I'm Back!

Well I kind of took an unplanned break from blogging. Things have been hectic here to say the least, some good some bad, but all the normal stuff of family life.

Last week my daughter turned 18, my son turned 16 and I turn the big 50 on Friday! How is that for a few milestones?

We have been to about 20 baseball games and four football games since my last post. I also had some dental surgery that didn't go quite right the first time, but all is fixed now.

I did manage to get a few quilty things done and have a few pictures to post. I do have a goal to return to blogging on a more regular basis. Here is what I have been up to.

Lots of these little baskets from the Pink Penguin blog have been spotted in blogland. They are certainly fun to make.

I made a little cosmetic bag. I may make a few more for Christmas gifts. These are easy to make also.I'm finishing the hand stitching on the binding of one of my Orange Crush quilts (finally). I love the backing.

I have also managed to finish 3 UFO tops. I won't show these until they are quilted.

I have this little stack of finished tops to quilt before Christmas. We will see how that goes.

Finally I bought this book a month or so ago. I just love all the quilts in this book. As soon as that little stack above is finished I will be starting to work on a few things in here.

Happy quilting,

Donna

Thanks Tanner

This is the lovely quilt I received from Tanner in the Doll Quilt Swap. He also sent a couple of cute patterns. Thanks Tanner. I have to decide where to hang my quilt now.

Donna

Good Help is Hard to Find

Now that school and baseball and football and cheerleading, etc. are back in full swing I have lost all of my quilt helper holding uppers, so I have to resort to making do for the camera.

This quilt is for my sister and I really want to get it off in the mail to her, so I am posting the best pictures I can get. This is made from some Robyn Pandolph fabric from about 6 or 7 years ago. This was a UFO for a very long time. I started it as all stars, but I quickly grew bored with that so kind of made it a hodge podge. I like how it turned out and think that my sister will too.

I am still trying to finish up some UFOs. I am waiting for some batting to be delivered and then I am finally going to quilt the two Orange Crush quilts I made. I decided not to do Bonnie's latest mystery called Old Tobacco Roads right now since I still have 2 OCs in progress. It looks like it might be fun to do later though.

I am still working on the Patches and Pinwheels and almost have it ready for borders. I am loving how this one is turning out.

It is time to start giving some thought to the Secret Santa exchange. I have some ideas, but need to do a detailed search of the recipients blog for some clues as to what is liked. It will be fun!

We had a busy weekend but did manage to barbeque with my aunt, uncle and cousin on Monday. My aunt made this yummy black forest cake. I forgot to take a picture before she cut it but the inside looks pretty too. It tastes just as good as it looks.

Happy quilting,

Donna

Long Time No Blog

Well it has been busy here with school in full swing again. Lots of meetings for school and sports. My daughter has finally at long last gotten into planning what college I will go to mode, so that has involved lots of talks and plans and website looksees.

I haven't been in the mood to blog either. Don't know why. I think I still get separation anxiety from my kids after summer break, and I keep thinking about my daughter going off to college next year. It makes me sad. Here are my little (used to be at least) babies.

I finished these blocks for Kids Quilts. Check out Alison's blog here. She is assembling quilts for the siblings of children who are chronically ill.

This quilt's theme is bug jars. You have probably seen a few others bug jar blocks around blogland.

I finished another UFO, a king sized one. I need help from the kiddos to hold it up for pictures. Maybe tomorrow.

In the meantime even though there are quite a few UFOs still waiting to be quilted, I really felt like doing some piecing. I am working on a scrap quilt called Patches and Pinwheels from Bonnie's wonderful Quiltville site.

These are the patches. They are finished and I am working on the Pinwheels. Should be colorful anyway!

Oh and I almost forgot, I am participating in the Secret Santa Christmas Swap that Chookyblue is running. She has a great blog, check it out.

I also finished piecing the quilt from my header. Not quilted yet, so I will wait to post a photo once it is all completed.

Now off to pick up my son from school.

Happy quilting,

Donna

Two Finishes

I have finished two more quilts this week. One was started last weekend and finished this week. It is a quilt for my neighbor who is going away to college in a week. I have known him since he was 3, I watched him in the mornings before school for 6 years. He played with my kids all the time when they were all little. He is now a wonderful young man. I will try to get a picture of him with his quilt when I give it to him.


This next one has been a UFO for longer than I care to admit. I love it now that it is finally done. It is all Christmas fabrics and is king size. It will go on hubby's and my bed right after Thanksgiving.

It is almost time to watch the Olympics. It has been fun watching Michael Phelps every night.
Happy quilting,
Donna

Thank You Peggy

I received this award from Peggy! Somehow I overlooked it until today. Check out her blog here.

I will post the award but not pass it on to anyone specific. All of the lovely blogs I have found have received so many awards they probably have this one a few times already. Thanks again Peggy for the award and your kind words.

Happy quilting. I actually hope to post another finish soon!

Donna

Paige's Quilt

Thanks to everyone who commented on my last post. It does feel good to have some UFOs complete. I am going to try to finish a few more before I start something new, even though I am really ready to open a new pack of fat quarters! I have two darned Orange Crush quilts to be completed. They are kind of hanging over my head right not. Maybe soon.

This is the quilt I just finished for my daughter's friend Paige. She will be taking it to college this fall.

I really struggled to get a good picture. I think it is because the colors are pastels and I did not shoot it outside. It is the same pattern I used in this quilt back in May.It is such an easy pattern and makes a really nice display for the fabric.

The back is pieced which I usually don't do, but my daughter really liked the idea. This fabric was a fat quarter stack I had on my shelf for a long time. It is from Nancy Halverson. I think it is called Friends.

Here is a close up of some of the quilting. You can see how pretty the fabric is in the close up shots as well. The funny thing is that this fabric sat on my shelf forever as an unopened stack because I really was not drawn to it and had received it as a gift. After working with it, I think it is one of the prettiest quilts I have ever made. Very feminine. Let's hope Paige likes it!Have fun quilting girls!

Donna