Block #12 For Celeste X.

This block is dedicated to my old neighbor Celeste. We are going to call her Celeste X. because I honestly cannot remember her last name. Celeste was one of the first neighbors we met in our neighborhood an she was by far the most colorful. Celeste had 4 dogs and 3 cats in addition to the feral cat she fed in the neighborhood. Let me tell you, the other neighbors were not 100% pleased about the feral cat feeding. But Celeste had a love for animals that was unmatched, I believe she even convinced my husband to feed that cat when she was out of town. She had a rescued Rottweiler that she routinely walked in the wee hours of the morning because she new that he would scare the neighbors because he wasn’t quite right…

Here is your story for tonight (as told by Celeste – 14 years ago so take it with a grain of salt or several):

The gentleman we bought our first house from had a cat. Several years after his wife died he met a nice neighbor lady and they fell in love and got married. This neighbor did not like cats, maybe she was allergic, I don’t know… Anywho… He moved in with her but left the cat at his house a few doors down. Celeste would take care of the cat when he was out of town, she played with it, bought it toys, loved on it. She started noticing the cat was sad and she felt this was due to a lack of interaction being all alone in that house. She said the cat lost it’s personality entirely. So one day, Celeste went over there, got the cat and all of its toys and took it home with her and left him a note that basically said it was her cat now.

Eventually he sold the house, we bought it, and more than once we had to shoo that cat out of our house. You see, Celeste’s front door was right across from ours. So during the day the cat sat on our porch and lived in our yard and at night he went home to Celeste.

She eventually bought some land and took all her animals out to the country. What about the feral cat? She trapped that sucker and took it too.

Thoughts on this block:

No more large scale directionals for the background. UHG (you will see one more ugly one like this)

January 12, 2015
Block #12
Days on Project: 12
Blocks Made: 12

For Celeste X.

Block #11 For Erik R.

This block is dedicated to my friend and former co-worker Erik R. Erik is hilarious. I have so many stories, it’s seriously hard to pick just one. But we will go with Erik’s 40th birthday because it is actually two stories in one.

You need a little bit of background here: Erik’s family is just as crazy as he is. He had a classic “over-the-hill” party complete with a coffin, graveyard cake, blacked-out windows, wheelchairs and a lot of Depends. We also had a few special guests: an Elvis impersonator (his niece), a grim reaper, and a guy dressed up in a pink bunny outfit with a shot gun – who then chased him around the house. The story goes (I hope this is the story, it’s been awhile)…

One year, Erik cooked Easter dinner for his family. He felt it only appropriate to serve rabbit. Like I said, he’s pretty funny. So the Easter Bunny there to get revenge. Bwah ha ha…

Thoughts on the blocks:

I tried to make 3 today at one time. I only saved 30 minutes. meh.

January 11, 2015
Block #11
Days on Project: 11
Blocks Made: 11

For Erik R.

Block #10 for Teresa R.

This block is dedicated to my good friend and former neighbor Teresa. We miss her and her puppies so much. We miss all of our neighbors actually. Our last neighborhood was pretty active. There was always someone out walking a dog, chatting in the cul-de-sac, gardening… This new neighborhood is extremely quiet, which for the most part is good. And we love our new house and its proximity to other close friends of ours. But, we really miss all of our neighbors and friends, Teresa especially. We don’t live that far away from each other and we still get to see each other, but life is a little less exciting without getting daily kisses from Ms. Morgan (Teresa’s “puppy”).

Thoughts on this block and the process:

Its only fitting that I do a bunny block today. Last night we captured our very first critter (that was not already ours) on our trail camera. A bunny in the flower bed!

Today was my 10th block and by far the most difficult to do. Not because it went together poorly; it took an hour just like the rest of them. But today, my motivation was at an all time low. I had already used a cheater block yesterday and it didn’t seem right to do it again. After working and cleaning all day, I had no interest in sewing whatsoever. Hopefully by tomorrow I will be out of this “funk”.

January 10, 2015
Block #10
Days on Project: 10
Blocks Made: 10

For Teresa R.

Block #9 For Tram T.

This block is dedicated to one of my life-long friends. Tram and I met in college and we have been good friends ever since. It is hard to think that we have gone from late nights in the computer lab and staying up all night cramming for exams to joining the work force and moving to the ‘burbs. We have seen each other though the happy times and the sad times over the last 16 years.

We might go for awhile without seeing or talking to each other but at the end of the day, we will always be there for each other. 30 years from now, we will still know each other and instead of griping about work we will be arguing over who’s grandkids are cuter.

That’s my prediction: Growing old together – Grandkids

January 9, 2015
Block #9
Days on Project: 9
Blocks Made: 9

For Tram T.

Block #8 For Jill R.

When I was making this block today, I thought “So who in the world should I dedicate an all purple block to?” There was really only one choice: Jill R.. Jill loves purple. She has purple purses, clothes, coats, shoes…. I think her car might be kind of purplish. That kind of dedication to a color is commendable. But I have to be honest, it is one of my favorite colors too.

So I guess this is co-worker week for hummingbirds. I love working with Jill because she always makes me feel appreciated. Although I imagine she makes everyone feel this way as she has an affinity for showing up at just the right moment with yummy cupcakes. But seriously, she is always telling everyone how awesome I am and I am starting to fear that I won’t live up to it. And yes… I do like cupcakes. I like them a lot. I like cupcakes as much as she likes purple.

Thoughts on this block:

The dark purple fabric was very “floppy”. I really should have starched it first. Does anyone want to come over to starch and press 700 different pieces of fabric for me? Yeah… I didn’t think so.

January 8, 2015
Block #8
Days on Project: 8
Blocks Made: 8

For Jill R.

Block #7 for Heather W.

Heather W. is awesome. That is all…

Ok, so that is not all… Heather is dedicated to saving and loving animals. Anytime she sees a dog that is in trouble or needs a warm place to sleep she goes out of her way to rescue them and bring them to safety.

I often hear people say “Well… you can’t pick your parents…” And neither can they. These innocent creatures are pure love and would do anything to please their parents (owners) but are often neglected or mistreated.

This block was made out of a reaction to a post she made on Facebook that brought me to tears. She told of how a dog was stuck on a busy roadway and so many people were out there trying to help it get to safety; everyone except the owners. It was scared and ran into the path of a car. All of these people were trying the help and the driver that eventually hit the dog broke down in tears. Heather stayed with the dog comforting it until it passed.

This is a sad story, I know, and up until now I have kept it light on these posts. After I got over the sadness of the post I was amazed by the incredible people that were trying to save a dog they didn’t even know. There are still good people in the world and that is encouraging.

Thoughts on this block:

This is my first cheater block. I made it a couple extra over the weekend know that I would not have the time to sew every single night. I feel like a poser…

January 7, 2015
Block #7
Days on Project: 7
Blocks Made: 7

For Heather W.

Block #6 For Veronica M.

I am dubbing this block “Conflict Bird” because it was a pain in the rear to make. At first I blamed the fabric, it’s not sticking to the foundation paper, it’s too floppy… But later I realized that the problem was  me. Let’s just say I didn’t bring my A game to this one. I have made 9 of these blocks so far and I made more mistakes on this one than I have made on all of them put together.

1. I didn’t place the fabric correctly and had no seam allowance, and this isn’t on the pieces that flip, this is the first stinkin’ piece – quilters will know what I mean
2. I sewed the pieces on in the wrong order – they are numbered for goodness sake
3. I sewed the wrong side of the fabric on – twice
4. I used the wrong seam allowance when sewing the main sections together

And with a normal block this would be annoying, but because I was foundation piecing, the stitch length was so small I nearly went blind ripping them out.

The making of this bird mirrored my day at work: full of stress and frustration. Luckily, like these birds, not every day is like that.

SO…

I dedicate this Conflict bird to Veronica because she is with me in the trenches everyday. Together we will continue to “fight the good fight”. PM’s UNITE!!

And despite my experience tonight, I will continue to make birds. (I honestly didn’t intend for that to all rhyme)

January 6, 2015
Block #6
Days on Project: 6
Blocks Made: 6
Unforced Errors When Making Block: 5

For Veronica M.

Block #5 For Kristi H

This block is dedicated to Kristi H. Kristi has somehow managed to accumulate more quilts than anyone else. She has a grand total of 3 quilts from me. Well… she WILL have 3 quilts by the end of this week as I am binding one for her now. I only have 3 of my own quilts!

For Kristi’s first child, I made a small “twister” quilt. I was pretty excited about it and it went together super quick. I didn’t tell her about it or show it to her before I finished it. I didn’t discuss fabrics, I didn’t even match up to the stuff on her baby registry. A few days before I finished it we were chatting and she was lamenting on how she hated pink. She was having a girl and the fact that everything was Pepto Bismal pink annoyed her. You should have seen the look on my face! At the time of this conversation, I was putting the binding on the pinkest quilt known to man.

Thoughts On This Project

Reality has struck. I am back to working 5 days a week, 8 hours a day and trying to make these blocks. Planning and picking out fabrics ahead of time is becoming crucial and I am not really pleased with my color choices on this block. Even though its not my favorite – with 365 to do – it still counts. And I don’t feel bad about Kristi getting stuck with a block that I’m not 100% enamored with. She already has three quilts, she knows she’s special.

January 5, 2015
Block #5
Days on Project: 5
Blocks Made: 5
Quilts Kristi Already Has: 3ish

For Kristi H.

Block #4 For Dad

This block is dedicated to my Dad. He has the flu and I am worried about him. Sending prayers and thoughts to you Dad. Love you.

Dad is just as creative as my Mom. My parents owned a flower shop/bakery combo and thanks to them, I can make a bow better than anyone I know (including dad ;-)). I also know a lot more about house plants and flowers than anyone in IT should.  Several years ago, my parents sold their shop and moved away from our home town. I think it has had a couple of owners since, but it still bears his name. The current owners seem very nice and have named the shop dog after my dad. The story goes: they got so tired of people coming in and asking for Dad, that they got a dog, named it after him and now when people ask to see Andy, they point to the dog.

What I want to know is why I was never allowed to have a shop dog when I worked there. Seems a bit unfair.

Thoughts on This Project

I am struggling on how to photograph these guys consistently. I am almost ready to break out the tripod. Almost…

January 4, 2015
Block #4
Days on Project: 4
Blocks Made: 4
Quilts Dad already has: 1 Snuggly Rag Quilt

For Dad

For Brittany

This block is dedicated to my cousin Brittany. She is having a baby TODAY! And in honor of her, and for good luck, she is getting a bird.

Brittany is a wonderful person, beautiful inside and out. She is going to make a great mother and we could not be more excited for her.

Happy Baby, Brittany!

Thoughts on This Project

This isn’t exactly my first rodeo; I have paper pieced many times so I am mostly just frustrated that each bird is taking an hour. But today’s bird was even more difficult. Maybe its because it is dedicated to a woman that is currently in labor. Maybe…

Lesson learned for today: If you are printing your foundation  paper with your inkjet printer, double check that is it printing at full size and is not scaling. UHG. So this little birdie is, in fact, little. But it still counts…

January 3, 2015
Block #3
Days on Project 3
Blocks Made 3

For Brittany