Kansas Troubles BOM is Finished! UFO #3

I finished sewing the binding down last night and will drop it off on Saturday so they can show it next Wednesday at show 'n tell. Rossville Quilts was closed yesterday due to our big snowstorm.



This quilt has Hobbs 80/20 batting, Aztec Gold PermaCore thread and I used the Circle Lord FamClam template, which I think is the perfect choice.



So, with that finished, I can say that I have my very first Christmas present finished for this year. Who is it going to.....well, I can't tell you that, just that it will be given as a Christmas gift.

FREE Coffee!

On Wednesday, January 28th Panera Bread is planning to unveil a new coffee roast and breakfast items. They are giving away free coffee all day, so if you are a coffee lover, like I am, be sure to stop by your local Panera Bread.

Note to self: Leave for work early on Wednesday!

Kansas Troubles BOM is a Top!

On Saturday I happened to check in at the Rossville Quilts website and read that the show 'n tell for the 2008 Block of the Month will be held this coming Wednesday. I probably knew that at some point in time, but forgot it. I talked with Janet about it and she still has blocks to finish, so she will not be bringing hers for show 'n tell. But if you know me, you know that I can't pass up a challenge.

I decided on a layout, visited Quilters Harvest for a little border fabric, finished assembling my top last night and will quilt it tonight. It most likely will not have the binding finished, unless we get the huge snowstorm that the weatherman is promising and the National Group is closed tomorrow. But if that's the case, the show 'n tell will probably be cancelled. Anyway, it's a top:

Stashbusting Week #4

Well, this week was a bust!
It put me back to square #1, but at least not in the red. I spent quite a bit of time on the Dresden Plates and, of course, that doesn't bust much stash.

January 19-25, 2009

Fabric Added This Week - 8 yards
Fabric Added Year to Date - 27 yards

Fabric Used This Week - 4.75 yards
Fabric Used Year to Date - 27 yards

YEAR TO DATE NET TOTAL: 0 yards

Marty's Four Patch

Marty came to quilt this morning and we loaded this flannel off-center four patch quilt. She used the CL Baptist Fan templates and just sailed right along with it while I was busy stitching more Dresden Plates.




About those Dresden Plates.....you sure don't use very much fabric when your sewing time involves appliqueing these onto muslin. I have 4 of them complete and another 3 ready to applique down. I'm appliqueing the center circle to the plates before I applique the outer edges because the swap recipients of these blocks may want to remove the muslin behind the plate to reduce some of the bulk.

2nd UFO Finish for 2009!

I loaded up this wall hanging yesterday, quilted it, and sewed the binding on before the girls came over. This is from the Button Up Series. You make a background quilt with just muslin in the center and squares on the outside. add 3 buttons at the top and change out the front wall hanging each month. I taught a class for these a couple years ago at Cheryl's Quilt Shop and I have all the patterns, but didn't finish assembling them. The February one has been done for a long time, but for some reason, I didn't get the January quilted. Nothing fancy here, but at least it's finished!

A Little Off-Track!

I'm not sure how it happened, but I bought some patriotic fabric today. I didn't go gallivanting with Janet with that in mind. But I saw these fabrics at ALCO, a little discount store in Delphi, and knew that I had to make a quilt of valor with them. At the Chicago Quilt Expo in November, I purchased a tumbler template from Pinwheels.com that is 8" tall and with an 8" base. I bought a yard of each.....well, not really cause 2 of them only had .87 and one had 1.37, but they averaged out to 1 yard each. They are Marcus Brothers and were $3.99/yard. Not on sale, but still a good deal. I used to pay attention to when ALCO had their fabrics on sale, but I haven't for over a year now. I sure don't want to get back into that habit, but once in a while it's OK, right?



After dinner I started cutting and talk about a quick assembly, I have 4 rows on the design wall and these laid out ready to stitch the rows together.



I added some of patriotic fabric from my stash and I think I may have enough to make 2 of these quilts.

I also purchased a yard of Boyds Bears pink flannel and 2 yards of pink Sesame Street flannel for Elizabeth.

FINALLY Done!

I've had this asian panel of Carole's for months and didn't know how to quilt it. I got ready to load it before Christmas and discovered the backing was too small. At that time, she said not to worry about it until after the holidays. So, last week I added some fabric to the backing and loaded it. Then I sat and stared at it....for a long, long time. Those corner blocks and borders had me stumped. Yesterday on the MQResource Forum I watched a video by Deb and decided how to do those borders.

It's my first try at something like these borders and it doesn't look bad from afar, but watch out if you happen to click on one of these photos to enlarge it. Oh well, it's all finished and I guess I'm happy with it. She is planning to do lots of embellishing.

My First UFO Finish for 2009

This is a long ago UFO from when Jeff was in Iraq in 2005. He said it was cold and needed a quilt. I put together a Roman Stripes quilt really quick and sent it to him. I just couldn't bear to throw the ends of the strips away, so I put these triangles together at a guild sewing day, sashed them, put a border on and then said, "My, that is ugly!" But still, I couldn't bear to throw it away.

I finally got it out, quilted it, and put the binding on a few days ago and now that I see it finished, I rather like it.

Dan said it would make a nice cover over the top of his recliner. That led to a discussion about what those things were called. Chair doilies is what I think they were called. He said his mother had them on all the chairs. I believe they were used to keep hair oil off of the upholstery.

I took a picture of it and it looked like it had rounded sides, which it doesn't. So, I got my 24" ruler and laid it next to the quilt and took another picture. Now, you know that the ruler is straight, so that means the edge of the quilt is straight, also. I wonder if there is a setting on my camera to fix that bowing effect?

Look at All Those Bags!

Last night at guild, most of the participants of the workshop on Saturday brought their finished bags for Show 'n Tell. Several members went home from the workshop and made another one and there were 26 bags at guild last night.






It was the first night to turn in Nickel Squares for the swap and 42 participants brought their squares for January. 3 people brought their squares for the entire year, one for the first six months, and about a dozen brought them for February also. I am amazed at the turnout for the Nickel Swap. I didn't get pictures of them yet, but will do that later today.

A Day of Service

Cheri suggested on her blog that we take the time on Martin Luther King Day to work on some charity quilts. Here is my little contribution to "A Day of Service." I came home on my lunch hour yesterday and sewed on the first side of the binding. Last night while watching the inaguration preparations on CNN, I stitched almost 3 sides of it down. I sat down tonight, while watching the festivities and got it almost finished.

Now, here's where I need your help.....
Someone, somewhere, in blogland, in the past few months, posted about a quilt show they were having this spring that was in need of Quilts of Valor. Do you know who it was? I thought I had an email regarding the show, but I can't find it. I will be sending this one and my friend Janet has one as well.

The Perfect Sunday Afternoon!

Look who I got to spend time with yesterday:

Andrew seems to like his I-Spy quilt. Can you tell that he wouldn't hold still?


Elizabeth was content in my arms for a little bit, but not for long. She was hungry and once she had a bottle, she drifted off to sleep. It just doesn't get much better than this:


Andrew was very fascinated by my appliqueing and I had to be very careful where my needle at all times. I know he likes to watch his mom at the sewing machine and he has always liked to watch the longarm.



He's pretty good with the crayons, too, and they have the coolest toys and puzzles for kids these days. I was very entertained also.



Darn, I didn't get any pictures of Matt, who spent most of the afternoon in his room on the computer.

I'm a Winner x 2

Or this post could be called, "How I added 10.25 yards to my stash!"

I belong to a Yahoo Stashbusting group and joined the UFO challenge last year (this year also). We sent in two FQs to join. Everyone's name is on a list and the person at the top of the list is the Queen. She has one week to finish a UFO, or pay a penalty of one FQ. If she finishes, her name goes to the bottom. We let the hostess know each time we finish a listed UFO and at that time our name goes to the bottom of the list. There are winner's names drawn each quarter and FQs that were sent in for penalties are those prizes. At the end of the year two names are drawn to split the remaining FQs and, YEP, my name was drawn. I received 41 FQs that I have added to my stash. I intended to take them to Julie's house yesterday to see if she wanted any of them, but I forgot, so they are all added.




Another winning announcement....
Terri was celebrating her birthday all week and held a giveaway each day. I was one of the lucky winners and on Friday, I received this lovely cup cozy and a wonderful pattern, Little Jelly bags, from her.
Thank you so much for your generosity!

Stashbusting Week #3

January 12-18, 2009

Fabric Added This Week - 13.25 yards
Fabric Added Year to Date - 19 yards

Fabric Used This Week - 3.375 yards
Fabric Used Year to Date - 22.25 yards

YEAR TO DATE NET TOTAL: 3.25 yards

Yikes, not even close to last years totals for this week. But, at least I'm still on the plus side!
The 3 yards that I purchased this week are for the guild nickel swaps - a required purchase each month this year.

Mini-Charmer Workshop #2

Today's workshop was WONDERFUL! 30+ guild members gathered together today to make Mini-Charmer and Charm Party bags. The facility was spacious, the food was delicious, and the company was terrific! Almost everyone finished a bag and those who didn't have promised to finish theirs by the guild meeting on Wednesday. People left at all different times, so I didn't get a group photo today. I thoroughly enjoyed myself today....and it looks like some other people did also.







Look at this nice big room:


More photos HERE.
Do you have a guild close by that would like to have a workshop? After these two under my belt, I think I have this one down pat.....boy, that sure looks funny in print, but it just seems to flow off my tongue. Of course, I had to google it and here is what I found:

Thesaurus
Adj. 1. down pat - understood perfectly; "had his algebra problems down"
mastered, down
perfect - being complete of its kind and without defect or blemish; "a perfect circle"; "a perfect reproduction"; "perfect happiness"; "perfect manners"; "a perfect specimen"; "a perfect day"

I have to go use some fabric now, cause I'm afraid to do a stashbusting report this week!!!!

Andrew's I-Spy Quilt

Andrew's I-Spy Quilt is finished....even has a label.

A trip to visit is in order real soon. I just can't wait to give it to him and watch him find the matching squares.

Decisions, Decisions....

OK, I'm looking for opinions here. Which way would you applique these onto the muslin squares?

I had several questions regarding the steps used in creating these blocks, so I have uploaded photos in a Webshots album HERE showing the proccess.

My Charm Party Bag

Well, it's not made of charm squares at all, just novelty long-arm quilting yardage that I bought at Rossville Quilts for the outside and some cheater fabric from Choice Fabrics for the lining. Since I had only made the Mini-Charmer, I wanted to try out the larger pattern, the Charm Party before the big workshop this coming Saturday. This bag is 11 x 14 x 4...a really nice size tote bag. The pattern works just fine, so we are good to go.

Dresden Fan

Everyone that guessed Dresden Fan from the Saturday night photo was correct.

Here are the blades all turned, pressed and sorted by fabric. they look pretty here, but just wait:




And here they are all divided up into 12 blade sets. I had to do this rather than just doing them randomly, because I had visions of ending up with only one or two colors when it got down to the last few blocks. Now I'm really getting excited about these blocks:



And here are the first 3 blocks.



I think they are just lovely and I'm having second thoughts about giving them away. But, of course, I must. They are for an online 1930's block swap. Who knows, I might just make more for myself.

Stashbusting Week #2

January 5-11, 2009

Fabric Added This Week - 5.75 yards
Fabric Added Year to Date - 5.75 yards

Fabric Used This Week - 8.5 yards
Fabric Used Year to Date - 18.875 yards

YEAR TO DATE NET TOTAL: 13.125 yards

I really didn't want to use anything from my stash for the backing of Andrew's I-Spy quilt, so, YES! I made a purchase the first week of the year! But, I did use most of what I purchased.

Saturday Evening Sewing

This is what I worked on when I got home yesterday:



Any guesses to what these these 192 pieces are going to be?

Mini-Charmer Workshop Photos

Well, the camera still won't work when connected to the computer, but I was able to get the photos off of the card. Oh, I hope I don't have to buy a new camera, because I just love that one.

Here is a photo of the group with their finished bags:



And more photos are here.

Mini-Charmer Workshop #1

Today I taught a Mini-Charmer guild workshop with Janet's help. There were only seven of us there because of the nasty weather we had overnight. It was pretty icy this morning and it snowed off and on all day long. But we were toasty warm inside making Mini-Charmer and Charm Party bags and enjoying Hot Mommas in the morning, White Chili for lunch and lots of snacks throughout the day. Cathy made a Diet Coke run and that put her a bit behind, but everyone went home with a mostly completed bag. Cathy, Cheryl, and Janet L. took their bags home to do the topstitching on the top edge of their bags on their other machines at home. Marty was, of course, the first to finish and even started a second bag. Her sister, Fran, wasn't too far behind her and did a wonderful job considering she is a new quilter. Cheryl left for a volunteer meeting for a couple hours this morning, but still finished her bag except for that top edge.

I would post photos for you, but my camera is drying out in front of a fan. Oh, boy, I hope it drys out! When we were leaving, I dropped a half-empty bottle of water into my purse that must not have been closed all the way. I didn't realize it until I went to plug in my camera and it was dripping.

I didn't use charm squares for my bag today because I had this really cute long-arm novelty fabric that I thought would make a cute bag. The lining I used is cheater fabric with bright squares.

This was a test-run of sorts for me because we're teaching this workshop next weekend to 30+ guild members. It's always good to have a test run because now I know what to stress and make many reminders about, like topstitching the pocket flap and leaving a 7" opening in the bottom of the lining.

Elizabeth & Andrew

Now what kind of grandma would I be if I didn't post more photos of Elizabeth on her 1 week birthday?

So here you go.....

Elizabeth and Andrew:


From the hospital:

Proud parents:


This is the funniest shot of the grandmas, when we got our first glimpse of Elizabeth:


Elizabeth and her daddy:


Elizabeth and her brothers:

1st Quilt Finish of 2009

I guess that Andrew's bag was my 1st finish of any kind in 2009, but this is my 1st QUILT finished. I put the last stitches on the binding of this quilt at the meeting last night. When I got home, I took a photo of it and boxed it up. Off to the post office this morning and now it is on it's way South. I named it Hawaiian Memories.....can you guess who it's for?



The batting was Hobbs 80/20, white PermaCore thread and the pantograph was Leafage, an 8.5" design by Keryn Emmerson, which I think was perfect for this quilt.


EDIT: there is a pattern similar to this by Atkinson Design called Slide Show.