How Long Should a PC Last?

Hmmmmm.....about 6 years give or take ;0)

For the past year my DH has been trying to convince me that we needed to replace my PC (desk top computer) that I use for my business. I kept putting him off because I really didn't want to spend $ on a computer, I would rather spend it on fabric, quilting gadgets & tools etc...but last Friday was the last straw, I was fed up with the wackiness that my old computer was doing. Whenever you would open up a window/website it would try to open multiple ones and say the server was not reachable...huh? DH thought perhaps that their was a virus but when he sifted through all of my stuff he found nothing, even Norton said my PC was free from a virus, there was nothing that we could find that would be causing such craziness. So On Friday after screaming UNCLE! I called DH at work and told him that he could replace my computer.

My new monitor is 22" where as my old one was only 17". I now have windows 7 operating system vs windows XP. I couldn't use frontpage any longer for my website since the new sytem doesn't soppurt the old software so DH is trying out other software (currently microsoft office share) that hopefully will do the same thing as frontpage did before (time will tell). I also have to get use to Live Mail vs outlook express. Also needed to update my microsoft office since my old version was no longer able to run with the new system....:0( It ended up costing more than what I wanted to spend, but it had to be done.

Why is it that tech stuff is so expensive and has a very short shelf life? No wonder why Bill Gates is as rich as he is.

Kaffe Fassett Fabrics

I am very traditional when it comes to color and design. I like classic prints with a dash of whimsy here and there. I have never been swepted away by the modern design or color combinations of the fabric lines of Amy Buttler or Kaffe Fassett. When I see the individual yardage of these lines I scratch my head and think what were they thinking and what on earth could I do with that. But then I started seeing some quilts made from these fabrics, mostly scrap quilts or as I like to call them organized chaos quilts because some are very well thought out with placement of color.   

See in the above photo these fabrics look ugly (at least to me). 

But if you spread them out a little based on color and value, and not look too closely at the print of the individual fabrics, they start to take on a whole new look.  

Then if you add these fabrics (a border, binding and an accent border).

You could get a quilt like this! This quilt pattern is in the new "Scrap Basket Sensations" book by Kim Brackett. It uses 2 1/2" strips. Great book to own if you are into the jelly roll strips/ patterns.

Then I came across this beauty over at Green Fairy Quilts Blog It's a Dear Jane Quilt made in the Kaffe Fassett fabrics in a rainbow trip around the world layout. It combines traditonal quilt blocks with trendy mod fabrics. What you end up with is a gorgeous quilt! But Judi's quilting on this quilt really turned it into an heirloom that will be talked about for decades or more! For more pics of this quilt click on the link to see what I am talking about. It was this quilt That really made me stop and rethink my opinion on this modern fabric designer. 

Up until now I have avoided these fabrics, didn't want them in my stash, didn't want to make anything from them period...but never say never because I decided to give them a chance and started buying some for my stash. I view it as a love hate relationship...I hate them by themselves but together they are starting to grow on me. Perhaps it's because of the bright colors or how they look when sliced and diced in small pieces (2 1/2" or smaller) that make these fabrics come alive. 

My 2011 UFOs

I just love adding pics to my blog post, but don't have a quilty type pic for this post so I will fill in with random things instead.

So a few months back I thought I would be clever and pull out all my UFOs and take inventory of them and asign a deadline/month for which they would be completed this year. Well this plan was not what I would call a perfect plan because stuff happens and some months are busier than others etc.. In my defense though I only missed 1 UFO deadline and that was "Shell We Dance" from March, and it's not that I didn't complete any of my own quilts that month I just didn't do the one with the deadline attatched to it. So I decided that I am doing away with the month to month deadlines and just plow through as many as I can get done this year because anything is better than none! 

Now to fill you in on something that I have had under wraps for awhile now, it involves a 2 year BOM (that I will start in 2 weeks) and it will have quite a bit of applique on it. I will be doing a "Dear Jane, Blue" quilt from the Stichin Heaven and as if I was not crazy enough before... I will be after this is done because not only am I doing that one but I figure if I was going to do one why not 2 Dear Jane Quilts at the same time! Yup 2 of these quilts one in the blue colorway and one using Thimbleberries fabric in a rainbow/trip around the world layout simiular to the original quilt. See, told you CRAZY!!!! I will be documenting my Jane journey on a new blog that I set up just for it and will post a link to it when I start the BOM in a couple of weeks. Should be fun-   



Just a Little Something I Threw Together In My Spare Time

Ok so with 5 kids at home, I don't have alot of spare time. But one thing that I do when I get stressed out (and this past month has been very stressful getting my MIL moved in with us) is SEW!!!

This quilt is 70" square and is made from a Moda "Gyspy Rose" jelly roll. It will go on my living room wall once I get it quilted and bound. It's nothing fancy but the fabrics look awesome in that room and I have a small little quilt made out of the same fabric that will be used as a table topper in the room. Originally I had a batik quilt in mind for that room but once I saw these fabrics in that room I new that I had to put it in there.

Sister's Choice Swap

Is now a Flimsy!  So here's the recap...

Shannon from Pieceful Kwilter hosted this siggy swap back in 2010.

It looked like it would be alot of fun so I joined in. We had to do 12 Sisters Choice Blocks using bright batiks and kona black, then sign the blocks and ship them to Shannon. This was the fabric I chose. 

This was what my block looked like.

These are the blocks that I got back.

But I wanted a larger quilt, so I made 4 more blocks to add to the 12 Shannon sent me back.

After all the blocks were done I needed to decide on a border fabric, I wanted to also use it for the star corner stones (that was shown in the layout option Shannon shared with us). So I decided on this fabric.

And here is the quilt top (flimsy).

I love this quilt and had alot of fun doing this swap, Thanks Shannon you are an awesome swap hostess!

Now I just need to get it quilted and bound....to be continued.