this and that on a Friday

DJ went out as the sun was lowering behind the tree line and discovered that the UPS driver had left me a box.  I'll tell you, my mom knows how to stuff a shoe box, LOL.

Not sure what I will do with this stack as it sort of depends on how much is left of the fabric---there is a blend-y sort of thing going on though with a few of the pieces.  Naptime, maybe??  If not, there are a few nice pieces of neutral background.  I think Mom may have added two pieces that I did not have set aside but that's okay too.   Some re-arranging of boxes on her end left had her wondering, she said.

That lovely, cheerful floral on the left is a  Hoffman "Country Side Collection" piece.  I'm thinking it might make up into a 4 patch posie??  Isn't that the fun part of quilting to pull out fabrics till you find a combination that will work together?  Already I am eyeing a blue tone and tone on the shelf, LOL.    Lois had recently used some 4 patch posie elements as block centers of one of her tops.  I'll point that out when it is turned in because I did not get a picture at the time.

A glimpse at the design wall----mostly leftovers and future projects.  Christmas blocks for the stalled out Oxmoor Christmas quilt.  The strip is a section of binding for my Christmas Patience Corner.  Leftover bowties from the 76 Bowtie QOV--that will work with with the next abandoned block project along with the various other nine patches etc stuck up there.  The plain squares are for quilt labels.  The just finished basket block is hanging for me to see before I put it up with the others and pull another out to stitch.  The two ziploc bags?  One is squares I pulled to make a few "Fight Like a Quilter" blocks for a fund raiser.  I like the blocks so may make more for a pro bono quilt so I did not file the cut squares back into the 2 1/2 inch square container.  Lastly, greens that my friend Pat sent for the paint chip challenge----I see watermelons in their future as in Button Up #8.  

Those foundation pieced flowers were something I started years ago from one of Carol Doak's books, Easy Mix & Match Machine Paper Piecing.  Now this was copyright 1995 and I bought it as a new book at the time.  Yep, old project and I remember stitching on it at Hands All Around Quilt Retreat near Lake Shelbyville in Illinois. I planned to make a wall hanging she showed on the back cover with butterflies, a sun, snails in the grassy area.  Well here is a link to the image.  Once upon a time I had all 6 flowers done but two of them wound up in a row robin for a friend on the old aCozyQuilt Bee list.  I think that the sky blue fabric has been used elsewhere over the years so these four may be "it" and added to another project down the line.

Here I am holding up Lauri's row---bad picture as I had a crappy digital camera at the time.  Lauri had a garden theme going and wanted the bright fabrics she had provided as alternating blocks.  I stitched up the Pieces from My Heart blocks from Sandy Gervais that said ""What Flowers?".  The dragonfly and frog blocks were slightly re-sized from Quilts from the Heartland Nature of Things, I believe it was called.  The lady bugs were also from that book but was actually a wall hanging that I scaled down to a 12 inch block.  And then you see the other two flowers on the bottom.

So back to present day, LOL.   I have not done much but re-organize files on the computer..... and read.  I had picked up a used paperback from Mom's stash Barbara Parker's Suspicion of Innocence for reading on the plane and finished it up  We picked up a couple more of the series at the library the other day.   DJ is reading the first one now.  I also buzzed through Kate Jacob's Comfort Food on Wednesday afternoon and evening.  I enjoy reading but often do not make time to do so.  Some days, it is all I can do to get through the local paper . When I get on a reading jag, it reminds me of summertime and going up to the town library a couple times a week because you had read through the stack you had checked out days before.  


This summer cold and the heat have been energy sapping so the cutting and batting fusing that I had mentioned in my last post did not get done.  I told DJ he is just lucky that I have gotten meals on the table as lousy as I have felt at times.  But the laundry is done, groceries bought-----I am going to live, LOL.  I do hope to get something done today though as I hate wasting time and I hate having stuff piled up in here too.  That action really stifles my creativity when I don't have space to work and need the table or whatever under that pile.

It looks like a good part of the USA lower 48 are going to be in extreme heat situation if we are not already.  I just pray that there are no heat related fatalities with the sustained weather pattern.  I know my parents said it hit triple digits in IL---we were at 96 yesterday but fortunately without high humidity factors.  The a/c can barely keep up even set at 79.  I cooked  on the stove top, grill and microwave last night and still could barely stand to be in the kitchen though by that time the afternoon sun is barreling into the opposite side of the house. Now,even with the blinds drawn it is HOT in the kitchen with the sun on that side.  I am avoiding doing the prep work for the fish tacos with avocado sauce I plan on making for tonight.  The sauce and fresh tomato salsa should be done up ahead of time to meld the flavors a bit so I will go out there and blast a box fan while I do it.  No jalapeno peppers here though and I am putting the fish on the grill.  Skyler also is begging for his 2nd treat bite which he normally gets around noon if DJ does it but I am a softer touch and he knows it, LOL.  

Stay cool the best you can---and thanks for stopping by.

another meeting wrap

It just occurred to me as I sat down to write this post that I had posted the pictures from our June 12th meeting!  I was caught up in the preparations for my trip and did not have time to share the pictures, etc from our machine quilting sessions or any of  "show and  tell".

I showed how to stitch in the ditch.  Lois showed us how she copies motifs to paper or freezer paper and then machine quilts around them and some great ideas on how to avoid marking your quilt top.   Bev had an attachment for her machine that helps you with the "wax on-wax off" movement of the machine but was unsure how to get the stitch regulator to work.  We had some guests and a good turnout along with a potluck lunch.  Fun, fellowship and sharing----I love this group!

The first 4 pictures are from June 12th

First up, Bev with a tote bag she had made-----

Bev's Improvisational quilt inspired by some Vera Wang king sized pillow cases she found at a yard sale---and she quilted it herself!   She would tell you that she is feeling a little more comfortable using that walking foot now.

Teresa's Jewel Box quilt using some Toy Story novelty fabric and fabrics to go along with it.  I had suggested it as a way to make a quilt using 5 inch (charm) squares at the April sew-in since you can make both 4 patches and hst's using the quick trick methods.  It was later pinned.

Teresa's Desert Mirage---pattern from Fons and Porter Quick Quilts from the Heart.  Those strips finish at one inch and she made it wider to fit their bed.  The book sample was a twin, maybe?  I helped her with trimming it down at a recent meeting and getting the backing prepped.  A friend from Friendship Quilters professionally quilted it for her.  She is currently working on the binding---or about to.

 Up until early Tuesday morning I was not sure that we would even HAVE a meeting but fortunately I was feeling a good bit better with this cold/cough thing I have going on.   I knew from the offset that Bev and Teresa would not be coming due to prior commitments and I thought another was vacationing. (I got the dates wrong. I can't keep track of myself let alone 10 others, LOL).   It ended up feeling  like "old home week" with 4 of our members who have not been able to attend for a while coming.  

Judy brought some books to share for our library---some that had been gifted to her but where not really her choice of technique or subject matter.  She also had 4 tubs of batting cutaways so she and I started patching those together to make usable sections for our donation quilts.  I think we had 6-8 done by the time we left.  I drug some sections of 80-20 home to try the the heat press tape on for another.

Lois had this lovely double Irish Chain to pin

Beverly had picked this quilt up from the long arm quilter recently.  There is a family connection with this quilt and it will go to her daughter.  It is extremely heavy as the inside contains a used nine patch quilt as the batting.  It was completed except for a specialized label that will tell the story of the quilt.  Lois had done up a Sunbonnet girl on her embroidery machine and Beverly will complete it from there.

And this lovely quilt is Aline's round robin from the Thursday evening Piecemakers group in Jacksonville (AL).  Didn't they do a great job on it?  Later this led to a mystery of who had left some purple fabric at the meeting site and do they need it soon.  Gary had the last round of the medallion on this quilt and his wife and our fellow Belle had brought some of the purple selection that might be used for binding.  I think SOME of it goes back to her, LOL.  Meanwhile it is at my house for pick up.

Me?  Well, I had intended to work on binding one of my donation quilts but got up to work on that batting.   I had the label sewn down and maybe about 4 inches done when the others began to arrive.  Jane volunteered to take it so I handed it off.   The quilt I was quilting two weeks ago is STILL on top of the machine, waiting.  In my defense, I was gone for a week and had things to tend to because I WAS gone for a week and then got sick.  This is the only thing I have finished---Egg Basket from Bee Tree Designs.   At one point I thought I might start the next basket since I am now half done with the set of 12 or the Bird Brain Designs 4th of July embroidery but it did not happen.

Judy had two donation quilts with her but she has asked me to bind them as she does not feel it is her strong suit.   In the past she has paid me to do this for her for opportunity quilts made for fund raising for local concerns so she must think I do a good job on it.  She had the leftover fabrics to cut it for one of them and I'll scrounge around from something for the 2nd one.  Turns out I have the leftovers from from a previous quilt she had made using the same fabric line so I can see another quilt being made from the "leftovers of the leftovers".  I may go ahead and cut out a few more things while I am in that frame of mind---like that Prairie Stroll I mentioned in my last post perhaps?  Maybe the August Button Up that will also fulfill that Paint Chip Challenge from guild too.  Who knows?

DJ is going into town soon on errands and I have asked to ride along to make a couple stops of my own along the way.  Better wrap this up and finish getting ready.  Hope you have a good day in whatever you chose to do--------

blogging break? yes but vacation too

Looks like I took about a two week blogging break but it was for a very good reason! You see my mother was coming up on a milestone birthday, a round numbered one---she is a Flag Day baby.   This past Sunday was Father's Day as well.   I was going to get to be there for both but shhhhhh it was a secret.  There had been a lot of phone calls back and forth between my two sisters and I over the last month. One minute my sister Janet who lives in near Denver, Colorado was thinking about driving down to Alabama to see me with our mother---"what did I think?"   A few hours later my other sister Diane was calling to ask what I had planned for the 13th of June to the 19th!  She was getting me a ticket and I would be Mom's birthday present.  The return date was pushed back a day to get an earlier flight back to Atlanta but I was going to see my family.

Of course, I could not say ANYTHING about that on my blog---Mom reads it.  Janet swore Dad to secrecy but she would need him to make some excuse to pick her up at the airport on the Monday evening (the 11th).  It was his turn to keep that birthday celebration a surprise!  All kinds of truth bending going on once the plans were made.  The thing is that Mom had been asking me to come up for about two months now and even offered to help with the gas money.  She had been given quite a bit of fabric from a friend who was making room for some family to move it and the scraps were mounting again.  

Unfortunately someone back in Colorado kind of spilled the beans and called my parent's home looking for Janet.  Dad had already left for the airport so he could not beat her to the phone.  My two youngest nieces were playing ball at the Lexington field so Mom went up to see them play but the whole time had her eyes peeled for Janet and Dad as well as my sister-in-law.  One daughter home!

Then came Wednesday the 13th.  I swore the Belles to secrecy---say nothing on Facebook about have a good trip!!!  DJ and I left for Hartsfield fairly early in the morning and by 1 p.m. I was in Bloomington (BMI)  Janet and Diane had concocted a story about meeting for lunch at Avanti's when really she was to pick me up.  I told them I didn't care what story they made up but I WAS going to have a Gondola---we took some back for our supper, LOL.  After running a couple errands, ordering a birthday cake at Sam's etc we went on up to my folks.  Janet pulled over about two blocks from their home just in case Mom was looking out the window---she would see only one driver and in I would walk.  Mom was napping by the time we got there.  Just about the time I was going to go to her room and ask if she was going to sleep the whole day away she entered the living room where Dad, Jan and I were visiting.  She was speechless and started crying.  2nd surprise for the week!

Janet had been knitting a baby blanket----remember that one that she had asked me to help figure out the pattern a few months back, shown HERE?   Somewhere along the line after viewing some of Mom's donation quilts she mentioned something about making a boy quilt just in case.  Well, you don't have to ask Mom and I twice!    That is a bit like waving a flag in front of a bull, LOL.  Janet sews and has made a few small pieces but she would need our guidance.  We were off digging in the fabric bins, shopping Elsie's Quilt Shop and once she settled on a focus fabric the other go-with's fell into place.  Janet cut it out and we had three machines going-- like Elsie's Sweat Shop---by 10 pm we had a Naptime top done minus borders. 

I thought I had a picture of the finished up all the way open but here is Jan quilting up her boy quilt a few days later.  I had gotten her started by threading up the machine, winding bobbins and doing/demo'ing a few lines but she did all the rest.  Mom and I had said we would finish up what she did not get done but a few hours before her flight left on Monday she was trimming it up.   I should also tell you that Jan and Mom had teamed up before I got there and had the bindings machine stitched down on 7 or 8 donation quilts.  She also had a pile of tops to pin,  We did those over the next few days including of course, Janet's quilt.  8 or 9 of them.

Thursday, her actual birthday was fairly low key.  My dad had a long planned meeting about a hour away so we girls took off for the Peace Meal site for lunch. I made a lemon icebox cake for her since she loves lemon desserts--no true birthday cake yet.  My mom used to be the site coordinator and Dad does the home delivered meals and helps fill in for the coordinator so they both support the program.   They gave her a lovely Knockout rose bush!   Janet had dinner plans with some friends who also live in Lexington.  Mom and I went up to the quilt group meeting at the Community Center.  Some of the gals who were in the group when I was still living in IL are still members.  They were sewing Christmas stockings for the military that evening.  I sat down to talk to one of the gals and told mom that I should have brought her Jem up to help instead of working on my basket stitchery.  Mom ran back to the house to get it.  Eloyce and I sewed our way through all the cut out fleece cuffs that will be applied to them.  Once done they go to State Farm to be filled and shipped out.  Eloyce was going to give me a lift back to the house since Mom was going to go on home but I turned around and she was chatting with someone else.  See?  Even on vacation, I am stitching!!

Friday we had told Mom we were going out for Girl's Day Out at the tea room in Clinton where my sister Diane lives.  What she did not know was others in the family were coming as well!   Here is the La Tea Da!  The parking was behind the building and the others were waiting as we approached.  We got her again---hugs all around.  We had told her earlier that her boys would be coming on Saturday.  By that time we were getting a good bit of "is it true that________?"  Who could you trust with all the whoppers or sins of omission we had been committing?

And here is the whole gang------thanks to our waitress who took the picture.  Note the birthday girl's tiara?

Seated from left,  Kristine, her mother/my sister Diane, me, my niece Allison, my twin nieces Elizabeth and Laura, Mom.   Standing behind us my sister Janet and my sister-in-law Jen.

Diane had made a lovely raspberry white chocolate cheesecake for dessert so we had gone back to her house.  Even her little long hair chihuahua pup Izzie was dressed for the occasion in her party dress!

Laura with Izzie and Elizabeth with her sister and litter mate Lexie--minus clothing at that point.  Even Kristine's puppy Sydney was getting into the dress-up deal with a sun dress on, LOL.

This was a busy weekend for Kristine and her husband as they had just closed on their first home on Thursday evening---and the occupant was still in the house at 9 p.m!!  Short sale 7 months in the making.  They had to be out of their apartment by Sunday night.  Lots of work to be done.

We went home to make a few dishes for the meal at Jen and Phil's lovely home for Saturday and picked up the cake on the way back from Clinton.    My brother Phil was away at Boy Scout camp in Canada with my nephew John, his last time since he will soon be turning 18.  John recently made Eagle Scout!   Diane had given Mom a new digital camera since she was still using my old sony that used floppy discs---some of these were taken with new camera.  Lessons ensued over coming days in how to use it and get at the contents.  Janet was working with Dad on scanning some of the older family pictures that will eventually be made up into discs for the siblings.  Some computer help was given by both Janet and I. 

Front row:  sister Janet, Mom and Dad, the hostess with the mostest my sister-in-law Jen
Back row: my BIL Rick standing next to my sister Diane his wife. Me, my brother Steve.  (Wife Jan was dog sitting her two dogs and her bosses dog so stayed in TN)  My sister-in law Ann with my brother Dave

 grandparents with the grands who were present
Mom and Dad surrounded by Laura, Beth, Rose, Ted, Allison and Elizabeth. (We were missing 6 of the grands)

By Sunday afternoon Phil and John were back from Canada.  Jen invited us back over and her parents were there as well to celebrate Father's Day.   Monday evening Janet was boarding the plane back for Colorado and Allison picked me up to take me to Schooner's for burgers and onion rings----yummo!  And we pinned that pile of quilts on Monday and Tuesday.  Jan quilted,  Mom and I pinned.

Here is what followed me home though Diane is mailing a box of blacks and abandoned blocks-------

This combo is straight out of the boxes Mom has on the table in the family room-----I am going to cut out and kit a couple of Prairie Stroll tops for us, one for me and one for her.

And this stuff should work for my Farmer's Wife Sampler------

---------------------
Since I have been home and unpacked there was the usual laundry and errands to run, paperwork and mail to deal with.  I also was shuffling my fabric containers around, replacing about 6 of them with 4 snap lock 20 qt models.  I had to make some room for the recent acquisitions and re-organized some of the mess in the closet as well.   I filled two of them right back up----one for the paint chip challenge and the other, the Farmer's Wife stuff.  I also re-arranged the design wall but I'll post that later.  I finished the egg basket stitchery that I had been working on intermittently but more on vacation.  Read two books too.

DJ and I had to take my 606 New Balance shoes back to Kohl's for exchange as they were already wearing out in the same spot on both shoes, right worse than the left.  I had kept up my walking while I was back and bumped up the distance---till I got another blister on the left heel.  I figured I only had about 18-20 hours use of them. DJ was discouraging me from getting another pair just like it but those things are comfortable on my foot, if you discount the blisters.  Part of that may have been for walking out in the woods with rubbing sandals when John took us out to see his primitive campsite setup that was his Eagle Scout project. 

While I was away he had started to try to replace my drippy bathroom faucet but with the long water lines complications, he called in Lowe's to finish the job.  I think this will be a lot easier to keep clean since it had the single lever and no faucets with grooves.   He also got himself fitted for a hearing aid that we picked up on Friday while on our errands.  Hopefully this will help the decibel level of the TV that drives me bats.  He had picked up his new glasses post cataract surgery but those were transition lenses and he decided bifocals would be a better option.  Lastly, the dishwasher repair guy was back out to replace that danged gasket which keeps falling out.  He and Skyler held down the fort.  He is still caulking some siding cracks, priming and painting in the back of the house---ongoing project. 

Yesterday I was essentially down in bed----it started with a scratchy throat on Friday and I knew I was probably going to be in trouble.  That how it always starts.  Yep, I got a head cold, cough, drippy nose--bad headache.  Same thing happened that last time I flew------hmmmmm.  At least I have remained upright today and feel some better.  The closest I got to anything quilty the last few days is just some drawing in EQ and filing away some patterns. 

I guess that is about it for this post----------thanks again to Diane for getting me the ticket home and to my parents for putting Janet and I up at the house.  Love you guys.

catch up

Finally sitting down to rest!  I went straight from my morning walk, to errands, to laundry and cooking. It is mizzling out there with intermittent downpours so while the temps are down, it is extremely muggy, inside and outside the house.  That rain/mist stuff  started right as I was getting into the car after the walk, thank heavens but I still had to run the errands in it.  I got wet and never have dried off/dried out.

You might say will just turn on the air!  Well, DH has that set so high that it is will probably not run enough to feel comfortable in the house.  In that case I find it preferable to put a box fan in the window and turn on the ceiling fan to an a/c set at 79 on these "tweener" days.

Since the Belles and I are discussing/demonstrating/playing with quilting at our meeting tomorrow, we had decided to go with a potluck lunch rather than chase out for carry out in the middle of "class".  That explains the need to cook this morning.  Since I was experimenting with a recipe, it is entirely possible that my strawberry fluffy stuff will not set up correctly. My fingers are crossed but I am guessing I may have needed to drain some of the liquid off the frozen strawberries though I limited the amount of liquid added to the packages of jello to offset it.  (I put a little bowl of it in the freezer just to see how it turns out in there---might like it better!)   I made tuna macaroni salad as a back up, LOL----plus I like it!  DJ and I have to eat as well, right?   It is an old family favorite and have never learned how to make just a little bit of it.  It just occurred to me that I left out the pickle relish.  That will NOT do!  Back in a minute  I even have tonight's casserole ready to pop in the microwave to re-heat.  I had no desire to head back out there again in a few hours to cook dinner.   WHEW!    DJ had an appointment for a followup echo cardiogram early this afternoon and would have liked for me to sit down and eat with him but I was too busy to stop and right in the middle of some part of the process.

I would have like to have finished this quilt up this weekend but it just did not happen.   #4 of 12 Puss in the Corner.  I left off on Friday night with all the horizontal lines completed and one column worth of verticals but 11 lines to go.  I guess this will be the one I use for the demo tomorrow rather than pulling another quilt off the stack.

Saturday I had Friendship Quilters Guild and my pal Teresa rode along with me.  The other gals took a separate vehicle as initially they planned on going over to Hoover (AL) and the Quilt Symposium show that was held Thursday through Saturday.  As it turned out, some of them had gone on Friday with the JOY group but were going to go to the quilt shop in Trussville instead.  Pell City is kind of the half way point from Calhoun County and on to the Birmingham Metro area.  I had opted out of both activities.    Actually that turned out to be a good decision as I felt un-well once I got home.

Sunday ended up pretty much paperwork day---meeting minutes and all that plus things around the house that needed to be taken care of.  Translation:  no quilting though later I was looking at the Hancock Fabrics and Keepsake Quilting catalogs.  I really like some of the Moda Vintage Modern particularly THIS piece of yardage with the sky/aqua and red, pink accents.  Some of the Dear Stella Petal Pushers are interesting too. I could totally see using a bit of that sky vintage modern as a "jumping off" point for my Farmers' Wife Sampler.   Dear Stella reminds me more of the type of fabrics in my 40's-50's bowtie on the bed.  The fabric I love most is a nice clear blue with red flowers on it and it feels like feed sack stuff.  THAT is the look I want for FWS.

What I am thinking of doing is setting a mileage goal for myself with walking.  I am currently at 11 miles so if I say when I hit 50 or so, I will order a half yard of that fabric and maybe a couple pieces of the companion prints.  Not a food reward, a fabric reward.  OR it is not that long till DJ gives me birthday money to spend. I can still walk but maybe I order a tad more if it is subsidized, LOL.  It is something to ponder anyway.

Well, I still have things to gather for quilting day tomorrow including making a sandwich to practice some free motion quilting on.   I'll pack up the machine and supplies and load the car before it starts raining again as well.  In spite of my best intentions and efforts I am always running around in a rush to get out of here on quilting mornings.  Brenda told me we may have some guests from her small quilt group and I know Bev invited a friend too.  I need to be sure to get there at 9 in case we have a few early birds as I have the key.

And sew it goes---------

today's quilting #3

Today's quilting project----what I call Staggered Bricks, top from August 2011.   The fabrics are all donation fabrics.  The lighter gold was from our dear Bama Belle friend Theramae's estate.   Many of the prints came from Ellen at Wrap Them in Love headquarters and from her mother's estate.  The darker brown was something fellow Belle Linda C had put in the donation bin and I think that lighter green might have been hers as well.

Anyway, I combined all this to come up with this quilt.   I have more strips cut with a fall vibe but can't remember what I had decided for them.  One problem with this one though:  either this was just a hair wider than the backing or we didn't get it placed to accomodate the width when we pinned it.  I just trimmed it down by a half inch all around so the border will finish a tad smaller than my original plan of 3 inches but that's okay.  It was easier than adding more fabric to the backing after it was mostly quilted!

OH and to amend my post from yesterday---I totally forgot that I had made a BQ 2 from that same Habitat Challenge quilt.   No wonder I am glad to see that green fabric gone!  4 quilts from the same stuff is enough.   I would say that I met and exceeded THAT challenge.  I made a ton of tops last year but I think this one was the only one that I actually quilted.  It was delivered to the Talladega Presbyterian Home earlier this year.   (Shown here as a top. )

 That's it for today---tomorrow I think it will be Positive-Negative Puss in the Corner from back in late June 2011.   Saturday I have Friendship Quilters guild so that looks to be a binding or stitchery day on my return home.  I would be thrilled if I can get to 6 done and 6 to go.  I had promised myself that I would start cutting  and sewing on Farmer's Wife Sampler but I hate to quit when I am on a roll with this quilting.

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

WIP Weds

 Well, I haven't worked on it yet today but I will.  I quilted up this Habitat Patience Corner top pieced back in January 2011.  I like the block but the quilt not so much.  Hopefully all  this particular donation/challenge fabric is now gone!

The green is the Habitat fabric in question.  The larger figured piece was the main fabric but we did not have enough of it to go around so others got the companion print.  I made two quilts:  a Jungle Nine Patch and in series, made a Puss in the Corner from the leftovers.  You can see those quilts and what the others did with it in THIS POST.  Mine are clear down at the bottom.   Turns out I only thought I was done with that stuff, LOL.  Others leftovers landed at my doorstep and this was how I elected to use them.  The floral print was not one that I could ever find a use for either so bam!  all in the same quilt.  That reminds me too--that I still have a panel section of the Michael Miller Romance to do something with as well but that was a little easier to work with though my challenge top is not even pinned yet as I need to mark it first.  I can always find a ton of other things to do first though I have come close a time or two.

Next top up will be Staggered Bricks that dates back to August 2011.  I'll start on it once I get the binding applied on the one pictured----after lunch.

What else have I been doing?  Walked--went okay but a small blister that had developed on my right heel was bleeding by the time I got home.  I had tried wearing a thin pair of cotton socks under my "diabetic/circulatory socks" and there must have been a little bit of sheer.  Left foot is fine which is just the opposite of two weeks.  Still I got my walking in and will go out again tomorrow with nu-skin and large bandaids on my heels.  The shoes feel fine.

I was also playing with my Farmer's Wife Sampler quilt layout again. I cannot resist tinkering when I see some other blocks I  like better.  At this point I am not sure how many of the original blocks even exist in my version but I will find out, LOL.   I know that the book has 111.  Last week I had 176 block in my sketchbook and I have 188 now.  A couple are a few I "discovered" by tweaking with the EQ7 Serendipity button---what fun with that one!!  Frame, tilt, merge two blocks, clip and flip, shrink and flip, Kaleidoscope and Fancy Star.  One block called attic window I did include but tilted.  Now I like it on point a lot better.

I took this picture of Skyler last night.  He looked so cute cuddled up on the back of the love seat.  Earlier with the paw/leg up over the eyes but of course by the time you get the camera he is no longer doing that.  Mostly I am glad that he was laying somewhere besides the kitchen chair.  He would lay on that thing for hours unless I roust him to his window perch or another locale.

Well, noon whistle is about to blow here and DJ will be asking me about lunch.

Hope you have a good day in whatever you chose to do.

WIP Monday

Yesterday was a day of rest but I did spend a good part of the day machine quilting this Twisted Sisters top on Saturday.  I completed the top way back in January 2011 from something my mom had kitted up.  I have more green strips that Mom shared with me that need some background fabrics from my stash.

I like this set actually and could see doing another similar quilt.  Ami Simms' is the designer and she showed a version we liked on the gallery pages in blues calling it Truly Twisted  by flipping half the blocks the opposite directions by flipping the template or the fabric.  I would have to review how to do either directions at this point.  It is pretty easily quilted in the ditch as well by just following the jagged line horizontally and then vertically.  There is some double quilting on the center when you change directions but that's no biggie.  Obviously I still need to put the binding on but I may wait till I get the 2nd quilt done that requires the same colored cut binding like the borders.  The quilt itself will not look appreciably different bound so here is the picture of it near finished.

This is what I was piddling with a bit yesterday.  Bird Brain Designs has a set of 4th of July stitcheries that you add to tea towels called American Celebration #524.  I do not need tea towels but I thought if I re-sized the motifs with Irfanview I could get them a bit bigger and just do a small skinny wall hanging instead.  To that end I cut out the motifs, scanned them and then resized it in printing to about 6 inches in width preserving the aspect ratio for the block height.  Three of the designs are elongated and two more squat so I could put the squat ones in between the longer ones but I may float them or put the squat ones below the elongated ones.


Now I am marking the motifs on Kona Snow fabric using the light box.  The fabric just feels so much more flimsy to me after using the heavy weight muslin that Bird Brain Designs sells (for the basket blocks I am working on intermittently---like part of Friday)  I am considering putting some light weight interfacing on the back of the blocks before I start any stitching.  I doubt that this will be done in time for this 4th of July.  I have far too much machine quilting to do for that to happen.  I also want to do a few blocks of the Farmer's Wife Sampler, after all.


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No walking today----thunderstorms this morning and intermittent showers.  DJ has emptied 1.6 of rain out of our gauge, he said.  We need it as we were about 5 inches behind last year's totals but 7 or 8 inches down over all.   I woke to a nearby thunder clap at 615 and a skittish cat who didn't know if he wanted to crawl back under the bed or follow me out to the kitchen for his treat bite.  Poor baby.

I have to watch my time for preparing supper since I need to be in town at 6.   Brenda, one of my Belles friends, has a son who is an Anniston fireman and her husband is involved with emergency management/Red Cross.  We had a lead on providing a quilt to a little boy whose great-grandmother was killed in a late April house fire in my little town.  The little boy and his grandfather were injured in the same fire.   Brenda emailed me to tell me that the boy and his father were invited guests at the Volunteer Fire Department tonight at 6.  Would we want to come and give him his quilt?  I sent out an email to the gals and I think several of us plan on being there.   Once I verified just where we needed to be, that is including me.  I drive near there all the time but was never sure just where they were located.

I am thinking pizza tonight since DJ requested it.  If you like to make your own crust, this is a good one that uses whole wheat flour  Perfect Pizza Crust.  I also like the one from Prepared Pantry on pages 5-7 though I don't exactly follow the directions.  Double and punch down and then put it in the pan--- and I found it doesn't take that long to bake either!

Guess that's it for today's post---other than playing too many rounds of  newly discovered Wordsmith this morning it has been a pretty lazy day.  I was keeping Norma entertained with some of my selections yesterday even poking in words I didn't even know WERE words!  Who knew?