Last day of the month

View looking down the lane

I told DJ that I should get a picture of how pretty our crape myrtle bushes looks this year. I don't think we have ever had that many blooms on the pink one in particular or the smaller white bush. The red ones are my favorite but that one is still getting established. It was pretty small when we moved here in 97 and needed to be staked up as it was growing quite crookedly. It makes us both smile to see how well that white one is doing since we reclaimed it from the kudzu vine that acts like a hedge on the edge of the hill. I wish you could see the lake beyond the tall trees along side the street you see but maybe this fall-winter as the undergrowth dies back. DJ was out hacking at bush he was trying to remove but I didn't get the "bent over bottom" in this shot---like those old wooden "yard butt" things that people used to stick in their yards, as my friend Robin called them, LOL. Her MIL used to paint those things.

Outside looking in

As I was coming back up the yard, I could not resist taking a picture of that little kitty face looking out from her perch. The holly bushes could use some cutting back or she won't have a view much longer.

No sewing yet today and I never did get around to doing anything of that nature yesterday. BUT my house is clean and why not enjoy that a little longer. In the afternoon I made a Watergate cake and supper, read for a bit and then decided to pull out my knitting. I started last year as my carry on the plane project and haven't much touched it since. After just an hour or two I got the back finished up and the starts of a front panel.

So my grocery errands were run this morning and I threw a pasta salad together for our evening meal. It is so hard to know what shop for when you don't want to heat up the kitchen or don't feel much like cooking, let alone eating it.

At lunch today, I told my husband that I thought I would put half of the cake in the freezer. He loves his desserts so he said "Why would you do that? I might die tomorrow and I sure don't want to go to heaven cake-less" What a goofball! He is is not crazy about me making a pie or something and giving it away or taking it off to a quilt meeting. It's his, by golly and he is not always assured of leftovers if shared at a potluck or whatever.

Guess that binding is not going to get sewn with a wiggle of my nose---darn it. The Binding Fairy must be hanging out with the Merry Maid and both are playing hookey.

one word

Since I don't have much to say and the only thing quilty I will probably get done today is making binding and then sewing some down, I'll do the One Word MeMe floating around the ring.

The house is all cleaned up since I mopped up the kitchen floor but now my shoulders and arms are protesting the hand scrubbing involved in THAT process. I think they are trying to tell me "what do you mean, tossing a quilt around, when we are already sore!?"

So without further ado---

One Word for
1. Yourself: caring
2. Your partner: goofy
3. Your hair: auburn
4. Your Mother: loving
5. Your Father: loving
6. Your Favorite Item: computer
7. Your dream last night: interrupted
8. Your Favorite Drink: iced tea (oops that two)
9. Your Dream Home: impossible
10. The Room You Are In: sewing
11. Your pleasure: quilting
12. Your fear: heights
13. Where you Want to be in Ten Years? home
14. Who you hung out with last night: DJ
15. What You're Not: patient
16. Your Best Friends: dear
17. One of Your Wish List Items: airfare
18. Your Gender: female
19. The Last Thing You Did: baked
20. What You Are Wearing: shortset
21. Your favorite weather: sunny
22. Your Favorite Book? mystery
23.Last thing you ate? sub
24. Your Life: fulfilling
25. Your mood: lowkey
26. The last person you talked to on the phone: Linda S
27. Who are you thinking about right now? Pippi

Hope you are having a good weekend-------

Saturday

Saturday morning and the walking is done. The cloud cover was helpful in keeping the heat down in the low 70's but boy, is it muggy out there. We normally walk about 2 miles every other day and alternate between laps in our local park one day and walking along the paved trail the next time out--depending on the sun, we might hit both areas.

Even though I have DJ to keep me company, I always take my tunes as it helps the time pass more quickly. I thought I was set this morning--had the cassette player, a tape installed and new batteries---none of it was working once I got out there. Color me "sad". He asked what genre I was planning on listening to as he would take requests. "The Committments" soundtrack so I was guessing 70's R & B/rock might best describe it--know any Wilson Pickett or Otis Redding songs, Honey?

We were both laughing about his being the pesky little brother bothering his older sister when she was dating the man she later married. (There was 6 years difference in their age. ) He has told me that when he would walk in the kitchen with his little guitar to serenade them, his future BIL would ask him if a quarter would be enough to him NOT to entertain them with his rendition of "fly hit the barn". (where you just bang on the guitar with your open palms in case that is not something my readers know about) . So when he asked about requests, I asked if June had ever just requested that he "hush". I guess his getting paid off was enough and she didn't have to. I got a bit of "Irish Eyes are Smiling" and "Irish Lullaby", LOL--this from a man of basically Swedish-German ancestry. Bless him, he tries hard but invents notes that are not in the song and the lyrics might besuspect as well. I liken his efforts to the Oscar Meyer commercial currently out where the little guy at the end is really dramatically getting into his efforts to sing the jingo---like a miniature opera singer. I swear I cannot see that without comparing him to my husband.

Well that has nothing to do with quilting does it? Just a little slice of my life and what is going on in my head this morning.

I DID get busy quilting yesterday afternoon. Those bloggers who have been reading Jeanne's Spiral blog will recognize the top she donated for WTIL. Click on the link above and scroll to her note of June 25th entitled "Sunglasses alert" The binding still needs to be done yet but you get the idea. The other two are quilted and bound , Jeanne, but I may have stolen enough of your thunder by even posting this now. I also quickly quilted a little panel quilt that Fleeta put together--easy zoom lines and some outlining around the motifs but need to cut binding for it and two others in a few minutes.

Pippi is maintaining her Hallway Monitor position near the air return---yeah, we need to vacuum. Little "dog ears" everywhere but that is right outside the sewing room door and my tracking area. Actually we need to clean the whole house but are differing on how best to attack it. Me, "git 'er done" and him, drag it out and do it in stages. Either way I am waiting till the a/c is on---yep, Jeanne, even that is on a schedule. I shouldn't complain as you cannot even turn yours on unless the workmen are done for the day and it is so blamed hot where you live that I think my brain would melt down into my socks.

WTIL questions answered from blog comments:
Laurie Ann asked me about the "house or cottage" I mentioned in my previous post for our donation quilts for Wrap Them In Love and Vera wondered if this was a national organization.

I don't know how best to describe it. It is a foundation run by a quilt shop owner in Mt. Vernon, WA--basically she is IT. There are little groups of us (my Bama Belles, Cher's Portland Piecers, Pam's Bobos and a group of helpers locally in Arlington/Mt Vernon that we called the Washington Wrappers to name a few). The Sunshine yahoo group use Ellen to distribute some of their donation quilts and there a lot of individuals that help. I don't know that I would call us "chapters" as it is much more informal and definitely on the grass roots level. This is where I prefer to work---Project Linus or ABC quilts are more well known so they have tons of quilters helping and often corporate help. What I DON'T do for them won't be missed. They are doing good work but just not where I want my efforts to go.

As for the house or cottage thing---my group keeps a lot of the quilts we make here in Alabama. When you have a lot of people at or near the poverty line, it makes sense when there is a need close to home. We have permission from Ellen to donate them in WTIL's name. This year most of these quilts will be going to the Girls Big Oak Ranch (link is in the sidebar)where they live in a house of up to 8 girls with house parents and their own kids if they have any. I think that there are currently 6 or 7 houses and they will be building two more. The same was true when we took quilts to the Talledega Presbyterian Children's Home a couple years ago---those were cottages though and we delivered 81 quilts.

Postage was killing us when we were mailing out 15-20 quilts at a time but we did it for several years and of course, the rates keep going up, up up. We sent a bunch out for Katrina last year--at least 35. That is not to say that we won't send any quilts to HQ--we do. In fact, I wish we could do more because the requests for quilts is out numbering those on hand--they fly out the door almost as quickly as they are received. BUT there is only so much that you can do as an individual. We plan on making quilts for the Boy's Big Oak Ranch as our next year's goal and some of the 80-90 will go there rather than to the girls home.

Did that answer your question or was more than you wanted to know, LOL? The website will explain things much better--how Ellen came to found the organization, where the quilts go, what you can do to help if you feel so led.

Guess that's it for me--see you in the blogs!

more from the archives

Looks like a shift from alt webring to ringsurf has brought us some new faces--some that I know have been waiting for an opening in alt webring. Welcome to you all! With more waiting for approval or activation consider yourselves welcomed in advance, LOL. I will echo the sentiments of others when I say that bloglines helped keep us in touch if a few bookmarks were missing from your computer. That might be enough reason for those not in the loop and relying on a "next" button to try that service or one like it if only for a backup position.

Good looking out for us, Judy. The only thing I notice so far with ring surf is that the "next" button seems to go to random sites rather than in a row--like the list is "liquid" rather than in a static position? Anybody else notice that---you might get the same site you just left.



















The quilts I am showing you are three that I made for WTIL in the past---a challenge of sorts. Ellen got a ton of these fabrics in both blue and red colorways from a fabric manufacturer/distributor. At the time we could buy kits of one yard each of the colors for $5 and were encouraged to make quilts for the kids with it. 4 or 5 years later there is still a lot of it floating around for kids quilts---several of the Belles quilts this year are backed with the blue vein stuff but Ellen was kind enough to share yardage with us for that purpose. Bits of it show up in scrap quilts all the time and I just have to smile when I see it. I really like the blue color way and especially like the gold on gold print but the red especially the red cobblestones and the gold with red veins was hard, hard, hard to work with.

I was working in series---starting with the "Millennium Mystery Unveiled" from Vogie's Quilts & Treasures. The leftover four patches from the that quilt went into the positive/negative colored that I called "Criss Cross" but that quilt should technically have plain alternating blocks like Single Irish Chain (another of its names) It is also called Cross County in Marsha McCloskey's Block Party book pg 25. It's my quilt, I'll go with "Criss Cross" however incorrect that might be, LOL.

Then I had leftover blue sections as well and that became this Twelve Triangles variation with pinwheels at center. I don't see it in Block Base so who knows what the right name for that one is. I doubt that I invented it though. Still I made pretty good use of some of the fabric---and have tons more that I could do it again, LOL.

I was supremely lazy yesterday and didn't do one darned thing that was quilty other than transfer 30 some quilts over to Linda S' empty closet for storage. Well, judging from my note on Tuesday this week, I needed to.

Shelina asked how often we distribute the quilts. Normally they are sent off to HQ at Wrap Them in Love or delivered when we get about 25 or so together. BUT when we know we have 60 or 70 quilts that we need for one facility we just hold them until we get what we need on hand. No one would like one house or cottage get theirs and make the others wait.

Once the a/c goes on in about 15 mins and the house begins to cool and our lunch is consumed, I'll get back to quilting because I felt like I wasted the day just playing on the computer. Well, not entirely wasted but close, LOL. I guess I just declared it more or less a "beach day" Oh, who doesn't need a day to play or relax and do not much. Too danged hot to feel like doing much anyway. Isn't that how we all coped with heat before a/c? Do as little as possible? Nice "work" if you can get it as the song goes. ttyl--lchj

whole lot of nothin'

I have really not gotten much of anything done today quilty wise. A little redwork--well, make that bluework actually. That little January snowman is finished up as of this afternoon. I started on the February one but so far, all that is done on that one is his hat.

Melanie asked me to share some of my embroidery on my blog. I had told her that I would but nothing is done! Go figure. I have had this much of the Santa done for at least 18 months. It is from "American Patchwork and Quilting" magazine, Dec. 99. All it needs is the small sawtooth-like border put on it. Of course, it is on my UFO list. Should really think about doing as Vicky does and work on Christmas stuff on the first weekend of the month. Its main function at this point along with the feathered star block is to hide the stuff on the shelf behind it---it has become part of the rooms landscape in other words.

Santa is covering up some of the star points and the others I chopped off with the camera. Originally I had intended to pass this around for my round robin center but I really could not let loose of control of it--not with all the work that went into it! (I foundation pieced it) Also I wanted it turned on point for the first round. I pass to the organizer and he would not hear of that saying if I wanted it on point, I had to make it that way to start. Okay, I did--and it has a fall theme instead. I am half considering doing the "Ostrich Round Robin" that Kim of Peach Quilting has set up with this as my center---or not! It might end up in my own version of a Christmas quilt much like I completed for Betsy's family. Oh, who knows?

I also have a Calendar cats thing done in colored embroidery thread that saw me through many a tedious nursing conference--Sandy Gervais' Pieces of my Heart BOM. I think that's right. Anyway, that one is a completed top and it has been pinned for over a year along with a Christmas log cabin. Both personal projects (read: no priority)

I finished all available paperwork last evening and even added to it this morning with some things I wanted to mail out. Balanced 2 months of checking account statements on three accounts, etc, etc. Today was originally supposed to be my "play day"-- a quiet house while hubby was going to be gone to the golf course BUT he asked me to go along with him. He has been after me for months to ride along in the cart and "caddy"/cheerlead. He planned on taking my car in for some minor things right after. The golf course is a half way point to the dealership about 20 mins into the next county. Oh, okay--since you asked, I will go. I packed up a book and my embroidery to work on while I sat in the customer lounge. Then didn't want to quit necessarily. Pressed some binding for tomorrow's quilting but that is about it.

It was a pretty morning--the sun was out in full force but the sky was clear blue, no humidity haze for the first time in awhile an a little breeze blowing that didn't feel like a furnace blast--high 70's maybe. It didn't stay that way but it was nice while it lasted. I had enough of the great outdoors by the time we got home.

So the web rings are still not playing nice. I have been using bloglines for a couple weeks now, like many of you. The updating part is wonderful and makes reading around the ring more efficient time-wise. No need to click unless I want to if it is not highlighted. Now that the ring links aren't working it has been a God send. PLUS you can track packages and the weather etc if you are so inclined! BUT one other thing I have noticed---clicking on the subject line or the Permalink in the post will take you directly to the latest posting complete with the readable comments and comment link. To me this is important because I am on pokey old dial up (not by choice, trust me) As much as I love seeing all the pictures, it takes a lifetime (or even times out) getting some of the blogs to open especially if you keep a gob of posts on each page. I keep that in mind and only keep about 4 or 5 posts before it flips over to the month page. I also try to link back when I can to refer you to a previous post so you don't have to go scrolling to find it. Easier for me to look at the dashboard and take care of it from my end on editing or whatever.
Guess that is about it for me------

lchj

meeting day

So Blogger isn't playing nice today or rather the web rings aren't. Always something. My computer was being a bit tempermental last evening and again this morning prompting some uninstall/reinstall. I was late leaving the house for our meeting this morning and then even later when I stopped to pick up some binding fabric from one Belle and some quilts from another--both were unable to come today. Fortunately, no one was waiting for me to unlock the door.

For various reasons we were a little sparse on people today but we got 6 quilts pinned. One of them my own personal project, believe it or not-my 30's Sampler. I'm still debating about the hand quilting part. With all those pins in there and as large as it is, it weighs a ton!!

That is the 47 quilts piled up in my room---the closet shelf is just as packed. I' ve got three more to quilt-- a few more are out for binding. I am taking a bunch of these over to Linda S' house this week as she has an empty closet we can put them in. I don't think I can go much higher with the ones on the hamper without it toppling.

So who is this fellow, you ask? Chico is the neighborhood tom cat. Belongs to the people across the lane whose house you see in the right of the photo. DJ had just told me that he saw him roaming around in our backyard and "thank heavens, he is not on my car" No sooner than he got those wrods out of his mouth......there he was. He hid while DJ fired up the lawn mower but as soon as he got away from the drive, back up he went. I got the shock of my life one day when I had inadverently left the window down on my previous vehicle, opened the door and he was laying on the floor by the brake pedal. Pretty fellow but Pippi could care less about him. DJ keeps telling me about the mice he has seen in the backyard near the kudzu---wish Chico would get busy mousing instead of lounging on cars, LOL.

Some paperwork awaits, bills to pay--even cleaned a bunch of paper out of my desk drawer before supper.

Too much credit, y'all

You all are giving me far too much credit for my productivity. Yes, I get a good amount of sewing and quilting done but I goof around too much on the computer to do ALL that you seem to think I do, LOL. I do not work outside the home and have few responsibilities so what else do I have to do but devote time to my sewing and quilting?

I totally believe in giving credit where it is due and always tell you if I am posting a quilt that someone else in my quilt group made. Sometimes I have helped out by quilting it and sometimes not. Sometimes I have pieced them but often not. Because my quilt group has been in existence since 2000 and we have made and donated 1200 plus quilts, I am never gonna run out of "eye candy". I'm the record keeper so I've got tons of pictures! I guess that makes me the public face of whatever I put up here so I'll pass on the compliments/comments to the maker.

Several you have said that blogger was not playing nice with comments this morning. Hope it is behaving now as I try to post! Makes you wish that you had written it on notepad or something so you could try copy/pasting it. I often post from Picassa and I often wish I had written my notes elsewhere first for a backup. It does not seem to matter which tab you are using--no copying! Write it on notepad and then I can paste it, I have found. Or publish, edit, save as draft and delete the old one. ACK!!

Okay, this is one quilt I did make two or three years ago. Actually I made three of them as a commissioned piece. One of the local lawyers who is a big time Alabama fan called Hancock's to see who might be able to make some quilts for him and the staff suggested me. He got the fabric somewhere of all the teams in the Southeast Conference. I think it is Divison 1 NCAA--I knew when I was working on these things, trust me! HUGE sports fans down here but primarily football crazy. Vanderbilt we had to go with a t-shirt front. The stuff was heavy canvas type cloth in most instances and of course, the t-shirt had to be interfaced.

I picked the double attic window set that I mentioned a few days back to show case the mascots and drew a rough sketch up for him. He decided where he wanted the blocks placed. His quilt was to go over the couch in the den hence the horizontal orientation of the piece. Just to make things easier I did all three the same. He gave me the cover to the couch arm to find a suitable color to match hence the tan color. The SEC is in the color blue that is used in their logo and I modified some foundation pieced lettering in my EQ/Sew Precise software to make it look squished down. The other two were to be given as Christmas gifts that year.

All my grocery errands are run. Papa Murphy's cheesy bread for lunch with a nice tossed salad I threw together. Vegetable beef barley soup in the crockpot---no cooking as it was leftovers from the freezer with a some leftovers from the fridge tossed in. So the rest of the day is ahead of me. New book arrived from Amazon--Sharyn Craig's Great Sets that I almost bought last week--might be part of my birthday money spend down--something to read tonight and consider for some challenge quilts on my horizon. (Finn, frogs in windblown squares perhaps??) I'm gathering stuff together to take to quilt group ---one needs a pattern for a sunflower block since they can also be poinsettias, right Hanne? Another needs some 30's scraps for her robin. Photo prints came today so I've got duplicates to share and one for our photo album. Don't forget to pack the digital camera. Nantucket Sailboat is the block I picked but do I need to take some fabric for us to sew at the meeting or my machine?? Still need to get my backing fabrics together so best get to it. I want to definitely get my 30's sampler pinned if nothing else.

Later y'all------lchj

done for the day

I am done for the day and can cross two quilts quilted off my July list. With time winding down for the month, I know that my goals to piece a few tops are not going to be met. Then I ask myself "have you ever gotten completed all of those?" Heck, no! Those are just a suggestion of things that could be done. It is like my husband's response when I start with the " I have to do this, have to do that......." He says "who gave you all those jobs?" Oh, yeah, it was me. That realization grounds me in a big hurry. I can un- assign some of that stuff--- just as easy. Round robins, binding and quilting have taken a chunk of time this month--a little piecing as well.

Yesterday afternoon we had several bands of wind and rain come through--enough to have to turn off the computer and the sewing machine. Long enough to have to find something else to do. My husband took a nap. I was looking at a cookbook, did some redwork and went out in the kitchen and made a Fluffernutter pie and thought about starting our dinner prep. He took one look at me and said I needed to learn how to relax. He does have a point.

After supper I was able to get back to quilting. I left off last night with one block and binding to go on Aline's string quilt ( left or above?)--easy enough to finish up that today. Of course the hand finishing is not done yet so you do not get a clear pictue on just what this one looks like.

I started the 2nd top soon after--also Aline's tops. A lot of the same colors and prints in both quilts. Easy one to quilt---lock in the blocks, the borders and mark the diagonal lines--zoom lines. I like the darker binding and the scrappy border on this one.

Tomorrow will be grocery errand day and once I get home I am going to concentrate on getting my 30's sampler backing together and backing for the revamped Medallion quilt I shared with you this past week. There is some binding to cut and press as well.

AND I should come to some conclusion about what block we will do for our BOM this month. I've got some things pulled and in a notebook for us. I'm thinking a simple sail boat but I am sure that my decision has been influenced by the sailing themed blocks on the perpetual calendar that sits atop my computer, LOL.

Hope you all are having a good weekend out there in bloggerland. 

followup to 7-21

Just thought I would share a couple different versions of the quilts from the previous post. Mom pieced the oh, so cute "Baby Picture Frame" featuring the pastel bears. I quilted it. (This was before she machine quilted) The colors are so sweet. We've got a few others in our files in primary colors that are just as cute. The star part probably show up a little better the darker colored ones so that changes the look.

This is an animal interlocking squares that I made but I believe
Mom had this one all kitted up. Maybe not though because I managed to NOT get those animals going in the proper direction. Directional print. Now if I decide to use my 1/2 yard of butterfly fabric on this one, trust me I will be mindful which way they will be flying. Doesn't mean I still won't get it wrong but I'll be mindful.

As I said before both patterns are in the Trudie Hughes Crib Quilts book. Both quilts look far more intricate to piece than they are.

I have already had a quilty day today without even turning on the machine---a box from Finn arrived. The quilt group meets on Tuesday so the abandoned blocks go to Sarah and the cut squares to Theramae. Other things I will piece---lots of ideas whirling around in my head and something to contemplate as I quilt this afternoon. I didn't get terribly far yesterday afternoon and didn't do the "2nd shift" after supper but it is NOT a race. Need to enjoy the process after all or why do it? Maybe tomorrow I'll have a unbound one to show you.

found 'em

I found the pictures I was referring to in my previous post that used the Noah' s Ark fabric for the challenge. The two directly below are the ones my mom made. See in the passage of time I had forgotten she had made a 2nd one. These both are from Trudie Hughes book Crib Quilts. Interlocking Squares on the left and Baby's Picture Frame at right. My local quilt group and Cher's Portland Piecers have a piece of butterfly fabric Cher shared with us for a challenge (and a few more of our friends as well) I am really considering one of those for my quilt. I love these little challenges and will probably share a couple more that I have participated in as we go along.



This is the one that Joy did. Those arks are appliqued and not the broderie perse type of applique either. She made her own ark and then used the fabric as the alternating square. Quilted in the wave marks in the sashing--quite clever of her. The color is not quite right on this one though.

I took the last stitches in the label last night about 1015 so all the binding is done---till I quilt something up that is and I reserve the option of moving that along to one of the binding helpers, LOL. I will get the machine set up to quilt once the a/c goes on and some email tended to. No glutton for punishment here!

Other than that---one of the girls in my quilting group is having a art show with her mother at Buckner Art Center at the old Fort McClellan tonight and I plan on going over to see the exhibit. Her mom paints and Ginny quilts and this is the first time they have exhibited their work together. She had emailed the group to tell us about it the other day. Lo and behold, as I was shelling peas at the kitchen table the headline teaser to our local paper referred to their exhibit. Immediately quit shelling to see what it said about our friend an featured right on the Escapes section. You may need a guest pass or need to be a subscriber to look at the article though. A look at Ginny's webpage would give you an idea of what her work is--a very painterly eye like her mother but in a different medium .

My mom felt like my grandmother had made enough progress to drive back to IL home so that is good news on the personal front. I thank you all for your concern. 

Plugging along

Not sure where the photos will quite land in this post--do we ever, LOL?

I'm still binding on the friendship star in alternating red chains, maybe half done at this point and should go shell those purple hulled peas (thanks, Melanie for helping me with that word that I was NOT coming up with---lord knows, I did enough shelling and snapping beans when I was growing up)

This morning I had the chance to go with three friends to a small quilt shop just over the state line in Bowdon, GA. Aline had gotten some fabric there on one of the JOY group's field trips and was short a piece about 6 1/2 inches square. She probably was the only one admitting to "needing" anything this trip. I think it is a little shorter trip over there than us going to Birmingham but smaller sampling of fabrics. I would go back though depending on what I needed.

I almost bought some batiks that I thought would work in the round robin but since I went off without it, I thought it best to wait till I had the whole thing in hand and a better idea of what I want to do. What I did get was backing fabric for my 30's sampler---9 yards of soft blue Chanteclaire (good price of 3.50/yard) and some Quilter's Dream poly batting since I am still thinking I might hand quilt this one. If it were pinned then I could do a block at a time or put some stitches in in my spare moments (HA! I'll make time) Oh, and a half yard of midrange moda marble in brown for binding on the revamped Betsy quilt--that was more pricey but the color was perfect. Reminds me, I better go throw that in the dryer. I told DJ that he might consider this part of my birthday present---I often do the spend down thing but now I wish I had gotten that Sharyn Craig book I was looking at! Aline our driver had an appointment at 1 but we were back in Oxford in time for lunch--just went out to Cici's for pizza buffet since we were going right by. Coincidentally, that's where my husband eats when he plays golf and I am unavailable--he had just left probably 15 mins before we arrived.

I swear you could have almost baked pizza on the hot asphalt/ concrete today but we all are stifling in this heat--even our European friends it would seem. Get this though--- as explanation for the new girls, I gripe and complain about the way my husband runs our a/c--starting and stopping instead of just raising it a degree or two and keeping a constant temp??? No way is he changing his mind about the inefficiency of that tactic because this has been going on for 10 plus years. He turns the thermostat up two degrees and tells me to turn on the a/c before I leave since he won't be home till after 12 and the cat will be suffering in the heat in the house! But I reply---"I am leaving at 8:20. You don't turn it on till 11 normally." He restated that was what I was supposed to do. The cat will get too hot but what about me???? SHEESH

Okay the two quilts you are looking at---Ellen the head of WTIL sent several of us this Noah's Ark fabric a few years back as a challenge. (Eileen, it would have been perfect for the quilt you were making recently). I shared what she mailed with my friend Joy and my mom got some too. Mom had just been down here for the spring sew in and flew in with her Jem and mailed me her clothes. For the return trip she reversed that.

Joy and I were on our way to Paducah, though not together, as I was going on up from the AQS show to visit with my family in central IL.
I sewed the Storm at Seas on the Jem in the hotel room so I would not spend too much money at the vendors. That resolve backfired a bit though because I bought my own Jem at the show, LOL. The snowball and nine (below?) was made with the leftover yellow and what remained ark fabric remainedfrom our three quilts. I wish I had picture to show you how theirs turned out---I probably do somewhere if I dug deep enough and tracked down the year--01 most likely. Joy did a neat appliqued shape just like the ark in the fabric and I sure can't remember what Mom did. She can tell me when she gets home and checks her documentation. Then I can show you the other two pics.

















That's it for today---kitchen duties await. I am determined to be done with this binding tomorrow!

this and that

Pippi posing in the hallway

I am not at all sure what the attraction is but this is her new spot to hangout. She almost got stepped on in the middle of the night potty run so I wish she do that only during the day light hours. Who knows with a cat? Lately though it the hallway in the mornings and then her perch. Evenings, often out on the catnip scratchy box watching TV with DJ. Lord knows, the little basket in here is out as well as access to the cutting/pressing table till those quilts move from atop it.

Not much going on here because I spent all day binding the Pink Mennonite Bowties from several posts back. (Click on the link if you wish to go look). Finn made most of the blocks---I assembled and quilted it.

In between I was trying every which way from Sunday to get some digital photos uploaded to the Sony Image Station site yesterday--almost 30 of them. I had recently bought a Cybershot so go a total of 120 free prints if I use it and shipping is only 99 cents for a few more days---go for it, I thought. With pokey old dial up I was ready to pull out my hair. The software would inevitably tell me that the pic was not there and try again---then lo and behold there would be three of the same one in the folder. I finally figured out that I had better luck going through Picassa and uploading but that was sloooooooooooow going and only half of them loaded. Not a good day in computerland. Got behind on my blog reading so will have to go see what y'all are up to.

Walked this morning and then met a friend in town to pick up some purple hulled peas from her garden. I'm a Yankee so she had to give me some cooking instructions. They need to be hulled, podded or whatever you call it--out of the purple outside holder. DJ is going to get some Southern cooking tomorrow---I just got the buttermilk for cornbread, etc to go with it. Now if I could find some fresh from the garden slicing tomatoes, we would be good to go.

My mom said that my grandmother had shown some improvement yesterday--sounds as though she is more wakeful and eating/drinking better. Actually she sounded downright feisty and more like herself . The staff and my mom and aunt have a better handle on what is going on since they did some blood tests. Barring any further complications, I believe she will try to head home on Friday. Thanks for keeping them all in your thoughts and prayers. Surgery is tough at any age but worse in the elderly--not so quick to bounce back or sometimes, not at all.

Where are the quilt pictures, you ask? Not to disappoint you with only kitty eye candy.

This is one from early in the year--some of you may remember it, others not. Shelina, THIS is the "Double Attic Window" which also uses Lois' embroidered blocks. I call the one I just finished and posted Monday(?) "Picture Frame". Still have not quite nailed down what I want to do with the remaining 9 blocks but Lois said she has a bunch more if I want them or someone in the group wants to try their hand at it.

The day is about half gone already--how did that happen? I am going to start the binding on the Friendship Star with alternating chains as it is the last one to bind --temporarily anyway. Maybe by Thursday or Friday, I'll be ready to start quilting my stack and have something newer to show you. Or more binding to parcel out to the helpers come next meeting.

Stay cool-----

UFO 11 done-done

Just got the binding and label finished up on this one. I showed the top some time back but for the life of me, could not find it in my archives. Oh well----there are new members in the web ring that didn't see it.

The embroidery is machine done by Lois, the 2nd quilt I have made show casing the blocks. First was a Double Attic Window set. All the black and brights are left over from my Kitty City quilt . The muslin from my quilt backing cutaways or previous piecing projects--that stuff winds up in bowtie tops, as sashing, you name it. Finn, I used that St. Nicole teal on the back and added something complimentary from my stash to get it a bit wider--it's two toned.

I thought about sewing this afternoon--possibly starting that Hopscotch quilt. I kept telling myself "finish this side and then you can go sew". I even pulled some possible substitutions for the kit--printed off my EQ print out since I had already made some color changes from what Atkinson shows. Actually even started on the binding on the pink bowties though I have only got about 3 inches done before it was time to pull supper out of the oven. (Bacon Cheeseburger Upside Down Pizza--recipes on allrecipe---only needs 20 mins at 400 once the stuff is cooked)

I also gave some thought to my round robin obligation today. There is a pinwheel star I found somewhere that may work well and had in my round robin project file in EQ. Her center is a foundation pieced New York Beauty type of thing with lots of spikes and this may work. I had Quilt Holder help me the pic it while I had him holding the Pic Frame quilt but I need to do some drawing and figuring in EQ first and explore the possibilities. Definitely some star--there are about 4 I was considering--and no log cabin blocks!

I stayed up waaaaay too late last night finishing Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons. Just couldn't put it down and the next thing I know it was 3:30 in the morning. Up at 7 so we could walk. I am starting to pay for those late hours. I would love to sleep in tomorrow morning a bit but with DJ and Pippi in our small house there is not much of a chance of that happening. I've got a couple more of Landvik's books on the nightstand if I can keep those peepers open long enough for a chapter or two. (Gotta love used books if your library doesn't have them)

Other than that, I ask that you keep my mom, aunt and grandmother in your thoughts and prayers. She is in the nursing home to rehab from her hip surgery as of the 8th. My mom was called out to MO a week ago and it has been an up and down week. I thought it was a good sign when she realized on Thursday that she was in a nursing home and was mad about that. Whether she really knew she broke her hip and that got her admitted, not sure. Mom had hoped to start back home this morning but now there are some other concerns that developed the past few days. (Call you tomorrow Mom and Sue if you are reading this)

Guess that's it for today------

Before and after

Okay, I am going to post the "BEFORE" shot of Betsy's quilt again so you can compare them side by side or more like top and bottom. Finn said that the quilt as it is shown, is from a book called One Block Says It All. Those outer half square triangles are pretty large but it does fill out the top nicely and made a wonderful bedsized quilt. A little big for our needs but it is scaled back, the large HST's repurposed and Sarah will include the other leftovers into something wonderful along the way. Did you catch Finn's comments about it on my previous post? It made me smile. "Boy that quilt top has alot of fabric in it...LOL. I've never seen it spread out like that before. Betsy finished it up while on retreat, bundled it in a lump and stuffed it in her tote. Once it was home, she lost it completely, about 4 or 5 years ago...LOLI think it's going to serve the best possible purpose. Can hardly wait to see what it grows up to be..*VBS* "

Thanks to Thangles and recutting the already sewn blue and print HST's I squeezed out a round of 3 inch HSTs around what became a medallion center. The brown print border was reused though smaller. The flying geese rearranged just a little bit and the outside border scaled back to 3 inch finished. Betsy did all the work---I just put it all back together again. I hope that the fabric show up better when you open the picture. What looks like gray is a nice plaid piece with the tans and navy blues, etc but the picture is not picking that up. The background is a nice shirting with a red.

It is still fairly good sized--about 73 square and was all Quilt Holder could do to hold it out arm span. Plus the poor guy was having to hear instructions about--"get out from behind the entertainment center as I cannot see one side" and "try to hold it up straight on the left hand corner. " I knew I better hurry and get the shot taken especially if he is going to have to hold it up once it is quilted. I still need to get some backing and binding fabric together for it but that can wait. Definitely one for the boys--thanks to Finn and Betsy!

I have to tell a story on myself though about the assembly process. I had the top-bottom sides on but as I was measuring for the sides I kept getting several different measurements and told DJ I needed his bedroom floor a minute. After crawling around on my hands and knees the oven timer went off and the top was set aside. We finished the meal and I was heading back to the sewing room to finish up. It went something like this--------

Linda: I forgot what I was supposed to cut that last border!
DJ : Didn't you write it down?
Linda: Of course not, I was in your room and the timer went off and thought I would remember.
DJ: "The "old" Linda would have remembered.

Now that was NOT a crack about my impending birthday next month or age. I have always been told that I have a fantastic memory for this and that -- it is becoming less so as the brain cells leach away with all the useless stuff that is crammed in there. He teases me that he will have to start paying closer attention to where he parked the car and so forth since he relies on me to keep him straightened out. I didn't tell him about my trying to get into someone else's tan car the other day at Walmart only to find I was parked two more down so no wonder my key and remote didn't work. Right row though, LOL.

Off to get groceries--if you gotta go for a couple of things (cat litter primarily), might as well get them all. Heat index is supposed to be like 110 today---boy, I dislike summer but I know we are not the only ones baking their brains out right now.

robins, Road to Ireland etc

Norma mentioned "Road to Ireland quilts" and showed one on her blog today that she had made. Eileen posted one of hers in blues after seeing the one that Lois had made for her mom on my blog a couple posts back.

This is the first one that Lois made and donated for the kids--the original pic I posted is in my "gone with the wind" blog, LOL. I like the way she took a little chunk of the frame with the white.

I am just back from the round robin hand off. We do a little show and tell with them--one person for each of the two groups in the order our names are on the list. When it is your turn, you have to leave the room and try not to listen in--even if you DID hear anything , they would be saying stuff like "oh that black (fill in the blank) looks so good on your top". I wish I had thought to take my digital camera with me because they are looking good--there was not a one that I would not have been proud to take home with me. Each one's theme is so different--even the two that were grandmother's flower garden's at center are so different.

Hold me to this: I am NOT to let this go till the last minute this round. Nag at me if you have to!! I've got till 9-9 to get 4 inch stars and/or log cabins done. I'll post a pic when I get ready to roll on it. It is bright so I may not have to go shopping and before you ask, yep, the person who hands off to me? More black fabric in her round but this time it seems to work better than the previous ones I have gotten.

After lunch a bunch of us went out to a Mexican restaurant that had just opened a few blocks away from the church we had met at. A little more time to spend visiting. I had taken a stack of books for Jane to look through because she was looking for appliqued Christmas block ideas. I had found a few things that Aline might be interested in as well---or at least a spring board for some ideas anyway. It is hard to know what others MIGHT want to try to make. If nothing else they can enjoy looking at some books they may not have seen.

I have not started on that last border on Betsy's revamped quilt yet today but I will! ("'After" pic maybe tomorrow, I hope) SO the 2nd picture that I am sharing is one of Sarah's scrappy quilts. She told me she did the 8 patches in leader and ender fashion . Way to go, Sarah! It inspired me to do the same thing as I worked on Betsy's top yesterday---that might be why some of the sewing was not going as quickly as I thought it might, come to think of it. Anyway, the stack and slash stars were from a couple summers back when the Piecemaker group in Jacksonville invited the Belles up for a Saturday workshop. The blue and yellow block in the 4th row is either an orphaned block from my mom or something from the donation box. Little bits from here and there to make a quilt. Just a fun quilt and it is so soft on the sides and backing. Can't you just see a girl cuddled up in it? I was able to pass on the leftovers to her today from Betsy's top so she has the starts of another one.
Looks like we are about to get some more rain as I hear distant rumbling. DJ said it poured when he was out for lunch. It did just east of Jacksonville but not where we were meeting and eating. There was water on the pavement and it is so hot and humid today that the rain was actually steaming off the highway. At first I thought it was smoke from someone burning but it wasn't. Walking this morning was miserable though we left the house 30 mins earlier than usual. I would describe it as so hot that even bare naked would be too many clothes and/or breathing was like taking a drink of water. BUT we got the job done in spite of my complaints, LOL. I cannot say that I was sorry to be done with that. I will probably need to shut down the computer soon so best get this sent off.

OH, forgot---Forest Jane you must not have read Lorna Landvik's book--they are a book club who someone's wife beating husband termed "angry housewives eating bon bons" sitting around complaining about their husbands. Of course that character had plenty of reason to be afraid of his wife complaining. The women in the club are NOT eating bon bons at all but trying to be good wives and mothers back in the 60's to present day. Good book.

One other story--we went to a Mexican restaurant, as I said and I commented that I had half thought about making chicken enchiladas for supper tonight but would have to come up with some other recipe or substitution. As we were about ready to leave, Pat who was sitting next to me asked if I had come with any ideas. Maybe, I said but Jane or Sarah said maybe I should just ask DJ what he wanted. I told them that he was NO help when it came to menu planning or meal suggestions ordinarily. Basically he leans to the meat, bread, potatoes and beans side of things as that is how he was raised--like, he hasn't eaten if he has no meat? I would get the "I don't know/care" or "whatever" response if I were to ask. Pat said I should get two boxes of cereal and label them that -so when he said "I don't know" that is precisely what he would get, LOL. I thought it was pretty clever myself.

before shot

This is the "BEFORE" shot of a quilt top that Finn sent on behalf of her friend Betsy for the quilt group to use for our kids quilts--the boys, for sure.

It is a bit large for our needs and I had their permission to use it as we saw fit. A few weeks ago, I got it down to the approx, 40 inch square at center and was able to salvage enough of the blue and white print to make HST's and treat this like a medallion quilt.

Well, I have been sewing the better part of the day and still do not have it done for the "AFTER" shot---all that remains is the last border with the blue print but I'm trimming it down narrower first. It will still be good sized but not big enough for a full sized bed as shown. So maybe tomorrow afternoon I can get this thing finished. I am considering working on one of my UFO's Terry Atkinson's "Hopscotch" after that---boy colors on that one. It looks like a version of Monkey Wrench but she may have a different way to assemble it and I have not tried the pattern before---been a long time since I kitted it up, can't remember. Get those creative juices revved up. I just do not feel like working on anything half done or "have to" at the moment when that sort of thing can wait. LOL, it waited this long!

There are pieces left on the Betsy revamped star top that I will probably turn over to Sarah and let her work her magic---HSTs for pinwheels or whatever, extra square in squares and flying geese, big squares that were used as cornerstone. She can figure it out, LOL. I think there was a fat quarter of two or leftover yardage that can go with it.

Thank you all for your positive comments about the round robin section I showed yesterday. Tomorrow morning is the hand off. Another one will come home with me for me to agonize over for the next month or so. I was in IL in May when the group last met so I haven't seen many of these lately--that part will be fun. I have seen two in my group in consultation -- that is permissible as long as it is NOT my own. You just hope that the person who receives it later likes what you have done.

Other than that--I have not been out of the house except to the outside utility room that serves as my pantry. It is HOT and sticky and a typical summer day. This afternoon we had some pop up tstorms with an inch of rain ---that put a halt to computer and sewing for a short time. Think I will shut down and go read for a bit---I'm several chapters into Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons and it is time to get the feet up. 

next time, listen!

I am happy dancing at the completion of my part of the round robin. I took the last stitch in it at 11 last night. Not the best picture since the stuff behind it on the book shelf is bulging it out. Trust me, it lays flat and measures 41 square---or darned close to it, LOL.

Next time I should listen to the that small voice that told me I should sew the nine patches together first and then cut and sew the spacer. The math of this was just confusing the heck out of me Sunday when Cher, Pam and I were collaborating. Why should I have trusted myself that it was right? I should have heeded that old carpenter axiom of "measure twice and cut once".
BUT NO----I did the opposite. Then when I laid the 7 nine patches against the quilt--1/2 inch too long. I forgot the seam allowance somewhere along the line. SIGH--off went the afternoon's work. By 10 I had the spacers re-cut, sewn on and was getting ready to sew on the top patches. DJ asked me how much longer I intended to sew. I truly was going to just do the top row and then decided nope, I would keep plugging and be done with it. By 11 p.m. if he wasn't asleep I was ready to let loose with a whoop and a holler. I am sick that I mis-cut her $9/yard focus print but maybe someone can use the 1 1/2 inch strips down the line.

By the time I went to bed I must have still been too wound up--just laid there till almost night, got up and opened up some used books that came in the mail (two of Lorna Landvik's--Angry Housewives Eating Bon-bons and Welcome to the Great Mysterious). I was tempted to start reading. Instead I pulled out some quilt books because Aline is looking for some pattern ideas for a 25th wedding anniversary quilt. I have a few ideas but I think she said applique. Finally by 1 I was able to get settled down a bit.

SO I could sew anything I want today--and what will it be?? I have let the papers pile up around here and need to clear my desk, gas up the car, pick up my meds, and run a bank errand. Best do that stuff first. There are quilts to quilt and 3 to bind but I believe it might be re-purposing Betsy's top--the biggest part of it is already done, after all. The other quilting will still be there staring me in the face since it stacked up in the sewing room instead of the bedroom out of sight. Couple days of sewing will be fun! 

replies on comments

Esteemarlu asked how I document the quilts the quilt group makes. This may be an little involved explanation but hang in there, I'll get to it, LOL. At left are the ones that were either ready for binding or already completed from yesterday's meeting. Judy with the sharp eyes-- Jeanne's yellow one is in the forefront because Jane had dibs on binding it. Lois had the pink and black one working on the binding. I show you the quilts to give you an idea of what I need to do to track these things when they are laying on the tables like that.

From the sheer number of the quilts that we have on hand at the present time (close to 85 or 90, I think) and the fact that we are donating them here in Alabama in WTIL's name I must keep records for Ellen, our founder at headquarters and send her a copy of that document. I keep track on a spread sheet. First I assign each quilt the numbers she gives me to put on the label, plus our number so I have an idea of how many we have by year's end. Name or description of the quilt--where the kit originated--who pieced it--who quilted it are in the other columns. I also have another column to indicate if the picture was taken. The pics I send to Ellen have to be of totally completed quilts so it may NOT be the one that I share with you here. There is also another column concerning it status--pinned, needs bound and who currently has it. That one changes to where the quilt was sent as Ellen really needs to know that part. I try not to enter any of that stuff into the document unless I have the quilt in hand because things do get held up and put aside at times.

I cannot keep pictures with the spread sheet so those are in a separate file. Just refer to them by their number as then I only have to do it once. If I need to know who made what quilt, I have the document to refer back to. I also burn CD's to send to Ellen with pictures of the quilts so she can post them in the gallery pages. Cher and Pam do the same things with their groups in Oregon.

For example, the two quilts in the post are 450-06 and 451-06. May as well give you the background behind them now. Aline is stashbusting those strings lately. Two of the tops we pinned for her yesterday were more strings and go well for the Boys Ranch. The other picture: the circle quilt was made by Ada and used a technique shown at the JOY quilt group. I have one started with smaller circles from back in 2000 or 2001--one on my long list of UFOs but bless her, she got hers done and donated it to the cause.

So this documenting may not work so well for personal projects or could possibly be adapted some way for your needs, Esteemarlu?

Re: Aline's Dresden Plate--I neglected to tell you that it is handquilted except for a few anchoring lines. I really tried to get a picture of the backing to show you but it has a white on white background and it just didn't show up on the pic.

Eileen, thank you for the pattern source of the "Road to Ireland" She tells me it is from M'liss Rae Hawley's Fat Quarter Quilts. I think I might have come up with that if I had thought long enough. I looked all over my archives and could not come up with the link to the one that Lois made for the group so I'm guessing it was on my lost blog. The quilt is in my files though so I'll probably re-post it. The colors were so different than the ones she used for her mom's quilt.

Guess that's it for now---I've gotten my walking in to make up for missing yesterday, read all the blogs that have new posting, left some comments and posted to my own. Now off the computer and get busy with those nine patches all nicely pressed and waiting for me. If I have any self discipline at all, I will not get back online till this task is done. Too tempting since there is always something going on out there in the www, LOL.

Back from the meeting

Another busy day with the Bama Belles. Pinned 4 quilts that came home with me, lots of labels sewn on and some binding stitched. Carolyn was the only one machine sewing--working on a kitted up quilt with Barbies that my mom had set up. It has triple rail sashing and nine patches for the corner stones so lots of strips to sew.

The funniest thing was that I went with two tops to be pinned and brought 5 quilted(6 counting the one I intended to work on) that needed binding volunteers. The girls brought in 13 completed ones for WTIL My trunk was stuffed!

They also had a couple of personal projects to share.
The Dresden plate is one that Aline--that's her on the right trying to hold up her end. Lois is on the other end and is quite a bit taller. Aline made this for a donation to Steel Magnolias for fund raiser for the American Cancer Society specifying that any funds raised will stay here in Calhoun County.

Beverly and Lois are hiding behind the other quilt you see. I believe this is "Road to Ireland". Not sure of the pattern source. Lois made one for the kids earlier this year and her mom commented that it was too pretty to just give away. Lois made her one but of course, larger and different colorway. I started to ask her if she had to rip it off her mom's bed before she came to the meeting. Lois said she had not given it to her mom after she picked it up from the long arm quilter till she could show us at the quilt group. She had it professionally quilted. When I edit this I'll try to link you back to the first one she made as it was very pretty as well.

We had a wonderful surprise today in that our friend and fellow member Pat F was back from NM where they had been living since December. They are closing on their house here and are moving back East but probably closer to Douglasville, GA where they daughter lives. No one know she was here, I don't think. I sure didn't or I would not have mailed a package to her yesterday to the NM address! Pat was standing with us at the pinning table when Jane and Sarah came in---Pat said "hello" and the look on Sarah's face was priceless. She dropped the things she was carrying to the floor and rushed to give her a hug. Another of the girls that is still working was able to come for a bit too--good to see Janet as well. Pat M came by with her grandkids to say so I guess you could say we had two more guests. Daniel helped me get pinning table put away while his little sister Mackenzie (age 5 going on 25) made her acquaintance with the ladies. Her grandma told her that they were stopping here, there and to go see the quilting ladies. Mackenzie asked me if the meeting place was "Simply Quilts", LOL. We might have to change our name! Is she trained or what?

On the personal front, my round robin 9 patches are all sewn as of last evening at 10 p.m. I would get started pressing and start joining them for the borders BUT the quilts I just hauled home are on that table. I've got to get the completed ones logged into my document and numbers on them before they go anywhere!! Pippi is not napping atop the old scrap basket in the sewing room anymore (now holds some UFOs) so I am taking that space for the ones that need quilting (4) and binding (3). Snooze, you lose, Kitty. I'll be taking some of these finished ones out to Linda S' and her spare closet soon. We will have last night's leftovers for supper so the rest of the evening is free to make some progress on the robin. 

round robin--finally got a plan

At last a plan and even some strips cut---making some progress. I believe this is kind of what this thing might look like though I am not so sure which of the fabrics will be used in the spacer area. I figure that I will make the blocks and then see what I think but am even leaning to the same black print that does not read so much dark in that spot as the colors in the 9 patches will play off it. The colors are not right in the triangle row, nor are the actual shapes---I was just being lazy about redrawing what actually exists.

As late as yesterday it was going to be 4 patches in two shades of green. Then last night Cher and I were chatting on IM and then I showed her nine patches--then somehow it evolved into what if you put another color at the centers of those nine patches? I didn't like that near as much but then decided to make the centers alternate with the two predominant colors in Lauren's grandmother's flower garden. Pam joined in later and voiced her approval of the change. Collaborative effort, dontcha know?

Below or wherever it lands on the page is the fabric that have to work with. The three on the left are the ones that Lauren used at center---the right the strips I will use for the nine patches. At back is the robin itself. I don't know that you can see the background fabric in the triangle area enough to tell that it has a real olive green-goldish thing going on. If you open the picture up, I think you can on the larger shot. Anyway that made the greens my choice rather than the blues I originally purchased for this my choice. It needs to be lightened up a bit. The lighter green bridges the colors between all that dreary black but hopefully without it being too big of a contrast that a lighter color would be . I definitely was not going to bother trying to draw the leaves and veins when I can see them up close and personal, LOL

So at least I have an idea of where I am going today--once I get some Monday errands run, that is. Mostly I just want this done and moved along at this point. Hopefully in a couple of days or by midweek you will see the finished product. I will take suggestions about what you think should go in the spacer based on what you see at this point. Too much rust and I still think it will look like Halloween, LOL but the darker blue might not be bad thought and carrying that black print she fell in love with might not be a bad idea either. Decisions, decisions---making my head hurt!

The quilt group meets tomorrow so I will lose some sewing time but there is tons of binding that can be done rather than lugging my sewing machine. Oh, it's raining and he's off the golf course--hope he is not getting soaked. I can wait it out for the store trip but DJ's out in it.