A case of the uglies...

Last Friday it was a dark, dreary, rainy day so I decided to do some piecing to pass the time. I just needed to work on some simple, what I call "mindless piecing" -- kind of just straight seam stuff. I didn't want to think about precise cutting and measurements, I just wanted something super simple. I pulled out my handy-dandy Turning Twenty pattern (by Tricia Cribbs). My pattern no longer looks like that, it is turned inside out and laminated due to overuse. This is my go-to pattern because it is so easy and can be done in an afternoon -- cutting, piecing, and all, like I said, quick, easy, done! How much better can it get.

Awhile ago I had inherited a bunch of fat quarters. They were of the "uglies" variety. No, not ugly to look at, ugly to feel. They were mostly lower-quality fabrics, not the quilt shop quality that I prefer. They are what I refer to as "uglies". So I had 22 FQs in this bunch, I took out two of the ugly looking uglies (LOL) and started cutting away - this was at lunch time! I had all the blocks completed by dinner - and that included 9 million breaks for coffee, phone, dog walks, and even a little facebook too! I finished piecing the quilt top on Saturday morning. Here is a quick look at the uglies quilt...

Today I finished quilting the uglies quilt. Here is it in all of it's ugliness -

Tonight I'll look through my stash and find a suitable fabric for the binding. Then I think this quilt will go to charity through one of the two guilds - not sure which one yet.

Ribbons... Dianne's got ribbons!

Wow... I am so bad at updating the blog lately. And things I thought I had added aren't here - know what that means? Yep, I didn't do it. So, without further delay...

One of my customers took two First Place ribbons back in October at the Alabama National Fair.
Here is her winning quilt - 1st Place - Patchwork-Machine Quilted


and here is her winning quilt - 1st Place Wall Hanging-Machine Quilted


I love that they hang the quilts overhead. It does help in deterring thieves.
Both of these quilts were fun to work on and turned out great. Congratulations Dianne!

Carol's Beauties...

Over the last week and a half I was working on two quilts for Carol. I don't know the pattern name (if any) for either one -- chime in if you do, if not I'll add it in the comments once I find out.

The first one was a beautiful Garden Sampler...

And here's the best view I could get of the entire quilt:

And then.... a flowery embroidered, fancy decorative stitch quilt!

Apparently Spring has Sprung -- even with all this unseasonably cold weather!!

A NEW YEAR!!!

A New Year… wow, I’m not sure I was finished with the last one!

I hope you all had wonderful holiday seasons, I must admit, mine turned out to be fabulous! I was able to spend two weeks work-free with my family and friends up north. What did I get for Christmas you ask? A blizzard, of course! I wanted it to snow so badly, mostly because my son hasn’t seen snow in almost ten years. Boy did we get snow… about 15 inches in our area. WHAT FUN! We went sledding, sliding, and wipe-outing (ha-ha). We did manage to squeeze in a visit to the ice rink, and yes, I did skate, but only for a few minutes… the fear of last year’s fall got the best of me and I decided four months of recuperation from broken ribs just wasn’t worth it again. I opted for some quality best friend time along with super hot, hot chocolate while the kids skated. The entire vacation truly was wonderful. I spent some much needed time with my family and also hours and hours of catch-up time with many of my much-missed friends.

Here are some pictures to delight and possibly amuse you…