Sunday, January 31, 2010

Heads Up! Get Ready For a Giveaway!

Wow! Can you believe it's the last day of January already?!? Last I remember, it was just Christmas!

Good news, though! My blog anniversary is coming up on Feb. 2. I can't believe I've been blogging for 2 years now! Needless to say, I want to celebrate with you, my faithful bloggie friends. I'm going to have a giveaway. Nothing like quilty presents to make us quilters happy.

This is the thing, though. It's gonna be a "mystery" giveaway. You won't know what it is until it's over and the winner has been announced. I don't know about you, but I love surprises! :o) Also, if you are a "follower" of my blog, you get an extra entry. So if you haven't clicked that little button on the righthand side of my blog, you might want to do it and up your chances of winning. But please only do it if you sincerely wish to follow my blog. Don't be a spoilsport and "unfollow" after the contest. We quilters just aren't like that. :o/

So here ya go... You have until midnight EST on Friday, Feb. 5 to leave a comment on this post, you get an additional chance to win if you are a "follower" of my blog (let me know in your entry comment), and the gifties (yes plural) will be a surprise until the winner is announced on Saturday morning.

Good luck to all, and thank you to all my faithful bloggie friends,
Suzy

Thursday, January 28, 2010

More Doll Outfits

I guess I've been in the mood the past week or so to make doll clothes. Here are two of the latest additions:





Have a great day!
Suzy

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

A Sunny Day In Florida

The past few days, the weather here in Florida has gotten back to the usual averages in the 70's. Today was no exception. There was plenty of suntanning to be had...

Not only by the dogs...




But my doll Nellie also enjoyed the warmth of the sun modeling the new sundress I made her. :o)



I also spent some time out on the loveseat in the Florida room reading a great book by Dean Koontz that I got from the library.

Have a sunny day!
Suzy

Friday, January 15, 2010

Another One Bites The Dust...


Ta da! Another UFO turned into top form. I'm not even going to think about all the tops that are now accumulating and awaiting quilting. LOL!

I'm so happy this turned out so well. I really disliked the scrap blocks on their own. It needs a little pressing, I know, but I took it to my quilt gathering yesterday, so it was folded up. Once ironed, the yellow bias squares also look much better and lay flat. I had to fudge a little because when I made the scrap blocks, I had used freezer paper "templates" and being a beginner quilter at the time, well, you know how that is. LOL!

Hmmmm . . . what will I tackle next on my UFO list? Heaven knows there's plenty to choose from. :oD

Piecefully yours,
Suzy

Thursday, January 7, 2010

There's A New Superhero In Town

If you've been watching the weather stations, all you northerners are probably laughing at us Floridians because we've been freezing our patooties off down here -- breaking records left and right. Well as you know, one of the side-effects, of course, is static electricity. So I bring you our new superhero...


STATIC DOG!


Maybe I should rename her "Sparky"? LMAO!

Electrifyingly yours,
Suzy

Monday, January 4, 2010

Design Wall Monday


Here's what's on my design "wall" this week. I've been working on a UFO that is heaven knows how old and am finally to the point of sewing the blocks together into rows. Many years ago I decided to get rid of/use (LOL!) some of my scraps and this block is what I came up with. Scary thing is I actually used freezer paper "templates" because the pieces wound up such unusual sizes. Ah, the naive beginner quilter. I had them all cut out and some of them actually sewn together and then they sat and sat. I finally finished piecing the blocks several months ago and hated them -- wondering how the heck I was going to orient them to make a "pretty" quilt out of them. Hooray for EQ! I swear I would be lost without it! I'm actually really liking this quilt now! It looks much nicer in person. Can't wait for the center to be done and then I just have to add two borders to complete the top. :o)

My resolution this year is the same as last...working on finishing up some of my UFOs to at least tops waiting for quilting. I hope to get this one done by this weekend. Here's hoping... :o)

UFO Frenzied,
Suzy

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Starting The Year Sewing

Ahhhh...there's nothing better than starting a new year with sewing. BTW, Happy New Year everyone! Hope it's great!





Here is the first little project that I completed this weekend.









It measures 26x26 inches and the stars are 4 inches.






I call it "Patisserie Stars." The fabric is "Patisserie" from Moda by Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree Quilts. Hence the name, duh. LOL! Isn't the fabric G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S?!?! Sad thing is I only had two small charm packs, so using my trusty EQ program, came up with a simple quilt utilizing them to their advantage. I'm sure I'll make another small quilt out of the other charm pack eventually, just because I love this fabric line so much. I had a FQ of the pink sashing fabric and 1-1/2 yards of the floral border fabric. Plenty of that floral left, for the next quilt, too, thank goodness, as long as I keep it small. I'm planning on using a green dot fabric for the backing. Although it's not from the Patisserie line, it goes so well it looks like it does. I didn't want to use what was left of the floral for the back that most no one will see. I'd rather use it in the top of the next quilt.

When I was playing with my EQ program designing this quilt, I realized I would need (ok, ok, want) some of that beautiful floral for the border. I went to my local quilt shop(s) and there was no Patisserie fabric to be had. Thank goodness for the internet. I got home and immediately went on Ebay and found exactly what I was looking for and at a great price too. Shoulda saved myself the gas and gone on Ebay first, huh? But at least the story ended happily. :o)

Anyway, now I'm auditioning quilting designs for the top and now have a whole 'nuther conundrum. So me thinkie this top will hang among the flimsies for a little bit while I decide how it should be quilted. Right now I'm leaning towards clamshells, but that means more free-motion practice by me before touching this baby. That's okay, though. Practice = playtime. :o)

Have a quilty New Year!
Suzy