Fabric Love - Monday

Fabric Love - Monday
Originally uploaded by lnwcohen

And this is only a small part of what came in the mail. We'll just keep this as our little secret. Okay?

Talk soon,

L xo

The B Word

I spent a little time Friday whipping these two blocks up for Dana from Old Red Barn Co. Dana is putting together quilts for a Breast Cancer charity (the Susan G Komen 3 Day Walk, to be precise). The block on the left is sort of hommage to Dana - it was her quilt along that really got me hooked and was the first "real" quilt I made. The second block (in desperate need of an iron) was just done to be different from the first.

I absolutely love the colours of these blocks. They remind me of Valentine's Day which is just around the corner. I love me some love especially dressed up in pink, red and white.

My favourite colours, all happy for love and a little something to help out others, a pretty good way to spend a Friday night, wouldn't you say.

L xo

PS - The B stands for boobs and blocks, in case that wasn't clear.

Too Easy Peasy?

Yesterday, thanks in part to a small tumble on the ski hill by one of my chickpeas, I spent the day at home dividing my time nursing a small swollen knee and finishing up by fabric packets for the Modern Tradition Quilt bee.

Today, because I had an extra couple of minutes at lunch, I went on Flickr just to see what other Quilting Bees were doing with their blocks ...

Going on to Flickr might not have been a smart idea because, wow, are there some fancy dancy blocks out there, or what? Like all complicated and intricate and all that and a bag of chips.

And my block is just a plain jane log cabin block. Not even a wonky log cabin block. Not so fancy. Not so complicated either. I got to thinking that maybe it wasn't complicated enough.

It's not that I don't like my choice of a log cabin block. I do. And I love my choice of fabrics. They are all happy go lucky, make your day kind of fabrics. And there are lots of them. Everybody gets a selection of 12 different 4" by 18" or 22" fabrics - I think there are almost 40 all together. The whole quilt will be colour, colour, colour, which I love, love, love.

But rather than over think the whole thing, I am just going to go with it. The fabric is cut and the envelopes labelled already anyhow. It will be like getting a little envelope of sunshine (and February is a short month anyhow so maybe easy is better, who knows).

I'll let you know how it goes.

L xo

PS - I know that no matter what, this quilt is going to be gorgeous. It can't not be.

PPS - Guidelines for the blocks are on the Modern Tradition blog.

Bees - The Sequel

So Bee Season is in full swing. Fabrics have been sent out, received and blocks have been made. Except by me. Because I haven't received any fabric. Which has nothing to do with the lovely ladies sending the fabric and everything to do with my new arch nemesis, Canada Post.

Canada Post and I have had our share of problems lately. It all stems from the fact that Canada Post delivers my fabric purchases mainly on the days when my husband picks up the mail (it doesn't come to our door but rather a "super mailbox" in our neighbourhood - kind of like a central location where everyone picks their mail up). Now I get that I bear some of the responsibility for the whole fabric purchase thing but really, some assistance in keeping my dirty little secret, my little dirty secret, would be appreciated. Greatly. The request has so far fallen on deaf ears.

But not one to miss an opportunity, I have decide to take lemons (otherwise known as the tardiness of Canada Post) and make lemonade. You see, February is my month for the Modern Tradition Quilting Bee. The Bee is all about making traditional blocks out of modern fabric. And since I can't make the blocks for my fellow bee-ers (see rant re: Canada Post above), I have decided to get my packages ready for February.

Deciding what to do has been hard. Super hard. Harder than I thought. And I really thought it would be easy. Probably should be. Anyhow, I digress ...

For my blocks, I have decided to go with the good old log cabin. It isn't a block I have done before but I really like the idea of straight lines with all sorts of gorgeous fabrics. So now I have pulled fabric, as you can see, and I'll start putting things together and getting it all ready to send out soon (envelopes are already labelled and ready to go).

See, lemons ... lemonade.

L xo

PS - It is my wonderful Dad's birthday today. Happy Birthday to the best dad there ever has been and will ever be. I love you.

Dearest Blog

I know that we have only been on 3 dates so far, and if you take a page out of the book "He' s Just Not That Into You", you are probably thinking that, well, I am just not that into you. But I am. I swear. December just seemed to get away from me. I can't even tell you how.

Do you really want a laundry list of reasons (okay, let's be honest, excuses) for my lack of commitment so far or a promise from me to do better in 2010? Let's not call it a resolution because we both know that its a label for failure, isn't it? More of an honest effort to get to know each other better.

I know I can follow through. Picture me as the little engine that could. You see, I have a brand spanking new Mac Book Pro so now I don't have to fight with the children for computer time (yes, I pretty much go to bed when they do which doesn't allow for night time blogging). Also, as you can see from the above picture, I am finished-ish with the sewing space. Just a couple of shelves and a beautiful chandelier and c'est tout fini. And all my quilting bees are starting up (of course, I have yet to receive my fabric thanks to Canada Post) so I will have both more time and lots more to show you.

So how about we start over-ish. I'll post more and redeem myself and you can then stand back in awe of my commitment to blogging and my witty, sparkling, and addictive posts.

Sound like a deal?

L xo

PS - In the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit I have never read "He's Just Not That Into You". I did see the movie. It was sort of offensive. The only redeeming thing about it was Bradley Cooper ... We can talk more about him some other time.

PPS - If it makes you feel any better, my dearest blog, I haven't even finished binding one of the children's quilts, and it was meant to be a Christmas present. So, in the worst mom move ever, one child got a quilt and one is still waiting. See, I haven't just been ignoring you ...

Dear Santa ...

Let's just put all our cards on the table, Big Guy. I know what side of the list I am on. But really, it isn't all my fault. You see, I had no idea that I would love quilting. Heck, I didn't even sew until last June. But there are these shops on the internet, and they sell all this beautiful fabric, and even though I live in Canada, the fabric comes really really fast. My favourite, Fat Quarter Shop just makes it too easy to add to my ever growing stash (check my Mastercard bill, you'll see ... on second thought, don't. I'll never get off the naughty list if you do).

I am certain that if you grant me one small Christmas wish, that I will be able to get through the holiday season with fabric buying at a minimum (let's be clear, that doesn't mean no fabric buying, just a reduction in fabric buying).

Let's say you put this Nicey Jane Fat Quarter pack

under the tree and I make the promise to curb the fabric spending until the New Year. I know it probably isn't enough to get me off the Naughty list .... but it is a start.

See you soon,

Leanne

NieNie

I had plans for a quilting update post (since this blog is called quiltsabit, it would be fitting, don't you think?) but 1 dead camera battery has thwarted my plans. I have Christmas quilts (for my Jewish children) to show (and bind), a finally finished in-law 50th wedding anniversary quilt, and so so much fabric for Sunday stash (almost embarassing how much fabric I have to choose from). But funny how the universe works because rather than blogging about all that, I'll just direct you to this blog

From there, you must go and read Part 1 of a story about Stephanie Nielsen published in the Arizona Republic today. And then, you have to go back and read Stephanie's blog from the beginning (you'll want to, trust me). Her story is life changing. At least, it was for me. Really.

I started reading the NieNie dialogues after I clicked a button from another site (when I learn to put buttons on mine, Stephanie's will be there, for certain). I happened to read her site on the day she had posted pictures of her and her husband, Christian, on the Oprah Winfrey show. And I was floored. Not because of her story (that came later when I started reading more) but because she said she looked like a lion in the blouse she was wearing and just that same morning, the day I found her site, I had the same shirt on, which I changed out of into something different, because the minute I put it on, I turned to my husband and said, "I can't wear this, I look like a lion". Not a word of a lie.

I digress.

After reading the NieNie dialogues you then have to go to Stephanie's sister, Courtney's site,

And not because she is Stephanie's sister (which is how I found her blog), but because she is hilarious and honest and refreshing ... And laughter is sometimes the best medicine.

And once you are done all that reading, start telling people about what you read. Because hope and faith and love and family and the human spirit, well, we need more stories about those sorts of things, don't we?

I can't think of a better blog post. Much more important than my quilts.

PS - Stay tuned. I have a surprise planned for Stephanie ...

PPS - Back to regularly scheduled quilt blogging as soon as I find that damn charger.