Sneak Peek

I have been working away on my quilt top for the block swap. Today was the deadline that was set for the tops to be done. I must confess, mine is not finished. I am getting close. I took each of the blocks and ironed them onto a 14x14 piece of freezer paper (my new friend). I put them at random angles and placement. Then I strip paper pieced them out to the corners. I chose to do this because some of the blocks were not the same size as the rest, and I didn't want to take them apart and re-do them. I thought this would disguise that, and would be a little more interesting. I'm curious to see what they look like put together. It might be kind of wild, LOL. I plan to put them together in rows of 4 (I made one more block than we had for the swap) and then I think I will do a 2 inch white border around the whole thing. This will be the biggest quilt I have ever done, so it could be interesting to quilt. We shall see.


I also finished the FA quilt. I just need to get the flyers and a web page done and get that going. I hope to get that done within the next week or so. I am having a hard time getting a decent picture of it. Even outside it didn't turn out very well. I may have to play with it some more.

I just thought I'd share this picture I snapped the other day of my sweet Sasha. She just looked so peacful and serene watching the birds and soaking up the last of the afternoon sunshine from the window sill. She is such a window kitty. It's one of her favorite places to be. She is my little sweetheart.

Beginnings...

Here are the beginnings of my first real scrap quilt. Not that I haven't had scraps to work with, I just had no direction where to go with them. Some of these scraps have been in a bin in my closet for nearly 10 years! I am excited about how it is turning out so far. I decided to just go with blues for this one. I must have gone through a "blue phase" at some point in time because I seem to have an inordinant amout of blue scraps. LOL Maybe this will even things out a bit.

A great site for scrap quilt ideas!

I stumbled upon this site last week and have really seen a lot of neat quilts and ideas for scrap quilts here.
I have had a busy week and not had a lot of time to blog this week, I hope to catch up with you all in a few days. :P

Thanks...

Thank you to those of you who commented on my last post. It means a lot to know that people care. We wil find another country, we already have a few in mind. I have faith that it will all work out in God's timing and according to His plan. (Although I DO get rather impatient with Him sometimes.) In all honesty, I didn't actually mean to post that post here, I meant to post it on my adoption blog, but clicked on the wrong blog on my dashboard. I didn't even notice until later that evening.

In some ways having a definitive answer from China is a relief. At least that is one variable in the equation that is taken out. The wait times for a referral were getting rediculously long and were only going to get longer. The long wait time was something that I was not looking forward to. We were possibly looking at a wait time AFTER our paperwork was finished and sent to China and approved of possibly 2-3 years. The paperwork alone can take a few months to get finished and sent off to China. The wait time is so long now that some of the government documents that are needed for the adoption have been expiring before referrals have been coming. That causes extra cost because they need to be re-filed. China has also raised their fees. And well, lets face it, money is definitely an issue. To top it off, a flight from China with a confused, scared toddler. That's no picnic for anyone and was something else that I was not looking forward to. The other countries that we are looking at, at least some of them have shorter travel times and fewer time zone changes. So, while I'm sure we would still be very tired, at least the flight wouldn't be as long.

Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks for all of the sweet comments and well wishes. We are doing ok and just have to keep our minds and hearts open to other options.

Well, China is now officially out...

Here is the response that I got to an email that I sent this morning regarding the possibility of adopting from China.

"Thank you for your inquiry, and for your continued interest in adopting a precious Chinese angel! As predicted back in February, we now have a better understanding of the new rules that were put into effect as of May 1, 2007. Unfortunately, the CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) has made it clear that they will not approve a prospective adoptive family if either spouse is medicated for depression, anxiety, mania, or any other mental disorder. In order for the family to qualify, the individual must be free from mental health medication for at least two years. Be sure to consult with the prescribing doctor before considering cessation of the medication.

I apologize for this disheartening news, and I am certain that you would be wonderful parents to a Chinese baby. Unfortunately, these regulations are out of our hands. Do not hesitate to contact me with any other questions."

I am saddened that the Chinese government is making it much more difficult to place children in homes. I am heartsick because my heart is with those little ones in China. We will always keep these kids in our hearts, even if not in our home.

I think I'd like to try...

making a string spiderweb quilt sometime. I found this tutorial and it seems really pretty simple. Here is a similar one that I saw last weekend at the quilt show. I think it would be a great way to use up some scraps.


I have the FA quilt all quilted, I just need to do the binding. That will be a project for this weekend. Hopefully I will have pictures to show of it before long. Then I gotta do my block swap quilt top. I think I'll start that one next weekend.

Hurry on over....

To my friend, Amanda's blog. She has a gorgeous quilt over there and a beautiful bag as well that she is giving away in honor of her 200th post. If you mention my name in a comment I could have a chance to win the quilt! Even though, I probably don't stand a chance of winning, you should still check out her blog, it is well worth the read. She is an amazingly talented quilter and all around crafty person.
Congrats, Amanda, on your 200th post!

Quilt Show Pictures

The quilt show was amazing! I was blown away by the amount of talent that is out there from our little section of Minnesota!
The pictures are here. Enjoy!

FA Quilt and the Teeny Tiny Tomato...

No, one does not have to do with the other, LOL.
First of all, here is the FA quilt top, all ready to sandwich together. I finished the last border last night. I am a little scared to try and quilt this myself, but I will give it a go either tomorrow or next week sometime. I apologize that the pictures aren't the best. I have a hard time finding a good place to take pictures in my house. Especially after dark.



And I couldn't resist sharing this picture. Here is the last tomato from my one little tomato plant I had this year. Seriously, I am very surprised that it even ripened! The little thing is only about 1cm in diameter. I giggled when I saw it.

This afternoon, my MIL and I are going to this quilt show. If pictures are allowed, I will try and take some to share. We went to this one time before, a few years ago and I was amazed at some of the quilts that were there! Some people have wayyyyyy more talent and patience than I do! I am looking forward to spending some time with Burdette and seeing what is in store this year at the show.

My First Real Repurposing Project

I followed this great tutorial and this is what I came up with. I found the shirt at a garage sale and I had some scraps of lace and elastic, so the whole project cost me 25 cents plus the scraps and thread. Not too bad a deal! It was a lot of fun. I used the pocket from the front of the shirt and put it on the front of the dress. I have 3 more shirts and lots more lace scraps, too. Not sure who is getting this dress, yet, since it is too small for my nieces and I have no little one to wear it. I'm sure there will be some lucky little recipient somewhere, though. I might have to start scrounging garage sales next spring for shirts to make dresses from, LOL. It was actually an easy project, From start to finish in just a few hours.