Hard Work is Over

I finished up the last big project at work. Hooray! Now I can relax until the end of this quarter!

This is another block swap quilt top from the old Alex Anderson message board, 2002. There were so many people in the swap that I sent out two different fabrics. I really liked this blue batik, and I think the quilt turned out nice. The other set of blocks is in that pile needing to be assembled! This was a good sized quilt. Judy beautifully quilted it, and it was donated to the Katrina quilt project at The Fabric Patch.

I've been having a heck of a time this week assembling the quilt center for the class quilt. It's simple squares and blocks but set on point, and I have managed to sew almost every setting triangle on backwards! Brain is not working very well lately! I've got to finish that thing tomorrow so I can get a set of borders on it. The second class is on Wed. night. That's the part I'm looking forward to!

My gratitude today is the the nursery nearby with their beautiful rows of roses all blooming.

Cyberfriends

I have so enjoyed getting to know the quilters on the Stash ring. A truly diverse group of ladies with a common thread.

I've been thinking about my cyberfriends lately, and those with whom I have formed a close bond without ever meeting. I smiled all day because of a long 'chat' with Sally last night. I will miss getting to meet her again this year as, once again, I won't be able to attend the Retreat in the Middle, or RiM, in June. Next year!!

This small quilt was from the Thimbleberries Club 2003. I don't like it very much, but it's done! I gave away two of the kits to my secret quilter that year, and there's one more upstairs somewhere. But each quilt is worth doing if I learn something from it ...

Today it rained a little and kept things nice and cool. The hot hot summer is on its way, so I'm enjoying these days. A big project was finished up at work. One more to go, and then hopefully things will get back to normal, whatever that is.

Egg salad for supper. It's time to go to the market again! I'll stop tomorrow after work. With gas at $3.35/gallon today, I'm going to combine trips as much as I can.

My gratitude today is David, my manicurist. He always manages to make my hands look good, no matter what I've done to them! I just ignore his "tsk-tsking" when I walk in! LOL

My Inspiration Quilt

We all had one, right? I went to The Fabric Patch in the fall of 2000 and was too scared to sign up for a class. When I got home, I thought about it a bunch and decided that, yep, I was going to go back the next weekend and do it. Well, that Friday I fell and shattered my shoulder, so that took care of that.

A year later, in July or August of 2001, I went back over to The Fabric Patch and sat in the parking lot a long time deciding whether I was brave enough to try quilting. I walked in the store and this quilt was hanging up on the wall. That did it! I wanted to learn to quilt! So I signed up for not one, but two beginner classes. I've already posted my blue and white triple rail. The other class was a sampler from Quilts Quilts Quilts.

Of course, the Robyn Pandolph Morning Glory line was in the store - a huge line - and I bought two yards of every single piece of it! Newbie that I was, I didn't know any better! LOL! My stash was off and running!

A couple of years ago, I was wandering around in the FP and saw a bunch of sampler quilts for sale. OMG, they were going to sell my inspiration quilt! So it followed me home!

My friend, Leora, loves this quilt. She's posted it a dozen times on our online message board. She calls it the Daisy Quilt because of the picture of Daisy sleeping the day she got back from the hospital having back surgery last year.

That's how I got started quilting. I would love to hear how others got their start.

Today was a bummer day. I had a flat today in one of my brand-new tires. Luckily, I made it to work before it went totally flat. I took it back to where I bought them tonight and they replaced it with a new tire. Pays to have that road hazard warranty! And I had to work through lunch today, so I stopped and got a great pastrami sandwich on the way home.

My gratitude today is the cool weather and drizzly rain. Quilting weather!

Another Daisy Dog

A friend made this for me for Christmas a couple of years ago. She paper pieced the Daisy dog and it became the top to a great box to store applique stuff in. The funny thing about this -- a scheme was hatched to get me to post a picture of Daisy (wasn't hard!) so they could check out her coloring. I love my Daisy box! Oh, she also gave me a little statue of a skunk - to memorialize Daisy getting skunked NINE times that year! You'd a-thunk the blasted dog would have figured it out after the first time or two!

Still fighting the allergies. I rubbed my eyes today so much that I actually had one of them a bit swollen. Stopped tonight and bought some OTC allergy stuff. Hope it works!

My gratitude today is a new cinnamon apple candle.

Spring Tablerunner

I was looking for something springy to put on the table and remembered this tablerunner. It was made for me by my friend, Marie, in Connecticut. I had Marie's name in a Secret Quilter exchange back on Alex's message board in 2002, and we became very good friends. She's a total sweetie. I love this tablerunner. I sure hope I get to meet Marie in 3D some day!

I've had an allergy flare-up for the past week or so, and really felt awful today. I've had allergies all my life, but never so bad as since I've moved to California. I guess it's because things bloom all year long here, and I've got to stick my nose in every flower I see. I might run over to the doctor's office tomorrow to see if there's anything that can help.

Just finished up the nine patches for my class project, and hope to get the simple center put together by tomorrow night. Then I can start making the buildings that go around the border. I just love making houses and buildings. This one even has churches and barns. Too cute!

My friend, Mar, attended Asilomar last week and took Freddy Moran's class. Dynamite quilts were born in that class - the pictures were wonderful. Today came a surprise package in the mail, a copy of Freddy Moran & Gwen Marston's new book Collaborative Quilting. It is totally fabulous! Highest recommendations!! Thank you, Mar! I love you!!

Homework

I can't believe I never left the house this weekend. Not even to go to the Fabric Patch! I made 94 rails for my class project, and have all the red and beige strips sets made for the nine patches. A lot of homework to do yet, but I think I'll have it all done by the second session week after next.

Daisy's tummy is still a little upset, but she slept almost all day in her kennel with the door open. I think she's feeling better now, so sleep must have been what she needed.

My gratitude today is the gentle, cool breeze blowing through the windows, and the scent of citrus blossoms in the air.

Tagged by Jeanne!

Just some of my weird things. I won’t repeat the “complete sets” thing Jeanne listed!

1) I’m Southern to the core – I love to "hunt" for things. I will spend months on end looking for a piece of fabric. Not because I need it, or even want it, but just because I know it’s out there somewhere. Books, plantings – doesn’t matter what it is. The pleasure is in the hunt!

2) Cornbread is my favorite breakfast food. With butter and cane syrup.

3) I absolutely cannot sleep with socks on, even if it’s freezing cold. Drives me nuts to have anything on my feet in bed. But I also absolutely cannot go bare feet. Always wear shoes.

4) I’m not spontaneous. I know this admission will surprise my friends. I have to carefully think things through before undertaking even the simplest task. This works well for me in my job, but sure does put a crimp on the fun things in my life! (I’d rather think of myself as “analytical.” Lol)

5) I have one and a quarter kidneys. My brother only has one. I guess we both inherited this weirdness!

6) I can accurately ten-key a million miles a minute while talking on the phone or carrying on a detailed discussion with someone in person. It amazes people at work. Guess that comes from those 20+ years of court reporting – writing down every word uttered in the room while thinking about the menu for dinner!

Geez, it's hard to only list six!!

I don't know very many folks on the rings to tag. But I'll tag JudyL (Miss Sunshine) and Laurie (Miss GottaQuilt). If any of you want to consider yourself tagged by me, please step forward!

Quilty Day

I had a wonderfully quilty day! I managed to get borders and backing done for a top, and the backings done for two others! I'm so proud of myself.

I cleaned off my sewing table and cutting table today, and did a quick pass with the vacuum. When I came back in the room from putting the vacuum away, I found Daisy with an empty water bottle and the paper torn off of it and shredded on the floor.

So I let her play with it a bit, and then threw it back in the trashcan. I was on the phone a while ago and looked over and saw her back in the trash can. I grabbed the camera just in time. Proof positive that she's a bad doggy! When her ears are back, she knows she's in trouble!

I wonder what I've done today to deserve phone calls from two quilty friends who live far away! Of course, I hung up on the second one because I thought she was a solicitor. LOL. I'm glad she called back! Oops! It was so wonderful talking to both of them and catching up on old times! It's a shame we live so far apart!

My gratitudes today are my precious friends who accept me just the way I am!

I Did a Scrappy

I totally forgot about this one. Another second year quilt. The fabric was from a 2002 Christmas charm swap on the Alex Anderson message board. The pattern, if I remember correctly, is from one of the Possiblities books. I think Laurie might have quilted this one.

I was so excited to get it done. Then my ex said he thought his sister would like it. So I sent it to her for Christmas. I never received any acknowledgement that she had received it. I asked his mother about it months later, and she replied, "Yes, Sherry got the quilt." Period. Harrumph! :(

I'm so excited because I am free, free, free this weekend. Just The Daisy and I! We're going to relax and sew and relax some more! Guess the first thing I need to do is get out my sewing machine and supplies that are still packed up from my class on Wed. night. And finish cleaning up the sewing space.... yeah, it's a good time to do that!

My gratitude today: The spring flowers that are bursting out all over!

Have a Nice Day?

Yeah, right! $3.159/gallon!

I took "Scraps" by Judy Martin to work with me today. I'm excited about several of the quilts in the book. She has two or three that have shadow blocks and those are really intriguing. I am reminded, though, that I have to be careful when I use her books - read and reread thoroughly all her patterns before I cut. Once I've read the patterns through a couple of times, I usually can follow right along on them. This is just me - I'll explain it on June 11th - but I've learned the hard way on her stuff.

That being said, I would recommend this book. There's a nice chapter in the beginning of the book titled "How to Work with Scraps." I found it interesting because I'm one of those quilters who have trouble doing scrappy. I think I'm going to try to make a couple of quilts out of this book so I can hopefully get over that phobia. There's a nice range of quilts, from easy to hard, colors in brights to folk artsy colors. To borrow a phrase from my online group, I'd give this book the Ruby Red Jello Award.

About the gas -- I'm sure happy I decided to keep the QuiltMobile another year. Even though I have to use premium in it, at least it goes a long way between refills!

My gratitude today is my little 5.5 year old QuiltMobile!!

Another Vets Home Quilt

This was another quick quilt for the veterans home project for my friend, Pat. I put this one together in an afternoon. It's real satisfying to get one of these quickies done after working for a long time on a big quilt. Daisy is peeking out from under it!

I had a class last night at The Fabric Patch, and it sure was good to sit and sew with a bunch of nice ladies. The project is "Around the Block," an older Rabbit Factory pattern. I couldn't find a picture online of the pattern. It's basically a simply pieced quilt with houses and buildings around the border. I really like the quilt. It's a two-part class. Last night was boring, a lot of strip piecing. Again, just an excuse to get out of the house!

Only one purple bag followed me home. I picked up a few cuts of some darker neutrals. And Jane saved me a copy of the new Judy Martin book, "Scraps." I haven't had a chance to look through it yet, but the cover quilts look interesting.

My gratitude for the day is the anticipation of enjoying that new book!

Suggestions Please

This is the other quilt I talked about yesterday, a front and back view. On the back, I marked with masking tape the area where thread is looped. It measures roughly 18-20 inches high and 36 inches long. I haven't trimmed the quilt yet, because I was thinking I might have to take all the quilting out and start over.

The area - I think - is too large to pull looped thread into the batting. It's like a huge portion of the back of the quilt. There are also a couple of smaller areas where it looped.

There's nothing special about this quilt - just want it done. Thanks for any suggestions you can give me on what to do with it.

I need to head upstairs and pull fabric for my class tomorrow night. Nothing like waiting until the last minute! :)

My gratitude today is the smell of freshly cut grass as I walked Daisy tonight. It smells like spring!

Monday Monday

A busy day today. It sure felt good to pull into the garage tonight! Then I walked in and saw the project on my sewing table, and didn't even go in there. I think I need to take a breather.

I've got a class at The Fabric Patch on Wednesday night, and besides pulling my background fabric, I haven't done a thing else to get ready. Guess that'll be a task for tomorrow night!

The Thimbleberries Safe Haven was another second year quilt. I really liked working on this one - nice big easy pieces! Unfortunately, I sent it to a quilter in another state on the recommendation of someone in my online group. In fact, I sent two quilts to her. Both of them were a royal mess when I got them back. I paid her to custom quilt this one, and it had very minimal quilting on it. There were spaces over a foot square that had no quilting in it at all. I gave this one to a local lady who quilts on a Juki. She's done a lot of my quilts and does a really nice job. She's going to add more quilting to it. The other one is in a tub upstairs. I'll post a picture of it this week to see if anyone has any suggestions on how to fix the looped thread on the back. I contacted that quilter once and the conversation was most unsatisfactory, so I decided just to chalk these up to experience!

My gratitude today is just being grateful for the blessings in my life!

Happy Easter

Well, yesterday was a first. I baked a cake! Honestly! My prior cakes, the few that there were, had been out of a box. This one is from scratch. A carrot cake. I didn't do too well putting the frosting on, but, hey, it's done!

I had a lot of fun yesterday. It was Easter Egg Hunt day at The Fabric Patch. My Easter egg had a 30% off coupon in it, so had to get in a wee bit of shopping! The dots on black will be the backing on the polka dot circles quilt. I also picked up some black, white and tan yardage of Dimples fabric. I love that line.

I had a list of things I needed to buy to make this cake ... you know, besides the ingredients, the other things like cake pans, a cooling rack, a mixer! Well, I was telling Jane about needing to buy a mixer, when a lady who works there overheard and offered to give me a KitchenAid. I was floored. She had two of them and wouldn't take no for an answer. In fact, went home and got it right then and there. It's an older model, heavy and study, and works perfectly. I was so excited. What a sweetie! I'm going to repay her somehow for her generosity - a cake maybe? LOL Anyway, with the help of my online friends (patient answers to very stupid questions) I think the cake is a success. It will be cut after dinner tonight. I'm going to cross my fingers that it tastes as good as it looks!

Happy Easter to all of my cyber friends and neighbors!

Good Friday

I've been thinking all day about this past year - a year of huge changes for me. I'm finally feeling comfortable with where I am in life.

This is another second year quilt. The colors are awful, aren't they? My brother wanted something for his motor home, and believe it or not, this matched it perfectly. I think he needs a new decorator! :) It's laying on lumpy grass again; it really is a nice, flat quilt. He loved it...but he loves me, so he'd have been happy with anything his little sister made!

I'm worried about Don. He's ten years older than me and is not in good health. He's had numerous heart attacks and is a diabetic. Two years ago he was in a bad car wreck, was hit from behind and rolled over into a ditch. This resulted in a couple of herniated discs in his back that need to be fixed, but has been unable to undergo surgery because of his heart problems. But after the last round of tests, his cardiologists have cleared him for surgery which will be on May 10th. He has to stop taking the blood thinners the week before surgery. This is a risky surgery for him but, as he said, he can't live his life sitting in an easy chair. He is a Ph.D. botonist, and loves to putter around his beautiful acreage and in his garden. He hasn't been able to do that for two years now. I'm praying that this surgery will fix him all up so that he can get back to riding that tractor and doing all the things he loves to do.

My gratitude today, Good Friday, is my faith that Jesus did, in fact, die so that our sins may be forgiven.

L-o-n-g Week

I'm slowly but surely working my way through all the projects at work.

This is a second year quilt made from Robyn Pandolph's Folk Art Christmas I and II lines. The pattern was free on the Moda site. It was my first time doing on-point blocks. It's one of my favorites. Judy did a great job quilting it, as usual!

The furniture delivery might not happen until tomorrow night. That's okay. Oh, and I picked up the second attempt at my new glasses today. What a difference! My right eye is going to have to adjust a bit to the stronger bifocal, but everything else is fine.

Tonight I'm actually going to cook something ..... amazing! LOL!

Daisy and a Quilt

My friend, Boop, sent this beautiful wallhanging to me a couple of years ago. Her applique is just beautiful, and she even put daisies in the corners. And you can tell how much Daisy loves it! I don't know whatever in the world I did to deserve this, but I sure do love it! Or as Daddy would have said, "You shouldn't have ... but I'm glad you did!"

The last week has been a very contemplative one for me. Sometimes I have to ponder things for a while before I figure out how I feel. I'm still working on this one.

My gratitude today is having friendly neighbors who quilt!

I'm SO Bad

Nope, I didn't start cleaning up in there. I cut out another quilt. That mess isn't going anywhere. I'll do like Scarlett and think about it tomorrow!

This second year quilt is called Chaos & Harmony. It was a freebie online - I don't remember the site. Laurie organized a group of us to make these. It was my first true venture into brights - and, boy, were they bright! Even the black background had sparkles in it! So tacky, but so much fun! Judy quilted it with bright varigated thread. You can see I didn't plan the binding very well on it! LOL

Someone asked me if I knew where to find the Christmas Memories booklets. I searched last night for a while online and couldn't come up with anything. The address and phone number listed on the back of the pattern is Blackbird Designs, 11065 West 175th St., Olathe KS 66062, 913/681-3137.

My gratitude today is the beautiful mountains with a sprinkling of snow still on them - and a clear enough day to be able to see them!

Cleaning is in Order

Can you believe this mess? I can barely get to my machine! I'd rather think of it as 'creative organization,' but I don't know about this much creativeness! I'm afraid those shelves up in the stash room are going to fill up faster than I get fabric off of them! I'll be sure to get an "after" picture so I don't come across as a complete slob!

Had a nice cyber-chat with Judy today. We go way too long between those chats, don't we? And I got a surprise box of goodies in the mail today all the way from Puerto Rico. Made me laugh out loud! In fact, I'm still chuckling! Thank you, Leora!!

My gratitude today is having friends who know how to make me laugh just when I need it the most!

UFO - Check!!

This is the project from Alex Anderson's retreat in Nov. 2005. This box of stuff has been sitting by my sewing table, so I figured it was time to get it out of here. I lost a few points because of using two different machines. I also figured out that I won't ever use the Moda silky plaids again for piecing. I was having a real problem with those being way too stretchy. I tried heavily spray starching one piece and it really didn't help very much. So since I love using those in applique, I'll just put them all aside for that.

Today was so quiet. Daisy slept most of the day in her little bed by the sewing table. I need to clean up this horrible mess I made in there. But I'm real pleased to finally get something off the UFO list!

My gratitude today is having leftovers in the fridge!

Yikes, Brights

This week I sent off nine yards of fabric from the stash for backing and borders for a group quilt. So a little stash enhancement was okay, right? Jane and I saw a string quilt at a cute shop near here, Stars & Scraps, a few weeks ago. I've been thinking about making one but was kinda chicken. Last weekend while walking around the Fabric Patch, I found a bolt of this floral and remembered I had a couple of yards of it at home. In fact, just a week before that I asked Jane why in the world I had bought it! So the idea formed to use that fabric for focus, and pull oranges, yellows and pinks for a bright string quilt. I pulled a few brights out of my stash this week and there weren't many there. So today at the FP I had more fun pulling tons of bolts and getting 1/4 yard cuts. Jane told me to write this date down - only $43! That must be a record for me! LOL! So, yes, some enhancement, but just a tiny bit!

Today was so beautiful. I did a little shopping. Bought a new ironing board - mine collapsed on me this week! Had fun roaming around Target and Bed Bath & Beyond for a while. I've been working on the retreat quilt this afternoon. Maybe can get the top finished by tomorrow. Maybe.

Today I had to deal with a person who just won't leave well enough alone. I responded today although I held back, as usual, from what I really wanted to say. If we were alone I would have said those things. In front of others, it's never appropriate. But then the occasion only arises in front of others. I think this will end it. I hope so. Her persistance serves no purpose except to make others very uncomfortable. I really have trouble understanding that sort of mentality. I am not the first to have weathered this kind of treatment from her, and I'm sure I won't be the last. If she knew how little it really bothers me deep down, I'm sure that would take the 'fun' out of it for her. C'est la vie.

A sister of a very dear friend passed away today. I don't know details, but my heart is hurting for my friend.

My gratitude today is the feeling of spring in the air - new beginnings.

Happy Dancing

I finished up the big project at work today. I don't have to work tomorrow! Such a relief! I'm getting a haircut in the morning (what I call a dip & clip), making a quick stop at the Fabric Patch to get a Jane fix, the market to buy food, and then I'm staying put the remainder of the weekend! Resting up for next week because it's going to be a bear!

This is, I think, the last of the first year quilts. Of course, no picture of it completed. This was a quickie put together for my ex-mother-in-law. It actually was quite nice when it was quilted and finished. What appears to be white fabric in the picture is a lovely Maywood background with soft greens and pinks. She's in Virginia, so the dogwood fabric worked. Of course, she talked more about the pink and green peanuts used for packing that 'matched' than she did the quilt. Never really liked that woman! :)

I'm heading into the kitchen (yes, the quilting condo does have one!) to throw together some spaghetti. I definitely need to buy food tomorrow! LOL Then I'm gonna bond with the Bernina tonight! Pressure's off and I'm going to relax this weekend!

It's so beautiful here today. A little windy, but really cripsy cool and fairly smog-free for a Friday.

My gratitude today is the simple pleasure of a job well done!

Back Online

I've been offline since Monday night probably due to the storms we've had here. I sure did miss connecting with my frends when I get home from work!

This quilt was another first year quilt made for Joel, the little boy of my secretary from back home. Naturally I didn't take any pictures after it was quilted! LOL! I think the pattern was called something like Flannel Flinders or Flinder Flannels ... I don't remember now. Joel got this when he was about a year old and just loved it. He's now five and the quilt is about worn out. I'll just have to make him another one (and one for his new little sister, Olivia)!

Last night I loaded up a movie on my little DVD player sitting on my sewing table and sewed until bedtime! It felt good! I pulled out the Alex Anderson Retreat project from last November and made a few more blocks for it. I think I want to make the quilt bigger, but I'll decide that when I finish up these blocks. The quilt is from her book "Keep Quilting." I used a Wuthering Heights FQ tower that I threw in my suitcase in my frantic packing the night before flying up to retreat. One of these years I'll actually get my act together and do some fabric planning! Problem is I've got to usually work long hours the week leading up to taking those two days off, so I randomly grab fabric at the last minute and that's what I use when I get there. That's why my cherry quilt turned out to be very Christmas looking! :)

My gratitude today is a real peaceful feeling lately. It's been a long time coming.

Sad Day

This is such a sad time for a friend from my online quilt group. She lost a grandson today, just a few weeks old and so unexpectedly. My heart is just aching for Lori and her son and daughter-in-law. There are quilts being made for the family - the only thing we know how to do at a time like this.

On a happier note, I finally decided this weekend what I wanted to buy myself for Christmas. I know, I know, I'm a couple of months late! Every year I treat myself to one special thing, and today I picked up a nice little portable DVD player to sit on my sewing table. In my old sewing room I had a TV and I would load up movies and sew for hours on end. In the new sewing room, I didn't have a cable connection and it was way too complicated to get one in there. So this solved the problem. I will spend more time now sewing if there's something to watch/listen to in there.

My body's too old to handle this time change thing. I take weeks to adjust, so I'm dragging tail tonight. I'm about to head upstairs and call it a day! But I did finish that quilt this weekend and will piece the backing tomorrow night. Check!!

Turn of the Century Applique

Here are some applique blocks I picked up off of eBay a couple of years ago. The seller figured they were turn of the century, but the fabric is definitely Civil War era. The applique needs to be repaired in a couple of places. The quiltmaker used white thread for the applique, typical of that period. Should I fix it? Also there are only eight blocks. I originally purchased four, and then some months later she had four more up on the auction block and I was able to get those also. Unfortunately, there was a ninth block which she gave away to someone. Shucks! Suggestions on what to do with these would be appreciated! I haven't looked at them in a while, but I think I remember the blocks are about 20x20 each.

Today was a good day with the tax man. :) In fact, I celebrated with a little stash enhancement at The Fabric Patch. Actually I was pretty good. Just some dots and stripes, a yard of purple (not my favorite color) that I needed for a swap, and "Baskets to Applique" by Kay Mackenzie. Oh, and one of those new Clover rotary cutter cases. All in all, just a tiny celebration!

Getting ready to draw a name for the 1st Weekend prize with my online group. I hope they all had a more productive day than I've had. I didn't sleep well last night worrying about taxes, so I've just been vegging today. It's finally stopped raining here, and the sun is shining. It's cool and nice.

I have a top on the table that I squared. I don't like doing that part of it. Just need to check the square once more before the final two borders go on. I want to finish this one up tonight.

Hugs today to Leora and her little cutie-pie daughter. Gracie's surgery went well and she's home and feeling pretty good. Jane showed me how to do string quilts today, so I might get started on one of those real soon. Thanks, Jane! Like I needed more "inspiration" - LOL. And I'm sure Judy's home by now so I can quit worrying! :)