A Quilt Complex

Quilt League progress

2012-01-25T16:05:00.000-08:00

Yay! Tonight is Wednesday quilt league and just when I needed it, inspiration struck! I wanted to finish up my Snowballs in Spring swap block quilt top, but wasn't sure what to do with the borders. Well, I decided to go along the lines of one of my favorite quilt designers, Edyta Sitar, and do some applique. Here is what I have come up with so far:

I think I am going to stop adding things here. I kind of like it the way it is. Everything is ironed on, but not stitched down yet...that comes next. The butterflies are from my blog friend, Cheryl. She sent me a baggie of butterfly parts ages ago and I just knew I had to incorporate some of them on this. I did have to cut them down a bit to suit this size top, but I love them! Thanks, Cheryl!!! Once I get these stitched on, I will decide if I am going to add anymore or not. Now, off to decide if I keep working on this, or be good and work on a few more test blocks. Decisions, decisions!!

Talk about GORGEOUS!

2012-01-18T13:51:00.000-08:00

Last night I acquired a beauty of a sewing machine. It is a Singer Treadle..not sure if it is a model 12 or 13 yet, and according to the serial number, she was made in 1882! Can you imagine??? After I clean her up and get a new belt on her, I will be sewing on a machine that is over 130 years old! I love my Janome 6600, but I can't imagine that in 130 years, she will still be working. I love EVERYTHING about these old machines. If they could only talk, the stories I bet they could share! How many women bent over these machines, sewing clothes for their families, quilts to keep them warm, etc. This one I got off of craigslist. She was asking $100 or best offer, and when I saw this beauty, I knew she was worth every penny. I offered her $90 and she took it. So, for $90, here is Pearl.....so named for all the mother of pearl in lay she has on her:

As much as I love the new technology, you have to admit, no NEW machine has the charm and looks like these old girls do.Today is quilt league and I am still working on a quilt I can't share :/ Hopefully Pearl was enough eye candy for you today and I hope I have something I CAN share with you soon!!!

A little more on my plate

2012-01-14T08:15:00.000-08:00

Well, I just couldn't resist! Marge at Mysteries for Relay has a new mystery today! I LOVE her mysteries and am so excited to start this one with her! You can click on the link over on my sidebar for more information on how to join us. It's not too late!! Here are my fabrics all cut out and raring to go:

Hoping to start on the first sewing step soon. However, I am using my "half and half" method of working today..do a little sewing, then a little cleaning. Seems to be pretty effective for me for getting what I NEED to get done and what I WANT to get done actually done! lolI also am working on the blocks for a "can't show you" quilt made out of the test blocks for 100 Blocks magazine. I HATE sneakret projects! I could really use your advice on this and I so hate not being able to share. Oh well, just means I need to get moving on some other things I CAN share with you!!Back to work....catch up with you later!

Sewing with Shellie

2012-01-08T18:11:00.000-08:00

We got sewing around 11:30 this morning. Shellie brought the TimBits, of course! I need to get a pic of the goodie basket she brought me...filled with fabric, magazines, a fabric zip up bag she made me for toting my sewing notions around, some sewing notions and the best ever...Circus Peanuts for me to munch on! We got right to work today (the fact that the quilt shops were closed helped us a LOT! lol) First I worked on a test block for 100 blocks magazine. Swear it took me forever to get that done. Then I started trying to figure out what to do with the Snowballs in Spring swap blocks. Just when I started getting moving on that, I got an unexpected visit from my daughter and a friend of hers. While chaos reigned for a while during the visit, we got no sewing done, but it was fun to see the kids. Then we got back to sewing and made great progress. By the time we finished up at 5:30, this is what we got done.Shellie got her wall hanging almost completely appliqued and ready to quilt:

I got the swap blocks all put together and just have to decide on borders now:

Not a bad day of work..made even better by all the chatting! Can't wait until we can do it again. In the meantime, I am hoping to have my Wednesday night quilt league this week and will hopefully get this little quilt all finished up.

Scattered me

2012-01-07T12:24:00.000-08:00

Yup..that's me..scattered today as usual. Can't seem to focus on any one thing, so working on a little bit of everything today. I got some errands done, pieced together the backing for Geese Crossing and pulled fabrics for another top I want to work on. I will use it as a leaders and enders so really doesn't count as starting something new! (Or so I tell myself! lol) I decided to pull box #3 and see what project that had in it for me to work on. Here it is:

I love this box the best because hub bought me these chocolates just for the tin so I could reuse it! lol Love that man!!Here is the surprise project:

37 6 inch blocks from the Snowballs in Spring swap last year with the Cobbled Court Quilt Circle! Love these blocks, but have no idea how I want to set them yet. Think I will go get a loaf of bread going while I think about it.More updates later!

First finish of 2012

2012-01-07T09:36:00.000-08:00

Finally got to quilting the baby quilt this morning and it went by quickly. I just echo quilted around the balloons. What was so weird was being able to bring it outside and lay it on the grass to take a pic of it in January!! I really found out how important my quilt league night is to me and getting things done. This past month, I didn't stick with it and got near to nothing done. So, starting this week, the Wednesday night quilt league is back in effect! One whole evening of nothing but sewing. Yay! I have lots and lots on the back burner that I hope to finally get caught up on. Today is a cleaning/sewing day. Not sure how much else I will get done, but I will take anything! Tomorrow Shellie is coming over for a sew in so hopefully will get tons done since the quilt shops will be closed and we can't buy any more! lolI am keeping track of how much I spend on quilting to the penny this year. I know some people worry about how much stash they have, but that is not a concern to me..the cost is. So, we will see how I do. I have been asked to teach a class on my Geese Crossing quilt (YIKES!! Me...TEACH??), so instead of grabbing the next box, I will have to get this quilted so it can hang in the shop first. Then I have to figure out fabric amounts, how to teach...I don't think I can do this! Here is a reminder pic of Geese Crossing:

Okay..off to work I go!

I love staycations!

2011-12-29T11:10:00.000-08:00

I have been off this week from work and loving every minute of it. I have watched a bunch of court tv (yes, I love watching those judges telling people to grow up and accept responsibility!!), hung with Patrick, yakked a bunch with Hannah, played video games with Joe and hung out in my most awful looking, yet wonderfully comfy, clothes! I planned on getting a lot more sewing done, but will gladly trade that for down time with the family!I have got the top done from those pale blue/white blocks done. First, I want to say to Cheryl...GET OUTTA MY HEAD! lolol The very first thought I had with what to do with these blocks was to applique something on them. Wasn't sure what, but I knew it had to be something childish as there weren't many blocks so this was going to be small. This is what I came up with:

Here is a closer up shot of the balloons:

Now to piece together some batting, get this sandwiched and quilted at some point today. This will make a nice little quilt for donating and it all came from stuff I had here. Lord knows I would never have thought to put these colors together any other time and I am still not sure what the world would think of it, but it'll do for me!

Never go in to your sewing room at 3 am

2011-12-28T12:16:00.000-08:00

Yup..you read that right. Last night I couldn't sleep so wandered into the sewing room. Was too unsettled to work on anything, so I started reorganizing a big. My daughter had bought me the perfect size boxes for my projects for Christmas, so I thought I would move the projects from the ugly boxes to the pretty ones. (Notice how I did NOT just fill up the new boxes with new projects!! I was sooooo good!). Well, one of the boxes had leftover blocks and leftover units from other quilts. In the box, I found these that I had bought at Craft Bits and Pieces for $2:

The colors are so pale the blocks aren't very exciting looking. That's okay..it will work up quick and will make a nice little donation quilt. So, I didn't really pick a project box, but this will be today's project to work on. Will post updates later!

Another box emptied

2011-12-27T12:52:00.000-08:00

I canNOt believe it has been 2 weeks since I posted last. Sure doesn't seem like it. Time flew by with the holiday preparations! I had a wonderful, blessed Christmas and hope you did, too!Even though I opened project box #2, I didn't get a chance to work on it at all until yesterday. There was a lot more to finish up than I thought! I did finally get it done today and not a moment too soon. I wanted to make this bigger, but there was just no way my poor elbows could wrestle this heavy quilt any longer. No quilt is worth antagonizing my joints into an RA flare up! I feel like I wrestled an anaconda and lost! lol This quilt finished up at 52"x60". Not sure where it is heading, but I have a feeling it will be to Mercy House. This is going to keep someone VERY warm with how heavy it is!!

And the back:

I really love the design on the back. Can you believe it took 3 of the LARGE spools of thread? I would love to make another one of these someday making more of a color design on the front rather than just the random way I have it now, but that is going to be a looooong time coming. At least until my elbows forget how much this hurt them! lolTonight I will open project box #3. I hope it is something that will finish up fast. Maybe I can squeeze in one more finish for the year!

Box #2

2011-12-13T17:53:00.000-08:00

Alrighty..sewing time! Here is the randomly selected project box I picked to work on next:

It's my denim quilt made out the old jeans. Yay! This one was about 3/4 finished when I stopped working on it. Best yet, there will be no sandwiching and quilting on this one to finish it!! Off to make some progress!

Meet Annie

2011-12-13T14:36:00.000-08:00

Okay..I am going to have to stop hanging with my pals over on the HomesteadingToday site because they are fueling the start of a bad addiction. A couple of the ladies were sharing some "new" old machines that they purchased and that got me looking. Baaad idea! Well, it is Christmas time, so I bought myself a present. May I introduce Annie to you:

Look at that pretty wooden carrying case! Yes, I know it needs a good cleaning, but this way I will have before and after pics for you!Ready??? Here she is!

Pretty, isn't she???The back:

Motor curls in for when you put the top on:

The little accessory area:

It even has the original accessory case and accessories:

All I know about her is she is New Home machine made in 1920. I called the Janome number and they were able to date her by the serial number, but that is all they had. I haven't seen any in the wooden carrying cases like this. You can see from the one shot of the back that there is another cord that plugs into the cord to the motor so I can plug her in. So, I don't know if she works or not. She does move freely when I do it by hand, though, so that is a good start. There is a little wear on the gold on the back of the bottom, but the rest looks good...just dirty. Now to head back to my gals at HomesteadingToday for help in cleaning her up without hurting her and maybe where I can find that cord. I am sooooo excited! What pretty eyecandy!!I haven't gotten much done on the sewing front. I made new valances for my kitchen and I got all the swap packages sent out for our Black and Bold swap on Marie Bostwick's site. The blocks are gorgeous! I can't show them all to you now as not all the ladies have received their packages yet, but here is a pic of mine:

I also have made some of the test blocks for 100 blocks magazine, but can't show you :/ Hopefully tonight will be a sewing night and I can finally pull out box #2 and get going on whatever project is in there!

The prettiest sight ever...

2011-11-29T18:47:00.001-08:00

...is an empty project box!!

Yay! Boy, do I feel like a big, whiny baby now! It took no time at all to get this top quilted and the binding on. It does help that I did a big, loose, loopy pattern with stars thrown in over the big light areas:

A close up:

The back:

This one will also be gifted to House of Mercy. Hopefully it will have some little boy snuggling in it soon!The work was made much easier with one of my FAVORITE things about Christmas:

I LOVE popping one of these peppermint nougats in my mouth and just letting it melt! My coworkers all laugh at me...they tell me it's "grandma" candy. That's okay..I like'em anywho!! lolNow, I am taking Mary's advice (thanks, hon!!) and rewarding myself with a little piecing. I figure tomorrow is soon enough to grab box #2 and see what is in there for me to finish up!!

Must......be.......strong......

2011-11-29T15:56:00.001-08:00

Oh, I need this sewing time tonight!!! Work has been awful this week (and we are only 2 days in!!) and I am behind in just about everything housework wise, too. Tonight, though, is for ME. I am going to sew. I NEED to quilt up the Seven Shirt quilt. Remember that I am NOT going to start anything until it gets done?? I want to quilt it, but I want to piece something..anything! lol I thought maybe I would just piece for an hour and then move on to quilting, but I am afraid I won't enjoy the piecing because of the lack of quilting guilt! Does this ever happen to you?? Sigh..I guess I will just quilt the darn thing. It really won't take long because I am only going to do a meander over it. Then I will be able to piece guilt free. No, not really because then I will know I should be pulling box #2 and working on THAT project. I know there is a compromise in here somewhere...now just to find it. The need to piece is fierce...but, I....must.....be....strong.....

Inch by Inch

2011-11-26T17:14:00.001-08:00

I am disappointed in myself for not making more sewing time this week but considering I spent it with the family, it was worth it!! I really thought I would have the Seven Shirts quilt done by now, but it just didn't happen. I did get the last border on and got it all sandwiched and ready to quilt:

I am really glad I made myself put on the last border. It really adds to the whole quilt. That is probably going to be it for tonight. I just don't have it in me to start quilting it, so that will wait until tomorrow. When I was at our retreat in Connecticut, we went out to a lovely lunch. The place was so accomodating to us quilters. Look at the chairs:

The caning was friendship stars! LOL I wonder how many folks have sat on these chairs and it took our little bunch of quilters to see that. Check out the dessert that they treated us on the house:

That is a slice of key lime pie and banoffee pie. They were both amazing, but that banoffee pie is to die for...banana, toffee and chocolate!! Throw in a proprietor with the most lovely Irish accent and a penchant for telling tales and that place has it all. Btw..I think he has a crush on Marie Bostwick, the author and our hostess for the retreat..but then again, who wouldn't???

Box #1

2011-11-22T17:41:00.001-08:00

Okay..after I had a meltdown the other day over the lack of empty boxes in my sewing cave, I decided I would start working my way through them. How to decide what to work on, though? While I obviously like all the projects or I wouldn't have started them and/or kitted them up, they apparently didn't hold my attention very long. So, I decided the only fair way was to grab a box..any box..and finish whatever was in it. And I mean FINISH it..to the end..not to a flimsy...quilt it, bind it and be DONE with it.So, I grabbed box #1 (this was kind of fun because I really had NO idea what was in it!!), opened it and found it filled with the shirts I had pulled for the 7 Shirt Quilt. The link for the tutorial is here.Saturday night I got to it and got all the shirts cut up. I got the back all pieced together:

I also have the center of the top and the first border done:

It is supposed to have piano key borders around it next. I really like the way it looks without it, though. It is small...only about 41 x 53 with only the one border on it. It is going to be donated to House of Mercy and since I just donated a small one for a girl, maybe I should leave it like this to donate for a young boy. Or maybe I should stop trying to talk myself out of the other border and just finish it up properly. That is the whole point of this exercise..no shortcuts..no "almost dones"!! Sigh..okay..off to see if I can get the last border together and on and then maybe I can even get it sandwiched tonight. Oh..the thought of getting one done that was just languishing is intoxicating!! Almost as intoxicating as having an empty box when I am done!!!!

Ruh Roh!

2011-11-19T10:09:00.001-08:00

The immortal words of Astro from the Jetsons..ruh roh! I came up to grab a project to bring back down to work on downstairs while sitting with Patrick. Simple enough task. But then I started thinking about my "Gotta Make it NOW" project that I came up with before bed the other night. I do NOT want to start it until I get a few more finishes under my belt, but I decided I could at least pull some of the scraps for it..light yellows, light pinks and browns. (Ohhh...how easily we can let ourselves be deceived..just pull the scraps..yeah..RIGHT!). Then while I was digging through my big box of scraps waiting to get cut down to size, I thought, "why not pull some scraps just in case I decide to do Bonnie Hunter's new mystery? I am digging through the pile, anywho..might as well! (Deception #2 so far..I PROMISED myself I would not consider this now since I have too much going on!)So, now I have a box filling up for my project, 2 boxes filling up for the mystery and I need one more box for strings. What?? No more empty boxes in my sewing room! This is where the big ruh roh comes in. I have boxes...LOTS of boxes for my projects. And they are all filled. Yes, I COULD go down and get another box, but I won't. I can't. I have GOT to empty some of the boxes already here of their projects to claim the box again. This is now at crisis stage with the projects. I think I need an intervention.

Doncha hate...

2011-11-15T20:36:00.001-08:00

..when it is almost midnight...you are done for the day..you are settled in bed...and WHAM! Inspiration strikes! And not just ANY inspiration..THE inspiration that makes you wide awake instantly and the wheels are turning in your head and you want to jump out of bed NOW and start this new project immediately??????!!!!! ARGHHH! I had been flipping through some quilt books earlier in the evening and just when I was ready to doze off tonight, my brain put together a quilt top based on a piece of a quilt I saw in one of those books. I canNOT get started on this now!! I NEED to finish up some of these other things!!! WAHHHH...I am going back to bed now..to not sleep and to be tossing and turning while I try to talk myself out of starting on this right NOW!

A Simple Man's Christmas is done!

2011-11-13T15:20:00.001-08:00

Today I finished quilting up the borders and got the binding machine attached. Tonight I will handsew the binding while watching the boob tube. Here it is:

I did the borders with alternating holly and Christmas trees:

I will have to wait until I can take a pic in the daylight to show you how cool the back looks with the red thread on the green back.Thanks so much to Sue and Cathy for hosting the quiltalong! I wouldn't have gotten as much done or met as many nice ladies if it weren't for you two!!Today I also got a ton of laundry done and made 2 lasagnes, a shepherd's pie, made and canned 7 quarts of meatball soup and made and canned 7 quarts of chili. Been a productive day and I can't wait to just sit and relax tonight!!

Update #2

2011-11-12T13:28:00.001-08:00

Yay! I got the center all quilted. Each star was outline quilted with the red thread. I decided that since this is a simple man's quilt, I wanted humble quilting so in the other blocks I just did great big x's. I love the way this is turning out. The back is a homespun green check and the red quilting on it looks great.

Next are the borders. Hope I can get them done. My elbows are killing me but I think I can work through it! Off to see what everyone else is up to!

Christmas quiltalong update #1

2011-11-12T10:14:00.001-08:00

Okay..this morning I got the backing pieced and got the quilt sandwiched together. Then, time to get Patrick up, dressed and fed. We started cleaning up the kitchen when I got a call from Hub. He lost his car keys at the golf course! So, off to drop off the spare key for him and then back. Finished cleaning up the kitchen and now I am finally sewing. I got the middle row of stars quilted.

I couldn't get a pic of the whole row where you could see the quilting, so I settled for 1 block. You can't really tell, but I am quilting those in a bright red thread. Should look pretty on the back! Now, off to check the blogs and then back to getting those stars all quilted!Oh, I have Susan Boyle's cd, The Gift, playing. Lord, I love this woman's voice!!

Christmas Quiltalong today..and in review

2011-11-12T04:47:00.001-08:00

Sitting here having my coffee and gearing up for today's Christmas quiltalong. I am sad that it is the last one for the year and am already looking forward to next year! I decided to go back and see just what I got accomplished this past year during the Christmas quiltalong. Here they are:February:

I got my ornament table topper done and got my first House of Mercy quilt quilted.March:

Finished up this top made from Christmas swap blocks..still need to quilt it!April:

I got my Partridge in a Pear Tree top made.May:

My Christmas 9 patch was quilted!June:Nothing...wahhh!July:

Partridge in a Pear Tree is all quilted now!August:

4 sets of the blocks done for the Scatty Christmas StarsSeptember:

Scatty Christmas Stars is put together and now is called A Simple Man's ChristmasOctober:

Painted all day and only these cut out for my Bricks and Stepping Stones which is all done now and ready to be mailed out on Monday.Wow...I am so glad I went back and looked. I got a lot done on these Saturdays. Today's plan is to get A Simple Man's Christmas all quilted. That and all the household chores, of course!!

Thursday Night Quilt League

2011-11-10T21:22:00.001-08:00

Well, tonight is the last night of the Thursday Night Quilt League. No, I am not giving up my sewing night, I have just decided that I am going to have to move it to Wednesday nights from now on. The new season of Bones started and it is on at 9 on Thursday nights. Hub and I love to watch this show together and there is no way I am going to miss it. However, that means I don't get to come up to sew until after 10. I do like to sew late at night, but that does take a big chunk of my time away. So, simple solution= move it to Wednesday nights. Works for me!Tonight I was very scattered..nothing unusual for me lately. I pulled out lots of projects and put them back. I finally decided to work on these:

I cut these out at our retreat a few weeks back with my Accuquilt Go. Sue, one of my fellow Cobbled Court Quilt Circle members, brought it for me to try out. Boy, did it make quick work of these units!! Thanks, Sue!!!!Hannah's senior project for school involves the House of Mercy homeless shelter. She and hub made a trip down there yesterday for a meeting she had. I couldn't go, so she delivered some quilts I had completed for them. They were SO grateful. Motivates me to make even more for them!! One of the quilts that was delivered to them was this:

This little beauty was made by my fellow Cobbled Court quilt circle member, Cathy G. She brought it to the retreat and gifted it to me so that I could gift it to House of Mercy!! I was so touched that she would think of me and the shelter. You can bet it is going to THRILL some little girl there.That's it for tonight, I am fading fast. Saturday is the final Christmas quiltalong and I plan on quilting up my Simple Man's Christmas quilt. Lets hope my family likes that idea, too!!

On its way to the humane society

2011-11-08T20:06:00.000-08:00

I got the Bricks and Stepping Stones quilt all quilted and the binding machine stitched on this week. Tonight I will handsew the binding down and this one will be heading down to Alabama for the humane society fundraiser.

Time was limited to work on this one and I felt badly that I only had time to do a big meander pattern through the middle. So, to personalize it a bit for the humane society, I quilted this on the borders:

woof meow bark and purr. Hope it brings in a little money for them. What a great cause!!Off to do the binding now. Night!

Last post of the night..or is it first of the morning??

2011-11-03T22:30:00.000-07:00

Well. It is 1:24 in the morning and I have just reorganized the shelves. I got the new fabric all put away and it is playing nicely with the old fabric. I wish I had taken a pic of how they were before, but I didn't..sigh. Here is what they look like now:

The bins of strips, squares and bricks used to be in the cubbies, but they had to get moved. I don't like them up on top, but this will have to work until I get some new shelves. The homespuns are all separated, the fat quarters are also separated and arranged by color and all the bigger pieces are also. It has been a good night and while I didn't get any sewing done, I feel like I have accomplished a lot and I work better when things are organized. So, with any luck, I will get to sew on Saturday and get to go through all the gifties from the retreat. I have so much more to show you!!!

The Treasure Trove

2011-11-03T19:48:00.000-07:00

Well, I have made a start! I put all my old projects and Go! items away. Then, it was time to watch Bones. Since the show finished, I went treasure hunting! First, I started with this box:

Look at all the precut 5 inch squares!!! I think they multiplied just by taking them out of their box. Wow...what a bounty of charm squares!!

My mind can't even BEGIN to imagine all the quilts I am going to be able to make out of these!! They were very happy when I put them in the bins with the 5 inch squares I already had here at home. It was like a family reunion to them. I swear I could hear them squealing, they were so happy to be home!!Next I tackled a big white plastic bag full of goodies. What was I going to find in there???

Ohhhh!! There is a stack of fat quarter sized pieces on the left and anything bigger than that I have folded and stacked in the back. The piece up front is a large piece of flannel. Wooohoooo!!Anything else left in the bag?? Oooops! Sure is! Check out these:

Orphan blocks!! Oooh..and MORE orphan blocks:

Oh, my head is just going to EXPLODE with all the ideas for the goodies I have found in just these 2 packages!! Maybe I better stop right now before I look into anything else. Focus, Reen...focus! Remember you have projects you already have started and need to finish before you start anything new!! This is going to be so dang hard. It was bad enough with my OLD stash and all the projects I wanted to do. Adding all this new stuff is just TORTURE! lol Time to go find a place to put this fabric on the shelves. There will have to be some major overhauling done to get these in there. Hmmm...maybe..just maybe...I should check out the LAST box of fabric first so I know what needs to move where. Okay..I twisted my own arm. Will report back with the goodies in there!!Okay...this box was so well organized it took me no time at all to go through it! Check out the ton of homespuns that was in it!:

We have all the greens:

I just LOVE how they are tied up in bows!!The blues:

The browns:

A pile of novelty ones and Christmas ones:

A pile of assorted small pieces and a Moda pack:

Now, the hard part is deciding whether I should keep the homespuns by themselves or mix them in with my other fabrics according to color. My first thought was to keep them separate, but now I am not so sure. Sigh..I think I am thinking too hard about this! I think I will keep them separate and see how that feels. I can always blend them in later. Oy vey...I don't know! What would you do??

Hit by not one, but TWO storms!!

2011-11-03T17:22:00.000-07:00

Well, I am back from a FABULOUS Cobble Court Quilters retreat!! I have sooo much to tell you about the retreat, but for right now, I am still keeping and savoring it and the wonderful memories all for myself. I will post pics and tell you all about it this weekend. I will say that it was in Litchfield, Ct and we did get hit with the snowstorm. Our estimate was about 14 inches of snow fall where we were, but I haven't had a "professional" total yet. I do know that despite having no heat, no power and no water since 6 pm Saturday night, we had the time of our lives even without sewing. That was the first storm. The second storm was a tornado..take a look:

This is what my sewing room looks like AFTER the retreat!! There are my projects, Go dies, etc that I brought to put away and there are 3 boxes of upholstery samples that my dad's wife saved for me from her job and my dad hauled up from Ky for me. OHHH...do I have a project I can't wait to start to make out of these!!!! There are also bags of goodies that my lovely retreat friends had for me. I am really the only REALLY scrappy quilter of the bunch of us. (There are 22 of us). So, while the ladies were cutting out fabrics for their projects, they saved all the scraps for ME!! Wheeeee!!! I felt (and still feel) like it was Christmas for me!! Some retreaters brought special little gifties, also. So there are bags of those, also! Last but not least in this pile are 2 boxes and a big bagful of fabrics that my pal, Kathy, passed along to me. I believe a friend of hers was in possession of most of this fabric due to the death of an aunt. Most of them are homespuns and the friend offered them to Kathy as she wasn't interested in them. Kathy also wasn't interested in them, but she knew who would be....ME! So, Kathy hauled them to her house and they then got to make their way home with me after the retreat. Wowsers...I am like a kid in a candy store in my very own house!!!! Why God blessed me with all these generous, kind, wonderful friends in my life, I have no idea, but you can bet I am so very, very grateful that He did!! Tonight is quilt league night, but I am too distracted by this wonderful mess in my sewing room to get any sewing done, I think. The plan is to get the room in order, starting with the easy stuff like my own old projects. Then I will have to reorganize my shelves (boy, am I going to need more shelves!!) the best I can adding in all this new fabric. That will take awhile as I know I will be fondling each and every piece before putting it away...dreaming of what I can do with all this. Last on my list will be going through all the gifties and mementos from the retreat and reliving it all. Ah...that is going to take a long time. As I sort, I will share pics of what I am doing..but don't hold your breath..this may take awhile as I bask in all the memories and friendships.

Getting ready for a retreat

2011-10-25T20:14:00.000-07:00

Yay! I will be leaving this Friday for a retreat with my fellow Cobbled Court Quilters online group! We all met on author Marie Bostwick's web site. We started with a love of Marie's books, did a few swaps together and last year we had our first retreat with Marie in Connecticut. It worked out so wonderfully that we are doing it again! Marie is a wonderful hostess, showing us around the town her books are based in, sharing herself, signing our books and then just plunking down with the rest of us for some laughing, eating, drinking and sewing! We had 17 of us last year, and I believe we are up to 22 this year!! Tonight I was doing some of the odds and ends to get ready. I made a pillowcase:

We will all make a pillowcase or two and then we donate them to a woman's shelter there.I also made a Jack in the Box block..thanks to Marge and Delaware quilts for so generously allowing us to use your pattern!!:

We are making these blocks and you get one entry for each block you make. I will pull a name and the winner gets to bring all the lovely blocks home! We are all using the same color scheme, so this is going to make a great red white and blue quilt!!I have a bunch of other odds and ends to do to get ready but thought I would share what I have gotten done so far. The hardest thing is going to pick what project(s) I want to bring along. HELP!! lol

Thursday Night Quilt League

2011-10-20T19:53:00.000-07:00

Hub tried to convince me that since his golf league was over for the year, my quilt league should be done, also. I told him it wasn't my fault his hobby was seasonal and mine was year round! lolTonight I finished quilting and got the binding on my Mercy House quilt. Yay!! Feels sooooo good to have a finish. Feels like it's been a while since I experienced one of those. Here is the quilt:

It measures 65 1/2" by 77 1/2". I will get the binding sewn down this weekend and then it will be ready to be delivered.Now, if I can only keep myself from starting anything new and just keep working on some more finishes!!

Lazy Sunday

2011-10-16T08:06:00.000-07:00

I am planning on enjoying a lazy Sunday. Hub is outside working on one of the cars and everyone else is working, so it is just Patrick and I inside. At a little over 100 lbs, I can carry him from room to room, but I can't carry him up the stairs (he is as tall as I am), so I can't get up to the sewing room. So, Patrick is plopped on the chaise in the living room and I am next to him on the couch with this:

I went up to the sewing cave and grabbed my rotary cutter, mat and a shoebox full of scraps to cut up. Going to turn some thirtysomething on tv and Patrick and I are going to relax and cut up these scraps. Funny how this little box doesn't look like much scraps, but I have learned there are more in there than you think! lol Not sure what the rest of the day will bring, but off to relax a bit!

Bricks and Stepping Stones

2011-10-15T14:39:00.000-07:00

Bricks and Stepping Stones top is all finished. This will be going to an auction for a fundraiser for a Humane Society in Alabama..if my friend wants it. If she doesn't, it will go to Mercy House homeless shelter. I am SO making another one for me. I do love this pattern and it will be hard to give up, but both are great causes. I don't NEED another quilt here..I just WANT it lolol. It is a rainy, blustery day here with winds going up to 50 mph. A good day to stay inside! I have a chicken roasting, most of my housework done for the day, and this top completed. I am taking Bonnie's advice and just relaxing tonight with hub. We will pop Northern Exposure into the dvd player and just chill. I confess that knowing me I will probably do some handquilting while watching, but at least I will be chilling! lol Depending on the day, I am hoping to finish quilting a Mercy House quilt tomorrow. That's the plan anywho..lets see if it really works out! Hope everyone is dry, warm and safe this weekend!!

Quilt League update

2011-10-13T21:39:00.000-07:00

Well, I planned on sewing a few of the matchstick units for the blocks, but I got them all done.

It is now 12:40 am, so I am now off to my bath with a good book and then bed. 10 hour day at work tomorrow and I need my beauty sleep!! lol

Thursday Night Quilt League

2011-10-13T19:56:00.000-07:00

Wow..did I EVER need some good sewing therapy!! This has been a rough week at work and I have been so busy painting the kitchen and canning garden goodies that I thought I would never see my sewing room again. I find I start getting agitated if I don't spend some time up here. Does that happen to you? I did manage to do some handquilting a few evenings, but the pull to come up to my quilt cave was strong! Tonight I worked on making the 4 patches for the Bricks and Stepping Stones quilt:

There they are...130+ of the little buggers. I am so glad that part is done. Now comes the fun part of putting the blocks together! I think I will get at least a few of them put together tonight..I can't wait to see them!I also got this wallhanging put together:

I know it is a rotten pic, but it IS 11 at night and the light in my sewing room is horrible. This was a kit I bought when I was checking out a new shop in town with Shellie. The stitches from the appliqueing are what quilt it together, which is why you see batting under it already. So, I just need to pick out a backing and get this machine appliqued. I have been avoiding getting back to quilting my Mercy House quilt. I WILL get it done this weekend so I can start quilting up another one to donate to them. Why do I balk at things like this? It isn't hard, it will go by fast..who knows.I just got the letter that the test blocks for Quiltmakers 100 block magazine #5 will be coming to me shortly. I can't believe it is time to start that up again! I am so excited!!!

Wow..that took longer than expected!

2011-10-08T20:04:00.000-07:00

The painting the kitchen that is!! There are 6 walls in my kitchen and they took forever. I did get them done, though! I still have to paint the trim and do some touch ups. I love newly painted rooms...they seem so much cleaner! lol I was itching ALL DAY to get up here for the quiltalong, but I just couldn't swing it. Finally at 10:30 tonight, I finally made it up here. I was requested by a friend to make a quilt for a fund raiser for a humane society and I had told her I would try, but couldn't promise anything as the fundraiser is Nov 18th and I already have a LOT on plate that needs to get done. My arms are wayyyyyy too tired from the painting to wrestle with quilting my Mercy House quilt, so I was sitting here trying to think of something I could whip up for the fundraiser. Then it hit me...Bonnie Hunter's Bricks and Stepping Stones. I have looked at that pattern at LEAST a million times because I love it and I remembered that she said it was a great one if you needed a big quilt in a hurry. So, that is what I did tonight..cut out the pieces for that.

Not sure if I will start sewing it right away or wait and bring it to a retreat I am going to the last weekend in October. I still have a TON of 3 and 1/2 in strips so I might have to kit up another one..I am NOT going to want to part with this one!! lol Oh well, it would be for a good cause, right?? So, I am hoping to continue the quiltalong tomorrow night. Then maybe I will actually get something Christmasy done!!

October's Christmas Quiltalong

2011-10-08T05:18:00.000-07:00

Well, I will be getting a late start on the quiltalong today as I get to paint the kitchen today. After work this past week I have spackled and sanded the walls, painted the ceiling and painted the windows. That leaves just painting the walls for today. Yay!!! I am probably the only person who has ever brought one of these in to match the paint color:

This will be my accent color and is going on 2 walls and the other walls are going to be an antique white. After that I will be sewing, though I am not sure on what yet. I still have one quilt that is only 1/3 quilted so I really should finish that. I would also like to quilt A Simple Man's Christmas. Can't wait to see what everyone else is up to! I still have a few packages left from my mystery bag of unfinished projects that I purchased a while ago to share. Here is another one:

These are all handpieced, also. Aren't the fabrics great? When do you think these were made just by looking at the fabrics? Well, off to paint. Will check in later!!

Thursday Quilt League progress

2011-09-29T18:44:00.000-07:00

Well, I decided I needed to start getting some of these tops quilted so I chose my second House of Mercy quilt:

I am doing just a very open loopy pattern on it because it is large and it is HEAVY. I only got about 1/3 of this quilted and had to stop because my arms and shoulders were killing me. Why is it so heavy? Because I am using this old blanket as batting:

Remember these blankets?? They must have been from the 70's. It is going to make this sooo warm which is important because this quilt is going to House of Mercy for the homeless. Should keep someone nice and toasty!! While it is hard to move this baby around while quilting, it is actually very smooth and easy to quilt through.

While piecing the last few tops, I have managed to get a little pile of my 9 patch leaders and enders done:

They measure in at 3 inches finished. Here they are added into the leaders and enders quilt top:

A close up:

I really love the way this is turning out. Not sure what to work on next. I have a retreat to go to in 4 weeks that I need to have stuff done for, I have black and bold swap blocks I need to work on and a million other projects. I was sick at the beginning of the week and while I am feeling better, I still am wiped out so I might just call it an early night and settle in the tub with a good book. Sigh...such decisions!

This one is for Sue!

2011-09-24T09:55:00.000-07:00

My pal Shellie and I went to check out a new quilt shop that opened up in my town. It is called Cafe Sewciety Quilts. LOVED the shop! Just what this town needed. Anywho, as I am scoping out the place, guess what I see?

Pick Four by our own Sue Abrey!! Of course I just SNATCHED up the book and had to tell the owner about "knowing" Sue! She said that a friend of hers..I believe her name was Dorothy...at Martingale told her that this was a book she had to sell! So..she is!! I had been trying like the dickens to win a copy, but I bought mine at this fine shop and am thrilled with it!

I did also buy a few pieces of fabric that I needed for a block swap. Great trip!

Then Shellie and I headed off to the older quilt shop in town. I have never been a fan of this one...not very friendly if you are not part of their little clique. anywho..nothing there.

So, off to Joann's. Shellie was in search for a tote for her machine and I still needed to get some material for a retreat we are going on in a month. Guess what???!!

MORE Pick Four!!!! At Joann's!!!!????? That is HUGE, Sue..to be picked up by a big chain like this!!!! Unfortunately, there was no one around there that we could brag that we "knew" the author! (DRAT!!) lol

Sue...I am soooooo THRILLED for you that I can't even tell ya!!! Hope this made your day!!

A little more Toads

2011-09-24T05:30:00.001-07:00

Thought you might like a close up of Toads in Bowties so that you could see the colors a little bit better. Still deciding if I should add that extra border to it. We will see.

Lots of cleaning and canning to do today, so I better get on it so I can get some sewing time in tonight!!

Toads in Bowties

2011-09-23T04:55:00.000-07:00

Well, here it is! Toads in Bowties. I do think I am going to add one more border to it. That will have to wait until tomorrow as I work 9-7 today. What do you think?

Woohoo!

2011-09-22T19:23:00.001-07:00

I finished the last border on my bowtie quilt tonight!! Woohoooo! I am naming this one Toads in Bowties! lol Toads for the toad green in it and the bow ties are self explanatory. It is 77" x 90". Unfortunately, that means I don't have any floor space big enough to lay it down and take a pic tonight. I might be able to get a pic tomorrow before work, but it probably won't be until Saturday. I really like the way this one turned out. I am trying to talk myself out of adding one more border. lol I need to just let it be done! lol

Well, posts without pics are boring, so here is another one of the mystery packs I bought a few weeks ago:

Very cool! Let's look inside!!

Oh cool!! Some of these have sayings written on them:

A true friend is a forever friend
Friendship is a work of heart
Your friend is the one who knows all about you and still likes you
Happy is the house that shelters a friend
Friendship is a sheltering tree
The language of friendship is not words but meaning

These ones are machine stitched and I have no idea how to place them together, but I will figure it out one of these days. Any ideas??

My Kind of Saturday

2011-09-17T11:23:00.001-07:00

It starts with my perfect weather...high of about 64. Yay! I LOVE this weather! I have more energy now than at any other time of the year. I love cool weather dinners..I am sick to DEATH of bbq!!
So, lasagna is on the menu tonight (with another one made and frozen for another night), beans are soaking for chili tomorrow night plus lots extra to can, laundry is going, I am deep cleaning multiple rooms at one time and I got the final border on my Delfina's Baskets quilt.

It measures in at 77 1/2 in x 91". There is some hand stitching that is done on the original one from the pattern and I may get to that tonight while watching tv. This is one of Edyta Sitar's patterns, tho I did the borders just a little different.

Well, off to see what else I can accomplish this wonderful, perfect day!

Christmas quiltalong update

2011-09-10T20:30:00.001-07:00

Yay! My Scatty Christmas Stars is done and I just LOVE it! Mine is made all out of men's shirts. So, I am renaming mine, A Simple Man's Christmas. Thanks so much, Sue and Cathi for this pattern! I just loved it. Though I do have to admit my heart was in my throat when I had to cut the triangles off! lol

I did some more work on my Delfina's Baskets quilt top, also, but no pictures of that to show yet.

Tomorrow is cleaning the house and putting up a ton of tomatoes so I doubt I will get any sewing in, but so glad that I got this finished!! Now my pile of tops to be quilted is getting too big, though, so guess quilting some of these up is next on my list!!

Night and thanks for sharing the quiltalong with me! Oh...and I still have lots more of our surprise packages to share with you so stay tuned!

Sidetracked but back on it now!!

2011-09-10T17:32:00.000-07:00

Well, I hit the farmer's market this morning for some peaches, picked my daughter up from work and then my oldest daughter and her hub arrived. So much for any sewing! It is now 8:30 and I am just STARTING my Christmas quiltalong. I hope you stop by tomorrow to see what I get done! I will continue to post updates tonight.

Just so ya don't think I sat around all day, here is what kept me busy for a good part of the afternoon:

I put up 9 quarts of peaches and 7 half pints of peach jam. Does my kitchen smell NUMMY!!

Here is another one of the surprise packages:

Hmm..looks interesting. Now let's take them out:

Now THESE look vintage to me. There are 11 blocks with 4 more center pieces cut. They measure anywhere from 8 1/2 in to 9 in. Hmm..might have to square these up a bit! They also are all handstitched..and well done, I might add. I LIKE these ones. No ideas on what to do with them yet, but that's okay.

Now..FINALLY off to stitching!

Jingle Bells and more!

2011-09-10T05:24:00.000-07:00

Yay! Today is the Christmas
Quiltalong! It is never too late to join us in getting a jump on the holiday season. I have loved all the Christmas projects that I have gotten done on these Saturdays through the year. Thanks so much to Sue and Cathi for hosting this!!!

On today's list will be the Scatty Christmas Stars. I am finally all caught up and can't wait to receive the next step today!

That is the only definite on my list. The rest I am going to work on as the mood strikes me. Other items on today's agenda are: more canning, laundry, Hannah's senior pics and a visit from my oldest daughter, Jess, and her hub, Greg. Looks like it is going to be a great weekend!

I stopped at Craft Bits and Pieces the other day after work and look what I bought!

These are all someone else's ufo's. Why I need to purchase someone else's when I have plenty of my own, I don't know, but I ALWAYS do this! I didn't even look to see what they were. Just grabbed them and left. So, let's open these together! Each update I will post one of the bags and the goodies held inside. You can enjoy the surprise with me!

First up:

The tag says, "Vintage-3 rows finished and fabric to do more" hmm...cool!

This is inside:

Hmm..I dunno about vintage..unless you consider the 1980's vintage. What decade do the fabrics look to you? The pieces are all handstitched:

Not sure what the plan was for these...borders, maybe? Any ideas?

Well, off to get stitching. Will check back in soon!

Hot blue, toad green...and plum??

2011-09-05T19:31:00.000-07:00

Yup. Only in my world do those colors look good together lol. I decided to use a plum fabric for my set in triangles after I had to rip out the original toad green ones. So, after getting them in and the corner triangles on, the center is now complete.

I know..I know...go ahead and say it. My feelings won't be hurt. I KNOW I have an odd color sense. In the one and only quilt class I ever took, when we showed the teacher what fabrics we were going to use, she said to me, "No, really..what fabrics are you going to use?" I couldn't convince her that the ones I was showing her were the ones I was REALLY going to use until I started sewing them in front of her. But hey..that is what quilting is about, right? Making things that please YOU. Individualizing an old pattern with YOUR fabrics and colors. I happen to LOVE these colors in this quilt and since it is for me, that's perfect! When I make one for someone else, I do try to tone down my choices to fit their likes.

It measures in at 66" x 79 1/2" right now. It shows up really wrinkly, but that is my laziness/excitement to post it that I didn't take the time to press it out. It does lie flat now! Yay! I still haven't decided on what I am going to do for the borders. Lots of ideas in my head, but none standing out right now. So, on to other projects.

I FINALLY got all my blocks done for the Scatty Christmas Stars and got all the rows put together:

I know..the pictures of both of these are lousy. The light in my house is awful and since I do my sewing at night, my finishes all come at night when I can't take outside pics! This one is made out of shirts. I really like the country feel it has to it. On the next Christmas quiltalong, I will take a pic of it outside so you can see the colors better.

I also got batting pieced together, made 3 more quarts of dill pickles, 6 pints of salsa canned, did loads of laundry and even managed to go to a picnic this weekend. I am not done for the night yet. I am so motivated by getting these 2 done tonight that I might see what else I can work on.

Catch you soon!!

**Update**

Well, when I went to find something else to work on, I found the blocks I had made for the Mysteries for Relay Mystery #17. This one is called November Stars. Everything went completely wrong for me on this one. My color choices were horrible and the stars wouldn't come out right no matter how many times I tried them. So, frustrated, I just put them away. Tonight I just decided to go ahead and put them together anyway. I don't even know if I can donate this one. It might just have to stay here and be used UNDER another quilt lol. I just don't get it. Everyone else who did the mystery had quilts that turned out beautifully!! Oh well, that's the way it works sometimes. I don't even think I am going to put borders on this one. Just leave it as is.

Now, off to bath, book and bed. I better get busy this week quilting some of these!!

Hot blue and toad green..

2011-09-04T05:16:00.001-07:00

What do they have to do with each other? Well, absolutely nothing, but those are the colors that are starring in my bowtie quilt. Thursday night at my quilting league, I was sooooo excited to get all the center put together!! Well, all but the corner pieces. Got it all together, laid it out on the floor to take a peek and EEEKK!!! What is this??? It is all puckered and gathered!!!

That is what happens when you try to do math at night when you are tired. You cut the wrong size set-in triangles!!! Arghhh! Of course I do not have enough toad green to make the RIGHT sized ones to redo it, so this morning Patrick and I will be ripping out those set-in triangles and making new ones of a different fabric. Hub is at a golf tournament today, so Patrick and I are declaring today a quilt tournament and we are going to stitch away! All the canning, cleaning and mundane stuff will just have to wait!!

Oh, Hannah and I stopped at Goodwill the other day and look what I got:

7 YARDS of this Christmas batik for $3.99!!! It is going to make a wonderful back for a Christmas quilt top I have. I also got 4 large fleece blankets for $1.99 each that I will use for batting. Gotta love Goodwill!

Off to audition new fabrics for those triangles. Hope everyone is enjoying their Labor day weekend!!

Get me out of the kitchen!

2011-08-28T16:49:00.000-07:00

For someone who hates cooking, I am spending an awful lot of time in the kitchen lately! Today salsa was made, chicken soup made and is being canned now, grocery shopping was done, more cukes and tomatos were prepped for canning tomorrow night, etc. I am truly in awe of how much bounty my little 20 x 20 garden has produced. I can't wait for the second garden to come in and I know my family will be eating well this winter!!!

I did manage to get into the sewing room and finish up all my bowties. I even had time to put them into blocks!

I ran out of the blue sashing material before I had all the blocks I wanted so I am rethinking my quilt. Ah...love being able to just veer into a different direction when I need to! I am going to play around tonight with the setting and decide if I want to figure out a different sashing or not.

Here is this week's list to get done (wow...actually on Sunday, not Tues! lol)

1) last 100 blocks magazine test block
2) finish up last blocks for Scatty Christmas Stars
3) piece together more batting
4) quilt either Mercy House quilt or Chunky Churndash
5) keep playing with bowtie quilt

Wish me luck!!

A Few Mo' Bowties

2011-08-23T20:13:00.000-07:00

Got to work for a little bit in the sewing room tonight and I now have half of my bowties done for my project. That would be 60 of them so far. I have some of them already made into my blocks (sheesh..I just COULDN'T wait to see!) and so far I am still loving it! Whew lol. The plan is to finish up the bowties on my Thursday Night Quilt League. Then the real fun can begin as I put them into blocks and get them put together. Still not sure what I am going to do about the borders, but I still have time. That is the best thing about this quilt. I am keeping it, so I can take my time..no rush, no deadline. What a glorious feeling!!!

Bumblebeans and the Kitchen Sink

2011-08-21T19:26:00.000-07:00

I am "friends" with author Marie Bostwick on facebook. She posted that she got to meet a really terrific lady who has undertaken a HUGE project. The lady is Victoria Findlay Wolfe and the project is Bumblebeansbasic. I won't go into all the details as you can just click on the link to get all the details, but I will sum it up that Victoria needs 400 quilts...by November! Mind you, that is to add to the 300 she has already gotten! Anywho, Marie and a fellow Cobbled Court online quilt circle member, Carla H, threw out the challenge to the other members of the circle to finish up a UFO and donate it. I jumped in and this afternoon, I pulled out my Kitchen Sink top and got it all quilted. Now I just need to handsew down the binding tomorrow night and off into the mail on Tuesday. Here is the quilt:

The pattern is Kitchen Sink by Kim Brackett in her Scrap-basket surprises book. It measures 57x62. They need all sized quilts. Check it out and donate a quilt or 3!!

So, I didn't get Mercy House or Chunky Churndash quilted like on my list, but I am happy with at least getting one UFO done!

I also didn't can green beans. I did can this:

That is 6 pints of relish, 6 pints of bread and butter pickles and 6 quarts of dill pickles. I have never made any pickles before, so this was way cool for me!! I also made these:

Dilled eggs and cidered eggs. Haven't made those before either and hub can hardly wait to eat'em!!

I got these all done today. The rest of the week I only got 1 set of blocks done for the Scatty Christmas stars quilt, I made my 2 test pattern blocks and made more bowties and got a few of them set in blocks. Hopefully will have more time to work on those this week. I will be thinking about my list for this week and will post it tomorrow. For now...bath, book and bed. Night, my friends!!

Ohhhh!!!

2011-08-18T17:07:00.000-07:00

My Thursday night quilt league is getting a late start, but I am so excited about something that is rolling around in my head, I don't care!!! I saw a pic of an antique quilt that I just LOVED and it reminded me of one I had seen that I knew was similar. It takes my old brain a while to kick into gear to remember things, so it FINALLY came to me. It was Bonnie Hunter's Bowdacious bow ties quilt. Yay! I have the book that pattern is in, so I can use a little bit of her and a little bit of me to start this quilt!! Oh, I hope it turns out as wonderfully in real life as it looks in my head! lol

Bad news is...that means items on my list for the week are going to take a back burner tonight. Oh well, there is always next week's list! lol

Will report in soon...hopefully with some progress on my bowtie blocks!!

Update:

Here is a pic of some of the scrappy bow ties I made tonight. There are more, but I already got them made into blocks and I don't want to show those just yet. I want to surprise you! So far, I am loving this!! Unfortunately, my mind is still racing and wanting to sew, but after working 10 hours today, my body is saying, "no way, old woman!!" LOL..guess the body wins. Off to book, bath and bed for me. Hope I don't have to wait until this weekend to work some more on this!!!

List for week of 8/15

2011-08-16T05:26:00.001-07:00

I didn't work nearly as much on my projects while we were camping as I had planned, but that is okay because I spent that time doing things with the family and building some wonderful memories! We went on hikes on trails like this:

We also played a ton of board games and ate like there was no tomorrow!

I did manage to finish outline quilting all the petals on the Giant New York Sunflower and started quilting a design in the first set of yellow petals:

Here is my list of goals for this week:

1) test 2 block patterns for 100 Blocks Magazine
2) finish up last 2 sets of blocks for Scatty Christmas Stars quilt
3) can green beans and plant more!!
4) piece together batting
5) quilt second Mercy House quilt OR Chunky Churndash depending on how big the pieced batting turns out
6) finish putting blocks together for Delfina's Baskets quilt

There sure are a lot more projects I could add, but I know I am going to be REALLY busy out in the gardens this week after being gone all last week!!

Day behind Christmas quiltalong

2011-08-14T15:17:00.000-07:00

Well, we got back yesterday from vacation, but it was too late to join in the Christmas quiltalong. I figured that between doing the laundry from 6 people camping for a week, I would try to fit some sewing in. So far I have the first 4 sets of star blocks done:

I, of course, could not find block #5 so Sue graciously just sent it to me. I am hoping to get those done and the rail fence blocks done tonight. Doubt I will get them put together, but any little bit is good!!

We had a wonderful time at the cabin in the woods. We had this right outside our door:

I don't know if you can see it well, but it has a face like Pinocchio on it. The nose is pointing off towards the left, eyes above it and it looks like he is whistling or sticking his tongue out.
Another visitor we had was on Sunday night..a big black bear came right up to our porch! I was sitting on the porch by myself and this guy was so quiet I didn't know he was there until I he was right on the other side of the porch railing! Of course it was 10 o'clock at night and all I had was my cell phone. Black bears in a black forest at night, just don't come out in pics! He wasn't phased when I hollered for my hub to come see him. He just kinda ambled around a bit. Hub put the van lights on to try to get a better pic, but it didn't work. He finally just wandered back into the woods. So, here is my pic of the bear...that no one is gonna believe me really IS a bear!! lol

Hub and the kids got to see another bear crossing a road on Friday night on our way back from a beach party, but I was driving another vehicle and missed that one. After 5 years of going to the park, we finally got to see bears! YAY!

Unfortunately, we also had a bad accident there:

This is what happens when your van loses BOTH brake lines and shoots down a hill BACKWARDS at 35 mph!! The power lines were all down around it, it hit hard enough to break the driver seat and both driver AND the seat were thrown into the back, the front passenger also was thrown into the back and just about all 4 passengers hit their heads on something. God was watching out for us, though, as no one was hurt. The area this happened in, is usually filled with kids playing, cars around, etc..and there was NO ONE around when this happened. Only God could make that happen!!

Despite that, everyone had a great time down there (once the shock and fear wore off). I will post more pictures in the upcoming posts. Now, back to laundry, dinner and then more sewing!!!

Buh-bye!

2011-08-06T04:45:00.000-07:00

We are heading off today for our week in the woods at Allegany State Park. Boy, do we NEED this. Life has just been out of control and some down time is just the answer. No electricity, no running water in the cabin..BLISS!

It does require some thought on what to bring along to work on, since there is no electricity. I am bringing along the Giant New York Sunflower quilt (up on the header here) to do some more handquilting on when the light is good and I will be bringing along some yarn and needles to start a pair of fingerless gloves (how I LOVE those things) when the light isn't as good. I am sure an extra project or two will end up in there.

The kindle is a definite, lots of board games and some good hiking shoes. I won't have much accomplished by the time I get back, but hopefully I will be refreshed and rejuvenated so I can make some good progress when I get home!

Btw..you can still vote at the online quilt contest for my quilt, Pete and Bev's Hideaway, at http://quiltinggallery.com/blog-posts/ The quilts there are so gorgeous, it is worth a peek!!!

Take care, my friends, and see you in a week!!!

A BIG favor, please!

2011-08-05T04:21:00.000-07:00

I entered the log cabin quilt I made for my inlaws in an online quilt contest over at the quilting gallery. Remember this one?

If you wouldn't mind going over to the site and checking out the quilts, I would appreciate it. Vote for whichever one you think is the best, but of course I am hoping you think mine is! It is called Pete and Bev's Hideaway. Voting is today through Sunday and you can vote here

Enjoy looking at all the gorgeous quilts!!

The room is DONE..whew

2011-08-02T20:23:00.001-07:00

Yup..I know I said I was going to do a little each day, but once I started, I couldn't stop. I actually finished it late last night and it was no where near as hard as I expected it to be!

I got a lot of emails saying that the room didn't look too bad. Well, you will see how bad it was in the before and after pics here. The whole room shot didn't show all!

This was to the left of the entrance to the room. On the left is a mound of upholstery samples I was given, there is a bag of jeans there, a small box on top of some projects that are either done or need a little something to finish them off, and the big box is..gasp...SCRAPS!
Right next to that was this:

Buried back there is a bookshelp my Dan made me in high school. Fabric is hanging off the top and there are 2 old pillowcases stuffed with teensy bits to be made into dog beds.

Now it looks like this:

Is that a box of scraps or WHAT?? New rule..every time I step in the sewing room, I have to cut down at least 1 handful of scraps! I completed the odds and ends on those projects and mailed them or put them away, the little cabinet is filled with threads and notions and the dog beds have had pillowcases made to cover them and are being given away.

Next is the old entertainment center. It has no other home so it sits here. Should have been great for storage, but not the way I was using it! See?:

The top..covered in flimsies, fabric from completed quilts that needs to get put away and a box with a project in it.

Now:

Then the middle:

One side holds who knows what and the other is hiding bits of batting and it looks like I found an old utility quilt that I have been looking for!

Now:

All my WIP's on one side in containers and all my shirts and jeans on the other.

The bottom:

Puzzles and junk!

Now:

A box of items for my applique and some tote bags and the other side has all those upholstery pieces!

Whew..worn out yet? That was the worst part. Here is the easy stuff. Next to the entertainment center tucked in a corner:

A knitting machine, the box for my Janome and who knows what else!

Now:

A container holding my batting, the Go next to it and a bag of flannel that needs to get cut up on top.

The cubbies themselves weren't too bad, but look at the boxes of projects and all those shirts piled up on top! Also a bag of fabric on the floor waiting to get put away.

Now:

Bookcase on top and everything else cleared off..'cept my book cover of Marie Bostwick's newest book and my radio!

And last..my little shelf by me and my machine:

Cluttered with stuff falling everywhere!

Now:

All clean!!

I am THRILLED to get this done. I do need more storage, but those aren't in the budget right now, so this will do. I am already chomping at the bit to get going in my newly organized room. I do have to get in there and see what I am going to bring with me to work on next week while we are camping. Ah...and just think..I will now be able to FIND what I need when I need it! Wooohooo!!

My dirty little secret..not for the squeamish

2011-07-31T05:58:00.000-07:00

This is my sewing room! I know I cleaned and organized it not too long ago, so when did the cyclone hit it???? I have been so focused on getting some projects done, that apparently I had turned a blind eye to just how BAD this room had gotten. No wonder I feel so scattered and fragmented!! Who could work in a room that is so out of control? I do have a lot on my plate already today, but I have decided to work on one section of the sewing room each day until it is under control. Some accountability works wonders for motivation...especially when I have a great idea for a top that I would rather be working on! lol

Each time I clean up a section, I will show the before and after pics. Sigh..not really thrilled with showing you all what a slobby quilter I am, but hey...that's me

Farm Animal Finale!!

2011-07-30T14:24:00.001-07:00

Yay! It is all quilted and the binding is machine stitched on, just awaiting the hand stitching tonight. This was a big quilting project for me, and it feels GREAT to have it done! I do love my chickens strutting along the border! It measures in at 72" x 72" and is backed in a flannel. Talk about heavy and warm!!

Now, off to enjoy a dinner of yummy spare ribs, potato salad and cucumber salad..and wine! Hopefully more stitching later!

Cluck, cluck, cluck

2011-07-29T18:23:00.000-07:00

With as much time that has passed since my last post, you would think I would have lots to show you. Nope. Life has kept me busy and for the most part out of the sewing room.

I did get some of this done:

4 quarts of nummy green beans...yay!!!

It is just the start of a great garden season for me and putting up all the harvest will keep me hopping for the next month or so.

I did get into the sewing room last night and got the center of my Farm Animal block swap top all quilted. It was too dark to get a good pic so I just took this little one:

I cross hatched all the 16 patches and each animal block got its own special treatment. Then it was time to figure out what to do with the border. I have probably put more time into quilting this quilt than just about any other I have done. So, I wanted something quick and easy. But wait!!! What was that little thought I had that was wriggling around in my brain? CHICKENS!! The border needed chickens walking around it!! What a great (read that as really dumb) idea!! What possessed me to do this to myself?? I have only been machine quilting for a few years and am NOT good at it. I can do simple things like meandering, but heck..I can't even do swirls!! Dope that I am, I jumped right into the chicken border. Believe it or not..I had a chicken stencil I could use!! (Where the HELL did that come from??) Anywho, here is the start of my chickens on the borders:

The rooster:

The hen:

This is obviously not going to be a fast finish, but too late to change it now! With any luck, I will get some sewing time in this weekend and have a thing or two to cross off that list!

Finished a Tote bag

2011-07-20T19:30:00.000-07:00

Okay..it's not quilty, but it is a finish! (Darn..why didn't I put this on this week's list??). I made this tote out of plastic grocery bags. Since it was the first one I made, I didn't use different colored bags to spice it up, but will next time!

The pattern can be found at Kayla K's Thrifty Ways. Take a look around her blog. Lots of great ideas!

AccuquiltGo! for sale

2011-07-19T17:22:00.000-07:00

After much thought, I have decided to sell my AccuquiltGo! I just don't use it. I used it once or twice here and gave a demo with it at a retreat. I keep meaning to use it, but don't, and my little sewing room is so cluttered that I think it is time for it to go (pun intended! lol) I am going to sell it for $300 and that includes postage. Here is what will be included:

1) the AccuquiltGo!
2) half square 3" finished die
3) 5" square die
4) Drunkard's Path 7" finished
5) Value Die which includes:
4 1/2" square
2 1/2" square
2 1/2" triangle
6) 2 6" x 12" cutting mats
7) 5" x 10" cutting mat
8) 10" x 24" cutting mat

I have priced them online..I think the lowest I saw was Joann's online for $199 (not including shipping and don't forget tax!) The dies alone are an extra $120 so I think the $300 price is fair. You can always make me an offer if you think this price is too high! If you are interested or have any questions, feel free to leave me a note here or email me at spreeeewell8@yahoo.com.

I am about ready to head up to the sewing room, and will decide what to work on. Will update later!!

The list

2011-07-18T20:46:00.000-07:00

I was reading Bonnie's blog, Institches With Bonnie, and she had her weekly list up. I love her list and seeing the progress she makes each week. I used to make lists but somehow got out of the habit, so tonight I am starting back with a weekly list of what I want to accomplish. So, here goes:

1) Finish quilting Farm Animal Swap quilt
2) catch up on blocks for Scatty Christmas Stars
3) catch up on Marge's weekly mystery clues..I haven't even started and she is on clue 3, I think!
4) finish basket blocks for Delfina's Baskets quilt
5) start writing up patterns for Allegany Rings and Geese Crossing quilts
6) put together blocks for Summer Dreamin'

There. That is MORE than enough. I feel good having goals listed, though. Nothing like a list to get me motivated!

I do have lots of garden work to get done, also. Here are the first of the canned pickled beets I made on Sunday. Only about 1/3 of the beets were ready, so more of these yummies are in my future!

Slacker? Not me!

2011-07-13T19:09:00.000-07:00

Well, okay..I confess. I DID slack all afternoon. I did not housecleaning, no gardening, nothing but watching some tv and reading a book! I should have kept up the momentum from finishing the wallhanging, but what can I say?

It was actually cool enough today to cook, so we had spaghetti, salad from the garden and garlic bread. Was nice to cook something inside again! After that, we all watched a scary movie..Insidious. Umm..lets just say screams were loud and they weren't all from me!! lol

Then, I decided to keep plugging along on some of my ufo's, so I am quilting my Farm Animal block swap top. These go back to August 2009! Sheesh. Right now I am crosshatching the 16 patches in between the swap blocks and it is taking forever. No wonder I put this off!! Here it is in progress:

With any luck I will get the cross hatching done tonight. Off I go!

Partridge has roosted and been duly finished!

2011-07-13T08:37:00.000-07:00

Well, I found the Partridge in a Pear Tree wallhanging this morning and added a few applique hearts and then got it quilted and the binding stitched on. It measures in at 25" x 37". The pattern can be found in the book Quilt and Sew Fanciful Folk Art by Miriam Courley.

Wait until I take the pics of the other items that I found while searching. Sheesh..that room is getting a TOTAL overhaul....soon!

I have the day off today and am glad to have a finish to start it off with. Now for cleaning and gardening. Hopefully I will get some more sewing in, but if not, there is always tomorrow's Thursday Night Quilt League!!

The sound of fabric screaming..

2011-07-12T17:25:00.000-07:00

..will be the next sound you hear coming from my sewing room! I am bound and determined to kick some fabric butt tonight and make some real progress! I don't know on what yet..but it is going to happen!!

Considering it is probably about 3000 degrees in my sewing room, I deserve some kind of medal, but I figure I will sew, I will go hop in the pool, etc..

So, if ya hear some fabric screaming, no worries..it is just me doing some serious damage!!

**Update**

Well, not as much done as I would have liked, but I did manage to make 256 Hst's for the remaining 16 blocks for Summer Dreamin':

I also made 2 blocks for 100 Blocks Magazine, but of course I can't show yout those yet!

Now, it is off for one last dip in the pool ( I have been in the pool 3 times since I started sewing tonight!!) and then off to bed!

Anyone see a partridge flying by??

2011-07-09T19:24:00.000-07:00

Mine apparently has flown away! Went up to sandwich my Partridge in a Pear Tree wallhanging so I could start quilting it, and I can't find it! Now, my sewing room is not big. It IS a mess right now, I will concede that, but all my flimsies are piled together. Sigh..guess this is a major call to CLEAN that room. Sigh..off to look some more!

Saturday evening

2011-07-09T17:36:00.000-07:00

Well, what a great visit we had today! We hit the stores first and we all did well.

That's Shellie on the right, Kathy in the middle and I am on the left.

3 shops later and I only spent $18! Can you say WILLPOWER!! Wasn't easy! lol By this time it was lunch time so we grabbed a bite to eat and headed back to my house for some sewing. I think we got back around 1, which wasn't going to leave us much time for sewing as we needed to wrap up around 4 as I had dinner plans.

Now, you have to understand...I don't think there was one minute of quiet the whole time so far! Shellie and I have gotten together, but we haven't connected with Kathy since our retreat last Thursday. So, lots and lots of gabbing was being done!

Finally settling down to sew, we worked away. Here are the girls working:

We did manage to each get a few of our blocks done before we had to call it quits.

The ones on top are mine..and so far I am liking the melon background. I know it is not a great shot, but what do you think?

Dinner plans panned out but hub went and got us dinner and Patrick, hub and I ate our dinner on a quilt covered table outside in the shade and just enjoyed the evening. One movie later and here we are. So, soon Patrick will be off to bed and I assume hub, also. Then I am hoping to do some more sewing!! Now, off to check out how everyone else in the quiltalong did!!

Spectacular Saturday!

2011-07-09T04:45:00.000-07:00

Today is the Christmas Quiltalong! Yay! I know it is too early to even THINK about Christmas, but honestly..I am sooooo tired of rushing come November to get my Christmas projects made. This quiltalong has been just the best thing for me and I sooo look forward to it every month!

Today will be spent sewing with Kathy and Shellie from my online quilt circle, Cobbled Court Quilters. We all are readers of Marie Bostwick's books and have met up in person and chat online all the time. Btw..have you read Marie's new book, Threading the Needle? It is a MUST read!!! Go get it..I PROMISE you won't be disappointed!!

We will be checking out quilt shops in the morning and then settling in to sew for a few hours. Our project won't be Christmasy, but that is okay. Sharing some time with good friends is part of what Christmas is about! After that, dinner out with the hub and some friends and then maybe..just maybe..if I am not too pooped I plan on quilting my Partridge in a Pear tree wallhanging:

I will be checking in on the other quiltalongers and posting updates!

Fabulous Friday

2011-07-08T04:52:00.001-07:00

Yup..Friday is fabulous!! Why? First because of what I got done last night. I finished cutting out the fabric for Summer Dreamin':

Yes, I really am planning on using that cantaloupe colored fabric for my background..hope it works! lol

I also made my 2 blocks for 100 blocks magazine and made the bottom half of the remaining baskets for the Delfina's Baskets quilt:

Last, but not least, I got the next 2 blocks done for Scatty Christmas Stars:

I even got some bonus hst's because I was a ninny and sewed the wrong size blocks together:

As if that wasn't enough to make today fabulous, I have tomorrow to look forward to with my Cobbled Court online quilt circle friends coming to sew! I am so excited to see Shellie and Kathy.

Ohhh..and tomorrow is the Christmas quiltalong, also! See the link on the right for more info. Wow..how much more fun can a girl take?????

Thursday quilt league

2011-07-07T13:35:00.001-07:00

Yay..I LOVE Thursdays now that I have joined this league! lol Tonight will be a little different...I am making dinner for the family and I already did two loads of laundry and have a few other odds and ends I need to get cleaned up. Going to try to finish the mini list I made the other night and who knows what else. Will post updates!

Bath, book and bedtime!

2011-07-05T20:12:00.000-07:00

Well, I got TONS of laundry done (I hate when the kids finally clean their rooms and bring down every piece of clothing they own to be washed), made a new batch of laundry detergent, cleaned up my room , cleaned up Patrick's room and gave him a long guys spa treatment. On the sewing front, I didn't come close to getting done all I had listed. I did get the 7 shirt quilt all cut out. Then, when I went upstairs to start picking out fabrics for one of the other quilts, I discovered a small wallhanging that I didn't even remember I had! I bet this one came from the 80's or 90's. Looking at it, there wasn't much left to finish, so I brought that down and worked on it. All I have to do now is applique a vegie on the seed packet on the right. I love this little primitive crow wallhanging!!

So, now it is off to the bathtub with a book and then bed. The rest will have to wait until Thursday's quilt league!!

A little this...a little that

2011-07-05T14:03:00.000-07:00

Isn't this a neat shot? Only my Hannah could make a dandelion and flip flops look good! lol

I have the super urge to sew today, but I have so many things to do..and Patrick is being a stinker and not giving me a minutes peace..so I am compromising. I brought cutting mat and accessories down into the kitchen, so I can work on some odds and ends between getting stuff done and keeping Patrick happy.

When she saw my post about looking for patterns for all my shirts, JoAnne (waving atcha!!) sent me a perfect link. It is for a quilt made totally out of 7 shirts. I borrowed this pic from the website so you could see what the design is:

It is over at Life is a Stitch.

Here are my 7 shirts:

I am going to get them all cut out and kitted up between doing my chores. That will be 12 down altogether...60 more to go! lol Thanks soooo much, JoAnne!! This one is PERFECT!

I also am going to try to get my 30's fabric kitted up for this Saturday. I will have 2 of my Cobbled Court online quilting group here for a sew in! We decided on Summer Dreamin' over at Moda. I think I am going to go with a pink/peachy background color. Hmm..not sure yet. So, will go pull the fabrics for this and hopefully get everything cut and ready to go.

Then..as if I really will get any more done... I am going to pull my fabrics for the Summer Mystery going on at Mysteries for Life. This time Marge is only posting 1 clue a week (and she already is on #2) so hopefully I will get caught up on that.

Next then...I have 2 blocks that are to be tested and are due in a few days. Need to get them done!

Next, next then..I want to do 2 more blocks for the Scatty Christmas stars quilt.

I would add more Hobo quilt blocks, but I am going to be doing those in bits and pieces. Whatever I have leftover from the shirts I use for other quilts will be used to make the hobo blocks.

Well, big hopes for this afternoon/evening...I better get going!

Ugly Fabric Challenge project and summer yummies

2011-07-01T05:35:00.000-07:00

Here are some shots of my Ugly Fabric Challenge project. The pattern is from the Thimbleberry guide for Weekend Quilters. I didn't win, but I did have a great time and I was awed by the projects the ladies came up with. Congrats to the winners!!!

Hannah and I went and picked our strawberries on Wed morning. Perfect day for it..sunny but cool. Glad we went then as the season is just about done. We picked 8 quarts:

From that we got 20 1/2 pints of jam ( I dropped one and they ate 2 already!):

We also have 3 quarts frozen now and ate 1 quart in strawberry shortcakes. THIS is waht summer is about!!!

Tonight's update and some sad news!

2011-06-28T18:12:00.001-07:00

Well, as you can see I got the first set of blocks done for the Christmas Scatty Stars quilt done. Was going to start on the next set, but I myself am feeling scatty and wanted to move on to something else

So, I decided to make the next block for my Folk Art Tribute quilt. Only 3 more blocks to go!! Yay! I had saved them to my computer because Dawn, at Linen Closet Quilts, had stated that as of June 1, the pattern would be taken down and up for purchase. So, tonight I pulled up the next block and to my dismay, it wasn't there! lol Apparently when she removed the pattern, it removed it completely from googledocs which is what I had saved it on. Sigh..only to me could that happen!! I did send Dawn a note to see if there was anything that could be done. So close...yet so far! lol Well, if nothing else, this quilt taught me that I do like applique...especially since I was letting my machine do it for me! lol

Now, off to figure what else to work on. Not like I don't have a million things!!

Ps...Oh..I am so glad to see that Mary Lou at Cheaper than Therapy quilting is going to be working on a quilt or two from shirts, also. I have asked her to be my "shirt buddy"! lol I figured we could share any great patterns that might work well with these fabrics. Anyone else game for it? Or have any great pattern?

Update #2

Mary Lou gave me a great inspiration and doesn't even know it! You see, I was thinking about her, and if I remember correctly she is from Kentucky. My dad also lives in Kentucky and when I was down there last year, I bought myself the Hobo Quilts book:

What quilt could be more perfect for old shirts than this? So, I made the first two blocks tonight:

Now, bath, book and bed are calling my name. I have tomorrow off, so Hannah and I are getting up early to pick strawberries. If I can get enough, I will be making jam and freezing a bunch. Then some major time out in the garden and getting my hair done. Who knows..maybe I can sneak in time to make another Hobo block or two!

Just a TAD outta control???

2011-06-28T14:19:00.000-07:00

I was picking up my sewing room a bit and almost went into shock when I saw a HUGE pile on my shelves. A HUGE pile of what, you ask? A HUGE pile of shirts that I have collected to use in my quilts. I have been so busy using up scraps, that I haven't touched any pieces of fabric. How can I come in this room so often and NOT have seen how many shirts I had piled up??? The pictures may not look like much, but there is a grand total of 71 shirts here waiting to be used!!!

Lights

Darks

So, a new challenge to myself. Let's see how many quilts I can make out of these shirts. I think the bigger challenge will be to make quilts that don't all look like each other since a lot of the shirtings are similar. I am STOKED about this challenge. I will use other scraps or materials if needed, but I want each of my challenge quilts to be at made of at least 75% of the shirts. This is going to be so cool. I can't wait to see what happens to a lot of patterns that I love when shirtings are used in them. These kinds of quilts always look so inviting to me! I have seen some amazing quilts made from shirtings and I will be busy looking them up again.

So, since I have a little bit of sewing time today, I decided to start the blocks for my Scatty Christmas Stars quilt that have been posted monthly for those doing the Christmas quiltalong. Mine will be a homespun Christmas quilt! Here are the 5 shirts (sheesh..I know...5 out of the 71 seems ridiculous, but hey...it's a start!!) that I am going to use for this quilt:

Will post pics of the finished blocks when I am done!

Whew...made it!

2011-06-25T15:18:00.001-07:00

I didn't even get a chance to start quilting the graduation quilt I needed for the party this afternoon until this morning! I chose a large, loose pattern of flowers and meandering loops. Thank goodness I did, because the quilting was fast and I got that done and had it bound with minutes to spare before we left. Here is is:

Tory absolutely loved it! Btw...this pattern came from Maryquilts.com and is called Forest Bricks. It measures in at 55" x 73". I just love all the patterns on her site. She is a great designer and I recommend that you give some of her patterns a try!

Now, time for a little tv and relaxing. Tomorrow is Joe's graduation, so don't think I will get any sewing done then. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Quilt league and ugly fabric

2011-06-23T14:22:00.000-07:00

Yay! Tonight is my quilt league!! Getting a little bit of a late start to it as I had to post all the pics for the Ugly Fabric Challenge. Wow..just wow!! You have GOT to check out the projects the 16 participants made!! Here is the link:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/1721001@N21/

You may remember that this is the ugly fabric we all had to work with:

The 3 projects with the most votes gets some wonderful fat quarters!! I did put a project in, but don't get to vote as I know who made what. Now...if you do go look..which project do you think is mine?

I should be quilting the graduation quilt, but I have no one to watch Patrick downstairs right now, so think I will bring my machine downstairs and do some piecing. The Lord knows I have a LOT of works in progress to choose from! lol

Will update later!

Grad quilt has its borders and what I can't show you

2011-06-22T22:19:00.001-07:00

Well, got the borders on Tory's graduation quilt tonight. Rotten picture, but it is 1:15 in the morning! Tomorrow night I will quilt during my quilt league and hopefully it will be ready for Saturday!

What I can't show you are the test block for 100 Blocks magazine I got done and my Ugly Fabric Challenge project. Those projects will be posted tomorrow on flickr and I will post the address for that and see if you can guess which is mine!

Well, now off to bath, book and bed. It feels sooooo good to be sewing again. It is food for my soul!!

YIKES final post

2011-06-18T19:50:00.000-07:00

Well, I only managed to get the first of 3 borders on the graduation quilt, but hey..I'll take it!

Now for bath, book and bed. Tomorrow will be spent outside working, so won't be able to finish the last 2 borders until tomorrow night. That's okay, though. That will give me the rest of the week to get it quilted. Night all!

Yikes! Update #1

2011-06-18T15:12:00.001-07:00

Well, so far I made laundry detergent and did all the laundry, got the bathroom cleaned, have a pork roast on for dinner and got half the kitchen cleaned up. I did get the center of the graduation quilt completed:

Now to finish the kitchen and laundry room, run to the store for a new coffee carafe (broke mine cleaning it today!), dinner and maybe, just maybe, get the borders on this tonight. That or have a drink with hub and just chill...decisions decisions!

YIKES!

2011-06-18T11:34:00.000-07:00

So, I just realized that we have a graduation party NEXT Saturday that I need to have a quilt for! YIKES! Woulnd't be so bad, but we are just finishing up having a $9,000 septic system put in. Yes...9,000 for the privilege of flushing..sigh. Anywho, my backyard looks like this:

My front yard looks like this:

We HAVE to get at least the backyard cleaned up ASAP as I have another big vegie garden that needs to go in NOW. Also, as you can imagine with all that dirt around, my house inside is horrible. I planned on cleaning inside all day and working outside all tomorrow. Now to add a quilt in. And after spending all this money on the septic, there is NO extra money around.

So, I know the girl that the quilt is for like purple, so I raided my stash for that. Find enough pieces of batting that I can piece together. I had bought a queen size cotton sheet set on clearance at Target for 3.74 that I am going to use in this quilt also. Brought my machine and supplies downstairs into the kitchen so I can work on it between cleaning jobs. So far I have everything cut and have been chain piecing like mad:

I now have everything chainpieced and now have to cut them apart and put them into blocks.

I have been cleaning something, then sewing, clean something, then sew. Now off to clean again! Will update as I go!!

Quilt league final post

2011-06-16T18:58:00.000-07:00

Sorry that you have to crane your neck sideways to see this!!
Well, it was time consuming, but I love how this applique block turned out. It is for the Folk Art Tribute BOM that I am doing. Now just 3 more blocks to go! Wooohooo!
Now, off to do some hub snuggling while watching the tv. Hope you all had a productive night!

Quilting League update #1

2011-06-16T15:30:00.001-07:00

My little pile of baskets for my Delfina's baskets quilt grew today. I am now halfway through how many baskets I need. Yay!

Feeling very scattered today, so am going to move onto another project instead of continuing on with the baskets.

Btw...so far I have been called about 14 times from downstairs to help solve some "problem". I keep responding, " I would answer you if I were home, but I am at my quilting league!". Wonder how long it will take them to catch on! lol

Thursday night quilting league

2011-06-16T12:59:00.000-07:00

I have been so bogged down lately that I haven't had time to sew. I finally decided I was tired of whining about that and figured out what I was going to do to correct that. Tuesday nights are my hub's golf league. He leaves work early, goes golfing and generally dinner and drinks follow. He gets home anytime from 8:30 to 11. So, I created my own quilting league on Thursday nights. I get out of work early..at 2:45, head up to my sewing room and I am officially "not at home". Hub, Joe and Hannah are responsible for making their own dinner, taking care of Patrick, rides for whomever need them, etc. I am at my league and can't be reached! Today is the official start of this league and I am stoked! I will report in as the night goes by.
The best part of this league? I am the only member, so I am in first place!!!

Well, I got the binding on my Star Crossed Love table runner. I got it quilted finally the other evening and now just need to handsew the binding the next time I am sitting in front of the tv. You can find the pattern at Marie Bostwick's site (link is on the right side of my page). It goes with the second book in her series, I believe.

It is raining out so I had to take the pic inside. I really love this pattern. I even love the colors...and if you have seen any of my quilts, you know I am not a brights person. However, I do think I am going to remake this one sometime..in more homespun fabrics and colors...but only AFTER I get the other 3,000 quilts/projects I want to try done!!! lolol

Some baskets made

2011-06-01T19:57:00.000-07:00

I decided I wanted something quick and easy to work on tonight, so I put together a few more baskets for my Delfina's Baskets quilt by Edyta Sitar. Ah...hst's are so soothing to me...and so are baskets, so what a perfect combo!! I only made a few of them tonight as I am pooped! Well, any progress is good progress, right??

A fun block

2011-05-31T18:49:00.000-07:00

My friend, Lillian, told me about this block and I decided to play and make a couple tonight. How simple is this? Just a 4 patch in the center made from 4 1/2 in squares and then framed on the sides by 2 1/2 x 8 1/2 and 2 1/2 x 12 1/2 inch strips making a 12 1/2 in square. I just love this block! I have TONS of 4 1/2 in squares cut and I can see these blocks making up into all kinds of quick but great looking quilts to donate to Mercy House. The possibilities are endless! Great..just what I need..more ideas flowing through my head! lol I was just playing tonight as it was wayyyy too hot to spend too much time in the sewing room tonight.

Before I start anything new, though, I do have another fun project to finish. It is part of an "Ugly Fabric Challenge". Each person who signed up got the same amount of the same fabric and we have to make any project we want out of it. Then we will vote on our favorites and the top 3 winners get some nice fat quarters as prizes! I can't show you the project until after the voting, but here is the fabric:

Not HORRIBLE, but definitely not pretty!! All I have to do is quilt my project and it is done..yay!!!

Will be spending a good portion of tomorrow replanting part of my vegies. Looks like the beans and pea seeds rotted in the ground from all the rain. Will replant the beans, but not the peas as it is now too late for the. Sigh..guess they will wait until the fall. Now to decide what to plant in their place!

Finally a finish!

2011-05-29T06:04:00.001-07:00

Yay!! I finished quilting the Moda 9 patch yesterday and just have to handsew the binding down. Here it is:

It measures in at about 66.5" x 90.5" and is actually called "Sweet Menagerie" 9 patch quilt and can be found here:

http://www.modabakeshop.com/2009/10/sweet-menagerie-nine-patch-quilt.html

I really love how this turned out and it will be a nice addition to my slowly growing pile of Christmas quilts. Hopefully I can get that iced tea out of it! Thank goodness for the Christmas quiltalong which got me finally quilting this!

Now that I have this finish, I feel like a weight has been lifted off me and I hopefully can get some more things done. I do have gardening to do today while it is sunny out. I was hoping for a rainy day so I could get more sewing in, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do! I am sure I can squeeze some sewing in. Hub is gone for the day and the kids will be gone most of the day, also. That just leaves Patrick and I and that is a nice quiet day!

Well, will try to update as the day goes along. Lots to do and too little time to do it!

Was I so bad at some time in my life that I am being paid back for it now??

2011-05-21T09:47:00.000-07:00

Don't answer that. I am sure I was. Every time I think I am going to have time to sew and finish some of my projects, something else comes up. Usually involving running around or doing something for someone else. Yes, I know..that is what happens when you are a mom, but it seems so much more so right now. And I am stressed..there are issues at work, financial issues, too much to do and too little time to do it issues, etc. What do I do to relieve stress? I quilt. Not getting to do that has me feeling like I am a hair away from snapping. I figured I would go on strike today and do nothing for anyone (except, of course, my Patrick). A whole day to sew..yay! I sit down to my Moda 9 patch I started quilting last weekend. Remember I need to throw the next load of laundry in and go downstairs. Come back up to find that one of the cats knocked my iced tea over..all over the floor..and some on my VERY white quilt. Wahhhhh!!!!

Back

Front

So, more added pressure that I really don't need. Now I HAVE to get this done and NOW so I can get this in the wash. Sigh..the way things are going, I don't think it will come out.

Say a prayer for me, please. If I didn't have God to lean on in these crazy times, I am sure I would have snapped long ago!

Update #2

2011-05-14T13:41:00.000-07:00

Well, after running a few errands and getting some stuff done around here, I finally got quilting. I am using a swirly heart pattern. Here it is:

Back to work!

Christmas quiltalong update #1

2011-05-14T07:05:00.000-07:00

Yay...thanks to Ali, who is also doing the quilt along, I have found my project. She is working on a quilt top using Moda's Glace line. That reminded me that I had made this 9 patch from Moda last year and it was just waiting to be quilted.

So, this will take care of doing something Christmasy (I think the colors are Christmasy) and will cross a UFO off my list..yay..a twofer!!! Off to piece the backing then get it sandwiched.

May's Christmas Quilt Along

2011-05-14T05:55:00.000-07:00

Yay!! It is here! The past week has been so nice here weather wise, that I have spent all my non work time planting the vegies and have done really no sewing. I have no idea what I am going to work on today, and I am afraid what I do decide won't be Christmasy. I have 3 blocks for Quiltmaker's 100 blocks magazine vol 4 to make, a couple blocks for a friend to make, my Delfina's Basket quilt to work on, and my Farm Animals quilt to finish quilting. I think I might compromise today...I haven't yet made any of the blocks for the Scatty Stars quilt, so maybe I will make the ones up to now and then work on quilting Farm Animals. I am really feeling very stressed over getting some of the ufo's done. Sigh..I hate that. Don't know why I let myself get this way. The Farm Animal quilt isn't going to anyone so why do I feel like I HAVE to get it done RIGHT NOW?
If you feel like joining us for the quilt along..and I hope you do...just click on the link on the right side of the page. It will be fun to work with you!

While I decide on what to work on, here are some pics of the blocks I tested for vol 3 of 100 blocks:

I am not thrilled with my color choices but oh, well. Some of these blocks I would never make on my own, but it is fun to get a chance to try things I normally wouldn't. Well, off to decide what to work on. Post again soon!

Finally on the go!

2011-05-03T18:20:00.000-07:00

I finally am feeling well enough and have enough energy to get some work done in the sewing room. I really want to whittle the UFO pile down a bit, so after pulling a bunch of tops out, I settled on an old top from Aug 2009. It was a block swap called "Farm Animals" and I just love it..very whimsical! Why did I choose this one of the pile? Because I didn't wanna mess with piecing a backing together and I had the perfect piece of plaid flannel (from a duvet cover and sheet set) that fit and no piecing!!!YAY! lol I know..lazy sewer...but tonight I just wanted to get MOVING! Here it is all sandwiched and ready to go:

Notice my new button on the ride sidebar? It is for testing the blocks for Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks magazine Vol 3. They also sent me a great coffee mug. That is, of course, in addition to the fabric they sent me originally, plus they sent me 2 copies of the magazine!! Woot! I believe the magazine is available May 10 on the stands. I will be posting pics of the blocks that I tested soon. I am excited to already be testing the blocks for the NEXT issue!! I LOVE the volume 3 magazine and can't wait to see what volume 4 brings!

Well, off to start the quilting on Farm Animals!!

Some progress

2011-04-28T14:11:00.001-07:00

Well, I did get a LOT done on my day off. Laundry galore, house cleaned, kitchen coop cleaned out, etc. I did squeeze in some fun. I got more circles cut out for the jeans quilt:

I got the rest of the handles made for my Delfina's Basket quilt:

I got the hanging sleeve on my Trees of Life wallhanging and got it hung up. I do have to get wire to hang the rod instead of the ribbon:

I even canned some pasta fagioli:

I got everything ready for the "Ugly Fabric Challenge" over at Marie Bostwick's web page (see link on right side for her site). This is going to be such fun. Can't wait to see what these 19 ladies are going to make out of the ugly fabric I send them!! Oh, btw...Marie's next book is out at the end of May!!! I am so excited..pre-order it!!

I have so much more to share with you. Quiltmaker's 100 block magazine is coming out and I can't wait!! I had such fun testing the patterns for the blocks. And Quiltmaker sent such wonderful things to me for doing it! I will share pics of that and the blocks I made for them soon. They are already getting ready to put the NEXT edition out and I am testing patterns for them again. yay!!!

Well, I have chatted on long enough. I am really getting on top of things over here and I LOVE it. Hopefully will have lots to show you soon!!

A day off

2011-04-26T06:05:00.000-07:00

So, what to do, what to do??? I could do absolutely nothing and use this quiet time on my own to read, watch some chick flicks, turn the tube on and watch court tv (yes, I am a sucker for Judge Joe Brown and all those like him). I could fill up the tub and take a looooooong bubble bath with some hot cocoa, candles and a good book. Or, I could clean like crazy and get stuff done that so needs to get done. I could clean out cupboards, dust baseboards, etc. The weather is awful, so no planting outside, so that lets that out. Or, I could hibernate and just sew. Or I could do a little of both. Or I could write some way long overdue letters..or make phonecalls. Sigh..I HATE days off!! No matter what I choose, I will feel like I chose the wrong thing.
Well, while I decide how to spend this day, I am off for a date with Judge Joe Brown. Update in a bit!!

Happy Easter!!

2011-04-24T10:15:00.000-07:00

Easter is a very emotional day for me. When I think about what God did to save me and my sins, it is heartwrenching. I hope you stop today and think about it.

Let's start with this today:

This is a Lover's Knot quilt. The blocks were made by members of the Cobbled Court Quilt Circle from all over the US and Canada. We made them for the husband of one of the member's husbands. They are going through a difficult time right now, so we made a quilt for each of them. We made Friendship star blocks for Patrice's quilt and these Lover's Knots blocks for Joe. Beth put Patrice's quilt together and I had the honor of putting Joe's together. I hope they know prayers and love went into every stitch of this quilt!

We went down to Kentucky this past week to visit my dad. I made a bunch of dishrags on the trip but these are all I have left (gave the others away down there):

I also got 13 basket handles done for my Delfina's Basket quilt:

I need a total of 20, but I only had 13 ready to go.

I wanted to sew today, but so far I have been just puttering in the sewing room. More organizing, cut up a handful of scraps from those overflowing bags of them, etc. Not really sure what I will work on today. So far I am just enjoying this part.

Btw..we had a GREAT time in Kentucky visiting my dad. Just wish it wasn't such a short visit and so far away!!

Some savings

2011-04-17T13:18:00.001-07:00

These were my purchases this morning. Cost: $24.12 Savings: $96.75 Not bad for a mornings work!!!

Another update

2011-04-09T06:47:00.001-07:00

Yay! I got all the pieces stitched on now:

Here is a closer shot:

Ugh..I hate when they turn sideways and I don't know how to fix them!

I am still deciding on whether or not to add a border or not, but right now I am leaning towards not so I can call this top done! LOL

Not sure if I am going to have time to do anymore today, anywho. Still too many projects calling my name!!!

Well, I got a later start than I would have liked due to nasty things such as housework, but at least I got started! I have the pieces all fused on now:

This pattern is from a book called Quilt and Sew Fanciful Folk Art by Miriam Gourley. Hers was borderless, but I am thinking of adding a black and red 4 patch border. Not sure yet, though. Now I am off to machine stitch these pieces down!

Yeah! Today is the Christmas Quiltalong!! You can click on the link on the right sidebar if you would like to join us. I am making a Partridge in a Pear Tree wallhanging this time. At least I will get it started. I have a quilt with a deadline to work on, and a few other projects that I need to get finished. Also, the weather is just perfect for me to be out there in the garden getting my cold weather vegies planted. Sigh...Why couldn't it be rainy today so I could just sew????

More updates in a bit!!

A find and a new project

2011-04-07T20:29:00.000-07:00

While I was busy doing nothing in my sewing room the other night, I found a bunch of half square triangles that I had made awhile ago.

I think I had made them to make a second Trees of Life wallhanging. I had grand visions then of keeping one and giving one away, but I should have known better. I don't do seconds. As much as I love a pattern, I rarely ever make one twice. There are too many quilts out there that I want to make to make the same one twice! lol

I counted up the hst's and had the perfect amount to make another Edyta Sitar pattern, Delfina's basket.

I LOVE this pattern and since I already had the most time consuming part done..making the hst's..I was ready to roll!! I cut the rest of the fabric needed that night and am now making the basket handles. Once those are done, it will be quick work to put this quilt top together.

Yes, I do have guilt over starting something new when I have tops waiting to be quilted, but hey...I could say that it was already started since the hst's were done! lol

Joe got his cast on yesterday and is well on the road to recovery there. Today, though, the poor kid had his wisdom teeth out and is in more pain from this than he was from the broken ankle and surgery!! At least now he is done and God willing..it will be smooth sailing for a loooooong time for him!!

Btw..a big thank you to Kim and Dawn for passing along old jeans, assorted clothes to be used for fabric and a big bag of fabric odds and ends!! Your contributions are going to keep some people at the shelter warm and hopefully they will feel loved when they snuggle up in a quilt that you helped provide them!! Thanks, ladies!!

Fabric pervert no more!!

2011-04-05T17:50:00.000-07:00

Finally have made it up into my sewing room..YAY!! My mind is still going in 300 different directions, so I am having a hard time choosing what to work on. So, I sat and looked at my fabric. Then I got up and straightened my fabric. Then I started feeling and fondling my fabric. Then I quickly looked around and made sure no one was watching me and reporting me to the police for being a fabric pervert!! LOL
So, I decided to work on a few odds and ends. I decided to make some blocks I have been eyeing up. Nice, big, simple yet gorgeous blocks. Here are the 2 I have made so far:

I have a bunch of the tiny 9 patches made and I have more jeans ready to add to that quilt, so I think I will probably work on one of those projects next, but ya never know.

I did cut a bunch of scraps up, but I didn't take pics, so you will just have to trust me on that! lol

Oh, and lookie here:
Start with this:

and end up with this:

Your own homemade laundry detergent! It smells wooonderfully and cleans so well!! I have a front loading HE washer and this is a low suds recipe that works just great. Here is the recipe:

3 cups Borax
3 cups Arm and Hammer WASHING soda (not baking soda!!)
3 bars grated Fels Naptha soap

That's it! How easy can you get! Saves money, works great!!

Did you miss me??

2011-04-03T15:22:00.000-07:00

Wow..look how long it has been since I posted last! No time for sewing these past few weeks. I was too busy with work and taking care of Joe and his broken ankle. He ended up having surgery on it (plate and a half dozen screws) and is now on the mend. He gets his hard cast on Wednesday..and then his wisdom teeth out on Thursday! Well, at least it will keep him out of trouble! lol

I did finally get a little time in the sewing room and finished up my Kitchen Sink quilt top. It measures in at 58 x 63 1/2. This pattern is from Kim Brackett's Scrap-Basket Surprises. I really love this pattern, but I goofed up in some of my color choices and used lights that ended up being too dark, so the pattern gets lost. Sigh..that's okay...I still like it!! I added an extra border as hers measured in at 53 x 58 3/4. I don't get quilts that size. Don't get me wrong, I love her patterns, but the sizes for the quilts are all small. Not big enough to snuggle under, yet not little enough to use as table toppers. What are quilts that size used for?? I just don't get these small quilts. What do you guys think? Oh, here is a pic:

I have LOTS of plans on getting old projects done and new ones started so will hopefully have more to share soon. Will be tough though, the nice weather is here and I need to be planting. We will see what wins out!!

A finish and some news

2011-03-19T13:35:00.000-07:00

First, I haven't had much time in the sewing room, but I did finish quilting Trees of Life by Edyta Sitar. I can't tell you how much I love this pattern! Still have to handsew the binding to the back so it looks crowded on the edges. Also, it was wiiiindy outside, so the side that looks bowed is only windblown! lol

The news is that my 17 yr old son, Joe, broke his ankle Thursday night. Not only did he break it, but he shredded the tendon in there, too. So, surgery is for this coming Thursday to put a plate/pins in the bone and to repair the tendon. Poor kid. Not a good thing at the end of your senior year! He also has his 18th birthday in 2 weeks. Well, it could always be worse. Please send your prayers for a speedy recovery!!

I have managed to also make a few test blocks, but of course, can't show them yet. I think we are just about wrapping those up so as soon as the magazine is out, I can finally share these gorgeous blocks!

Not sure how much sewing time I am going to have. Taking care of Patrick generally takes up a lot of my time, but now I have 2 kiddos to take care of everything for. Sigh...so sorry my son is hurting, but sooooo nice to have someone to take care of!!!

Righteousness and Accountability

2011-03-13T10:15:00.000-07:00

Bet that got your attention, right? Well, it's not quite what you think. The righteousness is that I am listening to the Righteous Brothers while finally quilting my Trees of Life wallhanging:

Hoping to make some good progress in this one today. Would help if I had an idea as to how I want to quilt it, but no clue yet.

The accountability is for this:

This is 4 bags STUFFED with scraps for trimming down. Sigh. I promised myself I wouldn't let it get this out of hand. So..I need you guys to keep REMINDING me to get this taken care of!!

Have company coming for dinner tonight, but still hope to get some work done on both of these projects today. Wish me luck!!