More memories and another completed longarm quilt...

I have to post a picture or two of one of the guild ladies quilts, Martha is a wonderful quilter. I love every quilt she has showed since I joined the guild. More of her lovely quilts. Then another girl brought this lovely applique on black. She has only been working on it since June I believe. I loved it. The lavender and green quilt is one I have just completed for a customer. It turned out quite nicely. I included a little close up of one of the blocks. It was a challenge...to get the longarm to go over the seam where all of the pieces met in middle. I have never learned the technique to press that flat. If you have a link on how to...please send it to me. I have another of these quilts on the machine now....and two more arrived today to be quilted. I hope to be able to get the current one done tomorrow after work, then on to the next one, a lone star quilt. Very exciting. I have been so busy I have nothing to show for show n tell at guild next week...need to get a move on. Lastly, is a little basket full of part 1's for the DD mystery quilt over at Quiltville.com and also in the basket are my part 2's waiting to be sewed. I did press a strip or two for part 3.... maybe this weekend. I can get to a few of those parts. It looks like the Professor is having so other graduate students in for the Super Bowl...so I will only be able to do handwork during the game. I am so excited...I won't have to get up at 2 AM to watch the superbowl...like I did last year in South Africa, and .....WE WILL get to see the commercials.THey bleeped them out...and we haven't seen a superbowl commercial in 4 years. So looking forward to that. I will have some kind of handwork to do.Maybe it will be my wonky 9 patch...I am sewing sunflowers on at the moment...as per Libby's from a Simple Girl, suggestion. ITs coming along nicely.Lastly, another picture from South AFrica, of the burning mountain behind our house, someone was cooking out in the open... a squatter, and started a fire...which burned the whole mountain vegetation, and the next mountain also. In fact, it burned things so badly...a friend found a cobra in her file cabinet...they apparently had been forced from their habitat! Now that would scare me to death! A picture of me and the librarian for my little South aFrican library. Happy rest of the week.....

Some of my Favorite South African things.....

Although it has been many months since I left South AFrica, I started thinking today of some of the things I miss at the moment...... the unusual sights.... firstly. I never knew what I would see...when out and about. The traffic queues behind the VERY SLOW trucks in traffic on the highways..... my favorite street vendors.... when I would walk out of Chippy's dry goods store. I did enjoy seeing the unusual things....they always made me smile. The traditinal clothing you sometimes saw on the ladies...for special occasions. I even miss the car guards

who "watched" my car..... and special friends..like my buddy Jean who helped in getting this wheel chair for an amputee living on the beach in East London. I still remember him popping a wheelee when we gave it to him. Some special times to remember. Today has been a day for nostalgia...and reflecting on good memories. Hope you all had some too.

New Job, UFO 9 patches, finished Longarm quilts....

I have been offered a very part time job...at a fabric store. I am so excited about this. It won't interfere with my quilting, it is only a few mornings...no weekends. I can promote my quilting...and .... although I am hoping to remain true to my fabric "diet", I receive a discount on fabric It isn't just a quilt shop...it actually has more...decorator fabrics....but a nice little quilting section. I am excited about this. It will let me be out with people...but still give me plenty of time to do what I also enjoy. I was given a wonderful opportunity to quilt this wonderful quilt...which is this years block of the month for the fabric store, it was made by Gloria Reeves, the soon to be appointed President of the Mississippi Quilt guild association. I was scared.... of the ruler work...there has to be some tricks...but she wanted the paisley flourish in all the setting blocks...which I can almost do in my sleep now. I think it turned out pretty well. Up next is an Alabama lap quilt, that a friend of mine, Linda made for her son who graduated from Alabama...it is based on the taxi quilt pattern, by Heidi Pridemore available free on the web. I really enjoyed doing this one. I think I need to make one of these for our family. I also am working on the UFO 9 patches.... I actually have them sewed together..but discovered that I had cut one sashing piece.... bigger than the others so it is wonky. I am now determined to sew something....prim...on it. Any suggestions. I figure Libby will probably have some. Thanks for stopping by.

Latest .... UFO's and first finishes for the year!

Have been trying to work on the Quilville DD mystery quilt..... way behind the others I suspect. But in addition to the part one parts..... I have been finishing up a few things. I just finished the little baby quilt for a neices baby, born just after Christmas. I just did a simple little meander...but it allowed me to quilt his name into the quilt. I also did this little quilt for a customer a while ago...but it was brought to our quilt guild so now I have a photo. DD did her first quilt.... and stuck it in a closet, I asked for the pieces....( she didn't know that you could cut border pieces in strips...and had pieced all of the border strips out of 4 " squares) I finished the last little bit...and sewed them on. Then it was quilted. I think it is darling....way better than my first quilt, I might add. Have a few customer quilts to do...but waiting on a specefic stencil to use on them... so not ready for photos. They are both very pretty....now just anticipating the quilting! Also have been trying to finish up a little UFO from some very orphan blocks.... It was a UFO because I had accidentally cut one border strip 1/2 inch larger.... and only figured it out after I had already pieced the large laptop. I learned my lesson the hard way...now I do actually stack up my sashing strips to double check the sizes...but this one will be fine. I am not that into ripping it out...since it may become a picnic blanket anyway.... besides I love quirky! I have now decided that I may applique something over the most obvious parts...... but will share that homespun UFO later...maybe much later!

SSCS and another finish! Happy New Year to all....

I had to share my wonderful SSCS gift from Lynn in Australia, I was blown away by all of it, but adored the journal that she included which documented her journey in making this for me. How special is that.As a scrapbooker... I so appreciate that! Never done it myself...but this is so special. There were two

little wall quilts..including the adorable stars to hang them on...and a journal and a little packet of pre-cut fabric squares, a stitchery pattern...darling little buttons and little decorated clips! I have already

hung the quilts up...had to share them as well. They are too cute and I had just the place in the breakfast area! They are the perfect color too!

I also wanted to share my own little SSCS swap to Judith in the Netherlands.She has already opened it...and this is what she

received...and once opened... this was the contents.

It was a lot of fun to do..and I adore what I received. I waited until Christmas day to open...and that was very hard. I am happy to announce that the winner of the "ball wars" was DS in law, how he managed to keep it at the top...I will never know. It wasn't near the top, then as we unwrapped gifts I saw it there! He was photo-ing most of the time....so still stumped as to how West Texas A&M beat out the 4 other schools! But congrats to him.... he sure had to earn it. The Oklahoma State cowboys finished second, maybe because he is married to DD ...and it is her alma mater. One last little thing to share..... This is the little table topper I finished to use for Christmas.... we did use it...and I have finished piecing a baby quilt for my neice..but it is unquilted. Maybe tomorrow?????