ta-da!

No quilting today either but I did get the last of the Dazzling Dog blocks done--only because I stitched almost all of it on the machine. I guess I proved to myself yesterday that yes, I could do the edge finishing and spare the fingers. The only part I hand buttonholed on any of the blocks was the curves on the flower that "Ralph" below has tucked behind the ear.

" Winston" is the monocled fellow.

And this is "Skipper"

So all 12 of the blocks are now complete but I'll set them aside till I can purchase the sashing/border fabrics at some later date. It is important for me to get those 4 and half quilts done since I may be going out of town for a week or so next month.

Since DJ's son and family were just down to see us, he does not want to make the trip back to see our family this year. That's okay---I can make other arrangements. My friend Marilyn called today and said that they will probably be heading up to the Midwest in early June to see relatives and there is room in the car. I can share a ride back to Illinois since their route takes them right past the town my youngest brother lives in. My parents are about 15 miles north of there. I'll know more by week's end. You'll know where to find me..........

Still at it

I was having so much fun with the "Dazzling Dog" blocks that I moved onto a couple more. Meet "Dan the Dane" at left-- finished up last night though it is amazing I have any fingers left. Handstitching on those ears and glasses was not easy in spots. You know how you can feel like your fingertips are bruised by the needle?

"Garcia" is at right. This time I sucked it up and did the stitching around the glasses and necklace on the machine. All the rest is by hand because I thought that those hair spikes might be too much of a challenge for my fledgling attempts. I had always thought that my hand blanket stitching looked better than my previous machine tries at it but I believe I did a passable enough job. DJ came in here to see why I wasn't sewing at breakneck speed, as I normally would be doing, LOL.


I have three more blocks to do but I will probably get back to the machine quilting tomorrow. Well, maybe part of one more as the machine is still set up for applique but then back to quilting! The snowmen and the dogs were a nice diversion though and provided the break I needed. It will be almost a week till the quilt group meets again and someone is always looking to pitch in for the binding detail---bless them all! Just means that I need to do MY part as well.

I mentioned that I had already made the "Kitty City" quilt in yesterday's post but I couldn't find where I had hidden the pic from myself. I rounded it up so here you go. It got a third place ribbon in the viewer's choice for applique category at the Gadsden Quilt Guild a few years back. DJ was upset that it didn't get a first place ribbon as he had gotten most of the patterns for me as a birthday present one year. He was always wanting to know which one I was doing next and showing more interest than usual in the process. The first place ribbon was deserved and told him that. Now, the 2nd one, I didn't think so-- it was a cross-stitched kit quilt and you could still see the blue markings. UGH

I received the next round robin box in the mail on Saturday which should be a lot of fun. Debora picked a Halloween theme and has sent a bunch of fun fabric that can be used. Nag at me a bit so I don't procrastinate till the last minute, will you? I think I have til June 2nd or 9th?

Hope you all have had a lovely Mother's Day---

anything but machine quilting

The past few days I just have NOT felt like machine quilting--so I gave myself permission not to. Like DJ often says to me "Who gave you all these jobs? Aren't you retired?" Good point. Also good to rest my aching right shoulder a bit---used to be my left one acting up. Now that one is okay and the right wants to get into the act.

So anyway, a little hand stitching to fill the time a bit. I had a good start on this August block before I set it aside a month ago. I finished it up. The color is absolutely not right in the pics --the background is a white on white that looks as close as I could find to snowflakes. The DMC floss color #798 is not purple or navy either. Pam is using purple and it looks great but mine is actually more of a primary colored blue, like the color of a hyperlink. Norma is doing these blocks as well and I think with the same color! I have to watch out though as these girls are gaining on me, not that it was a contest to get done first, LOL.

Here is the one that I finished up yesterday afternoon. I had thought that I would skip the french knots on his body but it looks a little bare. The blocks were found HERE and originally designed for machine embroidery. An online quilt group I moderate had permission to use the graphics but do them by hand. See, the color looks almost black in this one--again, not a bad choice, just not the one it actually is.

I still had time--what to do next? I sewed down a label on one of the recently turned in quilts but I sure didn't feel like binding. I thought about my "Dazzling Dog" blocks--- it is on my long ignored personal UFO list though the snowmen are on there too. Everytime I see the "Major" block on Laurie Ann's blog it makes me smile. I really should finish that quilt one of these days. I have already done the "Kitty City" one after all. Out came Prissy, the Poodle---most of the hand blanket stitching was done except for the dress and glasses. I have only four more blocks to stitch as the blocks were all prepped some time back.

I recently purchased Amy Bradley's Seasoned Quilter set from the same designer that has the detachable quilts for Christmas, Birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, 4th of July, Easter, Valentine's Day and St. Pat's. I can't wait to get started on those. Amy was generous enough to include the "Bountiful Beauties" pattern along with my order for free. Another fun pattern though I am afraid I resemble those girls a little too much.

We finally got a bit of rain yesterday along with some thunderstorms. Quite foggy this morning so I waited to go walk. Yesterday I had lost track of how many rounds I had gone so I may have overdone it a bit. I told DJ that maybe I better lay out 6 or 7 rocks in a row and then remove one with each successive round and quit when I was done if I can't keep track any better than that. I get lost in the tunes, I guess.

Well, enough prattling from me. I've cooled down enough to get in the shower and not feel like I need another one as soon as I get out. Till I fire up the blowdryer, that is. Why did I cut my hair?

In conclusion I love you, Mom

night off

Today was our quilt group meeting--just a few of us there but we got 5 quilts pinned. I was hungry for tuna macaroni salad yesterday and of course, made enough to feed an army so brought the leftovers with me to share. Theramae had some Texas sheet cake leftover from an event at her house so we had an impromptu potluck.

I even got some sewing done once reinforcements came for pinning. I realized that we have nary a bowtie quilt for these boy quilts we are gathering--that won't do at all! I had brought my 3 1/2 inch square box in case someone came with machine and was looking for a stitching project. I had 23 partially done 3D boweties by the time I left---just needed to join the center seam of the pile. I'll make more after I am finally done quilting (do I ever finish up, LOL?) and finish up the other kits in my basket while I am at it. That's the plan anyway.

I have shown the top above before but it is "done-done" now. Normally I don't mess much with quilting borders on the kids quilts--part of that keeping the cuddle factor going but these blocks were so plain that I fussed a bit--besides, it is a square quilt and easy to mark the simple egg and dart I used. It has a plain muslin back so I thought it might make it seem a little more special to the receipient.

The quilt to the right is a simple strippy quilt with some neat fabrics that Jane and Sarah (mother and daughter team). Quilts don't need to be complicated to be special. Good pro bono pattern actually.

The one below on the left is one that Theramae made for her granddaughter who loves sunflowers. She had hoped to find the red checked version of this print but I think the green is just as effective especially with the green, gold and brown prints tone on tone she used. Actually that brown might be a good choice for the substitute border I will eventually make on my fall themed row robin from last year--that ugly brown solid poly-cotton has got to go!! I can selvage the leaf appliques but that corner blocks etc will be gone once the thing is shown at the quilt show this fall.

Other than that, it seems like all I have done is walk and quilt lately. Susan had commented that quilting 8 quilts in about a week's time would be a rather ambitious undertaking. I said I would settle for half that if I could. Actually, I was working on the sixth one, Lois' BQ shown HERE, last night. I took 3 of them with me today for the binding volunteers and kept one at home for me to do. Jeanne's railfence was already done. BUT my stack is back UP to 4 as I brought two more pinned quilts home with me. LOL, two steps forward and one step back???

By the time I got home from the meeting, Pippi was sacked out on DJ's desk chair and he was off somewhere. I found a note telling me he was off trading in his car at the Pontiac dealers. HMMM, somewhere between golf and lunch out he gets the itch to look at cars?? Actually this didn't surprise me a whole lot because he had come close to getting a low mileage Taurus last week--till the salesman bought it for himself. This dealer was right on the way home and we had looked at cars there before he had bought the one he traded 2 plus years ago. It wasn't long before he came pulling up in an 2006 Pontiac G6 in candy apple red---ohhhhh, my fav color in a car. He asked me if I wanted to take it for a spin but I want him to get the "new to him" worn off first. We had already made plans to go out to lunch tomorrow so I'll get a ride in it then. He has spent a good deal of time this evening looking at the owners manual and left after dark to see what the interior lights looked like at night.

Leftovers for supper and the only thing I HAD to do tonight was give him a haircut so I have made the rounds to all the blogs on my list to see what you all have been up to. Hard to keep up sometimes.............guess that's it for today.

This quilt was hardly "off the press" from it's binding application yesterday when who popped up from wherever it was that she was hiding on the other side of the bed? Yep, giving it the old kitty butt test. The quilt full out, front and back, can be see here. Nothing fancy with quilting--just ditch work to make the squares and frames pop. I did all but the binding, label and trimming on Friday along with the quilt you see below.

This one is Aline's positive-negative Friendship Star that she was working on at the sew-in last month. Her busy schedule will not allow her to quilt right now so I volunteered. Quilt Holder was not happy but this time I had asked him right after he had sat down in his recliner. I didn't quite beat him back to the living room. "Is this a really big one again?" he says. I'll turn it over to one of the Belles to do the hand finishing.

I thought I might share some pics of what I see on the walking trail. It is looking South down the Chief Ladiga Trail into Anniston where it currently ends just past the Weaver city limits. They are working on another leg of it ; however, it may be hampered by funding that was either rescinded or never was assured to begin with. That leg will connect with the old Fort McClellan and the Amtrak station in Anniston. Eventually it will connect with the Silver Comet Trail out of Atlanta to the east. Because this was a Rails to Trails project IO often wonder if this is the same view the engineer and conductor would have seen. Which train ran through I am not entirely sure, not being a native Alabamian--I don't think I have googled far enough to find out, LOL.

This one and ones that follow were taken in our little park where we have a non-paved track. It is a bit easier on the legs and feet than the asphalt so I do most of my walking here--sometimes even a little bit on both sections just for variety. There are 6 different groupings of these bushes, 6 to 8 in a group planted amongst the pines. I am not sure what they are though so maybe one of you can tell me--maybe some type of jasmine or magnolia? I do not think that they have any fragrance. At any rate they seem to be about the only thing in bloom right now other than real magnolias starting to come out on the mature trees.

one close up

even closer

This is the normal view throughout the park--one lap is about a quarter mile. I currently go 6 but will probably be upping it to 7 next week. (You can see some of the same bushes off in the distance.) It was really humid, almost foggy as we had a tad of rain early this morning---not enough to measure. DJ said there was dust in the rain gauge and that was about it. But cloud cover keeps it cooler and the walking, more tolerable.
I am off to the kitchen to throw some Shipwreck Casserole into the crockpot for our supper. One of those "anything goes" recipes -- use what is on hand or switch out the veggies, lose the rice, whatever. Mom used to make it when we were kids but I sure don't want the oven on for two hours! Then I'll finish this half done quilt from yesterday shown HERE --yeah, it is girlie. I needed a break from boy colored stuff and this has been pinned and waiting for months. Pinned stack down to 4 from 8 and I could possibly get one more done before Tuesday--progress till I come home with a couple more to replace those, LOL! And so it goes--peeling and slicing awaits.

just trying to update the profile pic

one done-done

Well, one of the quilt stack is "done-done" anyway. Bound, labeled and finished at 9 last night. Time out to watch "My Name is Earl" and take a call from my mom. I took it with me to the nursing seminar on Wednesday and started working on it at lunch break and kept on for the afternoon session. I can't just sit --I can still listen and stitch at the same time. Had about two sides done by the time I left at 3.

This is the 2nd, no 3rd stab, at photographing it though. The quilt as you can see is wider than our usual quilts. Quilt Holder was not having much patience with my delay in getting the pic taken last night as his arms were not happy. The first shot was mainly his face and a quilt blur. The 2nd, I messed up trying to adjust the true color. I just threw it on my unmade bed to try again. I'll get a better shot at the meeting when I can hang it up but I dare not ask DJ to do the honors again.

The top and backing was sent to us by Jeanne for the Boy's Ranch. I rearranged the blocks slightly to make it more square and added a small border which was fabric donated to the quilt by Finn and then bound it with the same green used in the top and backing. I kept the quilting very simple with a green variegated thread. It has a lot of cuddle left in there though I did also ditch quilt in the horizontal linear row. I am sure to revisit that idea again on a few of these tops.

It has gotten up to the 80's in past days and no real rain chances. DJ said that the grass is already dying over the septic tank--usually we don't see that till July or August. Some parts of the county are under a burning ban and I know they had one wildfire in Gadsden on Noccululla Mountain recently that was not easy to contain--scary when you here reports of the acreage consumed in Georgia and Florida already. It makes you wonder how long before we are under a watering etc ban too if the rains don't come not that DJ and I don't already converse water. I have been waking up early in past days--today was no exception-- but when a check on the thermometer was 62 at 6 a.m. I got dressed in my walking clothes and headed out to get my walking in. Good plan!

I'm going to get setup to get some quilting done --you know where to find me. I think Aline's positive-negative friendship stars would be a fun one to start with--more blog fodder, LOL.