A Fruitful Swap, and Back to the Zoo We Go

Woohoo! My first Mug Rug from the swap arrived yesterday and it is gorgeous! Becky from Sew Sane Jane sent it from Illinois, not very far away from where I grew up - and she teaches at the junior college where I got my Associate's Degree.  Small world, eh?

 This is just the back! Isn't it lovely - I really love the purple flashes in it, paired with the charcoal gray it really stands out.

 And here's the front.  Oh man, it's so fab that when Little Geek came home from school she was immediately trying to hustle me into giving it to her. Yeah right.

 Here's a closer look at the quilting, which is simple and so, so effective to show off the design.
Thank you Becky!!! You can see what I sent her over on her blog.

And now for the bad news: I am really struggling with my latest quilt, and it frustrates me so much I want to cry. The rows REFUSE to line up properly! And I know I cut everything correctly because I went back and measured them again.  The sashing rectangles (cream) are supposed to line up exactly to the blocks, but they are too short.  Way too short.  Like looks-like-a-clown-made-it too short.
I've been swearing, stretching, steaming, and I'm still going a bit crazy over it.  I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to stretch your fabric like that, but what can I do? I can't take the whole damn quilt apart, can I? (NO. I will NOT sit with a seam ripper for 2 days.)
If you have any advice, please share it!

And last but not least, here are two funny pictures for you.  The first is one I took in 2005 at Marwell Zoo, next to the bat house. (Oh my goddess, that place smells. Even outside it stinks.)

And here's one I took over the weekend when we went back.  Ha Ha, isn't that funny? Look how much she's grown? And isn't funny how Buzz does the same pose in every picture, even when they're 6 years apart! LOL!

Don't forget - tomorrow's Feature Friday! You guys have really impressed me this week!

© J C Excell, 2011