Block 3 Jelly Roll Sampler

... intigrating the browns with the red and blue...

Many a pinwheel to be had...

While waiting for Rachel to upload the new Pinwheel sampler block today, I decided to make my two blocks for the charity quilt the Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild is making. Imagine my surprise....

Charity Blocks:

Pinwheel Blocks:

Hmmm something looks very familiar :)

Something new...

Today I was inspired by Melinda Bula on The Quilt Show. I tried thread painting for the first time. It isn't perfect but I really had a great time doing it.

The second part of the Meadow Breeze Bom by Pat Sloan for Aurifil was the inner border and the butterfly block. I started the thread play with the leaves then I couldn't stop...

Great Man... New Iron

So I know you have seen me previously lamenting about my terrible iron. I bought it for $10 when I was flat broke. When I married my husband I thought... surely he has a better iron. I turned it on and a flood of ants swarmed out of it... ewww. So I limped along with my little Sunbeam (have I mentioned that we are cheap frugal?) until last Sunday as I was ironing these:

The water started leaking out of the cord hole. I was half way through the blocks so I decided to finish them while standing in the puddle (my husband asked if I had a death wish... obviously he doesn't understand) and lived to tell about it. My In-Laws have been here all week so I had no time to sew. Somehow I managed to forget that my iron went out with the trash. I started cutting today and then realized I couldn't piece anything without an iron. Called hubby at work "Can you stop at Target and get a good steam iron?" I had previously informed him I was going to order one and it was going to cost $140 ... to which he rolled his eyes. So I anxiously waited for him to get home... when he came in before I opened the bag I asked "What did you get?" he said "I just went in and bought the most expensive one they had". I laughed (see previous cheap frugal comment) then opened the bag. This is what he got:

Needless to say I was quite happy. This is supposed to be a good one. Now here is where I have to say I am mad at you.... yes, you... no one ever told me that blocks could be this flat:

I know it is hard to tell... but trust me they are flat. I am very upset that you all were keeping this from me. :) I mean look at this:

I know you can't tell but it is really flat flat... I love it. Hubby got a big kiss...

Meadow Breeze BOM and the Teacher gift...

I finally fused the block for Pat Sloan's Meadow Breeze Bom I  love how it came out... now I have some hand work to do while my daughter is in state standardized tests next month (have I mentioned that I home school?) .

The curriculum that we use is actually part of the state public school system and it is free. It is called K12. With this we are assigned a "Teacher" she is around to answer questions about format with the online portions of the school as well as administration stuff. I am called a "Learning Coach" even though I am the one doing the actual teaching... confusing I know. Anyway, Erin's teacher Mrs. Y is going on maturnity leave at the end of this month, and yesterday was the last chance to see her before she goes. She is the recipient of the January Schnibble... for some reason she wanted to show the back (I think she wanted to show the label I drew a flower on ) but I didn't catch the label in the picture ... or her eyes open. It was super sunny and I couldn't see the screen on my husbands little pocket camera (give me the DSLR any day) so..... this is not a great pic  but at leas it proves I finished the quilt... :)

Serendipitously, she says the nursery is pink and green. YAY!

Great giveaway at CV Quiltworks...

Remember my little batik and selvage quilt? I love those selvages. Jackie has a great giveaway going with Karen Griska for Karen's new book. Go over and check out the giveaway ... have fun!

oops... I mean the second Jelly Roll Sampler block...proves I was up to early LOL

Not sure I like the peach but the chocolate brown is one of my favorites. The problem with a jelly roll is that sometimes they aren't all of your favorite colors...and since I used the jelly roll for another project (where I used my favorite colors) I can't expect to like every piece... but the block as a whole is pretty nice... what do you think?

Spring Sprang

... for the  Iris any way. I decided to cut them so that we could enjoy them in the house.

(pictured on my outdoor fireplace)

This is a gratuitous photo of my lemon tree... weee... lemonade season is on the way.

(hope you don't get too much sunshine in your eye with this one)

Pinwheel sampler blocks and progress on my Liberated Amish too...

I was online when Rachel posted the new pinwheel blocks. So I took a shower and got dressed, had breakfast and sewed...

Then I diecided to start on my Amish blocks... part of the challenge was to do some free pieced letters with the quilt... so these are 3" letters in the center of my blocks.

Star Crazy....

Yes, I feel it... after 3 hrs of cutting... and a few hours sewing... here are my stars:

I just wanted to prove I wasn't giving up.

When these were finished I realized that I was an idiot but I refuse to tell you what I did. Suffice to say I will be doing a bit more cutting tomorrow (the stars are fine it was another part I messed up) so... half squares and Irish Chains tomorrow or Friday (I just remembered I have a busy day not with quilting tomorrow).

I guess I don't have enough to do...

Yesterday I joined two quilt alongs... The Moose on the Porch Jelly Roll Sampler and Rachel's Pinwheel Sampler.

The Jelly Roll Sampler is still on the first block so I caught up easily:

Rachel has done three sets of blocks so far:

1st

2nd

3rd

I am two months behind on Star Crazy (I admit I have a mental block on this one) and I think I am going to give up the Schibbles one... it has started to feel more like a chore than fun (I am not completely decided on this yet). I am going to work on my Star Crazy blocks the next couple of days to catch up.

That's all for now ...