I'm still around and kicking

John Deere Baby Quilt top
Close up of JD blocks
Misty taken on January 4, 08. It's hard to believe that she is 1 1/2 years old. She will be 2 years old on July 4, 08. She is spoilt rotten. We don't own her...........she owns us. We get up at 4am on workdays. She gets fed her breakfast at around 4:15 when Rich gets finished with his shower. Yep.........you guessed it. On weekends she wants her breakfast at 4:15am and she wakes us up so we can feed her. No sleeping in on the weekends for us.

Yep, I'm still around and kicking. I've been neglecting my blog.........just don't seem to find the time to update it.

I'm still plugging away at my weight loss on SparkPeople. I've lost 41 pounds.......still have a few LOL pounds to go.

I've been doing a lot of quilting the last few months. My recent project is a John Deere Baby Quilt for my nephew Joshua and his soon to be wife, Rosa's baby. They are getting married on Feb. 16, 08. I'm not sure exactly when the baby is due. Anyway, Joshua loves anything JD so I decided to make the baby quilt using JD fabrics. I heard it is supposed to be a boy......boy or girl it's getting a JD baby quilt. I bought the JD bear squares on Ebay and then I found the green fabric in my SMALL stash of fabrics. I'm thinking about using fleece as the backing. I seen some JD fleece at one of the on-line quilt shops. I'm going to check Joann's and see if they have it. If not, I'll order it on-line.

I've also completed a Queen size Bright Hopes block quilt top in scrappy colors. I have to get it into the quilting frame so I can tie it out. I would love to have a quilting machine..........too rich for my meager quilting budget. I'm working on a Queen size Bright Hopes block quilt top in Fall colors. I just have to find 4 different fall colors for the borders for it. Then I have to sew on the borders and sew the blocks into a top.

I finished all of the Nine-Patch Christmas blocks for the Queen size Christmas quilt top I'm making. I just found 4 different Christmas prints for the borders on the blocks at Joann's for 70% off . I have the border pieces cut out.......I just have to sew them on. Then I will sew all the blocks together for the quilt top.

I'm participating in a Birthday Block swap this year. There are 13 ladies including myself in the swap. Each one of us wrote down our colors that we wanted our blocks to be.........pattern of block is up to the person making the block. Anyway, I chose the colors red, black, white and gray. I thought they would go with my livingroom theme of Wolves, Native American and Outdoorsy. I have all of the ladies blocks cut out, sewn, packaged and ready to send right before the birthdays.

I just joined a Churn Dash Quilt Block swap on one of my Quilting Groups. I signed up to make 4 blocks each month using the specific theme for the month. I will send 4 blocks to the hostess and she will send me back 4 different blocks. This month's theme is Valentines, hearts or cupids. I found the cutest cupid fabric the other day at Joann's............and it was 30% off.

I'm also doing a Block of the Month quilt where the blocks are appliqued. The pattern is called Baltimore Blues and it is free on http://www.fatcatpatterns.com/ I haven't done hand applique in years. I would do it on my machine.............except my Singer 1425 is in need of repair and my backup machine doesn't zigzag very good. I need to order the parts and get my Singer fixed. Both of the feed dog gears shattered. I'm doing mine in 3 shades of blue, 2 shades of yellow and 2 shades of moss green on a white background. The blocks are 16 1/2-inches before they are sewn together. There is 9 different blocks. I think I'm going to repeat the first 3 blocks and put them on the bottom of the quilt to make it longer.........as I want my quilt to fit a Queen-size bed.

I have several other quilting projects in the works. I have 10 small boxes that have different projects in them. I work on one then another. As soon as I finish up sewing 1 box.......I find another project to take it's place. Some of the projects are quilts, table runners and wall hangings.

I have a very special quilt that I'm in the process of designing. It is a memorial quilt. As most of you know I lost my best friend, Danny to ALS on December 26, 2004. This quilt will be my special memories of Danny. It will have a large center block that will have wolf or wolves on it. Then it will have 12 smaller blocks around it that represent things in his life. The center block and the 12 smaller blocks will represent the number 13. Danny's lucky number. Next will be a border........then more blocks. I will keep adding borders and more blocks representing things in his life until it is a Queen- size quilt. This quilt is a way to help me cope with my grief.

I'm still making ATC's and scrapbooking at times. Right now I'm just having a blast sewing and quilting.

Talk to everyone later and I'll try to update my blog more often.