July is my "month" in the Christmas Fabric Bee and after sorting through my piles and piles of fabrics, I chose to use the Candy Land Christmas line of fabrics from Moda with a few random add-ins.  There will be two different centers, this gold print shown below and a white on white snowflake print from Kate Spain.  It really didn't take me long to whip up this block, and I think that was because I used a wonderful tutorial from {House} of A La Mode she made the directions so easy to follow, such a great tutorial, you should check it out!  I just hope my bee mates think it was as easy I did!

Overly ambitious as I am, I have taken on another project, more specifically, another quilt along!  Who could resist with such a lovely designed quilt along button such as this one!  I love great design!  I'm a bit off track....

Originally when I saw this quilt along (and several others) starting up all around the same time, I knew that I wouldn't be tackling any more projects, but I "accidentally" stumbled across the loveliest fabric bundle and couldn't pass it up.  Then I had to figure out what I was going to do with this newly purchased bundle.  Then I remembered.....kaleidoscope!  It will be the perfect showcase for this collection of fabrics and I am super excited to get started!  I am leaving you guys in suspense as to which fabrics I will be using, but I'll share soon, I promise!

Wednesday again?  It seems to come sooner and sooner....  I was on vacation for the majority of this past week, so I'll keep it short, since I didn't accomplish much! Which is a good thing sometimes.  We all need a break once in a while!

I finished bee blocks for "justabitfrayed" in the Always Bee Learning Quilt Bee.  She sent us Anna Maria Horner's new line of fabrics louLOUthi, and we all did Quilt As You Go blocks for her.  I made her two, and am quite pleased at how pretty these blocks are!  They are trimmed to 12.5" x 12.5" and ready for her to put them together, no quilting needed!  I included a back shot, since so many have asked how the back looks using this method.  When sewing I left the back tails long, and then once I was completed, I threaded each tail on a needle and wove the thread back in, came up and trimmed it, this way the ends are "more complete!"  I hope she likes them!

That is it folks, I told you I would keep it short and simple!

Finished Projects:
Quilt Bee Blocks

Ongoing Projects:
Organizing my OUT OF CONTROL Fabric Stash (65% complete)
Bottled Rainbows Ticker Tape Quilt-Along (5 of 16 blocks complete)
Lily's Quilts Quilt-Along  (Using Sherbet Pips)
Making a Light Box & Photographing 150+ Items (Supplies bought, partly assembled)
Sewing (for myself) a few tops/shirts. (2 down, several more to go!)
Quilt Bees
Sock Skeletons
Amy Butler's Style Stitches Teardrop Bag (cut out)
2 Uber Large Handbags (cut out)

This Week's Stats:
New Projects - 0
Completed Projects - 1 (This will stay on the list because I have more to make!)
Currently in Progress - 10

Dream Projects On Hold For Now:
Sock Monkey Quilt
Denyse Schmidt Home Dec Fabric Wall Hanging Quilt
Making a bunch of clutches.

Head over to Freshly Pieced to have a look at what everyone else is working on!

My month in the Quilting newBEES is quickly approaching (July) and will be here before we know it!  After much deliberation and hair pulling, I decided to use the Denyse Schmidt Picnic and Fairgrounds collection, with a few matching solids, and a few matching Denyse Schmidt prints from her other previous lines.  I also added in several matching prints from my stash that had that "feed sack" feel to them.  I decided on a log cabin based block, nothing wonky, just straight lines, but the members will have a lot of freedom with these blocks.  Logs ranging in size from 1/2" to 3", and the blocks themselves ranging in size from 12.5" to 16" will allow these "newBEES" the freedom to create something totally original!  I whipped up these two blocks as examples, and both ironically measure in at 13".  I can not wait to see what my group members whip up!

Happy Wednesday!  Did you have a productive week?  I guess I did, though I'm not really sure the definition of productive anymore.  I made quite a few bee blocks, and some I haven't even taken photos of yet!  I also finished my pillow case carried over from my box of projects last week, but alas I'll have to share photos of it another time also.  Be on the lookout for it though, it is pretty funky!

My first bee block is for the Christmas Fabric Bee, it's for "Julie @ DistantPickles."  She requested a non-wonky house.  Easy enough, I don't think this guy is wonky at all, though I will admit the "smoke" coming out of the chimney, doesn't resemble smoke as much as it looks like an alien is trying to beam someone out of the house!

I finished up my 10 depression blocks for the Scrapbuster Swap, all those hst were fun and I didn't have that much trouble lining up all those points as I thought I might!  Though I do find they all look very similar.....
"Kreated by Kari" is running that group swap and as a Thank you for all her hard work putting the thing together and shipping so many packages, I made for her a Mod Tree Block to go with a quilt that she is currently making.  I created something totally against the grain for me, and was really pleased with the way it turned out, I think it is Mod for sure!  You can see the photos of the block below!

Here's hoping you had a productive week, no matter how you define productivity!

Finished Projects:
Quilt Bee Blocks
Scrapbuster Swap
Pillow Case

Ongoing Projects:
Organizing my OUT OF CONTROL Fabric Stash (65% complete)
Bottled Rainbows Ticker Tape Quilt-Along (5 of 16 blocks complete)
Lily's Quilts Quilt-Along  (Using Sherbet Pips)
Making a Light Box & Photographing 150+ Items (Supplies bought, partly assembled)
Sewing (for myself) a few tops/shirts. (2 down, several more to go!)
Quilt Bees
Sock Skeletons
Amy Butler's Style Stitches Teardrop Bag (cut out)
2 Uber Large Handbags (cut out)

This Week's Stats:
New Projects - 3
Completed Projects - 3 (Two will stay on the list because I have more to make!)
Currently in Progress - 10

Dream Projects On Hold For Now:
Sock Monkey Quilt
Denyse Schmidt Home Dec Fabric Wall Hanging Quilt
Making a bunch of clutches.

Head over to Freshly Pieced to have a look at what everyone else is working on!

It's that time of the month again to pick out some fabrics!  This month's bag is the Teardrop Bag and the pattern is available in two sizes, small and large.  I will be making the large size (because I haul around a ton of crap in my purse!)  Honestly, of all the patterns in the Style Stitches book, this bag is my least favorite, I'm just not feeling it.  I'm hoping that once i have made the bag, I'll fall in love with it and want to carry it myself!

I'll be using the fabrics below to make this bag.  The main body will be the fabric all the way to the right, which is a Hideaway print, don't you just love the cuckoo clocks!  I'll be using the center print, Joel Dewberry's Modern Meadow as the accent fabric (the handle.)  And I'll be using the clock print all the way to the left as the lining.  Please ignore the Nicey Jane print in the left hand lower corner, was thinking about using it, but changed my mind!  I think it certainly will be a unique one of a kind handbag!

My husband grew up in a tiny tiny town called Morganza just outside of New Roads, Louisiana.  I don't think it is even technically a town!  Have you ever heard of it?  Probably not, but maybe you have?  Recently the small town of Morganza has been in the news quite a bit!  You see the Mississippi River runs through this region of the world, and as I am sure you have heard, the Mississippi River has been flooding a lot of towns and causing all sorts of problems for anyone who lives in its path.

The Morganza Control Structure was built with the purpose to divert water from the Mississippi River to Morganza Spillway in times of flooding to spare highly populated areas like Baton Rouge and New Orleans.  This structure was constructed in 1954, and has only been opened two times.  Once in 1973, and the second time...you guessed it, 2011.  This structure is 3,900 ft long and in essence is a long dam.  It has 125 gates that can be opened one at a time.  At the time we visited, only 12 gates were open.  Currently I think there are only 9 gates open, the Army Corp of Engineers have been opening and closing them as needed to control the amount of water flowing through.

We decided we had to go see this once in a lifetime event, and it was amazing the sheer amount of water flowing from the Mississippi River.  It was definitely worth the trip.  We did not see any escaping wildlife (which is a big problem when you flood a huge area of land.)  The last I had heard, residents in Krotz Springs (a town South of the spillway) have encountered 22+ black bears!  I wouldn't want to see that in my backyard.

I wanted to apologize for my less than great photos of this trip, but you are not allowed to stop along this stretch of roadway, so all the photos were taken from the car window, while we were driving hence the bug spots, reflections, and blurriness.

At this moment in time, it does seem as if the crisis has been avoided.  No towns have seriously flooded, and there has been minimal damage to those living alongside/in the Morganza Spillway areas.  Hopefully as the next few weeks pass by, more and more gates can close and life in these areas can return to normal.

The last photo was taken in New Roads, Louisiana.  We were standing on top of the levee that holds back the Mississippi river.  The water was pretty high on the levee, but honestly I have seen it higher in the past. But, I would hate to think what would have happened had they not opened up the Morganza Floodway!

Want to learn more?  Click HERE to read more about this historic event and the Morganza Floodway.  Thanks for taking this little journey with me!

A little departure from my normal schedule today to show you guys a little something different.  Have you ever wondered about this list in my Ongoing Projects?

A Box Full of Alterations and Random "Fix It" Projects.

Well today is the day that I will show you all what was in that box and get rid of that item in my Ongoing Projects!

Finished Projects:
Quilt Bee Blocks (Click HERE to see them)

Ongoing Projects:
Organizing my OUT OF CONTROL Fabric Stash (65% complete)
Bottled Rainbows Ticker Tape Quilt-Along (5 of 16 blocks complete)
Lily's Quilts Quilt-Along  (Using Sherbet Pips)
Making a Light Box & Photographing 150+ Items (Supplies bought, partly assembled)
Sewing (for myself) a few tops/shirts. (2 down, several more to go!)
Quilt Bees
Sock Skeletons
Pillow Case

Other Random Projects: (These are not counted in my weekly stats!)
A Box Full of Alterations and Random "Fix It" Projects. (This will be GONE next week!)

This Week's Stats:
New Projects - 2
Completed Projects - 1 (This will stay on the list because I have more to make!)
Currently in Progress - 8

Dream Projects On Hold For Now:
Sock Monkey Quilt
Denyse Schmidt Home Dec Fabric Wall Hanging Quilt
Making a bunch of clutches.

Those were the six projects in that box!  Four are complete, and the other two are now on my project list!  It felt good to go through that box and knock some stuff out.  Now I can wear my shirts and necklace! Here's hoping you had a successful week too!

Head over to Freshly Pieced to have a look at what everyone else is working on!