NQR (Not Quilting Related)

Okay, so I know this is a blog for a quilt shop, but I also know that most quilters also do other crafts. So I thought you might like to see...

... my very first crocheted baby blanket!

No, I'm not pregnant. Nor do I know anyone who is. I started this project about six months ago or so, thinking maybe I would have it done by the time my first child is born (like, in the next 10 years or so). So I finished a bit ahead of schedule. But isn't it adorable! I'm very proud. Even though you may have noticed that I photographed it folded up instead of laying flat to hide the fact that it's not quite square. But I'm guessing my first child won't care. And isn't the doll bed adorable also? My grandpa made one each for my sister and I when were little, and my aunt made the little "mattresses", pillow, and blanket.

As if finishing my first crochet blanket wasn't exciting enough, look what knocked on the door this week.

The joy of finishing a project, only to be topped off by the delivery of girl scout cookies. Does life get any better than this? I'm going to celebrate by flipping through a few quilt magazines, trying my best not to smear the pages in Thin Mint chocolate-y goodness.

Girly stuff

Don't these blocks just scream femininity? (try saying that five times fast)

One of the quilt guilds that I am a member of is doing a block of the month titled "A Tribute to Women." Lips & hearts are the blocks for January and February. The top set of blocks are the ones I did following the "rules" of using white and light blue backgrounds. I thought the fabrics by Moda designers 3 sisters (including the new Sanctuary line) would make a nice, pretty quilt. For the second set of blocks, I decided to shake it up a bit by using black backgrounds and bright red lips and hearts. The red batik I used for the lips looked just like a glossy red lipstick (to me, anyway). I love them. I'm going to continue to do two sets of blocks for the rest of the year - one following the rules and one not, but I think I already know which one is going to be my favorite.

Remember this quilt? Well it's getting dangerously close to completion - only a few more nine patches to go, so I'll soon be able to add it to my stack of TBQs (To Be Quilted).