We're up and running again

Loring was just here and installed the new ecoder ... simple enough job that IF it ever happens again, I can do it myself.  And he tightened the end of the bar that was occasionally falling off... it shouldn't happen again... thank goodness because it can be quite loud and startling when it happens.  I've even had my hubby call out asking if I'm ok after he hears the big THUD ( and a few cuss words from me ).
There's now a rattle in the frame that wasn't there before.  We checked all over trying to find the cause but couldn't find anything.  It could be because I usually have something laying on each end of the 'table'/'bed' and that weighs it down so that it doesn't vibrate as loudly; we'll see how it goes once I put the stuff back.  Loring also zip tied the wires in the back together so that they shouldn't get caught in the wheels or the corner of the carriage.

While he was here, I was talking to him about wanting to install my laser light on the front of my machine.  He'd never heard of anyone doing this, but didn't see why it wouldn't work.  I got the light out ( along with the parts to attach it to Mo'e's head... come to find out, there's a bracket missing.  It doesn't matter right now anyway, but would have caused confusion if I had tried to install it on the back).  Anyway, I told him what I thought I'd try and he got to looking - the next thing I know, he's unscrewing the clamp that's hold the control panel onto the handle bar and he's figured out how to add the laser light to the same clamp... Voila'  it's installed!

There won't be much getting done on Mo'e for the next few days... but at least he'll be ready when I have the time to get back to him.

TTYL

Slow Sunday

I haven't accomplished much today other than a short nap and one little project.  It's probably a good thing since this coming week is going to be a busy one.
I'm supposed to lead a 'make and take' at guild meeting this coming Thursday night ( IF hubby is home from the hospital by then) so, although my friend, Colette, and I have done this project, I thought I'd try it again so that I'd have a few samples on hand to show at the meeting.

Here's the first one....before the alcohol was applied.... and here's the after

It didn't turn out nearly as well as it did when we tried before.  I tried on a second square and that one turned out better, but I couldn't get a decent pic.
Will keep trying.... at least a couple more times.  I don't know what the 'sparkles' are in the second pic; I'm assuming that it's droplets from the alcohol.

Monday, hubby, Buddy and I are going to K-zoo to visit hubby's brother.  When we got to talking about it, we realized we hadn't seen him since hubby's last stent surgery which was almost a year and a half ago.... and hubby was out of it & doesn't remember.  He keeps saying that he'll probably never see his brother again, and so I had to make sure that he got over there - and I'll try to see if we can't work something out so that they get together more often; maybe not monthly, but maybe every other month.
Tuesday, Loren/Loring comes to work on Mo'e; Wednesday morning (EARLY), hubby goes in for surgery ( again) ... apparently either one of his stents has clogged up or there's a new clog.  Hopefully, he'll do better than he did last time and will be back home on Thursday.  IF it's like last time, he may be in there until Friday or Saturday.

Off to play with fabric, Sharpies and alcohol until time to fix dinner...

TTYL

Nothing Ventured... Nothing Gained

I didn't go down to The Hen House yesterday... instead, I spent most of the late morning and early afternoon watching Home Free on youtube.com.  Home Free is an a capella group that, in my opinion, is beyond words in talent.  The rest of the afternoon was spent paying bills and getting groceries, etc.

It's not that I didn't think about the Amish with a Twist May block -  I did - I thought about it a lot; trying to figure out what I can do, if anything, to get that missing 1/8" back.  Is an eighth of an inch all that important??  Probably not in most cases, but since I have to make a total of 8 of these blocks, it could make an inch difference in the construction of the quilt.

Do I simply move my needle over two more numbers?  That should give me a scant 1/4" seam, but will it give me the block size I need?  Could I move the needle over just one number - would it make a difference?  I'm sure I'm over thinking it, but I just don't want to make these blocks wrong; I'm half-way through the blocks for this quilt top and I really want to continue on until it's complete - no sitting around as an UFO.

Sorry, got sidetracked there.... I went and basted a second block together to see if MAYBE it was just the first block being a PITA.... nope!

 first block - can you see the difference in the distance between the light 'blue' points and the seamline?

Much better on this block....

The second block looks better along the joined seam line, but when I measured it, it's still 1/8" short.  Before basting it together, I tried moving the needle to the right and then placing the completed block seam under the foot and lowering the needle just short of the fabric... it MIGHT have laid right next to the seam line - not what I need.  Moved the needle over two more ( 4.2) and there was a slight difference.  That's when I decided to baste the second block together.  sigh.  Guess I'll be making a trip down to The Hen House later today.

TTYL

ARGHHH!!!

Yesterday was going good... was trying out a new ruler and making rope borders on Mo'e.  He was acting up a little bit, but I couldn't figure out just what his problem was until SNAP - one of the ecoder wires broke.  Called Jason... it would probably have to be ordered and someone MIGHT be able to get out here next week to replace it - if not next week, I'll have to wait until after the Grand Rapids AQS show ( which isn't until the middle of August).  I'm certainly hoping that I don't have to wait that long... I have two charity quilts being handed to me on Thurs. night and I have to finish the quilt that's on him first.

I'm still trying to get caught up on my Amish with a Twist BOMs.  Started back on May's today and thought everything was working as close to perfect as I could hope... until I got the blue/black 1/2 square triangle stitched to the blocks.  It's supposed to finish at 16 1/2"; my first one finished at 16 3/8"...  1/8" narrower than it's supposed to be....arghhhh again.  Not sure what I did wrong; afraid to continue on with the rest... will probably wait until tomorrow and take it down to The Hen House to see if someone can help me.  I already measured the seam... it's 1/4" right on the nose.

I also got my Quilter's Teddy Bear out and the parts that are done are pinned on my design wall.  It's something that I've been working on here and there, and now I know why I haven't finished it... It's HARD!!  especially since I'm doing it backwards.  It's a paper piecing project - but this time you're supposed to put the pattern piece on the front side of the fabric instead of the back.  This silly woman didn't read that part of the directions until she got to the spot I'm at now... which is where there's a piece that just doesn't work with pattern on the back.  I think if I flip the pattern piece over and lay it on my lightbox to trace onto freezer paper, it SHOULD work... I just haven't tried it yet.  Now that it's up on the design wall and I see that it's about 3/4 done, maybe I'll get back to working on it... after I get my AWAT BOM caught up and a couple of other projects done.  If I can get them done within the next week, I can work on the Teddy Bear while the others are up at retreat, which is where I started it.

Time to fix dinner...
TTYL

Semi Productive Weekend

It was sew in weekend with the guild gals this past weekend and I had decided that Friday ( charity quilt day) that I would start working on the string quilt I've been wanting to do; I call it a 3D string quilt - not sure it has an actual name, but it's one I've been emailing back & forth with another blogger about.  It was a slow start ( normal for me) but once I got going, I got quite a few blocks done.  While digging through my collection of strings, I found 9 blocks already done.. YAY!  so I only needed to make 11 more.  By the end of Friday, I had 8 done and Gloria had found some white yardage that I could use for the sashing.  Good end for a productive day.

Saturday morning, I slept until 9 a.m. ... so unusual for me.  It was probably close to 10:30 by the time I got to the library with my foggy brain and without breakfast.  Since I was still only semi-conscious, I didn't take any of my own projects to work on and decided that I'd just continue working on the string quilt blocks.  Not a whole lot was accomplished before lunch, but I made up for it after lunch.  By the end of the day, I had the remaining three blocks done and filled two more large phone book pages filled with strings.  The large phone book pages will be covered with strings ( sewn down, of course) and then cut in half lengthwise to make the outer borders for the string quilt.

I still need to trim the 11 I completed over the weekend and then remove all the papers - would be nice to get done before the next sew in so that I can just get to sewing the top together.

Speaking of tops... one of our new guild members put out a call for heart blocks that will go into quilts for survivors and/or family members of victims of that horrible massacre down in Orlando, Fl.
We told her that she didn't realize what she'd gotten herself in to - just from some of our guild members, she's already received enough blocks to make two quilt tops.  I told her that I would be glad to quilt it/them for her.  Mary Jean took  thirty blocks home with her on Friday night to piece together one top and Colette took almost thirty home with her for a second top.  Megan ( the new member) donated backing fabric and the guild will donate the batting.  I wouldn't be surprised if more blocks come in - we can always do a third if we get enough - if not, Megan can send the loose blocks in separately ( from the completed quilts).

In the meantime, I have a quilt on Mo'e that I need to get done... have been flipping back & forth on how I want to quilt it... I had a design in mind, but then decided I'd do a Baptist Fan and basted the entire quilt ( good thing it's small).  Now, I've changed my mind again and want to go back to the original choice since I've already SID a couple of rows - and that wouldn't need to be done on a BF.

Also doing laundry ( oh joy!  NOT lol) and other various puttering around.... right now, I need breakfast - or an early lunch ( it's 11 am).

TTYL

Almost Caught Up

I finished all six of the Christmas Row by Row blocks yesterday ( no pic) so I'm all caught up on that BOM.  Now it's back to working on the Amish with a Twist BOM - would try and work on it today, but hubby had three hours testing at cardiac dr's office this morning/afternoon, went to lunch afterwards and now it's 3:00.  I have cupcakes to make for the guild picnic and AGT is on again tonight, so I don't think sewing is in my schedule for today.

Yesterday, I got another quilt loaded onto Mo'e and top basted down, but that's as far as I got.  Not sure how I want to quilt it; thought I had a design in mind, but now I'm not sure that's what I want to do.  Luckily it's something like 58" x 70" so it shouldn't take long once I get started on it.  It has two borders and I think that's where I really want to stretch my skills and try something a little different than what I would normally do.  It may end up on Mo'e for a couple of weeks - we'll see.

Sew in with the guild gals this weekend... going to start a new string block quilt on Friday and I THINK I'll work on the five minute blocks on Saturday.  I have so much that I want/need to get done in the next few months; I've got to stop dilly dallying around and get down to business.

and on that note....

TTYL

Blue Ribbons!

After all the 'sweating' I did over my 'secret' project, it was time to reveal it... at our local county fair.  It was all worth it because I got a BLUE RIBBON/ FIRST PLACE.  I'm so grateful - and excited that it did so well.

I also received a blue ribbon for my "I Love My Allstars" quilt. 

 I ALMOST switched it out for the recently completed Quilter's Garden in the Kids Quilts category, but decided that I'd wait and enter the pink version next year.

Coming in third place for piecing was my Goodnight Irene quilt... 

I might have placed better if I hadn't washed it before entering it, but since I've been using it for my daily naps, it had the smell of dog and hairs of cats on it so it HAD to be washed... and I didn't want to iron it, which might have helped.  I'm happy with just getting third place.

While waiting for the judging results, I worked on my Christmas Row by Row and finished the last three sets of these

Today, I've started working on the side border trees.... once those are done, I have to wait til next month to get the last block ... the gingerbread border cornerstones.  Then I can finish assembly and start looking for backing fabric so I can get it quilted BEFORE Christmas.  YAY!

Saturday, I ended up going back to bed instead of going to the quilt show with Cathy, Vicki and Joyce.  After getting another much needed 4 hours sleep, I went to the show by myself; not as much fun as going with friends, but I ran into several guild members and got to chat with them a bit.  I managed to keep my spending to a minimum when checking out the vendors... I did get a yard of fabric ( white print on black background) to add to my collection for a future dresden plate quilt for $4.00... Great deal!

Then I went to The Marshall House -  I shouldn't have, but it's part of going to the quilt show... you HAVE to go to the quilt shop afterwards ( that's my excuse and I'm stickin' to it).  I did a little more retail therapy while there... picked up some more white on black fabrics and a pattern for a cross wallhanging that I thought my oldest daughter might like.  OH!  that just reminded me... her birthday is the end of this week and I haven't mailed off her gift & card yet.  Need to do it TODAY.

TTYL

Not a lot getting done -

I had some problems printing out the pattern for the mitten row on my Christmas row by row, but got it figured out and double checked with Sindy to make sure I had it right.  Got those done last night.

I know, it's a bad pic, but I was tired and didn't feel like messing with them.

Today, I started on the bottom row ( trees)... got one section glued and gave up & took a nap.... naps are so my friends lately :(.  Hope to get back to them tomorrow.

Cathy V. gave me my 'kit' for the group quilt we're doing since I didn't feel good yesterday and stayed home instead of meeting up with them.  I forgot to ask her when she needs it back, but I can ask her Saturday when the four of us get together to go to the CalCo quilt show.

Then, Sunday morning I have to take my entries to the fairgrounds and then anxiously await the judging results.   I'll be on pins and needles until I find out how I did.

After that, I'll be back working on my Christmas row by row... have the side border trees to do... that's it until I get the gingerbread cornerstones pattern next month and then it will be time to assemble.  Sashing fabric is what I need to look for while we're at the quilt show and then The Marshall House after the show. Once I have that - and the gingerbread pattern, I can start assembling the top... then will need to find backing fabric.

Lots to do... let's hope I find the energy to do it all.

TTYL

Productive weekend

I'm not saying I got a LOT done, but it's a LOT compared to most weekends.

Friday, I finished the quilting on this quilt....

 I finished the binding and label on Sunday night.  It wouldn't have taken me so long to do the binding if I had done it all by machine, but because I didn't leave a lot of room between the feathers I quilted into the borders and the edge of the quilt, I felt I really needed to stitch the binding on to the front first, then bring it around to the back and hand stitch down.   I didn't do a sleeve, but will probably do that at a later date.

Then it was on to working on my Christmas row-by-row.  I can't remember if I worked on these Saturday or Sunday - maybe both.

Once I make sure they are the right size, the two pieces will be sewn together end to end to make one longer row.  They didn't take long once I got started on them, I just dreaded doing them for some reason.  Now, I have mittens to do for the next row ( actually, it's the previous row but I got out of order - not a big deal).  When I went to print out the patterns for the mittens, I found that my printer was printing them too small.   I played around and THINK I have them the right size now.  Will check to make sure; if not, then I'll have to contact the designer to see if she will send me the correct size pattern.

Tomorrow, I'm meeting up with cousin Cathy, and quilting friends, Vicki and Joyce.  We are pooling our talents together and making another quilt for the Festival of Trees this year.  We've done it twice in the past; lots of fun.

Thursday I will try and get back to working on the Christmas row by row and then by the weekend, maybe I'll be able to get caught up on my Amish with a Twist project; including this month, I have THREE to get done.

I have a quilt ready to load onto Mo'e - just need to piece the backing - maybe I can do that tonight  or tomorrow morning before I leave to meet 'the girls'.  We'll see.

TTYL

Getting Close to the End

I got a late start this morning because I overdid it yesterday ( 7 hours quilting) and couldn't get to sleep until about 1:30 this morning.  Apparently, when I did finally fall asleep, it wasn't a restful one because I had to lay down for a nap at noon.  Set my alarm for 2 p.m. but shut it off and continued sleeping until a little after 3.

Had a bit of problems when I did get started today... had to adjust tension, not a real biggie, but then, later on, all of a sudden, Mo'e started skipping stitches... not just one or two here and there but an inch at a time.  I have no idea what was happening.  I checked the bobbin and corrected it ( thread had slipped a bit from the holders); it still skipped.  Got a scrap of fabric out and started testing on it - worked just fine, so back I went to working on the quilt - and without any more thread problems.  

I can see pokies here and there, but think they might disappear once the quilt is washed.   Did have some control issues in one spot - maybe there's a thread on the rail in that area... will clean them before I start on the end of the quilt.... Just have the row of plant pots and then the bottom border to do.  

I also ran out of bobbin thread about 1/2 way through the quilt... it was a brand new pre-wound.  I had thought for sure that I had gotten more 'mileage' out of pre-wounds than I did this time.  I'm just hoping there's enough left on this second bobbin to finish the quilt - it's the last of my only two pink pre-wounds.

Once I get this one done - probably Friday, I'll go back to working on my BOMs and MAYBE get them caught up enough so that I can start on the July ones the following weekend.  I won't be doing the second one of these Garden Quilts right away - want to work on something quicker and easier before first.

TTYL

Back to business

After spending about 3 1/2 weeks working on a secret project, I'm backing working on the 'usual'.
Sunday, I thought I would start getting caught up on my BOMs beginning with my Amish with a Twist.. ran into trouble ( fabric shortage) right off the bat.  Put it aside and started working on my Christmas Row by Row and managed to get 8 gnomes completed and ready to place on the background - and there they sit, still waiting.

 I'll get them glued  and appliqued onto the background sometime in the next day or so.

I went down to The Hen House yesterday to find out what went wrong with my AWAT... had even Carolyn confused for a little bit... it measured right one way but not another.  Elise was brought in to 'figure' it out - what happened was that I needed 6 strips cut at 3 1/4" x 21"; I was trying to cut them across the width of the fabric provided but it was only a little over 13" wide -- 6 times 3.25" equals 18.75".  It wasn't working ----until Elise literally pointed out that the fabric was folded in half and that I only had to cut THREE strips and then cut them in half to get the 21" strips.  Such a simple thing that just wasn't getting through my math challenged head.

In the meantime, I loaded a quilt onto Mo'e and yesterday, started quilting.

first, just right next to the appliques, then 1/4" away...then, onto the 'fun' part....

I had to stop for the night before I got to the star in the upper left corner - that's where I'll start today.

Ok, I think I'm all caught up on my 'news'... well, except to say that the secret project won't be revealed until sometime next month.  You'll just have to wait and watch for it.

TTYL

Still Playing

The square on the left is the one that I sprinkled with salt... not crazy about this process... I can't see any difference in the paint/texture and I couldn't just brush the salt off like I heard you should be able to.

The one on the right is the one I scrunched up... LOVE IT!  Can't wait to try it on a bigger piece of fabric... might have to come up with a project that I can use it in.... would have been great to use on Linda G's block and/or that baby quilt I just did.  Will definitely have to do again.

Today, I'm trying another technique'.  I had asked Dale ( guild member) how I could block off areas of fabric that I didn't want painted or paint running into.  She told me to use blue Elmer's Glue.  The problem with that would be that I would have to wash the fabric to remove the glue when I was ready to move on and that just doesn't sound like a good idea for the project I had in mind.

I got to thinking and wondered "Why can't I use a white crayon?"

Well, it worked!  Here is the pic to prove it... 

OOPS!  forgot that I was in the middle of writing this....  

It's now at least half an hour later.... tried the painting on a larger piece of fabric... the crayon didn't work as well on this one, but it worked enough.  Where the paint bled through will most likely be covered with something else, so we're ok, I think.

TTYL

Play day

Stupid weather has been playing havoc with my sinus' and I'm not getting as much done as I'd like because I have to keep taking naps.  Hopefully, the weather will change for the better SOON and the headaches will quit.

The other day I went down to one of our neighbors and asked permission to take some pics of some of her flowers.  I need one ( or more) for our guild's class in Oct.  These are the ones I took...

Then, today, when coming back from the $ store, I noticed that Joyce across the street had some flowers that I'd like pics of.  She wasn't home ( I'll have to tell her later) but I took the pics anyway; I'm sure she won't care.  Here's what I got today.

yes, the top flower is just like the previous ones, but that's ok... it gives me another option.  I don't think I want to try the red ones, but I may print up a couple of copies incase someone else in the guild wants to try them.

Finally got around to playing with the paints.... Using white Kona cotton squares and Pebeo Setacolor paints, I tried these first... spraying generously with water before applying the paint with a sponge brush.

Upper left corner... just paint ( cobalt blue)... upper right corner... just paint but scrunched to see if I get texture ( hills and valleys)... lower right corner was sprinkled with table salt and then sea salt after the paint was applied - just to see what it does.  I tried these with blue right out of the bottle and then tried with watering down the paint in a bowl before applying to the wet fabric.  The blue is darker than I want - going to have to figure out how to lighten it ( no white Pebeo).

The brown block is also Kona cotton with just a tiny TINY amount of velvet brown paint.   I sprinkled a teeny tiny amount of table salt on this one, too.

Then I grabbed a piece of green Grunge fabric and tried shading with the brown ...

I don't think it looks like much in the pic, but it's looking exactly like I want.   

Now, letting everything sit to dry - Why did I ever get rid of ALL of my hairdryers!?!?!  Oh well, that's ok - it's giving me time to do this blog and to watch Sister Wives :).

Will post tomorrow about how the samples look after dried.   Oh... Thanks to TheQuiltShow.com and Cindy Walter... cindywalter.com  for showing me painting on fabrics :).

TTYL

Done and Delivered

After my last post, I made a quick trip into JoAnn's and found blue fabric that matched the blue I was using in the airplane quilt, and six days later, I THINK it was on sale.  Of course, I picked up a few other 'steals'... oh yeah, I found one bolt of fabric on the clearance rack marked down to $4 a yard, but that day, the clearance prices were marked down again to 50% off the sale price... I got six yards (and 14" inches) for $12 and some change... and I got a couple of fat quarter bundles in shades of textured tans... can't remember if there was anything else I bought or not.

Got home and put the final border onto the airplane quilt; loaded it onto Mo'e and then waited til the next day to start the quilting.  All in all, I think it took about 5 hours over a couple of days for the quilting... lots of slow going around the appliques and stitching in the ditch around the airplane blocks.  Since I couldn't find a print for the outer border and was going with a solid, I had to come up with some sort of quilting design... got the idea to do outlines of the airplanes.. had to shrink them down a little bit so they would fit, but it wasn't hard, just a little time consuming since each one was stitch individually.  I also wanted to put something in the red inner border ... came up with doing 'waves' but decided that wasn't good enough... hit on the idea of block lettering the word ZOOM here and there with the 'waves' in between.  Finished the quilting, trimmed it up and put the binding on that evening and hand stitched the mitered corners down ( something I NEVER do) the next morning ( Tuesday).  I called the customer and arranged to deliver it on either Thurs or Fri. ( today).  I wanted to take it for 'show & tell' at guild meeting last night, so delivered it today.

The customer LOVES it... she rushed right to the store next door to show the employees over there, then came back and took pics to send to the baby's mother (apparently the store manager) who texted back that she loves it ... then the customer put the quilt on a hanger and hung it behind the service desk while telling a woman who was in the store about it.  Unfortunately, the customer thought that I was going to call her before delivery and since I didn't, she didn't have the money with her.  She said that she & her husband are going to Eaton Rapids right after she gets out of work tonight and she will drop off the money to me on her way there.

Before dropping off the baby quilt today, I did a quick stop at JoAnn's... had a coupon for 50% off any cut of fabric that wasn't on sale and I needed backing for that HUGE MSQC quilt that I did a couple of months ago.. forgot to check on batting, though.  I may have to piece a twin and a queen together because I don't think a queen will be big enough and I don't think I have a king size batt in my stash.  I also picked up another 5 yards of paper backed fusible - going to need it when I start working on Kathee's nativity wall hanging... which I stopped at FedEx and had the patterns enlarged 200% for.    I've done this wall hanging before, but did the enlarging myself ( what a PIA that was) - maybe I didn't do it at 200% then because I don't remember the pieces being this big.  I already have the background fabric and the rest will be made from my scrap stash.

I collected a few more blocks for Linda G's going away at the meeting last night.  I think we're up to 12 of 14 if you count the two smaller ones that were my first attempt.  Found out Judy got the 'smaller' pattern, too :(... and a couple of the quilters did applique' instead of paper piecing.  Personally, I don't care and I'm pretty sure that Linda won't either.  Just grabbed my label signing pen and stuck it in my purse to take to next week's meeting since SOME people didn't sign their blocks ( and I think one of them reads this blog).  :(

Ok, off to do something - probably housework --YUCK.

TTYL

The best laid plans of mice and men - and me

Oft go awry... it wasn't until about 5 last night that I accepted the fact that the border fabric I had purchased for my customer's quilt was not going to work.  I was really hoping that Cassie's shop would be open today so that I could find something more suitable - then I could still get the quilt done this weekend.  Well, she was closed and won't reopen until Tuesday - sigh.  I checked at the Hen House to see what they might have - nothing that would work for this project; did find a couple fabrics for my next project though :).

  I THINK the print I have might work IF I put a narrow blue strip between the red inner border and the outer print border... It looks good to me - will take it to Cassie's on Tues to see what she or Linda think.  IF they agree that the narrow blue strip will do the trick, then all I'll have to purchase more of is the blue.

Stopped at Walmart to see if, by chance, they might have what I'm looking for - there was some airplane print, but not really what I was looking for.

So much to do - so little time to do it.  Deadlines are looming.

Off to play with paints...

TTYL

Super Simple Sunday -

Well, that was my plan anyway.  I was going to work on a few projects that SHOULD have been quick and easy.

First up was April's block that I received the pattern for on Saturday while at sew in.  A simple star in a star pieced block.  FIVE freakin' hours later, it was as done as it was going to get.  I couldn't believe it took me that long!!!

look how 'off' the right side of the blue star is... arghhhh!!   I had followed Colette's advice and made the seams a slight quarter inch ( like 3/16")  - that was a BIG mistake.  Took it apart and tried again, this time using 1/4" seams except for in the white/yellow seams ( I didn't want to have to do them again if I didn't have to).

Here's 'finished' block attempt #2...

OOPS!!

FINALLY got it right.... a couple of the seams don't match exactly, but close enough.

here's the scraps left after all the ripping and wrangling.... and there's probably more, but this was the pile next to my machine.

Then it was on to trying Linda G's block again since my first attempt produced a 8.5" block while others are reporting that their's are coming out 10.5".  Paper piecing - something normally pretty simple for me... not yesterday!!   I gave up on trying to keep track of how long it took me just to do the top piece.  First off, I got carried away and pieced it all using the bus fabric - didn't allow for the sky around it... rip them out... then, one of the smaller pieces didn't lay down flat and it got caught in following stitching - of course, I didn't notice it until two or three pieces later.  Then I somehow covered up  a tiny piece and had to take out almost all of the background pieces.  ( Now that it's done I've noticed that another piece didn't lay down as flat as it should have, but I'm not messing with it again).  I finally gave up and went & watched tv until bedtime - which ended up not being until almost 1 a.m. :(

Got up this morning and started working on the second piece of the bus block... no problem; on to pieces three, four, etc... without having to rip out any more seams.  I didn't have a long enough piece of fabric for the last piece so I dug through my gray stash and found a piece that works for road pavement under the bus.

AFTER I finished, I noticed two little mistakes... I'm NOT going back to correct them.  Linda might not even notice.  :)

I still haven't finished the quilt that's on Mo'e... 

quilting is done except for the borders.  I had hoped to do it yesterday, but obviously it didn't happen because of the hair pulling I was doing over those two 'simple' blocks.  It's on my to-do list for today along with some YUCK housework.  Load of laundry going... still need to finish loading dishwasher and get that going.  Have a pie to make for hubby's friend, Clarence, who mows our lawn for us.  Then on to clearing out the dining room so that we can shampoo the carpet sometime this week.  I also have a baby quilt to get started on, along with running into Gall's with Colette.

That's it for now....

TTYL

Non-productive weekend

Well, not completely... I did go to a quilt show and then a quilt shop with cousin, Cathy, and friend, Vicki, on Saturday... got some great yardage at the quilt show's 'yard sale'... I think there was about 9 yards of fabrics and I paid $14 - not as good a deal as the first time I went to their show, but was still good price for what will probably be used as backing for future quilts.  As for the quilts, maybe I've become a little jaded, but I only saw a couple that completely wowed me; one was made completely from 1/4" hexies  with applique'd borders- something I'll never do.

 I can't even remember what the other one looked like, but I think it was the colors that impressed me; didn't take a pic, darn it.  I dud take a couple more pics but they were for the quilting not the quilt themselves.

Speaking of backing, I finally got around to piecing the backing for the bug quilt yesterday.  It's now laid out waiting to be loaded onto Mo'e which may not get done until tomorrow afternoon.

Going to do some housework today.. so tiring and seemingly useless - it'll just get dirty again and need cleaning again.

TTYL

It's been a LONG LONG day

Still had problems with getting this 'guild' quilt done.  There are tiny eyelashes on the back, but I'm not going to go back and try to redo them.  I THOUGHT I had everything worked out, but looking at the back now that it's off the frame... there were other little boo boos here and there.  It's not my best work, but I like it.

There's still one 'orphan block' left... but I'm going to wait til another day to work on that one... I'm tired of feathers and micro stippling.

Tomorrow, I MIGHT work on the teddy bear panel that Linda B. found in our charity quilt fabric stash.  I wanted to get that baby quilt onto Mo'e but I'm going to wait a couple of days to let my body recover ( and to reserve energy for the quilt show in Jackson this coming weekend).

That's all for today.... weather is rainy and YUCKKY.

Oh, and note to self:... Mo'e didn't want to stitch a couple of times - keep an eye on him and if it happens again, call Jason to get someone out here.  Oh, and the bottom front bar fell off again - need that fixed, too.

TTYL

Counting to Ten

Very Slowly....

I finished yesterday's project

Wait until you see what I used for the backing.... wait for it.... wait for it....

It's one of those printed panels that you cut out and assemble... this one was for a vest - well, that wasn't going to happen  LOL.  In the pic it's turned sideways so that you can see it a little better.

Now, for this morning's quilting... here's where we count to 10 ... Very Slowly....  I have the guild's quilt that Gloria gave me to quilt up.  Practice piece went just fine.... the quilt itself is going fine, it's just that my top thread kept breaking and I was getting VERY frustrated.  It didn't help that Chewy (one of our cats) was yowling for his lunch ( started about 10:30 - lunch is at NOON).  I ended up turning my cd player's volume up ALL THE WAY just to drown him out.

And to add to my frustration, I'm waiting to hear back from the urologist's office AGAIN.  We're trying to schedule an appointment for hubby so that he can get the stent removed.  I really don't want to drive to East Lansing ( it will take longer to get there than it will for them to remove the stent) and want it done here in town.  When I asked the dr. about it on Friday, he said it could be done here in town on Wed., but he's not scheduled to be there this week and, apparently, his associate who will be here, doesn't do 'jobs' for other in the practice.  Ratchin' Fratchin'!!

Ok  back to Mo'e.... the top thread kept breaking  arghhh!   Finally think I found the problem... it's the first eyelet that the thread goes through from the cone; the thread was catching on it.  I tried just about everything else trying to figure it out... waiting for Jason to return my call ( found the problem after I called him)... you wouldn't think that I'd need a new plastic 'eye' for it already, but maybe.  All I knew was that I had used the thread before without any problems - so why, all of a sudden was it acting up.  It was a new bobbin - a prewound that my cousin, Cathy, gave me.  I'm assuming that it's Bottomline thread.    It ( the bobbin case) was giving me a little problem at first, but wasn't the cause of the top thread breaking.

The dr's office just called back... hubby has appt for Wed. afternoon here in town.  But now they have to call me back to let me know if the dr wants a follow up ( his associate WILL be removing the stent) in a week or so.

Ok, guess I'll try and work on the guild quilt again.  Crossin' my fingers that it will work right this time.  ( of course, it wouldn't act up like this if it had been one of my practice pieces! )

TTYL

Jason just returned my call... it's not the eyelet, I just need to use the cone pin closest to the pole (that holds the eyelet 'arm')... otherwise, there's too much friction and it'll mess up.   I don't know why they have two cone holders if you're only supposed to use one... shaking my head.