"The Big House" and Heating Pad Cover

Aahh... college football season has started! My Alma mater, the University of Michigan, has their first game of the year vs. Western Michigan University. We should win... but I'll bite my tongue until we have it in the bag.

On a crafting note, I finished a quilted cover for a heating pad. I was tired of the ugly cover that came with the pad (and it wasn't padded enough so even on the lowest setting the pad burned my skin). So using scraps that I had around from a couple projects I whipped up an impromptu cover. I didn't follow any pattern hence it's about 1/2" too short in length (darn it!) but it turned out cute for costing zero dollars!
I used batting between the layers so I could quilt it which also gives a little buffer between your skin and the hot pad. The back side of the cover is just a double layer of off-white quilter's flannel. I made little ties with scraps so the pad couldn't fall out of the cover.All in all, I'm pleased. Next time I'll measure twice and cut once to avoid the size problem!

My First Quilt

I've been taking a monthly sewing class at a local quilt shop for the past several months. It's been enjoyable to see all the other ladies handiwork and think about how wonderful it would be if I could be as talented in the sewing department as they are. This last month I set my reservations aside and decided to jump feet first in quilting and bought fabric for my very first attempt at a quilt. It calls for 20 fat quarters! And man was it hard to find 20 fabrics that I liked that all went together. I felt like I was buying out the whole quilt shop!
But here is my stack of fabrics...
I'm really excited about this project. With the expert guidance of my mother (an extremely talented quilter) I'm sure this will turn out beautiful. Cross your fingers (and toes) for me!!