The Freemotion Challenge

Hi everyone - -

Just in the nick of time, I finished the January tutorial of the Freemotion Challenge - - see the link in the box over >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>there.

And here are my hearts
 - I was really bold today to do them in light blue thread on a black background, but I figured that would be the test of how it really looked, rather than hiding the stitching by using black thread...  oh well, a work of quilting art it's not, but , then, its only January of the Freemotion quilting challenge - who knows how good I will be by next December!!!!

This is the corner of a little 9-patch kids quilt for a charity initiative - no danger this border will come unsewn!!! I have it well-quilted with all these leaves... yippeeeeeee.

Tomorrow is February - wonder what I will learn next month.

You can still join the Challenge - just click the box >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> over there.

Kate

Annee from Arizona and Jenny P

Annee and Jenny - you are the winners of the book giveaway I hosted a few posts ago...  My favorite friend, the Random Number Generator, picked you !!

Unfortunately, my computer won't connect with you through the link, so I have left notes on your blogs... so if you see this, please email me at kat525252@yahoo.com...

Can't wait to send you these very cute books - so send your snail mail addy!

(I will try again to email you from my work computer, which is a bit less contentious than my laptop)..

Thanks all who commented and entered..

Kate

Hexagon Update - Month 11

Holy Hexagons!!! 

It's been eleven months now since I started this project with the tiny center star... 

this month I started working on a corner - it's soooo exciting to be doing a corner...  can't wait to see a 90 degree angle emerge - that will feel like a real movement toward conclusion...   right now that left corner just looks like some sort of strange growth - hopefully it will begin to look more in harmony with the rest of the piece as I get more done.    I have found that any new area looks totally weird until there's more than one area like that, and then it looks perfect... 

ha - conclusion!!!!  I'm guessing this will take another year to finish the top... 

So - this is the Feb. 1 photo (a few days early)  

You know - after working on this for 11 months, now I see hexagons everywhere I look... like this photo!!!! 

Hope everyone had a great weekend - I'm settling down tonight with a movie - and some hexagons!!!

Happy quilting,

Kate

Christmas Shopping Spree

Deck the Halls with pins and thread
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Drag the One to whom you're wed
Fa la la, la la la, la la la.

It's a SALE, a big SALE, just today.
Fa la la...........etc.

Grab the bolt and take it away...
Fa la la, lalalalalllalala

Three Christmases ago, DH began a tradition of giving me a Christmas quilty shopping spree...A spree is MUCH better than a gift certificate, cause is has no limit... (I try to be merciful).

This year we delayed the spree until the big Birthday Sale that happens once each year at Eddie's Quilting Bee in Sunnyvale, CA...  and that was TODAY - yippee

I scored BIG ...  don't you love those blues and greens!!!!  yummmm...

I'm off to sew - I have too much fabric... but I really enjoyed buying some more!!

Happy Weekend to All,

Kate

The Quilting Professor Gets A Logo

Well - this is a really fun post...  the Quilting Professor decided that it was time to kick up her profile a bit!!!!   You know, some kick-ass looking graphics, to go with the fabulous quilts ... so,,, I went to my favorite place .................etsy !!!!

I love Etsy because it's people like us - in fact, it IS us - selling their wares, their abilities, their skills....

And I discovered Michael Nolasco, at his shop on Etsy called NolascoDesign.  You can visit him at
http://www.etsy.com/shop/NolascoDesign.  Michael is a Freelance Graphic Designer from sunny Florida..

After a bit of conversation, Michael has, on my order produced two logo designs for me... here they are:

and the other one:

I commissioned Michael to do two designs because... well, honestly, I couldn't decide...each one seems just perfect for different purposes...

Which one do you like????  PLEASE leave a comment and let me know.

Next he is working on a blog banner for this blog, so just you wait!!!!

(and for those who want to know if it cost a lot - his prices are quite reasonable, and he is very willing to work through several possibilities with you... go visit his shop to learn more!!)

Kate

An 'aww' Story of a Charity Quilt

Now, I ask you - isn't this just the most beautiful little  boy????? 

He isn't just asleep, he is recovering from surgery...  he just had some sort of reconstruction surgery by the kind doctors sponsored by Rotoplast International...  I'm sure he and his mom were afraid...  When he awakens, he will see a quilt on him - with PUPPIES!!!!

 This little boy lives in TOGO --- TOGO, why - where is Togo??? Well, I'm glad you asked:

This quilt, made in the old USA, was part of the Wrap-A-Smile Project, on the Yahoo Groups site, which the Sunshine Yahoo Group sponsors... I'm not sure if I made this quilt, or quilted it, or what - it looks really familiar to me, and I know I had those fabrics, so maybe it was my quilt...  I hope so. 

The Rotoplast Medical teams take the quilts with them when they go international to do these wonderful surgeries to correct clef palettes or other disfigurements, giving these children new lives... - and new 'huggy' quilts....  imagine it - boxes of medical equipment, and boxes of bright, colorful kids quilts. 

I got to go sew some more charity quilts... My heart is so happy to see this photo, and am in awe of my quilt being in Togo...  kudos to my friend Terri, who lives in Maine, who founded the Wrap-A-Smile program, and keeps it running... 

Happy Quilting,

Kate

Where Oh Where is the Finish Line??

oh, me, oh my...

I want to report about a finish.....................

Or I want to report about a start.............................

But instead, I must report about more MIDDLES.... 

MEANWHILE - THIS GIVEAWAY GOES ON - JUST LEAVE A COMMENT, AND IF YOU BECOME A FOLLOWER, LEAVE A SECOND COMMENT...  WINNERS TO BE CHOSEN NEXT WEEKEND. 

Orca Bay is getting borders - only one so far...  I discovered I was short of those 'birds in the air' units, so have to make a few more of those before I can put on all the borders.  But I like the effect the border is going to have on this - it will calm it down just a bit...  and give the eye somewhere to land.   I think I will add one more solid outer border in the dark rust color..  this quilt NEEDS some solid for my taste. I really love the Mediterranean look of this quilt.  ... I went outside my normal comfort zone on colors - now I can't wait to use these colors on another project  (no, no, brain, don't even think about another project yet)))

This blue/yellow Christmas eve mystery is in the middle of being quilted...  and I am beginning to look covetously at one of those sit-down mid-arms...  either a HQ Sweet Sixteen or a George.  We'll see... I just need some throat space...  This is only about 25% complete, and someone (surely not me) decided to put in complicated quilting... ugh...you know, once you start, you can't stop.............:)

 Some ordered fabric arrived - yippee!

 A charity quilt got laid out for pinning:

 And the quilting fairy did not come in at night and quilt up these small donation quilts that are all pinned and ready to quilt - wonder where she is????  Gone to Florida for the winter?? Or maybe she went to the 'road to california' quilt show.............she better get her little wings back here.

 And in the middle of it all, I decided I needed to make a snake out of a sock..........

Now, really - did I not have enough to do?????  But perhaps the snake from a sock will be enormously popular and I will sell them for hundreds, no thousands of dollars and support my quilting habit................. good grief, I am nuts... but he is really cute, especially if you roll him up like a cobra!!!

And, on the couch, there, is the hexagon quilt...  the middle of that quilt is a desert with no oasis - I can't even predict yet when it might be complete... photo to come on the first of the month as usual.

................and there are pants to be hemmed today - HORRORS - hems??? I am an ARTISTE - of snakes and such... shall I put in a lowly hem??? Well, I guess I must, unless I want to walk on the bottoms of these pants tomorrow at work. 

Color me completely nuts... 

More insanity later...  Hope everyone is happy and well.

Kate