Happy Halloween! No sewing going on today and just a bit yesterday.

I had planned to get back to work on the toad BQ that I showed you in my last post but with it being errand day I only got around to seaming a quilt back, making another quilt's worth of binding and then pressing binding for 4 quilts.

Jane and Sarah had dropped the quilt show entries off so those needed to go back up into the closet in some semblance of order. I mentioned that I was going to go over this morning to pin the tops that I will be sending up to TN and they offered to come help. Not going to turn that down--we got four tops pinned leaving three in my stack to pin at our next meeting. Or I'll go over sooner should I run out of anything to do before the 14th, LOL--not likely!

DJ came by the meeting place on his way back from golf to see how much longer I might be working---translation: go to Cici's for lunch or go home for leftovers. Who can time things like that? I told him to go out to eat. When we finished sooner than I thought, I did head over to the restaurant but I think I must have missed him by about 10 minutes. Oh well, I get to see his smiling face across the table often enough.

I did need to go out to Hobby Lobby though before I came home. The supply of muslin at the church was depleted as well as my own personal stash of it. We like to use stuff in the donation bin when we can for a "fun" back but that is not always possible when a top is oversized, wrong color etc. I prefer the Roc-lon stuff because it all goes together and the leftovers/cutaways can be used for piecing. Armed with a 40% off coupon, I found a 50 yard bolt of 36 wide (would have preferred the 44 but they only had it in bleached and I wanted natural). I didn't have to have the clerk measure it off and got it the whole thing for $31 and change. For my own personal purchase, it was best to let them order me a bolt and just buy a few yards for the time being. Dropped the bolt off on the way home, ran a couple more errands and back home again.

Since I don't have anything further along with my own piecing, here are a couple from the quilt show last weekend. I love doing embroidery and thought the child's redwork quilt was so sweet. This little monkey was a stitch!! I don't know if you can tell but the monkey on top has big red pompoms placed in a strategic spot across the bodice. A fun little quilt--nice and bright.

The other brightly colored on at left is a top that Finn sent us for the kids earlier this summer that I quilted earlier in the month. Sarah had been working on binding it at the sew-in. It is now finished so DJ got pressed into being quilt holder when he helped cart things in. Thanks, Finn! One of the boys will love this!

We don't expect any trick or treaters tonight. The neighborhood kids are big enough as are the grandkids of the couple two houses down. They are having a cookout on Saturday night and invited us to come down for chili, hot dogs and toasted marshmallows. I had run into Bob and Gwen at the grocery store yesterday with some industrial sized cans of beans, etc. DJ asked if the other families on the lane are coming too or they just asked us because I was standing there. Don't know and I am not going to second guess it either. I'll make a cake to share, show up at 6 and be glad for the invitation to join them and their family.

Well, I'm off to wind some bobbins and do some zoom lines on those Snuggle Ups.

a little of this and that

A little bit of sewing going on today. Last night I went on a treasure hunt for backing fabric for those two Snuggle Up tops---this is where having some stash fabrics around comes in very handy! I found a cute dinosaur print for one and another a fun star fabric that just needed to be seamed. Got the binding fabric sewn but not pressed.

I also cut out a BQ top using this cool toad fabric from Finn. There was not a lot of the fabric and it needed a pattern that would not require cutting it in little bitty pieces or you would lose the cute motifs of the toads. I had gotten this pattern after seeing it on Norma's blog earlier this summer. You may recall that she spotted it at a quilt show and wondered about the pattern source. Bloggers to the rescue! Debby Beaves of Maple Island Quilts. I guess that BQ stands for "Big Quilt". I was able to make a slight modification in the size of the blocks to make a 12 inch finished blocks. Three of the 12 9 inch finished toad squares had to be pieced but hey, if that worked for our quilting foremothers it is fine with me. Otherwise, the muslin and red pieces are from my stash---stashbusting again!

Cindy and Jan tell me that they had 10-12 people at the sewing event that I had to miss. That is terrific! 5 quilts were done and many took things home to work on. I am going to quilt up my two tops and the little nine patch to send onto Jan who has volunteered to finish up the binding. I hope that they do get 12 or more quilts out from their sew-in.

While digging through the stash bins, I also came up with some "go with's" for my eventual butterfly challenge project and a piece of "kit blue" that Theramae needs to finish her sail boat project from the sew-in. The red on red version is in toad block.

Ellen the founder of Wrap Them in Love had received a rather large donation of fabric from some company. There are two colorways that I know of: red and blue. At one point we wrappers could purchase kits of our choice of colorway for $5 and it had a yard of each of the fabric. Bits of it still show up years later but I think that she has gotten more from the same company again. I really liked the blue version but the red stuff, particularly the cobblestones and the yellow with red veins was/is hard to work with. Still, a lot of it has been quilt backs over the years.

Judy wanted to see a picture of my Slither quilt--this is a UFO finished earlier this year. Of course, the pattern was all the rage of the internet groups back in the late 90's when I first got online. The pattern is still on the Quilter's Online Resource site but now requires membership for download. Not sure that it deserved my husband's vote but it got two votes anyway. I have not heard from my group to know who/what was awarded ribbons or best of show on the viewers choice.

Guess that is about it---lost this post once so I hope I have better luck this time. This losing posts and error messages is getting mighty old fast..............

no trip after all

No, I didn't make the trip up to TN to see my friend and my family after all. I awoke to pouring down rain that according to the hourly forecast projections on both I-59 and I-24 showed no sign of lessening. It would not have mattered if I had waited a few more hours to leave either. My friend confirmed that my drive would have been rainy, possibly heavy and thunderstorms on the TN side as well. I don't drive much in the rain at average speeds let alone at 65 or 70 mph.

So I stayed safely at home and will make the trip up at a later date--to be determined later. I decided to make good use of time that afternoon and get the borders on the little nine patch top I had left hanging for several days. DJ came in and asked WHY was I sewing---if I HAD gone on my trip, I would have taken the day off! I said, I had already piddled away Weds and Thurs that week and I was getting back to "work" He said "you act like it is a 'job" sometimes and it is supposed to be fun!" Well, that t-shirt quilt WAS a job, of sorts and as much as I am not fond of putting on borders, the process of piecing and sewing is still "fun" overall or I would not be doing it. I sew--that's what I do-- and he just doesn't get it. I don't know what he thought I should be doing instead of sewing.

I started sewing some of the strips I cut last evening while I watched Game 5 and chatted with Pam. I thought I might as well devote part of my weekend to what I had planned to do with Cindy and Jan and their guild friends--sew a couple of tops for the Domestic Violence group. I got all initial strip pairings together and then went to watch the rest of the game with DJ.

Yesterday was DJ's grandson's 14th birthday. Joshua had called Papa D to thank him for his birthday gift and told him that he was having the best day of his life that day. He had been honored with "student of the month" at his high school, had been "partying" that day at school, the Cardinals were going to win the World Series on his birthday and they were ordering pizza from his (our) favorite pizza restaurant. I assume his best friend was coming over as well---Scottie is Cards fan too (though his dad is a Cub fan--makes for a lot of good natured ribbing between the families) Well, turns out Josh was right---they DID win. DJ and I are thrilled along with a lot of other Cardinal fans.

So what are you looking at here? DJ went up to the Gadsden quilt show with me this morning. I drove and he paid for lunch, LOL. Given a viewers choice ballot, he got right into the spirit of picking out his favorites. Actually I had pointed out one of my own quilts--a Slither top that I had finished up earlier this year. Smart man, noted the number and started filling it on the category though I told him he should only select it if he thought it was one of his 3 favs in that category. About that time someone came up to me after they pointed her my direction and wanted to know the pattern source. I had submitted that information on all of the entries but Gary edited it off due to space concerns, he said. Anyway the woman she said she voted for it too---what else could you say but thanks for the vote of confidence?

The quilt at top left if Carolyn's mystery quilt. (Ignore the fabric at back as that is the quilt behind it on the racks. ) The stack and whack is Ada's from a long ago quilt class that several of us Belles took together we think in 2000 or 2001. The other at lower left is a neat-o cat quilt that I know was folded up at the bottom. I did not recognize the makers name. I DO recognize the cat head pattern as being one from Quiltmaker magazine as I have a few of these blocks made--and more from the Belles that can eventually be turned into a top. I would have taken a few more pictures but the batteries in my camera quit working about 6 pics into the process.

I DID finish up the 2 snuggle up tops just a bit ago and will send them onto Cindy---question being, quilted or not. I know they were planning on tying some. Probably birthing them first. I prefer doing the standard method and binding them--that's already cut anyway. Answered my own question, LOL.

Guess that's it for now...........

Coming or going?

“Are you coming??” She seems to be saying.

Lost a complete post earlier this afternoon---I think I chose to post right during the unscheduled Blogger outage and off it went to who knows where. If I am showing only a Pippi picture or two then you can about bet that I haven’t gotten much of anything quilt related done the past two days other than running the t-shirt top up to the long arm quilter some 30 miles north of here.

You can see how much Pippi resembles Nancy’s Agatha—featured this morning with two of her kitty compatriots atop the ironing board. Nancy commented that they might need a weight limit sign. I agree that my kitty probably has more white especially on her belly and of course, half light, half dark face—probably a good bit of tabby along with that tortoiseshell markings. As pictured she is doing her “follow me to the kitchen and the food bowl pose”. I had already been warned by the three previous circlings and then the “park it” in the doorway. The wet spot on the carpet was from pukers this morning. Poor DJ heard her doing it and had the honors. First time in weeks that she has done that.

The picture below or to the right shows her about to jump up on the pressing/cutting table and being a chair thief. Actually her true mission was heading to see if there was any water in the measuring cup to drink because her trip was short lived---down to the bowl on the floor when there was not to be had.

I took the day off yesterday, as I said, and did a whole lot of nothing really. After working with that t-shirt quilt, I felt like I had been wrestling with a bear. I couldn’t work up much enthusiasm for putting borders on the quilt that was hanging here either. Played around on the computer, some minor paperwork and the like. Had hoped to watch the World Series game last evening but they called it after a two hour rain delay though it looks like they may at least start the game tonight.

Today has been busier as I am hoping to go up to visit my friend Cindy who lives near Nashville, TN for a few days. Judy had asked for more details, LOL. The car is packed up, gassed up and my sewing machine and supplies are packed. Even baked a pie to take to my hostess—well, made two of them. DJ is not one to give up his treats very easily. If I bake he thinks he needs some too or at least the leftovers, LOL. As soon as the pies were done, it was time to fix supper. (meatloaf, garlic mashed potatoes (roasted a head of garlic, thanks to Pam), peas and carrots and a piece of pie)

The weather forecast is calling for wind, rain, possible thunderstorms on the Alabama side of the line for tomorrow. My plan was (is?) to leave here about 7 and be there by lunch time and help her set up for the sew-in she is hosting on Saturday. I am nervous enough about driving from Chattanooga through Monteagle area and west of there-—steep grades, winding road without less than ideal weather. I may have to cancel and make this trip another time.

Cindy has moved to a new home that has a gallery area for her to hang her quilts. She has many old quilts and of course, quilts she has made as well. Some have been exhibited at Paducah in the AQS show. Her husband is an avid flea market, antique shopper who collects poker chips and related items but John shops for textiles for Cindy as well. (The bowtie quilt on my bed is an example because I purchased the top from her.) They have set up a quilt museum area in the house and Cindy invited her quilt guild to see the set up and then sew comfort quilts for the Domestic Violence center in their area. We are using the Snuggle Up pattern on the quiltmaker.com site. This afternoon I cut out enough strips that I can make two tops for her.

My brother and his family live the next town over but I stayed with them when I traveled up for grandma’s funeral in August. Cindy claimed me for this trip. My SIL Jan is a quilter too and in the same quilt guild with Cindy. She will be coming to sew while my brother and niece head off to go fishing with one of our other brothers and his son who are driving down from IL. Cindy, John and I are going over to their house for supper Friday night.

That’s the plan anyway---wait and see tomorrow morning if I’m actually going. I am missing the Gadsden quilt show this weekend. Jane took my entries for me and will gather than up at take down. If I don’t go to TN, then I can take care of it myself, I guess.

The only other thing that was going on around here is our mini-blind saga. I had gone to open the blinds in the kitchen yesterday morning and the next thing I knew one over the left window was laying on the floor. The header had snapped off. Oh, oh. I laid it on the chair and more or less, forgot about it till DJ came home and asked if I was ready to go to Wal-mart. HUH? Oh yeah—the busted blind.

I commented that we should have brought one of the slats from that one with us so we got the right colors. Decorator colors change year to year so what color is it—ivory, cream, off white that looks gray, pinkish undertones, what? But no, we do not turn the car around once it starts out to its destination. We found the blind, came home and popped it right in without too much problem. You got it---wrong color compared to the window on the right. A blind man could see the difference---almost. It’s up, it’s staying and at four bucks a pop, get another one for the other window. Actually the new one does match the one above the sink—now that one got replaced because someone by the name of Linda had a small candle lit underneath the raised blind and the bottom warped---my bad. At least I think it matches—not checking really close to find out, LOL.

He went off to get the 2nd one while I ran off on my trip to the long arm quilters. I got home and he is trying to install it---oh, oh, right color, wrong size. Turns out the left hand side took a 36 blind while the right needed a 34 due to the bracket spacing. He had measured the broken one for the width but measured only the length on the one that was hanging. Old one back up for the night.

Today we start again—34 inch purchased and the last one in captivity at this supercenter. An eeny bit too wide but out comes the coping saw. Up it goes but as he lowers the blind there is one cracked slat about a 1/3 of the way up from the bottom. It’s staying. Ignore it? Tape it? Cut the other one out and slide another one on and seal up the cut? DJ finally takes off the bottom plugs, got the broken one out and worked over an hour getting it fixed. Later he admits that if he could not fix it or broke it worse, he would have spent another 4 bucks and ran up to the supercenter 10 miles north of us to get another one. Oh the joys of home ownership……………..

Okay, I’m rambling and the St. Louis pitcher apparently started believing his own press lately. Down 3-0, dang it. Detroit remembered how to hit or he is making it easier on them.

Guess that’s it for tonight.

Happy Dancing!

I cannot take a picture of it because it is just so big but the t-shirt quilt top is done as of a half hour ago. (You get a picture of Pippi kitty instead, LOL. ) The fabric I was waiting for arrived just before lunch so I got busy finishing the last row soon after.

Earlier this morning I met Lauren one of the girls in my round robin group over at Hancock's for a consultation. Normally she would put her head together with another friend but this time she has that's friend's top. Ada who just happened to have Lauren's this round had some fabric to pick up from her so once we all weighed in on what to do with Pat's then Ada and I conferred. Ada came by the house to pick up some stuff that I had used in earlier rounds that might work and went home with a book that had a possible idea and something I drew up and printed from EQ5 for her.

While at Hancock's I asked if it would be okay to use their tables to get a measurement for the top and bottom borders when I was ready--sure!! I was ready by about 4:30. LOL, ran into another friend also in the round robin group--the other group of 7.

Tomorrow I'll run this up to the longarmer and let her work her magic. Never did get the borders on the little nine patch yesterday--paperwork intervened but that's okay--it needed to be done too. No worries, mate--I'll find something to keep me busy. 

Mail Call!

Just before lunch a horn honked signaling us that their was an oversized package waiting for us. Nope, not the fabric I was expecting from Hancock's of Paducah to finish up the t-shirt quilt. DJ said it looked like Christmas when I came in. Poor guy only got a mailing from our Ford dealership but I had a haul.

A mailing from Norma with a pattern mailer from "Quick Quilts" I had not seen---more ideas of what to do with plaids and homespuns among other things! Thanks, Norma.

Two priority boxes from Finn--stuffed to the gills. Three quilt tops, cut squares, blocks needing a new home, a book for me to sell for fund raising, more blocks that just need a few more blocks made. And if that were not enough, this one here was loaded with fabric that can be cut into squares or strips. I want to make another bowtie top or two and my cut squares are not necessarily appropriate for guys at this point. Thanks Finn and pal Betsy!

Now here is the surprise package. Nadine had posted that she was looking for a particular copy of APQ. I had it on the shelf and told her I would be happy to send it to her just for the mailing costs in return. Look what she sent me as a "thank you"! What a cute cat wallhanging that reminds me of yin and yang. Does she know the key to my heart or what?? That cute little kitty card came with it--that is almost like a present in itself and I am sticking that right up on my bulletin board in a minute. Can you tell that it is like dimensional--that cat in raised relief over the cathedral window background?? Thanks to Nadine as well! I would say that I got the better end of this swap.

The quilt behind is the nine patch blocks of Finn's that I put on point yesterday afternoon and evening. It is a bit small so I wish I had made another block to add one more row of blocks. I certainly could have done so. I have a bright green that I will use for an inner border and binding and will use that yellow daisy strip for the outer border. Two for one picture, LOL. I'll finish this up after supper tonight.

My digital picture prints came as well. I get two copies--one for whoever made the quilt and one for the photo albums that we keep. We had those dug out at the sew in the other day to show examples of what a "Leap Frog" pattern looks like---nope, no frogs but that's what the designer used for hers. (Like my Kitty quilt with the woven bands of color from earlier in the month or last month.)

Oh, and I got an unexpected phone call from Pam yesterday. Color me happy and grateful for my friends both near and far! I can't wait for her to be able to show you all her first EQ designed quilt and the quilt she made from that design. It is way cool!

This was errand day. The sun is out but the wind is pretty brisk and just barely hit 50 by 2:30. DJ and I waited to walk but that first lap was not very pleasant---reversing directions helped a bit. It would have been way to easy to blow it off but tomorrow is expected to be worse. Almost November so we can expect that. More changes in leaf color are seen and when I travel to TN Friday through Sunday, I can anticipate admiring that. Best hit the kitchen--tacos tonight so some chopping and dicing are ahead in preparation with the leftovers slated for other dishes this week. 

sewing and sewing some more

Getting some production done this weekend. I ran out of sashing fabric for the last vertical row of the t-shirt quilt so am waiting for my order to come in early next week. Yesterday I added one long side border the half that is done, joined rows 4 and 5 and squeezed on one more sashing strip from the border cut away fabric.

What to do, what to do? Since yesterday afternoon I have prepped the backings for three quilts and added the borders to the bricks quilt. With the larger quilts we are shooting for that means two length of backing and splitting it to get the proper width. I went through the muslin bolt we had at the church and polished off most of my own bolt as well--good thing that Hobby Lobby just opened!!

This is not the best picture in the world shooting across the room and passed the desk but there it is. The one piece of plaid on the right edge looks nothing like this check that I am seeing on the photograph. The top finished right at the target range of 50 x 70 and I believe it will be a good one for the boys since it looks like a bunch of flannel shirts and men's oxford cloth shirts. Some pieces remind me of an old favorite pair of my flannel pj's, LOL.

Just finished cutting out the binding for this top and one other top so that's where I am headed next. Then I think I will get started on the nine patch top I had hoped to assemble at the sew in. Norma will probably tell me that I am wearing her out again but I happen to know that she had been busy quilting all week, LOL and fitting that in around a full time work schedule.

Nothing much else to say--just wrapping up the loose ends of things from last week that I had hoped to get done. Not much help on my goals list but things that needed to be done so we can pin at the next meeting.

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend in whatever you chose to do.........