Have you ever ? (quilting meme)

Shelina did this one over on her blog, here's my list:

Have You Ever?
1. Taken a quilting class
2. Paper pieced
3. Hand quilted
4. Hand pieced
5. Created your own pattern
6. Published a pattern in a magazine or book
7. Gone on a quilting retreat
8. Gone to a quilting convention
9. Met someone who wrote a quilting book
10 combined your quilting with some other craft
11. Done any three dimensional quilting - like fabric origami
12. Made something using Thimbleberries fabric
13. Made something using batiks
14. Dyed your own fabric
15. Made a landscape hanging
16 Made a New York Beauty quilt
17 Made a baby quilt
18 Made a wall hanging
19 Made a journal quilt
20 Submitted your journal quilt for viewing
21 Made a fabric postcard
22 Made a artistic trading card (ATC)
23 Exchanged artistic trading cards
24. Mailed your own postcard
25. Made a lap quilt
26 Made a twin size quilt
27 Made a full size quilt
28 Made a queen size quilt
29 Made a king size quilt
30 Donated a quilt to charity
31 Sent a quilt out to a quilter
32 Thrown away a UFO
33 Given away a UFO
34 Cut up a UFO and made something else with it
35 Ripped fabric instead of cutting it
36 Made a quilt exactly like the pattern, with no changes whatsoever
37 Done any Sashiko
38 Quilted your own quilt
39 Did free motion quilting
40 Put any embroidery or beads on your quilt
41 Given away your quilt to a stranger
42 Swapped fabric
43 swapped blocks
44 participated in a round robin
45 participated in an ostritch round robin
46 kept a journal about your quilting
47 written a letter to someone who made an antique quilt
49 kept a blog about your quilting
50 participated in a gift exchange
51 sent a quilting random act of kindness
52 joined a newsgroup about quilting
53 made a quilt using a pattern from quilterscache
54 joined an online block of the month
55 made a block of the month quilt
56 subscribed to a fabric of the month club
57 bought fabric at an online store
58 bought fabric from ebay
59 own more than one sewing machine
60 have a room dedicated solely to sewing
61 hide a fabric purchase
62 finished making a holiday gift before July
63 spent more than $200 in one quilt shopping trip
64 made a quilt using a book from the library
65 worked with someone else to make a quilt
66. joined a quilt guild
67 become president of a quilt guild
68 taught a quilting class
69 helped someone else get the quilting bug
70 taught a child to sew
71 made a Dear Jane block
72 Made a miniature quilt
73 watch QNN - quilters news network
73 subscribe to a quilting magazine from your own country
74 subscribe to a quilting magazine from another country
75 buy fabric from another country
76 swapped completed quilts with someone else
77 asked for quilting help online
78 gone to a quilt shop to ask for quilting help
79 bought fabric at a local quilt shop
80 traveled more than 100 miles to go to a quilt shop
81 used nontraditional fabric for a quilt - something other than cotton or flannel

82 made a quilt using instructions given to you on a blog
83 make comments on someone's quilting blog
84 meet a quilter in person after only having talked online
85 had a quilting retreat in your home
86 own quilting software
87 made a quilt you designed on your quilting software
88 done any quilt research - history, interviewing quilters, etc.
89 had any quilt related subject published anywhere
90 donated a quilt to a museum
91 bought a quilt from a thrift store
92 made a quilt using fabric from a thrift store
93 made a quilt using photos
94 made a pastel quilt
95 made a quilt using brights
96 made a quilt using ethnic fabric from another country - African, Asian, etc.
97 made a quilt using leftover blocks from other quilts
98 had your quilt in a magazine, newspaper, newsletter, TV, etc.
99. submitted your quilt to a quilt show
100. won any ribbons with your quilts
101 had more finished quilts than UFOs
102 made a quilt using reproduction fabrics
103 took a break from quilting that was longer than a year
104 made money with your quilting
105 had a job in the fabric / quilting industry

Some progress

Haven't been able to do any sewing for a week, it seems that has happened to a lot of us. Last Friday there was an emergency of sorts at my son's home. He and his family had to move in with us for a few days while repairs were made. Fortunately it turned out to be nothing too serious, more of an incovenience. They had hardly left when we had company that we were expecting. My brother-in-law and his wife came to visit. We always enjoy their company, but this time we really had a particularly good time. Today was the first chance to get back to some of my projects. So... today I have prepped an applique block so that I can do the handwork in the evenings while watching TV. This is for a Jo Morton class that I am taking at one of the LQS here. I also made the 'Buck a Block' for this month (same LQS). Then I went back to the Leaf Season, on which I am quite behind. I did get 4 rows put together, and that included remaking some of the leaf blocks that hadn't turned out as well as they should have. Not from scratch, just sort of adjusting so the points are points, not blunts and such. I'm not sure exactly why some turned out perfectly and others didn't- although I have a few suspicions. In any case, 4 rows are assembled. If things go as planned (yeah, I said that last weekend and wound up with houseful), I will assemble the remaining rows tomorrow and then start joining the rows. The photo is of the two 'Buck a Blocks'-the darker bottom one is for this month, the top block is from last month. The background fabric is the same print.

And now for something completely different...

Of late several of you have posted pictures and stories of your cats and dogs. Laurie Ann has Roogrrr and responded to a comment I made about him by asking me to post my Nic. Nic has a lot in common with Finn's Ebby- he is mostly black, and therefore doesn't take a great picture and he runs whenever we take out the camera, so I have tried to find the best ones that we have. Nic is now about 7 years old. Two years ago (June/July '04) we had Chloe who was a nine year old Rottweiller mix. Chloe was a love, slept with our youngest son as he grew up and kept his bed warm once he joined the Marine Corps. One night Chloe acted oddly at bedtime, when we awoke the next morning, she couldn't walk. She died shortly after we woke up as I held her, waiting for my married son to come over and help me get her downstairs to take to the vet. The first call my son made home after he arrived in Iraq and we had to tell him 'his' dog had died. I swore that if we ever got another dog (which DH said we definitely would not!!) that it would be small enough for me to carry and handle if it became ill. Meanwhile, I have a friend who runs a rescue organization who had been told of a purebred dog that needed a home. I did not tell my friend of Chloe's death, because I knew she would try to fill the void for us, and hubby wasn't ready. However, I usually ask how this dog or that one was doing, had it been placed yet. I couldn't understand why this one hadn't found a home- he sounded so good. She emailed me a picture of him, hubby glanced over my shoulder as I looked at it, took one look and declared that we needed to meet this dog, and if he was as nice as he looked, we should adopt him. You can tell how that worked out, he isn't even skittish of hubby's wheelchair! Also like Ebby, we didn't have to go through all that baby stuff, he was already trained and ready to go. Oh - no, I can't lift him, that's his only 'downside'.

Back to kindergarten or...

I can't count! All my Leaf Season blocks were made, and I was laying them out on the design wall to place the colors pleasingly. AAARGHHHH! I'm one leaf block short! Darn! Not a big problem because I have lots of hst and such left over, just annoying because I counted finishing the blocks as a milestone and was ready to join blocks into strips as my next milestone. Don't know if I will get to it today as I have some errands to run, including a stop at one of my LQSs to pick up a monthly installment. Pfui !

Leaf Season update

I'm making progress with my Leaf Season quilt. I'm not as far along as most of you, but as has often been said, its not a race. (Good thing! LOL) I've finished my leaves-you remember those, they gave me such angst when I tried to be scrappy. The outcome is that I did solids, then I 'forced' myself to do some scrappy ones. I added a few more fabrics to the group so that the differences weren't so harsh, now the scrappy works a little better to my eyes. I don't think that I am entirely happy with them, but they are going into the quilt as is. Today I have been working on the alternate blocks. I am hoping to get them done before Sunday, if nothing else happens. I thought for sure that I would get to sew all day on Wednesday, since I had the day off. That was until I received a phone call from my oldest with the opener " uh.....we were wondering if you have to work tomorrow...." that's the standard preamble to the request to babysit whichever grandchild is too sick to go to daycare. What's a grandmother to do???? Like I would turn down a day of cuddling and snuggling with one of them. I momentarily regretted losing the sewing time, but have to admit to completely enjoying my day with my grandson glued to my side. By the way, we had to run up to the sewing room (a place he is not allowed-he's only 3) for a second, and he looked around and announced he really liked this room! lol, maybe someday he will want to try one of the sewing machines.

Leaf Season progress report

I have been working and working on this one, some days more, some less than an hour. Today I made the stem blocks and assembled two leaves, I also pulled together pieces for the remaining leaves, but boy, am I having problems with this. Not with the sewing....no, my problem is with choosing the pieces to go in each leaf. I will be able to make a number of leaves that have the same fabric for each of its pieces. I also have enought pieces to 'mix and match' colors within the leaf. That is where I have a problem. Everytime I try to use several greens or yellow/golds, or reds within the same leaf, I'm in trouble. If I place randomly, it bothers me that it looks lopsided, or too heavy or unsymetrical. If I try to balance, it looks too stilted. Who knew that I am so....uptight about these sort of thing? Another thing that I have noticed-the fabrics that I have chosen tend to be tone on tone, or small and subtle prints that read solid from a few feet away. It will be interesting to see how this all works out, what I can work with and what will drive me up a wall' every day a learning experience!