Under the Weather!

After feeling like I missed the bullet the last couple of years....no cold or flu. It was my turn.
For the past week I've been doing all the over the counter stuff. My cough got so bad I went to the ER yesterday. Chest X-Ray, two breathing treatments, some steroids, and prescriptions for more along with one for antibiotics I am home. I am not looking for sympathy but wanted to explain why I've been absent and will be until I get over the hump. See you in a bit!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Maya is on the Mend!!

That's great news because it means I can get back to this.

I've done very little sewing while she's been ill and tending to her has been my first priority. Also being afraid for her has kept me pretty paralyzed..that is par for the course for me. When I'm afraid, I hunker down and stay put.

I'm so glad that she is doing better and that I still
have some time with her.

Two Finishes ~ First in 2011

Last week was a "lost" week. My dog is still sick, and I had a minor procedure done at the hospital and the anesthesia took a couple of days to work it's way out of my system. Let's just say I caught up on my sleep.

I got the binding sewn on two quilts and they will go out in the mail tomorrow.

I made a lot of 8" half square triangles from my "rust" fabrics in the stash. I didn't know what I was going to do with them all, but I managed to get 3 quilts out of them. Two crib size and one generous throw. This is the last of them....a crib size. I enjoyed them all and am ready to move on.

The second one is a double bed size quilt. I didn't have the pattern, but I had seen the quilt on Flickr a long time ago and had some of the fabrics, but not enough, and Victoria from Bumblebeans came through with the rest. I love this quilt!

I love that the person who originally made this saw that using these 5 fabrics in this way could give the illusion of a lace overlay. Very clever!

This quilt was started in 2010, but got set aside for a bit and was finally finished when I got the binding on. I enjoyed working on it, and would love to sleep under it, but am passing it along to someone who I hope will love it as much as I do.

Pin Basted and Ready to Machine Quilt

I've been finishing up a few things that came back from the quilters and I'll have pictures of those later this week.

While considering yet another wrinkle in the Mariner's Compass Quilt, I put together this little quilt from my african fabrics and some batik blocks of African Dancers. I love it!

This is the quilt top, pin basted and ready to be quilted. I'll do the quilting myself...just a simple grid and some kind of geometric frames on the border.

The back is also fabulous with just one strip of pieced strips down the center.
I think either side will look fabulous.

I have not been present here because my baby girl, Maya, has been very sick. We've been to the vets and we've done two sessions of extensive lab work, but we don't have a diagnosis.

She has had a major lower gastrointestinal upset and no, I won't ruin your day with details....but for the past 3 weeks I've been cooking her meals myself. White rice and boiled chicken meat.

Understand that I don't cook for myself daily, so she should really be feeling princess-y and know that my love for her has no bounds.

In addition, she has been doing major lounging and has dibs on my bed from the moment I get up until I move her out so that I can go to bed at night.

During this long illness she has required extra trips "out" and since I've been so worried about her, I have accommodated every diva-like desire of hers.

She has given me a couple of false hopes and it seemed like everything had settled down, only to get bad again. So, I'm hoping that her unusual perky-ness and cessation of belly upset today means she is on the mend and not another false hope.

Stay tuned....

2011 ~ I'm Ready! (tomorrow is 1/1/11!)

A Little Diversion

I'm still procrastinating on starting the Mariner's Compass quilt. I wish I knew how to use those Electric Quilt programs so that I could plan it all out there.

Meanwhile, I had an itch to make something quickly and ran across some batik squares of African Dancers
that I bought in the vendor faire at a quilt show many years ago.

I decided to pair that with some african fabrics from my stash and make a wall size quilt for my ETSY shop.

It was a simple little diversion. I framed the batik squares and some of the african prints.

I used full size blocks of the other prints.

I pieced a backing.

Today I will layer, pin baste, and quilt it.