Secret Stuff to share with you...

No I'm not in a magazine, or designing fabric, or naming the new colours for Kona Solids, or writing a book....

I've been working on a quilt, with someone or some people. I can't say who because the recipient, if they read this, would figure it all out. I can tell you it's collaborative and has been a long time in the making. I've just finished the top and will be quilting it tomorrow.

It is lovely. It's quite traditional, but the thoughts behind it and how it all came to fruition is sure to make a great story...

Finished...

I cannot tell you how much I love this quilt...the colours are so stunning. It's large enough for me to snuggle on the couch and wrap it under my feet - and include a child or two with me.

I'll let you know when the date will be to be posted to the Moda Bake Shop.

Basting a large quilt in my house...

uh, mom...I want to go outside now.

my food and water dish are over there...in the far corner. uh, mom?
I finally found a spot I could baste my quilt.

Thanks to the help of my wee ones, I spray basted and smoothed it in no time flat. Don't worry, the doors and windows were all open...I LOVE spray basting. Haven't done a quilt this size before, so I'll report back if the spray basting holds up on this almost queen size quilt.

Naming your blog

Have you ever thought about changing your blog name or your domain name? I have. many times. For about 2.5 years now. But Millions of Thoughts (trapped in my head) is just so attached to me, I've had it for 5 years now.

When I first started a blog, I never fathomed it would have lasted this long...nor would I imagine people read it! Have you seen that crazy ticker over there? =====>

Definately a giveaway when I hit 30,000. Holy moly!

The address, however, millionsofthoughtstrappedinmyhead.blogspot.com is just so long.

millions of thoughts is better.

If I change it...do I just shorten it, or do I go for a brand new name?

Quilting Thoughts

Millions of Quilts

or something cute and catchy?

or something studio-ish and modern? (even though my 'studio' is a dark corner below grade in my basement)

How do you take the plunge, or do you even do that?

This is kind of like the haircut question. You've grown your hair for so long and are bored with it. Do you just get a trim, or do you go for the short pixie cut and dye it jet black with a blue streak?

Sewing a Turkey

Happy Thanksgiving Day to my Canadian friends! My family usually celebrate Thanksgiving on Sunday, and then have a lazy roly poly day on the Monday (the offical day off)

Last night Cameron and I made Cranberry Bread. We named it Camberry bread....he was totally chuffed about that.

Today, Ethan had a very keen interest in the unwrapping and dresssing of the turkey. He was particularly fascinated with the heart, liver and neck that come in the little 'gift' bag inside the turkey cavity. He helped me stuff the bird, and said that he couldn't wait until Christmas to see the guts of the next bird. ahem.

So, as he's stuffing the bird I realize that during our move, I've misplace my skewers and need to sew up the bird instead. I had a giggle as I went to my sewing space and rifled through my needles and threads.

Aurifil?

Guterman?

Poly?

Cotton?

Sharps? Embroidery needles?

What does this bird deserve?

I settled on an old discarded machine needle and some Aurifil. If it's good for my machine, it's got to be good for the bird. right?

right?

The Letter A

It's cool... whatever it is.

It's a nice...patch.

*blink*

*blink*

Those are the words from my darling supportive husband.

It was a learning experience in the following ways:

• how quickly organized becomes chaos
• realizing how many solids I actually have
• sewing curves
• making a paper pattern and realizing one must include seam allowances when cutting
• my machine does not like to sew slowly
• need to learn more about art quilt binding...or rather, have patience to learn more about art quilt binding
• still hate Guterman cotton thread, and still adore Aurifil thread. (and no, there is no giveaway coming up...I just plain adore the thread and so does my machine)

Yes, the edges are curved. I could tell you I did that on purpose. I did not. But I went with it...you see, I quickly made a paper pattern without thinking or planning. That's all.

To remind you..here is my original doodle

So in response to my husband's "uses" that this has. *ahem*

a lovely tree ornament

A stunning fixture above the doorway...reminding me that I'm A, the alpha of the home...

A chef's dream for resting precious cooking utensils

A Mug Rug.

NO!!!!

It's a cookie rest.

I had quite a giggle about it all. Alot of work, alot of learning, alot of quirky comments between dear husband and I.

Back to my normal quilting....

doodles..

I was doodling again, and a few cool ideas for new graphic patterns emerged. Onto the pile of the 'to do' list they go. There's just so many on my to do list. Frightening.

One idea, came from a sort of fancy letter A. This was a very quick 30 second idea, but I wanted to share the process stemming from an idea to pulling fabrics to fruition. This will be a VERY vulnerable train wreck, I'm sure. I'm planning to make this a small quilt... 'mug rug' size (gawd I HATE that term)

I started pulling reds and blues, which I love, and then some browns - the photo depicts more mustard colours, but they are browns...

I have no idea how this will turn out. I may need some hugs later. ha!

This has all stemmed from my reluctance to restart my beloved baking project. I spent 3 days watching Dr.Phil, Ellen, Days, and Dr. Oz, ripping apart every.single.seam. In all my extensive (ha) quilting experience, I've seen bloggers post about ripping apart quilts and starting over again. I've never had that desire. Until this project. I love the colours too much to do an okay job. So in a pile of unironed, seam ripped state they sit. For days. They haven't moved from the living room in a week. Can you tell?

I've reworked the colours and they are much better now. But I'm just taking a few days off to recharge.