The Stimpy Quilt - back

The beautiful back. 

It looks huge, doesn't it?  It's all a matter of perspective, I guess.  The back is finished and I'll have to schedule some time on the long-arm at the LQS to put this all together.  This will definitely be done by the time I go home in the spring/summer.  I can't wait to give it to my brother in person!

I'm looking toward my next project and I'm putting together the fabrics for the Block-A-Palooza Bloggers Quilt Along.  I've pulled out all the fuschias and purples from my stash and will be using those.  After spending a couple of months working on these browns and greens, I'm ready to spend some time with colors that will melt my corneas.

The Stimpy Quilt top

The quilt top. 

Here is the top in all its woodsy glory.  I'd like to pretend that the shadows over it are from my pine trees, but judging from the shape they are likely from a car.  A car in the woods at least.

Bits of the back.  

Having finished the front, I can now spend far too much time on the back.  I'm doing a row of four square blocks then putting a green border on the top and bottom of the row.  Then, I will add the brown leaf pattern for the rest of the back.  It won't be terribly elaborate, but I think it will be nice to have the background broken up by the blocks.

Wee Favorites!

I was tagged by A Wandering Minstrel with the Liebster Blog blogger award!

Liebster Blog is an award to highlight your favorite 'wee' blogs out there--the ones that we love that don't have huge numbers of followers.

Now that it's my turn, here are the "wee" blogs that I'd like to highlight:

My Quilt Diary The Psalms Banner will make you gasp out loud.  Not only is it beautiful, but it is hand sewn.  And, did I mention it's beautiful?

Having Fun.  Art quilts and beautiful textiles.  Go - have fun!

Quilting Dreams A fellow crafty blogger who enjoys the process and meeting new bloggers.  Plus, she has cats which is obviously something I can identify with.  

Grey Cat Quilts Three words, Christmas Cactus top.  Also, she's from my home state and you gotta love that.  

If you wish to accept this tag, feel free to post about it! Don't forget to mention who tagged you, and spotlight 3-5 of your favorite 'wee' blogs (as in, the aim is to highlight blogs with fewer than 300 followers, so spread the love!), and let people know you tagged them.

What are you waiting for?  Go check them out!  

1-1-11!

My office orchid - it produced 7 flowers on its own!

Such a pretty little face. 

My view on a cold, sunny day.  

I'm not going to get all retrospective this New Years.  Some incredibly sad things happened this year, some incredibly exciting things happened, and life goes on.  Regarding the sad things, I've learned that you never really know someone until you see how they rise up to adversity.  I am humbled and honored to better know my family this year.  They, all of them, are truly remarkable people.

My career is plugging along and I'm learning a new subject area at work.  It is stressful and exciting and I'm so happy to have this opportunity.  But, as I said, life goes on.  Time to take enjoyment out of each day.  Happy New Year everyone, may we all rise up to the challenges and joys ahead.

In case you think only one cat is trying out for the title....

Sammy curls up, signaling his approval of the green border. 

Scout helpfully points out the outer border.

I'm putting the outer border on, I've got two pieces on and one pinned on when I decided that I needed to take a break.  I'm planning on using the dark brown leaf pattern on the back, but will be putting another row of blocks towards the bottom of the backing also.  I just hope that I have enough material to do this because I bought up all the dark brown leaf that they had at the LQS.  I may end up putting a row of blocks on a side, making a "T" out of them.  If I get permission from the cat army to lay it out, I will look into that.