Non-Edible Cupcakes

I finished up a cute, little baby quilt this morning.  I originally made it for a beginner's quilt class I taught, and then I used it to practice some FMQ, so I thought I should finish it up, because you never know who's going to be needing a baby quilt.

The Autumn light plays all kinds of tricks leaving long shadows on my quilt, but I kind of like it.  Here's a view of the back:  You can see the FMQ a lot better on this side. 

It feels nice to get yet another UFO off the list.  I'm making slow but sure progress.
Linkin' up to TGIFF and 2012 Finish-A-Long (original goals post here).

Jagged Lines

This week's design was Jagged Lines.  I used it in the outer border of the quilt.  After quilting it I have to say that I don't think it looks quite as good lengthwise down the border (the way I did it).

Straight lines are by their nature less forgiving than wavy lines, but I still liked the variation.  However, I quickly learned that I needed to pivot more definitively.  My corners weren't quite as sharp as I would have liked them.  Oh well - Practice, practice.  :)

I ran out of thread on the last border right before I could echo the last line.  So close and yet so far away!  I've been trying to avoid venturing out into the storm as much as possible, but a girl's got to have thread, so I may just have to brave it.

Catching Up

Life got crazy, and quilting was the first thing to take a back seat for a while.  I finally pulled it together enough to get back on the machine yesterday.  I finished my last block for 4x5 Modern Quilt Bee, and did 2 weeks worth of the Free Motion Quilt Along. 

Requested colors: Orange & Aqua w/ Kona White Background

Since I needed to do both Goldilocks & Trapped Paisley, I combined the two on a quilt top.  I traded off rows back and forth between the designs.  Here's a view from the back of the quilt since the pink thread shows up nicely against the brown:

It's a baby quilt, so I spread out the lines, so that the quilt wouldn't be too stiff.  

Coming and Going

I finished 2 more blocks to send out for the 4x5 Modern Quilt Bee.  It's been fun making the blocks in the requested colors:

Requested any shades of purple & gray with gray or black background

Requested Yellow, Turquoise, & Gray with Kona White background

Meanwhile, I got a package in the mail that made my day!  You'll remember that I made a sewing machine cover for a swap within our Wish Circle, and today I got my goodies!  She did such an awesome job! Excuse the crummy pictures; the weather wasn't cooperating for outdoor pictures. 

 Isn't this the cutest purse?!  I love it!  And it's blue- my favorite!

 The bag is fabulous and the most exciting part is that it's filled with yellow and orange scraps.

At a Snail's Pace

I confess I barely touched my sewing machine this week.  The only thing I did manage to get done was 2 of my blocks for the 4x5 Modern Quilt Bee.  I'm using Faith's Butterfly Strands Block (see here for tutorial).  They're fun to make, because they look different every time depending on where you cut your 45 degree angle on the background fabric. 

I haven't done the Free Motion Quilt Along for this past week yet, and I didn't touch anything else, so here are the ugly stats for the week:

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 - 1
Completed projects - 0
WIP- 6

Linking up to WIP Wednesday.

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.