"I've been busy, oh so busy" (sing to the tune of "I feel pretty, oh so pretty")

 First off, here is the often promised photo of the Preschool Primary? quilt that I finished a few days ago but hadn't gotten my quilt hanger to hold it up for me.

There's not a lot of quilting in it... I went around each shape close to the edge and then again about 1/4" away and stitched in the seams.  For the border, I didn't know what to do and ended up deciding to just make up some shapes to go with the center of the quilt.  Enough stitching to keep it together and still not so stiff that it can't be cuddled under.

Ok... then, this morning I finally got around to trimming up the edges of the PB quilt and found that I had enough of the backing left on the sides to make binding.  I had planned on making a scrappy binding, but I chose to use up the red backing fabric so it can go on it's merry way and not cross my machine again.... well, there are a couple strips left, but I'll put them in the scrap pile.
Got my dear hubby aka quilt holder upper/hanger to hold this one up, too....

I'm really quite pleased with the quilting... I didn't have any major screw ups and it looks pretty good if I do say so myself :).

Then I went looking for something else to work on and hopefully get out of my UFO pile...  FOUND IT!... I have no idea where this top came from - I didn't make it and I don't remember anyone giving it to me.  Possibly they were orphan blocks that were in the guild's charity quilt stash and I brought them home and stitched them together; I really have no memory of doing it, but it's possible.  Anyway, I loaded it onto Mo'e after grabbing a piece of my scrap fabric that lay nearby and some guild scrap batting and loading them first - and off I went... actually, I loaded yesterday, but after taking hubby to dr. yesterday morning and continuing to try to get his nebulizer meds approved by SOMEONE ANYONE, I didn't feel much like quilting.   I ended up quilting it today after I finished PB.

And I've already got another small quilt loaded onto Mo'e and a few blocks stitched... no photos yet, though.

I do have this photo...

when I was trying to take photos of the big quilts, Buddy sat down and seemed to want his picture taken, too... so, I did.

He's such a sweetheart... how could I say "no"?

I started to say "guess that's all for tonight", but it isn't.... the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color for Feb. was released tonight... Purple/Lavender... and I'm seeing Lavender foxes  :)  I don't think I have a lot of either purple or lavender, but I think I might have enough for the foxes.  They are going to look sharp against the gray background.

Ok, NOW that's all for tonight

TTYL

DONE AND DONE

I finished quilting the Pineapple Blossom quilt, but not without some last minute problems.  I finally remembered to get new double stick foam pieces for my newer ruler base so that it wouldn't slope down every time I went to use it.  I don't know if that was part of the problems today or not.  Another problem was skipping stitches here and there, or just refusing to stitch at all.  I managed my way through them, then noticed that I didn't have enough backing fabric for one side of the quilt.  I'm not sure if the quilt top was crooked; it didn't seem to be... so maybe the backing fabric wasn't straight - I can't remember if I tore the beginning and ending edges or not - now that I think back, I don't think I did.

I grabbed some 'leftover' fabric out of what I have in charity quilt fabrics and was able to piece a 6" wide by whatever the length was ( I didn't measure that) and, after piecing three pieces together to make it long enough, I unpinned the bottom of the quilt, turned the batting back over the back bar and pinned the new piece of backing underneath the original backing and stitched them together the entire width... Pinned the new piece of backing to the ender cloth, brought the batting back to the front and under the 'dead' bar and went back to finishing the last row.  This next pic shows how short I was in backing fabric...

 I was short maybe an inch from the right side towards the middle and then it tapered off to no blue on the left end.

I don't like the way the bottom border turned out... it's definitely wonky.  We'll have to see what happens when it comes time to trim before stitching the binding on; I may end up trimming the border to a narrower width.  I'm not going to worry about it - I did a pretty good job on the quilting except for little things here and there.  I rushed to get the last row done because I was hurting again..

But it's done and now, after I get the binding and label on, I can move on to something else.  I already have one picked out... it's a 4 block 'something' that I have no idea where it came from and I've asked some members of our guild if they recognize it, but no one did.  I've grabbed some fabric to use for the backing and I'll take what batting I trim off from the P.B. quilt and use it for this one... guess it needs a name, but I have no idea what to call it...  it'll make a nice doll quilt, though.

Once I get the P.B. quilt binding done, I'll get hubby to hold it up so I can take a pic... and do the same for the last quilt I didn't get a pic of but said that I would.  Then, I'll also find my black batik so I can cut it into strips and sew borders onto the Fractured Pinwheels quilt.

And I STILL have a list  lol

TTYL

NOW there are two rows left

to quilt on the pineapple blossom.  I really wanted to get more done today, but with this cold I didn't feel like doing much of anything.  I didn't even work on this fourth row until after dinner and I was just going to 'look' at it... hahaha.

I did get one BOM ( from 2017) finished late this morning...  It's block #6 of 9, I think... but I still have to go back and do #5.. I skipped it that day because there were too many small pieces that I didn't feel like tracing and cutting and so I went from block 4 to block 6.  Six sat for awhile all cut out, but not glued down to the background so that I could applique'... I did that this morning ( gluing and appliqueing).  Still don't feel like tracing and cutting small pieces so it'll wait for another day. 

Maybe I should explain what I DO do... I trace the patterns onto the dull side of freezer paper then rough cut it out and iron it to the fabric ( in this case, to the front side)... then, after I cut it out,  I can peel the paper off and apply a thin line of glue ( Elmer's school glue mixed with not quite as much water) to the back of the piece, lay it on the background and set a warm iron onto it to 'fuse' it.  Then it can be appliqued... I have been using a buttonhole stitch lately...I think it's called a double buttonhole.  Mode 2 stitch 64.. set at either 2.0 x 2.0 or if a narrower stitch is needed ( like for the stems), 1.5 x 1.5 on my Janome domestic.  

Tomorrow, I NEED to get out of the house and get down to the hardware store ( or Walmart) for some double stick tape... I THINK we have some here, but I have no idea where so I'll just buy some more.  My ruler base on Mo'e keeps sliding down in the front because the tape isn't holding the ruler base magnets firm.  Kind of hard to explain, maybe I'll take a couple of photos before and after I fix it.

I'm off to cuddle with Buddy and watch a Saturday night movie... hope there's something good on.

TTYL

One more row done... three more to go

Obviously, I can't count... I have THREE more rows to quilt, not two....  arghhh

I didn't take a photo of the just completed row ... well, I did - but you can't see it because it's covered with aluminum foil 

When I went out to Mo'e, I found this living pile of black fur named Chewy laying on the quilt like he belonged there.  I shoo'ed him off, of course.  It's the first time I've caught him up there - caught his brother, Mr. Prissy, up there but as far as I know he hasn't gotten up there and taken a nap since I laid out aluminum foil and he landed on it one night.  I heard  him land on the foil and then on the floor  lol.   I'm hoping it does the same with Chewy... I suspect he's been doing it for awhile since I've spotted little black hairs on the quilt top that I know shouldn't have been there.

So, after spending almost the entire morning on the phone trying to get SOMEONE to say they'd approve the refills for two of my husband's usual meds, I had to go into my sewing room and just 'chill out'...  I'm not kidding, I've never seen such a 'run around' or the buck 'passed' so many times.  Insurance company said to call the mail order pharmacy who told us to call the insurance company... then someone told me to call Medicare who told me to call the insurance agency... I got one script taken care of right away, but the other one is what they were sending me all over kingdom come over... The insurance company then told me that I need to talk to a different mail order pharmacy ( of course, they didn't tell me it was mail order at first and I told her that we don't have that one here in our town - thinking I'm going to have to drive into Lansing to get this script... arghhh)... then she told me it's mail order and to call them; so I did, they said "sure, we'll take care of it, just have your local pharmacy (Walmart) fax us the script.  I call Walmart and they don't fax without the requesting pharmacy contacting them first.... so, I have to go through this again on Monday since it was after 5 when I finally calmed down enough to talk to my favorite pharmacy tech at Walmart.

Dividing strips into lights and darks for the Fractured Pinwheel quilt.... then sew them together alternating light and dark.  Then, cut into squares... they were supposed to measure at 8 1/2" but most of mine were like 8 1/4", some even narrower.  I ended up squaring them up at 7 1/2" and thought that worked out ok.  

The pile before sewing blocks together... side view

and top view

and here it is all sewn together... The directions said to make 40 but only use 36 - 6 across and 6 down.... well, I didn't like that idea so I made 2 more blocks and laid them out 6 across and 7 down.

I probably could have done 7 x 7 but apparently I was paying a little too much attention to Doc Martin last night while I was cutting and accidently cut two blocks too small....

Now, I'm going to let it hang there on my design wall for a few days and try to decide whether this one needs a border or not.

This was kind of quick and fun to do - as long as you pay attention... what about doing it with only two colors? - that could be interesting.

Even Slower Today

I got the Pineapple Blossom quilt top loaded onto Mo'e and started quilting it.... six rows of six blocks each.  I finished two rows today.  It's not a complicated pattern, but I was having problems here and there... partly paying attention to where I'm going - sometimes overshot my mark and had to stop and rip out stitches. 

Then there was a problem with the bobbin thread/stitches.  It was a little problem here... another problem there... and it wasn't always the same problem.  I had a couple of inches where the top thread just didn't pick up the bobbin thread.  This was all in the first row so I decided I'd put in a new needle before starting on the next row and see if that was the problem - and it appears to be... I haven't caught any more problems YET.

I also wonder if part of the problem might be the fabric I'm using for the backing.  It was some that was donated to our guild's charity 'stash'; it seems ok, but is kind of on the "Walmart clearance bin" type of fabric.

I'll get a better look tomorrow when I row on to the next row.

That was it quilting wise today.... maybe I'll get more done tomorrow, but I'm sure it won't be done in time to take to guild meeting; it will have to wait til next week.

TTYL

Slow day

I had the follow up appointment with the pain clinic early this afternoon so not a whole lot got done quilting wise.  They want to give me another shot in my back - AND they're going to do one in my left knee, too.  I'm nervous about the knee, but so anxious for it to stop hurting; I really think it's the cause of some of my back pain.

  I did get the binding sewn onto yesterday's quilt, but didn't get a pic taken yet.

Tonight, after dinner, I got the charity quilt backing fabric out of the dryer where it's been waiting over a week for me to come rescue it.  There were three pieces and when the two shorter ones were sewn together, they were almost as long as the remaining piece - more importantly, together, they're the size I need.  This quilt is 80 X 80".. I didn't realize it was that HUGE; the backing covers almost all of the roller on the frame.  I'm so glad that I had enough of this backing fabric for it. 

Bonnie K. Hunter's Pineapple Blossom 

Because it was a resident in the dryer for so long, naturally it was a little wrinkled - not as bad as I expected, but enough that once I got it loaded onto Mo'e I started spraying with water and will unroll/reroll and spray until most if not all the wrinkles are gone.  Then I'll finish loading the batting and top. 

Earlier today, someone on one of the facebook groups I belong to showed a pic of her latest quilt top - Fractured Pinwheels... I thought I'd check it out - it's a free pattern and uses precuts from Tonga Treats which I have a couple packages of.  Unfortunately, one pack is open and has 5" squares, which is not what I need.  However, the other packet has 20 6" x WOF strips.  The pattern calls for 40 2.5" x WOF strips -  I can cut each 6" strip twice and have an inch left over for waste.  I don't like wasting but I've had this packet for so long that I don't remember where or when I got it - it's time to use it.  It finishes at 45" x 45"...

Guess that's it for tonight...

TTYL

Surprised Myself

This is the last of the quilting on the Preschool Primer quilt.... despite this 'cold' and a very annoying tickle in my throat, I managed to quilt the entire thing today.  It's minimalist quilting, but that's all it really needed.  The quilting is not perfect, but 'better done than perfect' and it's really not all that bad - just stand back at least 10 feet  lol.

It's going to spend the night on the frame; I'm worn out and still have to piece the binding together.  If I get up and around early enough tomorrow morning, then maybe I can trim the quilt and get the binding and label on.  If I don't, it will have to wait a bit as I have a follow up with the pain clinic.

Next up for some one on one time with Mo'e are a couple of charity quilts that have been patiently hanging around waiting their turn. 

That's all for tonight... 

TTYL

Quick Catch Up

It's 8:43pm and I want to watch the Hallmark movie at 9 so this is going to be quick...  Finished this top early this afternoon... all ready to sandwich and quilt  It's called Preschool Primary - can't think of the designer's name right off... will look at the label and let you know tomorrow. 

 But I had to finish this one and get it off from Mo'e first... and I did!....  binding and label on... still a little wet in spots where I sprayed/soaked with water to get the blue marks out - some are being a little stubborn.   You can kind of see the backing that is loaded onto Mo'e for the Preschool Primary quilt.

I liked doing this one... It really wasn't anything that I haven't done before, but I really needed the practice.  It's not perfect but it's done and not TOO bad looking and that's what counts to me.  

Ok... movie in 10 minutes

TTYL

and, Katie, if you read this.. please keep your squirrel   lol

One of those days

I woke up this morning to a dry scratchy sore throat and a stuffy nose... it improved as the day went on, but not by much.  I had plans to get up bright and early so that I could maybe finish quilting the project that's on Mo'e right now before I joined the guild's sew in gals for lunch.  I woke up about 5 am but went back to sleep - and slept til just before 10 am.  That didn't leave me a lot of time for anything other than trying to wake up while checking email that arrived since last night and any new messages on FB.

I went down to the library just before noon and then six of us went over to The Eaton Place for lunch.  Had a good time as I always do when we do lunch.  I had told hubby that I'd be back in about two hours BUT he told me to have a good time and stay as long as I wanted - so I did  hahaha.  It was almost three o'clock I think when I finally left.

Started working with Mo'e while the oven was heating up for dinner... got a little bit done, but kept spraying the quilt top with water because the blue and/or purple marks I'd made so that I wouldn't get confused, were really annoying me.  Then, I'd have to take a break to eat dinner or do something ( read email, etc) while I waited for it to dry, which really didn't take all that long.

Got a little more done after dinner, but called it a night when I realized that I'm really, really tired and just want to curl up on the couch and watch tv for a couple of hours.  There's not much left and I should be able to finish it up tomorrow.

TTYL... good night :)

Keepin' on Keepin' on

New day - a new project.  I was woken up about 5:45 am this morning by hubby and Chewy, the cat, arguing through a bedroom door.  I looked at the bedside clock and THOUGHT it said 6:58 am and decided I might as well get up..... It wasn't 6:58, it was 5:58 and so my behind has been draggin' all day.
I was trying to stay awake so that I could make phone calls early this morning ( just not THIS early) so went into my sewing room to see what I could work on.  Right next to my chair was a large paper bag that had fabrics and this pattern inside.

The pattern is called Preschool Primer; designed by Nancy Scott and will finish at 56"x 56"....

 this is the background fabric... a very pretty paler medium green grunge.

 these are the applique' blocks ( six of each shape and  four of each color).  I had to make a run to one of the quilt shops downtown today to get four spools of thread to match some of these fabrics - the pieces for the applique' and pieced blocks all came from six different fat quarters.

 and these came in the mail today... from Quilt in a Day.... they are actually brighter in person than they appear in this pic; not sure what I'll do with them, but I really like them... especially after some of the other ones that have come from the club.

  I ordered a book from QIAD this morning... one that I've really been wanting for awhile and they just happened to have it at a REALLY good price; I think it was something like 40% off so it was $8.99 ( less than $12 with shipping)... Quilted Cats and Dogs by Chris Malone.  I've been looking at it and looking at it and thought that I might already have it, but couldn't find it when I checked so I kept looking at it every time it would pop up on my computer screen.  Today, when I saw the price, I couldn't resist - I just HAD to have it.  I'm hoping that I can use some of my fat quarter 'stash' to make at least a couple of quilts from the book.

Tomorrow is sew is Saturday at the library.  I was going to go but I don't feel like dragging my machine and 'stuff' out in this cold weather.  I'd rather stay home and try and finish the quilt that's on Mo'e right now and continue working on the quilt top I started today...  I will go and join them for lunch, though.  

Ok, an hour later than I wanted to go to bed ( had to have some cake & ice cream and create today's blog post)... NOW I'm going to bed and hope that hubby and Chewy don't wake me so early tomorrow morning.

TTYL

Oh Shoot!  Katie... Are you missing a squirrel?  You didn't give it directions to my house by chance, did you?  ARGHHH   off to find a pea shooter for an annoying squirrel.

Another Short and Sweet

Mo'e and I didn't spend any time together today partly because last night, I started this... had what I thought were all the pieces traced onto fusible web; and assembled & fused the bird onto a silicone sheet.

This morning when I went to start back on it is when I realized that I missed a couple of pieces and had to trace them out & fuse them down. 

The pattern is supposed to be for a triptych (one picture divided into three pieces).  Well, after my last experience with triptych frames, I wasn't going to go through that again and I decided to do this as one piece.

I stitched down the bird, the snow and the tree branch before going to get groceries this afternoon... also had to pick up scripts and order other ones along with getting oil change & new wiper blades on the car.  Once we were back home, groceries taken care of and dinner fixed & eaten, I went back to working on this... and now, it's done.

I tried something that I'm not sure I've done before or not... that was appliqueing and quilting at the same time.

It wasn't hard but I'm not sure I like all that stitching showing on the back like that.  I don't know... we'll see.

I also didn't do a hanging sleeve this time... I did the triangles in the upper corners...

After I did it, I worried that it might have been a mistake since I was wrapping the binding from the back to the front and maybe the top stitching would interfere with using the triangles.. but it seems to be ok.

Ok  so here's the front.... completed.... 

It's a gift for the neighbor next door.  She's been doing things for us like shoveling snow off the porch so we can get out the door and also clearing the snow from our driveway - and she gave us a lovely fruit basket for Christmas.  Cardinals are supposed to be messengers from Heaven from what I understand and she lost her husband last year so I thought she might like this.  I'm thinking about doing another one for one of my grandsons' other grandmother who lost her husband just before the holidays.

Sew in at the library this weekend but I'm going to stay home and finish the quilt that's on Mo'e while I try and get drs to call in scripts so I can get them filled... I'll go join the 'girls' for lunch on Saturday if the weather is good.

TTYL

Making Progress

 From the design wall yesterday...

to the mid arm today.....

Before that happened, I was searching in my room for 'something' I don't remember what, but I found the kit for this cute little pincushion and, after cutting it out, stitched it up while talking on the phone with my friend, Marnie.  The bottom piece that came with it didn't fit, but I had some green that was almost an exact match color wise and cut a larger piece... wham bam and Bob's your uncle :)

The quilting on the star quilt is definitely not an all over edge to edge... it's definitely a 'custom' job.  I'm trying to recreate the patterns used in the photograph of the quilt.  I did have a 'boo boo' ( well, more than one, but I took most out and redid); this one is staying in - most people won't even notice/know it.

I'm hoping to have it done in time to take to guild meeting tomorrow night - if it's not, there's always next week - not going to stress over it.  I just want to enjoy the experience.

Got this card in the mail the other day - along with a form to subscribe to a magazine... tossed the form out but HAD to keep the pic cuz it's just so stinkin' cute ( to me anyway).

That's all for tonight....

TTYL

Short and Sweet... well, at least Short

I finished two quilt tops since yesterday.  The first one needed just two more rows added; a pieced one that was already done and then the solid 'border'.  I finished that yesterday - not a great pic, but it is what it is... will try and get a better pic once it's quilted.

 Then, last night, I started on this quilt... and finished it today... it's 40"x 40" ( or that's what the pattern says it should measure; I haven't taken a measuring tape to it yet).  It's nothing fancy, but something that just caught my eye and I really wanted to do it.  The best part was that I got all the fabrics from my stash.

In the original pattern, the background was white ( mine is cream), what is blue on my quilt was black and the wild print was pink.  The yellow was the only color I didn't change.  The binding will be the same blue; just trying to decide on the backing fabric.

Right now, I'm going back into my sewing room and see if there's something else in there that I can 'whip up' in a day or two :)

Told ya it was short  lol

TTYLs

p.s.  forgot about this one... made it yesterday out of scraps, of course

Long Weekend of Celebrating is Over

Hubby is now officially 80 and most of the kids, grandkids, and great grandkids were here to help him celebrate ( whether he wanted to or not lol).

My son, Chris, came over early this morning 7:15 a.m. to replace smoke alarm batteries and porch light fixtures.  Well, he just supervised while I changed the batteries in one of the smoke alarms.  I had tried doing the livingroom by myself, but I couldn't get the little door to slide open far enough - I actually thought it would come off all the way but it doesn't - he said that it did stick a little but he got it to move with a little more pressure.  The other one was pretty easy.

I didn't think about it ... well, thought about it earlier, but couldn't do it right that moment and forgot again.  We should have put the new tags on our car's license plate... I'll have to try and get it done tomorrow before snow starts AGAIN.  I really SHOULD have done it last Thursday when it was 55 degrees out.

Ok, anyway.... here's Caught Ya!  being held up by the birthday 'boy'... he's standing on the second step up on the ladder so that I could get the whole thing in the pic.  I like it.... have no idea what I'll do with it, but someone will get it eventually.

Now, it'll be back to working on the UFO's and MAYBE that star quilt that I have fabrics pulled out for but haven't cut yet.  I don't think I have that many blocks to go to finish the Autumn wall hanging BOM from Shabby Fabrics; maybe if I work at it every day, I can get it done this month.  I've also got a couple of charity quilt tops waiting their turn on "Mo'e" - think I just need to piece some backings for them.

I'm beat....  GREAT weekend but tiring ...

TTYL

short but sweet

Noticed this yesterday ... never fails... at least once EVERY quilt with applique'.

 My order of magna Glides came in the mail today... gave them a little time to warm up ( cuz they were in a FREEZIN' mailbox for a couple of hours) and then popped one into "Mo'e" and 'got 'her done!'

Since hubby's 80th birthday is Sunday and we started celebrating tonight and we'll continue through Sunday, I probably won't get the binding and label on until Monday. 

Oh!  I stitched these up last night & got the binding on earlier today...a pattern I'd been wanting to do.. and all scrap fabrics to make them.

I think I'll retreat to my sewing room; the daughter in law is starting to rub me the wrong way and I need to cool off.

TTYL

Sooo close

I came home after guild meeting tonight and thought I'd try and finish the quilting on the Caught Ya! quilt... I had finished the borders and sashing and the quilting around two lures before dinner so only had 4 fish left to quilt around.  I thought "I'll just go work on it and see if I can get them all done tonight so all I have to do tomorrow is the trimming and binding.  What is it they say "The best laid plans of mice and men....."  I started on the last fish in the next to last row, got all the outlining done and was starting to do the meandering when I ran out of bobbin thread.  ARGHHH  I knew I was cutting it close and placed an order for more the other day, but not soon enough.  I just checked and its been shipped and is in Detroit right now - will arrive here Saturday.  Sooooo  guess I won't be finishing this quilt until Monday.

I also started a NEW quilt top this morning.  Laura from http://www.sliceofpiquilts.com/2017/12/paying-it-forward.html was showing a quick and easy quilt recently and, although, it's not something I'd usually do, I liked it - and the idea that I could use up some of my 5" squares that I didn't know what to do with.  I think she said she had two tops done within a couple of hours... well, it took me that long and I haven't even gotten the borders on yet. 

When done, it's supposed to measure something like 60"x 60"- that's with 10" borders... I have enough of the background fabric to do that - and  I COULD even make it longer; still have lots of the squares left. I guess the 'hard' part will be deciding HOW to quilt it.  It's obviously more modern than I'm used to doing.  Will have to think about it, but first I need to decide if I want to make it longer or not.

Ok, well guess that's it for tonight...  I'm off to 'ponder'

TTYL

OMGosh! You're not going to believe...

I was pretty sure I was going to need to have to add another strip of batting along the bottom of the quilt and I was ready to add it... but.....

 This is how much batting is left... no need to add.... the bottom two rows aren't completely done yet, but I basted the remainder of the border and then spray soaked with starch in hopes that some of the poofiness will shrink out.  If it's still poofy in the morning, I'll spray with starch again and steam it - that should do it. 

I probably won't get it done tomorrow since I have a pedi scheduled for early afternoon and I still have a bit of the kitchen to clean up a little more.  Not a big rush; I have nothing planned for Friday while I wait til afternoon to tell hubby that some of the kids are in town and want to meet up with us for dinner. hehehe....  and it can always wait until Monday - I have nothing planned for that day.

Next week, I should be able to get back to working on the Autumn BOM from Shabby Fabrics.  Can't remember if I blogged about it or not.... incase I didn't... 

 This is block four... pieces are cut out and glued onto the background but not stitched down yet.

This is block six ( block five has too many small pieces and I didn't feel like messing with them that day  Block six pieces have been traced onto freezer paper and ironed onto the fabrics, but that's as far as I've gotten with it; still need to cut out the pieces and glue them onto the background.

Once this quilt (wall hanging) is done, I have a Christmas one also from Shabby Fabrics that I need to do.

And sometime during doing all of this, I hope to find my half hexi template that is temporarily MIA.  Of course, by then, I'll have probably forgotten what I wanted it for lol.

Ordered a new book today ( sigh)  I really shouldn't have but it has such CUTE animal patterns - little foxes, penguins, frogs, I can't remember what else... I had originally wanted the book for the frog pattern but now that I've seen the foxes - that's the one I want to do now.

Ok, Buddy is whining - wanting my attention.

TTYL

Well, dag nabbit....

Here I went and got all excited when I finished the row with the worm in it... thinking it was the center row and that meant I only had three more rows to go.  Well, it's the center row, but there are EIGHT rows to this quilt not seven like I was thinking.  Alls well though... I kept plugging away and now have only two and a half rows left to quilt.

I took this pic yesterday before I did the middle row ( with worm on hook).  Didn't take any today... it's getting so if you've seen one row, you've seen them all; just different fish.

I never heard back from Lolly's via email so I called them early this afternoon; a very nice sounding young woman took some information ( like my name and phone number) and said that she would talk to someone and they would get back with me.  About an hour later, a nice sounding young man called and said that they found the error (and somehow figured out how much I'd been overcharged for even when I didn't tell him - or the woman I talked to).  He said they could write me a check and put it in the mail today or they could issue me a gift card.  I asked for the check, explaining that I don't know when I'll be down there again to use a gift card.  $22 and change - I can get more fabric with it.  YAY!  Actually, all I NEED is white, but if I get it at Walmart, this will be enough.

Of course, he just happened to call me as I'm pulling into the recycling center here in town... and I'm trying to give him info while I'm trying to find my place in line.  I had a trunkful of corrugated cardboard - and I'm not exaggerating!  One box was a Gateway box from the desktop computer that hubby bought me back in the early to mid 1990's.  I've been stashing broke down boxes for years - just incase - and I have used plenty, but some seem like they'll never get used and since we're not shipping Christmas gifts any more, it was time for them to go!  It cost us/me a little over $200 just for shipping (and three corrugated boxes, only one got used).

Hubby stood behind the car and put the boxes in the trunk as I handed them to him - he didn't think they were all going to fit, but they did.  I ended up keeping a couple - again, just incase - but I'm sure we'll be getting more deliveries of items in cardboard boxes so there's not much chance we'll NEED one that we sent to recycling.

Ok, guess that's it for tonight... better get to bed - KP will be calling me bright and early, I'm sure lol

TTYL

p.s.  I almost forgot... while cleaning out the boxes, I found the battery operated Christmas tree lights for the wall hangings that I'd been looking for!!  They were still in the box they were shipped in -- glad I checked for contents before tossing in the pile.

Slow and steady

First off this morning, I wanted to try this...http://busyascanbe.blogspot.com.au/2015/11/easy-fast-coasters.html?m.  Could I find my half hexi template from MSQC? Nooo, of course not; but I did find another one that apparently is smaller.  I made the coaster, but didn't need as many pieces as was required in the directions; I think I used one less.  It came out ok, although I'm sure it's smaller than it would have been if I had been able to find that other half hexi template.

Oh well...

The next thing was for me to get back to working on one of my BOM's from last year.  I'd started it and got through block 3 of 9.  Got all the pieces cut out and glued down onto the background for block 4.

Then, I traced the pieces for block 6 onto the freezer paper and fused the pieces onto the fabrics for the block.  I didn't do block 5 today because there are lots of smaller pieces and I didn't feel like messing with them - they can wait for another day.

This afternoon, after taking my nap ( did I ever mention how I LOVE my naps?) I got to working on the Caught Ya quilt that I loaded yesterday.  I was able to work for about two hours without my back 'freezing up'... went back and worked some more after dinner and I'm ok - tired but not hurting.  Let's hope I feel the same way in the morning.

The top two borders and two rows of fish are done.

the first fish I completed.

top two borders and sashing

this is the backing fabric that I bought on Saturday and that I'm still waiting to hear back from Lolly's about the overcharge.

I'm hoping to get at least two rows a day done between now and Thursday morning but if I don't, that's ok... I'll just take it to the next guild meeting :).

TTYL