Needles and Pens

That's how far behind I am on my quilt journal. But it was worse a few days ago, when I hadn't yet made it to the end of '08. I finished a few pages this weekend, so there is progress! September 2008, a healing quilt made by our quilting group for a member with cancer: A handkerchief mini-quilt wall hanging: These pages were already done for September and October '08, when my grandson was expected/born. I don't know how I got them out of order, but we'll call it "new-grandma brain": More new pages, Christmas '08 gifts: And Aaron's First Christmas quilt: I grouped all of my Quilts with Love quilts onto one page for 2009: May 2009, my brother-in-law's Quilts with Love quilt: October 2009, my friend Kelly's bridal shower and wedding: Now just a few more pages to go, and I'll be into 2010! LoL

Woke up this frigid morning to find that I've been tagged by my friend, Jean, over at Jean's Page ! The rules are go to your 4th folder of pictures and pick the 4th picture, then write about it. Well, I pretty regularly burn my photos onto discs and remove them from my computer, so the fourth picture in my fourth folder was one from Aaron's baptism just a couple weeks ago. Since I've already shared about that here , I decided to go into my quilting pictures and see what I found. Oddly enough, I think I already shared this photo, too, but I don't want to bend the rules too far, so here goes: For years, I avoided scrapbooking like the plague. I carefully bypassed the scrapbooking aisles in the stores where I shopped, casting furtive glances as I hurried by. Miles and miles of stickers, embellishments, and luxurious papers called out to be ogled, but I just knew that if I started one more such hobby, I'd be doomed. I spent enough time and money already, answering ...

Believe it or not, I think I've had enough quilt journaling for awhile. All the little bits of paper are cleaned up for the time being, and here's the page I finished last night for my daughter's graduation quilt (Think I went a little overboard with the flower stickers?): I dutifully put in some time today mowing the lawn and sorting through about half of the clothes in my 10-year-old's room, so I think I deserve a little time in my sewing room. I'd like to start setting together the quilt blocks for my grandbaby-to-be, but first I need to finish up another project I've left hanging. It's to be a Quilts with Love quilt for the troops, made from some of those bazillion 4" squares I cut out of fabric samples. Here's a photo I took awhile back, of the top in progress: As of today, the rows are sewn together and I just need to add a border and get ready for quilting. Border strips are cut, a path is cleared to the sewing machine, nothing can stop me no...

The thing about scrapbooking is, once you get started it's so hard to stop! For one, it's messy, and I hate to clean up until I'm finished scrapping for awhile. Secondly, it's just addicting, plain and simple. Again, it's the reason I limit scrapbooking to my quilt journal alone. Once I get it caught up, I have to make more quilts -- so I can make more pages. LoL Here, three more pages completed yesterday. A tribute to my adorable new great-niece, Sophia (and her quilt, of course!): The "Paws-itively Wild" Bear Paw quilt for my son, Timothy (my favorite part is his thank you note, "Thank you for the awesome quilt, Mom. It is paws-itively amazing." ): Remembering a favorite teacher -- and our gift to her this year: I have one more page to go, then I think it's time to clean up the mess and get back to work on my latest quilt. No wonder I have a hard time getting around to the housework! LoL

Last night I started working on a brand new quilt journal/scrapbook, since my last one holds three years worth of quilts and is, well, stuffed to the gills. I've been collecting all kinds of little stickers and other goodies to start journaling my latest quilts, but somehow it's been difficult getting started on that first blank page. And yet, despite my apprehension and rudimentary scrapping skills, I have finished page one, "A Box of Chocolates." "Chocolates" was my first finished quilt of 2008, donated to Quilts with Love for the troops serving in Iraq. I've made several quilts and tops for Quilts with Love, journaling each one, and so I've run out of new ideas to include on these pages. The new addition this time, a miniature copy of the Certificate of Appreciation that was awarded to the group last year. I love to fill my pages with pictures and pretties, so I often forget to include the details of the quilt, the size, the fabrics, how the idea ...