99 and counting

This is my 99th posting!  I can't believe it.  Stay tuned and I will try to do a giveaway on my 100th posting.  I have never done one of those.  It will be fun.  Now to think about what I want to give. . . .
In my spare time, I have been playing and making fabric.  I am still working with the same set of scraps that I have been playing with for the last couple of projects.  I know it seems like there is a lot in this grouping of fabrics, but there really isn't.  I think I have a couple of pieces that are about 5 X 14 and they only started out maybe 8 inches larger all around? Maybe not.  Wait a minute.  This is getting toooo technical.  How about this.  I have the first cuts from this selection of fabrics and that is what I have been playing with.  From the first play, here, to the hexagons, here, and now these two.  I started sewing fabric together with the plan of making a quilt 9 X 12 for the AAQI, Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (  http://www.alzquilts.org/  ) as part of Victoria's challenge from 15 minutes play blog.  So, I sewed and sewed and cut and sewed, you know how it is and then I saw this solid purple laying there so I picked it up, cut it into 1 1/4 inch strips, cut my play fabric into 1 1/2 inch strips and made some log cabin style blocks.  Not bad, but it needed something.  Cut some 2 1/2" squares from the play fabric, add the purple then the play fabric on two adjoining sides and now, I have a block that is the same size and it makes it interesting.  I put together the 6 blocks I had and . . it's too long.  I don't want to cut it off then I would lose the pattern so I knew I wouldn't be able to send this for the AAQI.  hmmmm I will sleep on it.  Next night I made 6 more blocks which meant making some more fabric since I had used up almost all that I had made the previous night.  Sewed it all together into a 3 X 4 block wall hanging and I think I am liking this as it is.  However, you will notice it is still up on the wall so that may mean there is more to come on this one.  My mind may not be finished with it. 

So, with the leftover 1 1/2" strips I put together this little friendship bag.  I had to cut some extra strips from the other fabric, not all the strips are from made fabric, only about 8 of the 16 are made fabric strips.  Anyway, I saw on someone else's blog somewhere and it stuck in the back of my mind - quilted flowers.  How wonderful!!!!  I wanted to do some so here was the perfect place to practice.  I stitched 4 on each side along with a leaf or two on each of the stems and some grass at the bottom of the stems.  I don't have a picture of the bottom of the bag - I don't even have a picture of the finished bag, but it is finished.  I really wanted to show the quilting details so here they are: 

I think if I keep practicing my machine quilting will one day be decent.  I still spaz some on this freemotion quilting. 

I got a phone call from our fashion design teacher and one of her students was working on a quilt - just a simple 4 patch with sashing - anyway, the teacher knows that I am a quilter (she is not) and asked if her student could come down and I could help her out.  She had all the blocks made, some a little wonky which I loved, but unfortunately they were not intentionally wonky.  I instructed her on how to cut her sashing and what she needed to do to adjust for those wonky squares.  I can't wait to see what she gets accomplished this week.  I hope she has enjoyed the process so far and is a lifelong quilter in the making. 

While I was showing her what to do, part of my class - who had an assignment and should have been working - were watching and listening (who knows - more quilters in the making?  maybe?) So, one of the boys asked if I made quilts - I chuckled - told him yes and asked if he wanted to see them on my blog.  "what? you have a blog?" To them I am an old woman even though I am not yet 50 and it is amazing that I can even use the computer, i-pod or cell phone.   He made a comment about spending all my time on the computer blogging and I corrected him.  Told him that I hadn't been on in awhile, but that I needed to blog tonight.  He asked that I blog about him.  So, other than what I have already said about him, here is his own paragraph. 

Jeremy