Over the past 2 1/2 years the online quilting community has opened up a whole new world to me.  Fabric, texture, color, design and movement.... Flickr, pinterest, swaps, linkys, comments....I could go on.  But the most important thing that it has opened up for me is friendship.  Friendship through a shared craft/hobby/art although online should not be overlooked or undervalued - the access we now have to others across the globe to enhance/learn more about our love of quilting is real.

For example there is Debbie from A Quilter's Table - a perfect example of an online quilt blogging friend who has slowly crept into my daily consciousness with her witty prose and her amazing creations.  Although we may never meet (I sure hope we do!) in person, I so enjoy the almost instant feed back if I have a question or a photo to share with her.

Then there is Zina who I met through the Goodie Swap 2011 - she made me these for the swap:

Just love that bag...I used it last night!

Well last Saturday Zina and I went to a local quilt show together and had a great time.  Who knew there was another quilter approximately 1.4 miles away from me who is normal?  I laugh at typing this as when I called her to set up what time I would pick her up I told her that I was "normal" and that she shouldn't worry...what a laugh we had in the car about that later.  Thrilled to have a quilting friend so close!  I see trips to M&L in our future, Zina.

My last example brings me to my best bud in my daily life. She is going through a divorce right now and one of the things she told me she wanted was a quilt for her bed as her soon to be ex never liked quilts.  So now her mother and I are working on making her a quilt for her bed.  Love the idea of making my best bud's life a little better with a quilt.

On to the WIP's - what I am no longer working on:

Supernova - finished

Supernova is done and folded up on my couch right now.  Will probably wrap myself in it tonight after I return from Back to School night at the high school.  The rain and (relative) cold we are experiencing right now make it a perfect night to wrap in a quilt.

What's next?
The T-Shirt Quilt  - shirts sent to me by my cousin in Maryland.  Shirts cut out and 1/2 are now backed by interfacing.
Quilt top for my Best Bud - I'm only doing 1/2 of the blocks for this quilt top and then will hand them off to her mother to finish.

Lastly, the Giveaway:
I've just hit 50 followers (actually 51 now!) so to celebrate I'm giving away a $50.00 gift certificate to the  Fat Quarter Shop for starting me down this wonderful quilting path that my life is now on.  Their ad Martha Stewart Magazine  2 1/2 years ago began my now love of quilting so they deserve all the credit/blame.  :)

To enter in the giveaway please leave a comment telling me what got you started down your crafty/quilting path.  Was it a family member, a friend, a magazine, a blog?  You know how I got started so tell me how you did.  Make sure I can get in touch with you.   *The Giveaway is now closed as of Thursday, October 13th at midnight.*

I'm linking up with Lee from Freshly Pieced so please go on over a check out what other's have on their WIP lists for today.

Enjoy the rest of your Wednesday,
Susan

Supernova

Supernova - front and back

Details:
Supernova Quilt Along by Lee of Freshly Pieced
Started:  March 15, 2011
Finished:  October 2, 2011
Size:  64" Square
Fabrics:  Anna Maria Horner Garden Party & Good Folks fabrics on front and back, Kona Celery solid on front, Kona Deep Rose for binding.
Quilting:  Straight line based on Felicity's Oceanic Supernova Full Frontal.
Who is it for?  Me :)

Backstory:
Had to make this quilt based on the pattern and the name and decided to keep the because it fits perfectly.  Knew right away that I wanted to make this quilt with my AMH stash.  If you check out the bottom center block you can tell that I was running out of reds!  My younger son helped me choose the binding color - I had the front and back laid out on the living room floor with my Kona card and he came along and helped me pick out a color that would work - I wanted a binding that would frame the quilt, not disappear.  Brought a block to school last semester to show fellow students and will always remember the remark of how "psychedelic" it looked.

Linking up to Sew Modern Monday, Fabric Tuesday and Manic Monday Linky Party.


Thrilled to have completed this quilt!
Enjoy the rest of your Monday,
Susan

It's just the top but it is now finished:

Supernova

Can you hear me cheering?  I am so happy to finish this quilt top.

What's the "T-minus" mean in my title?  Approximately forty eight hours and 10 minutes from now my boys go back to school.  I was doing so well....held it together for 12 weeks but last Thursday when someone reminded me it was only six days I began to become unglued.  Not really...but I can't wait to have my alone time back.


Linking up to Megan at Canoe Ridge Creations for {Sew} Modern Monday #33 - go check what others are doing today.  


Happy Labor Day,
Susan

I came down with a cold this past Thursday evening which although irritating has not kept me from being productive with the sewing machine or in the kitchen.  In fact when I get sick I always seem to want to bake...maybe the comforts and warmth of the kitchen help to heal me in some strange way.  More on the baking below.

Friday morning I sewed the nine Supernova blocks together and then began working on the borders.  I sewed up one side of the borders and then realized that the spacing was off with where the coordinating print lines up with the Supernova blocks.  By Friday afternoon the kitchen needed attention so the borders were put on hold and Pumpkin Bread was made.

I have a love affair with (almost) all things pumpkin:  Pumpkin Bread, Pumpkin Ice Cream, Pumpkin Cheesecake, Godiva Pumpkin Truffles, etc., but I do not like Pumpkin Pie.  Mmmmm Pie...but not Pumpkin Pie.  The downside of baking with pumpkin is that there are months out of the year when cans of pumpkin are impossible to find in the store.  Pumpkin is a relatively easy crop to grow...if you live in Southern California -  where I've grown one of these in my backyard for years:

My oldest at 3...sitting on an 80 pound pumpkin.

One downside of this love of pumpkin is that the pumpkin crop can be subject to regional difficulties such as drought, flooding and pests.  Sometimes there are months out of the year when cans of pumpkin are very hard to find in grocery stores and for a few months now I've had to get my fix for Pumpkin Bread at Starbucks as my pantry has been empty.  Last week though I got lucky and found canned pumpkin on my local grocery store, bought the six cans on the shelf and then was teased for being a pumpkin hoarder.  Gotta have my pumpkin.  

My go-to Pumpkin Bread recipe comes from The Foster's Market Cookbook, a cookbook in which I have yet to find a bad recipe.  Please go here for a link to the recipe.  The recipe makes two 9 by 5 inch loaves, one of which is practically gone within hours and the other I slice, place in sandwich bags and freeze to enjoy whenever I want.

Pumpkin Bread in my freezer door

Do you have a favorite quick bread recipe that you freeze and enjoy at a later date? Share it with me and I'll talk about it on my next podcast.

Enjoy your Sunday,
Susan

I'm back here again for another semester...

CSULB

Essential A-Line Skirt

My current WIP list:

My creative juices have been running very low lately with most of my brain power going toward bookkeeping audit work (which is most thankfully, almost done) so I thought I would take a photographic inventory of my quilting works in progress to jump start my plan to finish these up before the summer ends.  

FQS 2010 Designer Mystery BOM

Sliced Coins Quilt Along with Elizabeth from Don't Call Me Betsy.  Needs backing, binding and quilting.

Sliced Coins

School Yard made from Square One pattern in Camille Roskelly's Simplify  Have backing and binding, needs to be basted, quilted and bound.

School Yard

Supernova

After an intense but highly rewarding Accounting/Audit meeting yesterday morning and then a wonderful lunch, I was motivated to get back to the Supernova Quilt.  I allowed myself an afternoon of sewing as I knew I would be on the computer most of the day today.

Supernova  - five down, three to go

Last night my younger son and I attended a bonfire at Bolsa Chica State Beach  with a wonderful group of friends. We are connected by our boys, most of them friends since Kindergarten or slowly collected during their elementary years and are now enjoying the summer before eighth grade begins. All throughout the four hours we were at the beach these thirteen year old boys acted like supernovas - stellar explosions that light up our lives.   It was windy and relatively cold but these crazy boys raced around playing Frisbee, getting wet and playing hide n seek.  We even had to order them to come in for S'mores.  

Block 4 - notice a few different fabrics?

Block 3

Block 2

Block 1

Although quiet here on my blog, my life has been far from quiet.  The stunning events in Japan have held me transfixed for a week now - I'm going to do something to help but have not decided what to do yet.

School Yard top is finished.  I have backing and binding - may tackle spray basting for this one.

WooHoo!  Sliced Coins top is finished!  LOVE IT.

Picked Broccoli, Cabbage, and Green Onions on Monday.

Back for Open Windows quilt for my son.  Just waiting for the binding.

Yes, this is the biggest floor space in my house - barely fits this XL twin size quilt.

Birthday Cake for my 15 year old.

I like boxed cake mixes especially Duncan Hines (my mother thought they were the best so I follow her lead) but I usually think bought frosting is especially disgusting.  I whipped up a batch of Cook's Illustrated Chocolate Frosting and then used a carrot slicer to carve shavings from a Milk Chocolate Bar for the shavings on the top.  Looks great until the one blowing out the candles blows the shavings across the table!

Mac-n-cheese for the birthday boy.

Made this from the Barefoot Contessa Family Style cookbook by Ina Garten.  You can go here and get the exact recipe.  Very yummy!