Thursday check in

Today's blogs are hopped and cheer led.  The laundry is done, except for folding.  Chatted with my friend Cher before she left for work----helps that she is two time zones away there!  Skyler has been treated---twice.  Husband is off to the doctor's appointment.  House to myself for an hour or two.

I got a little helper mid way through.  Good luck dealing with those socks till he vacates.

Also finished packing this stuff up to go back to DISH. There went the rest of the roll of bubble wrap I had and whatever newspaper that I had not taken to the recycle center.  Just to be ornery and because I am a little perturbed with them,  I should have gone out to the storage shed and gotten my bag of packing peanuts and filled it up. Not only do we have to run clear out to the UPS Store some 10-12 miles away to take it back but they are doing to charge us for the privilege in the end.  Say, what???  Seems to me if you wanted this stuff back YOU would be customer friendly and just let us drop it off instead of charging 17 bucks per box.  OR better yet,  come get it and the dish off the house while you are at it.  If the husband suggests changing services again in two years, I am apt to suggest dropping some of the services if the costs become prohibitive instead of going through this crap again, only Direct TV's version of crap.  Okay, rant over.

I couldn't use my cutting/pressing table even if I wanted to.  I don't see the eye doc again till the 26th and I am staying on activity restrictions on the bending, lifting deal until I get the go-ahead.  They are moving to new to them, larger building a couple of blocks away so all the surgery day mates and I were pushed back to three weeks return instead of two.  It works out okay for me as I will be going right near there on the way back from my quilt meeting.  (Two weeks would have been of week in between quilt meetings)  My Kenmore is also sitting behind the boxes but that thing weighs a ton and I would need DJ to move it at this point.  I felt bad enough about him having to rotate three of them a couple weeks ago.  He spared me the "why do you need so many machines?" question, thankfully.  Not sure of that answer but I just do and use them all for different things.  Back ups too.   Really I was hoping that DJ would want to take the boxes out to UPS after (or before) his doctor's appointment since he would be half way there but he expects me to go with him.  I assume after lunch sometime.

If I could sew or dink around in here I had come to a conclusion about a quilt project last night about 2 a.m.  Ever happen to you, where an idea you have been muddling around with suddenly had a possibility come to you from that subconscious mind?  Since at the point I was not sleeping, I almost got up to check something on the computer!  BUT I waited till a few minutes ago to come up with a link to the lyrics to the song "Bushel and a Peck".   Who knew that was from "Guys and Dolls?"  Not me apparently!  Now, why that??  Challenge fabric for guild and specifically, what to do with that Michael Miller heart stuff.  See THIS POST for more of the story.

Okay I wound up with two packets.  I know what to do with the cupcake fabric and its companion.  I have that pattern all printed off and ready to foundation piece.  Those hearts were the problem child.  My brainstorm is this:  mug rugs though up to this point I didn't want to make any.  I will applique down one or more of the hearts in one or the other or maybe even both.  AND I'll embroider some of the "Bushel and a Peck" lyrics on them.   First one might say "I love you, a bushel and peck"  2nd one, "hug around the neck"-- 3rd one, "barrel and a heap"--last one "talkin' in my sleep about you".  DJ would totally get it and has a birthday coming up at the end of April.   He could use a little mug rug on his table near his recliner.  We sing that to each other or I sing it and he chimes in.  Mom used to sing the first two lines but I didn't know the rest of the song till I met DJ.  Considering they are almost contemporaries he knows the older stuff, LOL.   That is my working idea for now----although I may change the numbers of them depending how big I make the font.   I bet no one else at guild would come up with this!!  They have their own fabric samples to play with.

For today,  it will be back to the stitching though I am making some progress on that front----

Today will be a few more squiggles in the foreground and then I am moving to the roof section on this little Victorian cottage.   My right hand was cramping up a bit when I went to bed last night so I am glad that I didn't try knitting too.   Season two of Downton Abbey to keep me company .

First a quick personal errand for me, lunch and then DJ can drag us off on that run to fulfill our leasing obligations to DISH.  Hope you are having a good day------

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.

My Sunshine invasion

After taking a few needed days off from My Sunshine, I picked it back up again after I got back from Sunday afternoon's board meeting.    The black framing rounds were e-sewn on the last remaining block on row 2 and the six blocks in row 6.  I finished up block 5 before I called it a night.

What I have done and attached is on the hanger.

Then we have the cutting station.  If I am going to take this to work on at Belles tomorrow, and I might, I need to get some of the strips cut ahead for row 3.  Get on a roll and keep going and do it in a pared down manner.  You see the log cabin ruler pressed into place.  The magnifying glass and the printout with the sticky notes are so I can isolate just one block across the row.  The pizza box is full of the strips laid out in the green side and the blue side of the logs.

The blocks with their strips---all numbered and 4 more to go.  I also opened up the pdf file and magnified it so I can follow which way the rounds start and rotate around the center square.  They are directional fabrics so I cannot just rotate the blocks on this Barn Raising set as one could normally do.  What you may not be able to see is that my sticky notes have arrows drawn on them to indicate where to stop and start the rotation.  While I needed that MORE with the black logs it is still helpful information so I don't start adding the print strips on the wrong side of the block.

My goal for today is to get this much ready of the top ready to sew, finish the last block of the 2nd row and then join the top two rows.  Then dismantle the next 6 blocks while I have decent light in the sewing room.  Some progress anyway.

And now for "something completely different"-----
last week I emptied out the books that remained on the little book shelf in the hallway that had been in that position essentially since 1997.  Look who cannot leave that spot alone!  If he thinks he is hiding, he isn't, LOL.  Maybe he just needs to add his scent to that little patch of the carpet??

We had some rain move into the area a couple times yesterday.  Earlier in the day I had questioned whether I would even be making the trip to Pell City since radar showed storms above and below us.  Which way were they moving??  They kept saying that the track at Talladega was okay and that was the general direction I was heading.  Fortunately we were done before the last NASCAR race let out so traffic was not a problem.  About  11-11:30 last night more rain literally blew in.  You could see it actually blowing up the lane south to north at angle and hear it hitting the south end of the house.  DJ said we had 1.25 in the gauge for the day so that will help the lack of rain situation a bit.

Guess that's it----quilt show pics next time out, promise!

FAB challenge---some progress

I have continued to work on the "My Sunshine" FAB challenge piece throughout the weekend and was pleased to get 4 blocks completed and attached before I quit for the evening last night.  Woohoo!  Finally got a little something I can show on the blog anyway.

But this morning I took a good look at it and realized that the 4th block of a barn raising set needed to start angling down the other direction if the chains are to be symmetrical.  Oh oh!  I knew I had directional prints at the centers.  That meant that I was going to have to watch  how the rings of color were placed.  The blocks cannot be rotated in quarter turn increments as one normally would do this set.    Here I had started ALL the black strips on the left hand vertical on all the blocks.  On closer inspection, 4th block starts on the top, 5th block on the bottom and 6th block on the top.  I caught it before I got too far in though and it wasn't all stitched together.  Minor un-sewing on the center I plan to use for the 5th and 6th.  I had a doctor's appointment so just stuff the mess in purse with a seam ripper and did it while I waited to be seen.

Here it is 2:30 or so and I am back where I was at 6:30 BUT fixed.  Well, make that a little bit ahead since the black frames are fixed on the end blocks.    That 4th block is NOT wonky---what sits behind it on the book shelf juts out so it is making it look like I messed up----AGAIN!   32 blocks to go!

I had all the colored strips cut out last week but elected to leave them as strips and cut them to size as I need them for each round, isolating one block at a time to follow the color placement around the cut panel pieces. I am liking the Marti Michell for 1 and 2 inch finished width log cabin ruler for doing this.  It is really easy to see where the length lines need to be cut as there are not cluttering lines.  Log cabins are a personal pattern favorite of mine so I can see using this again and again.   I've got tons of strips in the scrap bags!

This is how it started off life with some strips Cher included in with the panel gift.  The wider ones were cut down for this project but the red dot strip wound up in the Album blocks I was making last week.  I will feature the small panel pieces and the whacked up panel bits in the centers of the log cabins as you see above.  Even the three mountain pieces are cut apart!

I didn't get to Sisters on my Dream Trip to Oregon a few years back but I did see the Sisters peaks from the air!  Pat and her daughter were on the same flight as I was to Dallas but sitting a few seats up from me.  (We would take flights to BHM and WI respectively from there get home.) The lady that Pat was sitting with was either from Oregon or traveled there often.  She pointed the peaks out to Pat and then Pat to me.  Of course, there was Mount Hood on the flight into PDX as well.  Beautiful, just beautiful.   Maybe someday  I'll make it back that way---the dream continues.

I am hoping that I will get in a bit of a rhythm on the blocks because I would like to get the bulk of this pieced in the next two weeks time, rather than abandon another top like I did last week.  There is a quilt show this weekend and I have entries to deliver for that by mid week and the show itself is Saturday.  Other than that this is the quieter week.  Next week, not so much!

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

catching up

So what have I been up to in the creative department since my last post, you might ask?  It is my blog so I will tell you even if you DON"T ask, LOL.

I made a few more "granny square" blocks using the Blue Elephant tutorial but not following it exactly.  As I said in my last post, 8 pieces of it can be strip pieced so that is what I am doing.  Also I think from here on out I am going to call this by its original name Album Block.   BlockBase lists 8 different ones for what is a very similar block if you add a square in the smack dab middle of the block.

LOL DJ asked me why I had my pillows lying on the floor and the bed unmade in the middle of the day.  Pictures of course!  I still need to trim down the blocks.  I am shooting for 20 blocks and pairs if I can, reversing the two colors. It might make a larger than usual donation quilt but kids come in all sizes.  BUT I set it aside.

My sister caught up to me on facebook with a knitting question.  She wanted to make a baby blanket for someone using a pattern that she wanted to reduce just a bit in size.  I thought I had an answer for her but needed to verify that I was correct and the change would work.  So I drug out the knitting supplies and went to work.  I was not seeing a pattern emerge as I thought and discovered that I was not doing the yarn overs it called for correctly.  I was increasing stitches but not leaving the bigger holes that the picture showed.   I considered continuing on since I was having fun knitting!   I could tell there was a dramatic enough change in the previous rows, to my eyes anyway, so I just unraveled it.  Should I want to do this for a child I would pick a soft green or yellow rather than the leftover yarn from the replacement golf head covers that I made DJ a few years back.  I love to knit but wish I had more time to do it.

DJ's birthday is today but  we went out for lunch at Golden Corral yesterday.  He told me not to make any cake or pie for him since he knew he could get as many desserts as he wanted at the buffet.   We still have cookies left from the sew-in if he wants a homemade treat.  Actually I sort  of have plans to make him some "not a birthday" cupcakes in a week or so using this recipe for Nutella Fudge Brownie Cupcakes with Mocha Buttercream Frosting    A pal who decorates told me what I needed to get to pipe icing so I'm ready to play but down the line.   I can even do filled cupcakes with this giant syringe like thing from Wilton called Dessert Decorator Plus.  Let the fun begin!

I knew I was going to be sewing with the FABs today on the Sister's Challenge panel that Cher had sent us sometime back.  You can read about it in this post.  I had cut out my choice of pattern about a week ago but now I can talk about it, LOL,  Most of the fabric was purchased with birthday money from the Belles and DJ so I am happy to have the chance to put it to use.

I didn't think out of the box too much here.  I chose the My Sunshine pattern by Kathy Deggendorfer who designed the fabrics for In the Beginning Fabrics.  We had to use the panel in some manner so I elected to cut the little animal squares into 4 1/2 inch squares and then made cheesecloth of the larger panel.  I bought a 2nd panel so I could get more blocks out of it, or 3 repeats of the 8 main motifs that way and augment it with other sections of the panel and a companion floral.   The squares of the panel were not quite square so I framed them with black as the first rounds of the log cabin.  I felt it needed something like that since there is so much color and detail in the block centers that a bit of separation would help.  One side of the block is blue and the other essentially green.  Each log will finish at 1 inch for a 12 inch block.  The quilt will be about 90 inches square.

Here is what it looks like in my work space.  Messy but the information I need at my fingertips.   I plan on keeping the 2nd panel intact to put on the back of the quilt.  At this point I am approximately 1/4 of the way done since I will be doing 4 strips on either side of the centers.  One thing I did not consider when I started this:  the centers are directional prints.  I will not be able to rotate the block for the traditional Barn Raising set.  I will have to be very careful to not have birds flying upside down, rivers floating backwards and mountains upside down.   Oh, I can do it correctly but need to be watchful and follow the drawing across the row.  I have the duplicate centers separated out in groups so will just do them one at a time rather than chain them as shown in the pattern.  Also I prefer to cut them to size so they do not get all wonky and off square.  I have tried it the other way and was not happy with the results.

I won't have much to show for my efforts for a few days anyway.  Norma was working on something using a Sidelights pattern for hers but rearranging things.  Pat some 9 patches and Cher, some lettering while Pam was considering treating as though she was looking out the scene from a window.  I'll be anxious to see how our challenge pieces turn out!

And sew it goes-----

piddling

I have been falling down on the "goals"/day's plans the last couple of days---mostly piddling.

I had gone out to see one of my quilting/FB pals on Thursday morning and enjoyed both the drive over (through the back of the old Fort McClellan) AND the visit. In spite of her only being a week postop at that point we went upstairs to see her wonderful sewing space that her husband had carved out of some of the attic space! What I wouldn't give to have cupboards and a walk in storage closet! Bev showed me some of the things she was working on. She also knew that I was looking to put a flower or something on my completed purse/backpack. She lent me her little yo-yo maker for that basket block embellishment.

Now, I have never used my extra large Clover yo-yo maker yet though I have had thoughts of slowly making some over time.  A recent quilting magazine showed a quilt from Terry Atkinson, one of my all time fav designers, with rows of yo yo's on a teal background.  I even have a small heart yo-yo that came in the 1st place prize basket for the quilt show in TN but never had it out of the package yet.  But I have some things that need the embellishment, all the sudden!

Bev had recently shown us how to do a dimensional flower and I thought that was what I was going to do.  Then she started sending me links to video's on how to use the Clover deal.   Oh oh!  I was primed to follow along now.   One video hooked 6 yo-yo's or as she called them, Suffolk puffs,  together to form a flower that was adorable!

I would settle for just getting ONE made properly!  The first attempt I cut the seam allowance too small and my stitching was not holding it down enough.  2nd attempt, I actually sewed it to the base following the wrong holes around the edge.  3rd time was a charm.

After all that messing around, I wondered if doing the covered button was going to be as big an adventure.   Nothing to worry about there with those little pushers and holders.  Since I can see some sheen with the camera flash behind the fabric, I wonder if I should have interfaced it or something???    The picture shows the finished product.  The purple matches the interior of the purse and the zipped pocket linings.

Looking at the fabric leftovers from the purse, I still had interfaced pieces and searched around for my wonder wallet pattern.  I have another wallet pattern around here somewhere but could not lay hands on it---that led to a notebook search later but it still has not turned up leading me to think I may have loaned it out???  While I listened to the Cardinal-Pirates game last night I whipped this up.  Pam makes hers with the elastic band around them rather than velcro and a button so I did the same using hers for an example but not before basting the elastic down in the wrong spot, LOL.   I do carry two wonder wallets though as I keep the grocery money separately in the 2nd.  It will help that they look totally different.

Two things though----I need to get some 1/4 inch elastic the next time at the store and I hate decor-bond.  Not only was it hard to get to adhere to the fabric (which I had pre-washed for a change) but it is too heavy and too stiff.  Heavy weight interfacing will do for me but not decor-bond.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's plan:  Cher's FAB challenge using the Sister's panel seen in this post .  We are meeting next Saturday to sew on this so I really, really need to cut out my stuff to kit it up for sewing day.  I think Cher okay'd some preliminary sewing too but that won't happen till I cut!  I have a small errand to run and then I AM cutting and kitting.  Enough of this goofing around, LOL.

meeting wrap

We had a good group yesterday at our Bama Belles meeting. With the holiday layoff it seemed as though some of us had not been together in ages! A few that have had schedule conflicts in recent months WERE with us including one gal who had moved up to TN. She and her husband were back in the area for a few days (house has not sold yet) and their visit coincided with our meeting.

We pinned up 7 quilts and 7 are about to be turned in---3 need labels so Beverly is taking care of two of them and Betsy will do the honors on her own. I realized when I was posting the following pictures that I didn't get a picture of her cowboy quilt but I will! Meanwhile the stack of ready to be delivered ones has grown a bit higher.  Said pile, last seen HERE, is even with the top of the armoire from the floor on up!  Lois had 3, I had two while Bev and Linda C has one.  Thanks to Teresa for seaming up the back for that last one!  I was helping someone square up some embroidery blocks and explaining how to do pre-sashing so I was no help in pinning the larger of my two tops.  The girls didn't care as there was plenty of help and went ahead with out me----thanks for that too!  Jane always is such a help as a binding volunteer so I can move on to the next quilt.  I appreciate them all.

Linda C brought several totes of scrap fabrics with her to share along with some patterns and such.  It was pretty much spread out over two of the 5 foot tables at the meeting spot so several of the girls were going "shopping" over there.  I guess the tote is staying with the remainders.  Marilyn also had some backing yardage to share as she is in the process of cleaning and organizing her sewing space.  I told the girls that at the next meeting I intend for us to go through the two fabric bins and decide what goes and what stays as we  just don't have room to store too much of it.  We just keep piling on more!!  It might help to know what sizes pieces we have and label it with a tag and hang it in some cases.  Other smaller bits can probably be used for blocks or cut into charms/strips etc.    What we don't want/won't use can go to another quilt group, someone in the group or the Salvation Army.  To be truthful, I am not even sure what exactly is in the bottom bin that is hard to get at in the stack.   That just tells me we don't need it if it hasn't seen the light of day for a couple years.

I have more group related tasks on my list, meaning probably no sewing again but that's okay.   We are almost out of batting and I have several piles of cutaways to seam which will be fine for some of my tops wider than the standard 48 width we buy.  Some paper pushing duties too.  Once I get that room clutter out of here then I can entertain the idea of doing something more creative.

So you probably are more interested in seeing the quilts than reading my prattling on, LOL.  Here we go!

Bev S.  Pineapple Blossom----I think she likes that block!  This was one of two tops she has made with it plus a pile of blocks at the sew-in too.  One top did not come with her this trip.

Linda C's Square in a Square.   One that I quilted in December during the quilting blitz.  Jane had finished the binding.

Linda C  not sure what I called this for the document----Double 4 patch Strippie maybe???  Again, another of the tops I quilted during the December blitz.  Jane did the binding.

Beverly H---Scrappy Rails.  Isn't it happy and bright?  Love the scrappy binding too.

Beverly H.  Romance Challenge.  I may have taken the picture of this before but it went back home with her to finish the labeling (and binding?).  Block is Patience Corner and Beverly took care not to decapitate any of the little figures from the challenge fabric.

Linda C.  Jacob's Elevator  (Trudie Hughes pattern).  She has this one professional quilted.

Linda C.  This one goes by several names but when it came on my horizon back in 99-00,  it was called Rainy Day Satisfaction.  No pattern really needed.  You can cut the center squares any size you want them to be.  Good two color quilt that is not labor intensive.

That's it for now------hope you have a good day.

one of THOSE nights

I don't think that today is going to be a sewing day around here. I have a feeling that my efforts would lead to more "reverse sewing" or I would be primed for a rotary cutter nick or an attempt at sewing through my finger. Oh, tell me that doesn't happen at YOUR house too!

I am definitely not at the top of my game since I could neither get to sleep till after 1 a.m. and have been awake since 4: 15. Finally I bailed at 5 and fired up the computer. It is NOT that I have a lot on my mind and that was interfering with my sleep. I certainly was tired enough at 9 or so to have gone to sleep if it had been dark, cool and quiet around here. Well, cool and dark I could manage---quiet, no. Not with a small house and a husband who is a candidate for a hearing aid. I see a nap on the horizon later today.

So what is on the horizon for me?  Well, I want to back up my computer files but first all these saved files---and that is not near all of them----need to be put into their basic categories before I do that.   It also helps to remind me of just what is in there or delete any dupes or the ones that no longer have as much appeal.  Some will  just go in that big catch all "misc, uncategorized" for later sorting if they are mixed patterned quilt.

I am sorta looking for a few things as I do this:

First off,  I am considering a Bama Belles challenge consisting of me picking a pattern and then asking them to interpret it with their own fabric this year.  That would be a new twist.  We have done the all the same fabric ones several times.  We did a scrappy challenge last year.   Lord knows,  THAT could be explored some more and some new ideas on how to use those cut strips and squares is always good.    I have a few ideas tucked away if we go that route or it could be a choice for the spring sew date.

Second, my dear FAB pal Pam and her husband lost their long time Kitty Companion around Thanksgiving.  They had taken Akira in when he could no longer stay with his kitty daddy (their son) Ryan  .I know how hard that is to go through losing a long time treasured furry family member. when our Pippi passed away almost 4 years ago. It still hurts. Pam and I made memorial quilts for her; mine is seen in THIS POST.   I had pulled some possible fabrics the other day for this purpose but am not quite sure of a pattern.  I know I have a copy of that Rose Garden or whatever I used but still cannot come up with its proper name!!   Yeah there are two grouping there.  One would also be in honor of Chico the neighborhood cat who has gone missing.  While we are still hopeful that Skyler's kitty buddy may show up, it is also possible that he won't after this much time passing.  (Glynda said they had looked everywhere on the property as they have about 30 acres, some timber with a creek running through it.)    

Lastly, some time back Cher had sent a packet to each of the FABS  with this panel from the 2011 Sister's Quilt show and some of the go with's.  The fabric line is "My Sunshine" by Kathy Deggendorfer for "In the Beginning".  No date has been firmed up for us to work on this but she was issuing a challenge for the 5 of us to make a quilt from at least the panel piece.  I was teasing her recently that this might just be what we do for her THIS year birthday since we didn't sew last year on her FAB PAR-TAY date.  

I had bought some of the fabric line with my birthday money from the Belles. I have a good idea of what I am going to do.  However, as I so often say "I reserve the right to change my mind, LOL".  I am a quilter, after all and have one friend  in particular who sends me pattern idea links to tempt me.  Since she gave this to us, I have been looking at things that feature panels or large focus pieces and considering them as possibilities.  That project has an idea folder set up too!  And some of those files in my huge "quilt files and pdfs" folder go in said folder.

To the right:  what I do when I cannot sleep.   I own two very similar patterns----Criss-Cross Quilt from the free quilt patterns info site (not free) and Prairie Window from QuiltWoman and designer Anne Wiens.  I have done a couple tops using the Prairie Window. Easiest way to find them would probably be to look in the 2011 flimsies and finishes tabs on my blog site proper, not a feed.    Okay, I own the patterns so why did I draw it up, you might ask?    Well, neither pattern is perfect for WTIL needs.  We shoot for around 40 x 60 though kids come in all sizes.  Prairie Window has wider rail sections and just looks a bit "clunky" to me.  The lap size is too big and the baby quilt finishes at the odd (to me) size of 44 x 51---too wide and too short, for WTIL range.    Criss-Cross?  It is shown as a square quilt and I prefer rectangular ones when possible.  I drew it up in EQ, did the calculations and then wrote up some cutting instructions for me.  

I also have some other paper piddling to do today. Primarily I need to write up some minutes for the executive board meeting from guild before my notes get cold but there is some other set aside mail to deal with as well.  I get busy sewing and if something does not require my immediate attention, it stacks for a few days, LOL.  

It has already been a busy week and it just got started!   Tonight, of course, we will be rooting on Alabama in the BCS championship football game.  ROLL TIDE!   Let's have a good game and no injuries, boys.  Tomorrow is Bama Belles day.  Some packing up involved there.  I'll need to be sure to pack my camera (and spare battery this time!!)  That stack of quilts needs to be delivered at some point.  Saturday I am back over to Pell City for regular guild meeting.  Something tells me I am not going to get a whole lot of sewing done this week----but that's okay too.  I outdid myself last week, LOL.

It is staying fairly warm today with a lot of cloud cover but I can toss some burgers on the grill for lunch. Best get off the computer and take care of that!  Thanks for stopping by----------

WIP no more

Another finish to flimsy. Not the best picture perhaps as I had to turn on the overhead light and then I got a nice shadow from the entertainment center but no matter.......top is done. The backing will be the same as the cornerstones as I have plenty of it, thanks to my mom.

I am going to seam the binding, press and roll it and then vacuum up the paper bits off the floor. Actually considering that most of these blocks were pieced to pages from an old phone book you would think it would be more of a mess in here. I was fortunate enough to get most of it removed intact and dumped into the trash collector hanging from the sewing table. BUT I have a box fan at floor level trying to disperse the cooled a/c air and probably fluttered a bit of paper around. It has looked far worse in the past.

Probably broke 4 needles on this project which probably a record for me considering it is a small quilt. This machine definitely does not like pins or I just had a knack for hitting them dead on. Now I need to change it again just because I was stitching paper with it. Way it goes.

Tomorrow, Prairie Stroll and see how far I get on those blocks.

unintended net break

 It is one thing to take some planned time off from blogging or your computer. That is not what happened in my case. I've got the pictures to show you why I was offline. First let me say, I know that this is so minor compared to what others went thru with the tornadoes two months ago. I am not complaining---it could have been worse---but relaying the story. 

DJ and I had just sat down to a bowl of homemade vegetable beef soup on Friday evening. As has happened fairly often this month, our area was under a severe thunderstorm watch/warning situation. It was getting darker and windy-er by the minute. A few bites in and off went the power and out came the candles. I don't know that I have ever eaten soup by candle light so I was just hoping that I didn't end up wearing more than I was ingesting, LOL.

About twenty minutes later our power came back on but the neighbor woman was knocking on the door. There is a tree limb from her tree in the back yard on our power line, cable etc. I don't know if you can see it or not, with the picture being so dark but that upright line in the middle of the picture above is the pole that is situated right on the property line. The other pole you see in the extreme right is across the road at the house you see in the distance. Back to the story..........

She had no power, no phone to call in the outage, etc. DJ's mind automatically leapt to the last time this happened, 5 years ago. (I probably even have a picture of it on here.) Why the tree assassin people did not cut half of this tree off, I do not know! They sure annilated many others around here. DJ said it was because it was in someone's back easement and they didn't want to drive their trucks back there. He may be right but there are a couple more limbs that come down and do this again---at 250 a pop and a 500 deductible on our house insurance so that is no help with the expenses. Again, he asks "what next?"

So anyway, the weight of the tree limb was pulling on our stand pipe. DJ was worried that it would break it off, tear up our roof and all that. We have cable internet and use Vonage for our phone---that is, when it is intact we do, LOL. The cable is broken off in all this mess you see in the picture to the right.

I was able to use my cell phone to get through to the power company on Stacy's behalf. I also got thru to the cable company but the out of state office. Typically, all bad repair things always happen on the weekend or when offices are closed, right?? We helped her out by stashing her things from the freezer into our chest freezer and found some refrigerator space so her food would be salvaged as well. She called her family to come get her so she didn't have to stay in a dark, hot house overnight.

Here you see the stand pipe bending over. The power company came in the wee small hours of Saturday morning to cut the limb free from the wire and get the neighbor powered up. This relieved a lot of the pressure on the line and kept this from bending clear over or snapping off.

Fast forward to Monday----still no cable guy, so still no phone, no internet. I was waiting and keeping the cell phone on my person at all times and charged up. I was promised that I was still "on the list" by the cable company. I was back up and running about 5 p.m., almost 72 hours without service. (and a 20 buck credit off my bill after the 3rd phone call reaching the local office, finally. ) Thank you, Mr. Cable Guy! He pulled out and the electrician guy pulls in to give us an estimate on what he will charge to fix the stand pipe.

Again, this is so minor compared to others without power, running water, no phone etc, no roof over their head. I did have a cell to use even if I missed being online. One more day and I would have gone into town to use the computers at the library. My biggest problem might have been my husband's impatience to have the phone back in service. I knew that I had done everything I could to get the cable guy out here. I was not the only one with this problem. The power company said they had about 35,000 people without power in a multi county area with that round of tstorms. Cable and the phone company, probably the same thing. We were guessing straight line winds, this time around?

Monday morning DJ used the cell to schedule the Power Company to be here on Thursday morning along with the electrician to repair the stand pipe. It does not appear that the shingles were damaged from down the ground anyway The neighbor's step-dad came and cut the tree limb into more manageable pieces but it is still on the ground on our property. We are still under a burning ban so I don't know if they will haul it away or what. DJ noticed last evening that there is another limb split on another of their trees but that one is actually planted right on the property line. We know it is theirs as the deceased home owner told us she planted all three of them from volunteers and nurtured them over the years. I am not even sure what kind of trees they are but none of them is in good shape.

The weather this year has been quite unusual for us. Something I read in the Sunday Anniston Star from Shane Harris, one of the extension agents for the Alabama Cooperative Extension System probably described this best in his gardening column. (He was talking about how it is hurting home grown tomatoes). He wrote "The first half of 2011 will be remembered as a time of crazy and weird weather. First was snow and ice in January. Then there was a very early spring in March, followed by record deadly tornados in late April. In late May, we had several days of very cool coat weather and frosts. Suddenly, the pendulum swung the other way, and June brought very dry conditions and extreme heat as if it was already August. Who knows what the next six months will be like?"

Got me but let's just say, La Nina was not a very nice girl!

Read more: Anniston Star - On Gardening Weird weather hurting home grown tomatoes

The next day's round of storms brought quarter sized hail. This morning's, just a little rain. Skyler is spending a good bit of time hiding under the bed with the alert radio goes off and the thunder boomers start. One bright spot, is that we are catching up with our rainfall totals a bit more. The grass is back and green from its earlier frying.

In the meantime, I did a little embroidery and read a couple of books. Sunday afternoon, parts of Monday, this morning, I worked on this Puss in the Corner or 4=9 uneven nine patch, as Billie Lauder would call it. (I am using her technique from her Quick Quilt Tricks booklet. )

I have a pile of blocks ready to add the last cut strip to them stacked by the machine. To keep from getting the sequence "messed up" and to keep my interest up, I did one row of blocks at a time and attached them. It is conceivable that I could have the top done or near done by days end if I wanted to push it. This one counts toward another Belles Scrap challenge tops for 2011. So does the diagonal 4 patch chain you see in the printout by the machine but I only have 2 rows of it completed (hanging under the PIC)

But in some ways, I really do not feel like doing much. You see, I have been having some balance issues again for the last two weeks almost. BPPV to use the medical name for it--benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. I wish it would go away like it has before but I guess that is the "paroxysmal" part of the deal. This time just turning my head or bending over is enough to set me off, rolling over in bed---ugh. I can't be driving and riding in the car is not any better, in fact maybe worse. Hills, curves and light strobing between the trees----not good. This has kept me pretty close to hearth and home especially if I have to take some meds for it.

I missed going out to the sewing date last Friday. Betsy said that the plans had changed for Ben's QOV anyway---he has one from another source apparently. We will make him one once he is home from the rehab facility, I guess. I can hang on to the blocks or use them in one of the veteran's quilts or the next QOV. I am also missing our field trip today to a quilt shop in Mableton, GA. :-(

We all have physical problems and such. I try not to dwell on this. If this is how life is going to be, I best adjust and get on with it. Thanks for hanging in---------

checking in

LOL, this post will not fit either the design wall Monday or WIP Weds protocols. I have been busy here in the sewing room since I last posted but just don't have a whole lot I can show you.

The base for the "In Seasons" Spring piece was sewn. Machine applique was done on the FAB birthday piece with the deadline coming up by month's end. February JATH QOM is stalled out for now. I may jump ahead to March and finish February up later since this month is half gone now. For now the January snow man is still hanging and I'm cool with that.

Saturday I spent a big part of the day cutting my way through a stuffed to the brim grocery bag of scraps for the Belles scrappy challenge. My bag(s) contained a stack of some yardage that I didn't want to slice down yet as there were some piecing possibilities for some of it so I attacked the true scrap stuff. You know the drill--whatever you can squeeze out of the piece.

It turned out to be: 3 inch squares for an existing project in the storage drawers, 2.5 inch squares and strips, 2 inch x 3.5 and 5 inch for other scrappy projects and 2 inch strips. I also cut 5 inch squares if I could get them out and "true" strings--1 1/2 and up strips. In the end I got the stuffed grocery bag cut and contained in a 13 x 7 x 4 shoe box styled container. At least I have a better idea of what I have to work with now and can proceed with a couple of ideas for it over time. Actually you can see a bit of one of those ideas in the picture below---hanging on the hook above my work space for inspiration, LOL.

Here is the aforementioned FAB piece ready to quilt. Batting was pieced and I managed to pin it here at home. I did not think I had enough 505 on hand to spray baste it but this worked out okay since the piece is long but narrow. I did the "honors" on it yesterday but a search for thread to match the binding will continue today. (It isn't green and it isn't blue so nothing I have on hand will really work---odd color!)

In between I did a little of the redwork cornerstones stitching on my long time Bird Brain Santa project. I think I have 7 of those itty bitty motifs done now---13 to go??

Sunday DJ awoke about 0515 to the furnace making some racket and then a hot, burning smell. The whole unit had be replaced almost 10 years exactly 10 years ago. To complaints about "what next?" and "why does stuff like this always happen on the weekend?" we shut it off. No way was there anyone who was going to come out on a Sunday but he made the call to the answering service anyway.

Thankfully the house remained fairly warm as the outside temps hit the high 50's. We did okay till Sunday early morning hours but in bed, under covers, it was fairly cozy. The guy from the heating/air conditioning firm came about 930 Monday. He replaced the burnt out starting capacitor and removed a small sponge that had managed to get into the blower wheel. We don't have a clue how that got in there as 1) we don't own any sponges like that 2) he never used one around the grate in the first place. Weird! Hey, maybe those ants that shorted out the a/c part of the unit a few years back drug it in with them??

We didn't do anything special for Valentine's Day. Our anniversary in late January is far more important to us and that is what we chose to celebrate. When we were still single, yeah, cards were exchanged, flowers given and special dinner out. We just did all that about two weeks ago!

Today's plan: thread hunt shopping run and hand finishing binding. Maybe some more of it after this project is done too. I really, really want that stack on the armoire dealt with, once and for all. Two quilts are waiting for binding finish---that twin/lap sized Christmas log cabin which I have at least started and my queen sized Daisy Chain. And if I don't want to bind or my fingers need a rest, there are two smaller tops to quilt and 7 blocks of a full sized one to finish quilting. I will be due a BIG reward project when all that is done! I will have the illusion of being caught up anyway, if only I don't think about the tops waiting to be pinned in my closet, LOL.

THX for stopping by and hope you have a wonderful day in whatever you chose to do--------

WIP Weds, wk #4

My focus today---cutting and specifically, cutting for the February Joined at the Hip QOM. If you try the link, ctrl+F "BU2" and click on the image.

I started cutting and then a little kitty inspector popped up to see what he could do to "help". The measuring tape whipping around may have attracted him since it looks like one giant string to him. Cutting instructions hanging at eye level to guide me along.

The stripe is some I over-dyed along with the jumbo rick-rack and a red the pattern calls for. The stripe is part of the sashing between heart blocks. I drew it up in EQ to foundation piece since the red piece that goes between the stripe pieces finishes at 1/2 inch. I decided to cut up what remains to use for bias binding and the hanging loops.







The rest of the fabric to be used, waiting. If I had to iron it, I don't want it all "kitty tested" before I am ready to cut! Pull from the stash where possible though I did purchase the soft green background and one fat quarter of a red that may work in the mix.






And pictured is what it should sorta look like. I have put the patterns in their own notebook for quick referral. See the cute rabbit for March?

Once I am done cutting this I will prep the FAB challenge bday project as well. The plan is to sew/applique both this week and then switch over to quilting mode next week. Hopefully I will be able to continue on to the 2 1/2personal projects that remain atop my dresser after that.

Also the WTIL list bunch is planning on having a sewing weekend Feb 5th and 6th. I will need to cut and kit a project for that if I don't pull something from the shelf or UFO drawers. I am leaning towards a Jewel Box top from fabrics I have had pulled for some time. I've made a couple before but not since I have been blogging. Thangles or triangles on a roll will help there.

That should be enough cutting for one day, don't you think??

Of course I am itching to cut that stuff in my challenge bags but it will have to wait. I sorted thru the bags last night and now have a handle on what is in there and what needs to be done to prep it. Right now I am leaning towards a couple of Miss Rosie Quilt Company patterns---Grandma's Scrap Bag or version two of Ashcombe for some of the strips I found in the bag(s). Click on the link; ctrl+F and type in the pattern name and it will take you to link and then a picture or you may have to use the view pattern link once you are in the right year and season the pattern was released. I already have some of the components for a GSB cut and waiting. HERE is a nice scrappy, donation sized one that my mom made a few years back.

BUT there is a good bit of yardage in there that would work up nicely into some of the Quiltwoman.com panel type designs---right angles, prairie window, craftsman maybe?? It will be interesting to see just how many quilts I can find hiding in those bags when you add in my stash! Other stuff is more suited to blocks--some nice purples for butterflies maybe. Fun, challenging and get those creative juices working! Visions of quilts dancing in my head..............

Thanks for stopping by------

Next challenge

The Bama Belles got to meet today though last week I was beginning to wonder if we might be in for another snowed out/iced up meeting day. It has poured rain all day but the temps stayed up so far. They were calling for 1/2 to 2 inches of snow later tonight unless that is upgraded on the news tonight.

With Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years we don't have a work type meeting for almost two months time. We had a good turn out today in spite of the weather and were thrilled to have 3 of our friends who cannot come very often, join us "regulars". It is always fun to see what others are working on and catch up. I had quilt pictures to take, patterns to file, pictures to file but that often happens. Janet and Ada helped me un-box our batting and get it rolled up on the cardboard tube which needed to be done. Oh, the quilts turned in today have already been featured here so I won't post them this time.

Because I am trying to get caught up at home, I left all of my 6 donation tops at home along with the 3 personal projects that will need pinned at some point. They had plenty of hands on deck to pin the ones that did get done but they were not coming home with me!

So what is with those bags?? Well, after we had our last challenge reveal featuring the "Romance" fabric I told the group that I no longer had any more donated yardage to use for the challenge. Did they want me to purchase something for the next one or did they want to go another route? After some discussion, it kind of evolved that we should do a scrap bag challenge. Bring a grocery bag of scraps, fats, strips, yardage, whatever to share. Lois, our scrap queen is about up to her eyeballs in scraps, so she would start out the bags and we would each add stuff to it. Then we all grab a bag BUT no going thru them before you pick or swapping out pieces with another bag either! Taking what you get and finding a use for it IS the challenge. One of the girls said that was okay but I wouldn't know what they would do once they got out to the car----point taken, LOL. See how they listen to me??

Other than what is right on top I don't have a clue what is my bags. Yeah, I have two of them. There are two left in case someone who was not present wants to get in on the fun. The only rule was make a donation quilt from the contents, more if you want. There are no rules about having to use a bit of each and every piece. Add as much as you want from your own stash. Go for it! We decided if you absolutely cannot use a piece, don't toss it. We can either re-circulate it down the line or donate to another group that does donation quilt work. Should be interesting and we will all be looking for scrappy quilt patterns. I hope to combine some of this stuff with my PIF challenge fabric and meet more than one objective.

Tomorrow is DJ's and my 12th anniversary. See what he had waiting for me when I came home? Atta boy points for the hubby! We will go out to eat tomorrow night at a local catfish restaurant for their January "riverboat" special. I just hope we don't get any of that snow or freezing temps!

Thanks for stopping by-------------

#3 of 11

Just finished my #3 top in the 11n11 challenge plus fulfilled one of my PIF challenge quilts. Makes me wonder how many other quilts are hiding in my stash but I know the impetus was that yard of stripe that I didn't have available to me before.

Not sure what I will do tomorrow in the creative department. I would really like to work on the February Joined at the Hip Button Up (look for BU 2) but I am waiting on some background fabric. I over-dyed some of the fabrics and jumbo rick rack that I DO have here this morning. I will pull the rosy pinky reds for the hearts in anticipation of a start anyway.

Maybe some hand work rather than be hunched up over the machine? That might be a good break.



I couldn't resist snapping Skyler's picture this afternoon as he slept in his window seat here in the sewing room with me. Little cutie patootie enjoying the sun, paw thrown over his face.

You might be able to see from the pic that the snow is basically gone in the front yard. If we hit the 50's as they are predicting this weekend, the remaining bits of icy stuff and piled up snow will probably be gone as well.

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

next up

After I posted last night about what I might do next my eye kept wondering to a piece of the "Pay It Forward" (PIF) challenge fabric. What did I have that might work with that stripe? LOL, it sort of reminds me a pair of bell bottom pants I had back in the late 60's.

I only have a yard of it so I needed to do a little math to see if could squeeze what I needed out of it. That plan started with what size background squares I needed to cut. EQ to the rescue! You can probably see my scribble notes on the printout to aid in cutting.

I could not match the yellow but what worked was the leftover border fabric from my big bargello bed quilt. It is a creamy yellow background with brighter yellow flower and the same colored green leaf. Not ideal maybe but it would work plus I had enough of it---31 x 108 long piece.

The green in the stripe is pretty subtle esp from a few feet away. Too bad I goofed up and cut up most of that green into binding for Bridge Creek Blossom. I haven't decided for sure if I want that blue border or the green border fabric for binding yet but leaning toward blue. See how I wind up with lots of binding on storage?? Anyway, that left the denim blue or the pink-y red.

A huntin' I went. Amazingly I found the perfect red mixed in the mid to darker blue basket, not where it really belongs. It almost looks like someone tried to dye it and is only 36 wide. It should be fine for those cornerstones and little quarter square triangles that will be needed. My printout page copied from my quilt bible Fon's and Porter's Quilter's Complete Guide to the rescue. That and another cheat sheet on how many squares in a strip and strips in a yard hang off the pegboard for quick consultation, always!


This might not be the world's most attractive quilt but it should work. Two challenges met: to use the PIF fabric for a donation quilt and a personal challenge to use the stash when possible. As you can see, I cut it out this morning after living with my decisions over night. The photo at right shows you were I am headed. Stripe fabrics work great for these though the ideal would be to use strings or piece it in some manner. I was stash busting on that long ago donated one too. I have done it both ways in the past. Once I even cut the stripes the "wrong" directions and it made it look totally different! It is doubtful that I will border the present one as all that is left is that pink-y red that I may be able to use up on the back. As printed, it will be in the WTIL size range.

So after lunch, I'll piece the backing and binding(s) for Bridge Creek Blossom and start on the RR Crossing. So far it has been a jammie day with the morning sneaking away in pursuit of my hobby and obsession. Shower time and get dressed by lunch!

Design Wall Monday

Well, make that design "table" instead? And more like a WIP judging from the pile on the ironing surface ready to be pressed if you want to be more accurate. That and a pile of binding for three other projects soon to be joined with more for this one, LOL.

This is #1 towards my goal of 11 n 11 donation quilt projects. BQ2 from Debbie Bowles at Maple Island Quilts. I have a made a few plain BQ's in the past but never this pattern, till now. I see from the website that she has a BQ3 now in a wonky version---not sure that I will "bite" though. She shows two sizes of blocks---18 inch and 9 but I scaled mine down in EQ to an 8 inch finished block to accommodate a pile of cut 5 1/2 inch squares.

The green fabric is one that we used for the group's 2008 challenge quilts---shown
HERE. As the group's leader I ended up with the leftovers to come up with another use for them though I already made a Jungle Nine Patch and a Puss in the Corners with my own. I still have 25 more green squares left but used 35 in the BQ. I'll think of something--- Warm Wishes maybe?? The fabric that keeps on giving, LOL. I swear that it multiplies over night like gremlins.

Break time is over. If I want to get these blocks into a flimsy by day's end, I best be getting back to the machine. As planned I DID get all the machine button hole embroidery done on Winter and the January JATH BOM so either of those will be ready for basting and quilting. Make a donation top and back to the "rewards" project---that's the action plan for 2011, after all!