Here are the fabrics that I have set aside for the Fat Quarterly Quiltalong.     They are a ton of leftovers from the two Douglas Day Projects I did for Free Spirit awhile back.  I thought I would be completely crazy and make TWO of the FQ quiltalong quilts for the boys from these leftovers. 

I had these very Large Panels left and I liked the Big Blue Man one like this:

  But I had 3 of these guys and only two sons, and I also had one biker dude panel which I never really cared for all that much…not for the biker part, but I don’t like to encourage rebellion in my kids, you know?  And I love the bold graphic nature of them….so I cut one Blue Man and the Biker Dude into 2 1/2” squares for the centers.  I don’t really know HOW this is going to turn out, but so far I am pretty excited to see what evolves here.

I must confess, I started piecing the blocks together even though the FQ quiltalong doesn’t tell us how till next week….I figured it out, and I have two to make (along with everything else) and I need the head start.  It feels like working with solids with a bold 70’s twist.   We’ll see (and yes that means you too!)

Along other lines, Linda and I are both in the same magazine this month!!  Quilter’s Home October/November 2010!  I haven’t had time to take pictures of my quilt and the article in the mag, but I quickly scanned Linda’s bit for her and her blog, so I thought I would share it here too.

Here is her bit:

She has made about 50 of these great pins for sale on our Etsy site, and they really are neat in real life, I don’ t think pictures do them justice.  Her beading ability has always ALWAYS amazed me! 

Anyhoo, I have spent longer on this post than I intended….I just love sharing things with you all.  I have a ton more, including so many things, I can’t even think straight.   Sometime I just sign my emails to Linda as “the Vortex” as honestly that is how it feels sometimes.   But if we always find Beauty around us in the midst of the spinning…that’s a good thing, right??

Hoping that you find Beauty in the middle of your busy day today!!

Piece out!

Scott

I don’t have time for this as I am wrapping up my Doll Quilt Swap 9 Project  (TODAY I hope!) and started the Hoop Upswap (but I have til November!) as well as a couple other projects you will be hearing about too…probably fairly soon I think.  I just finished up another LONG run of days in a row at my DayJob, so not much has happened in the studio…..which is why you will have to put up with these leftover pictures from our vacation where Linda did this....and actually none of are the beach….cause I just couldn’t subject our good camera to that environment…so they are mostly of the wildflowers I picked on our walk BEFORE Linda broke her leg…...

 Here is a shot with the wonderful Castle Peeps Bag that I just barely scored at Quilt Market this last spring.  I love this bag and the line….I have just played with it a little, but I am working on a few things where it is popping up more….

And then here are some more shots of the flowers on the front porch.  You can tell it has been a cool summer.  Normally at our friend’s beach house in July these wouldn’t have looked so lush.  I love the cottagey feel of them….

         
So that actually is all the good pics of our Summer vacation…didn’t get any really good ones of the kids..they are such sourpusses when it comes to pictures.  One of these days, I will get some better ones of them and let you see them again. I really do have 3 amazing kids, even though I have very little prood (other than an empty wallet and full calendar, that is)....

Off to the studio….I REALLY have to start cleaning up there before Linda gets back up there when she is out of her cast!!

Anyhoo…here is my beginning sketch for my base piece for my theme “Better Cottages and Gardens”

Very quickly drawn on a SHORT break at the DayJob….but I think I like the direction it’s going…kinda wonky, kinda whimsical, kinda silly….a lot like me…(only I wish that I could be sillier at times….I get to serious for my own good way to often…ask ANYONE who knows me well!)

Okay if I go on and on and on anymore this won’t be “quick like a bunny”

Sew long for now my friends!!

Thanks for stopping by….

okay, really I am signing off now…

bye!

Just as I was going to post this…it got sent to the trash!!  AAUUUGHHHH…..thank God for “restore”....okay now I am really leaving you….ciao!

But this is what I have gone and done….I joined another swap…and not just any swap… a NON quilting swap ....this swapto be exact.  Mostly because my friend John twisted my arm….no, not really….but it wasn’t because I needed something else to do…I think I signed up mostly for the variation of this art form…....

All I have to show for it so far is my inspiration piece….this vintage stitched house ….   But as I go I will share with you what I make and what my swap-mates send.  My theme is “Better Cottages and Gardens”.   The other themes are “Weird Science“, “Monsters“, “Owls with Attitude“, and “Modern Classics Fun!”   I get to design ideas for these themes….I am thinking colorful amoebas for the first, and some funky, assymetrical creatures for the 2nd. The other two will be a bit more challenging to me, as I think there are probably more “real” looking things to do there, but I am excited to try my hand at them all!!

Other than that I have a bunch of things I am working on…two more quilts for Free Spirit Fabrics, a Moda Bake Shop recipe, and some other things that are hush, hush at the moment…..

and oh, yeah, we need to get firewood for the winter, and I need to try to find a painter to paint the upper half of the house before winter, as I just don’ t have time to get up there, and it needs some caulking and painting pretty bad in some places…..as well as still helping Gimpy Linda get things done around here…

along with going to the DayJob to keep some steady income coming in…..blah, blah, blah…...

Peace out my friends…..

Scott

Janet who wrote…..

I am really enjoying the quilt-along. I am using a Blush jelly roll and having fun with this line of fabrics. I love brights and enjoy all the wonderful blogs that are on line.

And on the Name Game…it was not an easy task for me or my panel of guest judges…In fact, the race was so close for this sweetie,

that I am giving her a middle name and a little scrap bag to the giver of that name as well.  Her first name will be Wren, and I had two entries for that name, but Mr. Random came to help and picked my friend John as the winner.  And Wren’s middle name will be Olive given by Nancy. 

and Girl #2

 will now be named Suki by a near unanimous final vote…This name comes courtesy of Kaye Prince....who by the way also won something from me not too long ago…In fact, I met both Kaye and John at Quilt Market, and feel rather guilty of some sort of rigging the contest because Judge Jennifer is a Fly Girl with Kaye, even though no one really knew who submitted what name, and I didn’t even remember that info.  

The stories that you sent in surrounding these two girls were WONDERFUL….I think I am going to give all your stories to my daughter and have her create a mashup of our favorite parts.  These Blue Nickel Assistants are some amazing individuals….

So winners please send me your snail mail addy’s (and yes, John and Kaye, you two…because I probably lost both of your addresses since the last time I sent you something…I am bad that way, I need but can’t afford a real intern!!)

...and just so you have a little new inspiration and a tiny bit of color…here are the flowers that were planted on the front porch of the beach house we stayed at two weeks ago…

I loved this little spot of color on the porch.  Flowers are always a nice touch anywhere….Beauty’s where you find it…

and now work mixed with beauty is waiting for me to found in my studio….and you in yours as well..

I just want to thank all of you who stop by and visit me here on the blog….I love hearing what you have to say and all the great stories you share!  Keep your chin up, and have a great week….

Later Gators,    Scott

About 2 weeks ago, we went to the Pacific Ocean beach on the Washington State coast….if you follow me on Twitter, you may know what happened to my wife on our first night there…...

   Yes, she broke her leg…..

Now, here’s the whole story….She and I were romantically swinging on the swings in a playground that we always go to with the kids…and Linda decides to jump out of the swing….and she fell…    Now  at first we just thought she sprained her ankle, cause she could walk on it and it wasn’t too swollen….so we walked home and she iced it while I walked to the mom and pop gas station in town and picked up an ace bandage and ibuprofen….and we just kept icing it and wrapping it, and Linda hobbled about.   By the time we got home nothing really had changed, but I told her she should really go to the doctor.  So on Wednesday afternoon she did….and called me from the doctor’s office saying he wanted her to get an x ray!!  I thought, well it can’t really be broken…she’s been walking on it for 5 days or so.   

So we went to get the Xray.  They told us nothing while they were there.  The next day was her birthday, and the doctor called in the am to tell us it was broken, and that we needed to get her in a walking cast….so I picked one up for her…on her Birthday, mind you.   She was supposed to see an orthopedic doctor on Monday….and they slapped her in a plaster cast told her no more walking on it, and she got a scooter and crutches and is now waiting to go back this Monday to see if it will be okay as is, or if it really needs surgery…

Of  course, this month in her weekend job as a custodian with my son, they were scheduled to work many more days than usual to cover someone else’s vacation….so all this past week, I have been going with them after my long day at my dayjob to do the sweeping part of the job, as that is one part that Linda usually does, and she can’t maneuver the broom and her scooter.  I am really worn out.  She was really sorry for me having to do that, but I told her in an email that this was part of the vows we took those 20+ years ago, and since it’s been pretty much “better” for most of the time, this wasn’t too bad for the “worse”....

But I am tuckered out.  And it’s been a long week in other ways too.  I had this big project that I was working on, and I thought it was at a really good place only to find out it needed even more work than I thought.  It wasn’t “bad” news so much as it seemed a bit disappointing, and probably being tired from the long days of work made me even more susceptible to feeling blue about it…

But you want to know one of the coolest things??  On this past Friday, the day I got the non-bad not great news, and was all chin-down about it….I also got an email saying my friend Melissa had a new blog post called Chin Up ....and it was JUST what I needed.  I was very grateful for that little word of encouragement….so if you need one too check it out….and keep your chin up too!

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So this weekend amongst other things, I got two things prepped and one almost done…

First the almost done one.  Doll Quilt Swap #9

   almost done in this photo…the top is now pieced and just needs to be quilted and bound….and sent by Sept 1st…

This project started for my fist Moda Back Shop Recipe…..

and this….some of the fabric for my next quilt for Free Spirit Fabrics using Dena Fishbein’s upcoming line Tea Garden

As well as back to work on the big project that I thought I had gotten to a plateau on, but it is at a lower level than I thought….

So remember to keep you Chin Up….and if you’re married, those vows really are for better or worse,  and I think generally the better really do outweigh the worse usually…

Peace out, my friends,

Scott….

Oh, and the Prop Girls name contest has almost reached the end.  There were many wonderful names and even more wonderful little bio’s for the girls.  We should have the winning names by tomorrow along with the winning commentors.  (a Hint, I am pretty sure one of the names for one of the girls had multiple comments, so we will be drawing names out of a hat for that one)  Also Tuesday is the last day to sign up on this post for the Jelly Roll giveaway.

I had so much fun doing these actually, that I came up with 3 different layouts in 3 different color schemes within 2 days, and I have decided that they will be among my first PDF patterns to come up for sale in online shops this fall/winter….all three layouts in one pattern, pretty good deal, yes??

So part of the deal is that there are prizes involved with this Quilt-a-long, and Konda is offering prizes over at her site, and I am offering this prize of a Hello Betty Jelly Roll in the same colors as the middle picture. 

 Just drop a comment here and tell me what your favorite new fabrics or patterns (or whatever quilty thing you love) are this year.  I will do a drawing on the 10th of August from all the comments.

Thanks for stopping by, and don’t forget the Name the Prop Girl Contest here....Contest entries will be closed on the 5th of August Midnight Pacific Time.  Great prizes to be had on that entry as well!!

First let me introduce you to our distinguished panel of Judges, who all own dolls similar to the Prop Girls that have joined my photo-shoot crew…... Now, I really don’t know much about dolls in general other than people really like them a lot, and my wife and daughter are always chattering about them…so I am not going to say which dolls my Guest Judges own.  You can ask them if you want.  So without further ado…please welcome….

Mary Abreu, self confessed Craft Addict and author of her first (of many) to be published book Little Girls, Big Style  with Stash Books.

Jennifer Davis, incredibly talented mother of two and sewist extraordinaire

And Patty Young, fabric and pattern designer of way more products than I can keep track of.

These wonderful ladies have agreed to be part of my panel of judges along with my wife and daughter to decide what these lovely new Prop Girls will be named…...   

Introducing Girl #1  

And Girl # 2 

I love naming everything living or not, just ask my wife…..and we don’t plan on having anymore kids, and I won’t get to decide my future grandkids names…so I am really looking forward to hearing what you come up with.  

Here are the rules—-they are pretty basic.

please post one comment for each girl and label them girl #1 or girl #2  here on this post.  You may enter as many times as you want. We will close the opportunity to enter on August 5th.  Then I will compile the list and the Panel of Judges will confer and pick our winners over the following weekend.  In the event we pick a name that had more than one entry, we will draw names out of  a hat here at the Blue Nickel….Feel free to embellish your name choice with mini biographical data about our girls to help shape out their personalities.  I can’t guarantee that will help your chances but it will be fun to read…..

Oh, and you will want to see the prizes…..

Prize for Girl #1’s name will be this fat quarter pack that I have cut out of my stash of Patty’s line debut line Andalucia…so it will they will be approximately cut fat quarters and already pre-washed   

Prize for Girl #2’s name will be this roll of Layer Cake squares….

Okay….let the naming begin!! we are all looking forward to reading your entries..

We were just at the beach the last few days, and I have a few pictures from that trip…but I don’t like to take the camera out in the sand and the salt water areas all that much so not a lot of pics were snapped.

Thought I would share these shots from our gardens a few months back as they are piling up on my laptop’s desktop…

     this gem is in our mowed grass and friends that pose as  lawn….love that this little thing flourishes in the total neglect it receives. 

This glorious plant is called Solomon’s Seal and Linda picked the original up 15 years ago or more at a local plant sale…we love the mystery of this plant…big leaves that pretty much hide these bells that dance along the stem….   

The dogwood was wonderful this year…not always do we get such prolific flowers on it… 

 This flower is another old favorite of ours….so detailed, yet so tiny!!   

and a few more….         

Have some great posts still to come….tomorrow  a contest of sorts for two nice big prize packs….a bunch of assorted fat quarters and layer cake squares….Guest Panel of Judges and everything…

Have a Marvelicious day my friends!! 

How’s your week coming along this week??

But it is pretty funny more me to think that I have gone “international” so to speak  I had that one quilt way back when in a display in France, and now this one in Austria….I feel so continental!  

You can get your own directions for this quilt on my download page and click on the picture of the quilt….

Oh, dang, that reminds me I have three more online quilt patterns for you to download….I have still got to get those up for you…hang in there, I will get to it eventually…

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Here is one of my new prop girls getting made up…she’s still missing an eyelash in this picture…..they are actually all done now just waiting for their photo shoot….and the upcoming contest!!

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And here is just a little bit of summer for you, Enjoy!!