Sunday, January 20, 2013

Outside My Southern Comfort Zone!!

WOW - - can you believe it??  2 posts in one month!!!!  Yay Me!!


Does anyone else LOVE that song by Brad Paisley??  You're singing it to yourself now, aren't you??


There's a reason why I named this post that.............   This past week, I've been working on a project.  I guess it could be considered my first 'commissioned' quilt.  My boss and his wife are expecting their first grandchild.  Mrs. Boss asked me if I would make a quilt for the baby if she bought the fabric.  I said sure  (She's my BOSS'S wife......  I'd never say no!!  Besides, they are great people and I love them!!)

So she got the fabric to me around the beginning of December. It's really cute fabric!  But....  Not what I would pick for a baby boy.  Newborns get baby blue, baby pink, soft yellow, mint green.......... pastels, right?

 
 
Yep - - That's Urban Zoologie by Ann Kelle for Robert Kaufman in the Turtle print and they chose some dark brown Kona and Painter's Canvas Magnolia Lane Collecton.  I was told to do whatever but they would like to have big enough blocks with the turtle print.  So that's what I did, but it needed more..... something......... so I also purchased some of the tangerine dots fabric in the Remix line and it just made it.  Before I added it, I asked Mr. Inspiring what he thought and I gave him some options to choose from and he chose the tangerine dots, too. 
 
 
So here's the finished product, before washing......   The front....
 

 
 
And the back.   (That's Mr. Inspiring holding it.) 
 
I think it turned out rather cute!!   I did a disappearing 9-patch and made sure the chocolate was my middle square.  I used chocolate thread and just quilted the turtle and chocolate squares.  I didn't quilt the green rectangles.  Then in the tangerine border, I quilted random squares. 
 

 
 
Sorry about the coloring on these pictures.  I hate taking pictures at night but I get so excited that I want to get the project ready to give.  
 
I'll take it to my boss tomorrow and have him give it to Mrs. Boss at lunch........  I'll be a nervous wreck!!!
 
I think it turned out well!  In fact, I even like it!!  And it went together so quickly!!
 
 
Have a great week, everyone!  It's supposed to be cold here tomorrow!!  Stay warm!!
 
Hugs ~~ Suz
 
I'm joining these parties:
 
 
Fresh Poppy Design

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Happy 2013!!

Well.......

Hi!  I'm here!!  I'm still alive and kicking.........

I just took a gander at my blog and I am so ashamed of myself!  I did a whole whoppin 13 posts in 2012!! 

I'm so sorry! 

Anyway...........

New day!  New Year!!

Let me summarize 2012.....

Not the best year...................   Not the worst year..............  Parts were GREAT!  Parts really sucked........... 

At the end of March, Grandma Ruthie passed away.  She was 93 years old.  She had a stroke and never recovered.......  She was the absolute sweetest, most gracious person I have ever known.  I miss her and her giggles............ 

We've been going through her house and out buildings.  I've found wonderful treasures!!  Like 6 or 7 OLD quilts. I don't think she make them.  I think they were either gifts to her, or perhaps relatives made them while they stayed with her.  She and Grandpa ran a small town mom & pop 'resort'.  They had a small motel right across the road from a huge lake and in the summer guest would come to fish and in the winter, they'd come to duck and goose hunt.  The quilts were never washed and never used.  Well I was a little scared at first, but I went ahead and washed one and it came out beautifully.  So I washed them all and divided them out in the family.  I also found some crock bowls and wooden boxes and an old aluminum water cooler, 3 old suitcases, and some fabric.  The fabric still had the price on it.  One and half yards for $.42.  Yep -- that's forty-two cents....... 





Or how about 4 yards for $.28 (TWENTY-EIGHT CENTS)!!  It looks like the popular 1930's reproduction fabric you can buy today, but.......... its the REAL thing!!



I brought home flowers from her service home to make ornaments with.  They were beautiful.  Roses.  Lillies.  Carnations.  All kinds..........

My cat, Bubby, decided to taste eat them...........  Lillies are highly toxic to cats..........  I know that now.  He went into renal failure and we had to put him down.  That was at the end of June. He wasn't even 5 yet.


Two weeks later, friends of ours had 2 kittens that were brothers that needed a home.  I really didn't want to do it.  I wasn't ready and neither was Mr. Inspiring....... 


But how the heck could you say no to that cute little pink nose??

The black and white kitty is Purrcy and the gray kitty is Grady.  It is so much fun to watch them.  They fight and play and love each other.  They don't know a day without each other.  They aren't Bubby, but they each have a couple of his traits.  They are so sweet.

And they thoroughly enjoyed Christmas.  They thought the tree was just for them.  Through out most of the holiday season, my tree leaned....... badly...........

This is why........


 


Yep, that's Purrcy.......... laying down in the top of my tree.  I usually don't take down my tree until this weekend....   It was down the day after Christmas. 

I've been working on a few projects.  Miss Inspiring has made a big life decision and she and her boyfriend are remodeling a house to live in.  She not exactly crafty, but she sure is coming up with a lot of ideas for me to work on.  Isn't that the way it goes?  That's perfectly fine with me!!

Happy New Year, Everyone!  I've missed you and I plan on posting more regularly!!

Hugs ~~

Suz