Pictures...finally

Here's a few pics of the Jacob's Ladder quilt I made for my dad for his birthday.  The pattern doesn't really look like a traditional Jacob's Ladder because of the way I set the blocks.  I know that those two corner pieces look somewhat out of place, but once they were made, I was not going to remake them in different colors.  Time was running out and it wasn't a museum piece!

I made a label to go in the corner on the diagonal, but it was just too large.  Even this label is bigger than I would have liked, but it was good.  Got a close up of the quilting on the back and on the front.  Just did some loopy loops. 

I have to say, I know it's not perfect, but I really have come a long way on my machine quilting!  This was a pretty good size quilt for me to do free motion quilting on!  I think it finished around 72x72 or thereabouts.  You could not have convinced me I would be doing more than a straight line with a walking foot on something that big on my domestic machine a short time ago!  I'm so glad I stuck with it.  And it really is fun!  And rewarding.

Tonight I pin basted the baby quilt for the shower I have to go to on Sunday.  Decided on the thread to use, so just have to get to it now!  Then it will be on to the tee shirt quilt for my coworker.  After that is done, my time in the sewing room will be my own again.

Today I almost won a bid on Ebay for a Featherweight sewing machine.  At the very end of it, there was a bidder who kept driving the price up, up, and up, so that I ended up losing it at the last second.  Well, I looked at the bid history, and, even though they don't show the full names of the bidders, there was something odd about what they did show.  Several of the bidders had 'names' that started and ended with the same number, with the spaces in between blacked out as usual.  There would be one like this:  3****3 and another 7****7, and a couple others with different numbers.  I didn't think too much about it until I got an email from the seller, a short time after the auction finished, saying that the winning bidder was unable to complete the transaction and would I like to purchase the item?  At the highest bid amount, of course.  I have not responded yet, because it just seems odd to me.  I don't trust it.  It's like they found a way to drive the bid up to see how much I would spend.  I don't know, maybe I'm being too suspicious and should take it.  I'd sure like some input on this one.  Thoughts?  Suggestions?  Similar experiences?