Little Bit here, Little Bit there

I did a little bit of quilting today... just can't show pic because it's a Christmas gift and in case someone finds out about my blog and decides to check it out, I don't want to spoil the surprise.
  After finishing it, I made another gift that didn't require any quilting on it.... then I set to work on making a little elephant pin cushion.   It's really cute and I'm glad I finally got around to making it - don't think I'll make another one, though - unless I enlarge the pattern.  The pattern is by Heather Bailey and called Effie and Ollie elephant.

It was just one of those days when I just felt like 'playing'... I slept until about 10:30 this morning, waking up just before receiving a call informing me that one of our long time members of the quilt guild passed away Friday.  We knew it was coming, but I don't think we were really prepared; I know I wasn't.  I'm grateful that she's no longer in pain, but I'm sure going to miss her.   Her memorial service will be Tuesday and I told hubby that I'll be going.

Slow but steady

OK, let's try this again.....lost what I had 'written' while trying to upload pics.

There's not a whole lot going on quilting wise - been busy with 'life'--taking hubby for blood work and a MRI, then having to go back to the hospital the next day because I forgot that I needed bloodwork done, too.....car has to go in for a minor repair, bills to be paid, yadda yadda yadda.

I did get a start on my first row for this year's Row by Row.

I've fused everything down except for the hats - they'll probably have to be stitched on after the quilt is completed.  I didn't follow the pattern exactly - I spaced/placed the women differently - looks more balanced this way.  I also didn't have the 'extras' like starfish,  bucket and tiny flowers for hat trim....still need to do the applique. ( did the applique later in the day)

Started working on tea towels that will be Christmas gifts for our 'girls'

Note to self--- don't use sharpie to label the pattern pieces.  You can see 'spots' showing through the white fabric.  I'm using the stabilizer that I bought from Beth Ferrier when she taught a class at our guild... Wash Away Applique Sheets.  Only one sheet of it left, but more is on it's way :).

 I don't know how many times it will have to be washed for the product to dissolve enough that you won't be able to see where I used the sharpie so I guess I'll wash this towel and find out.

Not sure what I'm going to work on today---exeutive meeting before the guild meeting.   I still have lots of 'life' needs - like laundry - that I should get to.

I'm still here

.... just haven't done a lot of quilting since I last posted.  I did go to the guild's sew in on Friday and Saturday, but Friday I just sat and talked with the others - just couldn't get up the energy to actually do something other than cut batting for some charity quilts I have to quilt - 3 for someone else in the guild and the Harley Davidson t shirt quilt that I'm doing.

Saturday was a little better, but not by much.  I took the remaining six H.D. t-shirt blocks and laid them out on the floor with scraps from other H.D. shirts ( did this part on Friday), then started sewing them together... it came out to make a nice size lap quilt.  I also got to see some of the blocks that Bill R. is making from the Infrognito pattern that I loaned him.  He's making EIGHTY blocks for a twin size and out of batiks - really neat!  I wish I had taken a pic to share with you. 

 The one pictured above is the one I did ( I added the lips and Give Me A - they weren't part of the pattern).

I also got to see one of Barb's quilts laid out into rows... another one that's all batik.  Really pretty.

Maybe I should break down and start using more batiks... I do like them, but it used to be I didn't buy them very often because they cost quite a bit more than the regular cottons that I use.

I did buy two yards (of batik) today... because it was only $9 a yard and then 20% off that and because it was pretty close to what I was thinking of using for the background for the Scooby Doo quilt that I want to make for a friend in Scotland.

The colors are much brighter in person... I took the pic with my notebook and haven't learned how to brighten the pics I take with it.

This noon, I went down to Cassie's ( Sweet Bee Quilts) to get a 1/2 yard of red, a 1/2 yard of brown and a package of Soft and Stable... and I got them -- along with the batik and two free squash ( 1 zucchini and 1 summer squash which I'll slice and saute with an onion - yummy).

The red and brown will be used for the appliques that I'll be putting onto tea towels that I'm giving to our girls ( daughters and granddaughters) for Christmas.

The Soft and Stable is for something that I'm keeping a secret right now... will disclose later :).

Playing with paint

OK, here's a shot of the quilt I started yesterday; finished piecing today.

 Now, I'm experimenting with ways that I can possibly add the sandpipers.

Here's my first try -- traced onto 'sand' fabric with a brown pigma pen and then painted with Jacquard textile paints.

 Did you know that if you mix Russett with White, you get pink?  I didn't - I expected a lighter brown, like tan. Now, I have to let it set for 24 hours before I heat set with an iron.  It's not exactly what I'm looking for so will try something else tomorrow.

Feeling some accomplishment

Here's the finished T-shirt quilt top; got it done yesterday.  I tried to post the pic on here after it was finished, but had some issues with Google & my tablet and by the time I got it worked out, I didn't feel like blogging.

Got up this morning and heard a yet to be made  quilt top calling me.  I went and retrieved the tub it's been in for at least two or three years as I accumulated other fabrics to go into it.  I bought the original piece - its a preprinted panel - the last time I went to retreat with some of the other guild members.

Anyway, I got the fabrics out of the bin and realized that I needed more---BUT I had just the ones I needed in my fabric stash that I was using for last year's Row by Row--PERFECT!!

It's not done yet. -  have about 1/3 left to do and I think I might want to go down to The Hen House to see if she has a rusty red that I can use for the outer border and binding.  Here's what I have done so far--two more panel blocks to add to the top after I add the sashing row over the life jacket.

This fabric was also in the bin and I'd like to use it for the backing but there's only a half yard so I'm going to check a couple of quilt shops to see if it's still available.

I think I'm going to put the sandpiper and some of the shells down in the sand areas on the front- just not sure yet how I'm going to do it - I can cut the pieces out of this fabric piece or I can trace & transfer to a piece of light colored (white or pale tan) and then use either fabric paints or thread paint before or after appliqueing them to the quilt top or I can paint them directly onto the 'sand' .....decisions, decisions.

Great Deal gone bad :(

Last night at guild, one of the members had a baggie full of needle cases that she was trying to sell for a friend.  Another member and I dove right into them as soon as I spotted the brand name that we use for our long arms; we sifted through, picked out what we wanted, made arrangements for payment and took our 1/2 priced deals home with us.
Looking the needles up at SuperiorThreads.com, we kind of came to the conclusion that these are not the right needles for our machines, sigh.  The other member called our local dealer to find out for sure... nope, they're not for our machines and if we tried to use them in our machines, we could meet deadly and costly consequences ( as in messing up the timing).  So the needles will go back to the member who brought them in, sigh again.

In the meantime, I found more Harley Davidson t-shirts in the tub yesterday so I've been cutting them apart and applying fusible interfacing to the backs of the shirt fronts and some of the shirt backs.  I already had 10 done, so need 10 more to make a complete top.  At first I thought I wouldn't have enough and would have to fill a block or two with a blank shirt back, but then I went back in to check the tub one more time and found even more.  This time, I thoroughly checked to make sure I had them all.  Now I have enough for one complete top -   16" blocks - 4 across by 5 down - and I'm not sure how many extras; will count after I get the first one done.

After the guild meeting last night, I decided that I'd look for a design that I'd like for the blank blocks in my Daisy Dance ( by Fons & Porter) quilt top.  I found one that I like and that I can do; traced it out onto Golden Thread paper then laid it out on one of the blocks... just a smidgen too big - oh well, back to the drawing board - or my  copy of 502 New Quilting Motifs (Quiltmaker magazine) where I found the first design/motif - and found another one that will fit (and I like) so that's probably what I will go with.... but have to finish at least the one H.D. quilt first.

I delivered one charity quilt back to it's piecer last night so that she can put the binding on... and opened my big mouth and volunteered to quilt another one.  That makes three for the charity quilt pile, not counting the HD quilt(s).  They're just scrap quilts so won't take me long to quilt them once I get them onto the frame.  I was going to put Daisy Dance on next, but it's going to take me a few days to do, so I'll probably do the charity quilts first.

Found a pattern for some cute baby girl Mary Jane shoes at http://www.thestitchingscientist.com .  One of my cousins has a granddaughter due to be born in  mid. Oct; I think I'll try and make a pair for her.  Then grandma can have the pattern incase she wants to make some, too

Ok, back to  cutting out and fusing t-shirts.

Correction

In my last blog entry, I said that I thought I only had one UFO left to finish - then found an OLD one that is applique'.  I was wrong... I had two left before finding the applique' one - 1. I call this Donna's quilt.  It's for a distant cousin and it's being made mostly from fabrics that I inherited when her sister passed away.  2. is The Quilter's Teddy Bear.. which is paper piecing and is probably at least 1/2 done; it's just a matter of getting it back out of the tub and finishing it up.  I haven't worked on it in probably three years... I messed up and didn't follow the designer's instructions to put the paper on the top of the fabric; I did it the way I had learned in previous paper piecing projects.  This wasn't a problem until I got to one particular spot - and that's where I stopped because I was totally confused until I read the directions again.  3. is the applique' quilt... baskets of flowers.  I haven't checked so I'm hoping that I still have the fabric I was using for the baskets and I know I'll have to come up with other fabrics for the flowers. and then I found number  4. and possibly 5.  I still have Harley Davidson t-shirt blocks that one of my brothers gave to me to make into quilts for patients at the VA hospital.  I know there's enough blocks (and t-shirts waiting to be cut into blocks) for at least one quilt.. and there might be some shirts left that I could make into another quilt if I mix the 'prints' from the fronts with solids from the backs of the shirts.  I also have the scraps left from the t shirts that were already cut up and used for quilts and I think I should take at least some of them and make another quilt ( or two); they won't be 'fancy' with images or prints but I'll bet they'll still be warm and cozy.  Somewhere in my stash are some preprinted blocks that are partially embroidered; I should get around to finishing them, too... not counting them as a  UFO for some reason; I really should.

Monday, I went to one of our local quilt shops hoping to get another yard of the cute dog print that I used in the center of the quilt I showed in my last blog.  They had it... just 1 1/2 yds left on the bolt... it came home with me and I'll get to make a second 'big border' quilt, this time for my personal stash ( which means it will be saved for a future grandbaby).  When I purchased the fabric for the first one, I got 3 yds of the 'backing' fabric, so I'm sure I have enough.  If not, the shop still has quite a bit of that print left plus two others that co-ordinate with the 'center' fabric.

Tuesday, we had people here replacing our home's skirting and our front storm door... As one of the men was leaving, he asked me what that big machine was in the living room and I told him it was my long arm quilting machine.  He said it looked pretty scarey to him lol.

Yesterday morning, I finished a doll quilt for donation. - a smaller version of the puppy quilt.

I've also been making fabric hearts for The Preemie Project.  I tried taking a pic of the three I've done so far, but my camera was acting up and wouldn't let me.  So cute and simple to do...and for a great cause.  They are given to parents when their baby is admitted to the NICU.  The heart is worn against the parent's skin so that it absorbs their scent;  the heart is then placed in the infant's bed.  Check out their website and join in if you feel called to do so.... http://www.thepreemieproject.com

With all that I've been doing ( doll quilts, fabric hearts and Strings for Siren), you'd think that my scrap stash would be getting smaller, but it's not!  I really believe that it's multiplying!!

I'm dieing to start a new quilt top, but am refusing to until I get some of the already completed tops onto - and then off from - Mo'e.  But I always come up with some reason not to load any onto 'him'... I need to practice feathers for the Sticks and Stonehenge and the San Antonio Star quilts, I need a new template/acrylic tool to do the Baptist Fan on the Mountain Majestic, etc. etc.  I'm going to the Grand Rapids AQS show next Wednesday and I'm hoping that I'll find the Baptist Fan tool there... if not, I'll have to order it online so there's no sense in loading that top on until I have the tool.  I should just 'bite the bullet' and load a practice piece onto Mo'e and get to the feathers; I just don't feel like it :(.

There is still so much that I want to try and quilts I want to do... just can't seem to get myself around to do it.  I don't have the energy/ambition; always feeling like I need a nap.  Going in for blood work on the 17th and when the dr. has the results I'm going to talk  to him & try to figure out what's going on.  I should not be feeling this 'tired'; I shouldn't be needing a nap three hours after I get up from six hours of sleep.