Challenge revealed/Finishes

Here is the Coffee Can Challenge revealed. I call it Creative Gridlock. I was trying to use the strips to form a grid that sometimes connects and sometimes deadends. This was to represent how the flow of creative ideas can sometimes lead to other ideas and how some ideas just end, either due to completion or just die. The black block represents the black hole of my brain from which ideas flow and the beads in that block represent the pouring out of the ideas. The hanging beads on the bottom represent friends who give me constructive feedback on my quilt ideas. I made the quilt curvy to show how the road to following through on ideas is never a straight line! Hope this all makes sense. It was difficult for me to create this piece as I like order and structure, traditionalism, and none of these elements are present in this quilt.

Okay, all the serious stuff over!>>>What did you all do this weekend? I did some major finishing up of WIP's and have seriously reduced my list. It feels sooo good to get this done. Don't worry, I have more to start! :) It was COLD weather so I tucked in finished my Wool Bird into a pillow. Love it! I finished my paper pieced hearts from few weeks ago into little Valentine's wallhanging. I love the word LOVE on it! Pat Sloan uses words on her quilts all the time and I had been wanting to try that.

I did some blog reading and added a couple of new ones to my blog list. You all are doing such neat things out there, it keeps me inspired. I have been trying for weeks to get a decent picture of Misha but he has taken up sleeping behind the sofa instead of on it--camera shy or something. Maybe he didn't like the first photo I posted of him on the blog:(. Girls Night was crazy! You just never know what topic of conversation will occur. AND, at one point, I know there were at least 4 different conversations going at the same time and there are only 6 of us!LOL The crazy thing is we had no problem keeping track! LOL I made Janet this delish Pineapple Upside Down Cake as it was her birthday! I'm no "Martha" but even I was impressed on how easy it was! The leftovers tasted even better the next day!














I, also, got my border blocks put on my Winter Sampler. Loving it! Here is a closeup of the center embroidery work. The leaves and flowers are made from teeny tiny pieces of wool. Intense but very rewarding! I can't wait to get this one quilted and on the wall as I have been working on it for over a year. I ususally don't take THAT long to finish but this one just seemed to keep getting pushed to the back burner.

Only a few hours left to enter the draw! Quilty hugs,:)