Where has the time gone??

Oh my.... OH MY!!!  Can you believe it has been almost 2 1/2 months since my last post??  I can't!

  So much has happened since then, that I thought I best fill you in.

The Spirit of Hope was a very well received piece of work by all who bought tickets.  It raised almost $1700 and the winner was a lady from my little town who happens to be a cancer survivor too!  How fitting a quilt for her to receive; I was just so happy for her and she sent me a lovely thank you note stating she hasn't had anything so nicely made before.  (big grin here!!)

I thank each and every one of you who bought tickets for The Spirit of Hope.

My sister made this cake for the event and was very much liked by all.  It was 24" x 24".     I had given her a picture of the Spirit of Hope  which she had laminated, as she was unable to get an edible transfer.  What an ingenious idea!!  Didn't she do a great job??

I then went to Toronto for a weekend with a good friend to the Creativ Festival  in April (http://www.csnf.com/) to do a little "looking" for something new in the fabric/quilting world.  Didn't do "too" much damage though LOL

The day before I left, I put in an application for a full-time office position just on a whim and decided this would be the last position I would try for and would just stay working part-time.  Never thought I would get an interview but low and behold that next Monday I was called for an interview AND got the position.  Now you know why you haven't heard from me for so long!!  I started April 27th and haven't had time to sew at all let alone even think of writing on the blog!

Okay, so that is not absolutely true.  I did go to Camp Wanna Sew for 5 days mid May and it felt so good too!  Then I didn't sew again until June 18th!!  That weekend I had a 20 hour sewing marathon going on to get something finished.  You see ... sometime around when I went to Toronto I entered The Spirit of Hope in the McCall's Quilt Design Star Contest and didn't I get the okay to participate along with 93 other entries!  WOW  ... amazing, right?   Then it went to a vote (you as viewers voted... a very huge thank you to all!) and it was narrowed down to 20 people.  I WAS ONE OF THE 20!!!   Now that is just something totally off the wall for me!!  I was waiting anxiously to see who was picked and how many; I was totally shocked that I made it...but it was because of all those people voting for me!!   Then we had until June 23rd to upload our new design made with the requirements given by McCall's.  How totally kewl is that?   This is what I came up with.... I had it pretty well all figured out on the second day after we were given our instructions, but I had absolutely no time at all to work on it until the weekend before it was due.  And the five days before it was due was a no go for for sewing either so that left the 18th & 19th to sew up this design.

Now remember, this picture makes it look like a large quilt.... in actual fact it is only 48" x 48"!   Each one of the blocks is only 6".... yes... take a look at all the pieces in those blocks in the center!!

Just so you have  better perception of the size here are a couple of closeups. 

This block ... my favorite by the way, called "Arrowheads", has 53 pieces to it!  Go head.... count them!  And there are 12 of those blocks!

  

Yes, that is a quarter and a dime on there!  So you see how small some of the pieces were that I worked with.  I've always liked the look of 6" blocks and just knew I would be pressed for time, so I thought doing them that small would be quicker.  WRONG!!  I actually now think that making them 12" would have been so much faster... live and learn as they say.

This block was pretty quick to make up and only has 17 pieces to make it.  Actually I think my next thing to do will be to count ALL the pieces to see how many is "Too Many Pieces".  That is what I called this and only thought of the name just seconds before submitting it to McCall's on the 23rd of June.

The 20 contestants are now in the voting stage again and I so would love for you to vote for me, (http://ck.upickem.net/engine/Details.aspx?p=V&c=28078&s=9176324&i=2) but be sure to check out all the entries.  There are some really great pieces there!! 

More to come when I get my life back on a schedule again.  Until then - you all keep safe, be happy and sew something!!

Hugs all,

Choux
PS.... HAPPY CANADA DAY!!!