This and that

Armed with a 40% off anniversary coupon, I ran over to Hancock's and found a piece for backing fabric on my kitty challenge quilt I finished last week. Michael Miller Bling Kitty that is as bright as the front---4 yards of fabric and 1 yard of Wonder Under that I could use my guild 10% and I came out of the store under 20 bucks but just barely.


Then I came home and got started on this little insert for my calendar quilt. I haven't worked out how to do the turkey I mentioned yesterday yet but it is not November yet. Halloween is closer. I ended up hand appliquing it but had a little goof-up. Here the tombstone and pumpkin were flat on the bottom because they were supposed to sit on the horizon on the ground with the ghostie in the foreground. That was not how I basted them down so first thing this morning---un-do, adjust and re-baste, finish the applique. Just finished the binding. If you resize it don't look too close at the stitching--those deep dips things are not easy! Some leftover binding from the Santa Magic wall hanging I just finished recently came in quite handy. I may piece a little 8 inch leaf block this afternoon. Tomorrow I will be starting on that round robin----do not let me make any excuses. Nag me if you have to---------

I got a phone call today from a local lawyer for whom I made 3 commissioned SEC quilts two or three years ago. The link will take you to a picture I posted a few months ago of one of them--all three were identical. At the time we had talked about making a 4th for his son and possibly a tee shirt quilt for him as well. I thought he had decided not to do this after all and I returned the leftover logo fabric to him. He may have contacted another quilter to do the work which was fine with me. SOOO it looks like I will have at least one t-shirt quilt to make for Christmas and possibly another SEC quilt for a client. I meet with him next week to talk things over. I am not going to even try to quilt a queen sized t-shirt one---not when there are long armers around here that will do a good job for him. I'd rather piece any day!!

I told you I would be sharing a couple quilt from the Bama Belles meeting earlier this week. Because these two are similiar in their assembly I chose them. Aline had a nice Christmas sampler that I can sahre in another post.

You will recognize the block that is called by so many names that I finally threw up my hand and called it Whatever. In an post I could think of three different designers that had the same resultant pattern. Looking at the pattern I saw a 4th way of construction and I would be doubtful that variation had not occured to someone else along the line. Some of the girls worked on blocks so I had enough to assemble a quilt with them.

On a couple of occasions Finn has kindly sent us some cut 2.5 inch squares. Theramae used the Caffrey method to make her top, meaning Exquisite (or Signature) blocks alternating with 4-4 patch sections. I bet Finn can spot some old favorites in this one. It will be donated probably to the girls at the Talledega Presbyterian Home because it is backed with a pink print.

She made this one as well but arranged it medallion style using the same Exquisite block but alternating in some cases with four patches. The top is not quite completed however--we were debating about the color to use for a 2 inch finished border. She had a light blue which I thought didn't provide much contrast with the muslin background. I suggested a nice dark green with a gold dusting on top which I had with me. I sent some of home with her to left her decide. Of course, we all were weighing in on which one we liked best, LOL--about half one and half the other, BTW. She will add another row of blocks all the way around the border.
Plans are to hand quilt it and then it will be raffled to raise funds for the American Cancer Society.

By the time I actually hit publish it will be 4:30 and about time to think about fixing supper. What, I haven't quite decided. Jeanne's suggestion of beef pizzola and pesto potatoes sure sounded good and I have the stuff on hand to make it. We have already had our larger meal at lunch with last night's leftovers. I'll decide once I actually get in there.

Till next time-----------

 

Off on another tangent

I know I have so many UFOs because I am always going off another tangent, LOL and I tend to procrastinate doing things I don't want to do, namely that awful round robin today. I started cutting out some bricks out of homespuns and plaids last night for a boy's quilt for the sew in (Norma suggested this) Good idea and a stash buster to boot as well as easy sewing 9 scrappy rectangles in a row and stagger them.

So what led me astray this morning. Well it is all my friend Veronica's fault. Well, not really--we all know who is really to blame. She has the cutest turkey table runner with the turkey's tail feathers made dresden plate style. This morning she is not happy with how she quilted it but hey, feathers were a natural jump since birds were involved. Take a peek and come on back.

Her design scaled down may be the turkey I was envisioning for the little removable quilt I showed you in my archived post HERE. I am not fond of the one that the pattern calls for. See what an anemic looking bird that turkey is? Kinda cute but not what I had in mind. I have gone my own way on several of these--made the rabbit and the house (backwards, BTW--LOL) but did my own foundation pieced flag and added other seasonal things: hearts and shamrocks. I do like the Halloween and the Santa though. Since this is on my UFO list, I think I will start on that ghostie today if I have some fusible on hand. BUT I still have that turkey in mind, LOL. I'll fool around with that idea some more AFTER I cut those bricks.

Can you see what I was patterning my SBS ostrich round robin from a couple posts ago after looking at the pattern insert? I really like this arrangement so why not?

Norma posted the definition of "flimsy" along with her completed Stack and Whack top for those of you who wondered just what that meant. ( top ready to be sandwiched) Some commenters were intrigued with pledging to get one top a month to that point from the unfinished pile. Julie was one that said she had plenty of tops but needed to get them quilted.

So if we were to issue a challenge like that to anyone, I guess YOU would get to define where that challenge should be best applied in 2007. It may vary from month to month. There's no real penalty if you don't get something done-- just the feeling of things hanging over your head and the sense of guilt about not using that fabric as you intended. But is that enough impetus? Bloggerland is good to help spur each other on if only to have another picture to post.

As I said, I have no shortage of items to pick from in either completing a top or getting around to quilting them. I DO get things done for the kids but even some of those are on the list--little bits stuck here and there with just a few blocks made. The New Year is not here yet so mull it over.

A couple of errands to run---Hancock has a 40% coupon on regular priced fabric purchase so I may find something for my cat quilt back and grab some fusible if I need it. Then get to work!! 

too many ideas!

Patti in her 1st post from 9-26 showed her Country Threads wallhanging. I mentioned to here in my comments that I had made one as well, years ago. A glance at the book shows that it was published in 1992 so this would have to be around that era.

I had to make some modifications in mine. I remember working on the appliqued pumpkins on a bus trip to Indianapolis to a Great America Quilt show. Unfortunately I placed them on the fabric the wrong direction---the background piece was cut correctly but they wanted it set with the longer side placed horizontally, not vertically. I had all the applique done and wasn't about to take it all off!! Oh, oh, Redesign ahead.

Also Patti shows up a row of Ohio Star blocks--those blocks are 3 inch finished!! No glutton for punishment, I made a row of flying geese which I felt was appropriate for the season---more so than those goofy houses were. Since applique could be trimmed to fit, I moved the houses up and filled in the empty space with the orange and black checkerboard--a Halloween touch. That meant one less apple block--those didn't finish the size they were supposed to be anyway, LOL. I think it was because the red should have been on the top. Or its the "rotten" apple in the bunch??? One last error--only one turkey's base goes the correct direction. Oh well!! I was in a hurry to get it done for the quilt show that year--the theme was holidays. So I drag this out in the fall and it is the first thing I see when I come out of the bathroom.

I have a summer version one that was my pass around row robin one year online---that is a UFO that could be worked on rather easily--maybe hand quilt it? It was fun having a project to work on in between other things.

Norma and I were chatting last night about challenging each other after the first of the year to at least get one UFO (correction: one a month) off our list up to the "flimsy" stage. Both of us apparently have a list about as long as our arms. If saying that in bloggerland makes me more accountable and it goes in my goal list, then I am apt to stick with it. Anybody else feel compelled to join in come 2007?

Here is the "Peanut Gallery" supposedly napping in the recliner. He saw the flash go off when I took the picture of the wallhanging in the hallway. No matter how old they get, they are still "little boys". He suggested this would like nice as my screen saver but he didn't say anything about my blog, LOL.

So far today I have not gotten anything remotely quilty done unless you count putting things away that I had drug to the meeting with me. I had pulled some red fabric from the closet---three bins down with a pile of stuff atop it. Greens from another bin off the shelf--that was easier to get at. Yellows from the big bin under the pressing table--stuff piled on it that had to be moved first. Some cleaning and straightening but no tossing except for the printouts from that nursing home course I did recently. Got the license in hand so goodbye! Downloaded some patterns from a site suggested on the stashbuster list---oh oh, more ideas of things I could do. Poetry Collection might go with a primary colored stripe I have-----hmmmm. Found another quilt kit that might work for the sew in too--all blues and white picket fence or maybe called 2nd Time Around by some designers. HMMMM again. More digging in the under table bins on the horizon, I can tell. Pippi was sacked out on his desk chair at the same time.

Weather is gorgeous today again--sunshine, clear skies, nice breeze, cooler nights--can open the windows and let some fresh air in. Our across the street neighbors are doing some painting and some friends or relations are over helping. One of them keeps bursting into song and has a great voice. I almost want to go over and tell him to keep it up. Good rendition of a Luther VanDross song awhile ago.

I've got a couple of quilt tops to show you from the meeting yesterday but will post those tomorrow. LOL, I sure am not getting anything of my own done today............

ta-da again

Just finished the first round of my ostrich round robin last evening. As I mentioned yesterday those little half square triangle units looked too wonky--curving away, seams anything but 1/4 inch. I hated it!! If there is anything I have learned from doing medallion styled quilts--you got to be reasonably accurate.

So I drew up the 18 inch completed bands in EQ, printed 4 to the page and taped the 3 pages together. Oh, so much better now.

I should have taken the feathered star that was hanging behind it down first, LOL but for her closeup this was okay. It looks a little plain in the large triangle areas and I would like to put a little appliqued flower in that spot but I think I better see what the next round instructions are before I do that. It would be a nice spot for some hand quilting if I don't put a little pansy or something there.

I am still debating what to do with Aline's round robin though---but basically I am alternating between 3 choices. When I was stuck in bed on Sunday and looking at quilt books, there was a 4th possible choice, LOL. Until I dig out that tape measure there is no need even saying definitely what my final solution will be. Matches and removal of the previous round are not allowed, LOL.

I have a bunch of fall leaf colored fabrics gathered for a block that I will show the Belles today for a BOM--it looks tesselated but is basically squares with something like a prairie point that makes it LOOK that way. Maybe for a fall wallhanging........... and it just occured to me that it would make a fantastic border on my own circulating round robin.

As usual I am going to be late if I don't hit the shower soon--

Home and away sewing

Patti was talking about her disposable trash containers--great idea, BTW, if you use that kind of tissue receptacles. Because I was sewing a bit,I was musing about what sorts of things I use--both home and away. The Belles meet tomorrow and I was debating about bringing what I am working on and how much stuff would I need to pack up if I did.

This is what my normal at home set up includes. The cup holds pins as I pull them from a quilt. The double sided bobbin box definitely has to go with me as it hold extra sewing machine needles, a small folding seam ripper and some of the machine feet. The tray stays at home and contains wound bobbins for both of my machines, marking tools, mechanical pencil sharpener, seam ripper, stilleto, bodkin, some needles etc right at arms length. The tray itself was a throwback to the hand quilting in the frame days but works perfectly in the space with some non-skid stuff under it. I wouldn't mind if it were about 4 inches longer but then where would the other stuff live? The collapsible garden basket stays and is suspended from the table by a binder clip. When it gets full, replace the grocery bag.

I am doing a little foundation piecing right now so yes, I emptied the garbage BEFORE I took the picture. I had started sewing some of the small HSTs together for my ostrich round robin border last evening (after I got up from about a 5 hour lay down). ACK!! My sewing looked horrid and I think it was just the small pieces I was dealing with. EQ to the rescue. I just finished sewing the first band this morning and knew that it was the right choice. The other HST's--in the garbage except for what I saved out for color sequencing.
Okay, that was off the track but this is normally what I drag along with me. The basket is stuffed with about anything I need for sewing---it definitely has to go with me!! Scissors, marking tools, stiletto, blades, spray adhesive, pin cushions, measuring tape on a string, door peep hole on a string, extra rotary cutter in case I don't pack my fav 60 mm one, hand sewing needles, small cone thread, bandaids, you name it!! Is it any wonder that people come and ask if I have "fill in the blank?"

The cloth trash bag with the red cushion was one that Betsy and Pat made for all of use for Christmas one year--that goes with me for sure. The other one on the end of the table was one Mom made years ago and it stays there for dog ears, removing pins when pressing. The folding mat goes along with the mini iron though I don't always use either one but it depends on what I am sewing on. The blue cloth object is another of Betsy and Pat's presents--zipup and foldable bag with space for your rotary cutter and little pin and needle holder thing--it definitely goes with me. The other plastic object is one I sometimes use with a grocery bag--came with some Hefty Kitchen bags for kitchen scraps---normally it resides in another quilt bag but I should consider the kitchen use for it, instead of using a bag in the sink.

Other stuff on the table since you are looking at part of my sewing room---tin with scissors, iron cleaner, lint/thread roller and another with Berol pencils for marking, spray bottle for ironing, a pour container full of quilting pins, a humongous spool of .004 monofilament thread and the flip lamp. I was horrible about leaving the iron on and would discover to my horror that I had occasionally left it on all night---there is no light on the iron to let you know if it is off or on. Finally I came to the conclusion that I would leave the flip lamp UP and plug both it and the iron into the strip plug. SOOO if the lamp is on, so is the iron. DJ knows the same signal so he can back me up.

Well, errands to run, was supposed to walk as well so best get on out of here. Thankfully, a cool front came in, the sun is shining, so far my head is neither hurting or draining so here is hoping for a better day all around. What I end up packing for the meeting tomorrow will depend entirely on what I get done today. I can always make it easy and work on the block of the month I am suggesting.

tada!

Not the best picture in the world but the top is done--or "flimsy" as Norma would call it. Quilt Holder is kicked back in his recliner doing what we jokingly call "pre-nap" Actually he is resting his eyes from reading the paper or his library book and waiting for golf, baseball or football to come on this afternoon.

The colored bands are supposed to look kinda interwoven and I guess they do. The pictures does not show near as much contrast of the tone on tone prints. as you would see standing in my sewing room.

Neither of us felt like walking this morning. Debate has been going on whether we both have a cold coming on or just bad sinuses. I feel bad enough to consider going back to bed. So am I sweating because I have a slight temperature or because it just rained steadily for a couple of early morning hours and it is muggy as all get out. Who knows? Result is still the same.

I stayed up a bit too late reading the last chapters of the Landvik book "Welcome to the Great Mysterious" last night and have a couple more books by the same author on my nightstand. I may just scratch doing any sewing today and curl up with a good book. 

Saturday, Saturday........that's all right

Someone in bloggerland was talking about tickets to an Elton John concert the other day--I guess that is still on my mind, LOL. I will apologize for not being able to pull just who posted it out of the deepest recesses of my mind. I am a bit behind on my reading--sorry, gang.

Pippi is shown on her favorite spot lately--DJ's desk chair. She may start off on his desk peering out the window but the chair is ever so much softer. Of course, there is no way that DJ would want to sit on it since it is covered with cat hair. The little unsociable one dived under the bed immediately after I went in to give her some pets and chin scratches. Okay, Missy Miss, just remember who loves you when you want a bit of turkey or something!! No more camera for the day, I promise--easy enough to say when she is hiding, right?

I had hoped to have a top to share with you when I posted again. The top is done as of Thursday evening but its borders are not. Not my fav part and this one is supposed to be made from random strips. The top is made from my cat fabric challenge which my friend Linda S gave to me some time back. She told me that I had to make something for myself--any scraps could go for kids quilts but I was make one for ME for a change. I used 8 inch finished squares and was able to squeeze out 42 squares from the yardage she had given me. The last two squares had to be pieced but I had enough for a 6 x 7 set arranged in an old favorite pattern called "Leap Frog" Pattern source: McCalls' Quilting "Quick Quilts" May 2001. The pattern name refers to the frog fabric the designer used, not anything about the quilt configuration. I showed you before what this looks like but here is the link to the sketch in EQ.

Paula, you were right when you said in comments that mess on my cutting table in the previous post was the stuff that had not been used yet. It WILL be the borders--just hope that I don't have to cut more or that may mean a run to Hancock's.

I didn't get a lick of sewing done yesterday. The weather pattern was a little unstable yesterday and I had a horrid headache most of the day. Barometric pressure out of whack, tornado warnings to the northwest of us, some thunderstorms and rainfall. Thankfully, it is better today--my head and the weather, LOL with another cool front due in.

What I did end up doing is going through my books and listing the ones I could live without on amazon.com marketplace. I had sold a few in the last two week frame but took a more critical look through my library. As much as I like looking at the primitive or country styled quilts in other's blogs, I know that it is doubtful that I will make one myself so why am I hanging onto 3 old Red Wagon books, for example?? So maybe I'll make a little air fare money and make someone else happy with a used book bargain. Should probably do the same thing with the cookbooks---I've got tons of those too.

I'll find something to occupy myself even it is working on borders or playing with some block ideas for the Belles' meeting on Tuesday. I cannot believe it is 3 p.m. already!
__________
Additional note: Picassa has made some upgrades so you can make web albums from there. If anyone is interested, I just loaded a bunch of the Belles' past donation quilts there to public albums. Not sure if every quilt is uploaded but it is still a bunch to look at or view in slideshow in 5 different albums. Some you have seen, and some note. HERE

pincushions and other stuff

Keeping me company last night but just barely and NOT liking the camera one bit!

Evelyn asked about pincushions---yes, I have a few of them, LOL. The one I use the most is the tan colored chicken that was given to me by a friend in Florida. It sits on the little tray on my sewing table though there is a teensy tiny one on the tray as well--that for used sewing machine needles, most often.

The other chicken, one of the Belles made-- it stays in the basket that I take with me on sewing days away from home. The pink "tomato" one is filled with rosemary; it smells wonderful plus lubricates my pins and needles. It stays --also in the basket but sadly my Victorian style thumb cushion that went with the set is "shot" and I had to toss it. I loved that thing and it was so handy when I was piecing. I have the "Just Jennifer" pattern to make another one but haven't done so yet. At one time I made a set for a secret pal along with a chatelaine, pressing board/cutting board combo thing and one of those bags with the ziploc bag dividers. All in her favorite colored fabric---it was nice!! Wish I had done something nice like that for ME!!!!

The yellow green glass bowl is more or less for storage purposes for long glass head pins. My great-grandmom used it for the same thing, my grandma told me when she passed it on to me. The magnetic one holds the extra silk pins that I use for piecing. Both of these are normally atop my two wall mounted storage units for buttons, sewing tools etc.

The lovely matching set of pincushion, scissors case and needlecase was made for me by my friend Pam--I believe it was a gift for working on her row robin once upon a time. She can correct me if I am wrong. This travels in the cosmetic bag that holds my applique and hand stitching toys. The cross stitched one was given to me by one of the Belles for Christmas last year--too too pretty to use for sticking!!

I guess this is my "trash" picture for now, Mary. Actually I am in the middle of stitching my Cat Challenge and need these strips to finish the job. So not quite trash but not the neatest looking pile either--the leftovers will be used for the scrappy borders and maybe the binding though I am thinking I might use the predominant background color for that. I got 2/3rd of the top done yesterday before I called it quits. Next post, I should have a finished top to show you but only if I get busy, LOL.

Done is a very good word!

Done is a very good word, indeed. Nothing gets finished when you don't work on it for say, 13 years or so but perhaps gets done eventually.

So I will have one wall hanging ready for Christmas display and another to put up in my bedroom when I get my 30's sampler quilt done. After all, I have lovely throw pillow covers to use along with it.

The applique is crude at best, the hat is crooked, the fans are not all the same shape exactly but both are hand quilted and best of all, done. I had fun slowing down and doing the quilting. Of course, I can think of other projects that would be nice to revisit that currently reside on my shelves or are stuck away in baskets somewhere. Some are from this same time frame (94-95)--old small group projects or pass around projects, blocks I won in the block drawings at quilt guild........bet you have some that could be that old too. Come on, I cannot be the only one!!

The hint of fall is definitely in the air though the only leaves I see changing are the ones on my little dogwood tree. I guess the first day of fall is just days away by the calendar. When you live in the Southeast as I do, it will be a few weeks yet for fall color. The temperature was in the mid 50's when I left to walk this morning a little after 9 and now, in what is normally the hottest time of the day it is only 68. Such a nice breeze blowing, no humidity to speak of, sunshine but not the oppressive heat. One of the Birmingham area weathercasters calls this "severe clear" but I tell you, I live for days just like this. We moved here for temperate climate so DJ could play golf year round but as I have said, not for the summers, LOL.

So I think I may sew a bit--maybe even something fast and fun that does not require a great deal of thought process. Ostrich round robin can wait one more day. 

Tuesday check in

sunbathing kitty

DJ and I left for the hospital this morning for his same day surgery test in the pouring down rain. We had thunderstorms and about 2 inches of rain in a very short time late Monday afternoon so it appeared that Tuesday would be the same gloomy weather. Now, it is a gorgeous, Chamber of Commerce afternoon and look who is enjoying some stretching. Probably not the best picture with that sun beating in the front door but you get the idea.

Doctor said that everything looked good. Of course, I have had to repeat that information to him several times over, LOL--the hypnotic meds that they give them. He insisted that we head over to Captain D's for lunch upon leaving the hospital---hungry boy after all that Jell-O, broth, Sprite and banana popsicles of yesterday. He found 12 bucks in cash in the parking lot so we had a free lunch on someone, I guess. I filled out an online survey once we got home and got another free lunch coming on our next trip. When you are on a fixed income as we are, every little bit helps.

I had to laugh yesterday after he had eaten his third bowl of Jell-O. He announced that he was officially a "Jell-O Jiggler". You see, his grandson Joshua (now 13) at age 6 or so had punched a kid out for calling him that name. Apparently that was the worst insult the kid could come up with at the time. I do not know what Joshua had done to provoke it. He was disciplined for hitting the other kid, of course. His dad said he was trying hard not to laugh at the goofy name --there were a whole lot worse things someone can, and probably will, call you along the way. Here was PawPaw D living up to that description.

Joshua was also the child that told PawPaw that he would not be his friend if he didn't let him play with some toy while PawPaw was watching him. (Daddy had said not to drag everything out or in this case, up from the basement) PawPaw told him that he didn't have to be his friend, Joshua was his grandson and he loved him but he wasn't getting the toy off the shelf for him. When that story was re-told recently, Joshua apologized for saying that to him years ago. I think he is going to be okay, don't you?

Well, none of that rambling has anything to do with quilting but these blogs are not necesarily all quilting, all the time anyway. Nothing on my slate is completed so I am showing one of my fall quilts. The Maple Leaves are hand quilted and the rest of it cross hatched on the machine in the interest of ever getting to use it, LOL.

DJ just called me into the kitchen to see two kids in our yard jumping off the edge of our hill down through the kudzu patch that kind of serves as a hedge. It is about a 12-15 feet drop down towards the road. We have about an acre lot but it is long and skinny and the hill cut in half to put the road through. Never thought a bunch of kudzu could be a "creative nuisance" SHEESH! I know they do not live on this lane--maybe in the subdivision near us but they have no business in our yard. I am home a lot and I will run them out of here if I see them doing that again.

Okay back to quilting---I did get the binding finished today on Santa Magic while I waited at the hospital. (I'll sew on the charms here at home tomorrow). I got about half of the 30's fans binding done too so that is closer to a finish. Then I can cross off two ancient UFOs and add two finished personal projects to my sidebar. My mom called yesterday and said from looking at her old guild newsletter that I could probably date the fans to June of 93. Santa, who knows but possibly around that. Old, anyway, LOL.

Yesterday was errand day as usual so I didn't get much sewing, piecing or whatever done. All the HSTs for my ostrich are sewn, cut and pressed but not joined. Back to it once this handwork stuff is done. My contribution to the real round robin will have to be addressed fairly soon---Hanne had a great idea for me so I'll work something up on EQ based on that. I will have to get brave , drag out the tape measure and face the music.

Guess that's it for me--leftovers for supper so hooray for a no cooking day!

Re-do from yesterday

In my rush to post before I went to bed last night, I left a bit of my message out--not intentionally either. Just some thoughts/statements that would have helped explain things a bit better. Bear with me as I repeat myself but with the added info or some editing of what WAS there. (New parts in italics). I swear my brain went "on hold" yesterday...........

"Well, it looks like blogger finally decided to play nice with bloglines---lit up light a Christmas tree today and I don't see a single red exclamation point. I DID click through the ring the "old fashioned" way but found that I have gotten into an annoying habit. On bloglines, you click on the post subject or permalink to open the post to comment. Clicking through the ring, I tend to close the post/blog but then I have closed the window with no bloglines backup. No biggie, I guess but more hoops to jump through to get back.

I had finished the hand quilting on the Little Quilts fans yesterday evening. A little story--my husband came into the sewing/computer room as I was taking a few painstaking stitches to fill the needle. He asked if there were not some easier to way to do that. LOL, of course there is, I replied--on the sewing machine like I usually do for those quilts you get stuck holding up for pictures. BUT, I explained, this quilt is made to look like a 30's classic and in fact, contains feedsack fabric from that era so I wanted to preserve the history. Also, when I started the project a "million light years ago", I didn't even know how to machine quilt. I have noticed something else while I was working--for some reason I tend to make the first stitch with my index finger rather than the thimble. It is hard to remember if I always did that or it is something new for me.

My mini-goals for the day were to cut, sew and apply the binding to both the fans and the Wild Goose Santa's magic and get a little work done on my ostrich Round Robin. Pictures are in my previous posts. Sounds simple enough. The binding is on but the hand finishing remains for both. There was just barely enough fabric for both quilts so the fans will have a narrower french fold binding than I normally work with. Santa's had to be cut on the bias but the instructions said not on the true 45----huh??? What the heck does that mean? What angle should I cut it then? I angle the ruler slightly then but had a gob of little short strips to sew together. Also I was told to only cut it 1 1/4 inches so it will have to be a single fold binding and will have to press over the 1/4 before I hand stitch. Still, both are closer to being done that they have been for years, LOL.

For the ostrich I had chosen a Sunbonnet Sue block--the components were something I started last year at one of the JOY quilt group meetings. The instructor had us team up with a friend, pick two fabrics and we did the Eleanor Burns' interfaced method and then swapped out the components. Easy enough to throw the block together a couple weeks back. I stitched around it with black perle cotton in the traditional manner but set the block on point. Kim's first instructions were to "box it in"---sashing and cornerstones which were easy enough to cut and sew today. I applied the setting triangles to square it back up. I pulled and cut the fabric for the half square triangles that I want to use to box it in further. Now I am debating about adding some little appliqued flowers in the open space in the setting triangles but thought I better see what the following rounds might be first. It would be nice space for quilting if not.

I just got the Triangulations 2.0 CD in the mail today so printed off what I needed on the newsprint type ream of paper I like to use for foundation piecing work. Those will stitch up in no time tomorrow--the cutting and pressing is what is time consuming. Not only does this software have triangles from 1/2 inch finished but it goes to 7 1/2 finished by 1/8 inch increments. Quarter Square Triangles are also included along with three free patterns. You print from Adobe Acrobat and run it off the CD as near as I can tell so it does not actually install on your hard drive. The advantage would be that perhaps you don't have to make oversized HST units and trim them down unless you need to do that for accuracy purposes. I see this as an adjunct to EQ5 as I can print off sheets of them like triangles on a roll but with the newsprint paper I mentioned for easy and inexpensive removal. I'll see how they do for accuracy but when I laid some thangles I had in the 1.5 inch finished size that I need for the project and held it up to the light it looked right on the money.

Other than that--my husband enjoyed watching the Auburn-LSU game this afternoon while I putzed around in the sewing room. Supper was quick and easy and required little effort on my part. I have to do better on Sunday though as the poor guy is having a certain test on Tuesday that will require his being on clear liquids all day Monday---yummy broth, jello, popsicles, white grape juice, etc. Without any further description, I think you all know where the poor guy is headed---pun intended on couple of levels. DirecTV is having a preview weekend so we are watching a few movie that we have not seen. They are also airing a few we own on DVD but have not viewed yet--I had to tell him which two NOT to watch, LOL. The weather has been picture perfect--a hint of coolness in the air.

Thanks for bearing with me. Still no pics today---nothing is done to show but that shouldn't last long, LOL. I'll have plenty of time to sit and stitch while he has his procedure if nothing else.

Whole lot of 'nuthin

Pippi pose of the day---atop two of the tops that Finn just sent all pinned up and now, kitty tested. Just before I snapped the pictures she had her tail sticking straight up along the wall--like a dog might do. In this one she just appears to be doing her best to ignore me. Just before that she had been tracking the chatelaine that hangs from a hook on the pegboard as the fan was stirring it. I half expected her to make a leap at it.

Well, so far this is a day where I cannot quite convince myself to get going. I started reading blogs and then found myself on YouTube watching and surfing for some of my favorite songs on music video--gotta love high speed! Did some laundry, made a token stab at picking up in my sewing room but that didn't get too far either. Should have gone to the post office but didn't----------and so it goes.

Hooked up a "new to me" keyboard as mine was sticking badly especially when it came to typing numbers. Too many times lately a good healthy smack had been delivered. Got that set up and then the mouse wouldn't work---crawl back under the desk. Yep, unplugged but which slot did it come out of-------and so it goes. I think I am taking "lazy lessons" from my cat, LOL.

Then someone on a quilt list I belong to asked about making a rag quilt--how much fabric to purchase for a lap quilt size. I've never made one and probably never will but I am sure that the squares can be cut whatever size you want and even other configurations. Quilting. about.com gave directions for a cathedral window styled one. The question was a little vague too--like how many colors do you intend to use, is it the same front and back or all one color on the back.

That led to looking for a fabric calculator online--or how many squares can you cut from one yard of fabric or how many squares you can cut for a 40 inch strip of fabric. I have a copy of this material that I found in a book stuck in a pocket protector/file folder thing---what do you call those anyway?---that hangs above my cutting/pressing table. I use it constantly for calculating yardage or to keep me from overcutting strips for a project as well as checking that I have enough yardage BEFORE I cut up a planned quilt from my stash. On the flip side of this is a printout of what size to cut setting and corner triangles for an on point set. I would be constantly looking up those two things in who knows which book otherwise--so much easier at my fingertips!

Oh I did find two sources that do the calculations for you
http://vrya.net/quilt/index.php and http://search.quiltshops.com/calculator/calculator.htm

Other instructions on doing it the old fashioned way (the way I learned) can be found on Quilters Cache HERE and HERE

So needless to say nothing going on here in the production department. Aline and I made our trip over to the Birmingham (AL) quilt shop yesterday instead of today. We arrived in Trussville just in time for lunch at the Cracker Barrel (chicken pot pie--yummy!) and then went over to shop nearby---nope, didn't have any of the gold swirly Hoffman I was looking for there. Neither of us bought anything there.

Onto the 2nd shop about 4 miles south---none there either but I did find it in black background with gold. I can see why that sold out as it would be fantastic in a Christmas quilt. I came home with a fusion piece that I know Aline likes as she has been buying it a yard at time each trip over in all the various color ways, another possible in the same tones that might work on the next one I do and a nice blue that goes with the yard bits I buy every time we go to that same quilt shop. Oh, and two packages of Piecemaker size 12 quilting needles. Some of the girls have lent me add their purchases to my punch card on occasion, I think, because I got a $25.00 gift certificate on my next trip over--which book do I want???

Aline found some purple toned batiks and a nice piece of red violet fusion--see, told you, LOL--for a project slated for one of her granddaughters.

I came home to a package I was expecting from Pam. A garlic theme going on--some of her garlic jelly to try out as soon as I get some cream cheese, a quart ziploc full of the large cloved garlic and some Bernstein Cheese and Garlic Italian Dressing that she had recommended for making pasta salad--we don't have it in our markets. I see a grocery store run in my future!! One recipe that comes to mind for the cloves is a Balsamic Roasted Chicken with Garlic and Fresh Herbs that I clipped from our local paper some years back--------oh, that is good!

Also in the package some fabrics leftover from her wonky letters for my scrap bag, maybe the "I-Spy" quilt, Ami Simms style that I have started. But the best part is these two pillow form covers! They no longer fit in Pam's decorating scheme so I get to use them once my 30's sampler is quilted and on my bed. They will be perfect especially since I did not include a Sunbonnet Sue or Suspender Sam as one of my 30 blocks in the sampler.

Think I'll get my little fan quilt out and do a bit of hand quilting as I see what you all are up to in between stitches. Best light is right by the computer, after all-- 

Meeting day comes around

Hope you all are having good day. We are getting some much needed rain and earlier this morning such a nice breeze for a change. Seems like the only time we have much wind to speak of, it is because of a storm of some sort.

Pippi is such a goof ball. She will not drink water anywhere but in the sewing room. She did briefly when she had her ACL surgery last year but soon she was back to not drinking unless it was in her usual spot. We have been through the bladder problems with her and her predecessor so I don't worry so much about the location of the water but making sure she drinks. I didn't mind that she was always trying to drink the water out of the measuring cup I use to fill my iron for that reason. She sometimes winds up with fabric and/or strings in there since it sits right by my cutting/pressing table.

So what have I been up to if I haven't posted for a couple of days--a few of you have asked me. Guess it must be nice to be missed or for someone to notice I haven't updated my blog.

The Belles meeting day came around again. It seemed like a long time since we had a work day like today. We played "hooky" two weeks ago and delivered the quilts to the Big Oak Girls Ranch but just met for lunch before we left. Some of our pals had been on extended vacations--Lois to Ireland and Beverly, to Yellowstone and parts all around, Aline to visit family in Rhode Island-- and so forth. It was good to vist around the pinning table and at lunch time--solve the world's problems etc. Earlier Theramae and I had made some "executive" decisions about what to keep and what could be donated to Salvation Army if we were absolutely not going to do anything with it. (Storage concerns mostly but perhaps someone else will appreciate those materials more)


Finn would be delighted to know that Theramae had TWO "Whatever" tops done up with the cut squares she had sent recently. I am supposed to tell you that if you have anymore floating around, she'll be happy to take them. She is a whiz bang maker of nine patches too! Sarah loved the green and yellow leftover blocks as she is presently working on a top that has a lot of yellow in it and those will work in very well!

We had several tops to pin but I admit that there were plenty of helpers doing that today and I had brought my machine for once. Aline was working on a square in a square top and I had some binding to cut and sew. At one point Pat and Aline needed to consult about my round robin. The next thing I knew they were all going off to look at it in one of the Sunday school classrooms. I had to promise not to head that way and see something I shouldn't. A couple of the girls were cutting for a crazy quilt class that is being given at Hancock's.

We set the fall sew-in dates for October and shared the "thank you " note that we had gotten from the Girls Ranch staff . I loaded the hard copy pictures in the photo album and briefed them on the age breakdowns for the quilts we will make for the Boy's Ranch in coming months. This time we are shooting for 55 to 60 quilts but will need more in the 13-18 age range than the 5 through 12--just the reverse of the girls. They have also just opened a new house for 8 boys--age indetermined. This just means quilts in the 50 x 70 range more than the standard 40 x 60.

Some quilt ideas were bandied about--do we all do the same block for the sew-in or do our own thing?? No decision there but I am leaning toward nine patches as you can arrange them all different ways and the quilts will not be the same. Lois had a nice pile of fat quarters that she was donating to the cause so I can see us whacking those up soon and finding something fun to do with them. Puss in the Corners are also good or Bowties or sailboats or what about that Garden Window thing I saw in Fons and Porter, LOL. No shortage of ideas!

I totally forgot to pack my camera either the standard or the digital and I am kicking myself for that. Beverly had a queen sized personal quilt that was similiar to a very simple one shown in summer issue of APQ--blue shares in white sashing. She personalized it the center with family photos and machine embroidered some blocks with the wedding date as it is meant for a 50th anniversary present.

So what have I personally been up to the last couple days?? Hand quilting--slow going even when the project is small but I am enjoying it. Last evening I took the last stitches in the Wild Goose Chase Santa that I showed you a week or so back. Still had a couple of hours to work so I drug out the little Fans quilt that you see above. It is probably of even older vintage than the Santa.

I am thinking that was something I bought at a NQA quilt show in Davenport, IA--I was the bus trip planner or the assistant planner that year and we had left town just as the flood waters began soaking the streets closest to the Mississippi River. Later we heard that the lobby of the hotel was filled with water--a few streets away and more uphill. What year, I cannot recall without digging through my folders, etc. If it drives me sufficiently crazy to want to know the year (for the label or something) I'll do some searching online to see when the show might have been there. Or maybe my Mom will recall as we were both members of the same quilt guild then.

Suffice it to say, this puppy is OLD, LOL. The pattern is from Little Quilts called "Feedsacks" There is also a cute appliqued basket quilt and a little nine patch on point with appliqued hearts for the alternating squares in the same pattern. The pattern cost $5 and the kit with feedsack fabric and utility muslin cost $18. I had to put some of my own flea market finds in the borders as well to fill it out. A couple pieces are NOT vintage but most of it is. I like the appliqued basket for the flowers on it as I had something like this in mind for my ostrich round robin in the setting triangles (SBS on point)

Lastly, let me thank you all for the help and suggestions on what to do on the 2 inch round for the round robin. Mary sent a good link for a method I was trying to describe for appliqued dogtooth or sawtooth borders from Darlene Christopherson which requires a special tool. The Frog Pryncess also advised a link to the book this was contained in which I did order, used, from Amazon. Others had good suggestions that I will take under advisement. I am not sure what I want to do quite yet and Aline and I are running over to the Birmingham quilt shops on Thursday to see if we can track down more of this neat background fabric she had used for her part. She found some but I am afraid it is not going to be enough to get the job done with the quilts getting so big at this point. If we cannot find an exact match, then something else in the same family---I can do this without her seeing it.

In the meantime, I'll keep hand quilting and taking it easy since the donation work is less pressing right now. As I finish typing this, it is about 4:15 and the next thing I know it will be time to scrounge up something for supper. Where has the day gone?

Lazy Day/a question

Today was pass off day for the round robins. Some of these are turning out quite well. My friends in my group keep telling me that mine is wonderful and I will be quite pleased with it. That is reassuring. Even better, the girl who has it now knows exactly how much I dislike the black rounds I have been getting and she passes to the "perpetrator".

So I am sorry to say that I am again looking at a dark fabric again for this round----can you hear the groaning??

A shopping trip is definitely in order since the only oriental appearing fabric I own is also in the offending color---not a good choice. The next round "rule" is 2 inch finished, any technique, your choice. What the heck fits in that small space??

I have a question for the appliquers out there--I am half considering using an appliqued dogtooth or sawtooth border. No, I am not crazy about applique but I am thinking about this as an option. I believe Elly Sienkiewicz has used this technique--similiar to a prairie point in that you use a strip, cut it at intervals, fold it to form a triangle and then applique it to the base. My question then is which of her books might this be in. I own only her Dimensional Applique book and it is not in there. I believe what put this idea in my head is something I was looking at while surfing, who knows where, in the past few days. Naturally, it is not bookmarked. I don't keep stuff in history long so looking back on the computer won't do the job. I might consider hunting down whatever book it is on amazon used books IF I had a clue which one has it. I thank you!

Had lunch out with a couple of my quilting friends and the day is getting away from me. No cooking tonight with last nights casserole available for leftovers. We walked this morning before I had to go for the hand off--what a blessing that we have had cooler and slightly less sticky mornings for exercise. DJ took advantage of the morning shade to cut back some of bushes out front that have gone bonkers and are obscuring the front of the house.

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

Quiet day

Thanks for the positive comments about completing my round robin obligation. To borrow a quote from my pal Pam "it is what it is---done". Saturday is the hand off day and I can only hope that I will not face such an obstacle to completion the next go round. Cross your fingers, okay? The next one belong to my pal Aline who may be looking in so I won't be able to post any pictures of it.

So what have I done today---well, not a lot. Emails mostly, read some blogs but didn't comment much yet and surf around online though I have also done a bit of hand quilting on my Santa.

Thought I would go see what is new on Quilter's Cache and what should I see in the inspiration gallery!? Front and center first one in the grouping was Judy of Ragdoll quilting fame Union Square. I thought "hey! that looks very familiar!" LOL. Oops, should have linked back to Judy's blog--the post was from a few days back so that will give you a chance to see her Halloweenie project if you haven't already.

Not much to say--supper fixing to do soon as my husband will want to get out for some yard work. He said it was going to be either kudzu trimming or raking up the hay like stuff that passes for grass around here. Quiet day and that is the way I like it.

done, done and done

Can you see me happy dancing? Did you hear me let out a whoop an hour ago? I am done, done, done with this thing.

Before picture can be found HERE

It is squared up, the biggest problem before I started on it. The borders went together without any problem once I figured out the math. This has been problematic since the beginning since the maker did not follow directions and started with a rectangle. Now 52 x 56 at this point. DJ as usual is not holding it straight --it is NOT crooked or wavy any more.

I used three of the batiks that the maker started with at center and fussy cut one of the rust colored pieces from the batik which has the same green, purple, brown, fuschia, rust and orange-y tones as the center and the applique round. I used the wrong side of the background fabric to tone that one down a bit.

Other than handing it over to the next person with a workable size I hope that I have provided some jump off point for the next round---2 inch finished of your choice of technique follows.

Other than sewing the two remaining blocks and cutting the spacers---I've been up since 6:30. Straightened up the bedroom as I had been more or less dropping anywhere the last four days. Mopped the kitchen floor. Put a turkey breast in the crockpot for our evening meal and just finished feeding my husband his fav meal and cleaning up the kitchen--the Susie Homemaker stuff.

Maybe I'll hand quilt for a bit or go curl up with a good book...........

Checking in

I've got so many of you cheering me on to finish up that round robin! The picture in the last post just showed one of the revamped corners and the coping/bridging strip I added. I have made some progress on my own contribution to the project since my last post.

I drew it up the best I could on the computer to get some idea of where I am headed with it. I also needed to figure out how many of the little four inch stars (16) I would need to foundation piece and how many chunks of the batik print to put between the stars approximately what size. Stars and/or log cabins are required as is the 4 inch width. I sure am not trying to add either one of those options completely around the top---especially since I probably deserve hazardous duty pay for what I had to do to get it this far. My color sketch could not properly duplicate the fabrics and looked hideous so I gave up and colored it all white, LOL. Just hope that the REAL fabric looks lots better than that!

I have 12 of the 16 inch pinwheel stars done--two more cut out and ready to go today BUT I had only bought two fat quarters of background fabric. That proved to be two blocks short. I hope to have the whole thing completed by tomorrow evening.

With yesterday being a holiday, today was errand day and our day to walk so that basically shot the morning. My mom called and we had a good chat. A friend had her husband stop by to pick up some fabric she needed for HER round robin obligation. After lunch , some other things needed tending so it was about 1:30 before I could head out to the quilt shop where I had purchased the fabric--35 miles or so one way from here. Eva helped me find it since she had moved the displays around. A couple of 30's half yards followed me home as well--nice yellows that I couldn't resist. Two other stops on the way home and the next thing I know it is almost 4 and soon I will need to start fixing supper. The day has zipped by.

Since I spent practically all day yesterday sewing, I have gotten behind on my blog reading, have done no hand quilting on my Santa for three days. My husband, bless him, did all the laundry and let me off the hook for cooking last night and ordered/picked up the pizza. Over the weekend I did a CD on tape from the library, listened to the NPR programs I like to follow, listened to part of the Cardinal game on Sunday and watched two DVD's ("Calendar Girls" and re-watched "Love Actually" ) and then found that they were running back to back episodes of "The Closer" on TNT so that kept me occupied while I stitched. Tonight, maybe the "House" season premiere though in general I don't like watching hospital stuff (non practicing nurse, after all)

I have given a little thought to what I might work once I am done. A fun pattern came in the mail today, I could get back to machine quilting my 30's sampler, pick something from my September goals list...........some kind of reward. Something fun anyway.

I'll make the rounds on the ring later this evening and see what YOU are up to-----

quiet weekend with some progress

Pippi in her "new" old spot on DJ's desk chair--she thinks she is hiding, of course, even with that leg and tail stuck out. The chair and accompanying towel leave the tell-tale signs that she has been there. Reminds me of the time when one of DJ's golfing buddies caught him in the bright sunlight and commented about his backside being coated with pet hair.

We have not plans for the three day weekend--I guess being retired and me, not long back from my trip to TN, MO does not compel us to head off somewhere. A holiday weekend is not a big deal since we don't have a job to escape from. The hot weather will continue so we do not view it as the last summer weekend blow out either.

So I have made some progress on my Santa wall hanging. All the motifs are completed leaving just the 6 pine trees and the checkerboard pattern at the bottom on the piece--it measures about 15 x 22. If I don't get stalled out on the binding, I can count one personal UFO completed. I am going to toss two ancient ones that I have zip interest in and can get my hands on fairly easily.

And, I have taken your advise to "just do it" with the round robin. It " ain't been easy" to get it up to the point of the bridging strip. Not sure why this things looks like it is glowing unless the other layers of that bright yellow are showing through.

I had talked to Gary the robin leader about this and the wavy edges two weeks ago. No real advice there as this one has been a bit of a problem from the get-go. Do what you have to do to get it evened up basically. I got the measuring tape to it Friday afternoon--through the center it seemed to be relatively okay on the horizontal---but the edges measured almost a full TWO inches more in width. Vertically, much the same scenario. It was the corner units then that had to be the biggest problem. Armed with the seam ripper I dived in and dismantled one corner. I ended up taking a much bigger center seam (about 3/4 inch) with the yellow squares thinking that I had to lose an inch one corner. I put the corner triangle back on and trimmed it square and then eased it all in to make the yellow squares line up properly. After the 2nd one I was sure I was on the right track.

All of it needed to be trimmed down to a uniform width of border and some little strategic tucks taken on a couple of the outer seams to ease in the fullness at the edges--I am pretty sure she had cut the outside triangles as half square triangles rather than quarter square so there was some bias edge stuff going on. It is not perfect but it was far from that before. Fortunately that black fabric (poly cotton) that I have complained about for the past rounds is a blessing in some ways--hides the seam lines and the fact that the points are gone on the edges and we can fool the eye into just seeing that yellow. Well, the yellow is hard to miss--like the elephant foot prints in the butter, LOL.

Finally, finally last night after supper I could get a uniform measurement to cut the bridging fabric and apply the strips---unfortunately I sewed in the vertical side rather than the horizontal--no wonder I was having harder time getting it to fit, LOL. I stuck with it though my husband thought I should 1) refuse to work on it 2) toss it 3) give it back to the person who had created the problem. Gee, Honey, thanks for being supportive but it doesn't work that way.

SO finally I am at a point where I can actually do what I am required to do to this thing. 4 inch finished stars and/or log cabin units. I've got a pinwheel star picked out with spiky edges that should go well with her New York Beauty type center. These pieces are pretty small so I will foundation piece them especially with the long narrow pieces and points. Not sure how many I want to make, eight at the fewest. I am also not sure which colors yet as I need to fussy cut out some rusty/browny bits of a batik like print to put between them. As much as I would like to put some more turquoise or purple in there the fabric cues may lead in another direction. I think it will all be okay in the end. Boy, I sure hope so.

procrastinating, to be sure

Like Judy L, I admit that I am procrastinating today. First because I dread working on that awful round robin and second, because I am having such fun working on my little Santa wallhanging. I had forgotten just how fun it is to hand quilt with all the rush to get other quilts done. I am just about done with the entire Santa figure lacking just the arm/shoulder area by the gold star wand thing he has going on. As I was working, however, I realized that his hat is not exactly square on his head---oh, well! Too late now and I will prefer to think that his hat is just sitting at a "rakish" angle---yeah, that's the ticket!

Of course every quilter has to have her quilting toys for each job she does. I am no exception. My little tri-fold bag over there is a cosmetic bag. Where the pencil products or brushes go, I have markers and a mechanical pencil. The elastic band area is perfect for holding my spools of thread. The zip pocket, all manner of needles, needle cases, thread heaven, applique scissors, etc.

Then the hoop--this one is my favorite size and shape though of course, I have others. I use a flat headed thimble and have two sizes as sometimes my hands swell a bit and in colder weather the one size bigger doesn't fit properly.

From left to right on the hoop, the thing on the red ribbon is supposed to help give the needle something to hit instead of your left index finger but I am like the person trying to use a clutch pedal in a manual transmission at the moment and do not seem to be able to coordinate the movements. My fingernail is already scuffed up. I DO use the paddle thimble though, sometimes to start off the first stitch and other times to help push through the seamed areas. The balloon, to help pull the needle if I get it loaded with too many stitches. That doesn't take long when you use a #12 as those things are short. I like Piecemaker brand.

You may be able to tell too that I sewed the batting together. I had originally bought a queen sized bat of Quilter's Dream Poly for my 30's sampler but kept the trimmings which came in handy for the wallhanging. So far I like it, needles nicely without the pilling of quilter's cotton but has some of the density of warm and natural but far easier to needle than that. This is mid loft and supposedly "excellent" for machine quilting and " very good" for hand quilting. It did handle nicely on the bits I have done on the big quilt, I will admit.

I have been trying to think just how long it might have been since I have done any hand quilting. Allison's high school graduation quilt, yes. But she just graduated from Illinois State University with a BSN in nursing--4 to 5 years then. A Jackie Robinson pattern for Arrow point Stars but I did not follow the directions. This was supposed to be 3-D (a folded technique) and flannel to boot.

And then there is the other one below that Joy and I were quilting for a woman in the town north of us. A family quilt, Arkansas Snowflake or Job's Troubles are a couple of the names for the pattern. Joy probably did most of it but we split the money we earned to quilt this. The woman gave it to her daughter or that was the plan anyway. The thing was that Joy's and my quilting stitch was so similiar in size etc that I don't think you can tell where either of us stopped or started. Probably worked on this about 4 yrs ago??

Okay, several friends out there in bloggerland are supposed to hold my feet to the fire and make sure that I get busy on the round robin. You've seen it in previous posts. I know it needs trimmed and/ or eased in possibly with a gathering stitch or some seams taken to try to get it lay down. Coping strip fabric is purchases and hopefully I can rise to the challenge and get it back to even measurements for attaching them.

It irritates me that we are still working on this
to begin with so I am already starting off with a bad attitude. You see, the person who my present round belongs to moved about 3 months into this. Someone is filling in for her locally and finishing up this person's obligations. She is not working on anyone else's but that might be a blessing considering she is the one that though it a wonderful idea to use acrylic paint. The one who is finishing up will only get a couple of 12 inch blocks from each of the 6 in the group for her troubles. Several of us thought we might start her own medallion instead--she said not to.

Bitching and moaning is not going to get anything done, I know that....................