Amateur Photography

My sons work for a sporting goods store, and needed pictures of themselves doing their favorite sports.  I took the top picture of DS1.  You wouldn't believe how long it took to get picture to snap at the exact moment his leg extended!

DS2 had his dad take this picture, but then we downloaded it into my software to tweak.  Darned if that red eye correction wouldn't work on the right eye.  Considering they had just a few days notice, I think the pics turned out alright!  :)

Design Wall Report

Cooler weather has turned my thoughts from gardening back to quilting.  I've got multiple irons in the fire right now.  The top row is the very beginning of a Wisconsin Quilt, using Moda's Wisconsin fabrics that were created for this summer's shop hop.

The second row contains two stars I won in a block raffle.  I made the orange star, and found this fantastic fall print to tie it all together.  I've had these blocks for a year.  I wasn't sure what to do with them, but now this UFO is coming together. 

The leaf block in the lower left is my own design.  I made the leaf in a class where you did stamping to remove color from black fabric.  I just have to put on the border and the top will be complete.

In addition to these projects, I've been making scarves and have all the materials for mass hot pad production for a craft fair in November.  I have until mid-Ocotber to decide if I want to do it.  Will have to see how much I get done between now and then.  :)

Gold Leaf Audition

Working my way thru some UFOs, as I contemplate having a booth at a craft fair in November.  This is an orphan block from a block raffle - which contained 5 or 6 blocks that were very dissimilar. 

This was my entry.  Its about 14" square, so I could just add a border, and quilt it.  But I'd like to do something "different."  But what?

Nancy Zieman says if you don't know what to do, shelve your project until inspiration strikes....until then, I guess I'm just be a waitin'.  :)

Happy Dance - Two Finishes!

DS1 wanted a Packer/Badger/Bucks and Brewers quilt. 

We couldn't find cotton fabric for all four teams so we settled on fleece. 

This is DS1's design for the blanket.  There was NO talking him out of it, and I DID say I'd make whatever he wanted....

But that didn't mean I couldn't be creative with the back side.

I finished this binding at a mini-retreat.

 

I'm VERY happy to have completed both these UFOs!  I was inspired by the Quilt Expo to wrap up my UFSs ASAP so I can do some serious quilting again. :)

 

 

Me and Nancy

Look who I met at the Quilt Expo!

Cool Tool

Went to the hardware store to get a rain gauge, and lookie what I found! 

 

A lighted tweezers!  How cool is that?  :)

Skunked!

That would be the dog - not DS2. 

Doesn't she look pitiful? 

She didn't particularly like her bath in hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and soap.  It took two of us to keep her in the tub, get her scrubbed and rinsed, and get her back out of the tub.  We knew she'd shake off so we wrapped her in a big towel and Adam took her outside.  She STILL nailed us both! 

I wonder how long it will be before the residual smell in the house will dissappate? 

Can't possibly be soon enough!  :)

Garden Goodness

Took this platter of garden goodies to work today.  They are (clockwise from the top) green peppers, blaze orange peppers, zuchinni, blushing beauty peppers, in the middle sweet banana peppers, and of course cherry tomatoes.   Too bad I didn't grow fresh parsley to garnish the plate.

Still to come in are purple peppers and red peppers.  Cool nights have slowed growth and ripening way down, but its nice to have a break from cooking and freezing stuff.  Was beginning to suffer from garden burn out.

Later this season I'll have Mr. Stripey heirloom tomatoes.  They should have red and yellow vertical stripes.  I have several few on the vine now, but they're still green.  Can't wait to see how they look.  Pictures WILL follow! :)

Pot Holder Finish

Hooray!  I got these done on time. 

Now into the mail with them!

Quilting Again

Finally had the time to do some quilting again - hooray! 

This spring and summer left little time to submerge myself in quilting - but that's what I did tonight, and will do much of the day tomorrow.  It helps that I need to complete these soon-to-be pot holders on a deadline.  This is the Moda fabric designed for the Wisconsin Shop Hop that took place earlier this summer.

All four pot holders will be donated to fundraiser baskets for a professional organization.  The top two will go into a Minnesota-themed gift basket, the bottom two in a Wisconsin-themed basket.  I figure Minnesotans love their deer, lakes and loons as much as any Wisconsinite, right? 

Just don't tell Moda!  :)