Pictures, we've got pictures.

On Friday we got home a bit early - not as great as it sounds, it was supposed to be a day OFF, not just a short afternoon. But I still had a bit of time to FINISH MY QUILT!!! Yes, that's right, loyal followers. IT'S DONE!!! Size-wise it's between a twin and full size. I used a full-sized batting, but trimmed off quite a bit, but I used a twin sheet (navy) for backing and had to piece it. My batting is a 80/20 cotton/poly, not too fluffy, but a nice firm weight. I'm not a big fan of all poly, I like a little more weight. MIL, on the other hand loves all poly. Her quilts are fluffier than mine (and much prettier), it's just a preference. It's a pretty darn busy looking quilt, I know. Live and learn, next time I will pick at least one fabric with a more solid less print to it. It's quilted with just stitch in the ditch on the big squares. I used all cotton, yellow, quilting thread. C&C from Hancock's. The yellow doesn't really show up much, even on the back (which I forgot to photograph) it just looks white or light, no real color. Busyness and wonky quilting aside (I had to really work on getting this through the feed dogs) I'm quite proud of my corners: I'm happy enough with it for a second attempt. And it's out of my sewing room and on the living room sofa. I've been saving scraps for while, my next one may be a scrappy-strip. And I have a real desire for the "One Block Wonder", but that may be a bit down the road and may require a class.

I also owed photo's of the Fabric Postcard Exchange. I think they're all received now - one member still is working, but has received the ones sent. If you're reading, still waiting, and don't want the surprise ruined, STOP. For the rest of the world, here are all but one of the entries. Mine is the green one in the lower left corner. It also isn't the best of the ones I made, it was the first test one - I sent the prettiest. But you get the idea. This was a lot of fun, they're all very different and there were a lot of techniques used. The theme was "SUMMER" and there were no other rules other than those imposed by the USPS. Some were put into clear envelopes and some were mailed naked. All arrived in perfect condition, but I think most of us used full letter postage. (I did because I wanted to be sure they would arrive without postage due and I had letter stamps). I did ask them to hand cancel, rather than send through the machine. They did - I watched them do it. They were quite fascinated with them. Quilting and applique were the most prevalent techniques used. But the sailboat is machine embroidered with a sparkly sun and the blue one left-center is quilted with some stuffing under the flowers on it's right for a 3-D affect. The strawberry card has the most beautiful edging. I used a lot of my deco stitches and some applique and a layer of flannel so it's just a very little "quilted", more just a texture. The piecing on upper left is perfect. Did you notice the bikini's on the ribbon on the upper right?

My best friend spent last weekend with me, she was in DC for a conference and stayed over a couple of days. We went into the District on Saturday morning to the Museum of American History. The Metro system didn't really cooperate with us time-wise, but we got to see the First Ladies' exhibit and Julia Child's kitchen. Both displays are quite nice and well worth the trip. Julia's kitchen was great. Then we had lunch and fought the Metro back to my apartment. We spent the afternoon at G-Street, where I had to help her carry her haul and I spent a paltry $4. Yeah, I was a little off my game, I suppose. I had one other fabric picked out, but there wasn't enough for what I wanted to use it for, so I didn't buy it. Hope this doesn't last, it's probably just a virus or something and I'll be back to buying soon.

Well, that's enough for now. I'll keep on catching up now that the dam has broken and the UFO's have departed.