Cherry Surprise!

For the past week I have been "up nort" (that's how we say it here in 'da U.P.) at my parent's house, visiting and quilting. We had lots of fun doing both and I even got to play some Pinochle. Of course, I had to pack before I could leave. Got the important stuff, so we were good to go. I also brought some fabric and my WIPs. Here is the drunkard's path as it is now- it's a top! I couldn't believe it when we measured it- IT WAS SQUARE! Well, it's a rectangle, but I mean it was not all crooked- it was the same size on one side as the other and the top and bottom were the same. I have never made a quilt that came out even before. I almost cried I was so happy- I really am getting better!

Now for the big news! Cherry Surprise is done! Well, the layers are basted and pinned anyway- it still needs to be quilted. I changed the name, too. I was calling it Cherries Jubilant, but now it has a new moniker. Here you can see where the cherry part comes from:

And here is the surprise! This is the back:How awesomely cute is this? I am just bursting at the seams! This quilt ended up being way bigger than I had intended at first- it's 92" x 103", so I guess that makes it Queen size. I had wanted it for a couch throw, but it got bigger and nicer and so now I don't know what I'll do with it. Roll up in it and giggle? Hang it on my living room wall and grin at it? Take a picture of it and put it on a t-shirt that says, "LOOK! I made this!"? Post pictures of it on the Internet shamelessly begging for compliments? Break my arm patting myself on the back? Hm. Not sure. Probably I'll do those last two.

What have I been up to over here...?

I have been busy busy busy this week! I missed the class on the Drunkard's Path, but my mom showed me how to make them on Tuesday when she came to visit. She also traced and helped me cut out half the blocks. It is so much easier and faster than I expected, and I have made 96 blocks already! In 2 days!! If anyone is holding back on trying this, don't be scared- go for it! I do want to make some more- probably 24 more- but I may make it square and make 48 more. I laid out two of my potential patterns and I like the radiating out one the best. The circles are cute, but I like the other better. I used all 30's repros since I had a big stack of them, and also, because they are such cheerful prints, you can't help but be happy while you're working with them. Unfortunately, they don't match my house decor in any way. Maybe I need to change my house?

I love Jackie's bright wheels, which you can see here. So today I played around and made one. I think this will be a practice run, but it's still cute and soooo much fun to make. The colors are not true on here- the green is a bright lime and the purple is almost neon in real life. To make it, I cut a big circle out of a sheet of posterboard, then cut it into sixteenths and ended up with a piece that looked like a slice of pizza. I traced that onto another piece of cardboard and then added a seam allowance and that was my template. Worked like a charm.

I totally impressed my children with my circle-making skills: I can make a circle using a piece of string and a pencil. Who knew? So they each got their own circle to color and stickerize. Good times, people, good times.

Today is my birthday, and I got some awesome gifts: Paul bought me new scissors! Yay! I am probably one of the few women who would be thrilled over scissors, so he really should consider himself lucky. My FIL gave me a gift certificate to the LQS and so did my boys! (I think their daddy may have had something to do with that, because when I opened it, they eagerly asked, "What is it!? What is it!?" I also got a nice mirror from my parents, so now I need to find somewhere to hang it... that redecorating thing may happen sooner than I thought.