Not Much to Report On...

I've had so many run-ins with toxins this week that I haven't been able to accomplish much. I find it interesting that I can go along for a period of time without much trouble and then suddenly I spend a whole week practically incapacitated. It does help when I can just stay home, but that's not always possible. Nor is it a guarantee against exposures. It looks like DH is going to have to change his clothes before coming into the house after attending church services on Sundays. Last Sunday he inadvertently made me sick when he came in and greeted me while still wearing his overcoat and suit. The worst part is that I didn't even smell anything on him! Fortunately we have an attached garage - our toxic zone - that he can use for this purpose.

I have managed to make two more birds though. This first one I think I'll keep for myself.



And this one may go to a local friend:



I've also been struggling with the exercises for Jump Start January. Well, working with them. There's a lot of journaling and thinking and trying out new ways of approaching things. It's refreshing and frightening at the same time. I doubt any of this is going to show up in my work in a noticeable way. What I'm hoping for is that the stuff I do behind the scenes will come more easily and in a more organized fashion. I've got to do whatever I can to offset this annoying tendency of chemical intolerance to get in the way!

And the Winners Are...

I'd say my first-ever give away was a success. Partly because I enjoyed making the little birds so much, and partly because of the warm reception they've had. A sincere "Thank you!" to everyone who participated by visiting my blog and leaving such nice comments.

I considered several options for selecting the winners of the two birds. Because there were so many entries I finally decided to use this random number generator. Saved me from having to copy over a bunch of names or numbers on little scraps of paper!

And now the moment you've all been waiting for...

This little bird will be winging its way to Stacysews:



And this one will be flying off to live with Quiltdivajulie!

Now I've got to catch the other birds and get them into their shipping container for their trip to CreativeKismet, the originator of this exchange and give-away. I meant to do that a couple of days ago but got waylaid by chemical exposures. Getting these little guys to the post office may be an adventure in and of itself. This affliction is teaching me how to ask for help, that's for sure.

Whew!

I didn't expect such a big response to my give-away! How gratifying :- )

As a result I decided to make a second green bird to give away:

I'll announce the two winners on Sunday. Good luck to everyone who entered! And remember, you have until Saturday at 7 (Pacific time) to put your name in the hat.

I have finished the preemie quilt for January:

Of course I had no more of either of the prints I used in the original Shoo Fly blocks. It was a real challenge to find something else that would work with the existing top. I'm actually pretty happy with the way it turned out. It has an overall red, white, and blue look that I think is very appropriate for this historic month.

See you on Sunday!

Birds of Change Give-Away

What a day! I was afraid I wouldn't be able to tear myself away from the television coverage of the inauguration and subsequent activities to even do this post! But my little flock is ready to take flight, and they are anxious to get underway.

( You should be able to click on this picture for a closer look.)

All the birds are pieced on both sides. For example, this is one side of the yellow bird...


And this is the other side:

Sometimes I used the same fabrics on both sides of the birds, sometimes I didn't. They were made out of my recently re-organized scrap bags (sorted by color). I really had a lot of fun making these.

I knew I wanted to give one bird away on my blog, but which one? After much deliberation I finally decided to hold back this green bird to offer up to one of my blog readers.

Leave a comment - on this post only please! - by Saturday 24 January, 7 pm Pacific Time, and I will enter you in a drawing to win this bird. I'll need to be able to get back to you via email to let you know you're the winner, so be sure to fill out the comment form accurately. :- )

Oh, I almost forgot! There's a list of other blogs giving away Birds of Change over at CreativeKismet. I hope you win the one you want - as long as it isn't also the one I want!

National Day of Service

There's so much going on here in the USA today and tomorrow! In case you've been living in a cave (in which case, how did you get out and find access to the world wide web?!) today is a national holiday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. and tomorrow is the historic inauguration of our newest President. We have been encouraged to use this as a day of service. To that end Cheri over at Jovaliquilts has invited quilters to work on a quilt that will be donated to the charity of their choice. Unfortunately, I've spent most of the day feeling like I'd drunk too deeply from this cup:

(DD and family gave this to me for Christmas. It was one of my favorite gifts this year.)

I did, however, pull out a small UFO that has been on my mind to turn into a preemie quilt.

The hospital I donate my preemie quilts to wants them to be at least 24" x 30". This top currently measures 26" square. My plan is to make some flying geese units to create borders for what will become the top and bottom of the quilt, thus bringing it up to size. Well, actually it will end up a little bigger than it needs to be but that's okay. So when I'm feeling better this will do double duty as my January preemie quilt and my bit for our national day of service.

I was hoping to post my Birds of Change give-away today because I know it's already the 20th on the other side of the globe. Not happenin'. Tune in again tomorrow, dear reader, to find out how my birds turned out and how you might be able to win one :- )