Back in the Saddle...

Well hopefully I won't be as absent as I have been with blogging..I finally got a new battery for my camera, it's charged up and I can take photos again...

I joined the 'Finish 3 UFO's by 12/31/2008' Challenge on the quilting forum - I have at least 14 UFO's or WIPs... These are the three I am working on:

1. Valentine's Table Runner...this was hand pieced at Retreat 2007 in the Mystery Blocks Challenge that Lindahoo ran. I finished quilting it today and gave it a quick wash...it caused me sooooo much trouble! Once I got it sandwiched, I could not find the metallic red thread I wanted to use...then once I found it and started quilting..the red material stretched all over the place, even though it was pinned within an inch of its life and looked HORRIBLE...tore all of that out...got some regular Gutterman hand quilting thread...not much better luck with that (by this time I was considering throwing it in the trash!) ...so I popped my Big Foot on my machine and subdued this recalcitrant piece!!! It looked fine with just the machine quilting, but there were a couple of large open areas (the batting is fleece, so it did not HAVE to be quilted) so I added some hand quilted hearts there...now I like it! And its DONE!!!

This picture makes it look more pink than it is..the fabrics are really red and a cream color...














Here is a detail shot of the hand quilted hearts (sorry they are a little hard to see):















2. Crazy Heart Wall Hanging - which is in quilting now. UFO since 2006, when I did most of my crazy quilting. I am mounting the heart in a frame and quilting around it..it will probably get some braiding added to the border...

3. My Cow Quilt - it still is getting a bit more applique done, then will be quilted.
There is a story behind that one - when I was working on the 'Project from You Know Where' last year, I was working so hard and such long hours that I kept dreaming about the people from work...now..they are nice folks and all, and I like working with them (we had many hours of meetings every day) but I could NOT get away from them, even in my sleep! When I was a little girl, I remember my Mamma telling me if I was dreaming about something I did not want to dream about, I should wake my self up, turn over in bed and think of something pleasant..so I did..and there was a cow, out in a field, with a blue sky, and puffy white clouds, and some trees and some flowers...This quilt is a memory of that!!!

I will post pictures of the others later...

I've also done some amigurumi (crochet) too..a mouse and a cat..the mouse I gave to the Resident Quilt Inspectors..it's getting a wee bit ragged already!