WIP Weds, wk. 39 (I think)

So what am I working on today?

Well, we have had a couple cooler nights lately and that means I will be needing long pants sooner than later.

I had purchased a couple pair of jeans shortly before shorts season arrived and was hoping that these things were going to shrink up a bit. Wrong! They are stone washed so have already been washed and treated and pounded on a rock. I hated how they fit in the waist and thighs and could not return them. I know I am a big girl but not all of me is big---and I don't need to look like I should be saddling up a horse with the width they give you in the thigh. SHEESH!

What did I really have to lose by attempting to alter them? But I couldn't quite reconcile it all with the waistband and tapering down the. I ended up taking the all apart and drawing a template off a pair of my old wrecked, beloved and had for 10 plus years pants. Cut them down to size and whipped most of it together yesterday but after a run to Walmart for some elastic, etc I am now trying to sew on the elastic like the previous pair had. I MAY have cut it down just a tad too much at the waist. Hard to tell. I don't have that much invested in this other than the money I spent for the baggie pants to begin with. I have not sewn clothing in I don't remember when!

The quilt group met yesterday. A few tops to pin, a lot of visiting, good group of us there. I did my pants cutting early before we needed the pinning table. A couple of the girls had some machine sewing stuff to do.

Here are a couple of the quilts that were turned in.

Lois' Hidden Stars---she has made several like this and each one turns out so pretty. Linda C was spotting her leftovers in a couple of these tops.


This one at left was one that Aline made from ballerina fabric she found in the donation box. I love the frames she came up with and the wonky placement of the blocks. She had this at the Gadsden quilt show last week and it won one of the ribbons in its category.

Aline also won a first place ribbon in the bed quilt category and best of show for the music themed "Just Can't Cut It' she had made for her son. Congrats to her!


The one here at right is another of Lois' tops. Neither of us could come up with the name of it off the top of our heads but I am sure that it is one that she spotted in Quiltmaker magazine---one of Bonnie Hunter's scrappy quilts featured in her column a few months back. I told Lois I would look and refresh my memory so I could log it into our quilt document for the year. It is a form of nine patch, obviously.

Okay I found it in my back issues. May/June 2010 #133 and she called it Carolina Chain. Beverly was remarking on how much she thought it looked like an Irish Chain so that fits. Notice the scrappy binding that adds to the scrappy look of the quilt too. Lois used 2 1/2 inch strips though for a larger block.

DJ is out mowing the yard as I write this. The sun is already down behind the tree line so it was a good thing we had an early supper--the days are getting shorter. Between the mower being in the shop and the lack of rain for about 45 days he has gotten off easy in that department lately. We got several inches this last week and the grass greened back up. It also blessedly, cooled things down to a more seasonable temperature and cool overnights. Perfect for a quilt on the bed! I didn't really look at the bushes and shrubs to see if they snapped out of the droopy state they were in but I know DJ was worried about the lilac bush in particular.

DJ also had to get permission from the cardiologist's office to mow in the first place since he had a procedure last week. 1-80% blocked artery. Some weight lifting restrictions remain in place and he is presently wearing a holter monitor for 24 hrs to help determine if further intervention is needed. He feels fine so I guess that is a good thing. Hopefully, the tests will prove it.

And so it goes around here-----I hope to get back to my super secret project soon. I made some good progress on it on Sunday but other things have intervened since then.