Finally have some quilt-y pics!

Well, it's been a long time coming, but I finally have pictures of a quilt! I finished the top late last night, and hubby helped with the holding-up this morning so I could get a decent pic.
This is another quilt for my single-moms pile. I think I have 3 or 4 tops done now, and need 8 (I think). A few others are started - two of them are mystery projects.
What's that? You want to see this quilt? Oh, all right.....
This is one of my favourite patterns - it's called "Warm Wishes" and it goes together fairly quickly IF you keep the colours in the right order. I love these fabrics together! I chose the print fabric first (I fell in love with it at first sight!), and then chose the 3 fabrics for the striped blocks, using colours from the print fabric.
Now I need to go shopping - there's a Shop Hop going on today, and one of my daughters (a quilter too!) is taking me away! to 5 different shops. Last year we both won door prizes, so we did well - we'll see what today brings!

My latest cards...

I really haven't had any time in the last week or so to do any quilting, and it's been almost as difficult to find time to make a card - but I needed a few cards, so that's what I'm sharing today.
It was my dad's 83rd birthday on Friday, and I found a card design on-line that worked with his interests and my stamp sets - and here's my card for him:
The C/S is Old Olive and Chocolate Chip from Stampin' Up, and both of the DPs and stamp set (Lovely as a Tree) are as well.

The second card is for a couple from church - she's fighting cancer, and he's in a rehab facility after having had a stroke. I wanted to remind them that they're in my thoughts and prayers. I CASE'd this design from a friend, and even tried one of her favourite embellishments - Viva Pearls. I'm quite pleased with the end product!
The cardstock, designer paper and ribbon are all River Rock from Stampin' Up, and the butterfly die is as well. I had previously inked the raised side of an embossing folder, and then embossed a piece of white cardstock - that ended up becoming the butterfly!
Thanks for checking in!

Therapy Thursday

My LSS (Scrappin' Great Deals) is having a garage sale today, and I have lots of goodies to get rid of. I find that I'm spending a LOT more time quilting lately, and only manage to make cards when I absolutely need one - sad... Because of this, I find I keep going back to my favourite stamps, and other sets sit untouched. I figured that I might as well sell them - and then I'll have a store credit to buy stuff that I actually NEED!
So, I drove there Thursday to drop off my box of goodies, and I managed to time it perfectly - just in time for Therapy Thursday! Basically, you show up by 1 p.m., with your tools (scissors, tape, pop dots, etc.), and you come home with a great card!
Thursday's card was so cute! I have a quilting friend that's in a rehab facility after breaking her leg for the 2nd time in a year, and I wanted to send her a cheery card - and it couldn't have been better timing! We used a set that is a new concept (for me, at least!) - My Favorite Things now sells sets of stamps with the dies that you need to complete the card - and the card was exactly what I need for my friend! I'm sure you'll agree:

... and this is what I did last night.

So, it was a good thing that I got a head-start on my project, because it definitely took a lot longer to make than I thought it would.
I found a really neat quilt pattern online a week or so ago - this should bring you to the tutorial: http://www.abrightcorner.com/2012/02/tutorial-strip-tube-quilt.html
I bought a Ruby jelly roll a few weeks ago, because I've always loved the colours, and I just wanted a really bright and fun quilt. So far, I'm right on track to accomplish that!
The pic shows the progression from individual blocks (some of them are like the positive/negative images that you get when you cut up the strips), to pairs, and then the start of 2 different rows...... (sorry the pic is so blurry)

Anniversaries and other fun things....

One of my sisters (and her husband!) celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary this past week - and it called for a special card. It took 3 tries, but I finally came up with one that was acceptable enough (she's a card-maker too, so there are standards, you know...) I pulled together a few pieces of DP from an SU pack from a few years ago, and chose my pallette from that. A lacey oval from Spellbinders, and their initials and the #30 from a set of dies hubby gave me for Christmas a few years ago finished it all off.



And, seeing that tomorrow is the March edition of Friday Night Sew-In, and I had a little bit of time, I figured that I'd get a head-start on my project. It wasn't too difficult - I've just started 3 new ones... Here's the fabrics in the Ruby jelly roll - I found a great tutorial online, and I'm going to be playing with that. Check back on Sat. to see what I've done.

Wish I didn't need these...

It's a fact of life that people that we know and love will eventually pass away. It just seems like that has happened far too often this past week...
I struggle making sympathy cards - I often don't know what to say, and a big hug communicates far more that a card can. Sometimes a hug is too difficult to deliver in person though, and then a card has to do the job.
This is one that I've made a few times - using a pretty piece of DP helps a lot! Then it's easy to make the card, choosing C/S from the colours in the paper. An SU punch, a Couture Creations embossing folder, some Nesties, a sentiment from SU and the card almost makes itself!
Now I'm off to find my address book...