Chubby Chicks

 Above are two of the quilted chicks and  pic of the first two rows and the chicken wire inner border done.  The pics below are of the quilting I'm doing on the chicken wire borders.  Someone said that they thought I should tighten my upper tension a little bit more.  Nice idea but I battled and battled with Mo'e and adjusted the top tension, the bobbin tension, changed needles, changed bobbins and then noticed dust bunny IN the bobbin case so cleaned that out.  My threads kept breaking.. since changing bobbins and evicting the dust bunny, it's been going better. 

I decided to do 'wishbones' in the border triangles - just the green pieces. 

I'm really liking this quilt.  I thought it was so so when it was just a completed top... my quilting is actually making a difference - for the good ( at least in my opinion and it's my quilt so it's mine that counts lol).

Anyway, I finished row 4 of 7 today and hope to get the remaining three done tomorrow... I want to put feathers around the outer green border, but not quite sure how I want to do them - there are so many options, you know  :).

Ok, I'm beat... it was a long day - had thought about going to guild meeting tonight but I got so involved in working on the quilt ( I was having FUN) that when I asked hubby what time it was and he told me 5:10, I knew that I wouldn't have time to fix dinner, eat dinner, shower & get dressed in time... and I hadn't called anyone for a ride either!  Oh well... I'll see them in two weeks :). 

Heading for bed...

take care

ttyl

Ferrero Rocher time again

Yep!  I finished another quilt today.. infact, I quilted it, put binding and label on today.  And look how close my binding came...

Normally I use a 2.5" width for binding, but I've come to realize that it leaves more on the front of the quilt than I'd like.  For those who don't me and my habits... I stitch my binding to the back first, then bring it to the front of the quilt and machine stitch it down; one or two sides of the label is usually all the hand stitching I do - and it's not because I don't like hand stitching because I do - but I get impatient and want it done NOW and so my stitches get bigger and further apart and I end up with "toe catchers".

Anyway, back to the above binding... this time I cut the binding at 2.4" ... which has absolutely nothing - well, not a lot anyway - with the overlap at the beginning/end.  I join the ends on the diagonal so I needed for the right piece (shown above) to overlap the left piece by 2.4"...  this is what I had left...

The tiny red line that you might be able to see is where I marked the 2.4" but I've learned that if you cut a couple of threads inside that line, the binding fits a little better.

Ok, enough of that.... I don't have the pic of the front of yesterday's quilt finish... all of the blue chalk did NOT come out, but you really have to look to see it ( or at least I do) and I'm not going to worry about it.  Anyway, I wanted to wait until this evening to take the pics so that I could get a pic of the one I was planning on finishing today.  Well, wouldn't you know it rained late this afternoon and the grass is wet.  Tomorrow, if it's still wet, I'll get hubby to stand out on the porch and hold the quilts while I take pics of them.

Hehe  I just realized that I haven't taken a pic of the front of today's quilt so you have no idea which one I'm talking about... guess you'll have to come back tomorrow night or Friday morning to see.  Oooo isn't the suspense wonderful?  haha 

So, after finishing today's quilt, I loaded another one right onto Mo'e... he's not too happy about it either... he's stalling here and there - a rest tonight will do him good and in the morning I'll check to make sure there aren't any wayward threads again.  Oh yeah, I forgot to show you what I found under the front wheels the other day - in case you missed it - here's the pic.  I couldn't figure out why he was giving me such a hard time in one particular spot... I looked underneath and this is what I found. 

I was sure I had gotten it all... I looked very carefully and ran the machine back and forth along the rails and it seemed fine.   A few days later, it started acting up again... and this is what I found the second time.

 Obviously, I'm not being very diligent about checking for threads hanging loose underneath the quilt.

Anyway... here's what's on Mo'e now....  I'll give you just a peek ....

It looks a little wadded up right now - because part of it is.  I float my batting and top which means they sometimes touch the floor - even puddle on the floor.  Well, one of our cats has decided that it makes a good bed so when I am done each night, I pull up whatever is floating and loosely heap it up onto the part of the quilt that I was in the process of quilting.

Ok, it's early but Buddy thinks he hears thunder somewhere within a 100 mile radius and he's sticking to me like glue... if I go to bed, he'll either snuggle up close to me or he'll dive under my bed not to be seen again until the coast is clear or it's morning and he HAS to go outside.

take care

ttyl

TAAA DAAAA

Got this baby done this evening... I'd show you the front but I didn't take a pic of it - yet.  I used blue chalk for some of my markings ( actually ONLY markings) and now I'm letting the quilt soak overnight in cool water in sincere hopes that all the blue comes out.   I already washed it once in cool water and with fabric soap and it LOOKS like everything came out that was supposed to, but I don't want to take any chances, so to 'err on the side of caution' ( is that how it goes - it doesn't sound right)... I'm going to let it soak overnight and then maybe lay it out in the 85+ degrees sunshine tomorrow.  With that kind of heat, it should dry in about five minutes lol.The quilting isn't perfect, but I don't care... I enjoyed every bit of doing it - so what if I got carried away and did something different in a couple spots and forgot to do anything in a couple more...

The log cabin quilt is out laying on Moe's frame - not pinned on - just laying on it.  Maybe I'll get at least the backing pinned on before I take hubby to drs appt and then drop our car off to get it's body work done.  Once the car is dropped off, there's nothing for me to do but sit home and relax... get some more quilting done.

Oooo!  I got a jelly roll and three (free) fqs from Missouri Star Quilt Company today.  Now if I could just remember why I picked this jelly roll - well, any jelly roll in fact.  These are "Aunt Grace's Basket of Scraps".. if you're curiosity gets the best of you and you can't wait until I post a pic of it tomorrow ( sometime), you can go to MSQC's website and search for it.  :)

Ok, and on that note, I'm going to call it a night... it's 10:30 and Buddy is waiting.

take care

ttyl

Frustration is spelled LOG CABIN

I signed up for Craftsy Unlimited a week or so ago and started watching a couple of the quilting classes.  One was log cabin blocks with Marti Michelle.  She made it look so easy so I ordered her rulers, picked out my fat quarters from this month's bundle from Quilt in a Day and then waited for the rulers to arrive.  They came yesterday ( yes, on a Sunday) but since we had the baseball game to go to with some of our family, it had to wait until today.

 I watched the video again.. well, I skipped some because I just wanted to see how to do it, not listen to her go on about other 'stuff'... I laid out my fat quarters in the order she said... dark on bottom, med next, then light and then the last medium and with the selvage edge to my right.  I cut the 1.5" strips very carefully just like she showed.  I then turned the strips and started cutting them in alphabetical order - just like she told me to... and I laid everything out in the order she said ( the pic above minus the center block and two rows) and proceeded to sew them in the order she said.  That's when I started having problems... some of the strips were not quite long enough, some bowed in the middle after I finger pressed them... she says to only press them with the iron every four strips.

Then when I got about half way done, suddenly the strips were too long and needed trimming after being sewn.  That was ok, I could deal with that even if it wasn't the way she told me to do it.

I got to where I only needed to add two strips to each block and I decided it was time for dinner.  After dinner and some time spent helping a friend obtain fabric she'd been wanting, I decided I'd go back in and try to get the blocks done... there's only four - how much worse could it get?  Worse than I expected but still not too bad... I found that I had sewn the wrong strip on the wrong side of a block ( or two) and had to remove them so that I could get them sewn into the right row and then move on to finishing with the last four strips....

Done!  All four blocks are sewn together... now, I just need to quilt and bind.  As I was walking out of my sewing room, I saw some yardage that I think will work perfectly for the backing and binding.  YAY!

Now I just need to finish the star quilt that's on Mo'e so that I can take it off and put this one on & get it out of the way.  Yes, there are SEVERAL quilts waiting in line to be quilted, but this one won't take long... I'm just going to do something to reinforce all the seam ends so that they hopefully won't come unstitched ( some were REALLY tiny on one side of the seam)

So the lesson of this adventure is... I'm a lousy piecer when it comes to log cabins and I need to stick to just doing paper pieced ones.  Then, again, there are four more fat quarters left in the bundle and I could try again... maybe I could figure out what I did wrong... either way, my Marti Michelle log cabin rulers are going up for sale - one is brand new; never used and the other was just used today and might get used a second time.  They are good rulers and Marti Michelle is a good instructor - I'm just a lousy log cabin piecer.

On that note, I'm headed to bed....

ttyl

It's a slow weekend

Memorial Day Weekend... as close as we'll come to 'celebrating' will be when we go to the local minor league baseball game tomorrow afternoon.... and then we'll be celebrating our oldest son's and oldest GREAT grandson's birthdays.  Hubby and I bought tickets for all of us ( ten in all).  It doesn't look like oldest grandson will be here to go with us so I told granddaughter that the great grandson can invite a friend.  I just wish grandson would be here... we don't know how much longer my husband will be able to do things like this and I know he'd like to spend some time with him.

As for quilting... a little got done today... well, not actual quilting, but I did applique' two blocks...

 I'd have to count again, but I think these are blocks 4 and 5 out of 16.  I'm just doing them when the mood strikes me and just grabbing scraps from here and there to make the flowers and stems/leaves.

Last night I traced all the pieces I need for a new wall hanging that I want to do... I splurged and ordered the fabric kit that goes with it instead of trying to find fabrics close to what I need; it really wasn't that expensive and I think it will be worth every penny.  Now, I need to get out some of my 'vinyl' (clear plastic) and trace the master layout pattern... that's what I was stalling on doing today... it's a lot more tracing than I felt like doing today. 

I was hoping that I'd feel like working with Mo'e today so I could get a little bit more, if not all, of that quilt done.  I didn't feel up to it, though.  Doing the two blocks I did was about all the ambition I could work up.  Maybe on Monday I can 'gitter done' and move on to loading something else.

Oh yeah, and silly me went and bought/ordered the Dazzling Dogs patterns from www.amybradleydesigns.com... like I need more patterns!  lol   but they were marked down to $1.00 each ( there are 12) and if you put in the code at checkout, you got them for half price.  Five were instant downloads and the other seven will arrive in the mail later this week.  I'll be able to use up more scraps making these blocks and putting them into a quilt or two.  This was after I went and placed two orders at Missouri Star Quilt Company and another one at Amazon ( for quilting supplies, of course).  That's it!  I'm not ordering anything else for the rest of this month - and maybe the first two weeks of June.

Ok, that's it for me tonight...  take care all... enjoy your weekend and remember our veterans, please.

ttyl

p.s.  I forgot about the yardage I ordered from www.ericas.com... they are going out of business (after 44 years) and you can get some pretty darned good deals.  This time I gray fabric.. I can never get enough of the stuff. :)

A little late but still just as sweet

Yesterday, I was finally able to trim up and apply the binding onto my Bovine Beauties quilt... label on, too.

You can't tell from the not so good pic that I took, but I used black with white polka dots for the backing and binding; thought it would be fun to use with the black & white checkerboard borders.  I also found a large triangle piece of white with black polka dots fabric and used that for the label.

This is what's on Moe's frame now  ( can't remember the name and can't find the pattern).... not sure how I'm going to quilt it.  It's only four blocks - I broker into a fat quarter pack for the colors... I'm not sure how long I've had the pack but know it's been years.  I probably bought it on clearance at JoAnn's several years ago.  I do know that one of the fabrics has 2003 on/in it's selvage - and I know I haven't had it THAT long  lol.

I found some green batik-ish looking fabric for the backing... there were two pieces and I was able to slice the smaller piece in one direction and then sew it back together end to end and then sew that to the larger piece in order to be sure I had enough ( just barely) for the backing.  It's a little wider than the quilt top - just not the 4" that is recommended and that I'm more comfortable with.

I did basically the same thing with the batting.... it's was long and narrowish so I cut it in half and then restitched together side to side so that now it's wide enough and still long enough for this project.  In the pic above, you can see it hanging below/behind the quilt; I see that it doesn't look wide enough in the pic, but it's just the way I have it caught behind the bar so that I won't step on it. 

Now, I just have to decide on how I want to quilt it.  I probably shouldn't have put this one on the frame yet, but it's there and it's not coming off until it's quilted.

Ok, off to print out a b&w pic of the above quilt so that I can play with some quilting designs.

take care

ttyl

The Quilt Is Done...

Well, the quilting part is... and now it's ready to pass back to Vicki who will trim and
put the binding on.

 Those who've been reading what little I've been blogging lately might recognize this.  It's Annette's quilt top that she wanted to get done for her granddaughter's high school graduation.

Trust me, it wasn't a piece of cake... not sure what all the problems were... I don't think I've ever quilted using batik as a backing for one thing... Mo'e wasn't too crazy about it and my usually reliable Glide thread was having all kinds of issues.... tension, fraying, skipping stitches.  You name it.  I tried three different size needles even though 16 is what I have always used with Glide... then, as I got towards the end, I got to thinking and the blue I used never frayed ... it was always the celery.  Even in the bobbin ( I only used celery in the bobbin - I didn't want two colors of thread on the back)

I had issues with 'dragging' because I'd forget to raise the bar as the back bar got fatter as I rolled the quilt.  Then I had a real issue that wasn't caused because I forgot to raise the bar....

 Yeah, SEVERAL threads and a batting bunny wrapped around  one of the left front wheels.  ARGHHH!!!   took some time but I got the threads loose and out of there.. not sure where the lil bunny went and not sure where these dark threads came from since I was only using celery green in the bobbin... and these were darker than the blue I was using in certain areas on top.

 Below is the bottom borders... I thought I took pics of the top, too, but guess not... looks just the same, just in opposite order.

 anyway, it's DONE... not perfect, but DONE.   I even snuck in the granddaughter's name in one spot and her grandmother's name in another one. 

 It was fun doing it... with some frustration thrown in just to be sure I wasn't having too good of a time. It took me an average of 4 hours a day for 5 days just in case anyone is wondering.  lol

  Now, I can get back to working on some of my own quilts. 

Oh, and that secret project I was working on earlier this month... it's in it's new home now so I can show it... although I guess I didn't take a pic when it was all done - just in the process.

My quilting friend, KatieMaytoo, keeps blaming a squirrel for distracting her over to new projects when she's trying to work on or finish up one that she's already started.  She's been pretty quiet about it lately.. When I gave her this, I told her that I found him at my house and he's not welcome there!  lol 

ok... take care

ttyl

Upside down Topsy Turvy Weekend

Let's just say that it didn't start out very well.  I went to our guild's sew in at the library with the intention of drawing blocks on point on a charity quilt that has Sunbonnet Sues hand appliqued all over it.

Once I had it laid out on the floor, I realized that I wasn't going to be able to have blocks on point... there are four vertical rows - none of which are spaced the same distance apart -- and the same goes for the horizontal rows ( can't remember how many there are though).  So I decided it's going to have to wait for another day.  I think I'll be able to load it onto Mo'e and then just roll each row as I finish it... probably with an all over meander.

Then it was time for lunch and four of us decided that we'd go to the smoked meat eatery.  It's only open on Fridays and Saturdays, I think - and only in warm weather.  Seating is in a covered area at picnic tables.  I was just about done with my sandwich when a young man ( ok middle age) came up and asked if one of us owned a beige car parked on the street.  "Yeah, I do" ... "well, I just hit it.  I'm so sorry".  "How bad?" ... "Pretty bad"........ I won't repeat what I said when I saw it....

We exchanged contact info, I finished my lunch and took the other ladies back to the library and asked Katie if she could follow me back to the repair shop and then give me a ride home.  I'm sure Rod, the owner of the shop, recognized me since I've been there twice in the past two weeks.  I was in such shock that all I could do was tell him to fix it; that I couldn't drive it like that.  I didn't even think to ask for appointment.  I knew it couldn't be fixed right this minute and I wasn't asking them to drop everything else to work on it... I just wanted to know that they were going to fix it and hopefully have it done by this coming weekend.  Rod gave me a hard time when I asked "how long or when".. he'd say "Christmas"... NOT funny, Rod.  We probably should have called the police for a report, but I haven't been in a 'serious' ( meaning serious damage) accident for decades and I wasn't thinking clearly.  I do remember handing the woman at the desk the guy's business card and telling her that he admitted it was all his fault and that he would take responsibility for the repair expenses.

Ok, enough of that ... Katie and I had planned on going to a quilt show about an hour away on Saturday - I had planned on driving but no car meant no driving.  Katie said she still wanted to go and that she'd drive.  GPS got us a little lost but we still got there in plenty of time and were able to just walk around and look at the quilts, check out the vendors and talk with some of them.  And we ran into a former member of our guild along with her husband; ended up chatting with them for quite awhile.  This guild show also has a 'yard sale' where you can usually get some really great deals on fabrics, quilting tools, or misc. 'stuff' ( crochet hooks were there yesterday).  Katie and I had both agreed ahead of time that we weren't there to shop; just to look and maybe get some ideas which I know I did.  I thought I transferred the pics to my computer, but apparently I didn't.

This is what I loaded and started quilting on Thursday.  I didn't work on it Friday ( for obvious reasons) and was too tired to work on it last night either.  I made up for it today... one vertical panel was done on Thursday night... today I did another seven, I think... I'd have to go look again, but I'm sure there's only three left out of eleven.

  Then I do the remaining side border, take the quilt off from Mo'e and turn it so that I can reload it with the top at the top so that I can do the top and bottom borders without turning and having to line the stitching up - does that make sense?   In the picture below, you can see the outer side border ( quilted with piano keys), the blue inner side border ( done with half circles) and then the bottom of the first panel.

I had a little video that I sent to Annette ( it's her quilt for her granddaughter) to make sure she approved of what I was doing before I went too far ( she said she really liked it)... now I can't find the video..  oh well, take my word for it... it's sideways lol.

I hope to get the final panels done tomorrow and then maybe get the quilt turned then, too. 

Off to watch a movie, I hope...

take care

ttyl

Short report

The only sewing/quilting I did today was on my LA ( Mo'e).. The Beach Bovines is ALMOST done... the blocks are done, the outer borders and cornerstones are done... I just need to go back and finish straight stitching on each side of the b& w check inner borders and then do some 'extra' stitching on those same inner borders...Wheeeeee!!  Pics later after I finish binding etc.

ttyl

Good news... and another project complete

This is not all that I did today... but it's the only completed object.  Once I finished this ( which took longer than usual because - get this - I stitched the binding on by hand!) I decided to grab a couple of tubs that , I thought, had scrappy pieces in them... well, one of them definitely did... the other one, was scrappy pieces that I'd already sewn into blocks.  

The printed part was part of a panel that I bought... the rest have been put away for another day since I had no idea what I wanted to do with them.  I'm thinking that there's one that I'll want to use in one of Harvey's t-shirt quilts that I want to get started on someday SOON.

Ok, and as for the good news... remember that this past Friday night I ordered ( online) a cone of Glide and some magna glide prewound bobbins from Quilter's Joy?  I received email notice on Saturday morning that my order had been filled and that it was shipped that afternoon - and it should arrive here on Tuesday.... It's Monday and my order is here!!  I tell you, I'm really lovin' the service they provide.

It was raining again today... hubby said he saw sunshine - I looked out the window and all I saw was gray clouds - still too much moisture in the air for my bones and my sinus' so I wasn't up to working on finishing the Bathing Bovine quilt but hopefully the weather will be more co-operative tomorrow.

ttyl

Mother's Day

Not to sound bitter, but it was pretty much the same o same o day here for me.  I'd already received a gift from my son earlier this week and yesterday a card came from my oldest daughter.  Younger daughter sent me a text today.  Older daughter did call me this evening and we video chatted for awhile... neither of us had a lot to say.

I spent the afternoon in my sewing room... was trying to sort again when I spotted my mug rug pattern book and, since it was out and some scraps were still out, I decided to do a couple.  You should be able to recognize the fabric used in the flower one... scraps that I was trying to use up yesterday - and I still have some.

Then, as I was walking back to my sewing room after a potty break or some sort of break, I spotted a pattern and decided that while I had a good idea where everything was, I'd do it.  First I went digging into my Vintage Tin quilt tub as I was pretty sure there was some 'oil stain' fabric left from the embroidered pieces.  I never got that far into the tub for laying right on the top of the fabric was two pieces of route 66 fabric in black & cream.  PERFECT!...

I finished this about  1/2 a hour ago... including sleeve to hang it.  I didn't make a label; I just signed right on the back in two places (one's under the sleeve).

The dark green that I used for the truck body is from scraps left from the Thankful for Farmers quilt that I did  two years ago

and everything else was right there close at hand, including the batting.

That's it for tonight... hope to work on the Beachy Bovines quilt tomorrow and maybe even get it off the frame so it can be trimmed and bound.

ttyl

Playing with scraps

This darned cold, wet weather has me feeling just out of sorts, depressed and dealing with a headache ( probably sinus).  In other words, I didn't feel like doing much today.

Late yesterday afternoon, I went with my friend, Vicki, to visit our mutual friend, Annette, who was in the local hospital.  Vicki had been helping Annette work on a quilt top for Annette's granddaughter's high school graduation.  They finished the top and now it needs quilting.  I went along to discuss quilting it with Annette and Vicki... Annette wanted something simple like leaves - I told her that I could do that.   After dinner last night, I got online and went to Quilted Joy to see what shades of green they had of Glide and magna glides... I think I found the perfect one... it's called 'celery'... I ordered it... got a message from them this morning that my order has been shipped.  I'm telling you, I love dealing with these people... they are always right on the ball... USPS tracking says it should be here on Tuesday, but I wouldn't be surprised if it comes Monday.... really doesn't matter since I still have to finish my Beach Bovine quilt before I can load Annette's on.  I think I have a little incentive - now I just need some warm, dry weather and a day without a headache or unbearable knee pain.

Ok... enough of that.... Since I really didn't feel like doing 'crap' today, I went into my sewing room to just sit and watch/listen to Midsomer Murders and thought I'd clean up a little around my machine while I was doing it.  Found some fabrics left from this quilt top

and didn't want to pack them away (I have another fat quarter from the packet for the binding) so I grabbed a couple of pieces of paper back fusible that I had traced patterns onto and proceeded to use them with the fabrics... I got two blocks fused and stitched... and still have some fabric left, but not a whole lot....

There was a big pile of patterns I've printed from the computer in one corner of my sewing table... some patterns are for little coin purses, etc. and then there's other patterns that I had on my mental 'to do someday' list... I looked at one and decided that I already had some fabrics out for it so I'd do one block to see if I like it.... It's called Happy Puppies and designed by Norma Storm.

oh yeah!  I like it....  now to find scraps to make 11 more.  I may end up with some silly looking puppies... but who cares.... it has to be from scraps... I can't go buy anything for the top - there's supposed to be a blue fabric cut from yardage for the borders and sashing, but I'm going to do my best to use what I already have here so the sashing might be one blue and the border another one ( or two)... the backing & binding might be another story - I might have to buy yardage for it since it's going to be almost a twin size - we'll have to see.  

Ok... Buddy is ready for bed... speaking of which... he went for his first grooming the other day.... came back a different dog...

I asked them to cut off about half the length which they did... I think the blow drying they did made the most difference... he looked so fluffy... and still so cute.  I definitely think he'll be going again.

Ok... g'night

ttyl

Really short post

The Rare Bear is done ( they do the stuffing)... it's now in a padded envelope and ready for me to take to the post office after we get out of the dr's office tomorrow afternoon.

ttyl

It's a good day

for singing a song... lol  I don't remember the rest of the words.

It was a pretty productive day today...  I finished the table runner top

 I'm quite pleased with how it turned out... I didn't have to 'fudge' too much to get the triangles cut and stitched onto the star blocks.. even managed to do it with the grain on the outer edge... added a green border to it because I plan on using the leftover fabric from the background and triangles for the backing and binding.  I hope the woman who gave the star blocks and backing fabric to me is equally as pleased as I am.  There's still one 'odd' block left... and I thought about making it into a hot pad, but the blocks are quite large and it might be too big - then again, maybe not.  We'll see... it's all packed up for now.  I want to take it to the library at the next sew in and pin sandwich it together so that I can quilt it on my domestic. (did I tell you this last night? )

The next project was a few weeks in waiting... it's my first Rare Bear... all the pieces are cut out ( 'cept the felt nose) and most pieces sewn together.. except the back... and then I need to sew the arms, legs & head on... but I want to do eyes and the nose before I sew the head to the body.  I used to make teddy bears but it's been awhile and getting back to it is proving to be a little more difficult than I remember.  I'm not sure whether I want to do anymore or not.

Ok, that's it for tonight... it's pouring down rain by the way :(   I have to be up early to take the car into the shop so they can replace the part they were supposed to do last week... then, it's Buddy's turn for grooming.  By afternoon, I should be able to get back to working on the Rare Bear... maybe get it in the mail Friday.

Take care

TTYL

Up Close and Personal

with Jack the ripper (again)... not so much today because I decided "it is what it is" .... and this is what it is....

 It's not even a very good picture... but it's done and packed away with it's binding until I can either get it loaded onto Mo'e or decide that I want to do it on one of my domestics - I'll look for a backing in the meantime.

Then I went on to working on the blocks that Betty gave me.... bought the green today ( again, the pic. is not that great - the green is a little brighter in real life).  Right now, I'm debating on whether to put them on point or not.  I want to put them on point but it would involve math to make the triangles for each side of each block... math is not my strong suit.  And I'm only using 3 of the 4 blocks she gave me because the fourth one is different from the others... I may put it on the back ... or I may make a very large hot pad out of it.

Ok, that's it for tonight.... hoping I'll get a good night's sleep tonight so that I can sew all day tomorrow since I won't have much time to do it on Thurs or Fri. 

Take care...

ttyl

A Little of this ... a little of that

I decided that I wanted to get some cleaning/organizing done in my sewing room today, so I started by trying to finish up some things that were sitting close by so that I could take care of the fabrics involved.  I got about as far as one bunny which aggravated the H*** out of me.  This is the third one and spent almost as much time unstitching as I did stitching... then I put a piece where it didn't belong but didn't notice until after I cut the corner triangle off.... arghhhh   I didn't want to have to do the larger piece all over again, so I 'fudged'... it took me a while to get it right, but by golly, I got it.  Then I realized that the bottom piece on the first two was WRONG WRONG WRONG and so had to correct them.  This bunny is beginning to be a real pain.  It's packed away in it's own personal bin now ( wish these bunnies would multiply like real bunnies so I wouldn't have to make more lol) and I'll work on the next one 'one of these days'.

Then, I went and got the charity quilt that I brought home from the last meeting I attended.  I thought that the blue fabric I had from the charity stash would go with it, but once I got the two together, no, it didn't look right.  But I had a red with white pin dots that looked good with it so I used that. 

There's still some of the red left but not enough to use on it's own for the back... so I think I'm going to sew the blue and red together ( after I cut them to size) to use for the backing and that should leave enough of either one for the binding. 


After that, I found a pattern that I had here that called for five fat quarters so I went in search of the fat quarter bundles that I've been receiving from Quilt in a Day for almost a year.  About half are missing!!!  arghhh!!   Well, I was on a mission and decided that I'll look for them later - I'm sure they're 'bundled up with a pattern or two someplace.  Then I remembered a fq bundle that I bought at JoAnn's, I think ( it was so long ago - fabric has 2003 on the selvage) and I've been wanting to use it for a baby quilt.  Well, whatever quilt I planned on using it for will just have to wait for other fabrics because I'm using them on this one.... which could qualify as a baby quilt since it finishes at 34" x 34".  Here are some teaser pics

and here's the first block done.. maybe... I might go back and change the four white blocks in the center to colored ones.  When I was doing the layout, I was looking at the drawing next to the directions... Only after I had finished this and was laying out the second block, did I see on the next page that you're to use colored blocks around the center.
like this.....

There are only four blocks and I could do them either way...  I'm leaning toward the second one but that will mean having to take parts of the first block apart and doing again... sigh.  Well, a quilter's got to do what a quilter's got to do.... in this case, make an appointment with some up close and personal time with Jack the Ripper.

I also have four blocks and some yardage that another guild member gave to me... she just decided that she didn't like the blocks and wanted to get rid of them.  I think they are very nice and, with the yardage, I can make them into a table runner to donate to the church bazaar in November.  Before I start on it, though, I want to see if I can find a shade of green that will go with the blue blocks and the cream & multicolored yardage...  I only need a little to do a small border and break up the print.... no pics of the project just yet.

Ok, it's after 11 ... Buddy and I need to get to bed

take care
ttyl