I Am Grateful For Half Square Triangles. Really.

Nine!

I tell ya, it's so much more motivating when you can actually see some concrete progress, instead of just a never ending pile of triangles.

So there they are, in all their blurry glory.

Or rather... like this. Imagine their opposites in the spaces. White "snowballs" with red corners.

And I do so love little surprises.

You know what else I love?

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake.

Yes, yes I DO think it deserves the capital letters.

Chocolate. Peanut Butter. Cheesecake.

Booyah.

That's what I'LL be bringing for Thanksgiving dinner.

Hope you have a great one too!

Happy Turkey Day!

One

ONE!

Woo hoo!

Thaaaaat's right, one block finished.

Isn't she a beaut?

I know, some people have all their triangles finished, some have their whole top done! And congratulations, and good job! They are all turning out beautifully!

I don't want to point any fingers as to why I'm not further along, but if I did point, I'd be pointing down to about two feet off the ground.

The Princess and I had a deal.

I go to work and make money to keep her in dog toys and expensive vegetarian dog food, and she stays home and makes half square triangles.

All I can say is... one of us is not holding up her end of the bargain.

(Rolling eyes towards da pup)

As you can see, I decided to go with the red. A nod to my Mother; her two favorite colors were red and blue. When I first told her I would make her a quilt, and asked what color she'd like, she said blue. Or red. Or blue. Whichever. So I made her a blue quilt, but always had that red one in the back of my mind.

But honestly, what was I thinking?

Four hundred and eighty half square triangles.

480!

Good grief.

And because I'm cheap and lazy, and wanted to get the most out of my fabulous swap fabric, (thanks ladies!) I decided to try the technique that Nicole suggested, using 2 1/2 inch strips and the Easy Angle Ruler.

Easy Peesey.

Except......

Yeah, back to that cheap and lazy part, I don't actually HAVE the Easy Angle Ruler.

But I'm not going to let a little thing like THAT slow me down, right? So I used my Kalideo Ruler. It has a blunted off corner, it should be the same, right?

Yeah, not so much.

I ended up throwing away quite a few squares because they were too small.

I think if I use a very small seam allowance I should be able to salvage the rest of them. Which I'll have to do, since I've already chopped everything into 2 1/2 inch strips and don't want to buy more fabric.

Dang it!

But I persevere.

I think it's going to be a beautiful quilt in the end, and I'm sure I'll love it that much more for all the hard work. Right? And it's comforting to think that while I'm slaving in my sewing cave, there are forty-odd other women who might be triangling at the same time.

How do you feel about a red, cream and green quilt?

Very Christmasy.

Red, cream and blue?

Fourth of July?

We'll see. Just red is good too.

But you know what makes 480 half square triangles feel like a breeze?

More half square triangles!

Ha ha! I'm noodling with another quilt, using these fabrics.

Just call me a glutton for punishment.

Snowballs in California

So I thought I'd be one of those people. What are they called? Oh yeah, organized.

HA!

So I made a list.

A list of all the quilts I have, in various stages of completion.

Everything from ones that only need a backing, (Sultry quilt) to ones that only exist in my head (Dog quilt).

My last count was pushing 30.

30!!

That's obscene.

I need to whittle that down, finish some things.

So naturally, as one of those, what are they called?

Organized people.

Oh yes, as one of them, I decided... to start another quilt!!

I've joined this challenge

Cause THAT'S what I needed!

But, yes, I think it's exactly what I needed.

Isn't it pretty?

I'm debating what colors to use. I'm in the swap, so one of the colors will have to be cream/white. But red? Green sounds pretty. ORANGE sounds nice! But maybe it'll be red after all.

It's all up to the quilt. Whatever it wants to be.

It's an interesting pattern to me, because while it IS scrappy, there's not a lot of value changes. All the reds are pretty much the same value. Can I find a gazillon of the same type of red?

I guess we'll find out!

Gnome Sweet Gnome...

I am not a joiner.

Never have been.

I think it's part of that "Not belonging to any club that would have me as a member" thing.

So why has my sewing cave been infested with these Gnomes?

I am not a joiner.

I like Heather Ross as much as the next person, but I haven't collected every scrap she's ever made.

Like some people.

You know who you are.

But I did have a religious experience when I walked past my first bolt of Heather Ross Goldfish.

Ask my friend Jennifer. She can tell you.

The first thing I noticed was how incredibly soft it was. My hand brushed against it and I stopped in my tracks.

Then I saw the goldfish.

Come on.

THE GOLDFISH!!

You know what I'm talking about.

That has to be the cutest fabric ever made.

The names! Oh the names of the fish.

Swimmy.

Spooky.

Splashy.

BJORN?

I was in love.

But that hideous creature raised it's head.

"What would you DO with it?"

Do with it?

What WOULD I do with it?

So I didn't buy it.

Didn't buy yards and yards of it when I had the chance.

When it was sitting right in front of me.

I bought one fat quarter.

ONE!

One small square of the cutest fabric ever.

You can still find if it you want.

This one sells for $39 a yard.

Hey, I'm not knocking it.

I might give in and buy it someday.

But what I DID buy, was some little Gnomies from this lovely seller.

And I think I'll be back for some others.

So little Gnomies,

surrounded by a ring of white, and then a ring of sumpin else.

Then more white, and more sumpin else.

It's not original. Not particularly complex. But hopefully it's cute!

I have to tell you, it was so much fun picking out fabric for this! I've sort of become lazy and relied on the pre-cuts. It's a no-brainer when the whole fabric line is laid out in front of you.

But it was a kick picking out all random fabrics for these little guys.

I wanted green and red, those are the obvious choices, but then it screams CHRISTMAS!

Hmm... I like Christmas, but I didn't want it to be a Christmas quilt.

Per se.

Ok, I just wanted to say "Per se".

So what to do? Add some blue from his little shirt, and some black for ZING! from his little boots.

I think the black is going to make the quilt.

By the way, does this drive anyone else insane?

When you've only got a half yard, or less, it gives me such a tick in my eye when it's this far off grain.

THAT'S ALL! That's all I gotta say about that.

Now back to those Gnomes.

The Dog Lady Returns! (Dum da da dum...)

Remember the Dog Lady?

I hope so.

It was yesterday.

You might want to up your Ginko Biloba if you don't remember.

Well apparently in all her spare time, she thought she'd make some other quilts too.

In all her spare time.

HAHAHAHahahehecoughcoughglbrx...

The spare time when she wasn't quilting every single AKC breed of dog.

Like ya do.

So look at this!

It's a big ol' African animal quilt.

"Africa - The Lion Lurks"

Huge.

Gorge.

Fab.

Marv.

I can't even complete whole words.

Toooo beautiful. Just too, too beautiful.

I didn't get a picture, but there are fantastic lions quilted into the corners.

But wait!

Act now and receive...

YET ANOTHER INCREDIBLE WORK BY LINDA HIBBERT!!

"Studio Safari"

I know what you're thinking. And yes, yes I DO love that flamingo!

Loooove him! (singsong voice)

But I also love that giraffe! Look at the movement in his skinny little legs!

And don't get me started on the hippos.

Every time we walked past I said "I love those hippos!"

The quilting is just phenomenal. Such movement.

So that's it for the "Dog Lady".

The "Dog/Lion/Zebra/Giraffe/Flamingo/Hippo Lady"

I guess that wouldn't fit on her name tag.

There's lots more pictures from the quilt show, but maybe tomorrow I'll sprinkle in some pics of things that I'm working on, and you won't notice the difference and think they're from the show too.

My own private quilt show!

I bet I'm gonna win a ribbon!

The DOG Lady! (I thought I was the dog lady?)

Ok now. Everyone got a cup of coffee? Tea? Everybody cozy and comfortable?

Here we go.

Her name is Linda Hibbert.

(Better pictures on her website)

I think she made half the quilts in the show.

The sign attached to her "Best In Show" quilt reads:

This quilt is about 40 feet long.

All dogs.

Have we met?

Do you know me?

I love dogs.

I mean...

I LOVE dogs.

More than most people.

Mmm... puppies...

Let's start with the Terriers, shall we?

I had to sing the song from "Best in Show" when I saw this one.

Too cute. Let's move on to the Non Sporting pups

Eee! Look at this little face!

They have little sparkly gemstones for eyes. It really makes them feel alive.

Herders!

Puppypuppypuppypuppypuppy...

Yeah, I had pretty much lost it by now. I wanted to rip them down and roll in them. I wanted to go home and hug Miss Pep.

I wanted to adopt every dog in every shelter.

I know some people don't care for Chinese Crested dogs, but they would if they saw this guy! And look at that Chihuahua!

Did I forget to take close ups for these lil' guys?

Dang it.

Look at that Boxer! And that Mastiff at the bottom!

I swear, you could just feel his jowls.

Sorry, I was a little shaky by now. Ha! Just kidding, it was my crappy camera.

The SPORTING GROUP!

Look at this little girl! And she's black, like the Princess!

Awww... Isn't that amazing? Where does she find the time? How does she make the patterns? How long does it take her to pick out the fabric? And can I be her apprentice?

What? You're tired of dogs?

Impossible.

But ok, how about a turtle? A Sea Turtle.

A stunning Sea Turtle.

A "Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle"

by Cheryl Spalding of Portland Oregon.

It says "This quilt was designed from an original underwater photo using a reverse applique technique. The background fabric is hand dyed and it was free motion quilted on a long arm machine. It took over three years to complete."

Ooooooo...


Ahhhhh!!!

Incredible. Just incredible.

I have no words.

PIQF, Ya'll!!

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh Poodles.

I had SUCH A WONDERFUL DAY YESTERDAY!!

My friend Ceci and I went to the Pacific International Quilt Festival!

I don't even know where to start.

Where can I start?

Should I tell you about how many GORGEOUS quilts we saw? (over 400) Should I tell you about all the fabulous fabric I bought? (Oh yes)

Should I tell you how exciting it was? How NICE everyone was? How sweet it was to be there with Ceci, who now has the makings of her very first quilt?

I know!

I'll start with my celebrity encounter.
Is it still an "encounter" if you stalk the person?

Dudes, I met... Julie, from Jaybird Quilts!!!!!

OMG, OMG, OMG!!

I geeked out like a 13 year old at a Twilight premiere. Or like some 40 year olds I know at a Twilight premiere.

And let me tell you...

She is the sweetest, kindest, most adorable person on the planet.

She's just cuter than crap, with a sexy Kathleen Turner voice. (Well you never know what bloggers sound like, do you?) We chatted for a few, and compared camera issues, (which you'll notice in all my blurry pictures) and she graciously posed with me for a picture. She was all fresh and beautiful, and I was sweating like a horse.

Love her blog, love her quilts, and love, love, love her!

Thank you Julie!

So on with the quilts!

I don't even know where to start, so I'll start with the ones that made me squeal.

This first one is "Into the Woods" by Ann E Rauen.

And she's from Santa Cruz! Oowah! Oowah! Local girl made good!

Oh Lord, I hate my camera.

So she's made a calendar crazy quilt. I'm telling you, the detail is unbelievable.

We spent a very long time in front of this quilt, and were still seeing new things.

My pictures just so do not do it justice. It's all embroidery, and ribbon embroidery, and the details!

THE DETAILS!

So gorgeous.

I wish a had another word for "unbelievable".

Look at the bears! LOOK AT THE BEES!!

THE TINY, TINY BEES!!

This must have been silk ribbons, because the sheen was just sooo beautiful.

And these were just the center pieces. The work on the surrounding "crazy" area was intense. We spent a while hunting for the spider webs in her work. They're good luck, you know.

There's puhlenty more, but I did mention something about fabric, didn't I?

Every year we go camping in Pismo Beach, and every year I try to go the 50 miles more to visit The Creation Station.

It never works out.

So when I saw them at the show, I lost my mind and started scooping up fabric the way people scoop up shrimp at a buffet.

Ahhhh... fabric. Now I have to take this inspiration and get to work in the sewing cave.

Up tomorrow: The Dog Lady!