New Year, New Quilt

Happy January everyone!

I just finished this last night, I think I started it last October, but between travelling and making Christmas presents (and being way more complicated that the first two quilts!) it took me longer for this one. I'm hoping to take it to the quilter's next week to finish it.

The quilt is for Eric and is destined to dwell in the 'Man Cave.' If you haven't guessed, its a Scarlett and Grey themed room.

A bit more info about the quilt: the pattern comes from Marti Michell's Log Cabin book. It combines a Star within a star, log cabin blocks and an outer border of flying geese and pinwheels.

The next quilt will be purely for fun- a monkey quilt. Then I have another red/white/black quilt and the most ambitious quilt for my sister. I'm going to have to take a class for that one!

Quilt #2 is Finished!

Ok, so I have been doing so much more than quilting lately, but I was sending some of these pics to my folks so I thought I would share them with everyone.
Glassblowing is going well, I have some pics on my camera that I need to download and then I can share those.
We've had so many travels and visitors lately! I can't complain that I don't get visitors in Ohio now. My sister and her boyfriend visited us in September. Our friends Caitlin and Kyle came to visit in October, and our friends Mike and Tif were here also in October. Then, my folks came to visit in November for a few days before Thanksgiving.
So, I haven't had much time for quilting or jewelry making lately, but I'm hoping things will settle down after the holidays for a bit.
We went to Florida for a Conference in November too. I donated six pieces of jewelry for the American Optometric Foundation auction that was being held at the conference. My jewelry raised over $700 for the AOF! It was for a great cause and so gratifying that my work was so well received! Check it out here (Mine are listed under Donated by Dr. Moriah Chandler) The green necklace sold for $200!!

Next up: pictures of glass pieces and a tutorial on making some awesome Christmas Tree ornaments, in time for next Christmas!

Another New Hobby!

Happy Summer All!

This summer, my neighbor and partner in crime has been teaching me how to quilt. I think she's been wanting to do this for years! I finished piecing my first quilt, and I did a pretty good job. I'm not going to do the quilting myself-- I would rather have a finished quilt than a pile of material. Anyway, the quilter was pretty impressed. I can't wait to see it all together and be able to use it!

I already started cutting pieces for my second quilt. I found the material for it when I was looking for material for the border for the first quilt. And I have extra red material, so that means I have to make a Buckeye quilt, right?

Please Vote for Mel the Monkey!

http://etsyhookers.blogspot.com/

The Etsy Hookers team is having a creative challenge, "a walk of the wild side." I entered my crochetted and felted monkey, Mel. Voting is now open and you can vote now until next Monday, June 15th noon EST. Please vote early and often! :) Thank you!

Mel is now available in my Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25059122 and is looking for a good home!

St. Petersburg Chain

I had a another beading workshop on Monday night. This is my work in progress-- isn't it nifty? The stitch is a double St. Petersburg Chain, and the bottom of the pendant is going to have lots of beaded fringe when I'm finished getting the length of the chain to where I want it. The focal bead is Labradorite (my current fave!) and I actually got some of the blue flashes in the picture. The seed beads are size 11, and it takes 3mm Swarovski crystals. I picked light sapphire satin since it goes well with the labradorite. This is a neat project, but its pretty intensive since you have to make half of the upper side, then the other half, and then work on the lower halves separately. I have a ton of respect for beadweavers; it takes a ton of time and work!

In other news, I'm trying to make my own light box so I can take pictures whenever I need to and not wait for a sunny day. The convenience will be good, but I will miss showcasing parts of my garden! (Which looks awesome this year!!)

Its....a bicycle!

A few weeks ago, I finally got my Christmas present! Its a Trek 2.1 road bike. We've been having pretty schizophrenic weather these past weeks and whenever its been good biking weather, we've had guests over, or been out of town, so I didn't get to ride it until last weekend.

I also upgraded to "big girl" pedals-- clipless pedals with cleats. To be honest, they kind of intimidate me. Its like learning how to ride a bike all over again getting used to attaching your feet to the pedals. I got the right foot down pretty quickly, but I had a really hard time keeping the left foot clipped in. We eventually worked it out and adjusted the cleat and pedal enough to go for a quick spin around the neighborhood.

10 miles later, I love the new bike! Well, I loved it before, but it was so cool-- I can pass Eric easily without really having to pedal my butt off like with my old bike. Don't get me wrong, my old bike was the first "big" purchase I treated myself to after graduating from optometry school (some people get a car, I buy a bike!) and I had hundreds of good rides on it, but I kind of outgrew it. Especially when we started doing 20 mile rides with our friends who are much more accomplished cyclists than I am.

So, I'm pretty happy, and can't wait for another weekend of good weather so we can try a longer ride soon...

New Item In My Etsy Shop

Meet Peggy, a perky pink pig just listed in my Etsy Shop . My neice and nephews are always asking for handmade pets, and Peggy was a request from my neice. So far, she is a very limited edition of three (Three little pigs, anyone?) One went to my neice for her Christmas present, one for me to keep (I have a bad habit of never making anything for myself!) and one for the shop.

The boys got spiders for Christmas, which turned out really cute, and I'll have to make more of them soon.