Starting up

As is the custom this time of year, I’ve made my obligatory list of resolutions for ‘10. Heavily populating the list are quilting activities, like finishing projects, using stash fabrics (guess that means new projects), reopening my Etsy shop (JabaroDesigns.etsy.com), and last but certainly not least, maintaining this blog with (mainly) quilting posts and any thing else I want to share. I realize I’m a little slow (Friday versus Monday) in posting for ’10 but I am here now.

The first week of January has been void of sewing since my machine is in for cleaning and I’m not sure when it’ll come home. I have other machines but like using the same machine through a project. I spent my fabric time cutting mystery blocks, BoMs, Moda U blocks, and eagerly awaiting my background fabric order for Sylvia’s Bridal Sampler (even though it’s not available until February/March). These projects should result in 5 quilts.

Brights Gone Bold

This flannel quilt gave me my first challenge in color, and I think the quilt, rather than I won. I am not entirely satisfied with the domineering orange but after sewing blocks with various orange, pink, and green fabrics, this was the most pleasing. I may show you those other blocks someday.

The quilt was very easy to make. The majority of the quilting is a generic in the ditch. For non-quilters, quilting in the ditch is sewing in the seam (from the front) where the two different fabrics join. Along with the ditch quilting, I also did some meandering in the yellow flowered background fabric. It was a fun quilt to make. The green flannel binding ties it all together.

As it’s made entirely with flannel (except batting), it would be a perfect girl’s snuggle quilt. The pink and orange blocks are approximately 12 inches square, and with sashing and border, the quilt measures 46 inches square.

If you would like to see additional photos or purchase this quilt, please go to http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17151926

My Blog Book

I'm slowly reading and learning from my latest book Blogging for Dummies. I want a blog that you want to read. I want a blog that I want to write. Somewhere the two shall meet. I've thought about a strictly quilting blog, because that is what Jabaro Designs is, it's a quilting enterprise. I've also thought about an organizing blog, because a lot of people have told me I should share my organizing ideas. I've also thought about having a blog that discusses something specific each day, books on Monday, food on Tuesday, quilts on Wednesday and so on. See my dilemma? Perhaps Blogging for Dummies will help me decide, maybe not. Maybe my blog won't cover any of these but I think I need to decide so I can focus on my purpose. Okay, just reread this and . . . since Jabaro Designs is a quilting enterprise, I will write about quilting books on Monday, food to crockpot so I can continue quilting on Tuesday, quilting organization another day and so on. I think this will work. Now, to add a little color to this post.

I Won !! I Won !!

Hey! Remember that Penguin quilt I wrote about a couple days ago? I won first prize in a small, local quilt show – in the kids’ category of course – and I am so excited. I even get something for winning, three hours of long-arm quilting time at Quilt Yourself http://www.quiltyourself.com/ . How great is that!!!

I haven’t had time to do any sewing this week; plan to do some late Friday afternoon. I’ve been getting tax papers together and trying to figure out the medical from 2007; comparing insurance statements to vendor statements is next to impossible. I doubt if we will qualify for any type of deduction but I’d still like to know where we stand.

Friday I’m meeting a friend for lunch. I always look forward to being with her. We usually do something quilt related, and at least one adventure related to food, be it specialty store grocery shopping or eating, sometimes both.

I’m getting a new visual identify for my Etsy shop http://tinyurl.com/29wm6x . I’m excited about it and hope everyone who visits will think “Wow, how nice this shop looks.” You know that I’ll let you know when it’s done.

Jabaro Happenings

I am having so much fun quilting since I learned to use the long-arm machines at Quilt Yourself, http://www.quiltyourself.com a wonderful shop discovered by my husband. I’ve quilted four quilts and they all look so nice. Unfortunately, I can only show you one as two quilts were Quilts of Valor (QoV) quilts and I didn’t take photos. The penguin quilt, and others, are for sale on my Etsy site, http://tinyurl.com/29wm6x

As you can probably tell, I’m learning how to use http://tinyurl.com/ which is a site that lets you put in a many-charactered URL and it is automatically reduced to a much shortened URL. Check it out and bookmark it for later use; it’s very easy to use.

This month, I’ve also made three Easter egg table runners, also for sale in my Etsy shop. These are very time consuming but they look so nice when done. I had leftover fabric from the first two and decided to make one with various pieces of the fabrics used in the strip runners. Unfortunately, that one was even more time consuming than the other two but I really, really like the third one. I also added lots of sparkle with the hot-fixed Swarovski crystals to two of the runners.

I’m still working on the Christmas gifts for my family. For the first time, we Minnesotans and Wisconsinites are not asking our sister-who-hates-the-cold to travel to the northern cold tundra – which she really won’t do when it’s cold anyway. She has invited us all to her home in Atlanta so off we’re all going. There is an added benefit for me (and Ron too). On the way to Atlanta is the biggest (I believe) quilt store in the United States. And there is a golf course in the same area, so while Ron golfs, bet you know what I’ll be doing.

Ron pointed out that next year our trip will probably be Nebraska bound as the U of Nebraska-Lincoln is opening up a new $12million facility to house more than 2,300 quilts – yup, 2,300 quilts. I’m guessing there’s a golf course near there also and I bet I can even find a quilt shop or two.

That’s all for today, enjoy my photos of the penguin quilt and eggs. Don’t know what Wednesday’s post will bring.

Weekend Happenings

The super bowl is over and it’s now time to do something somewhat productive. I have no photos of the weekend’s work to post but found something of color to add. It’s supposed to snow tonight (Sunday) through Monday and I thought looking at one of last summer’s flower arrangements would be cheering.

Ron wanted pizza tonight so we went to a new pizza place (Woodland Take-N-Bake) I found, tucked between a quilt shop (Before U Quilt) and a long arm quilt store (Quilt Yourself) in Savage, Minn. It doesn’t get much better than this. I took a three hour lesson on one of the store’s three long arm machines and am now a (very short on experience) long arm quilter, but Ron still won’t buy me a $40,000 machine. He actually found the quilt shop and the long arm quilt store in a mailing flier so it’s because of him that I’m renting time on one of the store’s machines (the store’s purpose). I love it. I did one small quilt on the long arm so far, a penguin quilt that I’ll be listing on Etsy soon, and have scheduled time for another small quilt that’s in progress, and time to quilt a “Quilts of Valor” quilt.

Oh, that’s right, the pizza place is right next door to the quilt shop so I bought fabric for the Easter items I want to make (started today). Since I missed listing Valentine’s Day items on Etsy, I started making some Easter items that I want to complete and list within a couple weeks. And since we were there for the pizza, and the fabric, and the long arm shop was open, I introduced him to Sue (co-owner with Jeanette) and the long arm store – he was very impressed. When I get the Easter items fully created, I need to finish the Christmas gifts for the family (we’re getting together the end of March this year so I have some time before they need to be done).

Here’s another colorful photo to leave you with. Quilt project photos should be coming soon.

I'm Returning

Anyone out there? If so, this is another attempt to promote my quilts and anything else I want to promote. If only there was a political candidate worth promoting, I would do that but there isn’t so I won’t. If I have nothing to promote, I’ll share some mundane experience with you.

Had a dental appointment Wednesday, a surgical dental appointment. Had a major tooth on the right side of my mouth removed; which had another tooth cantilevered off the back of it so I lost the chewing surface of two teeth. When you like food as much as I do, that can be a problem. Of course my regular dentist is suggesting two implants but the surgeon suggested and my finances are pointing to only one.

The surgeon’s office called in prescriptions (while I was still out) and Ron picked them up on our way home. One is mouth rinse. Mint – will never use it. Two are for pain – I have no pain that requires medication. The fourth is an antibiotic which I don’t want to take for fear of contracting the side affects so am not taking that either (hope there’s no regret on this one). So far, things are fine and all these pills will just be returned to the pharm to be discarded. Or, maybe save the pain pills for the implant days when I’ll probably get another prescription for pain pills which I can then ignore since I’ll have a supply on hand. That’s three to four months away. Then after the implant posts go in, it’s another three to four months before the crown goes on the post. It’s a long process.

No photos today. I was going to take a photo of my pulled tooth but I forgot to ask before they put me out, and when I was awake enough to ask for it, found out it was discarded. We probably wouldn’t like what we saw anyway.

Off to sew; hopefully photos on Monday of quilting progress.