Quilting: My Way

Where have I gone???

2011-08-03T14:39:00.000-05:00

Looking for me, try this new blog address. I am sharing my adventures of quilting and life as we head for our year long adventures in Vermont. We will be traveling to South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, and then eastward through lots of different states. Translation: We will be visiting lots of family and friends, but we will also be seeing lots and lots of new quilt shops as we travel. Then when we reach Vermont I will share those adventures, as well.
http://quiltingfromrobinsnest.blogspot.com/

Based on yesterday, another post is appropriate

2011-07-19T08:37:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, my FIL had ear surgery. He has had hearing issues since I met him, but in the past few years they have gotten much worse. The first surgery was out in Rapid City SD, and I was there to help him for a few weeks. Then a year ago in spring, he had more issues and the doctor there referred him here, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, to see Dr. Levine. He had surgery for a form of ear cancer (which seems to be gone). After this extended stay of several months, he was able to go home, but was back again for a check up and two cataract surgeries in December (All were very successful). In March, he went to the hearing aid people in Rapid only to find out that there were more issues with his other ear. He arrived here at the beginning of July and Dr. Levine managed to see him and actually do the surgery in fast order. This time there was no real sign of ear cancer, but we did not know for certain until the surgery took place. It took about 3 1/2 hours to do the tympanoplasty with mastoidectomy.
We were at the hospital for 12 hours so after arriving home, he had a pain pill he was off to sleep for the night. We on the other hand sleep fitfully because we had seen all the blood, etc. that came out of his ear canal when the nurse re bandaged him. This morning we re bandaged one more time and ate breakfast,after my husband left for work, Dad went downstairs and was soon back to sleep on the coach. Sleep and rest are best for him, but he is the living example of the energizer bunny so he really fought the idea of kicking back until he had actually walked down the stairs and changed his clothes - then he was beyond exhaustion, so................

Why is this posted on a quilting blog? Well first because I am so impress with Dr. Levine and all he has done to help Dad.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Mystic Blues BOM from Joann Fabrics

Secondly, sitting for all those hours gave me a chance to work on my hand-piecing. I added sashing to a number of 15" blocks and felt like I was doing something comforting while we waited. This quilt is my project for all of our road time over the next month. I believe the top will be ready for quilting by the time we reach Vermont. Are these blocks as well made as my machine-pieced ones, NO, but they represent over 7 years of off and on work and will be something I will treasure for all the travels and experiences it will represent. The sashing seems a little wavy, but when smoothed out it is not too noticeable. The photo shows that the blocks are a little lumpy, but I think at least 85% of that is because the blocks were wadded up in my bag after we were called back to see Dad after the surgery. 15% is simply my inexperience or lack of focus on the fittings but this is a quilt of love and comfort so I am not too concerned. The blocks match up and seem to be the same size, so I can try to make my quilting help to ease the fullness. It will be hand-quilted for many reasons: Sentimental as well as structural. (Laughing and smiling about how many times I have had to readjust things. = A true labor of love and tactical comfort.)

Last Post from Minnesota

2011-07-16T20:48:00.000-05:00

I have been very busy the past few weeks getting ready for my husband's retirement from the Navy after 30 years of service. We are planning a big send off to simply celebrate his accomplishments and also to celebrate the changes that are just around the corner. There is also all the packing, sorting and reorganizing our stuff. We are heading for Vermont for a year while he attends the Vermont School of Woodworking. However, our life is also going to be focused on the simple things in life. Love, laughter, faith, compassion, peace, joy and happiness.

While Kevin is in school, I will be using my time on various things, but when we have time we are going to ride bikes, hike, see the sites.and, spend lots of time with our passions (quilting and woodworking). Kevin will be crafting furniture, etc, and I will be quilting. I want to build my quilting techniques and skills, learn more about my machines, develop my skills on EQ, and do some hand quilting.

I plan to share what I am doing with my quilting and will also include some of my experiences with the rest of you on a new blog: Quilting from Robin's Nest. --- http://quiltingfromrobinsnest.blogspot.com/ Don't look for any posts until early August. Until then, enjoy your summer and find time for your own passions.

HAPPPY 4TH TO ALL! FOR THOSE AWAY FROM HOME DEFENDING OUR FREEDOM, THANK YOU! YOU ARE IN OUR PRAYERS!

2011-07-04T15:16:00.000-05:00

This is the last of the Quilts of Valor that I have gathered. As my July 4th tribute to our freedom, I finished attaching all the labels and bagged all of the quilts that had not left the house, yet. He took them in before lunch so that we could have one more of our things checked off the "moving" list.

After much discussion and planning, I am taking my HQ16 with me to Vermont. I am going to use the shorten version of the table and will be able to do up to twin size quilts. I did not like the idea of putting it in storage for 14 months. I had hoped that my daughter, who is a quilter, would manage to get her house sold and move into a bigger place so that she could play with the machine, but at this point they seem to be in a holding pattern (Market is not strong anywhere, is it?

This afternoon I am working on reconfiguring my batting storage. With the help of my husband and FIL we have gotten it reorganized and labeled. Some has been cut into lap size pieces, but I had purchased several rolls of bamboo batting just before we decided to do the Vermont experience for a year. I love the batting especially for larger quilts, so I decided that I would put it into my climate controlled storage for when we actually move to South Dakota after Kevin finishes his school.

PILLOWCASES

2011-06-29T22:36:00.000-05:00

Sharon and I spent the afternoon finishing up another sewing project. We serged 84 pillowcases. Jacquie had sewn the body and cuff together on 50, but we put together the others and then pressed and serged away the afternoon. Hopefully tomorrow, my other good friend, Dar, and I will get all the cases turned and and tucked ready for use. 22 of the pillowcases will be used on the Quilts of Valor/Heart Strings quilts that I will be delivering at the start of July.

Many hands make light work! Thanks to my dear friends for helping complete another task before the move.

Fun Surprise

2011-06-21T21:44:00.000-05:00

One of us is always a "goof", but we love him.

Our friends have been our friends since before we started our Navy travels, They are another reason for us wanting to move back home to South Dakota after our year in Vermont. Tonight, we gave them the quilt that was made by my FIL, husband and myself. They were very surprised!

Guild Happenings

2011-06-14T22:34:00.001-05:00

Went to guild for the last time. We had a final UFO activity where 37 members had signed up committing themselves to finish just one project to share tonight. Many members got up saying that I had inspired them to do at least one project. A few made me choke up because they said they did it because they wanted to honor our friendship. What an amazing feeling to have! I had my top done, but I was relegated to the "Hall of Shame" along with about 10 others who did not finish. Of course, my excuse seems valid enough ---- I was quilting up lots of the Heart Strings quilts so that I could pass them on for binding. (The group still heckled but it was all in fun.)

I had a car full of quilts and items to distribute during the meeting. I delivered 10 finished quilts, 5 quilted but not bound quilts, and 4 tops with backs and bindings. I brought home lots of Quilts of Valor but have not counted them up yet. All in all it was a win-win night for me.

My friend, Sharon, presented me with a purse she had made to honor the memories of all the Heart Strings and the cutting of strings. One side is made up of squares of patriotic fabrics. She did a great job of honoring my life as a Navy wife, as well. The other side is representative of all the kid fabrics. (Is there a message in that about never growing up?) It is so cool! I know there is a pattern for this, but I do not know the name.

Show and Tell

2011-06-13T18:00:00.000-05:00

Damask Rose quilt by Pam and Lintott enlarged 4 times the original.

Mnay of you have seen different photos of the blocks going into this quilt. The original pattern is called Damask Rose and came from the book Layer Cake, Jelly Roll and Charm Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintott. It was a lap quilt. Enlarging it was one of those mathematical things. The quilt is actually 4 x the size of the original. I do not work in muted florals very often but really do like how it turned out. The binding was not on this quilt when the photo were taken. The binding is made up of all the fabrics. Each piece is 12 inches long, so piecing the binding took more hours that I thought it would. The person receiving this quilt is delighted with it and that is what counts most.

Kevin's design using embroidered blocks stitched by his dad.

This quilt is a project for Kevin, my father-in-law, and me. Each of us did part of the quilt. I still have to do the hand sewing on the binding, but that will wait for a couple of weeks. The scrapiness comes from the fact that the blocks were all cut for other projects. (Obviously Kevin and I did not count when we were cutting them.)

Now that Kevin is going to fine furniture building school later this summer, I don't think he will be making many more quilts, so this one is special. Hope his long time friend loves it.

Thursday Efforts

2011-06-09T22:28:00.000-05:00

Child's quilt

I actually quilted 3 quilts today. The first was one of my Quilts of Valor. The two small ones shown are going to be passed on for someone else to bind and then donate. I mounted another child's quilt to be quilted tomorrow. In the next few days (during the daytime) I will quilt several more quilts for children and several others that will be donated to a women's shelter. Once all of these are quilted, they will be passed on to others to bind and donate. The quilts tops were made earlier this year by my quilt guild during our Heart Strings sewing day.

Child-sized wheelchair quilt

I also have 5 more Quilts of Valor to finish and maybe another one or two other Heart Strings, but I believe it can be done. It is just a matter of sticking to the plan.

This evening, with Kevin's help, I trimmed the two large bed quilts I quilted earlier this week and set everything for binding. Attaching the binding is my first task of the morning. This my priority. Never imagined how long it was going to take to make the pieced binding for the king-size quilt but I think it will have quite an impact on the quilt. I will spend the next few evenings binding like a maniac. Somewhere along the way, I am going to have to do some packing of my studio, but I am thinking that my daughter would LOVE to help me with this on Father's Day weekend. (Hint, hint, hint, Jamie!)

Another Big Thank You

2011-06-09T21:07:00.002-05:00

I am continuing to collect Quilts of Valor for an upcoming Returning Warrior Workshop/Weekend. The quilters from Fabric Town provided these. There are 10 patriotic ones and 14 beautiful more feminine style quilts. The generosity of so many quilters continues to amaze me. Just wanted to share it with all of you.

Wednesday Efforts

2011-06-08T22:11:00.000-05:00

This was Kevin's last day of leave so he spent most of the day sorting, cleaning, and packing his wood shop. I spent most of it making binding and quilting a queen-size quilt, but also spent some time at the chapel like I do most Wednesdays.. We did manage to take a few 15 minute breaks together and had our meals together as always when he is home. I finished off my quilting time by loading another Quilt of Valor to be quilted first thing in the morning. I have another ready to be loaded after lunch so I am beginning to feel like I am whittling down the piles. The June 17th deadline is fast approaching for packing up my longarm, I will have a few weeks with my Bernina for any other sewing. (I figured out that I can do the attaching and hand stitching of the bindings after all the tops are quilted.)

Just have to remember to take time to breathe. Probably will go to the Y for swimming tomorrow. I have not been for a while, and I know it is something that energizes me.

Quilted but needs binding, ETC, ETC

2011-06-07T18:23:00.000-05:00

The very large queen, or is that a king, quilt that I have been working on has been quilted. It felt like a monster as I loaded it. It was the largest quilt I have ever quilted. It was basically edge to edge on my table. Now for the binding. It will be started in the morning, but tonight we(both my husband and I) are putting together another large quilt and hopefully loading it on the machine. The clock is ticking for putting away the machine for 14 months, so I will spend most of my daytime hours quilting and organizing what other things will go into storage. Life is wonderful, but moving is always a challenge. What do i need to finish before I pack up the things I want stored in a special unit, what should I take with me to Vermont, and finally what should I let the movers have for storage. This is the most unique move we have ever made. Life is not dull!

The Very Series Quilt

2011-05-30T21:54:00.000-05:00

I purchased this kit featuring fabrics from Andover Fabrics with prints from The Very Series by Eric Carle. I purchased it last year to make for my niece's new baby, but somehow it got put on the back burner and became a UFO. I thought I had done most of it way back when.

I took it along with me last week thinking that if i finished piecing the big quilt project, I would whip this up so I could finish it this month. However, when I took it out to finish it so I can get it quilted before I pack up my machine, I discovered that I had only cut parts out. I like making half square triangles, so that part when quickly. The borders were a new experience for me. I have done exactly 3 single border mitered cornered quilts. This one has several borders, so I had a new experience. I watched a video online because I did not completely understand the written directions. The first corner was difficult to do, but once I figured it out the others went smoothly.

I have finished the piecing of the king size quilt and quilted and bound several Quilts of Valor. Now I need to quilt and bind the large quilt and a customer quilt. Then I have 10 Quilts of Valor to quilt and bind for the Returning Warrior Weekend. After that I will get this quilt and a "cousin quilt" quilted. All of these needs to be finished by mid-June, so I will be spending a great deal of time in the studio.

My Big Quilt Project and More

2011-05-17T22:41:00.000-05:00

I have all the blocks made and have pieced 5 of the 10 rows. It is looking great. Thought I would get it on the fame this week and have it bound next week, but life has gotten in the way. I am hanging out with my grandchildren and being moral support for my daughter-in-law and son. My DIL's grandma passed away this morning. I packed up my stuff and headed to Iowa. What most of you don't know is that in the past I would never have considered making the 3 1/2 hour drive by myself, but for them and this situation I felt confident that I could do this. I need to make a couple of potty/stretch breaks but it only took me about 10 minutes longer than when I travel with my husband, so I am bragging. Of course, I ask God to send me an angel or 10 to keep me safe, but I am still proud of my efforts.

I do know my priorities!

Thank You

2011-05-09T22:44:00.000-05:00

I requested Quilts of Valor from my HeartStrings group. We need quite a few for the upcoming Returning Warrior Weekend. The first 4 wonderful quilts arrived today. Thank you for your assistance Alycia.

Way Off Line for a Few Days - or Was it A Week or Two????

2011-05-03T20:13:00.001-05:00

I had a horrible cold that really took a toll on my quilting, thinking sleeping, and moving time. Then my asthma kicked in to major overtime. Wheezing, coughing, and dripping don't lend themselves to cutting, trimming, sewing, ironing, moving or much of anything else. Even so, I did find one thing I could do that maybe was not really the best choice (dust factor) - sorting and ripping apart 10 years of quilting magazines.

Looking through all of these magazines has been an terrific experience, as well. The real goal was to pair down some of the "stuff" in my studio space. I was not specifically looking for quilt patterns or designs, as much as different trends, blocks, and possible quilts idea starters. It was something of an eye opener to see all the changes and the new techniques. I found ideas for using the rulers that I purchased but never actually used. Guess that I will have lots of things to experiment with during my year in Vermont. (Wonder exactly how much space I will have in the truck for taking my tools and ideas.)

Today I got back into the studio and sewed all day. I had such a great day even with the wheezing. Now I have a few non-sewing things to do so I can go back in to sew again tomorrow.

Another 12 Blocks

2011-04-25T21:29:00.000-05:00

I managed to catch one heck of a cold during the week. I have been down hard. Don't want to use the rotary cutter when I am a little off balance due to the fluid in my ears. Fortunately, I had time on Wednesday and Thursday morning to complete these 12 blocks. Also manage to sew all the hst blocks, but I need to trim them to 2 1/2 square inches.

Hopefully tomorrow I will feel more up for sewing. I really do not know why Spring colds are so horrible, but I can tell I am on the mend, sort of..................

Wow, Where Did the Week Go?

2011-04-21T12:45:00.000-05:00

I have been putting Heart String blocks together, quilting QOV and HS tops, and now I am focused on the large quilt that I have been working on for several months (okay, off and on for several months). I shared the blocks in person with Lin and now feel confident that I have the right plan for them. I have quite a few blocks left to make, but I am going to aim at getting the quilt on the frame by the last part of this month. I want to be binding it by Mother's Day or sooner.

The Heart Strings/Quilts of Valor quilts are part of a bigger project that also needs attention, but I managed to send a few off to another guild member for binding, so I am going to spend the rest of the week doing Lin's blocks. Hope to post at least 30 new blocks by Saturday evening. I decided it need to get crack-a-lacking. More on this later.

Donation Quilts - Thank you for your efforts

2011-04-13T15:54:00.002-05:00

Sherry made this quilt from a magazine pattern.

These quilts and quilt tops were put together by members of my guild. They will all be given as donations. I also received four other sets of blocks at guild last night. They will be sewn together and quilted and the binding will be attached along with all the others I have received the past few weeks. Then I will ask guild members to hand sew the binding. The Quilts of Valor will go to a Returning Warrior Workshop in July. The others will go to several groups we have selected.

QOV top pieced by Sherry

The blocks were made during our guild show
workshop and then pieced, quilted and
bound by other members.

Cindy took her blocks home and brought it
back to the guild meetings as a top =0)

Blocks made at our guild quilt show workshop
quilted and pieced by several members

Lyn's Blocks

2011-04-13T15:37:00.001-05:00

I would love to tell you that I have finished making blocks but since these photos were taken, I have only made 5 more. Whether I like it or not, lifegot in the way and I still wanted to have 8 hours of sleep so something had to give. The stashing and cornerstones are going to be scrappy. I plan to add two sides and one corner to each block. The only rule is to make it random but not to make any of the sashing strips the same color as the block. This is going to be colorful quilt!

Learning and Spending

2011-04-13T15:20:00.000-05:00

For Christmas, my husband gave me a Bernina 440Qe. I have been taking classes to learn all I can about it before we move to Vermont. I will only be taking one machine so it is important that I get the most out of the one I am taking. All others will be in storage for 14 months.

Yesterday, I took a class on using the BSR (Bernina Stitch Regulator.) It is going to be something that I will become an expert on in the next year. Even with only a short lesson I felt like I had already improved my free-motion quilting skills. I did not buy anything for the machine during the class, but I did buy the embroidery module before class.

Today, I took another mastery class and learned all about blind stitching hems, making button holes, and machine sewing buttons. I bought two feet. I will probably not use them all the time, but they are slick and useful.

At this rate, my husband will soon discover that he has purchased a Christmas gift that will keep giving, but will also keep costing. I am sure he will adjust because he is always a prince of a guy!

My Friend needs to have her tension adjusted and her parts cleaned and lubed, so she is off to the machine doctor

2011-04-07T13:42:00.000-05:00

My HQ 16 has been a good and faithful friend, but the time has come (although inconveniently) for her to see the sewing machine doctor to have some work done. I was in the middle of a project when she started to object. - finished the quilt but that is all she is willing to do. Guess the silver lining is that I will not be tempted to quilt instead of piece for awhile.

Motivation, or something else needed. My husband is so wise!

2011-04-05T10:35:00.000-05:00

I have been working on a quilt that I like, but somehow, I was allowing myself to be distracted from it. The expression, "Just Do It"was not working for me, either. My sweet husband overheard a conversation I was having with my sister where I told her I was having trouble staying focused on the task. I guess he heard the problem and had the solution because I have accomplished more in the past 24 hours than I have in the last week. I was telling my sister that I thought I was wandering out of the studio and getting involved in other "moving" tasks because I was cold. For me cold hands and feet are not new, but the old solution does not work any more. (I used to make myself a hot drink and heat a rice bag for my feet and relax with them for 5-10 minutes, but I am trying to cut back on my consumption of calories and just using the rice bag made me notice my cocoa desire more.) Riding my recumbent bike for 20 minutes helps for a while, but I would have to do it at least 5-6 times a day and that in and of itself is a time stealer. My husband apparently had a great solution, immediately. I now have a little heater in the room and I only have to leave to use the Internet, potty, eat or answer the phone.

Goals for today, quilt-wise, are to quilt a lap size quilt and make at least 12 more blocks for the "English garden" quilt. Life is good.

Pillowcase works. Is it obvious?

2011-04-04T15:15:00.002-05:00

Apparently he likes it. His mom says he sleeps hot, so that explains his cheeks and ears.

Playing with Layout

2011-04-01T14:01:00.000-05:00

I am playing with the layout because I am do certain whether I like the sashing to be all the same fabrics as the blocks or a fabric of its own. I am also strongly considering removing the mustardy colored blocks. Thought at one time it would be the burgundy and pink that would go, but it seems to be playing better with all the blocks. I have lots more to make, but do not want to cut into strips to make sashing unless that is really the right choice. Below are three samples using off white on off white, tan on off white, and darker tan on tan. Not necessarily the final choices but I can seem to find the very pale blue/green, so I am just auditioning what I have in my stash. Any suggestions?

Speed is improving, but.........

2011-03-30T21:47:00.000-05:00

I am getting faster at making these blocks but it took a full hour to make 4. That means I still have 62 left for this quiltt, but I do have 10 blocks ready to sew.. Actually, the longest part is making all the hst. I chain them and then trim down to size, (Guess that time should be accounted for as well, but I made 14 sets of 8 hst earlier this evening and did not focus on the time.) Once those are made, it is a matter of laying the the pieces out in order and then picking them up correctly. Sounds like I might be learning from experience. I had to unsew at least one seam on the first 3 of the blocks. Decided that it must be time to stop. Plan to complete at least the 10 blocks that are ready tomorrow, but would like to prepare another 12 before shutting down operations tomorrow. This is really going to be a scrappy quilt, but that seems to be the kind I like the best.

What could I do but drop everything to remedy the situation?

2011-03-28T15:09:00.000-05:00

My poor little Henry! He seems to be distraught over the fact that he does not have a soft flannel pillowcase like his sister Zoe. Apparently, according to his mother, he started talking in complete sentences last night and conversation needed to shared with me. Seems he commented on the fact that he knew Grandma H loved him, but he could not understand why she had not made him a soft pillowcase for his pillow that he will be getting soon.

Well, being that special kind of grandma, I had to drop everything and go to the store and find fish fabric to go with the quilts and stuffed toys I had made him earlier. (He is, after all, 18 months+ now.) I came home and immediately set to work making him two special pillowcases, just for him. The light fabric reminded me of fishing nets. The sharks are self-explanatory. These treasures will be in the mail tomorrow. Hope that will make it all better, Henry.

Henry's Pillowcases

***Okay I did a little fabricating with that story. His mom did send a different photo and several emails today on the subject, but this one spoke to the heart of his problem. He lovesthe pillowcase I made for his sister The one I shared shows how distressed he was about having to leave Burger King after spending an hour climbing on the indoor play equipment. The following picture is the one my daughter actually sent. She had just told him to say "cheese" for Grandma. It did touch my heart but I love telling stories.

24 of 90

2011-03-25T20:48:00.000-05:00

I have not been working on these blocks as diligently as I had planned for the week, but I do have 24 blocks done. Lynn and I both gathered fabrics for this quilt using a pillow with all the colors she likes. I do not think the photo does the colors justice. I am not certain if all of these locks will work, but each time I put up another block I change my thoughts on what works and what doesn't. I will just keep making them and start adding in sashing and cornerstones. The sashing and cornerstones are also from these fabrics. Obviously this will be a very scrappy quilt.

Weather is one of those things, but having time for my visitor was wonderful!

2011-03-23T16:35:00.000-05:00

I had some plans today that were not achieved because of the "FUN" snow and ice. I had to take time to shovel and will have to do it again, but that is nothing new this year. The challenge was that we have not really had ice all winter, but we did this time. As I drove to chapel, I was almost hit several times, but my appointment with God was not to be denied. Guess that will be counted as one of today's small miracles. Even so, I was a little nervous about all the swerving vehicles. I certainly was glad that it gave me more time to be home and enjoy the events of the afternoon.

When I got home I did the shoveling and salted the steps to deal with the ice. Felt great to work out that way, but the focus was that I wanted to be ready for my visitor. .He is a retired Navy corpsman who has lived in this area for more than 50 years. I spent a few hours talking about sails and sailing ships with my visitor. He is making special gift for my husband to say thank you for his help with several different projects and events. It was so interesting. As we talked I found that we could easily relate because of my quilting and sewing experiences. There was a lot of history shared, as well. It was a delightful way to pass the day on this cold, wintry day.

Now I am going to go do some sewing.

32 Pieces in Each Block

2011-03-20T19:51:00.000-05:00

I am working on a customer quilt. I need to make a total of 90 of these blocks. At the moment I only have these 12 made, but I have discovered an assembly line idea that made the last two go more quickly. None of the fabric selections are solids but some appear that way in the photo. My goal is to make 6 to 8 blocks a day and then put it all together the first week of April. I will update the blocks next week so that you can see how the look will change as more fabrics are added. Once all the blocks are may, a few may be banished, but no judgements will be past until they are all made.

NOTE: I actually like making half-square triangles.

Two More Quilt-As-You Go

2011-03-19T21:50:00.000-05:00

I just finished binding these little quilts. They are made from the short strips left over from making Heart String quilts for kids. I like the way they turned out, but might add a solid border around the next few. YES ther are still strings left and this project is a quick one There are lots of different objects in the various strips so these will be entertaining for little ones. They will be donated to a group that does many different things for children and families in need.

Experiment Underway

2011-03-18T18:02:00.000-05:00

My friend gave me directions for how to make printed quilt labels. I am trying it out even as I type and eat dinner. If it works I will give everyone the recipe because it will make labeling donation quilts ever so easy.

So Many Choices on How to Spend the Day

2011-03-16T19:28:00.000-05:00

I have been working in the studio all day, but I am not sewing, I am cutting and making kits for our time in Vermont. I am going to be without my HQ for 9-12 months, so I am going to spend a LOT of time getting to know my Bernina 44QE much better. I am going to do a lot of free motion using the BSR, play with all the stitches, and do more SID. I am also going to do more hand and machine applique. The kits I am making today are fairly simple so that the focus can be on the quilting. I am not making anything larger than a lap size but each kit will have the back and binding as well. Batting will probably stay on the roll or be cut to size. I am not planning to buy much of anything fabric-wise while there, but I will see all the quilt shops I can.

I have already made 3 simple kits that will include embroidered blocks stitched by my FIL, but I will probably go onto EQ and create a few more complex ones to use a few of the more detailed bird sketch design blocks. I will also make another quilt similar to the Four Seasons one that I finally quilted two weeks ago. However, it will probably be a lap size.

Many of these quilts will be given to family members in the future, but I have also designated some for donations and as comfort quilts for friends. It feels good to give a tangible hug!

I am also taking along a number of unfinished, but not UFO status, quilts. I am going to do lots of piecing so that I will be able to hit the ground running when I get back to my HQ. (My sweet daughter has already offered to babysit the machine.)

How many quilts will I complete? Well if I think in terms of tops, I figure that I will accomplish 4-6 a month (probably only 4-6 large quilts during the whole stay) with at least 3-4 being quilted during the month. I am also going to work at hand quilting my Christmas applique quilt that has been waiting for just the time. (Long cold winter nights seem to be just the ticket for quilting and snuggling under it while I do. The big quilt kits that I have will see the tops finished but then they will be packed away for long arming until we get settled in back in South Dakota.

Kevin is going to be busy at his woodworking/furniture building school, but we plan to see New England while we are there. We lived in Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island during his military career, so we thought it would be fun to revisit some of the sites. Fall foliage will also bring out the camera and the sketch pad (quilt designs). We will be living near Burlington and the lake resorts, so we will have to take in those sites and sounds as well. This our transition time and we are going to take full advantage of it.

First Quilt-As-You-Go

2011-03-13T23:21:00.002-05:00

Actually, it is not the first QAYG that I have made, but it is the first of the weekend. These are all width-of-fabric strips that are between 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches wide that are from my kid fabric stash. I laid out the center strip and then added strips just like when I make Heart String blocks. As I went along, I learned to check for straightness of the strip. Just lined it up with a yardstick and then pinned it down and stitched using my walking foot. Then I trimmed and added the binding. Took longer to stitch down the binding than to make the quilt, but I love the look of double fold binding, so I do it every time. This is a donation quilt and measures 40x45.

TA-DA!

Opinions, Please

2011-03-11T07:17:00.000-06:00

The short kid strips did not multiply last night, but after 9 hours of sewing, I still have about 3 more hours before I think I will be done making sections. I am simply sewing and squaring the sections into the largest pieces I can at the time. The final sizes will be cut later today.

I am almost ready to put my creations together but need to chose some backgrounds. Of the solid Kona color choices laid out which three are your favorites. Each quilt will have only one color as the background. Let me know by Saturday because I want to put these tops together over the weekend.

All Quilters Know Strings Multiply Overnight

2011-03-10T08:26:00.000-06:00

I woke up thinking I just had about 8 sections to sew. Then I cleaned up all the bags of kits and found enough short strings to make another 8 sections, so I am anticipating making 16 or more sections today. Guess I have my work cut out or stitched up for the next umpteen hours. I am going to finish this portion of my project today.

Sneak Peek

2011-03-10T00:23:00.000-06:00

What do you do with all your short strings? I am plotting and planning. These will be used for some donation kid quilts. I have enough more strips for another 8 sections or so. Then my short kid strips will be used up. This moving stuff helps me get my stash into better shape. I have a number of plans for other short strings, as well.

Okay, Okay, Okay

2011-03-08T11:55:00.002-06:00

The past week has been a joyous roller coaster ride as we set about making plans for our next huge adventure, but now it is time to live in the moment again. I have donation quilts to quilt, customer quilts that are calling, and a messy quilt donation room that need my immediate attention, and a great desire to get my body moving, again. So, I decided that I would use my blog to help me get motivated. (Having lived in New Orleans for 2 years, I am really feeling the "Fat Tuesday" vibes ---- or maybe I would be just a thrilled with my mom's chocolate-cherry brownie dessert. --- Have to settle with a cup of Suisse Mocha and a daydream!) I find that if I post what I plan for just one day at a time, I feel that I can obtain the desired results. So here goes...........................(Red text is my update at 2:30 - had to check what I was promising myself) ( Comments as of 10:15 PM are in green.)

POOL: Already went to the pool and worked out (Have been missing that because of so many other things)
BUY BINDING FABRIC: purchased four fabrics for donation quilt bindings and an adorable dinosaur fabric for my stash
GET READY FOR GUILD: loaded the container with Heart Strings kits, several quilts to be bound, handout for a challenge, packed up my two show-and-tell UFOs, loaded 4 boxes of pillowcases, and gathered my two receipts -- just need to fit it all into the car (in the car ready to go) (Brought far too much of what I had hope to share plus finished blocks for 9more Heart Strings - the Heart Strings group can work on assembling all of those next Tuesday.)
QUILT GUMBALL DONATION QUILT: load, quilt, make binding, and attach binding (in the frame but may not get quilting until tomorrow morning)
CLEANING: straight up quilt donation room (neat, tidy, and even vacuumed and dusted) (Most of what I brought back will need to go back into this room, but I am promising myself it will be done neatly and stay bagged until the HS group meets on Tuesday.)

OKAY.................READY, SET, GO! (I am going to have that cup of suisse mocha at 3:30. I will see just how much I can accomplish before that.) (Never got to the cup of suisse mocha because I had 3 fun phone calls and also decided that I needed to cut more bindings while the fabrics were out. I will try to have better follow through tomorrow.)

What A Difference A Week Makes

2011-03-07T22:00:00.000-06:00

We spent a week going through transition classes to prepare for Kevin's retirement from the military. He was preparing to begin his search for a new position and all the stresses of job hunting. While we were there we came across a fabulous idea and have spent lots of hours talking, praying, researching and doing some real soul searching. However, this decision has been years in the making. We have great confidence that we will be able to pull it all together. In August, Kevin is going to go back to school to further develop his woodworking and furniture building skills. He is already a good woodworker with many pieces of furniture to his credit, but this coursework will make him an even better one. IT IS HIS DREAM!

I am going with him. We will store most of our household goods and rent a small apartment. Our daughter was very quick to volunteer to take care of my HQ for the year. I will take both my Berninas, my laptop, and a number of kits that will keep me occupied. I plan to really learn how to do all kinds of things with my machines and also learn EQ forward and backwards. Of course, it also means that I will be able to visit lots of new and different quilt shops and maybe even take a few classes. There is always something positive about change.

Eventually we will settle into the area where we grew up, but that is at least a year off. More updates as I see how the pieces fit.

Actually, we have decided to embrace this adventure with out whole hearts. It should be worth tons of new memories!

What's Next?

2011-03-06T09:54:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I quilted 2 Heart Strings donation quilts and sorted out 5 more backs for the other 5 I have. Then I made certain all the bindings are ready to go. I will try to quilt two of the quilts each day, so I can pass them off for binding on Tuesday night. There will be more turned in then, so the cycle will start again.

I am also making a customer quilt from start to finish. She bought the pattern and most of the fabrics on her own, but I needed to add in some to round it out. I washed all the fabrics before we left for our last trip, and ironed most of them last night. I have a few left for today and then I will piece the first few just to be certain that I understand the directions. There are 90 blocks of the same design but many different pieces of fabric, so it should be fun and scrappy(my favorite kind). Each block is 2 colors and then there is a scrappy sashing with cornerstones. No border. I plan to pace myself so that I do a very accurate job and so I can take care of all the quilting on the donation quilts, as well.

I have until June 15th and then my HQ will be put into storage for some time while my husband transitions out of the Navy and we relocate again. We have some exciting and challenging days ahead, but we are both very enthusiastic about what we are planning. More on that in the near future.

Two UFOs Completed

2011-03-05T10:28:00.000-06:00

I will not reach my goal of finishing all of my listed UFOs by the end of May for the guild challenge, but it feels good to be finishing up so many. I will continue to piece the few that are just kits at the moment, I will not get them machine quilted unless I get them finished before my Handiquilter get packed for the move because it may be a while before I can get it set up and running again. Maybe it will be time for me to really practice my free motion on my Bernina???

The first quilt is a product of my FIL and I working together. He made 3/4 of the squares and left the rest to me. It hangs down about 6" on sides and foot of a queen sized bed, but I am going to make pillow cases for the head. The Christmas strings quilt will be used on my bed at Christmas and then flipped over to the snowpeople side for January. There were two seams that did not get stitched closed and they went undetected as I started quilting and I could not really do a great repair because there was no seam allowance to play with. Therefore, I decided to add 5 ornaments that are somewhat blended into the quilt. I figured that we have 5 grandchildren so there is one for each of them. I am calling this quilt "Christmas Surprise."

This quilt is called "Four Seasons. It was another collaborative effort. My FIL used his embroidery machine to make the centers for each block. I am not certain what company created the designs but believe the software designs were package as "Four Seasons." We used EQ6 to create the quilt layout. The points are not perfect and my SID is more like SSCTDAT (Stitch somewhat close to the ditch at times). I had not done anything larger than a small lap quilt on my domestic before (and only 3 at that) and will think hard before doing another. Although the borders seem to hang loosely in the photo, that does not seem to be true when it is laying on the bed. While I was doing the hand sewing on the binding, I fell asleep several times. It is definitely a cozy quilt!

Not about Quilting

2011-02-27T06:49:00.000-06:00

Kevin's shingles are healing and he is not contagious to anyone any more, so we followed through with our scheduled dinner last night. I try to keep the meal simple enough so that I can enjoy visiting as much as everyone else. Crockpots make this easier. I made stew. One pot was chicken stew and the other was beef stew. Sadly, I have to report that while getting the right size pots out I broke out the bottom of my favorite 4 quart crock. (I did cry!) Back to the stews...They must have been well received because there was very little leftover. The beer batter biscuits disappeared as well.
The dessert was a new one and so delicious. Banana Foster Tart. Having lived in New Orleans I had experienced this dessert on several occasions and have thought of it several time since, but I was sure it was more of a delicacy than I would be able to concoct. Believe me it is going into the keep and remake file. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO TASTY and decadent.

Binding Attached, Playing Begun

2011-02-25T12:23:00.000-06:00

I promised myself that I would finish the binding on the 4 Seasons quilt this morning and then clean up. I am pleased to announce that I got it done by 9:30 AM. Once the hand sewing is done on the binding I will post a photo. For a first effort in SID on a large quilt, I am pleased.

Of course once I had it all folded and packed for travel, I got sidetracked and decided to experiment with making my own cup sleeve. I have more strips and leftover binding than anyone can imagine, so that was a quick part. I have collected a number of the coffee store paper sleeves and even someone's tracing. I used all of them to decide what shape I needed and then did it my way. There is no Velcro or any other means to attach the edges because I like simple, so this sleeve has to be made to fit my glasses. I will make more in the near future but not today. This one is going to wing its way to my sister Becky with the hope that it will fit a ceramic coffee glass that she made a while back.

Final Thoughts for Today

2011-02-24T20:24:00.000-06:00

I really did not think I would finish quilting all the blocks on the 4 Season's quilt, today, but I came up with a more organized plan for quilting each block and it really sped up my quilting. As I told you, the quilt seemed tremendously large and hard to manipulate on the domestic machine. The SID is not perfect, but then as I stitched I also noticed how many of my points were off. Obviously this is go to be a warm, comfy quilt rather than a show quilt, but that is the kind I love most. In the morning I will SID around the inner border, trim it, and add the binding. I love it when I get to this point. The end is in sight and I like the way it looks.

Tonight we are going to watch a movie and I will finish up the application of the 5 ornaments. The tend to blend into the quilt a little, but I think that will make it more fund for my grandchildren. I have 5 grandchildren, so they will like knowing that I was thinking of them while I worked on this quilt.

I has been another productive and wonderful day!

Thursday Goals

2011-02-24T08:52:00.001-06:00

Besides the 6-month visit to the dentist, I am going to be sewing. My goal is to quilt at least 6 of the 9 remaining blocks today. The quilting of each block took me about 40 minutes yesterday, but I think I finally have a stategy that will speed the process. Then, tonight I plan to finish appliquing the ornaments on my Christmas quilt. Because I want to have both of these quilts ready to take along for hand stitching of the binding, I have to really focus today.

My husband finished all 30 of his large 16 patch blocks yesterday. He has been careful to trim all the threads, press the seams with care, and do a pretty good job of matching all the corners. 12 of them have embroidered animals in the middle instead of 4 of the patches (The embroidered squares have a little pull in them, but his dad made them with love, so he will work with them - He said the fit in because they will be part of a "loving quilt". He is going to try and have it all put together in the next few days, including the border. He said he thinks that I want to do the quilting, but we will see. My schedule is full, but I like to keep him inspired. lol

I did it!

2011-02-23T17:25:00.000-06:00

My goal for this day was to quilt four more of the blocks in the 5 Seasons quilt that I made with my FIL. It is 5:12 PM and I have reached my goal. I have 11 done. That means there are only 9 more plus the inner and other border to do with the SSOITD (stitch-sort-of-in-the-ditch) This quilt is far too large for me to handle easily in my domestic machine, but I thought it might be better for SID than on the longarm. Fortunately the thread tends to blend in and as my husband calls these quilts - loving quilts, it is just fine with me. I will try to do something more on this tonight be cause the ultimate goal is to complete the hand sewing on the binding within the next week.

While I have been working on mine he has continued to work on his own quilt. Because he has shingles he can't do lots of his normal things, like go to work in a uniform (belt rubs on the shingles). He has been handling work stuff over the phone and computer since nobody cares that he wears sweats if they don't see them. He has some big pains in some areas so he sews a little, works a little, and then takes naps. He does not know how to just sit still, except when he is reading and he tends to rest his book at his waist, so....

He has not lost his edge, though. He has won 3 of 4 cribbage games in the last two days. That means I have lost 3 of 4. Not complaining though because I just like to spend time with him.

The Four Seasons Challenge

2011-02-23T09:01:00.000-06:00

I have done a few smaller quilts using SITD on my domestic, but this is the first full size and probably the last! It seems to take forever to do one block and there are 20 to do. Wish I could say that all the stitches are hidden, but I am going to let some of that slide and just "get it done." It is 8:55 AM and I am just about finished with the 7th block. I am posting this right now so that I will feel accountable to report in later today. I have a couple of small errands to do, but no snow to shovel, so I am setting a goal of completing 4 more blocks today. Before the weekend comes, I plan to have it finished and have the binding attached so that it can be stitched down on our next car trip. It is one of my UFO projects for guild.

My UFO goal for the month had been to finish the quilt that Jamie and I were each making, but I decided that I needed to deal with some that would ultimately give me binding to do on our adventures. I also have a queen size Christmas quilt that my FIL and I worked on together, and I got it quilted early this week and have attached and hand sewn 2 sides of the binding. I have 7 round ornament appliques that I plan to add, as well. I just keep plugging away. No new quilts planned for me but have a customer quilt (one from start to finish) that needs to get going next week.

Heart String Blocks, Banana Bread, and MORE SNOW

2011-02-21T15:02:00.001-06:00

6 x10 rectangles

6 x 6 with a 2 1/2 " border

juvenile prints 50 x70

2 Quilts of Valor and 1 for a women's shelter

6 x10 rectangles

All of the 50 x 70 size quilts were put together at our sewing day. The 6 x 6 with the green dotted centers needs to have the binding added. The rectangular block quilts are not finished but wanted to share. There are a number of others that need just a couple more blocks or borders, and then there are some that are only halfway there. I believe that 9 tops went home with members to be finished. One lady called to tell me she was going to put her top together today since it was snowing and she needed to be doing something. Hope that holds for several others, too. Guess you can already figure out that I will have a number of quilts to quilt in the next few weeks. Love doing these!

I spent the morning repacking all the semi-completed quilt tops and putting all the other things that I took to the sewing day back in their places. I followed that up by making some delicious banana bread using my mom's recipe.

As we finished lunch the snow plows went by in each direction so I headed out to clear away the snow. My guess is that we had 13-15 inches total, but then it is snowing again, so... While I was clearing the snow (already had cleared the snow the plow had added to the driveway) the plow made one more pass on our side of the street and re-filled my driveway. The driver did smile and look a little guilty, but I am still glad I had cleared the first bunch because the second was just as large a pile. Kevin came out and supervised, so I think he is feeling a little better.

Now we are back inside.....had a hot drink and a slice of banana bread while we warmed up. The laundry is almost done and I am going to get back to quilting the queen size Christmas quilt. Hope to have it done today so that I can attach the binding and do the hand sewing while we watch a movie tonight. It is just one of those cozy kind of days.

Sunday Fun

2011-02-20T22:01:00.000-06:00

We are in the middle of a large snow storm. In years past I would not have thought about it in terms of how much I would have to shovel, but this year has been much different. We have had lots of snow and my husband has been doing a great deal of traveling so I have been perfecting my skills. However, this time my husband is home, but he has a bad case of shingles, so I am doing it my way, and he is watching from the window.(It is "killing" him to just watch.) Tonight I used the snow blower to clear the first part of the storm. With all the blowing, there were many large drifts. Some were taller than the top of the snow blower, but since we have experienced lots of melting it was easy enough to get the snow over the top of the old snow piles. When I just checked out the window, there is some evidence that I shoveled, but there is quite a bit of fresh snow waiting for me to deal with in the morning. I really do love snow, but I am beginning to think that spring could come sooner rather than later.

Because of the impending snow, I went to church last night. Today, besides the shoveling, has been spent loading a Christmas quilt and reorganizing my Heart String boxes. Yesterday's sew-in was well worth the efforts, but there is always the need to reorganize things and set up things so that I can do the quilting. I have been very busy trimming blocks and counting how many more are needed to complete the unfinished quilts. As always, it amazes me that we accomplished so much and had so much fun doing it.

Although he would not consider complaining, my husband is not good at just sitting no matter how he feels so after several hours on his laptop and a few games of cribbage with me, he decided he would have to do something. That is how both of his other quilts started. This time we were sort of prepared for him to begin because we had created an EQ design using fabric from my stash and 12 embroidered blocks created by my father-in-law on his embroidery machine. There were lots of 5" squares already cut, so it took us less than 1/2 and hour to make enough for the remainder of the king-sized quilt. He made 8 - 16 patch blocks and is set up to make the others over the next few days. Thank goodness he actually came up with something to do that can occupy him while he heals.

Maybe tomorrow I will start by making banana bread. Then I will workout with all the shoveling followed by quilting and cribbage. As Always, I am counting my blessings and playing the "glad game" just like Pollyanna. Hope all is well in your worlds.

Interesting, Very Interesting!

2011-02-18T09:51:00.000-06:00

We travelled to South Dakota this week to do some preliminary house hunting. Travelling to and from I did the hand binding on two Quilts of Valor. We also found time to have a few meals, snacks, and conversations with family and friends.
We met with the agent early on Tuesday and then drove around the area looking at how much the area and changed and at the same time stayed the same. On Wednesday we saw five properties that offered some possibilities, but we do have hobbies that require dedicated spaces.

Obviously, I quilt and have a longarm that needs to have lots of space, and if I play it right, I hope to have others share my space at times to quilt with me. That means one large open space with room for all, but I want it to be a dedicated space so that it can always be ready for me to take a spin on the machines.
Kevin does woodworking such as large pieces of furniture, bowl turning, etc. He needs a dedicated space as much as I do. His needs to be insulated, dry, warm or cool depending on the season, and very spacious so he does not always have to rearrange to use all his large tools.

Beyond that we want both a family room and a living/reading room, master bedroom, 3 other bedrooms and more than 2 bathrooms. And if possible, more than an acre or two of land is desirable. Aren't we hard to please? Kevin insists that we also have a kitchen so we can mainly eat at home, but I told him a few plug-ins for crockpots might be just fine. (He laughed, but I think he still sees the kitchen as a necessary requirement.)

We looked at five properties. All had some great features, some had some disturbing features, and all seemed to be lacking studio space or woodworking space. The agent promises to keep looking. We have a few months before we have to be really serious about our choices. If we find a great place that can easily have an additon added, we might go that route. A little remodeling is okay, but I don't look forward to any of the all-out messes we have fixed up in the past.

The Week in Review

2011-02-13T10:30:00.001-06:00

A lot of my spare thinking time has been focused on what comes after my husband retires from the Navy. We are trusting in the Lord to help us make the right decisions, so I don't try to worry into the future or about the past, but I am dreaming of lots of things we could do and also thinking about the things we won't need to do any more. Time for another life changing/enhancing adventure for us.

Somehow, we managed to squeeze in a trip to see all five of our grandchildren and of course their parents. My third grandchild was celebrating his 2 birthday. What a wild and wonderful weekend! The bright green frosting was a sight to behold considering that all but the youngest was sporting lots of it as we ate.

Last night we had dinner for nine. We always try to make it something uncomplicated but fun. I made two offerings that could be combined to fit each person's taste. I made pulled pork for sandwiches and I also made lots of baked potatoes in the crockpot and had a baked potato bar with lots of fixings. Then served rhubarb/strawberry cake and my husband's rum cake. No one left the table hungry, and the potatoes were excellent!!! (Never tried the crockpot way before.)

That being said, lets talk quilting.

I have been very busy with the time consuming task of making more kits for HeartStrings so that we will have plenty of kits for our sewing day. I put together far more than we will use in one day, but I used up all the donated fabrics and fabrics I was willing to sacrifice from my own stash. Cutting the foundations and centers did seem to go pretty quickly, though, probably because I have had so much experience that I know the best ways for me to get the most from the yardage. No more of this kind of kitting until I have moved and gotten settled. Therefore, I found someone else that is willing to take donated fabrics and carry on the efforts in this guild.
Sharon and I also took some of the other donated fabric and created some fun scrappy kits that will eventually be stitched, quilted and given to those that need special hugs just like all the other HeartStrings quilts.
I have not touched my star quilt this week because of lots of other things, but I did purchase the backing and the 2" Tangles that I need to finish the sashing.
The extra large queen size quilt I am making for a customer is not actually started, but I have almost all the fabrics needed to complete the top. It will be a beautiful quilt even though there are 90 of the same block. There are about 20 different prints in what I refer to as garden cottage colors. It is on the calendar to begin next Friday.
I have quilted 3 more HeartStrings Quilts of Valor and will be attaching the binding on 2 today, which will give me some hand sewing to do in the car, etc. The other one's binding is at Sharon's house and she is going to handle that task.
Saturday I participated in a Quilts of Valor sewing day sponsored by our guild. One of our members created kits using EQ to design simple, eye-pleasing quilts. Another member helped with all the cutting and bagging. Fun day.
Today I am going to work on the 4 Seasons quilt. It is going to be done with simple stitch-in-the-ditch because I want Dad's embroidery and their settings to be the most important part of this quilt. I don't think it will be finished today, but my goal of getting it completely finished by the end of February is truly attainable.

Better sign off and get crack-a-lacking, or I will never finish what I have set out to do.

DO YOU HAVE AN OPINION?

2011-02-08T19:02:00.000-06:00

My husband and I have spent a good chunk of our married life moving all over the country as a military family. Now we are headed for his retirement and a move back to South Dakota (We think.) We have talked of many options but one that has appeared several times is the idea of opening a retreat lodge where we could both put our passions to work and also spend time offering a place where people could come to relax, read, quilt, do woodworking, visit with a few others, find space to have personal quiet time, and maybe go hunting in season. It could be a time for a friends' get away, or even a great couple's week or weekend.

I have been quilting for many years and consider myself the type of person who will provide positive support and insights for newer quilters, while learning from those who want to come and share the experience. I also have a HQ16 that I use to quilt for several customers and have also taught several of my friends to use to quilt charity quilts.
My husband makes beautiful arts and crafts furniture and does lots of turned work, as well. When he builds a piece of furniture for our home, he considers how it will be use in our situation and customizes the size and interior to fit our needs.
We both value time spent reading, talking, relaxing with friends, and taking time to be still and reflect on our blessings.
We would locate our lodge somewhere near Sioux Falls.

If you have any thoughts please feel free to share them. We are thinking about lots of other options, as well, but thought my readers might just have some opinions that would help us with our thoughts.

11, but not really!

2011-02-04T16:41:00.001-06:00

I finished 3 blocks this morning. Two were spot on at 9 1/2 x 9 1/2, then I hung the 3rd one. It measures 9x9. How could that be? Well, I did not reset the needle position so my seams are all larger. How could I have missed it? It was going together so nicely, that I was kind of lost in oblivion. Fortunately there were enough leftovers for me to cut out another one to be sewn later today. Love my new Bernina 440QE but have not learned to a flight check before take off. (Wait, maybe I have at this point!) May frame this one to remind me to always do a pre-flight check. lol

4 MORE

2011-02-03T13:54:00.000-06:00

Finished 4 more today. Had lots of trouble with one, but after remaking a second time and having the same problem decided that I would keep this one and see if there is any of the green left over when I finish the last 4 blocks. Should be able to finish these before the weekend.
Have to buy more Tangles for the finishing stars. I affectionately call them ninja stars but they are more commonly know as friendship stars.

A Very Special UFO

2011-02-02T16:00:00.000-06:00

My daughter gave this Buck-A-Block quilt kit to me as a gift. The plan was/is for both of us to be making the same quilt blocks and following the same directions to get there. After making the first block, each following month when I received a block I promptly put it with its friends. I was kind of focused on other things that were already in the works. However, I decided that this was one UFO I was going to finish this year and this is the month. There are 12 main blocks that are all stars made with Tangles. Then there will be a large sashing that includes smaller 4 pointed stars. When finished the quilt should measure 63 x 78.

I have only used Tangles a few times in the past and have somewhat perfected my own HST blocks, but I want to follow the pattern as directed. So far, so good. I will probably make at least one more block today. Then I have a good chunk of time to work on them on Thursday and Friday. My goal is to get this one completely finished and bound before our March guild meeting. With all the unrelated events that seems to be happening this month (quilt show workshops, grandson's b-day, house hunting, taxes, charity projects, etc.), I am going to have to really focus on these, but I am determined.

No photos but have to share!

2011-01-31T12:40:00.000-06:00

This past weekend I was honored to be a facilitator at a Navy Returning Warrior Workshop. The purpose of these weekends is to help sailors and their families reconnect. There are lots of valuable workshops and speakers presenting thoughtful, useful coping skills and strong support that will help to help the sailor and significant others make the transition back into a well functioning unit. The events are for reservists and active duty who have recently returned from deployment whether they are single or married. One of the events is a Banquet of Honor where the transition team makes a big show of truly honoring the service of the sailor AND the spouse or other significant person. There were certificates of heartfelt thanks for both the sailors and their guest, and then each returning warrior was wrapped in a Quilt of Valor either by their spouse/significant other or a caring member of this support team. There were many tears and lots of smiles. Being part of handing over those healing quilts was so uplifting! Many that I talked to the next morning said it was the most wonderful recognition of their service to country they had received. Lots of hugs followed.
For all that make the quilts - kudos! To all those who receive them - know that we support you and celebrate you for the service and sacrifice you have given as a sailor in our all volunteer service.

NO SNOW IN NASHVILLE

2011-01-28T15:14:00.000-06:00

After months of snow in Minnesota, I was almost shocked to see absolutely no snow in Nashville today. Intellectually, I know that snow is not covering the whole world but am still surprised to see the reality of it all. When we got off the plane we had winter coats and snow boots on. No need for any of that. Sure hope I have the right clothes to be in the warm weather. It is 48 degrees. Can't remember that temp in MN in the last few months.

Don't get me wrong, though. Love all the seasons and don't ever plan to have back down south. Also, hope all snow will mean that my pontoon boat will float easier this summer.

Chistmas Top Completed - Comfort Quilt Binding Finished

2011-01-23T21:25:00.000-06:00

My FIL and I worked on these blocks a year ago at Christmas time, but then I put it away. I am trying hard to deal with the UFOs before we move in July, so yesterday this one got two borders and will fit on my queen-size bed. (Ignore the brown and blue edges because that is another quilt.) The back is going to be snowmen on a blue background, so we can use it until Feb. I am just going to use meander on it because it is busy enough as it is.

The comfort quilt I made for my sister-in-law is finished and will be mailed tomorrow. Despite the photo, I think it is a calming quilt. She is going through chemo treatments for ovarian cancer, and I just wanted to let her know that she is loved. I quilted it with meandering hearts.

I also quilted another wheelchair quilt that will be going to a nursing home in the next couple of days. Binding is being stitched down tonight. I love being productive.

A Comfort Quilt

2011-01-20T21:23:00.000-06:00

My SIL has ovarian cancer. Her prognosis is good, but she is going through chemo and radiation. Most people talk about being so cold whenever this happens so I try to make a take-along quilt for them to use as a hug and for warmth. Teal/aqua is the color of the ovarian cancer ribbon. This one contains lots of the same fabrics I used for my MIL's quilt and hope that will bring a little extra comfort to my SIL. I am going to loosely quilt it using a high loft batting. That will keep it lightweight yet provide warmth. My goal is to finish the binding by the end of the week. I will post a pix when it is done.

Another Quilt of Valor

2011-01-18T19:25:00.000-06:00

This Quilt of Valor was made from leftover backing and several other scraps. Although not every red or white are from the same prints, it was hard for my husband and FIL to spot the difference. This one is also a little longer and wider than the Heart Strings ones, but I am sure it will be perfect for someone to sleep under while healing. I love doing freehand swirls. I am sure that they are not perfect enough for some, but I think it just feels like I really enjoyed doing it. As I was binding this one, I had a couple cozy little naps of my own.

Well, Winter does that to us!

2011-01-17T15:57:00.000-06:00

My husband has not been home much, but he has been frustrated by the cold in his wood shop. He builds furniture and turns bowls, wine stoppers, etc to relaxed when he is home, but since we moved north he has not been able to do much during Dec. through Feb. so he actually turns his thinking to quilts as an alternative. When he travels he reads and works with different programs on his computer to design furniture. We will have some new pieces come spring. He is the type that likes to keep busy.
With his dad here, we are not on the go much when he is home, so today we played on the EQ and created a quilt for friends. It will have 12 embroidered blocks and lots of charm squares. The embroidered blocks are done. He is helping me use up my stash, and keeping busy at the same time. That being said, it is not something that was planned on my lists of quilts for the year, so he will be doing lots of the sewing and has also agreed to quilt it with meandering. He does not do binding!
It feels good to know that even if quilting is not high on his list of favorites, he still appreciates them and knows the lingo, so when he is in need of something to do, quilting comes to mind.

Aches and Pains, but so much done!

2011-01-15T19:18:00.000-06:00

I just attached a binding and will work on it tonight and tomorrow. However, I have spent most of the last two days cutting donated fabric into strips. Lots of this fabric is actually donated from my own stash, but I consider it to be for a great cause - Heart Strings quilts. My husband and FIL have been assembling bags for Quilts of Valor, juvenile, and other ones. They are a blessing. All this being said, my back aches and my muscles know I have been busy!

Heart Strings / Quilts of Valor

2011-01-11T22:24:00.000-06:00

These three Quilts of Valor were finished this week. I put together the kits for each one. I pieced the first one and did a few of the blocks on each other the others. The others were pieced by other guild members and my FIL. Then I quilted each of them and did the binding on the first one. After I attached the bindings, the other two were bound by guild members. What I like best about these is that although they are all random, the center strip makes them all look so different.
Tomorrow I am going to attach binding to another Quilt of Valor that is not a Heart String. I made it from the leftover pieces of backing on several of the other quilts. Once I finish that I have another set of Heart Strings blocks to put together for Women's Advocacy. Love doing these because each one takes on its only personality. Of course, I do have a few of my own UFOs and other quilts to work on, as well, so I have quilting planned for the remainder of the year! Doesn't that just make you smile!! (Probably don't even need to purchase much fabric to make all of them a reality.)

Sunday Report

2011-01-09T10:10:00.000-06:00

I do not think that I have much new to report. I already wrote about all the binding and piecing that I have done this week. I did pull out a few of my UFOs, but I did not get to them because I got involved with trying to clear the piles of strings. I will be working on the strings for several days for several reasons. One is that I have a sore index finger on my sewing hand - a cut and some swelling. The other is that I am facilitating another guild workshop for Heart Strings in Feb and I want to have all the strings bagged and ready to go. These are the last strings I am going to cut while I live in this area. Sure hope someone else is willing to take in the scraps, but I have to draw the line and this seems like the perfect time. (I love doing charity work, but I don't know that I will have the space in my new location.)

Friday Efforts

2011-01-07T20:06:00.000-06:00

I quilted 2 lap size quilts. One was a HeartStrings, the other was a Quilt of Valor. I put the binding on one but decided I have had enough fun for today. Think I will watch a movie with my husband and finish the hand sewing on another binding. Tomorrow is committed to making pillow cases with other guild members.

2011-01-06T20:26:00.000-06:00

Ta-Da! It is finished on my FIL's bed. It is a beautiful quilt and Kevin should be very proud of his efforts. This is only his second quilt. If you read my other posts you would understand why there is such a long area above the embroidery designs. It really is slick for covering the pillows.

I included several shots so that you can seen the top better. By the way, Kevin built the headboard, dresser and quilt rack. He is definitely multi-talented.

Mary Always Seems to Do More, but.............

2011-01-06T18:58:00.000-06:00

I got the Quilt of Valor quilted and attached the binding. I also loaded another HeartStrings after supper tonight. I will finish up the hand sewing of the QOV tonight and then get the other two quilts quilted tomorrow. Saturday is all about making pillow cases. I am just going to keep plugging away for the next week or two and see how many of the UFOs I have, personal ones, that I can finish at least to the binding stage. I think there are 3 or 4 that are manageable before the end of the month.

Blessings to Those Who Care

2011-01-06T12:22:00.000-06:00

I went to FabricTown to meet with a group of ladies that make Quilts of Valor. My own guild has been making HeartString QOV with a few others thrown in to round out our current request, but I was in need of a few more to complete the numbers for an upcoming Returning Warrior Workshop. This group of caring women have made many QOV over the last few years - I have even quilted some from them. Helen also gathers quilts from other areas of Minnesota, as well, so a few of these are from other groups. For all that these ladies do, I am grateful! Thank you!

JUST A LITTLE TEASE

2011-01-05T21:56:00.001-06:00

I finished the binding so it is ready for my husband's birthday. He designed, pieced, and quilted this quilt. He also embroidered the 7 wildlife blocks (see the pheasant). It is his second one. I did the binding as part of his birthday present. Thought I would share just a bit of it. It is going to go on the bed where my FIL sleeps when he visits. It is pretty warm,but light weight so it will not bother his legs like many of the other heavier quilts I have made. We decided that it would be very loosely quilted for that reason. (Shhhh! my FIL does not know he gets to use it.) The quilt also has extra length at the pillow end because my husband really likes to tuck and cover any and all pillows on the bed. He did a great job on this one.

I will unveil the whole thing when Kevin gets back to town. I know he is anxious to see his quilt finished.

Tuesday

2011-01-04T20:57:00.000-06:00

Quilt of Valor top - almost ready to quilt

After my FIL's cataract surgery, he napped and chilled so I quilted. The first QOV top is made up of leftover backing, almost did not have enough, but I managed to pull it off. I am going to quilt it with free-hand swirls.

Quilt of Valor ready for quilting

The second QOV is one I made the last couple of days of 2010. I am going to use a simple meander because the strips are really busy on this one. I will post a shot of each once they are quilted. I had planned to quilt it on New Year's but let my husband work on his.

I love being productive!

#2

2011-01-03T08:08:00.002-06:00

Loading the Quilt

This is my husband's second quilt. He not only did all the sewing, he designed it, embroidered some wildlife blocks, and quilted it. His dad made him a label. Currently, I am binding it as part of his birthday present, but he helped to maneuver the quilt while I attached it.

Beginning to Quilt

I know that quilting is not his first love or even his 10th or 12th, but he does not like to just sit, so when it is too cold to be out in his shop building furniture, or traveling for work, he sometimes plays nicely with fabric. Once I finish the binding, I will post.

Sunday Report #1 for 2011

2011-01-02T09:59:00.002-06:00

Several of the blogs I read have had weekly and/or mid-week reports of progress. I am going to attempt to do a rundown each Sunday after church. Since there has only been one day this year, this week's report will be easy to do.

65 pillowcase kits:

Saturday involved cutting the last pieces of fabric for our guild's pillowcase sewing day. I volunteered to be in charge, but I did have help with some of the cutting. I had already sewn 29 cases for Quilts of Valor and will be counting them in the final total, but yesterday I finished matching up bodies and cuffs. We have a total of 304 to be sewn together next weekend. No more cases will be cut by me since I will be moving on in July.

48 Heart Strings blocks:Trimmed blocks made by another guild member. Plan is to put it together today.

Binding:

Embroidered designs from Forest Friends
from Amazing Designs

Finished sewing down the binding on one of my FILs projects.

Pretty Sure Life Will Offer Challenges

2010-12-31T19:57:00.000-06:00

I have been thinking about my goals for 2011. The possibilities are endless, but I also know there are going to be some serious changes around here, so I am going to limit myself. My husband is retiring from the Navy after 30 years, and I see it as moving on to more adventures. However, it will be different than just moving to another location and new position with the Navy.

Possible goals:

Exercise more than my foot on the sewing machine pedal - EVERY DAY!
Change my hair style.
Make at least one wedding quilt for family member.
Finish at least 8 UFOs.
Continue to work on Quilts of Valor and other Heart Strings quilts.
Continue working toward simplifying and downsizing. which includes stash busting and organizing all our photos

I don't make resolutions, but I will decide on the real goal focuses in the next couple weeks. Tonight I am just reflecting.

Happy New Year's to all of you!

Love a Challenge

2010-12-31T11:57:00.002-06:00

I love a challenge but do not consider myself to be competitive with anyone but myself. This maze is something that we received for Christmas. I have not made it through even one challenge yet, but I love the frustration and concentration required. I decided that being frustrated with this helps me stay more focused. Found a video of it on the Internet, but it did not help me figure out how to get past my point of frustration. Hopefully tonight I will make it just a little further. What are you doing for New Year's Eve?

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T21:53:00.000-06:00

May the peace and joy of this Christmas season help all of us know just how much we are loved. God sent his son to all of us. Rejoice and be glad!

We are celebrating Christmas with the kids and grandkids. As we drove down, I finished the binding on this lap size quilt that will probably end up as a wall quilt next year, but felt it was more than appropriate to post it on this holy day.

It is another of the UFOs I had listed this fall. The center is a Nancy Halverson panel. The border is also made up with her fabrics. I used stitch-in-the-ditch to quilt it.

Lots of Snow and a Little Ice ...Amazing to See

2010-12-23T20:35:00.000-06:00

I live in the Minneapolis area, where we have received over 28 inches of snow this month. There is a lot of snow in my yard but this ice is very unique. At one point the lamps were covered with snow, but we have seen some melting even though the temps have been mostly below freezing. Look carefully at all of the photos. The ice is in no way connected to the lamp, post or ribbon. It is all balanced on the two icicles. Nature is marvelous!

21 Down and 27 to Go

2010-12-21T21:25:00.001-06:00

I feel like I rally accomplished something this afternoon. 21 blocks done and only 27 more to go. Then I can add the back and bind this Quilt of Valor before the New Year. Don't you love the center strip of stars?

The Christmas Spirit

2010-12-21T08:17:00.000-06:00

Just read about a couple of blogs and how the giving of quilts had inspired the writers' Christmas spirit. I agree that the giving of quilts always makes me feel like I have helped others, especially when I give to those that truly need and appreciate the simple things in life.
At the moment, I am working on one Quilt of Valor and a few binding projects. I would hate to spend a day without fabric, but I am also finishing up my year commitment of reading and studying the whole Bible (footnotes and all) , so it is getting a little more time each day than usual because I still have 127 pages left.

In the Christmas spirit, I offer this prayer from one of my favorite daily devotional websites:

God of peace, thank You for sending the Prince of Peace to bring hope and promise to the world. Amen.

Memories of Christmas Gone By

2010-12-20T09:11:00.000-06:00

Figured that I could share these photos without giving away anything more than some smiles. My darlings are now in their 30s but still as sweet as ever.

Merry Christmas to all of my readers!

Faster than a speeding bullet............BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

2010-12-17T14:11:00.003-06:00

Some days I do not think I move very fast or efficiently, but on other days so much is accomplished. So exciting when it works out so smoothly.

I had an order for 8 shoulder warmers and discovered that it was more labor intensive than it seemed when I made the first one, but I still managed to get then mailed out in a timely fashion with some assistance of my friendly worker bee family. Priority mail online is a blessing beyond imagination at times! (No, I do not work for the post office or know anyone else that does.)

The worker bees removing stabilier
and threads from the throws.

Added to that, I embroidered 15 throws to help a number of great-grandchildren remember their very special great-grandma. Started them yesterday our 3:30 and mailed them back today at 12:30. Once again, my friendly worker bee family came to my assistance by clipping threads and re-rolling the throws. (Did not know you could mail things in plastic totes when you use UPS.)

Projects Completed

2010-12-13T22:07:00.001-06:00

The first project was completed last week and is another Quilt of Valor made by a member of my guild, and then quilted and bound by me. It has been delivered to the group who will be presenting all the quilts in January.

The second quilt was complete to a point last week. It needs to have one more star showing the date of my husband's actual retirement after 30 years of Naval service. (Don't want to jinx it.) It is going to hang in one of his offices to remind him of this milestone which is set for 2011.

The third project completed has been in progress for 30+ years. Actually, I had to complete only three this year (I was behind!) There are stockings for our orginal little family, my FIL, our DIL, our SIL, and our 5 grandchildren. If we are blessed with any other grandchildren, they will have to have different red fabric because they don't make this stuff any more. We might also need to have a larger mantle or a stocking tree to hold all the stockings.

SHHHH!!! The final project is not a quilt that I made, but one that I quilted and bound. It is a secret because it is my granddaughter's Christmas present. The label reads "A few of Zoe's favorite things because she is one of my favorite things. Love, Mama 2010"

Christmas Came Early

2010-12-13T20:13:00.001-06:00

Kevin brought home my Christmas gift. It was easier to give it to me now than to hid it. I am the very proud and delighted recipient of a brand-new Bernina 440 QE. I plan to name her and learn to make beautiful music with her. Oh, maybe I should say make beautiful quilts with her. Guess I have been a very good girl this year!!!!

Impressive Collection of Quilts of Valor

2010-12-09T13:49:00.000-06:00

In preparation for a workshop for returning service members, the support team has been collecting Quilts of Valor, which will be distributed during the weekend. My guild is helping with this, and my husband has been transporting our donations from Minnesota to Illinois a couple at a time. Since I traveled by truck with him this week, we were able to bring all the ones that are currently finished. He showed me the collection this afternoon. There have been a lot of busy, caring quilters working on these quilts. Makes me feel so proud this combined effort to show how much we care and appreciate the service and sacrifices made by these veterans!

Quilting, Sewing, and Shoveling

2010-12-04T14:05:00.000-06:00

The snow blower is up and winterized, so I used it to clear most of the 7 inches of light snow in the driveway and on the walk. It was so much easier and quicker that the last time when I did the 7 inches of very heavy, wet snow with a shovel. When we moved back up here from the south, I was just as excited about the snow as my husband, but I have been the one shoveling it, so am thinking it might lose a little of its charm come Feb. Seems a little amazing that Kevin is on the road every time we get a really gorgeous, deep snow.

Oh well the snow is in its place so now I am going back to quilting. I want to have at least three quilts ready for hand-binding by the time we head out on our next adventure, so I need to put the smaller projects aside for the rest of the weekend. Hard part to that is that I am enjoying the small projects just as much.

A week ago, I mentioned that I was experimenting on a shoulder warmer for my sister who does playground duty every day. She is in love with it. She said besides making her warm, it makes her feel so calm and relaxed. As a matter of fact, she said she fantasized about it all day at work (part time job) and could hardly wait to get home to use it again. I have orders from other staff that do outdoor duty for about 12 of these, so I guess that they will make great gifts for lots of people. One guy wants to do a special order and pick out the fabric based on the pjs he is giving his significant other for Christmas. (Sweet!) I have worked on minor adjustments and am just about ready to offer my pattern or the actual warmer to others. Those that have tried it think I should have it copyrighted whether I sell the shoulder warmers or share the pattern, so I am going back to my former post and marking it such. If you use my idea, please give me credit for the design. Next winter, I am going to market them at a few winter craft fairs.

A Special Treat

2010-12-03T19:46:00.000-06:00

Turn up the sound and enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7JR9oKVE

A Little Winter Warmth

2010-11-24T10:11:00.001-06:00

The Shoulder Warmer is my design and should
be considered copyrighted. If you use my
idea, please give me credit.

Living in the Midwest, one thinks about the cold. Being part of an elementary school staff has you thinking about the cold of recess. Kids are so much more tolerant of the cold than adults. My sister requested hand-warmers, a shoulder warmer, and some medium size warmers. I make them with flannel and fill them with dry rice. The Shoulder Wwarmer is an experiment of sorts. But I tested it last night and will probably offer some directions after Thanksgiving if it lives up to my sister's expectations.
As we travel over the next couple of days, my needle will be sealing up the ends of the hand-warmers. Once they are sealed, you simply pop the hand-warmer size into the microwave for a minute. (Longer than that makes them too hot to handle, especially because they are moist heat.) The other warmers heat up at 2 minutes. They make great, inexpensive, quick gifts that are very welcomed all winter long.

Wanted to Share

2010-11-23T14:07:00.000-06:00

This is a customer quilt so I don't want to reveal too much, but this is a memory quilt created to mark a young woman's passage from high school to college. Friends and family wrote messages and then her mom created this wonder quilt full of love and great thoughts. I know it is for a special young woman because I had a chance to read the messages.

How can you create something like this?
Pick a plain light background fabric and provide either fabric pens or permanent sharpies for friends and family to write messages. Then use this blocks as parts of each block. The picture does not communicate just how special this quilt will make the owner feel.

Weekend Efforts

2010-11-22T10:13:00.000-06:00

Yes, I did do a little quilting. I am doing some stitch in the ditch on to small Christmas quilts using panels from Nancy Halverson's collections. I am good at straight seams, but there are a lot of small curvy places on one, and I am seeing improvement as I go. Figure that it is an Advent calendar and will only be up for a month each year, so I can handle "coloring outside the lines".
I am also continuing to do all the cross-stitch on my grandchildren's Christmas stockings. I believe that the letter "Y" is my least favorite especially because it follows "r" in both cases. Can you say rip-out!

The highlights of the weekend surrounded the visit of my daughter and family. Had hoped to have both kids and their families, but Jon had overtime for the weekend. Rats! Thought I would include my favorite part of the aquarium adventure. (We go every time the kids are in town, and sometimes without them.) The movie is in sideways, but I thought it would still be fun to show my sisters why I think jellyfish are so soothing to watch. Turn DOWN your sound because the background noise of pretty loud on a Saturday.

The next couple of weeks will be busier than normal because I have several customer quilts and a few of my own projects to finish, but with a forecast for ice and snow today, where else would I be going???

Today's Quilting

2010-11-16T17:56:00.000-06:00

I had pie-in-the-sky hopes of finishing 4 or 5 sets of HeartStrings Quilt of Valor blocks today. We have more like 2 1/2 but they are from 5 different sets of centers. I am going to work for about an hour on one of them and then need to work on some cross-stitch for the remainder of the evening. Ho! Ho! Ho! (My daughter reads this blog.)

I am a bit concerned about making my goal of 10 more by mid-January, but think if I whittle away at blocks over the next two weeks, I will feel like the group can finish all of them if we meet 4 more times. I have several trips planned so I will have time for binding, and several others seem to volunteer to do this, as well. We might even have total of 23 done.

Tomorrow is HeartStrings Day

2010-11-15T23:44:00.001-06:00

We are trying to meet at my house twice a month to work on HeartStrings. Currently, we need to finish about 12 more Quilts of Valor by the end of January. I received a bag of blocks at guild this week so I worked ahead a little. I put this top together today and made 9 more blocks. The stars as center strips are going to create a very interesting look. The touches of gold create a little different feel, as well. My goal for our group is to put together at least 3 sets of finished blocks tomorrow. Then I will quilt them over the next few days and find others to finish off the binding.

Weather Outside is Delgihtful!!

2010-11-13T15:27:00.000-06:00

Just like Mary, I like in the Minneapolis area and am enjoying the first snow of the season. However, I have actually had to do the shovelling. This is one of those really wet, heavy snows, so I am pacing myself. I have been out and done the walk and driveway twice. Used a ruler to measure and found that it was a total of 5 inches so far. More is still falling...

I live across from a golf course, that is a gorgeous sight with all the untouched snow. Funny, but they just closed the course at the beginning of the week.

I am using the rest of the day to work on binding and embroider more of the stars for my husband's

retirement quilt. Took me a lot of time to find theright font, but I am almost ready to start appliqueing the stars to the rest of the quilt.

Cat and Mouse

2010-11-12T13:58:00.000-06:00

This another of those not quite "quilty" posts. Today during water exercise we had lots of laughs. Imagine for a moment, 30 women between the ages of 50 and 83 playing a chase game of cat and mouse. It was quite the workout trying to either stay ahead of the cats or to be the cat trying to catch the frisky mice. The stomach muscles are stronger for all the laughter if nothing else. It is a memory that will keep me smiling for days!

Several Not so Quilty Things

2010-11-11T15:36:00.001-06:00

1. My husband will retire after 30 years of active duty service in July. Today I am working on creating some "save the date" postcards to send out to some family and friends. Biggest problem was finding his ensign photo. I knew it had to be here somewhere. It is not like we have moved 17+ times in this 30 year time period. Turns out it was hidden in plain view with other framed photos of the family. This party will mark our move from military to civilian life, and we are planning to celebrate with abandonment or at least with some of the important people in our lives. The military experience has brought us many benefits and unique life experiences, even if we also had to endure many separations and changes of location.

2. Although this is about a special quilt, it also about memory. The original stars I machine embroidered for my husband's retirement quilt just seem to big, so I am redoing them two sizes smaller. Can't seem to find the right font, but I will. I want to start sewing them on this weekend so I will find the right version today!!! If you remember, I said that this quilt was inspired by a Quilt of Valor that I quilted. Ran across the photo of it a few days ago and was really surprised how different it was from how I remembered it.

3. Met with my personal trainer for the second time yesterday. I believe that the stability ball will become my best friend in time, but I did feel a little AWKWARD yesterday. Oh well, I did not get into this shape in a day, either. lol

Ready to Deliver

2010-11-09T08:11:00.000-06:00

Since November is a time to be thankful and count our blessings, I thought this would share some of what my guild, my FIL and I have done to let others know that we want to pay forward all the blessings we have in our lives.
Today 9 of these quilts are being donated to
the Women's Advocacy program in my area. It feels so good to have this many ready to go. I made a few by myself, but 5 of the 10 were made with the efforts of my quilt group and 2 were made with the efforts of my FIL and me. I have been collecting for about 5 months. I also have 4 other small quilts plus one in this pile that will be headed to another organization that helps babies and young children. This is a real "feel good" experience.

We have also made part of the 20 HeartStrings Quilts of Valor for a special delivery at the end of January. Tonight I hope to receive a few more back that are quilted and also give out several more of the kits for making the blocks.

Finished Last Night

2010-11-07T11:39:00.000-06:00

Yet another UFO finished. Yet another one quilted on my swirly day (or was that squirrely day?) This one is small - 38 x 40. It will be donated as a baby quilt. It came from the same pre-cut fabrics as the blue, green and yellow quilt. I really am moving forward in the finishing of my UFOs. Of course, I chose the easiest ones to finish first.

Now I need to focus on getting my husband's retirement quilt finished. It is not one of my UFOs, but it is an important one to me. I already quilted and bound it. Wanted to applique the hearts on afterwards because the last one can't really be added until his retirement party, right? It will happen in July. Up until then, I want it to hang in one of his two offices to remind him that this will happen. 30 years of naval service is enough. Loved most of the experience, but really want to find somewhere to settle for the last 30-40 years of our lives. lol

Another UFO Finished

2010-11-06T00:27:00.000-05:00

I did a lot of quilting the other day. I was into swirls. This quilt has been waiting for me to do something for well over a year, or is that for years? The fabric was from a different quilt that I purchased years ago but never convinced myself to do. I decided to experiment with the pre-cut pieces and design some thing fun. Although I did seem to get a little heavy-handed with the swirls it is very soft and cuddly. It was a bit chilly tonight and having this one on my lap kept me just comfy. It measures 42 x 54. It will be a donation quilt, after I take it to guild to prove that I have finished it because it is one of my 11 listed projects. (4 done and two others just need to be bound,)
Considering that we got up at 4:00 AM to make a run to the airport this morning, I should be in bed sound asleep, but wanted to share. (Actually, because it is now 12:19, it is tomorrow, but I plan to pull the darkening curtains and sleep in until ???????????? After I finished binding this quilt, thought about sleep, but instead I started hand stitching the binding on another small quilt created from more fabric from the same pre-cuts.
Earlier today, a friend invited me to go to lunch and then look at fabric, so I spent time last night figuring out exactly what I wanted for my next UFO project and bought some butter cream batik for the background. This is one of those UFOs where I had almost all of the fabric and the challenge but had to find the right pattern. I have been searching for the months and finally found one that I will of course tweak to meet my goal of making it a scrappy queen-size for my new bed (Just got the bed, but have had the fabric for 2 years.), I will begin cutting it out on Sunday after I finish another customer quilt. I consider myself so blessed to have time to do what I love every single day.

Busy, Busy, Busy

2010-11-03T09:51:00.000-05:00

As you will recall, my favorite piecing machine went in for repairs last Thursday and has been gone for almost a week. That means it should be home some time tomorrow. I have used the time whether wisely or not to have ALL the carpets cleaned (It has taken several days to really get them dry.) We have also been to see all 5 of our grandchildren and their parents, my sister, BIL, some of her children, and meet our 2 grandniece twins. On top of that I have been quilting more of my UFOs and charity quilts. Yesterday, I quilted 3 lap size quilts, 2 wheelchair quilts and a pillow top for a dog bed. Feels so good to have these done, or at least ready for binding when my machine returns.

I am the Queen of My Domain

2010-11-03T09:42:00.000-05:00

While we were living in Texas, friends gave us a 1912 Singer treadle machine with a "King Tut" motif. The actual wooden casing was in horrible condition. My husband builds furniture to relax, so they brought it to us as a challenge. There was no saving the actual wooden casing, so Kevin carefully took it apart and built his own version of it using what he salvaged to make patterns and some trial and error piecing and fittings. All the wrought iron was painfully (what a chore) hand stripped, but he said IF there is ever a next time he will pay the price to have it sandblasted! We voted not to put in the tray with the curved inside sections in the front, but there will be a piece, or a small rectangular drawer to cover the slot some time in the future. Could not decide on what we wanted yet. The machine itself is having a complete overhaul and might require a couple months to finish because it is going to be fit in between all the other sewing machine repairs the man does. For now, I am just going to enjoy another beautiful piece of woodworking by my wonderful and talented husband

Crisis or Opportunity?

2010-10-28T16:36:00.000-05:00

The crisis: My favorite machine for piecing will not feed the fabric. I know what the problem is but I have not figured out how to do that kind of deep cleaning myself, so my machine was delivered for a cleaning. It will be out of operation for a week. I do have a couple other machines, but this is the only one that fits in my sewing table.

The opportunity: I have a number of tops that need to be quilted. I quilted one and used one of the other machines to add the binding. (Not as easy as using my sewing table, but still did the job.) Now I am going to sit and do the hand binding. Should be able to deal with a few of these with a whole week to work this way.

I thing I like this kind of situation! Of course, I would hate it if it went on forever.

What do you do with scraps that are too small?

2010-10-26T17:42:00.000-05:00

Because I made a statement at one sew-in that I sew my "too small" scraps of fabric and batting into dog pillows that I donate to the humane society, I have received far too many bags of scraps from my quilting friends. DO SEND MORE, MAKE YOUR OWN AND DONATE. (It feels good!) Then this past week, I have been purging my studio and finding fabrics that are very old and not worthy of quilts or donation - not because they are too ugly, but because of what they are made of or because they really are very thin or too loosely woven. So far this year, I have donated 10 dog beds and am getting ready to stuff and donate some more. Upholstery and denim go into the covers. Everything else goes inside: bits of batting, small scraps, leftover fleece, and rejected fabric donations that others do not want but can't seen ti just toss away, either. The pillows need to be at least 18 x 18, but I have made a few that are 30 x 30 for a few big dogs.

Update on backings for the HeartString quilts. We now have 30 backs, but 54 kits. Somehow, the needed backings will appear. I have faith because these quilts serve a worth purpose. I will keep you posted.