I have been away far too long, sorry!  To start things off,  I have my Lorex quilt together and basted so it is now ready for quilting.  I love how it turned out.  It is a good size too, 70x86".  I have my quilt design picked out  an up/down lines and shapes for bark.  I can hardly wait to get started.  Here's a picture of where I am at.

I have my March doll quilt to finish up and get in the mail.  It is something new and I love working on it.  I have such an interesting partner, Fay Baldwin who lives in the US and I have the nicest friend and neighbor, Fay Baldwin.  How cool is that....to have 2 great friends with the same name!

We have had a week of incredible weather +19C....woo hoo! Spring is here!  I was out walking every day making myself somewhat stiff and I could have a morning coffee on the south side of my house in the sunshine.  You have to go through long winters like we have to appreciate sunshine but don't forget the sunscreen.  Well that is all I have for today so enjoy spring and sunshine wherever your live.

I belong to a Doll Quilt swap over at the Quilting Board and I received 2 quilts last week.  The first was from my partner Linda in Ireland who sent me this lovely Celtic Knot along with a magazine and a coin purse.  Just look at the beautiful fabrics in the coin purse, fabrics sure differ from what I see in stores in Canada.  We were suppose to tell something about where we live and I did an elevator with a border of wheat for Saskatchewan. 

My second quilt was from Leslie in WI for February.  Her mini log cabin is so outstanding with the dotted background she used.  I made a mini Pineapple Quilt and bordered it with a black/red fabric.

I also got a new camera for my upcoming birthday.  It's a Cannon and quite an upgrade from my little Kodac.  I am doing a lot better learning this camera than my first digetal. 

A Few Changes

I have been working on my blog and you might notice the postings for the Quilt Along are gone...not really, I have them under the Quilt Along Headings.  From now on, I will be posting my quilt pictures under the heading Quilts and offering any quilts I have for sale under Shop.  I am not going to open my Etsy Shop for a while but if there is something you really like, please contact me to discuss.  I am focusing on selling locally right now and getting my name around the community.

I showed you my fabrics for my first modern quilt, well here is my first block.  I will be making 4 or 5 of these to use in a straight line format.  This will be a row quilt.

I just received an order with the wonderful panel The Lorex included.  I have a couple blocks made to test and I really love it.  This quilt will be for sale when finished.

I have a couple finished quilts to the Quilt page.

So while I have been missing, I have been busy.  It is hard to stay busy right now with temperatures above freezing, no ice, no snow....I love it! and I am out walking 3 times a week.  Boy, I will be in such good shape by spring and maybe a few pounds lighter.  Have a great week everyone.

New Modern Quilt

Oh, I am so excited to start my new modern quilt.  Last night I pulled my fabrics that I have available to use but whether or not I use all of them is still debatable.  Here is what I got, what do you think.

I am going to use blocks from Sew Mama Sew BOM that you can find herehttp://sewmamasew.com/blog2/2011/12/modern-block-of-the-month-bom-december-sew-along/I just love these patterns and when you scroll down you can see how 1 block will look as an entire quilt.

I have a couple projects to finish up first, of course!  I need to quilt my string quilt so I can take it to the Cancer office.  I need to finish and mail my Doll Quilt for the swap on the Quilting Board.  Bonnie`s mystery quilt Orca can wait a bit long.  It needs lots of work yet and I need to get back in that mood so I can stick with it until it is done.

Making Things Safe

Today I downloaded my new free anti virus program AVG2012.  I am very happy with how well it all went.  I am not super computer savvy but I manage to get through things.  I ran a couple scans and no items were detected so that always makes me feel good.  I hope you all take a bit of time to do this each year.  It is important to keep your system safe and to ensure your visitors are safe as well.

Other than that, I sewed some strips while scans were running and systems download, etc. so I will have my 20 String  blocks done pretty quickly here.  I am always anxious to see what the layout will look like and I have never had one disappoint me yet.

The Desperate Housewife posted 27 weeks of modern block tutorials and had 27 guests post tutorials.  I have been going through them and picking out some I really like.  I am going to make my very first modern quilt and it is really exciting. 

I also will have some exciting news to announce soon as my first anniversary of blogging is coming up.  I am definitely going to have a give away to celebrate so I am planning what the give away will be.  No pictures this time but hope you are all having some time to work on your quilting projects.

I went to 3 Christmas Craft Sales and they were hohum but lots of fun and an opportunity to meet new craft people.  Everyone feels the sales are much lower and maybe the economy is making people a bit cautious.  My sales were quite alright and many people were very interest in my quilts.  I didn't sell any but will get them listed back into Etsy soon so local people can shop there as well.

The tan and black quilt I posted last about did not make to any of the markets.  There was just too much work left to do and my neck starts aching if I do too much quilting.  It will be finished as my first project in 2012.

Oh, how I look forward to January every year.  It is my month to vegetate, be lazy, do whatever I want.  The house is still pretty tidy from Christmas, there's lots of food so what is left other than do indulge in your favorite hobbies.  Have I been stocking up on some great fabric sales just for new projects in the new year.  I am going to create my very own first modern quilt.  I have some beautiful Birch fabrics in teals, lime greens, greys, kona snow white.  There are several modern quilt alongs going on throughout blog land and I am going to take blocks from those as my inspirations.  I know this quilt is going to be a row quilt.

Some of the places I have been Online Shopping are Hawthorn Threads, NYC, USA; Honeyfork Fabrics, USA; and Denney's (closing out Cdn. Online Shop).  I love the service Hawthorns provides to Canada and they carry the best designer fabrics at the best prices with a giveaway every week and sales all the time.  Go check these out, I know you will find a few things you will want to treat yourself with.

No pictures today, sorry!  Hope everyone is getting into the festive mood and ready to celebrate with family and friends over the holiday season.  I have this ready for Santa!

Sewing, sewing like a mad woman.  I am so excited about this coming Saturday, it is the Home Trade and Craft Show.  It is only one day but with 30 booths, there will surely be some good sales.  Here is what I want desperately in the show...my sofa/bed topper.  I love how it turned out and now I need to focus on the quilting, so far so good.

This is all I am going to show you until it is finished.

Of course, the kids are ready and excited to go.  Here is one keeping check on me!

Cross you fingers for me.  I have been to Saturady shows the last two weeks and they were terrible.  The weather was bad and -20 windchills so no one was in the mood to shop.  I have lots to show you after the Saturday show.

Happy Thankgiving to all my American friend