my stats, so here goes:

Other projects
Quiet Book - pages need to be put together
Cupcake Quilt Top - ready to be quilted
Christmas blocks - no progress

Do.Good Stitches - up to date
Bloggers BOM - all blocks completed - need to be put together


Stats for the Week:
New projects - 0
Completed projects - 3!!!
WIP- 5

Linking up to Free Motion Quilt Along and WIP Wednesday.  :)  Happy Wednesday, everyone!  

Grooving

I'm so excited to show you my Grooves quilt.  I finished the border while watching General Conference this weekend.  In fact, I got a second quilt bound as well.  Good times.

I'll be sending this quilt off to my mom.  A nursing home in Syracuse asked my mom if our church would make 200 quilts for them.  It is an inner-city home where people who do not have any family or any insurance live, so you can imagine that the need is very great for anything of that sort.  They particularly wanted lap quilts for those who are wheel-chair bound, so when I saw that the baby quilt size of the Grooves pattern was the right size I knew this was the quilt I wanted to make.  I intentionally used all blues, so that this quilt could be for a guy.

 I love all-solids quilts, but have never made one myself, so this was a lot of fun.  It really made quilting this a joy, because the emphasis could be on the quilting and not on the patterns of the fabrics.  I almost love the back as much as the front, because the quilting stands out so much on the navy back.

This quilt was also part of my UFO goals for the 2012 Finish Along (original post for the 4th quarter here).

Finishing Up Month of Paisley

It's the last week of Paisley designs with Leah and I have to say that they have really grown on me.  I like the look of this week's Pointy Paisley a lot.  The only draw back that I've found is that straight lines are not quite as forgiving in terms of hiding flaws.  A squiggle can fluctuate, but it's pretty obvious when your line's not straight.  I think the triangles look really cool though.

I also quilted the last section of my Grooves quilt using a large scale Stipple.  I'm so excited to finish this quilt.  Hopefully, I'll have it bound and ready to show you next week.  In the meantime, Happy Quilting!

Final Quarter Goals

I've been trying to finish up UFOs (Un-Finished Objects) this year as part of the 2012 Finish-A-Long.  My only problem is that I keep starting more projects, so my list of UFOs is actually longer than it was at the beginning of the year.  I got 2 of 3 done this past quarter, but once again I didn't even touch the infamous Christmas quilt that has been on my list for all 3 quarters.  Oops.  Since Christmas is drawing nigh maybe I'll actually be motivated this time around.  So, here is my list of UFOs to finish before the new year:

1- Christmas blocks:

2- Roar Quilt:  (I'm half way done quilting this one)

 3- Cupcake quilt: (needs to be quilted still)

4-  My husband is going to shout hallelujah over this one:  I've decided to pull out the old Halloween wall hanging that I started over 2 years ago.  I put it together and couldn't decide how to quilt it, got mad at it, proclaimed my extreme dislike for it, and shoved it in the bottom of my UFO bin.  It has been there ever since.  Maybe I'll even try to get it done before Halloween.  I know, I know - what a concept!

5- Blogger's BOM quilt:

6- Last but not least I need to finish my Grooves Quilt.  I'm trying to finish up the quilting on it this week.

Wish me luck and some serious productivity vibes, because I'm going to need it if I plan on getting this all done before the end of the year.

Last BOM

I squeezed in September's Block of the Month the very last day of the month.  It's entitled Lucky Last since it is the last block in the Blogger's series.  Next month we'll be deciding how to put all the blocks together.

 Here's a look at all 13 of my blocks:

I also finished the Sewing Machine cover, but I'll wait until it's safely in the mail on its way to my swap partner before I show any pictures.  :) 

I'm linking up to BOMs Away on this fine Monday morning.