Brain Dead

So I'm home from the Christmas Crafty Show...omg I'm super tired. First time I've done a show all on my own, and it was a lot more work than I remembered!

It also didn't help that much of my product was stashed in bins and since I hadn't seen it for over a year and a half, and didn't quite remember what was in the bins...wellllll I just sorta brought it all. Yeah. Lots. So ... Anyway.

I had a lot of my sand dollar ornaments out, my shell wall art & shelves that I painted with shells on them. AND of course my quilts and my Jammeez....bloomers/jammie bottoms/lounge shorts. I did okay.

Didn't sell any quilts but people sometimes aren't prepared to shell out $75-$150 so I wasn't surprised, but I admit, a bit disappointed ... although I now have enough stock to open my Etsy store, finally! Yay!
AND I got a lot of my WIPS done....and created a few more. I'm exhausted though. The last week was work, quilt, work, quilt. Pullin' late nighters and early days has taken its toll on me, it's only 8:30 but I'm finishing this and heading to bed.
 I should have taken more pics at the show, but I will upload some tomoro, and pics of all my (in my opinion) purty quilts and get 'em online. LOL...I'm gonna have a HECK of a WIP Wed post.... I finished 7 quilts SEVEN QUILTS in one week. And have FIVE MORE in various stages of completeness.

I'm sure you can tell by the disjointedy post I'm tired. I'm SO tired.
So,
Goodnight all!

Here's some pics of the week that never ended:

It's not a Quilt

But; I made this!

I don't know where the idea came from but suddenly, I needed to make this.

 

 

I used my phone to take this pic; not the greatest quality. But it really is super cute.

It's scrap fabric used as matting around a page I pulled from a magazine.

The black frame isn't the best for it, but it's what I had around....whaddaya think? 

Am I on to something? Feel free to take this idea and run with it!

And I did do work on quilts yesterday, really I did!

 - I had to take apart the shiny block quilt and re-pin baste it, the backing fabric was caught on a pin and had folded wonky. 

- I also cut and pieced a million (or so it seemed) 9inch 9 patch squares for my adapted Hawaii Sunset quilt; and um, didn't do anything on the G&P Teenager's Quilt.

But the absolute BEST part of the day was finding a solid dark wood (not sure what kind) old entertainment unit that was PERFECT for all my winter sweaters and stuff. I was looking for vintage material at the BEST thrift store ever and found this Unit for THIRTY DOLLARS!!!!!!

It was a bit stressful getting it up the stairs but we did it!

Okay. Going back down to the Quilt Cave. Got some work to do!

Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit's WEDNESDAY!!!

 

It's WIP WEDNESDAY!

Okay! Time to get seriously focused here.

Projects to finish this week::

Finish quilting the Teenagers' P&G Quilt....this pic is just the top; I just have to finish quilting the sashing and bind it!

I have to cut these and start on my modified Hawaiian Sunset pattern. This will become TWO quilts; one king and one queen. 

Both are for Christmas. Am I insane????

Last but not least...I have to finish tidying up this one and start quilting it. Not sure but I think I'll quilt just INSIDE the blocks cuz the shiny fabric might not work out to well with being quilted. I'll test it...but I'm pretty sure I'll leave the shiny bits be.

Alright! I'm off to the Quilt Cave to start my day! Enjoy your WIP Wednesday, may it be productive and FUN!

Catching UP

Whew!
What a busy couple of weeks. Shows and scripts and more scripts! But the Haunted Hayride is all done for the year, bittersweet....I loved the story, and all my new best pals from the cast, but the long hours workin' outside in the freezin' cold I will *not* miss.
But I recommend visiting the Fanshawe Pioneer Village and make SURE you stop in at the Printer's shop, and say hi to Doug....ask him if he'll be takin' that midnight train to Georgia....heh heh heh....and you can tell him that Lady Somerset put you up to it....tee hee

But on the Quilting front; I did manage to get quite a bit accomplished.
Let's see.

It's hard to see but the blocks have a great purple colour in them.

The Green & Purple Teenagers' Quilt: ALMOST DONE! It's assembled, sandwiched and almost finished with the quilting.
I decided to FMQ stipple the entire thing; over the giant blocks I used a royal purple thread and in the FMQ design hid hearts and peace signs, and the initials of the young lady who will be owning this quilt. I also put my initials in the corner as a 'signature'. The pic is the quilt top in the first laying out before I neatened it and sandwiched it with the batting and the backing. The backing is one piece, it's a nice lavender calico print that was supplied by the client which matched the front colours PERFECTLY! I had found the FQ of the main purple and green print at Joann's years ago, which matched my fav green cotton fabric that I have scads and scads of (thank you, Limeybirds costumes) and so it all came together beautifully!


And let's see.

Project number two is a Christmas gift for a great friend who has helped me a ton this past year. She is a pretty classy lady and I found this awesome pattern in the book  Last Minute Patchwork & Quilted Gifts which has great ideas and patterns for all skill levels and I highly recommend it. And i happened to have all this brocade and silky type fabric in my stash and VOILA! Here is the Brocade Block Quilt.

             

Laying out,  the bricks are 6.5 inches high and varying in length

The bricks are made of different fabrics; some shantung silks, some heavy embroidered linen, and some medium weight brocade and other misc shiny med weight fabrics, the sashing is a shiny green faux crumpled silk and the backing is a 100% cotton calico tan and green stripe that matched perfectly! This is a lap sized quilt about 6x5 finished.

Gettin' pin basted, wonky camera angle

Annnd what else...OH .... I went fabric shopping this week.... spent a little more than intended (all the quilters are laughing and nodding at that cuz we've all been there)....but the stash building was TOTALLY worth it cuz I have to make TWO more quilts for Christmas gifts.   And  check out these ADORABLE kids' prints I found...

There's two prints for girls and a to die for dragon-prince pattern for little boys; I can't WAIT to make something with these guys!

  These are for the two Christmas quilts; I may end up using the same pattern; I'm going to adapt the Hawaiian Sunset pattern and simplify it some; (I'm still learnin!) but I chose rich jewel tones set off with a gorgeous Asian inspired print. The camera pic isn't the greatest but these colours really do pop and blend. Yay. Pics to come!

And what else..ooh yes... I have a baby quilt challenge....the client has requested that the lil' clothes not be cut; and used as whole pieces....so I'm ruminating on how best to make this happen....and keep it colourful, playful and happy...hmm. Let me think about that for a bit, and I'll see what percolates....

So...I think that's it for now....let's see:

Christmas custom Order #1 -  - Twin Teenagers' Quilt - ALMOST DONE needs to be bound.
Christmas custom  Order #2 King Size -  Fabric acquired! Needs the rest.
UFO Rail Fence - still glaring at me, sighing, from the treadmill

Two gifts for Christmas - Brocade Quilt needs to be sandwiched, quilted and bound

#2 needs to be cut and pieced and...the rest...

Two TOP SECRET projects - need to be started - fabric acquired

UFO Baby quilt for Etsy store - cut, needs to be pieced
Pink Cheater Baby quilt for Etsy - needs to be fixed and re-done in parts

There is one or two other projects I'm working on, but they're TOP SECRET and can't be posted until they're finished and have been received. Tee hee.

A Scary Halloween Tale of the Dentist. Not quilt related.

Hope you all had a great and safe Hallowe'en. Mine, unfortunately was more of the TRICK than treat kind....

Yeah. I bit into a delicious little purple skeleton candy...and OW OW OW!!

I cracked a tooth. Yep. Ow. I know. It hurt.

So I soldiered through the night and went to the dentist first thing today. Now, I just moved back to this area and hadn't  had opportunity to get around to seeing a local dentist.....funny how those things get pushed back.

I guess no one really likes to go to the dentist, really. I'd feel bad for dentists cuz while it is a high profile well paying job, nobody likes them. Or likes to go see them> so no matter how pleasant and nice....we don't really want to be sitting in that sterile smelling office.

It makes things worse if you had a bad experience as a child. I'm blessed with straight, white teeth and a nice smile. however, my teeth are weak, brittle and chock full o cavities. I always hated going to the dentist. I'd have to be dropped off there or take the bus and it was far, far away from where I lived. Or so it seemed. Sitting by yourself in the big, dark office (or so it seemed) waiting for the lady behind the wall who was just head and shoulders to call you in....scary. And then to go in and get in that big chair...have the paper napkin pinned to you.....scary.

The worst part for me was the cavities. And I always had them. I brushed. I flossed. I didn't eat to much candy or drink too much pop. But they were always there.

I remember laying on the chair. Looking up past the scary light (Don't those lights look JUST like the Aliens in the original War of the Worlds??) and trying to count the dots in the ceiling tiles. Trying to listen to the music on the radio over the scary high pitched whine in your ears that came from witihn.

I also remember...my dentist was well endowed. And as she'd lean over her boob would always be RIGHT THERE and she wore scratchy sweaters. And she wore glasses so sometimes I could look up and see the reflection of what was going on in my mouth in them. But I remember she'd always be gossiping about people with her assistant and I was thinking GET ME OUT OF HERE NOW.......imagining my Imaginary friend, Wonderwoman would be waiting to pick me up with the Jet when I was done. Anything to take my mind off where I was and the horror. The horror.

And then the worst part. The absolute worst part, was leaving. Leaving, taking that walk of shame, that running of the gauntlet of shame......past the wall of smiling children, happily showing all their Cavity Free teeth on the Look No Cavities! Wall....the wall I so desperately wanted to pin MY OWN polaroid of me on, and never ever got the chance to . Even picking out a toy from the treasure chest didn't make it better. I knew. I knew even then it was a consolation prize. Here kid. Take better care of your teeth, ya schmuck. Aw. Don't feel so bad. Have a plastic ring that says "I go-fer my dentist" that has a picture of a smiling gopher showing off HIS cavity free teeth. Sigh.

I. Never. Got. My. Picture. On. That. Wall.

Ever.

But um...I digress...

The young dentist I saw today was very nice. She was pleasant and efficient. She Xrayed and poked and drilled and got all sorts of tools ready. As she started to examine my broken tooth she pulled out the drill and then.....the words you never wanna hear....

Oops.

Suddenly she stopped drilling and the hygenist stopped suctioning. They both reached for gauze and pressure was applied (I took their words for it, I was and am, still frozen) to my LIP where she had accidentally sliced it open with the drill.

Three stiches and minus half a tooth later.....

I'm home. I'm frozen. And I'm Hungry! 

The worst part is I have to FILM a show tonite, and I'm all puffy and a bit bruised around the stitches.

She was very apologetic and gave me a darn good discount on the work today. I go back friday to have them removed.

Le sigh. I'm gonna go quilt.