Its been a while....

I had a bit of a dry spell for a week or two. I just didn't like anything that I was doing, so I stopped doing. You know those times when nothing can please you??? However, tonight is the JoMorton club at my LQS, and I had to finish that project. We were working on the churn dash this month. Now, when I saw it, I liked it and was eager to start. I wanted to do blue and tan, not multi colored. I started.....then poof...all my enthusiasm vanished. Not sure just why, it wasn't a difficult block, but I didn't enjoy doing them at all. So, instead of making 13 as the pattern called for, I said the heck with it, why waste fabric on something you don't like. I made 7, used 6 and now have a placemat! The photo shows it quilted. By the way, that middle block on the bottom, that was on purpose (really it was) I read on another list that if you want an old-timey look to your quilt, put in a block or two with very low contrast, I decided to try it. Since I didn't love it anyway, I decided to try out a new quilting pattern on my PCQuilter. I haven't done crosshatch before. Actually, that worked out better than I thought for a first attempt. I still have some fine tuning to learn, it's all dependent upon where you place the needle at the start so that your boxes line up to look like continuous stitching. This one is also used in a larger grid to baste a quilt, and the placement wouldn't be nearly as important for that. I will definitely use it again. Now I just have to finish binding before class (picture is pre-binding).

Then I made and mailed out my online BOM swap block. The moda marbled black is the required background; this month the other fabric had to be something sewing related. If you look, you will see pin cushions, tape measures and such.

While I am at the LQS, I need to pick up some odds and ends, and my Thangles BOM for February.

As I mentioned in my earlier post

I also worked on a top for a class I took online at Quilt University. This was a pressing class. There were two choices for the top- this smaller one, or one slightly larger with an hst border and one or two plain ones. I chose to do the smaller one, having just completed a Jo Morton with the hst border. Now I am debating adding a little more interest to the small one......LOL never satisfied!

Hour a day for February

I spent the weekend working on the hour a day quilt. I must say, if I were buying fabric to make this quilt, I don't think that I would ever have chosen the fabrics that I did. However, working from stash means I had to use things I had enough of. Its much darker than I would probably have chosen, but I am pleased with how it turned out.

The star points are made from different red FQs that I had, although within each star the fabric is the same. The black was originally purchased for a backing, so I had lots and now have only scraps left. The gray is actually a gray with black/metallic gold and brown marbling which was also intended to be a backing. I still have some of that left-it may wind up as part of a pieced backing for this quilt. The 'worst' part of this quilt was that the black and the red I used for sashing were some of the fraying-est fabrics that I can remember ever using! But it is done and ready to take its place in the pile of those tops waiting to be quilted.

I don't have anyplace high enough to hang larger quilts, so the bottom is trailing on the wet deck. I'm happy to have gotten a picture between the rain! I also worked on a top for my Quilt University class, it is almost finished.

Jo's Little Women Club....

The instructor for our Jo's Little Women Club at our LQS just posted our February projects on the store blog. Mine is the first one pictured. http://littlequilts.blogspot.com/index.html

Something a little different

I haven't posted on my hour a day progress because, while I have been ahead of the game, I don't think things will look like much until the whole thing is together. Does that make sense? Since we are working from stash, some will appear very dark and drab until everything comes together. Then I hope things will pop.

Meanwhile, while cruising the blog I teased Cathy in Ireland about her knitting. I am so intrigued by what you knitters are doing. I haven't made but one thing, many years ago (probably before Cathy was even born!) and would like to take a class to brush up and learn more. I told her it would be but one more thread art that I fall for. As many of us, I have sewn garments, I have done some cross stitch, needlepoint, and crewel. I have attempted knitting and crochet- but mother is an expert at crochet, so why not let her do it for me?? LOL

There is another thread art that is perhaps a little out of the norm, I thought I would share some of my projects with you as a taste of something different. This is Temari, which is Japanese (some say it was Chinese even further back in time) which means embroidered balls. In Asia, they used scrap materials (hmm, sounds like sisters across the seas)and sometimes husks to form an inner ball. They would push and wrap until they built to the size they desired and until it was round. Today, we use preformed balls and wrap in layers of yarns and then threads so there is something to stitch into. It is amazing how hard it is to wrap so that things stay round! These are my humble beginnings-

Catching up on obligations and preparations

This weekend I have spent time doing my latest buck-a-block and doing my February block for the PClassic BOM swap. The swap is ready to go out tomorrow and the buck-a-block is done for another month.

Thanks to a recommendation from Quilt Pixie, Saturday I began a class at Quilt University on pressing, so that project will need to be worked on this month,too. The practice pressing on different size pieces of fabrics came at an ideal time- I used the fabrics for JudyL's hr. a day quilt and was able to begin cutting in preparation for that, too. I'm looking forward to doing that one, Judy always does such a great job on planning and instructing.

Judy's Feb. challenge struck a cord, but I have to adjust it a bit to make it work for me a little better. However, going through the blogring has also given me a few lightbulb moments. Nancy posted about her 'On Flamingo Pond' quilt, which would be an ideal for a set of fabrics that I bought years ago and that have been sitting waiting for the right pattern. Also, Cynthia posted her disappearing 9 patch, which would be perfect for a fabric I fell in love with and bought 'just because'- and if I can work that out, it would be at least one top that would satisfy Judy's challenge to 'just cut into it and use it'.

Of course, that would make three tops, and since I hope to make quilts for family this year's Christmas, I still have to cut out and work on those, too. I hope I can find the time to do it all.

Wish me luck - I'm off!

Finished another flimsy

Today I finished the last of the borders on the homespun and flannel star quilt. I loved it in the beginning, then disliked it, now I'm not so sure. Some of the instructions were ambiguous and I "went left when I should have gone right", so the results aren't quite what I had hoped. I will say that now that it is all together, I like it better than I did in the middle of the process. DH loved it until one fabric went in as to him, it doesn't 'go' (it was a kit)so I have decided to make it again in fabrics that I think he will like, and with the advantage of the mistakes I made this time, I think I will like the next one better.

Meanwhile I have spent the rest of today working on blocks for a swap and my buck a block- pictures of those when I get them finished. I've also been auditioning fabrics for JudyL's hour a day quilt so I can cut that quilt tomorrow and Sunday. Boy, if any projects actually come in at work, I'm going to have to completely readjust. The last 2-3 weeks I've been living the life of a retiree-and I'm getting to like it!

...and more about the weekend

I couldn't get blogger to take all the pictures I wanted to include in the last post, so I'm continuing here.....

While I was straightening up so my son could actually get to the frame that needs fixing, I discovered a box that a friend had brought me full of......you got it......scrap fabric. Actually, there is even yardage. The bad news is that it is not quilting cotton but drapery and light upholstery type fabrics. Some is awful, some are in little squares, but some is quite pretty. I discovered some lengths of chintz- I have been looking for some chintz at super cheap prices to make leaders for the quilt frame. Yesterday, after discovering this box, I made two sizes of leaders for smaller and lap size quilts, and there is a piece that will make leaders for the full size of the frame, too. Can you see me doing a happy dance??

Some of the pieces in the box were samples about 8 inches square. Some were polished cotton pieces about 11 x 14 with coordinating pieces about 5x14, cut into placemat shapes. These are mostly cutesy bear prints. Anyone have any ideas of what I can do with this non-quilt fabric?

I'm loving these weekends

I just had the third good sewing weekend in a row! Yippee! While I didn't get as much machine time as I might have, things were good in other respects. I've had trouble with my quilting frame getting out of square and vibrating too much. DS#1 came over to take measurements, we bought some lumber and he began working on a solution to my frame problems.

I finished another quilt (was a flimsy) that I was just going to hang in the sewing room for fun - it could be the Stash quilters banner, so many cartoon depictions of hiding and storing stash. I discovered that it is just the right size to use as a shawl and ward off the drafts during this colder time of the year. After Judy L's reminders of the blog ring focus, I must tell that I pieced scraps of batting to use for this quilt, and the binding and backing are both from stash.

I am in the process of finishing another quilt, also a flimsy, which now only needs a label; it should be done tonight. This top was made from stash, except for the background fabric. The backing is pieced from what remained of the fat quarters I used for the blocks on the front. This is my first pieced backing, and I learned something important for the future. I will need to iron seams open if I piece backs, I can see where the quilting boggles a little where it crosses the back seams and seams in the block.

Two more finished...

This weekend I was able to finish my Jo Morton log cabin, which is about 15 inches square. As I mentioned previously, I am not happy with my work on this one, the more I tried, the worse things became. I have a two part mantra for this quilt, repeat it with me "it is a primitive-its supposed to be a little off" and " it is a learning project". I quilted it with a baptist fan, which is a little wobbly on its own- something I digitized but apparently need to find a way to smooth out a bit. I'll also post a picture of the JoMorton Paririe basket again, with some of the quilting (on the back, you can't see it from the front in a photo).

Secondly, for all you cat lovers out there.........My mother has an ancient and venerable Siamese cat that spends its waking hours curled up on her lap. Because it will knead her lap, sometimes with claws out, mother sits with a towel folded up between her legs and the cat. With Amy and Nancy (among others) showing off their cat fabrics, I was inspired to check out what my LQS had. I found a very bright and fun print which I then stitched a batting, sewed and 'birthed' and then quilted some kitty faces randomly spaced. Mom is tickled with it.

I'm tickled to have had time to quilt this weekend. Rainy weekends can be wonderful, if you can lock yourself up with your fabric and machines!

A quilty weekend

I had a quilty weekend this week. Actually, it started before the weekend. Last Tuesday night was my Jo's Little Women Club meeting at my LQS. We shared what we had accomplished on last month's project and began this month's. I had gotten the two previous little tops quilted, so was able to show them at the meeting and then, during the rest of the week I was able to cut and machine sew the bindings, which I finished up while watching TV in the evenings. The teacher for the group had given us each a recent copy of the AQS magazine that has an article on quarter inch bindings. These quilts are small, so they really call for a small binding-but working with that little amount of fabric to turn and stitch is quite a challenge. I may have to redo the first one, I'm not thrilled with sections of it, especially one corner. The second is not perfect, but considerably better.

On Saturday I was able to make my January swap block for an online group. The photo doesn't show that the light design on the black triangles are actually silver/holographic and have wonderful sparkle and movement. In the photo, it just looks white.

Once those were done, I began this months Jo Morton project, which is little log cabins. I think these little blocks take a whole lot more time than bigger ones! I'm beginning to think I could build a real log cabin.....and they would all be wonky!

Forest Jane showed her latest round on her Ostrich. I had mine done early and posted a while back. Mine was done early because it was sooooooo much simpler than Jane's. If you haven't seen her incredible work, go see it! And speaking of Ostrich-Kim must have changed her site, anyone know what's up and if we have to repost our blocks?

Yippee--progress!

I have had a great day. It has been rainy and dismal all day and exceedingly quiet. DH slept very late, I cut mother's hair and put two small quilts on the frame. The smallest one is quilted and awaiting binding, if I can decide on which fabric I want to use. The second is still small at about 32" square, I have two rows left to do on it and then it will be ready for binding. Since I had to take it off the frame to turn it sideways, I figured that was a good place to finish for the day. I haven't taken any photos of them at this stage. I don't think that the quilting will show up enough in a photo, they will still look the same as they did in the flimsy stage. If you look back a few posts (Dec. 3 and Dec. 26), these are both Jo Morton quilts I made in a class at a LQS. I still have so much to learn about using the quilting machine that these aren't perfect, but they will soon be finished and not UFOs!

Blogger inspiration

So many of you have posted how you are finishing out the year to enter 2007 by cleaning your sewing space, finishing up projects and so on. (sew on??) Some are even putting away their holiday decorations. You have been an inspiration! Today I have done a little straightening in my sewing room, prewashed some fabrics for upcoming projects, ironed some of those. Packaged fabrics and notions/instructions for a given project together so I can find everything when I get to that project (some of these are once a month type things that I will be going back to on a regular basis, good to have it all in one place). The reoccuring projects are all in one place for easy grab and go.
I have done the latest Buck a Block, which I picked up on Wednesday along with fabric for the quilt my DIL wants for next Christmas.







I also did the latest round on the Ostrich project from Peach Quilting. That one isn't turning out as well as I would like, oh well, its just a fun exercise, and I will learn something from doing it.



















I wish you all the Happiest and Healthiest (and Quiltiest) New Year Ever!

Tis the day after Christmas and all through the house..

I'm checking out quilt patterns, ufo's and stash......
We had a very nice Christmas here, two of our three sons were home to celebrate with us. My DIL is a gem, she made sure that I had quilty things under the tree and then perused my quilt books indicating which patterns and colors she likes. She knows that I hope to make quilts for each of them within the next year or so and was putting in her order early! Two photos to share today- a family photo sans DS2 who wasn't with us and DH who was the photographer. The other of my Jo Morton club Little Strippy quilt, this months class quilt. I was able to get all my Christmas preparations done a little early and my gift to myself was to spend Christmas Eve day working on some of the projects I had put off for a while.

To all my cyber friends.....

The very warmest wishes for a Merry Christmas, filled with all the people and things your love the most - from my heart to yours.

The Next 'Buck a Block"

Here is the next 'buck a block' block from my LQS. (previous blocks)Can you believe that this is all that I have gotten done for the last 2 weeks or so?? Lots of 'stuff' happening around here, none of it what I want to have happening.....haven't gotten decorated for Christmas yet. Yesterday I finally manage to get most of the shopping finished, will have to get in groceries soon - Christmas is at my house for the family. I hope to alternate between doing some sewing (therapy) and Christmas preparation. If I don't make it back before then, I wish you all the happiest and brightest of holiday seasons, whichever holiday you celebrate.

ps- McIrish Annie asked if this was a Thangles buck a block-yes it is.

Home again - and smiling

Well, my Marine was back at Camp LeJeune last Monday, we drove all day Wednesday so that we could see him. He had some liberty(or leave-I can't keep them straight) and was able to spend some time with us and with his brothers. I have a picture of him that I took just as we were parting again, Cpl. Cool ;wish he didn't have the glasses on so you can see his eyes!LOL He will have a much longer time off over the holiday, so he will get to spend that at home. I'm smiling!!!

While I had his attention, I showed him my blog and had him read the comments that so many of you left thanking him for his service. He had just been telling us of some negative experiences with folks and I wanted to be sure he knew how many appreciate our serviceman and women. Ya'll put a smile on his face. Thank you.

Now I hope that things will be somewhat normal for the next few days as I get into Christmas shopping and decorating and back to sewing. Lots needs to be done, I don't feel much like doing any of it-except the sewing part.

Also, I finally switched to Beta blogger. Now I go to log in, it says there is no such one, so I try to log in under the old and it tells me I must use the new ID-and what it posts is just what I put in and it wouldn't take!! Sheesh.

Another flimsy

Just finished doing the final border on my Prairie Basket top for my Jo Morton Club class. Luckily, this has a primitive flavor, because although I traced my vase directly from the pattern supplied, and it did look a little lopsided to me, it REALLY looks lopsided on the top. Its a primitive, I MEANT it to be that way. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. The top is about 32.5" square.

One of the reasons I took the class was the promise that working with all these little pieces would help improve my accuracy. I will say, things are working better, partially because of what I've been taught in the class, but also because of some of the things I have learned through this blogring-things from Patti C. and Judy L. , among others.

I'm still working on that diamond shaped batik. Still debating exactly what to do with the borders. I have decided that everyone here was right, I will use the batiks for the border, just not exactly sure how. I have to make up my mind soon as I am running out of time.

On a personal note: The writing of this post was interupted by a phone call from my Marine. He called from ship saying he can see the coastline, can even distinguish buildings. He will soon be back on US soil and we will get to see him in a few days. Thank you, God.

Gratitude flimsy finished-

We made it throught the holiday just fine. My hand has improved and what I couldn't do, my Daughter-in-law did for me. The grandkids were extra well behaved, the food was yummy. My Marine didn't get to call, but did email that he is headed back for the states, should be here sometime next month. YES! After everyone left yesterday, managed to get up to the sewing room to attach the last border to my gratitude flimsy. Also spent the evening finishing up the applique on my Jo Morton project, today will attach the first row of blocks bordering that.

Speaking of borders, thanks to all of you who shared your thoughts on the borders for my batik challenge quilt. I agree with the group that the batik border is the better choice. One of the things that I have noticed, and that I admire so much with JudyL's quilts, are her borders. She doesn't just slap on a plain strip of fabric, she makes them interesting. I've always just been happy to have gotten that close to completion! LOL Quiltpixie made me aware of Quilt University. While investigating that site, I found a free sample course which was on borders. Kismet! I like Judy's interesting borders, ya'll recommended the more interesting border, a free course in borders.......hmmmmm. I'm going to mull this over for a while and think of what I can do to make the batik borders just a little more interesting. Can't think it over too long as I have a deadline to meet, but I plan to stretch my imagination and my limits just a little bit on this one. Ya'll are growing me!

A quick post

to say that I am still among the blogging. Life has gotten busy, I've had several doctors appointments in the last two weeks, plus babysitting the grandkids since dgd's school is closed this week. Then I jammed my hand and can't hold a pen or scissor-that sure slowed down the quilting! I only have the top and bottom final borders to go on my gratitude quilt. It would have been finished much sooner if not for the hand. I hope to have pictures by the weekend. Today will be a long day at work (how come they don't need me for weeks on end, but the day before a big holiday, they need me extra!?!) Tomorrow family will be filling the house for the holiday. I'm also hoping that my Marine will have the chance to phone home from overseas. I wish everyone a marvelous holiday.

While waiting for the next installment

Of the gratitude quilt instructions, I finally got started on my guild challenge quilt. Last spring we had a guest speaker who did a trunk show of quilts made by her group using this procedure, and we decided to give it a try. Each member brought in uncut yardage of a batik fabric. For example, I brought in a yard, some brought 2 yards, etc. At our meeting how much everyone contributed was recorded, then the fabric was cut into 10" squares. Each yard produces about 12 of these squares, plus some Chinese Coins. The squares were then given to each participant according to how much they had given, so I received 12 squares back.

In trunk show everyone had used the method from Stack a New Deck. Our guild recognizes that a number of our members wouldn't participate if mae that specific. Our challenge was simply to make a top using those squares. We are allowed to use any amount of those fabrics and we may add to them. Some are doing more traditional blocks, some are doing the Sack a New Deck types.

This is what I did. It is from the pattern (and ruler) Boondoggle. I didn't follow the instructions exactly on all the blocks. I wanted to use as much of each as I had, so after doing it using their measurements, I put together some new measurements (on the striped blocks) to make the fabric go further. I also added background and more batiks for the solid diamonds. I'm not totally thrilled, I might have done better to use a Stack a New Deck pattern, but I do like it.

I also got hubby to help me put the center into Photoshop to play with finishing possiblities. The second two are the photoshop mock ups to give an idea of two choices I'm considering. I'm debating between just putting a border of the background and calling it done, or bordering with batiks.

What do you think?

Neopolitan Delight...

That is the name I'm thinking of for my gratitude quilt. It reminds me of Neopolitan ice cream with the three flavors: vanilla, strawberry and chocolate. Actually, these pinks make me think a little of Cherry Garcia. (can you tell I've been dieting for the last 6 months?) Many of these fabrics were earmarked for another quilt and all were just FQs. I was able to do all the little patches and still have enough from each FQ that I can still use them much as originally planned. Anyway, after the last two hour-a-day-quilts with their very brown/tan/gold/orange colors, the change of pace was fun. While I worried about how some of these pinks would go together, I love the way it looks. AND....no calories!

Goooood weekend!

I have had a terrific weekend. Saturday I had lunch with some lady camper friends. We all met through an internet group for our type of camper. There are three of us that live within a close distance, and we have all visited each other at campsites and grabbed lunch together now and then. A fourth woman from Florida had ordered a camper from a dealer local to us (in N Georgia). She has been talking about when her 'baby' would be delivered. We all met for lunch on Saturday to celebrate the arrival of her baby. In the middle of the resturant, at noon on a Saturday, we held a baby shower. We did get some odd looks. At our ages we are all a little old to be having a baby. And then she opened the packages- things like wheel chocks, step stools, bungee cords, fix-a-flat, and a porta potty - all wrapped in baby wrappings. What a hoot!

Today I finally worked on Leaf Season again, and it is now in the flimsy stage. AND ...Gratitude is up to date. I'm flying high- yippee. I'm up to date until Judy gives us the next installment. I'm guessing it will be to start putting the 25 patch together, and I haven't cut the little squares yet, so I'll be behind again pretty soon. For tonight, I'm a happy quilter.

Gratitude progress

While I have not gotten the leaf season to the flimsy stage (just need to connect a row and put on borders), I thought I'd better get moving on the Gratitude quilt before I'm too far behind on that one. I spent today cutting, and I have to tip my hat to Judy. I have gotten some good cutting instructions in the past, but these were SO on target, I can't believe how little 'waste' there was! I haven't cut the squares for the 25 patch yet, I'm thinking that I may do those by strips. I'm still pulling a few extra fabrics to include for some spark, although I have most chosen and ready. Tonight I will draw my little lines for the HSTs so that I can do them later this evening or in the morning-its a good TV project, and yes, I need to sew on the line. HSTs are the bane of my existence! I need to be very careful, or they get wonky while my back is turned. This isn't just another conspiracy theory...its real, I've lived it too many times!! LOL no photos yet-nothing worth taking a picture of yet

Have you ever ? (quilting meme)

Shelina did this one over on her blog, here's my list:

Have You Ever?
1. Taken a quilting class
2. Paper pieced
3. Hand quilted
4. Hand pieced
5. Created your own pattern
6. Published a pattern in a magazine or book
7. Gone on a quilting retreat
8. Gone to a quilting convention
9. Met someone who wrote a quilting book
10 combined your quilting with some other craft
11. Done any three dimensional quilting - like fabric origami
12. Made something using Thimbleberries fabric
13. Made something using batiks
14. Dyed your own fabric
15. Made a landscape hanging
16 Made a New York Beauty quilt
17 Made a baby quilt
18 Made a wall hanging
19 Made a journal quilt
20 Submitted your journal quilt for viewing
21 Made a fabric postcard
22 Made a artistic trading card (ATC)
23 Exchanged artistic trading cards
24. Mailed your own postcard
25. Made a lap quilt
26 Made a twin size quilt
27 Made a full size quilt
28 Made a queen size quilt
29 Made a king size quilt
30 Donated a quilt to charity
31 Sent a quilt out to a quilter
32 Thrown away a UFO
33 Given away a UFO
34 Cut up a UFO and made something else with it
35 Ripped fabric instead of cutting it
36 Made a quilt exactly like the pattern, with no changes whatsoever
37 Done any Sashiko
38 Quilted your own quilt
39 Did free motion quilting
40 Put any embroidery or beads on your quilt
41 Given away your quilt to a stranger
42 Swapped fabric
43 swapped blocks
44 participated in a round robin
45 participated in an ostritch round robin
46 kept a journal about your quilting
47 written a letter to someone who made an antique quilt
49 kept a blog about your quilting
50 participated in a gift exchange
51 sent a quilting random act of kindness
52 joined a newsgroup about quilting
53 made a quilt using a pattern from quilterscache
54 joined an online block of the month
55 made a block of the month quilt
56 subscribed to a fabric of the month club
57 bought fabric at an online store
58 bought fabric from ebay
59 own more than one sewing machine
60 have a room dedicated solely to sewing
61 hide a fabric purchase
62 finished making a holiday gift before July
63 spent more than $200 in one quilt shopping trip
64 made a quilt using a book from the library
65 worked with someone else to make a quilt
66. joined a quilt guild
67 become president of a quilt guild
68 taught a quilting class
69 helped someone else get the quilting bug
70 taught a child to sew
71 made a Dear Jane block
72 Made a miniature quilt
73 watch QNN - quilters news network
73 subscribe to a quilting magazine from your own country
74 subscribe to a quilting magazine from another country
75 buy fabric from another country
76 swapped completed quilts with someone else
77 asked for quilting help online
78 gone to a quilt shop to ask for quilting help
79 bought fabric at a local quilt shop
80 traveled more than 100 miles to go to a quilt shop
81 used nontraditional fabric for a quilt - something other than cotton or flannel

82 made a quilt using instructions given to you on a blog
83 make comments on someone's quilting blog
84 meet a quilter in person after only having talked online
85 had a quilting retreat in your home
86 own quilting software
87 made a quilt you designed on your quilting software
88 done any quilt research - history, interviewing quilters, etc.
89 had any quilt related subject published anywhere
90 donated a quilt to a museum
91 bought a quilt from a thrift store
92 made a quilt using fabric from a thrift store
93 made a quilt using photos
94 made a pastel quilt
95 made a quilt using brights
96 made a quilt using ethnic fabric from another country - African, Asian, etc.
97 made a quilt using leftover blocks from other quilts
98 had your quilt in a magazine, newspaper, newsletter, TV, etc.
99. submitted your quilt to a quilt show
100. won any ribbons with your quilts
101 had more finished quilts than UFOs
102 made a quilt using reproduction fabrics
103 took a break from quilting that was longer than a year
104 made money with your quilting
105 had a job in the fabric / quilting industry

Some progress

Haven't been able to do any sewing for a week, it seems that has happened to a lot of us. Last Friday there was an emergency of sorts at my son's home. He and his family had to move in with us for a few days while repairs were made. Fortunately it turned out to be nothing too serious, more of an incovenience. They had hardly left when we had company that we were expecting. My brother-in-law and his wife came to visit. We always enjoy their company, but this time we really had a particularly good time. Today was the first chance to get back to some of my projects. So... today I have prepped an applique block so that I can do the handwork in the evenings while watching TV. This is for a Jo Morton class that I am taking at one of the LQS here. I also made the 'Buck a Block' for this month (same LQS). Then I went back to the Leaf Season, on which I am quite behind. I did get 4 rows put together, and that included remaking some of the leaf blocks that hadn't turned out as well as they should have. Not from scratch, just sort of adjusting so the points are points, not blunts and such. I'm not sure exactly why some turned out perfectly and others didn't- although I have a few suspicions. In any case, 4 rows are assembled. If things go as planned (yeah, I said that last weekend and wound up with houseful), I will assemble the remaining rows tomorrow and then start joining the rows. The photo is of the two 'Buck a Blocks'-the darker bottom one is for this month, the top block is from last month. The background fabric is the same print.

And now for something completely different...

Of late several of you have posted pictures and stories of your cats and dogs. Laurie Ann has Roogrrr and responded to a comment I made about him by asking me to post my Nic. Nic has a lot in common with Finn's Ebby- he is mostly black, and therefore doesn't take a great picture and he runs whenever we take out the camera, so I have tried to find the best ones that we have. Nic is now about 7 years old. Two years ago (June/July '04) we had Chloe who was a nine year old Rottweiller mix. Chloe was a love, slept with our youngest son as he grew up and kept his bed warm once he joined the Marine Corps. One night Chloe acted oddly at bedtime, when we awoke the next morning, she couldn't walk. She died shortly after we woke up as I held her, waiting for my married son to come over and help me get her downstairs to take to the vet. The first call my son made home after he arrived in Iraq and we had to tell him 'his' dog had died. I swore that if we ever got another dog (which DH said we definitely would not!!) that it would be small enough for me to carry and handle if it became ill. Meanwhile, I have a friend who runs a rescue organization who had been told of a purebred dog that needed a home. I did not tell my friend of Chloe's death, because I knew she would try to fill the void for us, and hubby wasn't ready. However, I usually ask how this dog or that one was doing, had it been placed yet. I couldn't understand why this one hadn't found a home- he sounded so good. She emailed me a picture of him, hubby glanced over my shoulder as I looked at it, took one look and declared that we needed to meet this dog, and if he was as nice as he looked, we should adopt him. You can tell how that worked out, he isn't even skittish of hubby's wheelchair! Also like Ebby, we didn't have to go through all that baby stuff, he was already trained and ready to go. Oh - no, I can't lift him, that's his only 'downside'.

Back to kindergarten or...

I can't count! All my Leaf Season blocks were made, and I was laying them out on the design wall to place the colors pleasingly. AAARGHHHH! I'm one leaf block short! Darn! Not a big problem because I have lots of hst and such left over, just annoying because I counted finishing the blocks as a milestone and was ready to join blocks into strips as my next milestone. Don't know if I will get to it today as I have some errands to run, including a stop at one of my LQSs to pick up a monthly installment. Pfui !

Leaf Season update

I'm making progress with my Leaf Season quilt. I'm not as far along as most of you, but as has often been said, its not a race. (Good thing! LOL) I've finished my leaves-you remember those, they gave me such angst when I tried to be scrappy. The outcome is that I did solids, then I 'forced' myself to do some scrappy ones. I added a few more fabrics to the group so that the differences weren't so harsh, now the scrappy works a little better to my eyes. I don't think that I am entirely happy with them, but they are going into the quilt as is. Today I have been working on the alternate blocks. I am hoping to get them done before Sunday, if nothing else happens. I thought for sure that I would get to sew all day on Wednesday, since I had the day off. That was until I received a phone call from my oldest with the opener " uh.....we were wondering if you have to work tomorrow...." that's the standard preamble to the request to babysit whichever grandchild is too sick to go to daycare. What's a grandmother to do???? Like I would turn down a day of cuddling and snuggling with one of them. I momentarily regretted losing the sewing time, but have to admit to completely enjoying my day with my grandson glued to my side. By the way, we had to run up to the sewing room (a place he is not allowed-he's only 3) for a second, and he looked around and announced he really liked this room! lol, maybe someday he will want to try one of the sewing machines.

Leaf Season progress report

I have been working and working on this one, some days more, some less than an hour. Today I made the stem blocks and assembled two leaves, I also pulled together pieces for the remaining leaves, but boy, am I having problems with this. Not with the sewing....no, my problem is with choosing the pieces to go in each leaf. I will be able to make a number of leaves that have the same fabric for each of its pieces. I also have enought pieces to 'mix and match' colors within the leaf. That is where I have a problem. Everytime I try to use several greens or yellow/golds, or reds within the same leaf, I'm in trouble. If I place randomly, it bothers me that it looks lopsided, or too heavy or unsymetrical. If I try to balance, it looks too stilted. Who knew that I am so....uptight about these sort of thing? Another thing that I have noticed-the fabrics that I have chosen tend to be tone on tone, or small and subtle prints that read solid from a few feet away. It will be interesting to see how this all works out, what I can work with and what will drive me up a wall' every day a learning experience!