.......but I wanna sew

My little half done Four T's block had been waiting since Saturday afternoon.

No sewing on Sunday or Monday though I wanted to.  It just didn't happen.  Tuesday meeting days are normally busy and I have things to follow up with once I am home.    Sometimes that might mean just putting away the stuff that I drug to the meeting with me, LOL.   I did finally finish this up while I watched the NCIS season premiere, Parenthood and followed along with the Cardinals-Astros game.

This is block 19 of my FWIS quilt----I piece one more and I'll show the group of 10 that I have been working on.  The next one up has pieced and appliqued elements but I have the applique already prepped and in the envelope, waiting.

Sunday was just a lost day creatively with laundry, grocery errands, meals to fix.   Recharge the batteries, I guess.

Monday was just plain busy getting ready to quilt.  A look in my closet with the quilt tops waiting and you will see why this needed addressed.   My partially done "My Sunshine" set aside this past May and shown in this post  is waiting.  My recently finished PopStix is hanging with backing that needs to be pieced so we can run it to the long armer----Aline and Marilyn are probably taking one (some) of their tops as well.  Then we have 4 WTIL donation tops---all that need marked in some manner and/or batting pieced.  Then we have one more pro bono top that is going to Friendship Quilters and 3 personal projects that have been waiting a good bit too.  I spend time piecing and then the quilting just waits.........and waits.  We won't even get into the 3 projects that need hand quilting done and are stalled out.

So I marked.   This Romance Challenge fabric top was completed way back in December 2010.

Bridgecreek Blossom and Modified RR Crossing, both Jan. 2011.

Then we have the Beachy modified Prairie Window dating back to September 2011.

Most of them can be seen in the 2011 Flimsy tab so I won't link back to the quilts I just mentioned.

Then we had this mess.    One of the girls had handed me a bag with some batting scraps in it recently.  The other bits are cutaways or the last of the batting roll that needed to be joined.   I got together two batts worth.  Just like putting together a patchwork puzzle in some cases but you are just tossing money away if you do NOT do it.   3 of my quilts were over-sized meaning wider than the standard 48 wide batting that we use.    Whatever ones I did not piece to fit my larger quilts is labeled waiting in the bin at the  meeting site.


We really hit it with the pinning yesterday!  I only expected to pin maybe half of my quilts but we did all 4.  Brenda had two tops, Lois and Jane each one.

I also demo'd  how to cut with a Lil Twister ruler and shared a Christmas wreath idea.  Maybe I posted it here---can't remember.  I told the girls if they wanted to cut one out and piece their base that Jane and I would bring our rulers for them to temporarily borrow. They could cut the twist-y part to make one next time.  You can either check my pinterest file or try this one on the quilting board site for the "before square layout" and the finished wreath pictures.  That IS the pattern as we assume you will know how to place your twister ruler and cut around it.

And here is the final bit of distraction for me.  I told you that Norma and I are definitely going to do a Halloween row quilt.  Cher and Pat are going to join us in this endeavor---at least in part.  My Bird Brain Witches Hooray pattern arrived with their nice heavy weight muslin to trace it on to.  Norma and I both plan on a stitchery row and this was my choice of pattern.

But first, I  have to do some paper work and figure out what the heck we are going to do for lunch today.  Run an errand or two in the map dot we live near.

Then I can sew on Block 20 one of my choosing 1495 Southern Moon---appropriate, I thought.  Should find ones that are named Alabama, Illinois, Wisconsin---all the states I have lived in but don't have a bazillion pieces too.  6 inch block, after all.

Best get to it and figure out what it is that Skyler is wanting since he is sitting by the mouse and whapping me with his tail---and has been for 10 minutes now!  Get with the program, kitty mama!

oops!

 Late last week I had ordered a couple of Riviera II charm packs thinking I would either use them for summer placemats or maybe use them in some manner in my FWIS quilt----depending on the prints of course.  Some of these are less subtle than others, after all!  I had also ordered some go-with yardage called Bikini Dot in Spring Green.  The dot IS really subtle but you can see it better if you look for #4946 on the website link.

Here is what came!  Quilter's Candy Basic in what might be called Persimmon #3942.  Check the label though.

Anyway, hooray for the Connecting Threads Customer Service Representative.  The correct order is placed and she said to keep the fabric, donate it whatever.  No need to send it back even though they have instructions for doing so.  She said it costs them more to correct their error in the long run as returns go to Columbus, OH and they are based in Vancouver, WA.  I said I had a Halloween project planned so this looked like pumpkins to me and thanked her.

DJ had the same thing happen last week with a pair of overboots I had ordered on his behalf.  I messed up and entered the wrong size and did not discover my error till it was too late.  I called customer service back immediately with the order number---the CSR said she would fix it when the order came in.  She didn't and the wrong ones came.  When DJ called to correct it, they talked as though they would send a return, pick up slip for them.  Instead he got a note to keep them, donate them, but there was no need to send them back.   I am probably going to drop them in one of the donation bins the next time into town.

My error, their error--they don't want their stuff back.  Do they just write this off as the cost of doing business then?

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Norma and I put our heads together this morning and decided what we want to do for our Halloween Row quilt.  So yes, I do have a Halloween quilt in the works!    I wrote up a document just to record what we were thinking of doing at least at this point in time anyway, LOL.  Never know about us!

We both want to do some blackwork stitchery for our versions.  She has ordered a Halloween Fun pattern she tracked down on FB after finding the pictures on the page of A Quilter's Oasis and asked the pattern resource.  (Apparently there is a group that does redwork at the shop).   I like that one too but I elected to get one from Bird Brain Designs that is actually the center table of a Halloween table runner.  8 x 20 so that should work well for my needs with some filler around it and perhaps some other Halloween or Fall motifs.   We both have patterns to draw from for the other elements.  A bat from this one, a pumpkin from that---options of foundation piecing or appliqueing.  They won't be twin quilts by any means!!  Row of the month or more.  I think we will start with that twister row though since Cher, Pat, Norma and I were going to do something with our lil twister rulers anyway sometime next month.  Looking forward to it!

So far I have not even started my re-do of Crazy Anne though I certainly intended to do so yesterday.  Robert Kaufman's free patterns captured my attention.  Actually I started because I was looking for the pattern link I gave you yesterday for the Mary's Triangles thing in solids---it might be on the designer patterns though.  Still I was finding things to download--for another day.

Whirligigs was one that caught my eye since I do have a Spools block to do further down in my FWIS quilt. I like the looks of the alternate block too though. 8 pointed pinwheel but it looks kinda square they way it is sitting in the block and not so much dresden plate appearing.  HMMMM.  See if I can resize this.

Well that Crazy block is not going to get done if I don't get to sewing.  I'll be going back up tomorrow afternoon to get pictures of the quilt show and then help take it down.  Question is, will Gary let us start earlier than 5:30??