Mail Call Monday - Butterfly Kisses

Welcome to another edition of Mail Call Monday!!  This week I'm going to share with you what came in last week's mail.  It may be small, but it's powerful.

What is it, Joyful??

THIS package arrived a day earlier than anticipated:

HERE is what the package contained:

A masterfully sewn and quilted zippered pouch...

Not just any pouch! 

... It's a RAK from Peggy at Sew Enjoyable:

Just LOOK at the detail in this adorable zipper pull...

... And the quilting, paired with the sweet butterfly fabric:

She even included a beautiful butterfly note!!

Not just a card, but a HANDWRITTEN note:

Such a generous and thoughtful gift.  Thank you, Peggy!!

Until next time...
Do you RAK?!?

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC 16 - Week 26

Welcome to Week 26 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  This week was action packed, day and night.  I didn't even have time to begin this post until THURSDAY!!!  It's not like me to wait so long to get started on my weekly report (so you will have to forgive me if I get my days mixed up.)

On SUNDAY, I finished the quilting on my friend Cindy's T-Shirt quilt that she made for her son.  As Kris7 on Ravelry would say... It's a BAQ!!!  You'll have to use your imagination or ask her what that stands for:

MONDAY was Knit Group, so I delivered Cindy's BAQ.  (She LOVED the quilting that I did on it!!) I had some free time in the afternoon and got ONE Maverick Star Block  completed in AQUA with lime green accents.  You may notice that I did this one a bit differently that the rest.  I'm not exactly sure WHY... But I really like it:

Then there was a UFO that was calling to me.  Now it has its inner borders attached:

I skipped out on my family and headed to Quilt Guild tonight.  Our speaker was the talented and engaging May Chappell who lectured on Color Theory.  She maintains that EVERY QUILTER should have at least one Color Wheel Quilt in the studio:

She also talked about what different shades of gray do to colors:

On TUESDAY morning, I dropped off a couple of applique books at the Senior Center.  I stayed just long enough to say hello to my Quilt Bee friends and then returned home to do some more work on that UFO that won't let me rest.  LOOK!!  The outer borders have been cut:

With that task complete, I spent a little time with the RSC Color of the Month.  The end result??? ONE Crumb Block in AQUA with hints of lime...

... And then I raced out the door to pick the girls up from school.  Oops!!  (Set a timer, Joyful!!)

WEDNESDAY afternoon, between spending time with an old friend and meeting my knitting friends for Girls Night Out, I managed to finish the top of my Calico Rick Rack Quilt...

... And locate the Extension Table for my APQS Millemmium:

About Girls Night Out???  I got LUCKY!!!  They had ONE last bottle of my (new) favorite wine...

... Which I shared with a friend!!!  (I'm not that much of a lush!  LOL... Happy Birthday to Mitch3kids on Ravelry... and in real life:

On THURSDAY, after visiting with a friend, MISSING MY WEEKLY QUILT GROUP, and returning a couple of items from Friday night's Family Shopping Spree, I visited with my friend Joanna, who walked me through the use of a few of my Longarm Rulers:

INSERT PHOTO HERE!!!

We were slightly distracted looking out at THIS view outside her living room:

Class complete, I went home to load Calico Rick Rack on the machine, so it will be ready for tomorrow afternoon's quilting session:

FRIDAY afternoon was made for quilting,but first, I worked on my Design Floor Friday post:

LINK HERE

On SATURDAY, Angela, from So Scrappy, hosts a LINK PARTY that many of the RSC Quilters join in on.  If you want to see the fabulous AQUA, TEAL, and TURQUOISE projects that everyone has been working on this week, plan on heading over there NOW!!

I'll catch up with you later.  Why later???  I'm off to the Museum of Life and Science in Durham.

Until next time...
Get Scrappy!!!

Design Floor Friday {Back Tracking}

NOTE:  THIS IS A PICTURE HEAVY PROCESS POST!!!

Welcome to another edition of Design Floor Friday!!  This week's post is actually about LAST Saturday's shopping trip to Wish Upon A Quilt.  (Needleb couldn't go shopping on Friday and the quilt was ALL over the floor!)  I'm linking this post to the Austerity Challenge on the Quilters Knitting Group over on Ravelry (in light of the purchases made.)

They keep me honest.  They encourage me to USE WHAT I HAVE, but my current UFO has remained incomplete because I couldn't figure out what to do with it.  It didn't want to cooperate with ANY of the fabrics in my stash.

Here is the process that I went through at the Quilt Shop...

As I was searching for a good border print, Needleb found this AMAZING digital print and I found a circle-y LIME GREEN fabric (which doesn't really show up that well in the photos) to serve as the inner border:

I liked it, but how about that same digital print with an ORANGE inner border:

Not quite right, but, let's try the digital print with an AQUA inner border:

What if???

The AQUA wasn't bad, but Needleb wondered what would happen if that amazing digital print was paired with a stronger GREEN inner border:

BUT...

I really like that PLUS fabric!!!!  (Insert pout face here.)

There's no harm in giving it a try.  Let's see how that works with...

A stronger TURQUOISE inner border:

The LIME GREEN inner border:

THE SCALE IS ALL WRONG!!

Out comes the question of the day...

WHAT IF???

What if I do what Quilt Diva Julie does and pair all those colors with fabulous BLACK AND WHITE PRINTS?!?!?  Julie blogs at Me and My Quilts... Exploring the Possibilities.  When I grow up, I want to quilt JUST LIKE JULIE!!!  :o))

I came up with this BOLD white on black print and started the process, again!!!

First, I paired it with the LIME inner border:

Then one of the shop girls wanted to try something COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!!!

While I am a HUGE fan of LIME GREEN... This idea did nothing for me:

Needleb suggested that I fold out a bit more of the fabric to get a better idea of what it would look like in the finished quilt top.  (I probably should have thought of this.  Duh!!)

I tried it with the KELLY GREEN...

I tried it with the LIME GREEN:

AND... I tried it with a BRIGHT PINK:

I'm SOLD on the Swirly White on Black print, but WHICH inner border choice???

Hmm...  One last BRIGHT PINK inner border option:

AND THE WINNER IS???

Wait now...

That problem I was having with my Calico Rick Rack Quilt???

I think it has FINALLY been alleviated!!!

How, Joyful???

With a STASH INFUSION, of course!!!  :o))

The happy results:

And...

In the interest of keeping it real (for the Austerity Quilters,) HERE is what I did NOT buy...

An adorable Sheepy pattern:

The fabulous HOLY SCRAP shirt in PURPLE:

A new T-Shirt Quilt book that I would have LOVED to add to my collection:

I bought ONLY what the quilt INSISTED on having for its binding, borders, AND backing:

The Butterfly digital print was ANOTHER rejected border option, but it turned out to be a REALLY good option for the back of the quilt.  Large scale prints are PERFECT for that job!!

Until next time...
LISTEN to your quilts!!!

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC16 - Week 25

Welcome to Week 25 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  We're coming off the graduation brouhaha.  As we all come back down from the celebratory high, life is beginning to return to normal.  Let's have a look at how my week turned out in the aftermath...

On SUNDAY, our guests departed and DH left for a conference.  I'm not exactly sure WHERE the time went!!  Here's a shot of my manicure with some Color of the Month inspiration in the background, as the nails needed to remain neutral for last week's graduation ceremony:

MONDAY was Knit Group, however, we only had a small group show up.  That's OK!  The rest of us got some work done, as we chatted about life as (future) empty nesters.  After a little bit of knitting, we went shopping!

Later in the day, I was informed that it was my night to pick up the girls... OOPS!!  It wasn't on EITHER of my calendars!!!  Then LOOK what I did:

OUCH!!!  I sprained my ankle.  :o((

On TUESDAY, I posted the next installment of The Decrapification Project.  In this post, you will read about what came after the big reveal.

I also hobbled up to the sewing room and made ONE Tiny Nine in AQUA/teal... with a splash of lime:

WEDNESDAY afternoon, DS2 and I went to visit "Grandma Betty."  He received CASH (and a key chain, instead of a shirt) as a graduation gift:

  Oh well, ONE Carolina shirt is enough... he will probably get a TON of shirts once he arrives on campus!!!  That's the way it was for DS1 over at NC State.

On THURSDAY, I got up early to take the girls to school.  Yes.  They go year-round.  After dropping them off, I made my way to my weekly Quilt Group meeting, where I shared my collection of AQUA blocks and elevated my foot:

FRIDAY morning, the Knit Group met at my house...

FOR QUILTING!!!  LOL

When the dust cleared, the longarm had been loaded with another quilt:

On SATURDAY, Angela hosts a weekly LINK PARTY for the RSC Quilters.  You might like to head over there to see what AQUA goodness everyone has gotten up to during the week.  Me?  I'm heading off to Wish Upon a Quilt's brick and mortar store.  I haven't been in a while and my friend needs some help with choosing borders and backing for her current quilt.  I plan on checking in on the RSC Quilters later today.

Until next time...

Get Scrappy!!!

The Decrapification Project - Part Six - The Aftermath

Decrapification (de-crap-if-ic-a-tion) The term coined by Rosamaria on Ravelry Thrifty Knitters group meaning to declutter a LOT of stuff (from a room or area.)

I liked it so much that I decided to use it for a blog post (or 2 or 10!)

It gets worse before it gets better...

In the last Decrapification Project post, I shared the REAL reason for the reorganization of my studio. This post will deal with the aftermath of such a HUGE project.

Here's a reminder of just how far I had to go to prepare the room for my new-to-me APQS Millennium longarm quilting machine:

Stuff was stacked to the ceiling!!  Ugh!!

Step 13 - Clear out the rafters.

This was accomplished by utilizing the 14 foot space BENEATH the machine.  Bags, baskets, and bins were lined up under the machine (and out of the path) in order to make my way down to my sewing tables.  I will want to get more of the LARGE bins in the foreground, but at $35/bin, that will have to wait for a future Decrapification Project!  In the meantime, this will have to do:

Special thanks to my friend, Cindy!  She came over to help me clear the paths to my sewing machines and figure out a workable way to store all of the accumulated quilting supplies.

Step 14 - Clean off the table... Again!!

This was SUCH a process!  I tackled one table at a time.  First my table and then "Britt's table", but only enough so that she could sew some blocks together!  Then it finally got cleared when my friend, Hilary, returned for a go at "Britt's table."

There are still a few random things on BOTH tables, but for the most part, they are clear. HOORAY!!

Step 15 - Start sewing!!!

My friend, Britt was back, again!  This time, she helped me load the machine and stayed right there beside me the entire time that I was quilting this first quilt on the longarm.  Thanks, Britt!!  It would have been a  MUCH more challenging process if you weren't there with me.

Mission accomplished and a job well done... with a LOT of help from my friends!!!  Thanks, everyone!!  I couldn't have done this without you.

Until next time...
Quilt on!!!