Inspiration & instructions!

Well, the last couple of days have been BEARY busy!! I told you last post that I'd finished my first challenge project and the lovely Peg, who is hosting the Finish Five challenge sent me this ...


YAY ME!! Thank you Peg! So, one down, four to go. Not only has Peg been very encouraging of those of us who've joined her challenge, she's been inspirational! You see, when I popped into Peg's blog to tell her about my first finish, she had posted a photo of one of her own finished projects - a shaggy quilt which is just GORGEOUS! (If you haven't yet visited Peg's blog, I'd encourage you to take a peek - and tell her I sent you over with Bear Hugs!!) Now seeing Peg's beautiful FINISHED shaggy quilt jogged my memory of buying a stash of flannels to make one of these fun quilts.


Aren't they yummy?! My colour tastes have shifted a little since I bought these - two years ago!!! OOPS!! Still, they look great all laid out together like this! So finishing this raggy quilt seemed like the perfect project to add as number three to my "Challenge Finish Hit List". Hmmm ... just one problem ... it had been been SOOOOOOOOOOO long since I began this quilt that I could no longer remember HOW to put it all together!! DISASTER! However, the lovely Peg came to my rescue and emailed me some instructions she'd already put together for other bloggers who had been admiring her quilt. PHEW!! Thanks Peg! And her instructions are so clear and easy to understand that even an instruction-impaired person like me can understand them!!! Hmmmm ... it suddenly occurs to me that for a bear person ... I've chosen three quilts as my first three "Finish" projects - how did THAT happen! Ah well, I should be nice and cosy warm by the end of July and set for many winters to come! Tee! Hee! Hee!

And speaking of being a bear person ... some of you may remember me musing (no doubt in a sleep-deprived stupor after my Gayndah workshop weekend!!) that one day I'd have to measure just how much stuffing goes into one of my bears. Well ... I was in the process of making a bear yesterday when the gathering around the neck gave way as I was about to stitch up the opening after stuffing the head, and said bear head fell off!!! Now, for a bear person, it's pretty alarming stuff to see a bear with no head, even if it's a work in progress!! Not only that, the head can be a bit tricky to stuff properly to get a nice finished shape - and I'd just FINISHED this when it popped off! So I had to UN-STUFF the head, undo the neck joint, re-stitch the neck, re-attach the lock nut joint, re-stuff the bear .... AAAAAAAAARRRGGHHHHH!!! Very frustrating!! However, to help soothe my frayed nerves, I took a photo of the pile of stuffing that came out of the head to show you just how much stuffing it takes to fill a bear. Remember, this pile was just from the bear's HEAD! I sat the TV remote beside the pile as a reference. The remote is 8" long.


That's a LOT of stuffing!!! No wonder bears don't come when you call - all that stuffing must muffle the sound!! Tee! Hee! Hee!

In the time I've been playing on my blog, a number of you have left lovely comments about the layout, look or various elements of my blog that you like - THANK YOU!! I have to be honest and say I can take very little credit for the look of my blog - in the technical-nuts-and-bolts-computer-stuff sense. That's all handled by my live-in technical support officer, my beloved Geek Boy, AKA GB, AKA my husband Scott. Well, GB has now set up his own blog (must've seen how much fun I was having!!) but it has a definite technical element that my posts will never have. You see, he's set it up to answer people's computer, electronics, programming questions. He gets asked for advice on so many different things (being the technical genius he is!!) and it occurred to him that some of the questions were repeated by different people, so ... if he answers them on the blog, other people can take advantage of the answers. So if you have any questions you'd like to try to stump him with, pop into his Geek Boy blog and leave your question/problem in a comment and he'll post the answer. I find him VERY handy to have around - but I'm just a bit biased! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Finally before I sign off, I'm going to leave you with a puzzle picture. What do you think I'm going to make from these things ...


It's a birthday surprise for a friend, so you'll just have to wait a bit longer before I share!! Right now, I'm off to play in my sewing room and cut some more flannel squares!! Til next time, Bear Hugs!

CHEERS!
KRIS