A Finish of the Nerdy Sort

Yup, you read that right.
It's what you've been waiting for...
It's done.

It's big.

At 81" × 100" it takes a bit of help and a high vantage point to get some decent pictures...meet Ma PurpleBoots  & Ump PurpleBoots. They were kind enough to freeze their paws off this morning to hold this bad boy up over their veranda railing for me.

Look at that colour!

Kona Nerd (she prefers 'Kona Badass') Jen over at A Quarter Inch From The Edge has promised to help me get the colour stats on this quilt. Wouldn't it be fun to know just how many of the 300+ shades are represented in it?

Look at that back!!

I'm not sure why,  but I love the back as much as the front!

Look at that quilting!

It's called Dizzy Izzy Baby designed by Jessica Schick, downloaded from Urban Elementz. (A certain lil springy thing is pleased by the choice.)

If the Kona Nerds were ever to meet, I imagine it should happen in a colourful spot like this...without the snow.

I hereby call this meeting to order.
On the agenda: a celebration! We Kona Nerds did good!
Margaritas anyone?

Forty, You Say?

It's Throwback Thursday over at A Quarter Inch From The Edge and Jen has a giveaway for gift certificate for $40 from Fabric Please. I know I'm trying to use up my stash this year, but c'mon people...even I couldn't resist a shot at winning some free fabric in midst of The Stashpocalypse! I'd encourage you to go ahead link up with her but I'd really hate to dilute the linkup and lessen my own chances of winning.

With the number 40 ringing loud and clear in my mind it made me think of a couple of quilts that were all about 40:

40 seems like a big number, especially if you think of it in terms of ones age. Turning forty is a milestone and one that I feel should be marked. In preparation for the big 4-0 during my 39th year I bought a Jeep that I'd always dreamed of, got my first tattoo and finally scored my long coveted Harley Davidson Fatboy. (Midlife crisis, anyone?) My sisters didn't do things up quite to that extent, but to help them in their celebrations I made them quilts.

Sister PurpleBoots Levy got this one...

A scrappy Twister that had my second ever attempt at free pieced letters on it. The 10" squares were swapped with members of a bee I sew with...so of the fabrics were wild! several were vintage, others were just plain yucky. My bee mates referred to these flimsies as our "Ugly Quilts". I begged to differ, I actually really like them, but I couldn't convince them that they were really nice quilts!

Sister PurpleBoots King got this one...

A scrap-a-palooza masterpiece made of a whole grocery bag full of old-old-old tossed out scraps from one of those same bee members along with some of my own. The free pieced words on this one described how I felt about stitching all those bits together.

I have 2 more sisters to turn 40 in the next couple years, so there'll be 2 more "Celebrate 40" quilts to make. My eldest sister who was long past 40 got her quilt for Christmas one year... and my step sister who'd passed 40 long before I started this hasn't gotten hers yet...but I have uncovered the special fabric I bought for hers and she will turn 50...eventually.

If You Go Out In The Woods Today

When I was a small child my mother used to sing me a song that started like that...not that this post has anything at all to do with the Teddy Bears Picnic, but since I just spent some time traipsing around in the woods I thought it made for a catchy post title, don't ya think?

I finished up the scrappy binding on Star Bright this morning and needed to get some good pictures. I jumped into my boots and went into the back yard for only that purpose.



But it was such a nice day out there that the springy things demanded more. So, up the hill we went. I love spending time in the woods with the dogs. Seeing them so happy and running so freely makes me feel so good. I am lucky to live on the acreage that I've roamed since my childhood; there is something very grounding and peaceful  about being in familiar territory...knowing every path, retracing old footsteps, and remembering old times brings waves of gladness and, at times, sadness too. This place crosses many chapters of my life...the land, the trees, the paths are all a part of me somehow.

It seems to me that a childhood in the 70's and 80's meant growing up in a simpler time. We made our own fun, we played, imagined and lived out side. Climbing trees was a big past time for me; I swear I was part monkey. I saw this tree today in a clearing at the top of the hill where a few property lines collide. At one time you could see the whole Bay from this spot but the trees have grown and now tower across the view.

The tree beckoned. I haven't climbed a tree for quite some time. When Not-So-Little PurpleBoots was a small boy I proved to his naysaying frame that it could be done. He never really caught on. I guess Virgo boys aren't much into swinging in the tree tops these days, he was much too practical for such foolishness anyway.

This felt good today. The springy things were slightly confused by my monkeying around but they patiently sniffed around below waiting for me to come back down. Like riding a bike, or skating, one does not forget how to climb trees. It's just a bit harder to twist a 5'9" frame up and around the branches than it was a 5-foot-nothin' frame...but it can be done. And what's more? It should be done.

I'll cling to my childhood glee as long as I can.

Checking In...

Folks, February has arrived. That means I have survived a whole month of The Stashpocalypse; so far so good.

I bravely ventured into a fabric shop on 5 occasions in January:

 1. I popped in to Patch in Halifax to pick up fabric that was being supplied for the class sample. I was focused on the mission at hand and managed to get out with just a small bundle at no cost to me! 

2. A few days later I literally ran in to Patch and practically threw the finished Sampler at Chris...blinders on, parked illegally in a snowbank and late for boxing class. How easy it might have been to skip class and poke around instead...

3. The dreaded behemoth that is Fabricville; definitely not my go-to-cotton-patch...but hey, I've been known to leave behind a little credit card carnage there on occasion. I (brace yourself) took on a commission for a giant t-shirt quilt and needed stabilizer for the jersey shirts. 

4. Fabricville again. More stabilizer. Have I ever mentioned that I HATE t-shirt quilts? But money is money and this stash slayer is broke. 

5. The Robot requested a giant cone of white thread so I popped in to Sew With Vision for a visit. Always nice to catch up with Bonnie and see what they're working on in there...and she's got great prices on Signature quilting thread and offers a discount to guild members.

No poking around, no fabric petting, no Visa charges...just get in and get out. 

Took. Everything. I. Had.
But, mission(s) accomplished. 

Now, just 11 more months to go.

It helps that The Enabler left behind a stack of Tula Pinks Eden in purple. We're going to surprise each other by creating a flimsy for the other with the line. She's got the same stack for me in the pink colourway. She picked up the fabric when It's Sew Time had their open house Christmas sale, so I'll be quilting both of them.

What else is new?

Well, my first Bloggaversary slipped by quietly on the 28th of January. In the words of my favourite author, "It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes or bags!" I had totally meant to do something to mark the grand occasion, but turns out I'm often less like the Grinch and more like Pooh...even when I try to remember, I forget. Oh bother. It's hard to believe a whole year of rambling at you fine people has passed. Time flies! 

We had a little sew-in here all weekend...sewed our hearts out, ate our faces off...you know how it goes. Saturday The Robot and I quilted The Enablers kinda-quick-curve-ruler project she calls Curvy Girl. It's beautiful...but do ya think I snapped a photo of it? No.  On Sunday, Adrienne was working on a new class sample for Patch and I busted out some stash fabrics and made one along with her. It's done, just needs binding. Super cute and fun project...it's got some Dr. Seuss fabric in it...I guess that's what got me going on the rhymes.

Star Bright quilt designed by Katie Blakesley at Sew Bike Quilt

I even pieced the back in true scrap-a-palooza style. I had a big chunk of the grey Robert Kaufman sheeting that I had cut off the bottom of the Gravity quilt, so I sewed that up with some other leftovers...and voila! After everyone had left for the day, The Robot & I quilted it up using the "Bubblicious" pattern downloaded by The Enabler some time ago from Intelligent Quilting. See, I even have digital demons to fight in this Stashpocalypse...sigh.

Once my wee star quilt was done I blew the dust off a long forgotten project: Pointy, by Elizabeth Hartman. How could I have neglected this rainbow of Kona and linen for so long? The kit came and served as a bit of retail therapy around the time I hit the deer on the Fatboy...I had even cut it all up and had some of the piecing done! Clearly my fire blazed off in a different direction and I took a different path. Gravity, maybe? Anyway, yesterday I stitched up one arrow and was satisfied enough with it to put the pieces in the Jack Daniels tin. Once that happens, it'll probably get done...or at least carted off to a sew in and worked on.

And that, my friends, is all for now.