Pay It Forward! (And a tablet computer finds a home...)

Hello, everyone!

Valiantly as I may try, it appears during-the-school-year is a hard time for me to sew and blog about it! So, I apologize for the radio silence, from here, and I'd like to note that it's likely to continue being quiet here until May, after finals are over!

But I *have* managed to get a little sewing done, to wit (click the pictures for bigger):



A tablet case! Yes, I finally, finally decided to buy a tablet computer -- long have I been tempted, but I resisted because I don't really need it. But! I'm going to be doing a big project over the summer and will get an extra stipend for it, plus I got tenure (finally!), so, Sid the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime has come home!



It's like an iPad, but running Android OS, which I'm finding I like quite a lot. Like my and my mom's Kindle cases, Sid's case is lined with flannel from one of my daughter's old receiving blankets. And the backside:



I used this tutorial at Sew Mama Sew, and you can see I didn't include the pocket. I like that tute a lot!

PLUS!

I received a lovely infinity cowl from Hollie at The Undercover Crafter, as part of a Pay It Forward:





Wonderful, isn't it? Thank you, so much, Hollie!

What's the idea behind a crafty Pay It Forward? It's simple! I have one year from when Hollie sent me my gift, and I will be making handmade gifts for three people who comment here. You won't know when you'll get it, but one day, you'll open your mailbox and you'll have something fun! Each recipient, in turn, would commit to then sending along handmade gifts to three more people, and lo, the cheer will spread everywhere!

So, I'll be using the random number generator to pick three lucky people -- please, only one comment per person! Anybody want to play?

It's Back: FNSI

The Friday Night Sew-In is TONIGHT, yay!


I'm a little on the late side, but I'm in! I'm going to try and get some real headway on my sampler quilts: Either sewing the sashing for the Quilt of Valor, or getting all the corners on the sashing for the Dream On quilt. Decisions, decisions...

There's still time to sign up and come sew tonight!

Kindle madness!

Ahoy!

So I gifted my mom with a new Kindle for her birthday, back in December, and after playing with it while we were visiting over the holidays, we decided we needed one, too. I really like reading on it -- it's very easy on the eyes! (Although the instant gratification of purchasing books over the wifi can be dangerous, indeed!)

And of course I want to carry it with me, so I needed to make a case. And then I needed to make one for Mom, too! (Click each picture to make it bigger, with much more detail...)


I used this tutorial at the Sometimes Crafter, and I had to adapt the size for the new Kindles. To get the shape for the flap, I printed the template and used the highly scientific method of folding and scrunching the paper (and growling at it) until it was big enough, since I didn't have access to a photocopier to shrink the template. *g*

For our Kindle case (the first two pictures), I used some leftover Origins jelly roll strips and the lining is one of my daughter's flannel receiving blankets -- I really like the way the flannel is so soft on the Kindle.

I decided that the first case was a little big, so I made Mom's rainbow case smaller, although the next one should be a hair bigger. The rainbow is from a Kona brights charm pack, and the gray is Bella stone. And I had a much longer rainbow than I needed, so I used the leftover to make a mug rug to match!

Linking with:

WIP Wednesday and the Finish-a-Long

Good morning!

I've been on impromptu hiatus for so long I surprised even myself, but I'm glad to have a WIP Wednesday to help get back into the swing of things! And even better, this can also serve as my linky post for the first quarter of Rhonda's Finish-a-Long Party, which is a great idea! I encourage y'all to link up, if you've got a WIP or two in your closet that's making you anxious...

So, what do I want to finish in the next couple months? How about this:


This is going to be a Quilt of Valor--I've got all 12 blocks sewn, and now it's on to the sashing and borders!

And I'd also like to get this one to its person:


I just finished the last block for this, too--this is my Layer Cake QAL quilt (with two substitutions), and the sashing is a bit more fancy for this one, so that's the next step.

The next major finish-it goal, and this one's going to cheer up our living room:


The Kaleidoscope quilt! I know the picture is from August, but that is honestly the last time it got looked at--it's ready to baste and quilt, and I'm nervous about free-motioning it myself but I'm also rather looking forward to it as I know I can only get better from where I am!

And the last thing to finish:


The all-by-hand spring wallhanging! So far the quilting is going swimmingly, especially now that I have my glider chair in a location with excellent light and I can quilt very comfortably. It would be fabulous to have the spring wallhanging up during springtime!

And don't forget to link up with Lee's WIP Wednesday and check out the other fabulous in-progress projects...

The WsIP stats:
New projects: 0
Completed projects: 0
In progress: 9

Happy New Year and a belated giveaway announcement

Hello, lovelies!

It's been many moons since I even logged on--suffice to say my semester got away from me and my sewing room got a bit dusty--but now that the semester's over I can breathe again and I'm back! I have a very belated congratulations to my giveaway winners, A.J. Dub for the hexagons and Lesly for the Luna FQs! Hooray, and thanks for stopping by my giveaway post!

I *do* have some progress to report: This past week, I've been clipping along on my hand-quilting and have gotten closer to finishing the two sampler quilts I've got going. To wit:


Block 11 for the Quilt of Valor. I'll be so excited to get this done!




And blocks 10 and 11 for the Layer Cake Quilt-Along quilt! Block 10 is the second block I decided to substitute, and the pattern is Love in a Mist from Modify Tradition. I love, love, love how this block turned out, but I wouldn't want to make a whole quilt of them, because hot diggety, that was a lot of HSTs for one block. ARGH.

The sashing fabric for the Dream On quilt is a solid orange--which to me feels rather bold!--so I'm looking forward to seeing how it looks put together.

As for the new year: I would like to finish the major quilts I've got in my queue: The two sampler quilts, my kaleidoscope quilt (which I need to baste and then I'm going to free-motion it myself: intimidating), and the queen-sized quilt for our bed. I have a couple of kits that I'm keen to get to, finally, and I'd like to get the seasonal wallhangings actually on the wall this year!

So we'll see how that goes...

Surprise! There's actually progress!

Hello, lovelies!

It doesn't feel like I've been doing a lot of sewing since last Wednesday, but when I take stock of it, I've been clipping along! I have almost all the hexies sewn together for my Kona solids challenge mini-quilt, and I've started putting rows together for my kaleidoscope quilt. I'm a little intimidated to quilt it, but I won't ever get it done if I don't tackle it, right?

I've also been sneaking a half-hour here and there to work on my hand-quilting on the spring wallhanging. I finally got the right size needles and I feel like I'm getting the hang of it, and it's going faster than I'd thought--I'm already at the point where I need to move my hoop!


I spray-basted this, and so far the quilting is going smoothly. I keep having to stop and pet the quilted parts, though!

Just a reminder: I'm offering two fabulous prizes in my first-blogiversary giveaway, and entries are easy! Stop in on the giveaway post to enter--the giveaway closes on Saturday, so you've still got plenty of time!



The WsIP stats:
New projects: 0
Completed projects: 0
In progress: 9

Happy Blogiversary to Me!

One year ago today, I decided to start my own little quilting blog: so I could comment, and join the community, and keep track of my own slow-poke projects.

It's been quite a year--I initially got back into quilting (after a six-year absence) to deal with an incredibly stressful tenure situation (which isn't resolved, but that's neither here nor there). I have found a lot of inspiration, community, and satisfaction in the online quilt-o-sphere, and what better way to celebrate that than with a giveaway of my own?

I'm going to be giving away TWO--that's right, TWO--fabulous prizes!

Number one:

I have some leftover bits from my Kona challenge classic charm pack--I have a stack of 2 1/2-inch squares that I don't have plans for, so: For this prize, I will baste those squares into 1-inch hexagons before I send them along, and you'll get a rainbow stack of hexagons ready for a project! Just like this one:


Number two:

My LQS always has some treasures that are out-of-print, and this one is no exception. For this prize, I'm offering one yard of fabric--four fat quarters of Luna II by Maywood Studios. These luscious chocolates will make a delicious little treat, or a lovely addition to your stash!




You'll get one chance to enter for each prize--I'll keep separate lists and use a random-number generator to pick the winners. To enter, comment and tell me what you'd like to do with each prize: for example, if you tell me you'd like to make a mug rug out of the hexagon prize, that counts as an entry on the hexagon list!

If you'd like to enter for both prizes, you can include your plans in a single comment. (I'm using 'plans' quite loosely, here--if your immediate plans include nothing more than petting the pretty fabric, that counts!)

I'd appreciate if y'all would spread the news of my little giveaway--or not, if you want a better chance of winning! *g*

The giveaway will close on Saturday, August 27th, at midnight CST. Please make sure you aren't a no-reply blogger, or if you are, please leave an email address where I can contact you to arrange for your prize.

A big thank-you to everyone who has made this year a good quilty one for me, and I'm looking forward to next year!