Autumn Leaves quilt

Did I post a picture of this quilt already? I made this as a gift. The pattern was in Quilt Sampler a number of years ago, and I thought it was quite nice. I'm REALLY excited now to be leaving Saturday in the wee hours, but need to start packing tomorrow, which is much earlier than I would normally start. I pick things out, put them in the case and go. No pulling out and putting back, fussing over outfit sets or, for that matter, overpacking. Not a problem for me. I tend to bring a couple more things than I end up wearing, which sounds just right to me.

Pre-cruise activity

I've finally got a few more things to post. I've been mired in accounting homework, as I'm taking a course toward my HR designation (how much sense does that make, hmmm?) and I needed to get a major assignment completed before Friday. It's done now, and I can play a bit until Friday. We leave for the Quilter's Dream Cruise III EARLY Saturday morning. I've got my class notes all done up, and just need to pack some goodies to play with. Carol's got the kits in hand.

Here is my first beeswax ATC, done using a picture of my mom (on the left) with her friend, Jennie Bingler, in the early 30s. She looks to be about 5, so that would be 1935. I remember the wonderful noodles I saw Jennie's mom make using a paring knife. They were the size of Lipton Chicken Noodle Soup noodles and she cut them up so incredibly quickly! It's really my only memory of Mrs. Bingler, though I'm sure we were at her house often, as she was such a close friend of my grandmother's.

I also worked on some CQ postcards to swap

(also by the end of the week!) for a group swap. I've got some befores (ok, so as of now they're still "befores", a during, and one solitary "after". Good thing it's a small swap!

The ATCs below are for an April Fool swap with the Fibre Art Traders group. This will be my first swap with them, and I'm not sure I've got it right. You can't really see the faces of the ladies I've stamped onto the cards, but they're elegant ladies wearing very foolish hats that I felted onto the cards, and added beads, to make them even more foolish. We'll see if they kick me out of the online group for bad cards!

New toys

It's been a bit since I posted. I've been playing with new toys in the last couple of weeks.

Here is my "soldering suitcase", as suggested by Sally Jean Alexander. Not much of a suitcase, but it's a start! I took a teeny Altoids tin, covered it with copper adhesive backed tape, and gave it a shot. Not pretty by any means, but I know I can get solder onto a surface. I need to find something larger and smooth so I can get a smooth surface on the top of the tin.

I'm afraid that my photographic skills are as bad as my soldering skills. I tried to make the nice little dots that were shown in Pretty Little Things, but I have lots of opportunity for improvement.

I just finished making my first ATC with beeswax. I have no idea if I did it correctly or not - I printed out a scan of a picture of mom and a friend when they were little, used some Distress Ink in Antique Linen on it around the edges, and glued it down. I brushed beeswax on it. I think if I put the hairdryer on it, the brushmarks will disappear. I'll try and see if it works.

I thought I'd throw in this picture I took about 7:30 this morning. I haven't seen a cardinal all winter, and this guy was just wonderful looking!