Design Wall Monday

Well, I haven't done one of these in a long time.  Dare I hope life might be taking a turn towards normals ville?  Time will tell.

Design wall #1.

This is a baby quilt for a friend, Mary's, daughter, who is due in like 2 weeks.  I used to work with Mary and in e-mails she asked if I could make a quilt (of course). I sent a few pictures of other baby quilts I've made. 

I was leaning towards this one.

 We had lunch a few weeks ago. Her daughter didn't pick this pattern (oh drat!)

 All Squared Up which is from Quilt Sampler magazine Spring/Summer 2007 is the one she liked and she wanted it made in purples and greens. 

Of course, my first thought was 'holy crap that's gonna be weird' mainly because it's not a color combo I would use. HA!

 (sure I'll make you a quilt....a quilt I want to make in colors I like....)

am I the only one who thinks these things

The greens are yardage I bought, the purples are from an Island Batik jelly roll I just got on a whim last month; yeah for compulsive buying!

I intend to finish putting the outer border on today. I did get the inner purple border on last night. I have a lot of the green fabric leftover so I'm thinking I will use it to make a funky pieced backing for it.

My other design wall has my Bunny Hill BOM waiting for the fused border appliques to be blanket stitched, may or may not happen this week.  I'm not liking the idea of machine bl. stitching with the top all together, I'm thinking it's going to be awkward-only way to assemble tho' with the birds and stars going through all the borders like that.

REALLY like the colors in this one-right up my alley as they say.

Visit other design walls by checking out Judy's blog here.



Good Morning Day!

Let's see where to start.

I finished the binding AND the hanging sleeve on the Evening Shadows quilt. It's good to go for the show in November. 

I do need to put a proper show sleeve on Stargazing but I'm going to let that go until Monday.

Since Wednesday this is the progress on the little jack-o-tops.

The checkerboard on the left I pieced L/E style while sewing the little jacks together :) It's from a free pattern I got on the shop hop in June, for a E Reader Cover.  I DON"T HAVE AN E READER.

But I saw the pattern and thought it would be cute and fun and quick and easy-- and it was and it satisfied my compulsive need to make something, to keep pecking away at the binder of  "Quilts I'd Like to Make"  and it used 66 two inch squares that I already had cut out. 

The fact that I don't have a Kindle or Nook and have no plans to get one or the other seems irrelevant.

The deconstruction, construction has started up again (yeah).  New plumbing in the ceiling so that a drop ceiling can eventually be put in.  Since this old house was built with no thoughts that the basement would ever be used for living space the original pipes were put in way below the joists.

  CRAZY.  But now it's all fixed and hooked back up. (Yes, they're still below the joists but now they're up enough that a bulk head can be built and blah, blah, blah.....it will look nice) Sorry I sorta zone out when they start explaining this stuff to me....JUST so it looks nice and works!

 Today they're working on wiring-this is the hardest thing for me to tell them where I want outlets, switches etc. I want to just say EVERYWHERE!!

Yesterday I worked on these:

I traced the appliques for the 3 patterns in the front there (all are from old Fons & Porter magazines) and I haven't subscribed to that one for a while. 

The batik quilt to the back right; I figured out fabrics for a baby quilt. 

 I made a baby one with that pattern in '09 but of course, didn't write down the fabric adjustments. I never thought I'd be making another... but still would have been nice.

I'm not going to really consider the 3 appliques "real projects" until I fuse the fabrics, these could just languish and I'd be guilt ridden over 3 more UFOs (ha!) 

Well, I need to get moving here.  It's not raining so my walk is next.  I've been very good

( am really afraid to put this in writing and jinx it)

and have been walking every day since we came home from vacation in August, and most days twice a day; about 2.5 miles in morning and again in the evening. 

**well I did miss 2 days because of rain or some other really good reason excuse that I can't remember now**

As it's getting dark earlier, I think one 3.5-4 mile in the morning will be good.  I've lost 11 pounds.  I'm real happy to be back to my ''normal- all my adult life- after having kids 10-15 pounds- overweight self".

10 pounds according to the doctor charts

15 pounds according to my inner self who would like to be "thin" just for once and it NOT be the result of stress cuz my son was in boot camp. (yah, I got real skinny that summer but it wasn't worth it!)

  If I lose the rest, that will be a woo-hoo, but if not well hell that's OK too. I feel a lot better. 

It's been so difficult to get into the habit of walking...changing the routine is soooo hard.  And I still think it's too new to be a really cemented habit in my life.  I'd so rather stay in my jammies and sew, quilt, blog, drink coffee, daydream, not think about what's for dinner...

I'm not talking about this anymore, I think I'm gaining weight just typing about it. 

*****

And now a picture that made us laugh.

  Paul comes home from work everyday and goes to the sofa and reads the paper and within 2 seconds Otis is on his lap.  Meg and I happened to sit down and were talking with Paul. (this is unusual-we leave him alone to unwind for a bit) all of a sudden we realized Otis was sleeping ... 

...begs the question: who had the rougher day?   HA!
couldn't be our boring conversation, right?
don't answer that. :)
Good weekend to y'all


fun times, fun times, Life is Good!

Progressing

and sort of stayed on task!

I have just finished the binding on my Evening Shadows quilt.

 Now for the hanging sleeve, dare I hope to get that on by tomorrow?

I did get distracted for about an hour yesterday with these.

finish size will be 9 x 12

I was looking through my binder of "quilt patterns that I've already made"-- looking for a baby quilt pattern that I made 2 or 3 years ago.  I want to make it again for a friend's soon to be new grand baby. As I was flipping through the pages, I started to pull out all the fall/Halloween ones.
And in the page protector with this little jack-o-lantern pattern was a bunch of orange and black pre-cut squares, just waiting for me to lay 'em out and sew 'em up. 

I think I've blogged about these little cuties before.
 I have a couple of them, 3 actually, I think, maybe 4. 
But I just love to make them at this time of year. 
I don't really like Halloween, which is why it's so weird to me that I just luv making these.
  
*****


on a completely NON quilting note--the stink bugs are trying to get in....!



I have the traps....

we will prevail....

they are freaking me out....










Fun times, fun times!  Life if Good!

overload

I went to my first every quilt guild meeting last night. 

I would guess there were about 50+ people there; mostly women but a few men too.

I signed up to help at the quilt show in November. 

I took a kit to make a pillowcase from the community service basket. 

I knew a few people so that was nice.

And I sat and enjoyed seeing some lovely show-n-tell quilts. 

I'm glad I finally was able to make it to a meeting. 

October 1st is the deadline for quilt entry in the show.  I decided to enter 2 quilts (that's the limit).

Stargazing. 

It's completely ready, with hanging sleeve and everything. woohoo. And yes, that was a factor in it getting picked.

And Evening Shadows.

Ah, the binding is not finished and it will need a hanging sleeve... 

I AM going to work on this TODAY. 

Really. 

I'm not just saying this. 

I am.

H. Whiskers is all together and I have the border appliques fused on-just have to blanket-stitch them. Dang nammit I thought I had a picture....ahgggg the brain scatters are going to make me nutzy -er I swear.

I will take a picture TODAY too. 

Really.

I'm not just saying this.

I am.

Edit: Here's the picture.



Almost another finish...

I quilted a free hand all-over swirly feathery flowery design, just winged it.  I figured the top is so busy doing something like feathers would just be a waste of time. 

I like it.

Morris (A 2010 Bl-a-Day quilt) 68 x 78

The back

 I spent about 20 stressed out minutes looking EVERYWHERE for the binding for this quilt.  I had it in my notes that I had made the binding, but where oh where could it be. It wasn't anywhere it "should" be but things have been moved around so much in the deconstruction/renovations that I was just looking in every drawer.  And then it hit me. Oh Ya, I took off that outside border and I had made the binding with the same fabric...and there it was sitting in a little heap on a shelf in the closet with the border pieces.   
So I found fabric that would work and made new binding and was getting ready to sew it on

 when I realized I didn't have a label made. So that's why I'm at the computer now, to make a label. I figured I have time for a little post before Paul gets home and it's time to do the dinner making thing.  yuk~!


I'm starting to think it's time to make some more Quilts for Kids donation quilts.  I quietly told myself at the beginning of the year that I would like to make 1 a month.  But I just made a bunch at the beginning of the year (5 or 6) and mailed them in and then got distracted with other things. It's time to get crackin' on those again...soon.




I've started humming Christmas carols....
I know it's horrible, but I have a good reason.  In between binding searching, and binding making and deciding on the borders for H. Whiskers'

(I still have to prep the final appliques for the borders)


I loaded my Merry Christmas Sampler top! 
It's a block-a-day quilt too and this one is for our bed during the holidays, It's also on my 2011 Goals list.
I'm going to do feathers on it, of course I am, what else would I want to do.  :)

(80 x 80)


Well, dang, hubby's home gotta go cook something scrumptious!


Fun times, fun times ....Life is Good!

Rip-it, Rip-it

Frogging, unsewing, ripping it out.

  We've all been there.

  Yesterday, I thought I would load my Morris Block-a-day, which I last posted about here. That was August 2010!  I loaded the leftover fabric pieced backing and when I laid out the top; well gag me with a spoon-the border fabric is not working!   Oh, I remembered that I didn't have enough Morris fabric for an outer border and I remembered that I bought a "coordinating" fabric from a sale table at a LQS and I remember looking at it.... and looking at it.....

 and Yep talking myself into it. 

It looks fine in this picture you say. 

Well, yes, I'm a crapolla photographer-the color is not quite right, which in this case is a good thing!

So now 2 of the borders are off and I'm considering just unloading the back and putting on another flimsy to quilt while I start a new search for a new outer border fabric.  Actually, as I'm looking at this picture on the computer screen here, I'm thinking that perhaps the checkerboard border can be the outer border--must ALL my quilts be queen size.

Fun times, fun times....Life is Good!

*****

On a new front, this morning I am attending a "new bee" meeting for the quilt guild that I've belonged to for the past 2 years, but have never gone to a meeting.  Ha! I'm going to give it a try. 



OK, I live under a rock.

  Seriously.

Did YOU know that on YouTube there is a Recipe section. 

 Is it called a section?  I don't know.

I only see YouTube videos that are

1. Quilt related 

2. sent to me in an email 

3. in another blog, which honestly, I usually skip.

So here is the link to the YouTube recipes.

This may take over what little TV watching I do, which was already in danger of becoming nil since I just discovered (the rock thing again) that our cable has at least 10 and I'm NOT exaggerating, music channels that you tune to and music of what ever genre it's geared for plays.

I'm not making this up.

  I'm going back and forth between Classical and Light Classical.  I figure it will help justify the crazy cable bill we pay just to ensure we can get the Penguins games for 1/2 of the year. (where was my brain when THAT decision was being made...)

...she lives under a rock has rocks in her head...I think there is a pattern emerging...

And if I did the link thing correctly, it will take you to a recipe for Bacon wrapped eggs. 

I'm not a breakfast person, I eat a dozen eggs in A YEAR or two, maybe. 

 I want to make this recipe.....but I think I will hold off until I  REALLY need/want something done by my unsuspecting hubby 

"buwahahaha"

(that's my maniacally laughing)

 I'm just kidding...sorta really, no REALLY.

He, being a major carnivore, would eat a dozen eggs a week with a pound of bacon on the side if I let him. 

But I won't of course, for health reasons not because I'm controlling or even grossed out by eggs normally.

******

On the quilting front, I am; and have a picture to prove it.

Libby's Quilt

And I can't remember the name of the pattern and she just told me this morning.

could it be that rock thing again...

 

 

More pictures soon but now, if you'll excuse me,
I have a couple hours of recipes to watch.