testing, testing....

i apologize for my blogging absence. i've been pretty sick since friday. it did have one fun highlight- i spend all day sunday in bed with johnny depp and orlando bloom. the sci-fy channel ran all three Pirates of the Caribbean movies back to back TWICE! who says being sick is all that bad....

i was reading Cindy's blog, Hyacinth Quilt Design, and saw this post where she created a block that was inspired by a pillow on the cover of Martha Stewart's 'Living' magazine.

i immediately fell in love with the block and visions of quilts began to dance in my head. i started looking through my stash (remember i'm bashing that stash) and found these fabrics. it was a fat quarter pack i bought from Intown Quilters ages ago with a few of 'orphans' i've thrown in. i'm going to pair them with Kona Cotton Charcoal for my quilt. i'm going to use the 15" block measurements.

so here's my first 'test' block.......take a minute to savor the quilt-y goodness....

fabric therapy is way better than chicken noodle soup.

she needs a name for the block and i'd like to throw 'garden gate block' into the pile.



stay tuned.....



(i'm feeling much better....)

*sigh* just one of those days

i have absolutely no motivation to really do anything i had on my 'to-do' list today...



but i did dig out my brown BOM and i got the two blocks pieced that i need to have all the blocks done. now that they are done and on my design wall, i've come to realize i'm not as excited about this quilt as i would've hoped. the only thing i like is the block in the middle of the first row- i like the illusion of transparency. do you see it, or is it just me? oh well....so i'm just going to do a simple sash, cornerstone, inner and outer border it and call it a top. that's a problem with ufos....you feel guilty to finish them , but the initial excitement that you had when you started the project dissipates. then you have a quilt you really don't have any feeling for....at least that's what happens with me sometimes....



do you get UFO regret?



the parts came to fix nemo today. after reading the instructions on what to do i'm a little apprehensive to just dive in without davis in the house....*grr* nothing is as simple as you are led to believe...i should have known better. the factory tossed out phrases like "replace the needle bar" and "pound out the bushings" but, i LOVE nemo....and he's worth it. (don't tell him i said that- he'll get a big head) :)

insomnia strikes AGAIN!

why does inspiration always seem to strike at midnight? am i a night owl? i guess so.

i got all the blocks finished for the tulip quilt, so i put a UFO that has stalled on my design wall to 'air out' and talk to me and decided that it would be my birds of a feather quilt (it's from blackbird designs) well in true shannon fashion, i started out following the pattern and then i didn't like this little bit, so i changed it. then i didn't like a whole block, so i redesigned it, so now i'm pretty much doing my own thing. even after sleeping on it, i'm changing couple things from what i did last night....so we won't know what it'll end up looking like til it's done.

this was my design wall yesterday. then last night at midnight the quilt decided to talk,

and this is it today.

i was up til 3 a.m. this morning designing applique blocks...don't get me wrong, i'm NOT complaining, and in all honesty- it was SO much fun. i felt like a kid again. you know the feeling: brand new crayons and a brand new paper pad.....ah, those were the days..

i was recently chatting with a friend and i have come to realize that i am getting back in touch with MY creativity. when i worked at the quilt shop i was constantly confronted with new fabrics and new ideas every single day. i never got a 'breath of fresh air'. i was over-stimulated. now i'm at home, i can relax and concentrate on something and i'm happier cause my quilts are 'better thought out'. it feels like i'm more grounded, and everyone knows you can't open your mind when it's all bumfiggled with everyday stress, 'trash' , and someone else's ideas....