finished to flimsy

Well, I got it this far anyway. Bridgecreek Blossom, pattern by Terry Atkinson. Approximately 54 x 70

I originally made 24 blocks so I have enough for a 2nd quilt but no more than scraps left of the jigsaw fabric or the blue inner border since I am using it for binding as well. The jigsaw print is directional so when I prepped them months back I was fussy cutting it to try to match it up the best I could. That made for a lot of bits and pieces for the scrap basket. LOL, with all that color the seams are pretty well hidden but I didn't want the horizontal lines jumping all over the place. I'll find something else to use when I am ready to finish up the 2nd one.

I am never crazy to be working on borders but this time it was good to be back at the machine a bit. Not saying that the sewing slump is over but I am thinking about pulling out the triple rail donation top I had started and get some more of it done this weekend. Skyler has been known to get up on the sewing machine table the last two days to cuddle a bit while I was TRYING to sew. I love the cuddles but forget about sewing with his "help" and attention. If he is not laying on it, then he is trying to burrow under it like he does the bed sheets, LOL.

This being the end of the month I totalled up my walking mileage for July ---180 miles! I have been at it since March slowly increasing my laps and normally going 6 out of 7 days when possible. In the last three months I have walked 488 miles, in circles, around the park trail. I had hoped to bump up one more lap but have had to back off of that a bit as I may have strained a hamstring a bit. My back of my left thigh and hip were trying to tell me something and I decided I better listen! I'll try to shave a bit of the time off instead for the time being. I can walk the 2.25 miles in 42-44 minutes now. The other modification to my plan: walk 4 days and then off a day to rest.

They spread some new pea gravel in the washed out spots in the park which I appreciate. Don't want to fall or twist an ankle! Since they do all this in a vehicle there are some areas where you feel like you are walking on the beach in sand and other little heaps and ridges that needed smoothing out or again, you might twist an ankle. When DJ asked me how things went, I told him about it so we went back in later with a couple of rakes. The park maintenance crew was there weed whacking by that time. We both are acquainted with the head guy so we offered to tend to what I thought were problem spots. Of course, if we get some significant rainfall it will shift again and/or flatten out just the way I like it, LOL.

Other than that, we are just trying to keep cool. High 90's are predicted for the next week at least and the weather people are saying August is the "worst month" UGH! I suppose all this heat before was just practicing up. Summer, what do you expect?

And so it goes--------

3 finishes

Yeah, they are small but they are done, LOL. I am caught up on the calendar blocks till August hits anyway.

Source: Nancy Halvorsen's Calendar Quilts and Stitcheries




May block

















June block














Bet you can't guess, LOL----July block

WIP wk #29

Mostly I had been working on the embroidery on the July themed block on the left. I managed to get it finished up and trimmed down both blocks you see and bordered them.

Today I hope to get them spray basted providing I have the batting I need and enough 505 spray for the project(s). I pulled some fabric from my stash to use up for backing. The machine is switched out and set up to do what little bit of machine quilting they will get. Hopefully I can get to the hand work that remains on them this evening. The binding is already cut though I need to press this the last batch of it. You can spot it atop the container below, LOL.

As I was putting away the fabric that I bought last week at Qwiltz I found a few more pieces that might possibly go with the purse I want to make. Decisions, decisions! I think I am clear on just how the thing goes together though I want to add some internal pockets to the scheme. I may still go back to my original idea of making a practice one first though. Can't ever have too many purses, I don't think.

The directions call for using batting, fleece, timtex (is that the right name for that heavy interfacing stuff). If I don't have batting for the quilts or for this project, I'll have pick something else to work on. Actually I SHOULD be working on the reward system anyway---finish up the Bridge Creek Blossom donation quilt last seen in half and borderless HERE. Get that moved along and then I can play with the purse.

Quiet around here as we go about our regular routines--staying to stay cool though we are in for high heat indexes all week. No real rain in sight either or what little bit that did come this morning after my walk made it feel like a sauna outside. UGH---summer is definitely not my fav time of year down here but it wasn't always so terrific in IL either, LOL. Whatcha goin' to do?

I put some soup in the crockpot for supper which I suppose is a little goofy when it is so warm out. I'm re-purposing some ground meat and cabbage from the freezer and a Shoney style soup is what came to mind. We do eat soup year round and you can't just have sandwiches, salads or grill in this kind of weather. By supper time it will be pretty nice in here as the a/c will be on and the climate controlled.

And so it goes.............

WIP Weds, wk # 28

Yesterday 5 of us went off to Qwiltz which has relocated from Bowdon, GA to the downtown square in Carrolton, GA. Since we are still displaced till August at our regular meeting spot, off we went on another field trip. Google said it was almost 49 miles from the spot where we congregated and piled into my car so not a bad drive.

Robbie had some fabrics marked down to 40% off plus another 10% off that as a sale special plus she had discounted patterns, books and notions as well. There are going to be some cool kids quilts made with some of that sale fabric but this is my booty. Kinda bright and wild, huh?

Well, I have been saying that I need a project or some fabric to get excited about playing with. I think that it will fill the bill. I am going to make this purse you see on the right. I don't care that the fabrics go with maybe two outfits in my wardrobe. I LIKE it, LOL. The two orange-y fabrics on the left end and the pink fats on the right end will probably not go for the purse but I purchased half yards, The purse calls for fats so I will have some leftovers to combine with those.

I may try the purse on something else first as I think I want longer straps and pockets on the inside. Till I know how the thing goes together I won't quite know where to place them in the scheme of things. It calls for a magnetic closer and I want a button and loop I think so it is just best to do a trial run.

We had lunch at a neat spot on the square in Carrolton called the Corner Cafe though there were two other places right by the shop that would have been fine as well. Robbie the shop owner recommended it as a place that had "great soup and sandwiches but funny names for them." If you check the link, you will see what I mean, LOL. I had a hard time deciding what I wanted to order but made a good choice as it was yummy!

Jane had said there was supposed to be another fabric warehouse type thing in town so we asked a couple restaurant patrons if they knew where it might be. One knew the street name and the name (Fabric Peddler) and that it was "on the way out to the college". Our waitress knew what was right next door to Fabric Peddler so she gave us their business card. From that, Jane plugged the info into the portable GPS. It turned out to be about 8 blocks from where we had been. It was all decorator weight fabrics but there was a neat antique shop in the same building so we poked around in there a bit before heading back to Alabama.


This is what I have been working on intermittently the last couple days---July block from Nancy Halvorsen's Calendar Quilts and Stitcheries. Like the others that I have stitched, I re-sized the blocks so the motif will finish at about 6 x 7.5. I have been working through each color thread so it looks like body parts are next, LOL. I have some audio books downloaded from camellia.net so I'll stitch and listen while I "work"

It remains hot and humid but hey, it is summer. The clouds were really darkening up when I got from GA yesterday but it took about 45 minutes for it to actually produce a couple tenths of rain.

The half inch of rainfall that came in Monday evening just made it miserable for my Tuesday morning walk though. Swampy does not even begin to describe it. There were also tons of gnats out in about 5 spots around the track. It was just dark enough at 5:40 in the morning that I didn't see one swarm and walked right into them. UGH! I was wet with sweat everywhere that I could possibly seep fluid but still couldn't cool off. I checked on the computer when I got home to find that readings of 94% humidity, temp of 72 and dew point of 70%. That might explain it. Thankfully, today the humidity was must have been down to something a bit more reasonable as it was not near as bad. I'll be bumping up another lap from 2.24 miles to 2.52 in about another week's time. Trust me, that would be hard to do if all days were like Tuesday morning.

Hope all is well with you. Thanks for stopping by-----

A little somethin' (edited)

A little production today---

I decided to make that little bag to hold my cell phone and ID for the walking trail but the little purplish thing you see was the 2nd attempt at it.

I tried a Handy Bag first but even though I cut the initial squares 4 inches smaller, the bag still was going to finish about 5.5 x 8. It proved to be not that much smaller than the tag along tote I had made last year (black bag with cats seen above). I had positioned the velcro for the inner pocket thing up too high, thinking I needed to adjust for the changes I had made. I got the idea of how it would work but didn't bother putting on the strap and un-sewed it to salvage the fabric.

I went back to my original idea of a slightly longer, one less pocket wonder wallet using the cell phone carrier I had purchased recently for the pocket dimensions. Woohoo! I am set for the trail tomorrow. I can still store my other walking paraphernalia along with this little bag in the larger one and unpack when I ready to head out but travel light when I get there. I have a system, LOL.

One novel suggestion from the quilt shop that sold me the "prototype" of my first cell phone carrier bag: she said someone she knew that worked at a long term care facility loved these little bags for when the client went down to the beauty shop. They would slip the client's glasses in the bag while they did their hair. That way the glasses stayed in a safe spot and would not get mixed up with another client's specs. Their frames are often very similar in style.

Having worked in a LTC facility from 73-74 and another stint from 91-97 I could see the merits of that idea. I remember the first time I tried to help pass meal trays in the combined floor dining room. I knew the clients from my own floor but not the other units so I asked "which patient is _________?" The reply was the white haired lady in the white sweater and glasses at whatever table, LOL. There were several that matched that description!! (I think about that about every time I put on MY white sweater. I'm half way ready for the home as the white hair is taking over the auburn too.) BUT that reply got me pointed at the basic direction, the right table and the person's arm band for verification.

Almost time to start supper preparations so will close and wish you a good weekend in whatever you have planned. Me? I'll be making some tomato sauce with the big bucket of tomatoes Lois sent home with me earlier in the week. After I walk, that is.

WIP??

As has been my frequent statement lately, I am just not being very productive lately. It is hot, I don't feel like it, nothing is really tweaking my interest or desire enough to stitch. Do I give myself permission to put that quilt top that is hanging over my head aside and do "something fun"? Make myself sew? After all, I have plenty of stuff I could/should be doing. I have found that just leads to errors and unsewing. Go with the slump and find something else to do? That usually means playing in the kitchen, reading, playing too many hands of solitaire or mahjongg.

Yeah, I am working on some embroidery (June calendar block) but it should have been done long before now. See reasons above, LOL. In truth, I messed up and had to take the last tier of beehive off but I can get it up to trimming and borders today. Then trace off July's block would be my guess.

One thing I have been thinking about whipping up though is a cell phone carrier for the walking trail. I bought that green one seen in the photo at the Cullman quilt show. While I like the size of it, the straps are a little too short for my needs. They suggested hanging it from your neck but that just isn't comfortable for walking 2 plus miles. Also I want a button/loop on it so I can hang my lap counter AKA knitting row counter. The bag (Atkinson tagalong bag) that I currently use is just a little too bulky though it technically works. I think I can wing it using the dimensions of the existing piece as I don't believe I have a pattern in my stash that is similar. To me it is like a longer wonder wallet on long skinny strap. OHHHH---and as long as I am planning, it should be lime green or contain lime green since I already have the cording and button on hand to match. A little stash visiting is in order OR I can pick up some yardage next week when we take our field trip to Qwiltz in Carrollton, GA.

Since I don't have any of my own work to show you, how about a couple of the donation quilts recently turned in?
This scrappy string quilt is one that Linda S made and I quilted. We thought that the appliqued tropical circles added a little whimsy to the top. Linda said they were camouflage but it is still cute.

This scrappy one is one from Lois, our scrappy queen. Disappearing Nine Patch I think with a fun border and backing.

Beverly also turned in her lunch box fabric challenge quilt but I had already shown a picture of it as a top HERE Squares Within Squares is the block name.

Stay cool if you can. The NE seems to be in a grip of a horrid heat wave! Other than the temperature being in the 100's or high 90's, the news people's description wasn't too much different than what we go through on an average summer day here in the South. Low of 70? Welcome to my world, LOL. It is summer so heat and humidity come with the territory no matter where you live, I'm guessing.

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

Happy Birthday, USA

(quilt pattern from Little Quilts---made back in early 2000's. The other, a Debbie Mumm pattern though I didn't put it up this year as access to the closet it is in is sorta blocked at the moment)

It will be quiet here though I do intend to grill a couple of steaks---definitely a treat for us! I'll do some typical picnic type fare to go with it: corn on the cob, watermelon, lemonade.


The fireworks I can normally see over the tree tops by looking out the back bedroom window won't be happening as it was not in the city's budget this year. The other two towns in the county may have already done their town celebration, not sure about that though. We wouldn't be driving up there (or down there) to see them anyway. Of course the neighborhood version of fireworks started two days ago. Mostly likely it will end in a few more---when they run out of ammunition, LOL.

And so it goes around here---doing a little embroidery but no sewing but finding ways to keep busy.

Hope you are all having a wonderful and safe holiday weekend in whatever you chose to do.