WIP Wednesday...Yes, I fell off the Planet!

So what the heck have I been up to? Life, mostly. But I have been trying to get my sewing mojo back in gear. I have a niece who is turning 18 this weekend and going to college next year so I decided that would be may of getting around making quilts for the nieces at Christmas. I made one two years ago for the niece whose name we drew. Then last year we got the same niece's name so I let it slide. This is a way around making it just a Christmas thing. I've just got to decide which of the multiple quilts I have in progress to finish for her! I need to finish them all but one needs to be quickly so here are a few options.

The Skill builder Sampler from Leila's blog. I did the first twelve blocks; the first 11 are in the orange, blue and green but for some dumb reason, the last one has some red and black (UGA colors) so I would probably need to pick one more block to do. Then sash, make a back and quilt it.

Then there's the red, black and white quilt top I just received back from the Quilt U Be Mine Round Robin.

 For this one I will need to expand it a bit more to get it lap size. It's only 41 inches square right now so I would need a good 15-20 inches more around, then a back and quilt it, of course.

Another option is a double slice quilt like the one I did for Mack. I started this one with my quilting guild and got the idea to use a layer cake of tone on tone prints I got participating in a swap with Bree and Julie over at Distant Pickles a while back. I wasn't sure how I liked it. It was so busy with the colors that it really didn't allow your eye to rest anywhere, so I decided to play with some black sashing to give it a sort of stained glass feel. I love how the black makes the colors pop more.

The bottom row was where it was going before. Just for the heck of it I placed a black strip on top to see how it's going to look and I like it even more.

I just can't decide if I'd rather have the strips a little thinner.

Another option is the gray, yellow and aqua granny square I was working on. It's currently behind the double slice on my board, and I was too lazy to take it down for the picture.

I know, but I'm tired! We got a new dog Sunday and I've been doing some house training! I'm so tired of walking already!
Anyway, quilty decisions to make and quickly!!!!

A New Family Member!

We made a little visit to Petsmart this weekend and ended up picking up a new friend. They had named her Izzy, but we decided to change it to Pepper.

She is a pocket beagle and is very sweet. The kids love her and my daughter has already designated her as her official snuggle buddy.

I'll be glad when hubby gets the invisible fence back up and running so we can let her run in the yard. That will make it a lot easier for me to get things done. She was supposedly housetrained but that hasn't been really apparent yet. We're working on it but it makes getting ANYTHING else done nearly impossible. Hubby says to just put her in the crate when I need to do things but I'm really trying to not let her eliminate in the crate. I want her to look at it as her den ONLY.
I have actually gotten some sewing done but will hopefully post some pictures of that tomorrow.

Quilt U Be Mine Reveal Day!

I recently participated in the Quilt U Be Mine Round Robin held by Michele over at Quilts From My Crayon Box. This is the second round robin I've participated in with her and it was so much fun all over again. This one was a bit harder for me since we don't usually celebrate Valentine's Day, but my robin mates were wonderful and followed my lead. I added some black and kept it from looking 'heart-ey' so they did as well. Just like last time, they did not disappoint and I absolutely love how it turned out.

Here is what I started with, my center block that I originally sent out.

When I received it a few weeks ago, it had advanced to this...

Isn't it gorgeous? I just love it. I am debating just adding more borders and creating a lap quilt out of it for one my nieces. I have one whose birthday is coming up at the end of this month who is turning 18. I thought this would be perfect. It is approximately 41 inches square at this point.

I want to give a huge shout out to Michele! She has been so wonderful to come up with these Round Robin ideas. They have been so fun and I have two fabulous pieces to work with now because of them. Thank you Michele!

I also want to thank my group of ladies who worked on my quilt. To Terrie, Megan and Vicki... you guys rock! I love it so much and want to send each of you a big hug in thanks for how it turned out. Thank you so much!

Be sure to check out the links to all the other group members pieces over at Michele's blog. I can't wait to see how everyone's quilts turned out!

Life Goes On...

Not a lot of blogging, but a whole lot of "life-ing" going on. My days have been so packed lately, and not always with good stuff. My gifted daughter has been struggling with grades and school lately because she is suffering with bouts of depression. As anyone who has dealt with depression in their family knows, it affects everyone it touches so our lives have been very tumultuous lately. Wednesday of last week was particularly rough which lead to a complete breakdown by me on Thursday. Having to endure biweekly appointments to be beaten up by a physical therapist has not made things better. My shoulder is improving but not without a lot of fatigue and crankiness. Crankiness doesn't mesh well with depression if you haven't guessed, so I have to be careful about how I speak and what I say.
On the bright side, hubby and I went to a gala at the local community theater Saturday night where they announced their 2013-2014 season. I got to see so many of my theater peeps and it pepped me up so much to see people get excited to see me! Nothing like feeling needed. Now I just have to find ways to convince my daughter she is needed as well.

I initially didn't add things I've been working on but decided to go back and throw in some pictures to prove I have not been completely un-crafty!
I am working on some different colored placemats to go with my Fiesta Ware dishes.

So far I have a red one and an orange one.
I also made a shawl, WHICH I LOVE!

I loved it so much I did one in a variegated yarn for color.

I also have been feeling that need for a dog in the house again so I had to go get my puppy fix at Petsmart this weekend. Several of the rescue places represented had dogs taken from a recent hoarding situation. The woman had 75 dogs on her property. I don't understand people. How do you think you can properly take care of that many animals? They said the judge let her keep 10. What's sad is that she will probably have 80 by next year again. They were so very cute but several were definitely a bit shy and reserved which goes without saying.

Last but Not Least...

I finished and sent out my last border for the Quilt U Be Mine Round Robin yesterday. I won't say where it went but I kind of wish I had gotten to go with it! Very jealous. I will elaborate when I know it has been received but i thought I'd add a wee hint of what I added. Not enough to really know anything but just enough to wonder!

It's kind of blurry because I took an overall picture and cropped this off, but that's okay because it helps with the whole mystique of it being a hint! Make sure to check back in on Feb. 14th for the big reveal. I got mine back already and I absolutely love it. I may just do a reveal on it since it won't be finished by that time. I'm thinking about adding more borders to take it out to lap quilt size and let it be for one of my nieces. What are you working on today?