A little crafty

I have many quilt tops waiting to be quilted and many UFOs waiting to be completed, but I've felt a little crafty. Remember the animal print purse I made not too long ago? Well, I had left over fabric so decided to make a matching Maggie, little wallet, and little pails. I call my Maggie the "Maggie Deluxe." I made the larger-sized Maggie to hold my iPhone, then attached the smaller-sized Maggie to the back to hold the earphones. I attached a strap from the center back and I can attach it to my purse, luggage tag style.

Three finished quilts

I finished up three small baby quilts. Two I finished up several weeks ago; the third - the vintage quilt top with the drummer bear - was finished up last night. I can't recall where I found the drummer bear, perhaps an estate sale?, but it's super cute. The edges were finished so I think it was a summer coverlet but now it's a quilt. All I need to finish it up is add the binding. I made the other two quilts for "Quilts for Babes." Finally, I'm including a pic of a super cute purse I made a few weeks ago. Right now I'm working on making a Lazy Girls "Maggie" to match. I've also been helping my friend Imogene quilt a baby quilt. It is such a darling quilt with a nursery rhyme theme. She's working on the binding now so once it's complete I'll be sure to post a pic. That's it for now. Have a great week!

Catching Up and Something Cute!

Hi friends. It's been a few weeks since I've blogged; I've been busy, busy, busy. Here's what's been going on (skip this part and go to the bottom of the post if you want to get to the "Something Cute").

As some of you know, I have that full-time job that gets in my creative way. Plus, there's the 90 mile drive to and from. Also, as a state employee, I've been furloughed for the last year or so, which for me was great. I had three day weekends for the first three weeks of each month. Unfortunately, furloughs are over so back to full time work. It wouldn't be so bad if I was back to full pay, but no - this is California, so I'm now working for federal minimum wage, at least until California's budget situation is resolved.

I also had the great fun of moving recently. A daily commute of 90 miles each way is just too much for me, so I have a sweet loft studio near my workplace. I drive in on Monday, stay and work for the week, and head home on Thursday evenings. My studio is, of course, a quilting studio complete with an 8' x 8' design wall. So far, so good, right? Well, I had the unfortunate luck of having a neighbor who was very loud and inconsiderate of her neighbors. And, she brought boyfriends back to her apartment for partying at 3 and 4 am. It was not a good experience, so a week or so ago I moved apartments. My new studio is WAY, WAY better. Nice neighbors, plus I have a patio! But really, the moving part was a drag. Luckily, my 19 year old son came to help me out and it was nice having him here.

So, about my 19 year old son, his name is Spencer and he is a Navy recruit. He leaves for Boot Camp in less than a month so I've been trying to be home as much as possible to spend these last few months with him, which is difficult because (1) that job of mine, 90 miles out of town, continually gets in the way, and (2) he's hardly home and apparently prefers to spend his time hanging with his friends than with me. Oh well, what's a mom to do? How about taking him on a fabulous trip before he leaves?

Vacation it is! I've been trying to come up with a fabulous vacation idea for the two of us. First I thought Disneyland, but then I realized that standing in long lines was just not something that either of us wanted to do. I thought about Tahoe, the Bay Area, even Hawaii. Then, completely unexpected, a friend of ours send an email asking if we want to meet and stay with him at his timeshare in CABO SAN LUCAS. My exact response: Can you say "margarita"!? So yes, we're off to Cabo in the very near future.

With all this activity, I've had little time for quilting, but luckily I have my friend Pam who keeps me up-to-date with important quilt-related information. Right now she's at Sister's in Oregon and I'm sure she's having a great time. She sent me a quick text pic this afternoon; a pic of fabric - lots of fabric! SOMETHING CUTE: Yesterday she sent me a link to the cutest blog called Bee in My Bonnet. Check out the blog and be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win one of these cute, cute pincushions and please let her know that One Stitch Off sent you her way. If you don't win, don't fret - she has a tutorial that guides you through the steps to make one for yourself!

That's it for now. I'll be in touch soon.