Whew!

While reading blogs this evening I saw that Vicky posted her finished JudyL's Block of the Month Block 2 and I said, "whoops, I haven't made my block yet and the new one comes out tomorrow." So, into the sewing room I went and ta-da.....here it is, mitered corners and all.

The Quilt From Heck!

That's what Janet calls this one. She is making it for Heide and has been working on it for a long time. She said today that everything that could have gone wrong, DID! She came over this afternoon and we loaded it and she quilted it using the Popcorn panto, white PermaCore thread and Warm & Natural batting.

Just look at her concentration:


It turned out very nice, I think.

Labor Day Weekend

Last night to start off the Labor day weekend right, I put together these blocks for JudyL's Labor Day Challenge. The oranges are all from a guild F-8th fabric swap and I think they go just perfectly with my focus fabric. I'm thinking of putting a thin purple border around the blocks and then finishing it off with a focus fabric border.

Pinwheel #8

Here is the test block that I did for quilterscache.com and the instructions.



And here is what I'm thinking....... I have a round robin that I need to put a border on and this block went together so nicely that I think I could make a dozen or so more in no time and use them for my border. Through the wonders of Photoshop, I have added a thin aqua border and a border of these blocks and then a red border. the border of the pinwheel blocks would be scrappy rather than all alike. Any suggestions out there????



Next week at this time I will have spent my first night at the retreat and will be having a wonderful time sewing with my daughter, Julie. I hope I remember to take lots of pictures.

T-Shirt Quilt

FINALLY, I got started on Ande's t-shirt quilt. She graduated this year and I have had the shirts for a month or so. It took a few hours last night to cut them up and apply a lightweight fusible interfacing to them, but they look so pretty all 28 of them stacked up here ready to be laid out and rearranged, and rearranged, and rearranged again. Yep, I know how I am when it comes to these things. I haven't quite decided on the sashing for these, but when they are all spread out, I'm sure I can figure it out.



I also made a test block last night for Marcia at quilterscache.com. Can't show it to you until she posts the block, but it turned out beautiful. I think I may make more of them to use as a border on my guild round robin quilt.

Yo-Yos and Bubbles

I'll be the first to admit it..........I'm stubborn! Last week when I showed my first yo-yos, I received several comments from people that prefer to make yo-yos the "old fashioned" way. I said that I would give it a try, but continued to make them with my new little state-of-the-art Clover Yo-Yo Maker. Well, last night after making about a dozen more, I finally put it aside and made some the "old fashioned" way. All I can say is, "BYE-BYE CLOVER, It's been fun." I cannot believe how quick they are to make without that little tool. So, it's all packaged up and ready to be sold at the upcoming retreat.


I didn't show a full photo of this quilt after I quilted it because it was very boring, not at all what I imagined. But, here it is with all the little yo-yo flowers scattered about. The decision to use yo-yos came from Donna's yo-yo challenge.



When I got out my tub of buttons, I decided to just go with an assortment and I'm not sure if I have used any of the buttons more than once. While the buttons may be random, the arrangement of the flowers certainly isn't. I rearranged them for quite a while last night.



And now for the bubbles! Fish bubbles, that is!!
I have my String Fish Aquarium loaded and have done all the SID. I wanted to do some bubbles above the fish heads and tried to do some freehand-nope, that's not going to work.
Then it hit me..........I have a Circle Lord!
So I put it on the table and in no time at all, I had just what I imagined. Just look at these cute fish bubbles.


On a non-quilty note, we had an overnight guest on Monday night. Well, actually Tuesday morning is more like it.
Dané, Jeff's girlfriend, was driving from Minneapolis, MN to Columbus, OH, and lucky for us, she made a stop in Lafayette. She got some much needed sleep and I sure enjoyed drinking coffee and chatting the morning away. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, what a lovely young woman she is. My son sure has good taste!

Stashbusting Report - 8/25/08

Fabric Added This Week - 5 yards (FQs and 2-1 yard pieces)
Fabric Added Year to Date - 77.125 yards

Fabric Used This Week - 5 yards
Fabric Used Year to Date - 273.375 yards

YEAR TO DATE TOTAL: 196.25


5 yards in and 5 yards out.....how did I do that?
The fabric I bought was at Rossville Quilts and Quilters Harvest big sales on Saturday. Shelley and I went on a mini shop-hop in the morning and then I came into work in the afternoon. The fabric is for the "Be Attitudes" quilt that I will make at camp.

Saturday evening I finished putting together my December Scrap Bag Challenge for guild. We each brought in a zip-lock bag with up to 20 different fabrics at least 4" square. We drew a bag of fabrics to work with and need to have a finished project by the December meeting. I'm not sure how I will quilt it just yet, but here is a little sneak peek.

Stars and Strips FINISHED

Tammy came over and we quilted this one today and after she left I sewed the binding on the first side and hand stitched it, and the sleeve down, while watching the Food Network Challenges and the Olympic Closing Ceremonies. I did the stitch-in-the ditch and the wavy lines and she did the meandering.

This quilt will be in the auction at the Blue Star Mothers Freedom Festival in Crawfordsville, IN on Saturday, September 6th.

YEA - Another UFO finished! Here's Dan and Tammy:


A close-up of the quilting:


And the backing:

Dick and Jane Swirls

This is Mary's Dick and Jane quilt and we both agreed that the Swirls would look good on it. I used Dyed Natural PermaCore thread and Hobbs 80/20 batting and think it turned out great. Hope she likes it!




While we were unwinding on the front porch this evening, a mama bird was feeding her babies in the bird house across the yard. This bird house has been hanging for at least 15 years and we have a couple families every summer. It was quite fun to watch.

Another UFO Finished

I put the last stitches in the binding of this one last night. These nine-patch blocks were in the guild charity quilt bins when I had custody of them. They were put together with some fabrics for the borders and backing. In the couple of years since they were stashed away, I decided not to use them as planned and put this top together at out charity sewing day earlier this month. I quilted it using the Circle Lord Clam template, QD poly batting and light chambray Perma Core thread.

I just love to stitch on binding while I'm watching the Olympics in the evenings! I'm really going to miss it when they are over.

My First Yo-Yos

Last night before guild, I tried my hand at making a yo-yo. I joined Donna's challenge a few weeks ago, and even bought the yo-yo maker. But, there it sat, just waiting for the right moment. The signature baby quilt that I showed on Monday has lots of blank space in the borders, but not for long! It's going to be filled with yo-yo flowers, like these, with all the leftover fabrics from the strips.


Pretty cute, huh?

2 At A Time

I have been wanting to try this for some time and these 2 little wheelchair lap quilt seemed like the perfect time.

They are from the Easy Nine Patch Quilt instructions. You take 3 pieces of fabric, all the same size, and stack them and them cut them into a nine patch. Mine were 1 yard pieces and I think I cut my corner squares 8". Then you sew them back together, arranging the 3 different fabrics in these 3 parts: the center, the corners, and the sides & top/bottom. I purchased this fabric in 4 colors at Hancocks at Paducah in 2007. The remaining 2 pieces I used for the backing, which was going to be tricky because I didn't have lots of extra fabric for the clamps. So, I basted the 2 backing pieces together and loaded it and then placed the tops close to that center seam. Worked like a dream and I have 2 charity quilts ready for show and tell tonight.





If you're wondering where the other one of the 3 is.........it was given as a charity quilt at my retreat in June.

Stashbusting Report - 8/18/08

Fabric Added This Week - .75 yards (3 FQs)
Fabric Added Year to Date - 72.125 yards

Fabric Used This Week - 10.125 yards
Fabric Used Year to Date - 268.375 yards

YEAR TO DATE TOTAL: 196.25

Heading back up to 200 yards. The FQs that I bought will be used at quilt camp in a couple weeks, along with yards and yards of other fabrics. Having 2-3 days at camp to just sew really uses a lot of fabric.

My Madison Adventure

On Saturday, I went with some friends on a trip to Madison, Indiana. It was a very enjoyable day and I will be at quilt camp in a few weeks with these ladies and I am sure it will be lots of fun.

The Red Pepper Deli and Café for lunch was our first stop. I enjoyed the special of the day, which was chicken quesadillas, and a side of their famous potato salad, both of which were very good. The down side of this place was the lack of paper of any kind in the women's restroom.

Our next stop was Margie's Country Store, a wonderful quilt shop on the main floor and a gift shop in the basement. I purchased this book I was looking for and can't wait to start on this one.

If you spent $100, you received a free fat quarter and although I didn't get one, there were quite a few in our group that did. They had the most wonderful selection of batiks that I have ever seen.

Then we visited a 3-story antique mall in a lumber mill, at least I think that's what it used to be. And then to the winery........
We sampled a few and I finally decided on a semi-sweet called Chautauquablumchen.

Then we drove down to the main part of town, parked the cars and headed off in small groups to check out all the shops. Linda and I visited a fabric store that has fabric from many, many years ago, along with some newer stuff. He said that he buys stock from quilt shops that go out of business. There sure was a lot in that little store. We browsed in the nature store, another antique shop, stopped for an ice cream cone and had a pleasant time just chatting and getting to know each other. Did I mention that we walked, and walked, and walked? Whew, we were ready for a cold soda by the time we got back to the arranged meeting place.

We loaded everything in the vehicles and headed for home, stopping in Indy for dinner at Fridays. We made it back to Linda's house just in time to watch Michael Phelps win his 8th gold medal.

Signature Quilt With Popcorn

After helping Dottie with the construction of a couple bags this morning, I got out these signature strips. The fabric strips were taken to a baby shower for the guests to sign. I intended to make them petals in big daisy-like flowers. However, the signatures got too close to the edges to round them off to look like petals, so I just sewed them in chinese coin strips alternating with these cute brights. I found this background fabric in my stash and it seemed to go with it quite well, so I was finished putting it together in no time. Then I loaded it and used the popcorn panto(which was already on the table), white permacore thread, and warm and white batting. I just cut the strips for the binding, so the little baby girl this quilt is intended for can pretty much make her entrance into the world any day.




Lost Socks
I finally laid out all my socks and then boxed up 18 sets to go to Mar for our exchange. This was a long project....starting in February. I love having some hand work to do in the evenings, whether it be binding or an applique project like this.

Making a List

I need to make a list! Seems like the only time I make a list is when I'm headed to the grocery store. Most other shopping is all in my head and more often than not, I forget something. Lucky for me we live close to shopping areas. But, back to my list...
On Saturday I am going on a road trip to Madison, Indiana with Linda, Sossity, some others from guild and some that I don't even know yet. Linda has been talking about it on her blog and I commented that it sounded like great fun and was pleasently surprised when she asked me to go along. The trip will include fabric, wine, fudge and new friends........Oh what fun!

When visiting a new-to-me quilt shop, I'm often overwhelmed and can be "Megged" into buying very easily. So, I'm going to make a list before we leave and it will look something like this:
1. Wine
2. More wine
3. Fudge
On a more serious note:
4. Straw needles
5. Be Attitudes by Nancy Halverson (JulieK is doing these blocks and I just love them)
6. Feedsack solid yellow to repair a Double Wedding Ring for a customer

That's about all I can think of right now, but I'm sure I will add to it before Saturday.

Block 1

I finally decided on my fabrics for JudyL's block of the Month. Now, I like purple just as much as the next quilter, but when I first saw this quilt I thought of Christmas. So mine will be done in reds and greens. I finished Block 1 last night, just in time, because Block 2 will be out on Friday.

This my first attempt at 1/16th inch cutting/piecing and I had to take my time cutting.

Burger Queen - Have It Your way!

Well, I got the blocks put together and the center of the top and I am not thrilled at all. Hopefully, I can put one of JudyL's borders on it to make it salvageable. This one may go to a local charity.

I know that I have a really hard time with random and I think that's part of the problem with this one. I also think if I had chosen a block that had background around all sides, like a friendship star, that it would have looked better.

Also, I admit that I am spoiled with pattern instructions that tell me which way to press my seams and have them come out in nesting perfection. Since this one was "have it your way" there was no way of knowing which blocks were going to be next to each other and the back has lots of seam switching.

When I've used Bonnie Hunter's quilt patterns I have pressed to the dark and my Carolina Crossroads quilt has nesting seams at every single intersection.

Stashbusting Report - 8/11/08

First of all....thanks to all who left me sympathetic messages regarding my migraine. I'm happy to report that it seems to be gone.

Fabric Added This Week - 21.75 yards (YIKES)
Fabric Added Year to Date - 71.375 yards

Fabric Used This Week - 3.625 yards
Fabric Used Year to Date - 258.25 yards

YEAR TO DATE TOTAL: 186.875

Can you believe that I bought that much fabric? Well, let me tell you why. Rossville Quilts was having an 8-8-08 sale in honor of Berninas NEW 8 Series and they were having hourly specials. We got there right around 6pm and the special that hour was: all clearance fabric for $.88/yard. I planned on looking for some fabrics to use in JudyL's Block of the Month and found a couple in the colors I wanted and it seemed a shame to only buy a yard of 88 cent quilt shop quality fabric. So, I bought what was left on the bolt of 6 different fabrics for a whopping $20.48. At least 3 of these will be backings. The pink and white stripe will be a backing for the next watermelon hearts quilt.



FYI: Rossville Quilts is having a back-to-school sale. Check it out!

Next week will be a big stashbusting week for me as I only have a couple Lost Socks to finish and then I can count the fabric for all 60 socks.

DOWN and OUT!

That's how I felt all day yesterday. I woke up with a migraine and instead of staying in bed, I thought that maybe I could beat it. So I took a shower, got the paper, a bowl of cereal and a glass of juice. I was almost finished with the first section of the paper when the nausea took over. I was back in bed with the sheet over my head and there is where I stayed until noon when Dan came to see if I wanted a butterburger from Culvers (a weekend lunch tradition at our house). I said yes, having a hard time believing it was noon already. If you know me, you know that I don't get sick very often. When I have had migraines before, they were gone by noon, so I figured I had this one under control. I finally got out of bed about 1:30 and joined Dan in the living room watching something on TV. I had to move to a different chair to eat because the I was facing the TV and it was just too bright. I ate a few bites and it didn't taste very good so I took the lettuce, tomato, pickles off. I was really hungry so I finished it. (bad mistake!) I laid on the couch for a while, dozing and Dan suggested a warm bath. I enjoyed the bath and then the nausea was back. I gave up and went back to bed. Dan made some jello about 8:00 and I had a bowl of that and some ice chips. Slept all night, my headache seems to be gone and I had some jello for breakfast, so I think I'm all better now.

Circle Lord Spirals

This is a Heartstrings quilt made by Melva and it is so pretty with the lights and darks. I tried the spirals template on it this evening and I'm not sure that I used it quite right, as it wasn't continuous. I wanted to have a full spiral in each square and a half size one in between, which meant a stop/start between each pair. I think I probably could have figured it out, but I ended up having company....my granddaughters and a friend of theirs.

Back to the Sewing Room

Seems like I haven't sewed for a very long time, but today I got some time in. Tammy came over and we put together this quilt top. My sewing room is a little small for 2 quilters, but we managed OK.



This quilt, Liberty Stars by Jan Ragaller and distributed by Penny Candy Press, when finished, will be our donation to the silent auction at the Freedom Festival in Crawfordsville on September 6th. We both are members of the West Central Chapter of the Blue Star Mothers and even though I won't be able to attend (cause I'll be at quilt camp---YEA), Tammy will be there.

We had to run to Joanns today and we picked up some cute patriotic items for the auction also that were 70% off. I got this bird house and Tammy got a house that lights up.

More of the Skydiving Quilt

I got some photos from Jeff this week and here is Dane with her skydiving wall hanging.



He also sent some shots of them in Indy. I have lived 60 miles from Indianapolis most of my life and have been there many times, but have never taken a horse-drawn carriage ride. I've wanted to, but just never got the chance. Well, they did when they were there last month.

What a great evening!

Last night we had the pleasure of making dinner for Dan's son, Kale and his girlfriend, Denae, and also my grandson, Tony and his girlfriend, Nina. Tony and Nina are both going to Indiana State in just a few short weeks.

Dan grilled salmon on the smoker along with baked potatoes, (just picked from Tom's garden), baked sweet potatoes, steamed broccoli, and a great cucumber-tomato-onion-bell pepper salad that Dan made.

It was a wonderful meal and so nice to be able to spend some time with these guys. They played a little music in the garage, but it was quite hot out there and that didn't last long.

Good luck at ISU Tony and Nina!

Skydiving Quilt

Here are some photo of the secret quilt that I finished last week and showed just a little bit of. The sky fabric that you saw was part of this skydiving fabric. It is for my Jeff's girlfriend, Dané. They both enjoy skydiving and I printed some of their photos on photo fabric and made her this little wall hanging. They called on Saturday to thank me and I think they were both thrilled with it.

Stashbusting Report - 8/4/08

Fabric Added This Week - 3 yard (Upholstery Fabric)
Fabric Added Year to Date - 49.625 yards

Fabric Used This Week - 9.5 yards
Fabric Used Year to Date - 254.625 yards

YEAR TO DATE TOTAL: 204

I'm adding this upholstery fabric because I may make another One Block Wonder with it. Oh, and by the way-- I only paid $1 for all of it, so I couldn't pass it up!