two in a row . . .

Posts, that is.  Quite out of the norm for me these days, isn't it?!  But I couldn't resist showing off a bit!

I bustled out to the closest LQS yesterday morning, and spent an hour or so with the pieced top spread out over a couple of tables, interviewing fabrics for the border and binding.  The binding was an easy pick for me, but the binding took a couple of tries.  I finally ended up with this combination:

The black print for the border and the red for the binding. Many thanks to Sharon, at Patches & Stitches, for all her help (and putting away all those bolts)!

Like I could walk into a quilt shop and *just* get what I came for.  I spotted the Christmas fabrics and, with a very specific project in mind (more on that later in the month...no, definitely not tomorrow), I scooped up these lovelies:

I'd say my August stash report is blown, but since I've got a top finished, that'll take care of that!

And . . . because I just realized I didn't have an 8.5" square ruler . . .

I can't believe I made all those blocks way back when, without an 8.5" ruler! Was I mad???  I threw in a package of my favorite redwork/embroidery needles, too.

After a quick stop at the grocery store (Todd has to eat, even if I could quilt through dinner), I hurried home to get BUSY!

I'm so, so pleased with how this turned out!!!  Here's the original pattern and what we were going for (20 of us participated in this block swap):

She used jewel tone batiks, which are really pretty, but our group agreed to use Civil War prints and shirting for the blocks (this is when I realized how beautiful and rich CW prints were and how much I love them). Her pattern calls for 48 blocks.  Here's my finished top with 40 blocks:

Yup, I'm totally in love with this!  The four corner blocks make it, for me . . .

And I did something new-to-me . . . I mitered the corners of the border around the corner blocks!

You really can't see it, but I think that's part of the charm.  It really does make the block look like it's floating.  Mitering the corners wasn't too tough, once I figured out how to do it.  I will say that I was glad it was only happening in one corner!  LOL!  I used a video tutorial by Penny Halgren to help me figure it all out.

There are so many things I could name this ... but when I texted a picture of it to my son, he commented how striking it was to him -- that it reminded him of pixels of color, all coming together to make a picture.  Since he's a graphics design guy, that makes sense.  I think I may gift this to him and call it Pixelated!  :)

Now I just have to decide how to quilt it . . . but that can wait.  I just had to have the top pieced for Thursday's show & tell!!

:)

what's an ig?

An Eskimo's home without a "loo"!  Baa-dum-bump.

June update -- her oxygen levels finally got to where they needed to be by doctor rounds yesterday evening and she'd had two good nursing sessions by then, too.  What she was still having trouble doing was sleeping in the hospital (who doesn't?!), so when the doctor gave them the option to go home, they decided to go ahead and go.  A lot of times with RSV, especially with infants under two months, exhaustion becomes as big a problem as anything.  Kim and James felt that she'd get the sleep she needed in her own home/bed.  She had a good night's sleep last night and so did Kim.   They'll have to keep a close eye on June for the next two weeks or so.  Again, thank you *so* much for your thoughts, prayers and well-wishes!

I wanted to share a couple of wins . . .

Farmhouse Retreat by Renee Nanneman, from Jane's Quilting, and Thimbleberries' Woodland Stars, from Cindy over at Hooked On Quilting!  Both have some really cute things inside them, but this one inside Farmhouse Retreat really caught my eye:

Isn't that darling?!

When Todd and I were out and about the other day, I convinced him--since we were so close and all--to stop by my favorite Fayetteville LQS.  While I was there I picked up one of these . . .

I've held out for so long, but there it was and there I was and next thing I knew, it was mine!  Yes, other *fabric-y* things were mine, too, but I'm saving that!  *wink*

When I mentioned the addition of the Dark Chocolate Raspberry M&M's to the giveaway the other day, one of my friends mentioned that she gets Cordial Cherry M&M's.  WHAT?!?  

Sure enough!  All the cherry cordial goodness without the wet, sticky centers.  LOL!  

Speaking of the giveaway, today is the LAST DAY to sign up!  I'll leave it open until midnight -- and I'll announce a winner tomorrow, sometime.  Haven't signed up yet?  Head over HERE!

In light of yesterday's tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, I was *so* especially grateful to have Ellie and Sawyer around to hug and love on.  Ellie gave me a first hand demonstration of her new phone abilities . . .

Although when I said, "Hello!", she still put the empty hand to her ear!  So precious.

Neesey?  What is that thing?

Are you taking my picture *again*??!

Sawyer's headed out this way to spend some fun time at the camp with us today.  We're going to take the golf cart out and go down and feed the fish at the pond.  Tonight, Todd and I have his Station's Christmas party ... another busy day!

:)

show and tell saturday . . .

Whew!  What a *busy* day yesterday was.  But first ... I did bring my camera, fully charged and ready to go.  I had to capture a shot of my lil' darling . . . 

But I'm telling you, I'm so busy enjoying her, I don't get a whole lot of pics of her (and this one isn't a great one ... but look at those big, beautiful eyes ... such a serious girl--she'd just woken up)!  C'est la vie.

Joc and I worked (or played at working?) hard yesterday, getting ready for . . .

The baby shower!!

Take a look a this stack:

And this pile . . .

Not mine -- thank goodness -- Joc's!  She's become a bigger fabricoholic than *I* am!!  The chevrons? No particular purpose, "It was just pretty!"  Hahaha ... she's sunk!

The first stack was for assorted pieces of the shower.  Aren't the colors fun? June's nursery colors!  First thing Joc was going to do was cut strips.  With scissors.  I told her not to do scissors, that I'd bring tools that would make strip cutting a breeze!  I brought my June Tailor Shape Cutter ruler and after showing Joc how it worked . . . 

She made short work of the first set of strips!

And shorter work of the bunch!

In no time, she had created a masterpiece!

Isn't it darling??  J is for June!

One of my favorite jobs yesterday?  Making S'mores on a Stick!!  They were so easy.  I gathered my chocolate melts, graham cracker crumbs, 6" sticks and marshmallows.

Dip the marshmallows in the melted chocolate, dip the tops in the graham cracker crumbs, and voila . . .

And they taste pretty darn good, too!  Perfect for a Saturday Show & Tell party over at Cheerios and Lattes!

And as for Friday Night's Sew-In, I didn't get to the project I'd originally planned on, but I did get some important stitching taken care of!  Using the same fabrics from the wreath (and other projects), Joc wanted a matching runner for her table for the shower.  So I cut strips of varying widths and stitched 'em up.

This would have been very cute as a quilted table runner, but we were running out of time, so I simply tucked the raw edges under and stitched it down.

It's a *little* long for my table . . .

But it will look perfect on Joc's dining room table!

I'm outta here -- got to get ready for the big day . . . y'all enjoy this glorious first day of FALL!!

:)

rulers and grandkids . . .

Yesterday was a day of rulers and projects for my grandbabies (two of my favorite things). First I pulled out my June Tailor Fancy Fleece ruler . . .

And I finished up Sawyer's fleece hat!

This was so much fun to make ... and so easy! I used the ruler to cut the triangles and the wavy strips for the pom-pom up top.

Less than 45 minutes! Gosh I hope it fits his little head. LOL!

And then I pulled out my June Tailor Shape Cut ruler . . .

Because -- YIKES -- I haven't yet made a quilt for Ellie. Partly because this time Joc didn't have me make all of the crib bedding and what she got included a quilt, so there wasn't the need for me to make her a quilt that matched everything. But then I saw this baby quilt that Michelle at Michelle's Romantic Tangle had done, and I fell in love with it. So after a couple of quick e-mail exchanges with Michelle, I pulled a couple dozen different pink, purples, and blues and started cutting 3" squares.

Michelle used a solid white as her border fabric, but I had this Kona Medium Pink that I want to use. It's the fabric we used--along with this darling pink and white--for the nursery curtains.

Isn't it sweet?! We also used the combo to make a cute little accent pillow, too.

So, here's as far as I got. Well, not really ... I've got about half of it pieced.

The hearts will show up better (I hope) when the solid pink is bordering all the piecing. There are some really nostalgic pieces of fabric; I used three different purples from Joc's wedding quilt, some blue and violet fabric and a dark pink fabric I'd used for a sister's craft day, before Todd and I got married (sixteen years ago). I also included some of the print from the nursery curtains, and some from the blocks I made for my mom's Grand Hands quilt.

Now I have to decide if I'm going to do like Michelle and use the halved and quartered 9-patches or the solid Kona Pink around the edges. I'm leaning to the solid ... just for time's sake! This baby will need a quilt from her Neesey next week!!!

Linking up with Katherine's Corner and her Favorite Things blog hop! :)

:)