Japanese charm fabric give-away

Enter for a chance to win some really cute Japanese fabric charm square that Kerri is giving away in her first blog give-away. Be sure to check it out: http://lovelylittlehandmades.blogspot.com/2009/02/giveaway-japanese-charm-pack.html

February Quiltathon

OK - A dollar short and little late but I finally got around to doing some quilting this month and it so happened that Judy was hosting her monthly Quiltathon as well, be sure to check it out by clicking here. I've been wanting to start a new quilt and finish this one before the spring holidays arrive - I just loved this quilt when I saw it in the January/February 2009 issue of Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting magazine - it's the I Wooly Love Ewe pattern. I got my last few fabrics bought the other week and well, I thought I would have started yesterday but so many things got in the way of those plans. We wound up heading out yesterday afternoon to see the super Krewe Endymion's mardi gras parade - if you ever get to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, this is the one parade you don't want to miss! Well, it was a little chilly last night and we were probably 15 or so people deep along both sides of the steet, so we plunked our Eddie Bauer big boy fold up chairs in the back row, knowing we could only see the second story of each float that passed by, but that was OK with us and we wound up heading out for a bite to eat shortly after we had enough mardi gras for the night.

So Sunday morning arrives and I get a jump on things and start cleaning the catch all area of the den/computer/sewing room - and of course, it's 3:00 before I know it and i've not even cut my first square of fabric. But then I did and for the next six or so hours, with some interruptions, I was able to cut most of the block fabrics (minus the applique shapes) and started piecing some squares. I got a total of FOUR stepping stone patches completed but I feel I accomplished a lot for a mini-quilting marathon.

First Mini-Quilt project

I joined a Flickr group to create and swap mini-quilts - to learn more about that, click here. This month, the theme was your favorite childrens book - I picked The Ugly Duckling which was a favorite of mine. I created a mini-quilt depicting that book which I mailed off to my swap partner Robyn in Texas. She mailed me her beautiful mini-quilt earlier this month - her favorite book is Where the Wild Things Are. This was a totally fun project and I definitely plan to particpate in this fun group again.

It's Carnival Time!

Happy Mardi Gras! It's that time of year again here in New Orleans and everything is so festive right now! For those that have never experienced the revelry of Mardi Gras, it's worth at least one trip in your lifetime to come see what it's all about! Despite what you might see on the 5'0-clock news, it's not jut what happens on Bourbon Street - there is so much more to Mardi Gras and the weeks preceding Fat Tuesday or the day before Ash Wednesday. I found this awesome illustration on the following website that depicts Mardi Gras in the early days, http://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/twainlife/ill259.html

If you're interested in watching some of the parades that are rolling on by this entire weekend, be sure to check out the live cams that are setup around town by visiting NOLA.com or just click this link to see the live cams http://www.nola.com/paradecam/index.ssf?video -- it's almost like being here!

Happy Mardi Gras Y'all!

Win a Gift Certificate from Superior Threads

Superior Threads is having a give-away - check it out http://superiorthreads.blogspot.com/2009/02/give-away.html

Planning out some new projects

Even though I have not started any new sewing projects, I sure have been busy buying things and dreaming of grand plans. In the recent Fon's & Porter Love of Quilting, Jan/Feb 2009 issue, I am very inspired by the "I Wooly Love Ewe" quilt pattern -- that looks like fun so I went to my stash and grabbed a few fabrics that I thought would go well in the quilt -- I still need to add some reds to the basket but it's a start and I might actually finish this one in time to hang it for Easter!

Next on the agenda is a few quick tote and purse projects. I had created some christmas gifts this past season and our friend Natalie, who received the pink and black kitty bag, brought it to her office and a friend wants to have me make one for her niece, a smaller version since she's only like 7 - - she loves puppies, kitties and pink -- so I found some fun pupy fabric a month ago that I knew would come in handy at some point - see, buying fabric whenever you see it not knowing what it's for at the time of purchase does make sense - LOL.

OK so what else - I know I still have to finish the binding on my Christmas Punch quilt - O my goodness - will I ever get to that??? - I'm sure because it's sitting there staring at me every time I walk into the sewing room. Here are some other fun purchases I've made recently - after attending the first Virtual Bernina Club at my dealer here in Louisiana, I bought the sewing room organizing book - there are some great projects in there! EDIT TO ADD BOOK INFO (Quilters Get Organized by Pattie Donham, published by American School of Needlework, www.asnpub.com, ISBN 978-1-59012-186-3 retail $10.95) I also found some fun fabrics the other day -- I have plans to create a little girl's smock for possible use in the photo studio --- we'll see, not sure how that will come along since I'm really not that handy with garment sewing.

Happy Ground Hogs Day -- and Jury Duty today!

Hey folks - i'm still around just not doing the things I really want to be doing. It's been a real crazy start to the new year and even though I have every intention to quilt and sew on the weekends, every weekend thus far has ended up with a host of other things that have to get done or shopping that had to get done or organizing that had to get done. Well, the sewing room is a bit more organized now - I stashed away much of the christmas fabrics until later this summer when I will get back into the spirit of the holidays. Right now I want to start a couple other quilts and I have a few birthday gifts to create as well. Isn't that groundhog background just adorable! He'll only be around a day or so before I change that to a Valentines day background --- anything with RED will be my style! I also got slammed with a Jury Duty summons a few weeks back -- and will you know my number is up so I have to report bright and early tomorrow morning. This happened about 5 or 6 years ago and they got me again -- I just hope I don't have to go a few days in a row -- that will really put a damper on many of my plans!

Have a great Ground Hogs Day folks!