HOLY CAT TOY, BATMAN!

Sorry. I couldn't resist.
I also couldn't resist the google eyes. Even though I suspect they'll have a life expectancy of about 3 minutes once in the hands paws of a cat. Next time I'll be more practical and use felt or fabric paint. This particular guy was made for a friend's new kitten, but considering that Finn was practically scaling the bookcase to get to it, I'm sure there will be more in my future.
I made it up as I went using a small scrap of home dec fabric and velcro at the top closure so more catnip could be added, or the feather replaced as needed. It can't get much simpler than that!

Still at it.
 I'm trying hard not to feel like a failure at my first quilt along - I have been injured after all - but, I kind-of feel like failure. At least in terms of being able to stay on schedule.
I have been slowly working away on them when I'm able, and am quite pleased to say that I'm down to my last one! I finished up block 12 today (too late to photograph) and now all that's left is block 7. (I know, out of order, but all those equilateral triangles have me a bit freaked out!)

Snack Attack:  The best snack bag ever:  a tutorial.
That's right.  The BEST.

While there are several great tutorials out there for reusable cloth snack/lunch bags, as well as ones for sale, I'm a bit picky.

You see, in my mind, velcro and crumbs just don't go well together.  Zippers are too bulky and time consuming to use for snacks that might need to be eaten right away.  And exposed seams on the inside?  Not my thing.

It left me only one option:  design my own.

I'm a bit embarrassed to admit how long it took me to figure out something so simple, (and how long it has taken me since to put together a tutorial), but getting everything so it flipped right-side out the right way with all seams concealed was challenging.  Perhaps I thought about it too much?   Once I started sewing, it made much more sense, and these little pouches came together very quickly.

I used standard cotton for the outside - both as full pieces and some with patchwork/applique for a little added fun.  On the inside, I tried to use organic cotton.  It just felt better, although I think once washed, standard would be fine.  An average size bag uses a little less than a quarter yard of fabric - and is perfect for those largish scraps lurking around the sewing room.

Full tutorial can be found here - just in time for back to school (or work) lunches!  Happy snacking!

Thanks to everyone that took the time to post a comment.  I really appreciate it, and was quite relieved to see that I am not the only one to be a bit "birth-date" challenged!

After several failed attempts to embed a random number generator into this post, I've given up and hope that you will take my word for it.   The RGN widget I originally posted allowed visitors to click the "winner" button and change the results!  Oops!    (I'm not sure how others have gotten this to work unless they run it off-line, take a screen shot, and crop the image down for post - which is what I've done previously - and just not in the mood for at this point.  If anyone knows a better way, please let me know!) 

At any rate, the number that came up the very first time the button was clicked was 4, which corresponds to Marilee's post, who was so kind to wish me the "best birthday ever".
Thank you Marilee!  - please send me a note via the "contact" form in the shop and let me know where to mail your fabric!

Hey! It's my birthday!

To celebrate, I'm taking the day off work, meeting up with some friends for dinner, and having a little giveaway! (Oh, and going to DMV to renew my driver's license. How's that for waiting 'til the last minute?)

For the giveaway.... how about this sweet little stack of 10 fat quarters from Sandi Henderson's latest collection Secret Garden? To enter, leave a comment (by Sept 1 at noon) wishing me happy birthday, of course, and sharing a silly birthday story of your own.

Here's mine:
A few years back, my good friend Kristina, who was going to Grad School in Iowa at the time, called to wish me a happy birthday. (It was early morning, but not THAT early.) I quickly interrupted her to say that it wasn't my birthday, my birthday wasn't until the next day. She replied that it was indeed my birthday - her phone had told her so, and after thinking about it for a minute, I realized she was right! And it wasn't just that I had the day's date confused, I actually had my birthday wrong. Unbelievable! I guess that's what happens when my standard reply to "when's your birthday?" was "at the end of August." for so long. Never again, though.

Today's the day!

feeding frenzy.

Not long ago, I went on a bit of a favorite-ing binge on Flickr. The results were both predictable and surprising. 
 I like Pinwheels and Improv Log Cabins (predictable). But also zig-zags and wonky stars. Wonky Stars. Who knew? There were also quite a few string quilts that made the cut and some ticker-tapes.
I seem to prefer either very busy and bold quilts or ones that are quite minimal with a lot of blank space. (Quilt backs were sometimes favored over fronts). 
For whatever reason, quilts that used exclusively prints from one fabric collection didn't seem to find their way into my favorites very often.  The exception was Heather Ross's Far Far Away. A surprise.  I had never been particularly compelled to purchase the fabrics and didn't have any in my stash. (Which was quickly remedied, I should add.)
Favorite color combos - when not totally random - orange and green, and aqua and yellow.
All in all, quite the feast!

Image from left to right, top to bottom:
1. charbronico 2. {brooke} april two eighty 3. Ann StewArt 4. Annamal Quilts 5. Blue Elephant Stitches 6. CampFollowerBagLady 7. dspaz_12 8. Elsie'sGirl 9. filminthefridge 10.flossyblossy 11. Handpicked 12. Insung from NAMOO 13. modernquiltrelish 14. oh-cherry-so 15.One Green Apple  16. Pikku-Kettu  17. r0ssie  18. s.o.t.a.k handmade  19.  Spotted Stone Studio   20. SunaStudio  21. susan weinroth 22. Sweet Baby Jamie 23. syko Kajsa 24. teaginny   25. verykerryberry

5

6

I managed to get these blocks done this morning after a two week break from sewing (and pretty much everything else) due to a problem shoulder. Both used paper piecing and went fairly quickly, thankfully, as I'm still a little achy. I'm finding that I have very little yellow in my stash and resorted to using some light orange/aqua prints from Joel Dewberry's new Heirloom collection. I think they make a nice addition to the mix.