Smashing times

Saturday was a night of firsts. . . First major accident. . . first time calling emergency services . . first time having to actually talk to my insurance company.

I'm okay, but the car's not. I'm guessing it's going to be totaled.

Here's a preview:



I'll keep you posted with the details. Fortunately, I'm not at fault for this accident (I got hit by somebody running a red light), but it still makes for a crummy weekend!

In withdrawal

I am in withdrawal. Less than 24 hours ago, I had to take my faithful old Wilma (my sewing machine) in for much-needed cleaning and servicing, and I'm not handling the separation well. It's funny, since I haven't been able to use Wilma for a week or two, but not having her here is making me nervous. My sister offered to let me use her sewing machine (my mom's is having issues and will be going in when Wilma gets home), but it's just not quite the same.

Of course, in the absence of my machine, I have been making progress in ironing/pressing and cutting more pieces for the projects I already have in progress. Seeing as how one of them has a deadline in a few months, it's about time I got the sewn strips cut. In an attempt to channel this domesticity, I have already invited friends over to dinner tonight and made both chocolate chip cookies and seven layer dip. I will start on enchiladas in a couple hours, but in the meantime, I'm trying to deal with too much nervous energy. I guess it's a good thing the sun is shining and the snow is melting. I think I need to go run around the block!

More quilty stuff

Well, since my last posting got such a good response, here are a few more of the quilty things I've been doing in the last few months.

First, I fixed the borders on this quilt. I thought I had this one finished before (especially since I've blogged about it), but it needed a little extra work that involved taking both borders off, fixing the quilt, and sewing the borders back on. However, it was worth it in the end. This quilt still needs a name, so if you think of one, let me know.



Of course, since I had leftover fabric from that quilt, I started on this one:


(the pattern for the front comes from a wonderful quilt maker named Bonnie Hunter and can be found on her website at http://quiltville.com/smokeymtstars.shtml)

I actually finished the piecing of this quilt last June or so and bought the border fabrics in an Orem quilt shop before I came home, but it was only in the past few months that I finally got the borders sewed on. Did you know that there were three specialty quilt shops within a mile or two of my apartment in Utah? Yeah, it was a good thing I had a thesis to write.

I pieced a back for this quilt from my leftovers and remaining yellow stash. You can't tell from the picture, but the strips are in the middle of the quilt I think I like this side, too! I'm still trying to think of a good name for this quilt, so if you have any ideas, let me know.




Of course, with the borders on these two quilts, I needed a new project. So, here is the reason I now have a limited selection of fabrics in my purple stash. I have named this quilt "Purple Patch." It's hard to tell from the picture, but this quilt finishes at 66 x 74 inches. I had a hard time getting enough of a wingspan to hold the quilt properly.



(if you're interested, the pattern is from another great quilter named Mary Johnson [no relation] and can be found at http://maryquilts.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/double-4-patch.pdf)

For graduation in August, my aunt and uncle and their family gave me a gift card. This quilt is what it turned into.



We call this one the Newspaper Quilt, since it's Black and White and Red all over. It's another pattern from Bonnie Hunter (http://www.quiltville.com/starstruck.shtml), and I love it!


Of course, we can't forget the small projects, either. You've seen a few finished ones, but I have one more. Here we have a table topper/wall quilt made with a Disappearing Nine Patch. I'm thinking of calling it "With a Cherry on Top." What do you think?




With all these tops done, I can continue on. My personal rule of not starting a new quilt until I've finished piecing another one seems to be keeping my in-progress pile down to four or five. I'm not going to count; it would be too scary. And yes, I've already begun on the replacements. :)

So what's next? Well, I have to quilt all of these completed tops, for one. Of course, there's always piecing the back for the queen-sized top I finished right around the time Andrew went into the MTC. My sister dubbed this the Caramel Quilt, and, in the unlikely event that I decide not to keep it (not going to happen!), laid her claim on it.



(the leftovers from this quilt found their way into the purple patch quilt. I'm detecting a trend here; are you?)


So, having been this productive, what are my options now?

I could do the actual quilting on this Christmas runner which I finished piecing last May. It's prepped for quilting; I just have to do it.



I could work on the three quilts for which I have pieces cut and/or partially sewn (Remember the pictures previously posted?). I could wash and or cut the fabric for the other quilts I have planned. I could work on the Grandmother's Flower Garden (all hand-done) which is going on its twelfth year of production. I could work on my knitting (that's my entire yarn stash pictured previously. I'm doing well in that, at least) and show you pictures of the dishcloths I've made. I could finish a cross-stitch I've been working on sporadically for the past seven or eight years. I could finish the embroidered pillowcase set I started this summer (I've got one of them done, and the other has been started!). I could start and/or finish any number of projects. I've never claimed to be un-domesticated, after all.

Or, I could pray to find a real full-time job.

Personally, that's my favorite option of all.

Mail's here!

Well, this envelope arrived in the mail today:


As you might surmise, I am doing a happy dance to have the paper copy in my hands. Now, off to find a job. . .

It's here!

Well, I am happy to report that my provisional license FINALLY got approved on Friday. I'm waiting for the printed copy, but it means I can move on. Yay! I have a year to take the exams and classes Minnesota requires, but this license will enable me to actually teach in the interim. In the meantime, since I've coordinated my camera and my camera cord, here are a few pictures of what I've been doing in the past few months.

Leaf Quilt: done done!


Close up of quilting. I hand-quilted this baby!



I bought the fabric for this quilt one Thanksgiving when visiting Amy. I finished piecing it a year or so ago, but I finally quilted it and bound it in January. Not bad for a first strip-piecing project, eh?


Purple table runner

(I know it's not on the table, but I had other stuff on the table at the time)


This runner was made out of scrap fabric and batting left over from other projects. It's the very first time I ever stippled and used free-motion quilting on the sewing machine. I think it turned out fairly well, considering. It also has the binding on, so it heads onto the done-done list.

And now, in honor of the cold February weather, a tribute to our Northern neighbors.




This was another piece made out of scrap materials. I had fun paper-piecing the maple leaf, and I'm tempted to make more!


A (fuzzy) picture of the back


(Yes, that is a wooden spoon holding it up. I wanted to photograph it and couldn't be bothered to go find a real dowel).

Okay, these are just the finished products. Here are some tantalizing photos of what else I've been working on:




More details to come. . .