Would you believe?!?!

Look! Mo'e is nekked! 

For the first time in MONTHS!  For five of those months, it held just one quilt waiting for me to finish it.

Tonight, it was finally finished!!!!  I'd do a happy dance if my legs weren't so stiff and sore.  I'll take another picture once the binding and label are on.

Tomorrow, I  hope to get a couple of things done before my son and I  attend 'knee camp' after dropping Buddy off at the groomers.  It's something they require before you have surgery on your knee - in my case, it's total knee replacement.

Sometime before the weekend, I  want to load another quilt top onto Mo'e...

the one for my youngest daughter's bf so it needs to be done and ready to ship out by the end of next week....which means I have to decide HOW I want to quilt the white strips.  If I  had more time, I  could consider outline stitching the letters RAIDERS in the white, but I  think it would take me too long :(.  It's for a guy, so I don't want to do feathers. Guess I'll have to check my books to see what I can find....

Ttyl.....

I've been busy (still)...

Since my last post, I finished my RSC2021 quilt top and it's been set aside in the waiting to be quilted line.

And then I started another quilt... this one is for my youngest daughter's bf/fiancé/partner/other half (not sure what to call him).  He's been after me to make him a Las Vegas Raiders quilt...EVERY chance he gets - online, in the background when I'm on the phone with her, etc.  I keep telling him "We'll see".  

I bought the themed fabric a few months ago, but hadn't decided on the pattern I was going to use so didn't buy other fabrics to go with it until last week when I had decided on the pattern (BQ6) and I found just the right 2nd fabric at our local quilt shop.  I needed a third fabric, but it was going to be white and I already had that at home.

I started cutting the pieces for the top on, I think it was Sunday, and had two blocks sewn by late Monday - and that's when I realized that I needed to figure out a different layout for some of the blocks so that the big squares were all facing the same direction.  Took a bit of time, but I figured it out.

Wednesday, I was able to sew all the blocks together into rows and yesterday, it became a quilt top.

There's not a lot of space for me to stand to get a good photo (old sewing/craft room that still needs to be de-cluttered) and the ground is wet so I'm not taking it outside for it's photo op.

I bought Raiders themed fleece for the backing and will use my usual Hobbs 80/20 batting.  I had enough of the themed fabric left over to make the binding and a couple of mug rugs.

Now, I just need to finish the quilt that's been on Mo'e 'forever' (since June) 

so that I can get this latest top quilted in time to send for Christmas.  Although, now that I'm thinking about it a little more, maybe I should just send the mug rugs for Christmas and then send the quilt later.  LOL

I've been busy

I'm finally feeling like doing 'something'.  First off, I made three pairs of these Jack Lantern mug rugs as surprise gifts for some neighbors.

Then it was on to this small wall hanging... 

Oh wait!  this table runner top was before the sheep wall hanging.  I just didn't get it quilted until after I did the wall hanging.  Used plenty of scraps but still have plenty left - we all know how that goes, don't we?

Then it was on to catching up on my RSC2021... the last I'd done was June, I think.  I had to add  3 extra blocks to make it larger ( and to use all of this year's colors)...

I still have an outer border to add... will probably do that tomorrow.

And here's my Buddy posing with his new November scarf that I just made for him.

Other things have been going on, but mainly just ordinary day to day 'stuff'.  Still trying to get things done around here so that my son can lay new flooring down, scrape the 'popcorn' off the ceilings and paint almost all the rooms in the house - I'm balking at letting him paint my new sewing room, which was the former formal living room ( I MAY change my mind later).

Ok, Buddy is all confused with this time change and thinks that as soon as it gets dark, it's time for me to go to bed ( so he can get his bedtime treat) and has been bugging me for about an hour now.  Guess I'll give in now and head to bed. 

Finally Finished

 delivered to the office where the recipient works.  I didn't get to see her open it, darn it all.  

I added pink and white faux chenille strips, which the pattern didn't call for; and I like it.

I ran out of the pink or I would have added more.

Finally

 Something to share.  It's still a WIP, which I hope to have finished before this next weekend.  Just need to sandwich and then quilt it - adding binding and label after that, of course.  I'm still considering adding faux chenille around the letters.

I've done a little bit of sewing since my last post but I don't think I've completed anything other than two more t-shirt quilt tops for our grandkids; they're waiting their turn on Mo'e.

Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

 I have been known to say that "closeness only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades".  I'm not playing horseshoes nor with hand grenades, but I am close to completing the 2nd top of the t-shirt quilts.

First, I'll show you the practice piece that came out so well that it can be used in another quilt... which one, I'm not sure.

And here is the actual block in the quilt top, which has been waiting for this before it gets sewn into a 'flimsy'.

I loaded a different quilt top onto Mo'e thinking that I could get it done before the  stenciling supplies arrived but it took me a couple of days to try and figure out HOW I wanted to quilt it.  Once I figured out HOW, I started but didn't last long - darned legs were hurting AGAIN arghhh!  I got one complete row done ( which is actually three rows done at the same time) and 2/3s of the second one done but then had to call it quits. That was the day before yesterday.

After I finish quilting the purple strips with purple thread, I'll go back and use the same quilting design on the white using white thread.  I have six more 'rows' to finish in the purple.

And that's it for now...  MAYBE by Sunday or Monday night, I'll be able to post that this quilt is off from Mo'e and that Molly's quilt top is loaded and ready to quilt.  MAYBE.

take care.....

STAY SAFE....

ttyl..

Two Steps forward then pause

 First, I have to give an update over the tiny red buttons that I need for the Bringing Home the Tree BOM from Shabby Fabrics. 

 I tried and tried to find replacement buttons for the ones I thought were missing - yes, thought... stay with me and I'll explain.  I couldn't find buttons small enough  so I took a chance and called Shabby Fabrics ( on Feb.24th) on the chance that they might have some 'left over' or that were being used on another of their projects.  In talking to the gal, who's name I've forgotten, I was told that the block with the candy canes had precut tiny circles of red for the holly - the buttons were just for the tree in the back of the pick up truck.  OOPS!!  I thought at first that I didn't get the precut circles, but she waited on the phone while I checked my kit leftovers ( Yes, I kept it all - just in case).  Oh yeah, they were there.

  Well, as I told her, the buttons are sewn on, the quilting is done and I'm not about to take those buttons off and replace them with itty bitty circles that would be next to impossible to machine stitch on.  So, she checked and, yes, they had some buttons that were similar.  She didn't tell me how much it would cost - and, at this point, I really didn't care. They arrived today!! $1.50 including postage.

So, the buttons will get added to the tree and I can call the quilt completely done.  Yay!

Now, back to the grandkids' t-shirt quilts....  First, I want to show what I added to the first one, which will go to Steven.

My original plan was to stencil a train locomotive on this block, but changed my mind this afternoon and tore a pocket off a pair of gpa's jeans and then cut one of his bandana handkerchiefs into quarters and folded it until it was like I wanted.  I stitched the bandana to the top of the pocket ( hidden by the bandana hangover) then I machine stitched the pocket to the block and the went back and hand stitched the sides of the bandana down.  the top of the pocket is open and so is the bottom (the pointed part) of the bandana.  It was easier to do than I thought it would be and I'm glad I did it.

The second t-shirt quilt is assembled into rows - well, the top and bottom rows are sewn, but the middle blocks are still in two blocks because I definitely want to do the locomotive on the white bandana block on this quilt - I'm just waiting for some spray stencil adhesive to arrive from Amazon.  I had looked for it over at Walmart, but didn't find exactly what I wanted and  I also had to order stencil paints from Amazon since I haven't used the ones I have in probably at least 10 years -- those are going into the trash.

Here's what I have so far.... this one will go to granddaughter, Molly.

While I'm waiting for the stencil spray to come ( should be Wed. or Thurs), I loaded a backing onto Mo'e and will finish loading batting and the top on tomorrow.  No photos right now - but I'm sure I'll include them in my next post.

Ok, dinner is calling....

take care...

ttyl.......