What I've been working on.

Ok, so it's just a very simple "I Spy" made with 4.5 and 2.5" squares. I
also add pictures of the parents on these quilts.
One of my first ones.
I can't tell you how much time I've spent (a lot!) cropping, enhancing and
generally fussing with these photos. I had one set printed on fabric when I
noticed a red eye reflex that I hadn't noticed on the uncropped version.
Sigh...started over. Oh well....I'm getting closer to a good set of
pictures. The baby shower is in just over a week. It's going to be close.
I HAVE figured out that for my printer (Epson 5800) the best pictures are
printed on a "Heavy matte paper" setting. So all that time and ink hasn't
been in vain.

Oh, I LOVE it!! It's so adorable!! And the pics came out wonderfully!! :-)
Kudos!!

Thanks. That's one of my first ones. I think my photos will come out much better on this one. I'll try to remember to post a picture when it's finished.

Oh, don't you worry ... I'll nag you so you don't forget!
Is the quilt done, yet? Are the pictures up yet?
How 'bout now?
Now?
Quilt pictures, please. Please?
:-)

Not yet....still waiting for the Bubble Jet Set treated fabric to dry so I can start in on the pictures again!

Oh.
How 'bout now?
See, I told you I'd nag you so's you can't forget! Every once in a while, when you least expect it, and you're postin' here on subjects and whatnot, I'm goin' to ask you if you've finished that quilt yet ... if you've got those pix uploaded yet.
I hope you're prepared for that. Accordin' to my kids, I could nag a career criminal into goin' straight. In my house, I'm "Nag-U-lese!" :-) wonderfully!!

Ohhhhhh you're good! I'm going to see what more I can accomplish NOW!

*nods wisely* That's a good idea. You don't want me bringin' out the HEAVY naggin' guns. :-) I can bring my babies to their *knees* with my naggin'. It's hereditary. :-)
Can you tell that I REALLY want to see it??! :-) >> >> >> One

Kathyl, adding pictures of the parents to an I Spy is a scathingly brilliant idea. I'll remember to do that. We were testing my new scanner last night and the picture we were testing with seems to have come out rather anemic by the bright light of day. Wonder what setting change would make the pictures not so pale-faced? Connie, if you really want to enhance your ability to nag, you could take a few lessons from any Yorkie. If yapping, doing the spinning-out kicky dance, and the Dancing Bear imitation fail, Yogi has added a fine touch to his nag routine. Lately, he's noticed that a gentle pat with his paw on the human under siege is very effective. When he was a wee tiny little beast, we worried that he wouldn't be able to get our attention when he needed something. Ha. Polly

Oh WOW! "Scathingly brilliant"?! I think I'll just wrap it up for today. I don't think I can even come close to that description for the rest of the afternoon. I take my pictures and then tweak them in Paint Shop Pro. I have the program do an automatic saturation of color which makes the pictures look brighter and more colorful. I like that for printing on fabric as some of the color seems to weaken when printed. BUT! By using the "heavyweight matte paper" setting...I'm getting a MUCH better print out!!! Hooray! (It only took me how many years to discover this?????) I wish you could see the ones that just came out of the printer. I'm going to allow them to sit overnight before I do a rinse with my Bubble Jet Set Rinse. They look great! My webshots picture didn't show what I do in that inner border. I use the alphabet on my sewing machine to sew the words from the pictures...."ball" "dog" "Mommy" etc. The child can then do a search for all the dogs, etc., and perhaps learn to recognize the words before it's worn out. I made one for my nephew's new baby and my pregnant niece's husband took me aside and said , "Aunt Kathyl, that is so neat. Would you please make one of those for our baby?" He was sooooo sweet! So of course I'm working on one for them!!!

What a brilliant riot of colour. How cheerful is that! Are they all different? I did look to see if I could find matching ones for a 'find the pair' game, but I couldn't. Either way, it's really fun and very pretty, too. . In message , KJ writes

Ah well! having collected all that super fabric, you might just as well make another!! Clever old stick, aren't you >gI don't think I can even come close to that description for the rest of the

No, the blocks are all different. I have seen the "match" game I Spys, but I do all different blocks to stimulate vocabulary. They are fun to do. Not brilliant sewing, but they do seem to impress non quilters! Sometimes it makes me wonder why I work so hard on the really difficult quilts. The average person doesn't really seem to appreciate the difference.

Pfft. For one thing, you sure seemed to manage to impress THESE quilters! You sure did impress ME! :-)

Ah, but we do >g< (and so do you! but fun is good too) . In message , KJ writes

Howdy!
Wow! Cute "I Spy"!
One end or the other: you have the scanned faces hanging next to the Naughty Scotsman's bared bottom.
"scathingly brilliant" -- Hayley Mills in "The Trouble W/ Angels" ...this was her signature line , "I've got the most scathingly, brilliant idea!" every time she came up w/ a plan that was going to get her in trouble. Kathyl, you have been warned.
Btw, when are you going to Finish the S&S Pirates? And the one w/ the beautiful, colored ovals? Huh? Hmmm?
R/Sandy--playing w/ hundreds of small triangles (HST from 2" squares)-- what was I thinking?!!!? Oh, yeah, it was August, it was hot, thinking was not a priority...