Don't think I'm a winner

Here's the two quilts I donated to the local quilt shop in hopes of winning a Janome sewing machine. I was really hoping that I'd win, and then my mom could have a good quilting machine. It's amazing how the right tools make a job sooooooo much easier!

First up is a Trip Around the World, started in 2002 and finished in 2003. This was before I had a clue about scrappy quilts and having an actual stash. Sadly, I don't have any of the fabrics left and have only been able to find and buy the blue. I loved the purple. :)


And the long awaited Girly Bear's Paw. I was thinking about cutting one-inch purple sashing strips, to sorta make it look like a binding around each block, but I went with 1.5" unfinished strips. Gives a nice balance I think. :)


The oh-so-colorful backing! I can't help but wonder... which side of this quilt is going to be this kid's favorite? I didn't make the backing long enough, so I tacked on a 4" strip of purple that was already cut. Hey, why make extra work for myself when I can just grab the top strip from the 4" box? ;) Well, ok, I did make sure it was purple. :P



My aunt emailed me the other day - told me that my sister Sarah got a kitten. I'm so happy for her; it just seems too weird to think about my parents not having any pets at their house when they've had dogs for 15 years straight.

My aunt also sent some pictures of Missy. Seeing them made me cry a little... I miss Missy so much! (She died in July 2005). But I'm really glad to have these pictures. I think she looks like she's giving you a "chin up" in this one. :)

This picture also makes me miss green! It's so dull here. As in, it doesn't rain until July (monsoon) and so right now everything is just yellow and dead. One of the biggest clues that it's been unseasonally warm here... the mountains don't have any snow on them. In 2004 they had snow until April! So I put this picture on as my desktop and now I can get a nice dose of green every day. :)

Leah