Working hard, falling behind and here comes '08

Right now my house is in a huge state of chaos. But, we are getting hardwood floors! DH and I are giving that to each other as a Christmas present. I'll have to post photos later, of a before and after. Its going to be quite dramatic.

On other fronts, I have fallen behind. The Sonnet quilt is not getting completed before Christmas. I would have needed to sew on it all weekend to finish, and instead moved furniture, removed carpeting, painted, etc. to get ready for the flooring folks, who come today.

I do have some handmade gifts though: a quilt for my Grandma, 2 Swarovski crystal bracelets (one for Mom, one for SIL), and two Christmas pillow covers for a Great Aunt and Great Uncle.

My quilting goals to finish in '08:
-Sonnet quilt (started)
-Brother's graduation quilt (started)
-DH's Christmas stocking (started)
-My Christmas stocking
-tree skirt
-quilt for friend's baby, gender unknown, due in April
-quilted tote bag for Steph (started)

Paper cutouts

I cut these out using my Xacto and some patterns from DH's cousin in Czech Republic. They came out really nice, although I'm not sure if I'm using the proper scherenschnitte technique. I think the artist is from Hlinsko or nearby.

More quilt-a-long blocks

I just got caught up with block 2 and 3 today. It really is a mystery to me what it will look like after the blocks are done--even though AmandaJean posted what her finished quilt looked like. I'm dreaming up different ways to set the blocks. Its great to be using up some stash fabrics that I haven't touched in years.

During my "photo shoot", my cat kept trying to steal the show!

Quilt is ready from the longarmer...

and I'm not even done with the Sonnet quilt! She says she still has time to quilt that one but I'll really have to kick it into high gear. She needs the top no later than Dec 15. I'm really excited to see the Ellery quilt. That's good because I've been in a funk the past few days, especially today. I'm not really wanting to whine on here, but things in my life are not going the way I want them to. Also, I'm taking some medicine that makes me nauseated 24/7. Maybe I can manage to lose a few pounds out of it though. :)

Quilt-a-long

Did you see that Crazy Mom Quilts is having a quilt along? It sounds like a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone uses for their fabrics. I'm using all stash, in traditional folksy colors. My backgrounds are not going to be all the same, but will be from the same line. Here's the first block. Don't you just love those acorns?

I've been working on the Sonnet quilt too. I'm making some headway on the half triangle corner thingies. :)

Do any of you know how to get your photos so that the text won't wrap around them?

Quickest Quilt in the West

You're gonna think I'm crazy, but I just started and finished a different quilt top! I had ordered the Ellery Spoonfuls (8.5" squares of the whole collection) and the stripe for the border. It came in early this week and was just too tempting to not sew into a quick quilt for my Grandma for Christmas. It's already off to the long arm quilter.

Please excuse the horrible photo. I was in a hurry to get it to the quilt store before they closed. The colors look a little more vivid in person.

Meanwhile, no progress was made on the Sonnet quilt, but I will get some time in tonight after I tidy up the house a bit. Dust bunnies are ruling the roost. I think I still have time but I'll have to work fast!

Fall Swap Recieved

My fall swap package arrived from my partner Ginger! Isn't the pincusion fabulous!? And the coffee cozy, which will get put to good use. :) The towel and cookie cutter may have to be tried out tomorrow. I've been craving cookies lately. And last but not least, the leaf hot pad/mit will be great when I get those cookies out of the oven.

I'm also making some progress on the Sonnet quilt. Almost all the pieces cut out, some blocks in progress, and two blocks finished. Only 28 more blocks to go!