I'm not looking at any more huge fabric sales for the rest of this weekend!

My wallet took a big hit yesterday. There are so many great deals all over the online quilt shops but I spent enough that now I feel a tad guilty. But just a tad. The poor mailman is going to have his work cut out for him when he delivers those packages. There is a lot of fabric coming into this house this coming week.

I did buy with very specific plans in mind. Not once did I buy something just because I liked it. I purchased backings for 7 quilts and with the awesome sales, I averaged $4.83 per yard. Prices like that are definitely hard impossible to resist.

I am soooo excited too! My current obsession fabric is also coming my way.

Last you saw of these blocks and this future quilt was during the Dots on Dots Blog Hop. I had completed 6 blocks and had another 6 started. Well life and work, specifically our fiscal year end and all the work that comes along with getting everything ready for the tax return prep done, kept me from getting back to this project. This is where I left off, the remaining 1/2 square triangles sewn together.

Once I put the groups together and sent out the lists, it was time I made my own center block. Coming up with this Round Robin idea was the easy part. Deciding what sort of block to do was much tougher.

I pondered for days and days....what colors to use, what block pattern or design to use, go wonky or not...so many choices and so little time to decide. In the end, I decided to create a block that really spoke to who I am and this is what I came up with.
A rainbow of color, my favorite and just a bit off kilter, so like me. It really summed up my personality....when you first glance at me quickly I seem straight and normal  (the accountant part of me) but when you stop and look a little closer, you see that I'm typically just slightly askew. It is such a better way to live....a tad bit unpredictable.

This little block traveled literally around the world! It stopped at 5 destinations in the US including Georgia, Illinois, Utah, Montana, and North Carolina plus it flew across the pond to France and down under to Australia.

It is no lie that when the package arrived back home, I was extremely nervous about opening it. Seeing the return address, I knew exactly what was to be found inside the padded envelope. Being the master list keeper of all the destinations, I knew where each block was on its journey each month but not once did I ever attempt to suggest or influence what my group mates added to my own little quilt. So I had absolutely no clue as to what this would look like. When I finally lifted the flap and unfolded the contents, this is what I found:

Hi! I'm Lisa Cox. I live outside a very small town in rural North Central Missouri.
I'm rather new to quilting. In fact, last month I finished my second quilt. I'm a total

I started out with a block called the Amish Twist. It was supposed to be a paper pieced

block, but I hate dealing with paper, so I put it on thin white fabric. I think someone told

me once that is called foundation piecing? This is a picture of my center block after the

borders have been put on. It never occurred to me to take a picture of it before I sent it

off. LOL

When I received my little block back, tears came to my eyes. You guys ROCK!!! It is so

beautiful! And so many different borders. I was trying to figure out how I was going to

turn it into a wall hanging when my husband saw it. He immediately said how cool it was and

how he thought that it would be great as the center of a quilt for our bed! It is the right colors.

Now, my husband is not into quilts at all. He can't visualize what anything will look like just

by looking at colors or patterns. He has to see the finished product. So for him to say that it

was cool! And that he wanted it for a quilt is amazing.

So, I'll say again. YOU GUYS ROCK!!!!

This is a picture of my block with all the neat borders. Sorry for the horrid pictures, but I didn't

have time to iron it after I got off work. I wanted to make sure Michele got this in plenty of time.

Lisa

It is so neat how each addition to the quilt changed it. I really like the addition of the bright green, it really makes the quilt! I haven’t yet decided how I will finish it, I have debated between keeping it a mini quilt or adding large pieces of solids around making it into a larger quilt. I can’t wait to join the fun again when it opens up next year.

Renae

Several months ago I joined a Mystery Round Robin hosted by

Michele of Quilts From My Crayon Box.

The rules were very simple.

You made your starter block...

Here was mine

Hosting this event has been so much fun and I can't wait for the next one (which will be early in 2013 btw). I really enjoyed seeing what arrived in my mailbox each month and putting my own little spin on it before sending it on to the next contributor.

I hope you enjoy hopping around to all the great ladies who participated and who have their mini quilts to share with you. Now on to the reveals!

Confession time. It is Sunday so I guess it is appropriate.

Big breath. Come on, summon up the courage. It may not be all that bad after all. Ok, well here goes...

I have never tried Paper Piecing.

There! It's out. I don't have to hide that fact any more. It isn't that I don't want to try it. Honest. I see so many great ideas and patterns all over the web that make me want to run upstairs to my studio to give it a go.

But over the past year, I've been so busy making all those full size quilts and participating in hops, the swap and the round robin that I truly haven't had time to make my first attempt. I do have one more commission quilt that has to be completed soon as it is a Christmas gift and another that I'd really like to also complete in time for it to be a Christmas gift but that one isn't critical time wise so it may wait and be a birthday present instead.

I found a paper piecing pattern that I really want need to make. Something really special for my sisters. We give each other special "sister" gifts for Christmas every year and this idea is absolutely perfect for this year. The one that I found isn't the simpliest of paper piecing patterns but I don't think it is impossible either. And I know that if I can pull off my idea, they will absolutely love it.

Yes I will start with a different, much simplier pattern first to get the hang of it. I'm not totally crazy! But what I could really use from you is the link to what you feel is the best step-by-step instructional place, whether text or video, to guide me along. With so many available on the web, I don't know which one to try.

So bring it on. Tell me PLEASE where I should go to learn the ropes.

A newbie has to start somewhere.

After I finished up my sewing for the night yesterday, I wasn't quite ready to call it a day so I started tackling all my backing/batting scraps trimmed after the quilting was done and before I added the bindings. I had the trimmings from 5 full size quilts there and the pile really needed dealing with.

So while I trimmed the usable bits of fabric and the larger batting scraps, I was wondering and decided to ask all of you....

Just how big of a piece of batting do you save and other than for mug rugs, what do you do with those leftover bits?

Always the one who hates to throw away something usable, I'd sure love to find a way to utilize those smaller scraps instead of tossing them. There are loads of things I can use tiny bits of fabric for, lots of scrap and mini quilts for my wire hanger are just one example, but I'm not sure about the batting bits.

Can ya help a girl out here? 

Are you getting excited? I know that I am! The big Modern Mini Mystery Round Robin reveal day is almost here.

Monday, November 19th is our giant celebration party and the showcase of all the great mini quilts that went literally around the world and back home again.

We had 30 participants in all, 2 people were in 2 groups, so there will be 32 finished mini quilts. Of the 30 ladies that sewed borders and then mailed them off to the next person for the past 8 months, 23 are from the US, 3 reside in Canada, 1 lives in France, 2 are in England and 1 is down under in Australia.

Here is the list of the ladies that will be sharing their mini quilts with you on Monday.

Melinda - Tilda's Twisted Life

Deonn - Quiltscapes

Kylie - My Addiction to Quilting

Wendy - Why-Not-Kwilt

Bea - Beaquilter

Jane - Jane's Fabrics, though her reveal will be posted here on my blog

Pippa - Pippa's Patch

Madame Samm - Sew We Quilt (hasn't received her quilt back home yet, hopefully very soon)

Annie - Annie's Musings

Diane - The Cheshire Quilter

Vicki - Sew On and Sew Forth

Lisa M- A Day In The Life of Raising Six Munchkins

Renae - revealing here on my blog

Kathy - Kathy's Quilting Blog

Charlotte - revealing here on my blog 

Celine - Espritpatch

Lisa C-revealing here on my blog

Edy - revealing here on my blog

Ella - Throw a Wench in the Works

Rachel - Suz Made Me Do It

Samantha - Sami's Quilts & Crafts

Karen - K's Quilting Korner

Leslie - Les Quilts

Ann - Orange Crumpled Napkin

Sharon - Dancing Through Threads

Doris - Made By a Brunette hasn't received her quilt back home yet, hopefully very soon)

Margaret - hasn't received her block back yet, will be posted here when it arrives

Tiffany - Pink Sweet Treats

Janet - Caribou Crossing Chronicles

Michele - that's Me - right here at Quilts From My Crayon Box

You won't want to miss it. I know that I can't wait to see how they all turned out.

I've wanted needed a dry erase board to help keep track of my quilting projects for a while now. Of course I didn't want any ole boring, plain dry erase board. I wanted a great fabric covered one.

During a few trips to the local craft and big box stores I scouted out the basic boards available to check out sizes, prices as well as construction so that I could figure out what would work for me and how I would make it more Me.

Once I got home, I hunted the web for ideas. There are tons out there. But the one that caught my attention the most was the one that made use of something I already had here at home.....an old picture. Repurposing something older and not being used any more is my kind of crafty endeavor.

I started with this picture. It is an old Home Interiors print from many, many years ago that I don't love. My style of decorating has changed so drastically in the past 5-10 years and this just doesn't fit in any more. But now I'm really glad that I held onto it because it is perfect for this project.

This is what it looked like deconstructed. A very heavy back board, the frame which although is plastic it is thicker and beefier than most, the glass and the print board itself, again a bit thicker than usual.

One more flip back to the front to check for any further adjustments necessary and this was ready to let dry.

Here it is all completed. It is now hanging right above the light switch in my studio, in the narrow area between the door frame and the closet frame. This size fit there perfectly.