Productive weekend... the kind I like

 First up... I finished the Autumn quilt... bound, labeled and buttons, etc sewn on.  I really wanted to go outside with it and take a photo, but yesterday was kinda gloomy and it's been raining here for most of the day.  When Spring finally decides to get here, I'm going to have a stack of quilts to take outside for photos.

Once this one was done, it was time to decide on who would be next on Mo'e.  At first I thought I'd do the little scottie dogs scrappy quilt, but I didn't feel like trying to piece backing AND batting so back it went. 

I have several yards ( probably at least 6) of this print

and it was laying right next to the rack that's holding most of my tops waiting to be quilted... I KNOW!!  I'll work on this one........

Perfect!....

And it went so well that I was able to quilt it in just one day.... added the label and binding this morning.  Again, not very good photos...sorry

All finished....  I did the background quilting to sort of mimic the floral print in the body of the cat.  In the frame of the glasses, I did ribbon candy stitching ( in black thread).

Once the Hip Cat ( can never remember it's name - argh) was done, it was back out to Mo'e and to decide what to work on next. 

Just for you, KatieMayToo.....

I'm still working on blocking... three rows done, two to go.  I got impatient, though and stitched two blocks right in the middle ( they were poofy and I was afraid that they were going to be a mess).

I'm SID ( or trying to) around each block and I may go back and do either wishbones or ribbon candy in each of those strips.  In the block itself, so far, I've stitched about a quarter inch around the applique and the inner borders ... and around the circle in the very center, I stitched right next to the applique stitching.  I still want to try doing half feathers in the leaves and maybe ribbon candy up the stems and then just simple meandering in the background.... Then again, I might just change my mind and not do anything in the leaves or stems.

It's not going to be perfect - not even in the same neighborhood, but done is still better than perfect.  

Tomorrow ( if it's not raining), it's off to drop off recycling and then some items for the clothing bank... seems like there's something else but not thinking of it right off.  Wednesday, we'll be getting some groceries, picking up prescriptions, maybe getting gas in the car.... so I might not get back to my quilting until Thursday - we'll have to wait and see.

In the meantime....

take care....

ttyl......

It was a l o n g day

But it was so worth it!  The Autumn quilt is off the frame and waiting to be trimmed and binding & label added along with the 'extras' ( buttons, a little bell for the school, etc).  

When I took the offending border off and measured it, it was 1 1/2" too long.  I trimmed off the excess and stitched it back onto the quilt top, reloaded it onto Mo'e and quilted the borders.

I was afraid that with all the quilting I'd done, it was going to be a stiff quilt that would do better as a large wall hanging, but that's not so - it's already got that cuddly feeling to it; I think I'm going to love curling up under it while reading a book this fall.

I'll post a better picture once I get it finished.

Yesterday, I decided that I'd work on some string blocks using fabrics from that white scrap bin that I've been using for the Nine patch 'people'.  I got four or five done then decided that I needed to sort them into sizes... long strings in one bag and shorter strings and an occasional triangle bit in another one.  Larger pieces of fabrics were set aside to be cut down to needed sizes.  Oh, and I found a BUNCH of 2" squares for the next Goodnight Irene quilt that I want to do - not sure when, but I'll have plenty of pre-cut squares once I'm ready.

Well, that's it for tonight...back is hurting right between the shoulder blades... time to go lay down.

take care....
ttyl....

Some projects just seem to take more time

As much fun as I'm having creating these 'characters', I'm taking it kind of slow...  this is where I stopped yesterday... the black was all stitched down but the three standing on the inner border all needed their colors stitched down when I stopped yesterday.

 This morning, I finished stitching them and then added two more... now they need to be stitched down. 

My plan today was to work on these characters in the morning and then I was going to work on the  Autumn quilt that's still on Mo'e.  I only have three half blocks to finish quilting before I can take it off the frame so that I can remove the really wrinkly border and replace it with one that will play nicer with the rest of the quilt.  Well, I had to make a phone call to our insurance company and then to the billing department of one of hubby's doctors and I ended up with a headache so no quilting got done this afternoon.  Oh yeah, and I missed a call from our primary care dr.'s office concerning a prescription I need. 

I was seriously thinking about attending quilt guild meeting tomorrow night, but then I got a call about a class/meeting for caregivers that I'm interested in... and, yep, it's tomorrow night.  Attending the class is more important than quilt guild; I'm hoping to get some answers or at least ideas on how to handle ornery ol' men who can't remember crap.  ( Tonight, he was mad at one of his granddaughters -saying she hasn't contacted us since she got married four years ago.  She was married three years ago this June and she & her hubby were up here for his 80th birthday party - I had to show him the group photo before he'd believe me.... THEN he calmed down).  arghhhh

Anyway... that's it for me tonight...

take care...
ttyl....

Time to catch up....

Sew in with some of the guild members was this weekend but we ended up only sewing on Friday since there weren't enough of us interested in coming back on Saturday.  It's a holiday weekend and I'm sure that most had other things to do.

I finished my final Vintage Tin block at the sew in!!  Sew excited to see it finally done. 

It's back in the bin with the rest of the blocks and fabrics where it will sit and 'age' for a bit before I take the blocks out and remove the basting stitches, press and then trim them and then start cutting the sashing and border blocks.

I had started working on this doozy Thursday, I think... yeah, that sounds right. 

There was lots of machine quilting before actual construction began.  It would have been a bit easier if I could learn ( and remember) the numbers needed for cutting out the bottom corners to make box squares.  For the lining, I ended up doing it the way I've almost always done it and didn't cut out corner squares.  I matched seams and then measured up 2.5" and stitched.  This was just something that I thought I could maybe learn a new technique on ( I only learned that cutting out bottom corners is not a good idea in my case) and use up some fat quarters at the same time. 

And then I started on this.... the "Deal from Hell"... I bought two of these that were 60% off on Bluprint thinking that I would give one of them to our youngest daughter who is interested in learning to quilt.  It looks simple enough for a beginner -

- and it would be if the pieces had been cut correctly.  You have a luscious supply of Kaffe Fassett fabrics all precut for you, you just need to follow the directions and stitch them together....  now, here comes the problem....

The pieces are roughly cut.... and I do mean roughly.   I don't know if you can tell by this photo or not... the blue block cut curves inward about half way up the left side.

Then you try to stitch a quarter inch seam and you can't because then the block won't measure the required 2.5".    I know that one seam I did was 1/8" and I still couldn't get a 2.5" block.  I am so upset about this....  so it got packed away and will be used for something that requires 2" blocks. 


About that time, I was distracted by a 'squirrel'.... something that I've been wanting to get started on, but not right this minute....
Well, I guess I am starting it -- right this minute lol.

After consulting with friend, Katie, I decided on border fabrics yesterday and finished them this morning.  And then added my first 9 patch 'fella'...

I dug out my 'old' scrap 'bucket' with the plan to use fabrics from it for the 9 patch bodies. 

I should have thought about it before I did the first 'fella', - those were scraps, too, just not from this bin/bucket....

I think the last time I used anything from here was when I was making a string quilt for my son when he was  truck driving cross country - and then all I used was blues.  It was so long ago that I can't even remember when it was - maybe 8 years ago?
 I've already found some strips that appear to be 21/2" wide and I've now put aside and some really narrow strips that can go into string blocks and I've put them in one of the string block bins ( yes, I have more than one... I have two  1. strings  2. finished blocks..

Once this quilt top is done, I plan on working on a cute little turtle quilt... I already put the bag of supplies & pattern in my sewing room so that I know that's next in line.


Guess that's it for this weekend .... Hope you had a nice Easter :)

take care...

ttyl...........

Houston, we have a problem........

This is what I 'wrestled' with yesterday in between errands.

this is after I pinned and steamed... then basted... sigh... it looks like I'll be taking the quilt off the frame, removing the badly behaving border and sewing it back on after resizing it.  Oh joy! NOT!  but at least it's fixable ...  I just need to take the time to finish quilting the final three blocks so I can fix the border and then re-load it back onto the frame so that I can do the borders.

So far today, I've not done a whole lot... fixed my breakfast and fielded phone calls from one of hubby's dr's offices.  Of course, they scheduled him for another test on Friday ( my sew in day with quilt guild friends), but it's before noon so I can still join them for lunch and then for sewing in the afternoon.  I stayed up too late watching an old James Garner and Mary Tyler Moore movie last night and now I'm a dragon (dragging) without any ambition.

Local concert tonight and we just might stop by at Walmart for a few groceries on the way home.  We don't need much and at that time of night, there won't be much of a crowd.

Ok, I'm off to do SOMETHING... it might be a nap if I can't get ambition up to do anything else.

take care......

ttyl.........

Yay for me!

I did it!  I got back to working on the quilt that's been 2/3 finished for MONTHS.  I finished one row and have started on the last row of blocks... then, I'll need to go back and do the borders and possibly some meandering in a block or two.  It looks like I wasn't going to do any background filler, but after I did a couple in the next to last row, I'm lovin' the texture and want to go back and add more where needed.

The border looks a little sloppy here ... I went back and fixed it after I noticed it in the photo.  I might have to steam it a little to get it to stay where I want it, but it could straighten out and shrink up a little after I get the quilting done on it.  We'll see.

All that being said, I might not be able to get back to finishing it until Tuesday.  I overdid it today and am hurting big time and probably won't be up to it tomorrow or Monday morning ( dr. appointment in the afternoon).

And now hubby needs a ride to the store so he can get milk for his breakfast tomorrow.  There are times (like this) when I really wish he still drove.  Most of the time, I'm ok with it, but I'm still in my jammies and, like I said, hurting... and that's why he's going into the store to buy the milk!  :)

take care....

ttyl....

A Big Hooray!

It's Friday, the end of a week filled with dr. appointments and my plan was to work on the quilt that's been on Mo'e since Jan or maybe Dec. 

Well, it didn't happen today, BUT I did get this month's RSC done... even made one more 'just in case'....

 and then I started working on some of the leaves that will go in the outer border...

The pattern directions say to use lightweight fusible stabilizer - and I have it, but I don't have much luck using it to turn leaves and other applique shapes... it ends up tearing and I get frustrated.  So, what I did was trace the pattern onto light weight scrap muslin... and it works great.

Then, just before dinner, I went back into my 'stash' room to see if I could find SOMETHING that would work for the borders for the Hot Tamale Sunflowers quilt.  I hadn't found anything that I liked all that much up to this point, but then I spotted some neutral Stonehenge fabric... only a yard and a half when the pattern called for a yard and three quarters to make six inch borders.  That's ok, I just made four and a half inch borders and I think it still looks great... AND I cut the remainder of the yardage ( and what I cut off from the borders) down to 2 1/2".  The strips are sewn together and pressed in half - now I'm just crossing my fingers that there is enough for binding.  Oh, and the label is made, too.   Now to find a backing fabric.

and that's it for tonight... MAYBE tomorrow I'll work on the quilt that's on Mo'e.

Enjoy your weekend!  I heard we're supposed to get that dreaded white stuff again Sunday... sigh... will winter ever end!?!?

take care.......

ttyl.........

The weekend that went too fast

I'm trying to remember where I left off on Friday... or was it Thursday?  I know I had been working on the snowman and penguin placemats and was about ready to add the bindings, I think.  Well, I did that.... had enough left from the backing fabric to bind two of the placemats and then I found another blue to do the remaining two.

I didn't get the picture taken until today, and, yes, that's the shadow of one of my arms and a shoulder...oh well... it was hard to see because the wonderful sun was so bright.

Yesterday, I was going to work on my strings project but got involved in a secret project and then decided to clean out one of my scrap boxes... the one with red scraps in it...

It wasn't overflowing like some of the rest so I knew it would be manageable for me.  Off to cutting the strips into 2.5" squares, then 2" squares, and if there was still fabric left, 1.5" squares...

here they are all bagged up by size and back in the 'bin'

 the rest went into a scrap bag to be used as dog or cat bed filler.

Today, there was no sewing or trimming.... well, I did hand stitch a popped seam on the inside of hubby's winter jacket, but that was it.  Most of the day was spent going to Walmart to pick up my new glasses, potting soil, and some white cotton fabric then coming home and getting the deck table & chairs set up with new umbrella and putting our new bird feeder on the living room window and re-potting two plants into a super cute planter that I bought at the hospital gift shop last week... it's a little hedgehog peeking out of an old boot. 

 Once the outdoor stuff was done ( for now), I started cleaning up our living room a little and pulled all of hubby's sweatshirts out of the closet - he doesn't even wear them... let them take up room somewhere else!  I want to really clean that closet out but some of the stuff is going to have to stay there for a little while longer until I can find a new home for them - maybe I'll put them in the citywide yard sale next month :).

Hubby has dr appts for the next three days so I probably won't get much sewing done, except maybe some hand sewing while sitting in waiting rooms.  

take care.....

ttyl.........

Playing Catch Up

It's been more than a week since I posted last...hubby's 'simple' procedure turned out to be not so simple and he ended up in the hospital for almost a week.  He came home late Tuesday afternoon and since Wednesday I've been trying to get caught up on my sewing.

The only sewing I was able to do while he was 'gone' was embroidering on the last of my Vintage Tin blocks and I could have finished it on Tuesday when they finally did the 'simple' procedure but since I'd been awake since about 2 a.m. ( have no idea why), I didn't feel like sewing.  I figure with all the upcoming follow up visits to doctors this coming week and the week after, I'll have plenty of time to finish it up.  I'm hoping to be able to get started cutting the sashing and border blocks in the next week or so and would like to have the top done by the end of this month... the end of May if I can't.

This has been my main project for the past two days... I've finally got it all together ( except for the borders).  There are supposed to be thinner borders with small four patches sewn on at this point, but I'm not going to do it; I'm just going to do the outer border and call it good.

I've also been working on the snowman and penguin placemats that I started a week or so ago...

Here's one of the penguins... I think they are turning out so cute. 

After doing all those flowers for the quilt above, I was tired of doing buttonhole stitching so, for these guys, I used a small zig zag stitch... not quite small enough to be called satin stitching, but close.  I think I used 2.5 x .75 on my Janome.

I found some blue yardage that I THINK will be enough for the backings, but I'm not sure there will be enough for binding... maybe I'll go search my stash for something else ... something that I can use for both backing and binding... then again... I do have some blue binding fabric left over... I'll have to check to see how much I have.  I know I have some orange with little dots of other colors on it... that might work for one of these.... who says they all have to have the same binding?... we like variety, don't we?

Ok, that's it for tonight...

take care....
ttyl....