9PP sewing date

Ready to rock and roll here in the central time zone. We had tornado warnings and thunderstorms again yesterday afternoon so I didn't get to sew my strip sets together till after supper. (I got my friend's king sized quilt cut out for her prior to that--cutting time only because I kept track because she was paying me to do it 2.9 hours)

I just took a picture of the short strips I will need to get the nine patches out. You only get 16-2.5 cuts across the width of the goods and I needed 18.


One of our few rules: sew the strip sets together ahead of the sewing date but wait till this morning to do the subcuts.

I'm ready to "rock and roll" on these nine patches. Design "wall" is up. My EQ sketch is up to follow--that helps me get the colors I will be using in mind rather than what is shown in the book pattern. Don't have to keep wondering which I substituted for the red she shows this way.

Found out last night that Cher has and is using the same green print as I am! Of course, we know that Norma has to have green in hers as that is her neutral. Yellow is mine and Pam took care of that by providing a piece to the group. Scroll down to see her bright fabric picks. Pat is going with the "mooshy" look described in the book--low contrast, sorta water color feel for some of the blocks. It is going to be fun to see how these all turn out and of course, email and chat in between. Even better, the quilts are all going to be donated to M2M.

Well I best get to sewing or the bunch in the PNW will catch up with me!! Nine Patch or Bust.

9PP, part two

Here is the layout---much, much brighter in person. I am not happy with my sewing on the green and moda marble sections though. Old eyes on those strips? Several threads off on the nesting thing and I can do so much better than that. How can the simplest things become more complicated than they need to be?

BUT as Pam often says, IIWII--it is what it is--and it will probably quilt out or another way of looking at it, how can see it in all this mish mash of color??


Look who decided to try to help me sew this morning? I did a whole top the other day and he didn't bother me once but this morning his curioity got the better of him. He was biting at the thread and getting a paw a little too close to the needle. I know he has been unthreading the cone thread because I caught him biting at it and don't leave that temptation but this was a new trick.


From there he decided to be a little more docile and climb aboard DJ's lap. The book just got put aside while he made himself comfortable. Later both were napping--DJ in his recliner and Skyler on the couch. Hard to say who was doing the better job of it, LOL.

Okay, I'm off to join the sections together. Pam has her top finished minus borders but no one ever said I was a speedy sew-er.

9PP completed

The finished product---the colors are not quite right but the bulbs in the living room tend to make everything look more yellow than it is but no matter. The flimsy is done and a day's goal accomplished. Plus it is just plain fun to sew with your friends online like this. Stop by their place to see how differently the tops turned out--links up in the first post of the day.

break time

It has been a busy day today already. I decided that it is about time to get on the summer walking schedule and set the alarm to get up about an hour earlier than I normally do though it is supposed to call off this weekend with the possibility of stormy weather again tomorrow. I am consistently going 3.08 or 3.3 miles usually 5-6 days a week. It takes me an hour to walk and about 10 minutes of driving there and back.
In spite of getting up early I barely had time to get showered and dressed again in time for a hair cut appointment. I had a grocery stop on the way home and once returned made a no-bake pumpkin pie to go with the turkey breast I was putting in the crockpot for tonight's supper. By the time I heated and ate lunch plus cleaned up the kitchen, the day was half over. DJ will be parked in the chair sometime this afternoon for me to cut HIS hair but I have other things to do in the meantime. I warned him against asking me to do this right when I need to be back in the kitchen making the rest of the meal.

So I am taking a break ---I just finished cutting out the challenge fabrics for the 9 Patch Pizzazz quilt that the FABS are doing "together" on Saturday. It is from Judy Sisneros' book of the same name. My copy arrived yesterday--- just in the nick of time. We can sew the nine patch strip set stuff together but that is all till 8 a.m. Obviously mine will have a much higher degree of contrast that the Lilly Pad Wallhanging she shows. I think we picked this one for the size since it is more in keeping with the donation quilt parameters.

Norma showed the fabrics she is using for quilt mentioning that she is doing 2 challenges in one. Turns out I am as well. My mom had sent me a yard of the novelty print (cows and other animals driving sports cars) awhile back and Pam sent each of us the yellow print with blue stars. The resultant quilts will be going to Pam's M2M project. I probably would have used a more orange-y yellow otherwise but this will be just fine--that shade is in there as well. The blue moda marble and the lime-y green print are both leftovers from my merkitty challenge quilt so I'm busting stash as well. By the time I cut borders and binding out of those two, they are virtually gone except for some leftover squares and a few odd strips.

This is what I am going to start cutting next. Nancy had purchased both of these quilt kits to make a king sized version of the X-quisite block. She asked me to cut them up for her and is paying me to do so. I thought if I at least got one of them done, she could start sewing if she wished while I finish up. The pattern is called "Paisleys on Parade" and named for the fabric line from Camelot Cottons. She spotted it in #88 April/May 2008 "Quilt" magazine. Bright fun fabrics but a ton of squares to cut!


And the obligatory cat picture. Skyler seems to love the window seats. Sometimes he is stretched out with his head hanging on the sides and almost looks like a the classic art pose. He is settling in well. Fun to watch play and a little lover. We are taking bets to see how long it takes him to climb up to the highest rafter between the kitchen and living room (vaulted ceilings so open at the top) He has gotten as far as the refrigerator top that I have actually witnessed.

DJ was reading an article in the paper the other day about people not adopting black or black and white cats as much as their feline counterparts. Don't know if people are superstitious or just don't like their looks?? Well, I went to the shelter with the intention of a female orange tabby but came home with a male black tuxedo cat. What did I know? He's home now!

Quilt meeting pics tomorrow if the weather doesn't force me offline.