A little more progress

With all these photos, you'd think I had pretty much all of my progress documented... wrong... The row that you see in the first photo is DONE... completely... I thought I took a pic, but apparently I thought wrong.

 Oh wait!  I DID get a photo of the finished row....  here it is...

 And this is a boo boo I caught early enough to go back and fix it.... you can just barely see the fold in the backing fabric... I had to unpick about 2-3" from six rows of piano keys.  There's still a tiny tuck, but something I can live with and that just might disappear once the quilt is washed.

No quilting or sewing today... I overdid it yesterday- 4 hours of quilting and then about an hour pushing a cart around the grocery store  -- I can barely move my right arm - it hurts from the elbow up.  I don't know if it's part of the carpal tunnel or just plain old age - I just know that it's annoying as all get out.  Not that I have the energy to do anything today anyway... stayed up too late last night watching this 'horror' film that I HAD to watch to the end - only to be disappointed in the way it ended.  It's called Gone Girl.  Very graphic sex ( yuck) and wayyyyyy too much blood and the use of the 'f' word.

So, I didn't get enough sleep since I woke up about 6:15 and couldn't get comfortable enough to try and go back to sleep.  I should take a nap - I've been saying that for about three hours now lol.


Anyway, that's it for me today... tomorrow, I see the cardiologist for the results of last weeks stress test - and it had better be GREAT news!

take care.....
ttyl.........

Oh wait!  I almost forgot to tell you about the pattern I ordered Saturday and got yesterday!  Gotta love Amazon :)....

 Saw one done in blues and greens and the background was made to look like a landscape...not just one color;  I really liked it ..

have been wanting to do this for a couple of years...seeing the blue elephant pushed me into setting my mind to do it.

Back at it...

For not a very good reason, I didn't quilt the past two days... just didn't want to.  So, today, I started again, but after a couple of hours, I knew I had to stop.  The first four photos are just for me to refer to so that I don't do something that isn't the same as I've already done... oh, and Buddy was posing so nicely that I had to take his photo.

 I found that if I rubbed chalk over the stitching, the stitches would show up better on camera... I don't want the next ones going the wrong way.

Here's where I stopped ... long enough to start dinner anyway.  Looks pretty, doesn't it?  

I wish I could have said the same about the back :(.  Sigh.... Rip, rip, rip.

 While dinner was cooking, I adjusted the top tension and tried again - first on some scrap fabric on the edge of the batting/backing... looked good.  So, here's the underside of the second attempt.

There might be some little pokies here and there, but I don't think they're going to be all that noticeable ( I had the camera up really close)... When I saw this photo, I realized that I didn't get all the threads off the back ... oh well, a swipe with my 'magic' stick will take care of them.

Tomorrow, it's back to working with the blue thread again... I'm almost half way.  I'll have to do some rolling back and forth to finish up the first half of the side borders, but then it should be easier to finish them and the last border. 

Happy Memorial Day tomorrow....

take care...
ttyl.......

Biting the bullet?

 Well, today was the day to start quilting on my own personal 'beast'... Amish with a twist III....  I have been watching videos and drawing plans on how I want to do it.
First off, I had to tame the beast (border) which was a little 'fluffier' than I like... time to steam it into submission.  Then I tested thread tension... looks great from below and just as good on top.

 first half of first border complete

 Hmm... I guess there's a photo missing... of what I did in the middle of the border...  well, you can see it and it's mirror twin in this photo...

the rest of the photos are not in the order I took them... but will still give an idea of what I spent about 4 hours doing today.  Some of the designs have been changed from what I originally planned, and that's ok... also, if I stitch something and don't like it, I have no problem with ripping it out... I'm just not ripping out all the little oopsies I do... I'm just going to call them 'organic quilt stitching'.

My plan has been to go through and do all the navy blue thread stitching, then go back and work on the colors one at a time.  But - I just couldn't resist working on some of the triangles with lavender thread... it was just a few blocks.

If I can work at least four hours a day on this, I MIGHT be able to have it done by this time next week... notice I said MIGHT.  Only one doctor appointment next week and that's just to let me know the results from yesterday's stress test - which, as far as I could tell, I did ok.  We'll see how my legs and back do over the next few days.

And now, it's time to fix dinner....

Have a great holiday weekend...

take care.......

ttyl........

What a day!

Actually, not just today... yesterday afternoon was part of the problem.

I was ready to load a new quilt top onto Mo'e and was getting pretty excited about this top in particular.  I cleaned the rails, put oil in the top of Mo'e ( not sure what it's for or what it's called... just a hole with red ring around it) and in the bobbin case.  Since I can't remember when I changed the needle last and I've quilted at least five with it, I thought it would be a good idea to change the needle while I was doing everything else.  That's when problems began... I DROPPED the screw that holds the needle in and could not find where it dropped.  

  I got down on my hands and knees (not an easy task but easier than trying to get back up) with a flashlight and a magnetic wand... and running my hands over the carpeting, too... trying anything - everything - I could think of.  No screw :(.  

It was about 4 pm and I called the dealership in Lansing to see if they had a screw for my machine... nope, BUT did take one off from a handiquilter and tested it on a Janome sit down and it fit.  Ok, I'll be there in a few minutes ( just in time for evening traffic - YUCK).  Got there, got the screw, got back home and then fixed dinner ( a pre mixed salad from Walmart)... too tired/stressed from the situation to do anything more.

Got up this morning and after breakfast, I decided to go install the screw and finish getting ready to load the quilt... the first needle - got it in, but couldn't thread it... I don't see a hole???.... got another needle out... stuck it in as far up as I could, tightened the screw... and stuck some scrap fabric/batting under the needle to test.  Down went the needle - and there it stayed.  I thought, well, I must not have had it in correctly after all.  Tried it again... same result.  Called the dealership and let Mike know... Jason won't be in until tomorrow, but he'll tell Jason that I need some screws so he can order some... they won't be here for at least a week ( holiday weekend).

So hubby decides he's going to get down on the floor and see if he can find the screw.... his getting down and back up is even worse than my attempts, but he was insisting.  He finally admitted he couldn't find it either and wanted to know where the holes in the frame where I was thinking it MIGHT have fallen in.  I went to move Moe's 'head' and carriage when hubby says STOP.. what's that?  I thought it was a spot of grease.... but NOPE, it was the screw!!!

see the dark spot on the inside edge of the carriage/frame?  Right there on the left....

NOW, do you see it?.......... Yes, I thanked my hubby and told him how much I appreciate him. :)

Then, as I'm trying to reinstall the needle and screw, the darned screw fell AGAIN.... right in the same exact spot!  At least I knew where to find it this time.

Ok, now, I'm loading the backing onto the frame... it's too long... I tear off about 3 or 4" from one end, re-center and start again... STILL a little too long on one side, but perfect on the other... ripppp another couple of inches off the too long side.

It's on the frame now and I'm rolling it back and forth spritzing with water to get the creases out... there's no way I could iron them out on my ironing board.  So, while the current spot was drying, I decided to go look for black batting scraps in hopes that I'd find enough to add to the roll I have that's 90 x 108"... the quilt top is 97" x 97".... sigh.   I found one scrap.. it's about 3" wide and 6" long.  Well, that won't work.  So I open the second package of black batting and proceed to trim 10" off one side of it  - which I THOUGHT was the 108" long side........... NOPE!  I've laid it out along the backing on the frame and then measured it... 97". 

Tomorrow, I'm scheduled for a chemical stress test.... good thing it's not today because I'm really super stressed and I'd probably 'fail' it.   Hubby has already helped me fold and roll up the batting I cut into - and I don't want to mess with it again right now.  I think I will put the uncut roll of batting onto the backing fabric and then add the second one as I get closer to the end when I'm quilting - I certainly don't want it all puddled on the floor when cats and/or dog will take it as an invitation to nap on it.  I can hand baste it when it comes to that point and then cut off what I don't need.

It's 4:30 now so I guess I won't be doing much more tonight... and I seriously doubt I'll feel like doing anything tomorrow... maybe Thursday will be a better day for me :).

Wish me luck tomorrow ( and Thursday)
ttyl........
take care.......

let me tell you about the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees......

Well, let me SHOW you some birds and flowers...

 the ones in the photo above are the most recent ones....

I would have had to climb the ladder to pin these on the design wall in the proper order... that just wasn't happening today, which is why there's a section that looks like it was cut off or just short for some unknown reason ( the rest of it is behind another row).

Then I started working on this lil guy/gal.  Five more go with him/her along with some pieced blocks to make an adorable baby quilt.  I'm not making it for anyone special, it's just something that's been on my "want to do someday" list.. and today is someday :)   I also purchased a pattern for a turtle who's belly unzips so treasures can be hidden and I'll try to make it to match the baby quilt.

After I finished the  turtle, I started working on what I went into my room to work on in the first place... stringy/scrappy coasters.  I didn't do them exactly as the instructions called for, but I was basically doing it from memory and I was working with defective equipment ( my memory is BADDD).  They came out ok anyway.  Not sure what I'll do with them... just know that I'll do them again, but I'll make them a little less scrappy - this time I just grabbed from the paper bag - next time I'll take a little time to select the strings.

They look HUGE in the photo, but each one is only 6.5" x 6.5".... big for a coaster, but would work great for a mug rug.

I'm off to check on today's bird that I MIGHT do tomorrow :)

take care......

ttyl

Good day for a sew in...

It was our guild's monthly sew in weekend at the local library.  It was also the weekend for the citywide yard sale... and our guild participated this year instead of doing a UFO auction so there wasn't anyone attending the sew in yesterday and only three of us made it today.  That's ok... it's the three that count (to me) lol.

In my last post, I shared a photo of the current quilt on Mo'e ( my mid arm machine for those who don't know)...

I finished quilting it on Thursday and stitched the hanger/sleeve and label on and then machine stitched the binding to the front of the quilt... something I very rarely do, but this time I had to since there was only a quarter inch between the bottom of the letters and the edge of the quilt; if I had done it my usual way, the binding would have covered up too much of the letters when it was stitched to the front of the quilt.  This way, I lost just a sliver of one or two letters.

 

That was my task at the sew in today... to hand stitch the binding to the back of the quilt.... here it is laying in our yard after I got home from the sew in.  Another one that was fun to quilt.

If you go to my previous blog post, you'll find the info for the quilt. 

Next up on Mo'e will be Amish with a twist II.... I just need to wait for my latest order from QuiltedJoy to arrive.  When I ordered the wide backing fabric for this top, I 'guesstimated' how much I'd need... and it was wrong.  I need a minimum of 97" x 97" - and that's just enough to fit the quilt top... I need more for sides, top and bottom.  I ordered 2 1/2 yd of 108" wide... which means 90"... I'm 7" short... so I ordered another half yard along with some of the brighter colors of thread and then an extra 'cup' of bobbins.... which should be here by Tuesday - which is ok... it gives me time to figure out how I'm going to quilt it... I have some ideas, but need more.  I'll be watching more youtube videos and looking through quilt pattern books that I have here.

And now, I need to go find something for hubby's dinner... I'm still full from that huge lunch I had earlier today so I'm not hungry, but he needs to eat.

take care.....

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

oh!  I also worked on more birds and flowers for my scrappy quilt - but haven't taken pics lately... will try to do that maybe tomorrow or Monday.

A couple of photos....

Yesterday, I was on a tear!  Oh, it was a good thing.... I quilted and bound ( and labeled) one quilt and bound & labeled a second one -and today the weather was nice enough that I got hubby to help me out with taking photos.

 This is the last Nine Patcher character....

and then this... is the rose that I applique'd yesterday... none done today

 My Hot Tamale scrappy quilt that I just LOVE LOVE LOVE

 And the finished Nine Patchers - Family Reunion ( pattern by Mickey Dupres)

Then, today, I started this....

It's already almost half done... but I'm beat from dr. appointment, stopping for dinner and then going grocery shopping so it will have to wait until tomorrow, which should be a pj day... YAY!..

and, for some reason, I have a puppy dog whining at me... maybe he missed me this afternoon - or maybe he just wants a pupperoni lol.

take care....

ttyl.........

Early morning catch up

I had intended to post last night, but with it being Mother's Day, I spent a couple of hours on the phone with two of my kids, my oldest grandson and my oldest/only great granddaughter and, after fixing a quick dinner for hubby and myself, I went to bed.

That's not to say that I didn't do any sewing because I did... until the kids called...

I took photos of some of the individual blocks I did yesterday... didn't do it for the flower blocks, though.  Yes, I said flowers... I discovered them while waiting for more birds to show up on the second day of the 30 bird a day collection.  And the flowers are all there for the entire month of May, so I decided that I would do a mix of the two.

As you can see, I did four blocks yesterday and I was working on #5 when the phone calls started coming in. 

Today - this afternoon actually, I have an appointment with a cardiologist - just to make sure that what I experienced  a few weeks ago was stress/anxiety and not a heart attack.  My father's father died in his very early 60's from heart failure; my father died in his mid 50's from heart failure and my aunt told me that she had had several heart attacks (apparently minor) - so you might understand why I'm a little concerned about chest pain I had a few weeks ago and experiencing more frequent feelings of my heart 'doing somersaults' (only way I can describe it).

Anyway, enough about that...  as you can see by the photo above, I still haven't finished the Nine Patch family reunion - I still have one more character to do and I hope to get to it this week and then find some backing fabric so that it can be the next one to spend up close and personal time with Mo'e.... and, no, I still haven't done the borders on the quilt that's been with Mo'e for more than a week now? .. I keep changing my mind as to how I want to do the borders because either I don't think I can do 'that' pattern or do it upside down or I'm not sure if I can make it to fit the borders.

Ok, well, anyway....  I have things to do ( like fill out paperwork for dr's office) so I guess I'd better get going here.

take care..

ttyl.......

Just a quick one...

Not much quilting will be done today or tomorrow as hubby and I have tickets to a gospel concert tonight and another one tomorrow afternoon.... there goes most of my energy, but it's so worth it.  Also, a man came today to discuss sealing and staining our new deck; I'll get back with him as soon as I get the supplies.

Before I heard from him, I was happily working away in my sewing room doing a quick little project... adding another bird to my scrap quilt...

I started another one, but then had to stop to go get dressed before the man got here... didn't want to answer the door in my pjs and scare the man away lol.  I'd like to go back to working on it, but I think I'd better go take a small nap because it's going to be a late (for us) night.

take care....

ttyl....

Squirrels again.......

This may look like the same photo that I shared in my last post, but it isn't.  If you look closely, you'll see something has been added.

AQS.com has started a bird a day for thirty days sewalong and I jumped right in feet first.  Hey, it'll use up more scrap fabrics AND I won't have to figure out a 'special' quilting design for all those red blocks.
BUT it also means that it's going to be at least a month before this quilt top will be finished.  Two rows have been sewn together, but that was before the latest addition...and it will be much easier if I don't sew all the rows together before doing the appliques.  Oh, and I stitched up another row... so the top is now 9 rows longs... and I have enough red squares cut out for a 10th row if I feel like making another 4 scrappy blocks, which I might as well do since the red blocks are the last of what I  cut on Monday

Yesterday, I also added another figure to the Nine Patch Family Reunion; guess I didn't take a pic.  Had to stop working on it to go pick up a prescription for hubby and didn't go back to it once I got back home.  There are pieces traced onto paper back fusible for the next two figures... only a total of four more to go.  I really want to get it done so that it can be loaded onto Mo'e once I get the current one off; I just don't feel like actually doing it.  It's fine once I get started - it's getting started that I keep stalling on.... that's how I ended up with that scrappy block top that's now residing on my design wall - I gave in to the 'squirrel' instead of keeping focused on the project right in front of me.

I guess I'd better quit talking about it and get back to doing it.... after I finish reading others' blogs and checked my email again. ... Oh yeah!  and I've got to see if today's bird is available yet. :)

take care.....
ttyl........

Squirrels....

Sunday, the weather was beautiful and I took the two quilts that I had finished recently outside for their photo ops.

Then I decided to pull out my orange scraps and get to working on my RSC for this month.

My order for thread from Quiltedjoy.com arrived right on time yesterday, but was I in the mood to load it onto Mo'e and get started on stitching the borders that have been waiting since Friday? Noooo

 I pulled out an UFO that wasn't really an UFO... I've been cutting and stashing 2" squares for this project for awhile so maybe it was a WIP.  Either way, I decided to get it done and so I started sewing the 2" squares into 5 x 5 blocks.

Yesterday, when I delivered canning jars to the LQS (for someone else), I spotted a beautiful textured red fabric in the clearance section that I - ok, I admit it was an impulse purchase.  After a quick stop at Walmart for a few things, I came home and proceeded to start cutting some of that fabric into squares... and that's when the trouble began....

I measured one of the scrappy blocks and it measured roughly 8" x 8" ( it still needed a good pressing and squaring up) so that's what I cut the red squares.  Alternated the solid blocks with the scrappy blocks and things were fine for two rows... then the scrappy blocks started to be more like 7 1/2" - 7 3/4".. oh oh.  I read the pattern again and it said to cut the solid blocks 7 1/2 x 7 1/2".  ARGHHH.  

So, last night, while watching a program on youtube, I un-stitched the third row and later, started trimming all the blocks to the correct measurements ( after I cut a stack of 4 at 7" instead of 7 1/2").

Took out the first two rows this afternoon and got those trimmed... then I realized that I didn't have enough rows... well, I had what the pattern called for, but I had accidentally cut too many red squares/blocks and wasn't about to waste them (and I wanted the quilt bigger than 56"x 56") so I had to cut some more 2" blocks ( for a little more variety - I was getting down to where I was having to use the same fabric for more than one square in the block.)

Finally got all the rows I need, I think ( still have a few red blocks left over so I could make another row or two).  

This photo was taken before I stitched the 8th row to the 7th row.  The scrappy blocks are weirdish... when I trimmed them down, some of the 2" blocks lost half of themselves... some lost less - so if you look close at them, you can see where they are lopped off, but ask me if I care... NOPE!!  It's a scrap quilt and I like it, imperfections and all.

If I can get the last row(s) done and then all of the rows sewn together tomorrow then I can start thinking about finding a fabric for the borders.  There's enough red left that I could probably do a 2" border, but that's not what I want to do.  1.  I want one bigger than 2" and 2. I want to be sure that I have enough of the red for binding.

Ok, that's it for tonight....

take care...

ttyl.......