Brown Bag Challenge

Why do I let myself get into 'situations' that are more challenging than I'm comfortable with??  I know..... I won't 'grow' if I don't take steps to push myself to try new things.

 Some of our guild members are participating in a 'brown bag challenge'.  Each participating member was to put 5 fat quarters into a brown paper bag and put either the letter A or B  on the outside.  A means that whoever received the bag could only add one fabric of their choice to what's in the bag - B means that you can add as many fabrics as you want.  All the bags were placed on a table and then we were able to pick a bag.  We have no idea who the bag belongs to and we're not supposed to know who has ours ( I accidently saw my bag being selected so I do know who has mine).

Because I put a B on the outside of my bag and because this is my first time attempting something like this, I chose a bag with an A on it.  How was I to know that it contained FOUR PRINTS and the fifth one is a print, too, but can be read as a solid - just barely.  I am not a print person especially if stripes are involved... and that's whats in the bag... stripes, floral and what I would call geometrics. The prints are small - with the exception of the floral which is not HUGE, but is still pretty big.

With the help of one of the facebook groups that I belong to, I found a solid color in my stash that will work as the 'one from my stash'.  Now to find a pattern or idea that will be large/small enough (minimum outside measurement is 40"; I can't remember what the maximum is but it doesn't matter because I know I won't be exceeding it).  It HAS to be a quilt top - no tote bags, placemats, etc.

Yesterday afternoon, I tried a paper piecing pattern... it finishes at about 4" and I thought that I could make 9 of them to meet the minimum.  Well, after doing one in scrap fabrics, I decided that I didn't want to do multiples of it - too many itty bitty pieces.

Since I'm posting a pic of the tulip block I made, I need to include the following info.... Pattern Designed by Quilt Art Designs ,,,,, quiltartdesigns.blogspot.com

I do have one other paper pieced pattern that I might try - with larger and fewer pieces. If that doesn't work, I'll have to find something else.

Oh, and did I mention that the finished project is due four weeks from tonight?  argh

In the meantime, my San Antonio Star quilt is STILL on Mo'e waiting for me to get it quilted. There's no way I felt like working on it while trying to pass a kidney stone last week and this week I've been focusing on Christmas gifts and the Brown Bag Challenge while trying to get back to myself after apparently passing the stone.  I did get another pair of towels done the day before yesterday.  Two pair done, five pair to go.  

The borders on the San Antonio Star are the part that I haven't quite decided how I'm going to do.  They are made with dimensional flying geese... and to make it more 'interesting' there are two rows of geese - each flying in a different direction.  The pattern I choose to use must be able to stitch those geese 'wings' down so that they won't get caught on something ( like toes).  I'm thinking about waves, but I've also seen one that is like half a heart with a star in the 'middle' of the heart.  This one might work if I do four rows of stitching and switch the direction of the hearts for two of those rows... sounds confusing, right?

see how the rows of geese are flying in opposite directions?

Ok, I've stalled enough.... off to get started on SOMETHING.  :)

Catch Up

I guess I haven't posted since before my birthday last week... :( .  Part of the reason was my birthday... and part of the reason is that I received a late 'birthday gift' on Friday morning - my second kidney stone YUCK YUCK.  It took a week but I think it's finally gone.  It's the second one in 9 months and two days... hopefully they will be the only two in my life, but since both my mom and her dad suffered with kidney stones, along with at least one of my brothers, it will be beyond good luck if those are the only two I ever get.
While waiting for the kidney stone to pass, I had bad days with pain or discomfort and I had good days when I was actually able to function - even get a little sewing done.
I went to a local quilt show with my quilting pal, Vicki, on Saturday.  My left leg was giving me fits of pain off and on because I hadn't been taking my meds for it during the previous week, but I made it through the show... got some pics of outstanding quilts, a couple of yards of fabrics and one pattern for a cellphone holder ( kind of like a beanbag), and a fat quarter was given to me by Carolyn (The Hen House) to use and show her with the plan that the finished item ( quilt, whatever) will be on display at the shop once it's done.  It's a beautiful black on white print that I really really like and the plan right now is to get some more of it and use it in the black & white dresden plate quilt that I plan on starting after I get Christmas gifts done.

Speaking of Christmas gifts, that's what I've been working on... some I can share now, others, I can't.  Here's the one I did yesterday

 It's a reversible cape for our almost 4 yr old great grandson, Mason.  I think he's going to love 'flying' around with his cape flapping behind him.

This morning, I did the Rudolph towel... Santa was done probably about a month ago.

One set done and something like six more to go.  I plan on making them for all of the adult 'girls' in our family.  The pieces are almost ready for another pair and I hope to get them done today.

Because of my kidney stone, I had to postpone the Strings for Siren day this past Friday at our monthly sew in at the library.  Colette and Cindy made up blocks for me anyway and, hopefully, along with blocks made by other members, we'll have enough for two quilts when we start assembling them into quilt tops at the sew in next month.  

Ok, back to the sewing room.... catchcha later!

Labor Day Weekend

I decided on Saturday to start working on the tote that stepdaughter requested.  That night I managed to the background squares and some of the applique' circles.  I found out quickly that cutting perfect circles is not easy, even if I traced the circles onto paper backed fusible.
The next step was to applique' the circles on....which is how I found out how bad my circle cutting skills are.

I took several quick videos, but not sure if they are going to work.

Once I had all the circles appliqued on, it was time to cut the 12 inch squares into quarters and sewing them together in a new arrangement.

I decided that on the sides, I'd use white fabric and stitched with blue threads every two inches to resemble a baseball uniform.  Then I appliqued her first initial and last name on one side and the name of her favorite Detroit Tiger on the other side panel.

 I

Today seemed to be a test of my patience  --  it was like everything that could go wrong - did. The lining fabrics were cut too small -- it was one thing after another.  Because of all the mess ups, it took me most of the day to do what should have only taken a couple, three hours--- and the lining is piece mealed.  

Then came the aggravation of putting the top trim and straps on.  You'd have thought they were contorsionists the way they kept turning and twisting.  Finally got every thing straightened out and sewn down.... just one or maybe two more rows of stitching to go on the trim and I can call it done & pack it away until it's Christmas.  I'll do them in the morning and take a pic once it's totally done.

Hurrah!!!

I did it- i made my goal! This first one took me longer than i thought it should have...started it Tuesday but didn't finish it until this morning and until early afternoon to add binding and label.

It was a challenge, but also kind of fun.  I put in some feathers using a stencil and chalk powder, did outline stitching, small and large meander/stipple and even some curved cross hatching.
Had a few problems with wrinkles and seams until I was 3/4 done and I remembered that I should have raised the foot....after I did that, things went a lot smoother.

The second one went a lot faster since it was all large stippling/meandering and it's a lot smaller.  Had it all done by 3:30.

Can't wait to show/shock the gals (and guy) at the meeting tonight.

One more done

I started this this morning and, because it seemed so huge, I didn't think I'd get it done in one day, but I did.
I kept it simple and used acrylic circle templates in 2, 3, 4, & 5'' and just kind of placed them 'willy nilly' and took a break after every two rows.
I love the backing fabric that I pulled from my stash.
Thursday, it will go to the guild meeting so that someone else can put the binding and label on.
Tomorrow, it's on to the first of the last two HD T-shirt quilts.  Won't the girls be surprised when I show up with SIX quilted tops (three completely finished).

Short post

This is going to be short because I'm exhausted. I quilted this one yesterday.

Started the next one yesterday and

finished it this morning

before starting on this one which I made from scraps I had left from making two Dr. Seuss quilts for a couple of our great grandkids last Christmas..  

Quilting and trimming were done before dinner/supper and the binding & label were done after.  

I forgot about the two HD T-shirt quilt tops waiting their turns on Mo'e.  They will probably be next because I don't have backing ready for the third top from Carol /Katie (not sure who gave me which).

All in all, I think it was a very productive weekend.  I don't plan on sewing the binding onto Carol and Katie's charity quilts, but I will trim them and make binding for them.  I'm sure they'll be able to find another guild member willing to do the binding; I just have too much waiting for me to finish, let alone keep up on my BOMs and keep working on Christmas gifts, etc. etc.

Row by Row Road Trip

That's what I took yesterday along with three quilting friends.  Only three shops on our 'schedule', - The Stitchery in Howell, The Quilt Shop in Brighton and The Quilter's Garden in Fenton.
Three of us met up at 9 am and rode in my car to pick up quilter #4 on our way to Howell.  Traffic wasn't bad and within an hour, we arrived.  It was the first time any of us had visited The Stitchery - very nice shop.  Despite my resolve, I bought fabric ... just one yard each of two different fabrics; both are for aprons I'm making as Christmas gifts, and I ordered one of their Row by Row license plates which will be mailed to me once the new supply comes in.  And I found a cute frog quilt pattern, but didn't see the book that it's in ( I ordered it via Amazon.com once I got back home).... it's going to make a cute gift for youngest daughter :).
Next stop on the schedule was The Quilt Shop in Brighton, but we took a side trip over to Jennifer's in Pinckney.  A very small shop packed to the gills with beautiful fabrics... I found fabrics I just 'had' to have there, too.  Three yards of a beautiful blue for skies and 1.5 yards for water in my Row by Row quilt.
On to Brighton... that wasn't quite as easy as I had thought it would be.  The Quilt Shop had moved since the last time I was there.... but it was so worth it.  The previous shop was somewhat small; this new location is at least twice the size of the previous one... I found some beautiful fabric for the sky in my Mackinaw Bridge quilt ( to be done SOMEDAY).
I was disappointed that none of the stores had any license plates left.  The Quilt Shop offered to mail theirs to me once they came in, but I decided that I'd pass.  I wanted them to use in making traveling wristlets for gifts.  I'll wait and see if the two shops  here in  town have any left...if so, then I'll buy theirs... if they don't, I guess I won't be making more than one.
We had to wait for our free row by row pattern from The Quilt Shop to be printed. It's the Love Michigan pattern and I can  imagine it's been very popular.  Luckily, they are able to print them up right there in the store.
After The Quilt Shop, it was lunchtime.  When I had visited The Quilt Shop last time, my friend, Barb, wanted to take me to The Breakfast Club for lunch... and I liked it enough to want to take these friends there, too.  It took a bit of searching, but we found it.. and it was worth it.
Then it was on to Fenton... getting there wasn't too  bad.  Finding  The Quilter's Garden was a little harder... three of us had been there on one of last year's Row by Row road trips.  Nice big shop.  Again, I found fabric that I just couldn't leave without.... AFTER I made sure that I bought the row by row kits that two of my cousins requested.  The fabric I found was a Detroit Tigers (baseball team) print and a solid orange to go with it.  I thought it would be GREAT for the tote bag that my step daughter requested that I make for her ( she's a BIG Tiger fan).
This shop also had a printed out list of all the Michigan shops participating in this year's Row by Row so I perused through it looking for the shop that has a lighthouse that my friend, Marnie, is looking for.  She was living on the army base in the U.P. when her son was born and wants to include a lighthouse (and the Mackinaw bridge) on the quilt she plans on making for him.  I found it!... it's in  Bay City... too far for us to add to our trip yesterday, although maybe we were closer than we thought by the time we got lost lol. ( I was able to get ahold of a somewhat relative who lives in that area and she's going to try to get the pattern  for me on Monday).
Yes, we got lost... after leaving The Quilter's Garden, we went through McD's so that Vicki could get a drink.  I asked the gal in the window how to get to the freeway ... she gave us what sounded like simple directions... they weren't.  We ended up going through several small towns/villages, including Argentine.... ones we'd never heard of.  Out in the middle of 'cow country', we finally stopped again and asked a man for directions.  ( Needless to say, my phone's GPS was NOT working well yesterday).  The man was able to get us back to a free way... it took about 10 miles or so, but we made it.
Once back onto a freeway, it was straight back home with only one stop at a rest area until we got to Lansing... traffic was backed up on 496 right past the Jolly Rd. exit, so I got off on  Jolly Rd and took that into Lansing and showing my friends where my hubby lived and then where I was living when we met.
Nine hours and almost $200 (for me) later, we dropped off one friend at her home and I took the other two back to their vehicles at the Share a Ride where we had met up earlier that day.
The weather was good..not too hot, not too cold, the company was GREAT and LOTS of laughing made it a trip that was so worth it.
I left a message on Facebook for my two cousins telling them that they owe me BIG time and to contact me regarding 'ransom' for their kits - lol.
Today, I plan on  getting the charity quilt that's on Moe quilted and off the frame so that I can put #2 charity quilt on.  Ideally, I would like to get all four charity quilts done by Monday ( last day of August).  We'll see ....