Happy Birthday, Jessica!!

Jessica's Birthday Quilt

Quilt in a tree...doesn't everybody?The front.....The back....The Quilting....

The girl....I think she liked it.

....almost forgot the matching dolly quilt!

Sneak Peak

Here's a peak of what I'm feverishly trying to finish this week. This quilt is for a really special girl who turns eight on Sunday!

My new Spring wardrobe

I almost never buy new clothes....most of my stuff comes from thrift stores.....but I was at Target yesyerday and decided to get a little crazy. OMG...love, love those shoes! You can't really tell from the pic, but they're pink!

Funny email exchange or I hope my neighbors don't read my blog.

Jenn commented on my last post: Haha...my husband and I always have funny names for people, too, like that!

....which led to a email exchange which went like this:

(Fyi: pics have nothing to do with post, its just...who likes a post with no pics I ask you?!)

Me: Thats funny about making up the names for your neighbors....we also have the mayor(neighborhood know-it-all), the motorcycle guy, the car guy, the hillbillies, the Garcia's (When it rains really hard, their yard fills up with water and we call that Lake Garcia.)We also have the drug-pusher and her husband the gun guy(She's a pharmacist and he sells guns). OMG...I didn't know we had so many!!!!I'm cracking myself up over here. Oh right...we also have the newlyweds...I'm looking out my window to see if I forgot anyone....oh and 'the old lady next door'.... almost forgot her cause she never comes out of her house. OMG...I'm ROTF laughing.

Jenn: OMG! You crack me up! I'm ROTFL too!!!! All I can think of right now is a man that works at our local wal-mart in the meat department...he looks kinda scary and we call him "murder meat man"....we do this all the time! Sounds like you do, too!!! HILARIOUS!!!

Do you have funny names for the folks in your neighborhood?

Foreclosure Flowers

The lady across the steet....who is known to Chuck and I as 'stupid girl' but will be know in this post as SG....decided to stop paying her mortgage and abandon her house last fall. This house has since been foreclosed on. SG did not need to do this. She told me that she was doing it because she found a better place to live. I asked her why she couldn't try and rent it and she made an unsavory comment which I wouldn't want to share. Oh, and BTW she also took a trip to Ireland, jacked up all her credit cards and then filed for backrupcy.....and she is such a SG, she TOLD me all of this with a smile on her face. All I could think is...wow SG is going to run into some baaaddd karma. Oh and one more thing.....she shut the heat off when she abandoned the house and shortly after it got super cold and the pipes burst. The house flooded and is now in huge disrepair. It was and still is a cute house (from the outside at least). AAANNNYYYWWWAAAYYYY........She had planted some beautiful tulips and they were blooming on the front walkway so I picked a few. Is that bad? It felt kinda naughty but I did it anyway.

Sorry about the rant, it just makes me mad. I didn't plan on writing all this, it just spewed out my fingertips. People like her are making things rough for the rest of us. (and yes, I know some people are pushed to the wall and have no choice but to leave their homes, but SG had a choice) End of story. Now I must get back to quilting so I can calm myself down ;)

Show and Tell from CMQG*

Here's some pics from our last meeting on Sunday. There sure is a lot of talented gals in this group.

*Chicago Modern Quilting Guild

Ticker Tape Quilts

At the meeting one of the ladies, Angela, gave a presentation on how to make ticker tape quilts. Everyone brought in scraps from their stash and we picked what we wanted. There were a lot to pick from! Since I had already started one of these projects, I was able to show and tell what I had done already which was fun. So far I have a blue panel and a yellow/orange panel done and a pink panel started. There was also a debate about how I could sew them together once they were finished which was really helpful. Fun times!

Grill Construction or My husband is a Rocket Scientist.

After he got it all put together, he said, "Hmmm...there seems to be a lot of leftover parts..." This cannot be good. On a more positive note, we grilled that same night and the burgers were yummy! I heart my Rocket Scientist.

I'm doing it.....

....with the help of a glass of wine which always makes unlikeable* tasks better.

*Is this a word?

I like gingham.....Update

Another thing I like is to fold and arrange/stack my fabric after I wash and dry it. Since most of my fabric comes from the thrift store, I have built a rather large stash .For the longest time, I couldn't leave any piece behind (any piece that was cotton that is). These days I'm more picky about what I buy.

As I was separating out all the gingham I had, I realized that every piece came from the thrift store. All my cute little shelves came from there too. Oh how I love thrift store!

....I don't like binding.

Dolly Quilts

...thanks,honey....

Well, crap.....UPDATE

....whatever I ironed last left some grunge on my iron
 which I was fully unaware of....until I started ironing this pristine dolly blanket. I then became quite aware and I may said some swear words. Hopefully it will come out with a heavy dose of 'spray and wash'. Stay tuned.

****

Thank goodness...it came out in the wash! Thanks for all your suggestions and comments....I especially liked the banana leaf idea...thanks, Aida! That was a new one to me....now where the heck would I find a banana leaf? Maybe I could try a banana peel? Hmmmm...

How to make an ironing board cover.

My ironing board cover has taken quite a beating over the last year and a half. (not to mention it was ugly to start with)

 I've been looking to buy a new cover but couldn't find one anywhere. So, duh, I just made one.
 Here's my little tutorial.
Step 1. Pick out some cute fabric that is on the heavier side. The fabric I used was a light/med. weight canvas.
Step 2. Lay your board on your fabric and cut around it leaving a 3 inch or so boarder.

Step 3. Cut out some batting using the above method only this time cut the batting to the shape of the top of your board only.

Step 4. Quilt as desired. I just did a few simple lines.

Step 5. Pin edges inward 1.5 inches. Press then sew .25 inch from the edge leaving a few inches open.    

Step 6. Thread ribbon thru the pocket you just made with a large safety pin, place over ironing board, pull ribbon tightly so it gathers and tie.

Ta da! Beautiful new ironing board cover!

I love it! So much prettier!

Some Random pics....

Jennifer hung up Merritt's quilt. Very Cool.

Taught Jennifer how to sew. Also Very Cool.

How to use Gramma's clicker.

Gramma. Looking for a recipe for Sweet Potato Pie. She never found it. Amy and I brought lunch over yesterday. She's doing really good.

....ain't it the truth!

Kid pics