Ponderings

A friend of mine just asked me recently, "do you always have a quilt project going?" Hmmm...I had to really think about how to answer that question -- the operative word there being project -- as in just one. OK, you can stop laughing now. The questionee is not a quilter, so I just smiled and nodded.

I still have my quilting "mojo" - YAY! The proverbial "Quilting Bug" has bitten me hard and I have quite a few projects on-going, but alas nothing is yet finished. This time of year presents quite a few challenges for me with quilting -- I live in an old house that still has fuses. Now, do I run the A/C or turn on the iron? I've taken to quilting in the early morning and later in the evening when it's much cooler in the sewing room/sweat shop. Gotta have the iron on!

This morning I decided that I needed something for 4th of July - like, maybe a table topper. I went shopping in my stash and found exactly what I was looking for - woo-hoo! Now, I sketched out this table topper a while ago from somewhere in blog-land, so I don't remember when nor where I snagged it from -- but, I must have been destined to make it because it's just going together so well. Doesn't every patriotic quilt need Homeland Security protecting it? What is it about quilts and animals? - I see them all over Bloggerville - out comes the camera to get a shot, and there is the pet.

I'm still working on my First Quarter project for 30's Club, too. Yeah, I know - we're closing in on the end of the second quarter, but, hey, the Road To California is a long trip! The flower blocks are all done - and 6 out of 24 Road to California blocks are completed. HST's have become a way of life in those stolen minutes.

Lastly, I became the grandmother of a teenager! We celebrated Kylie's 13th birthday last week - oh my, where has that time gone? Now, what to get a teenager for her birthday? We don't

have the same taste in clothing, she already owns everything "Twilight"-related and cash seemed so impersonal. BUT, what teenager wouldn't appreciate a little cold-hard cash. After seeing the Geico commercial on TV, I went to the bank, got a stack of $1's and put googly eyes on it -- Man, did her face light up when she saw that little guy sitting atop the rest of the presents. There was other teenage-stuff in the birthday box, too, but I think that stack of cash was a big hit.

Happy Memorial Day & Seeing Stars

Happy Memorial Day and a special thanks to all of those serving in the Armed Forces that provide that blanket of freedom that we live under.

The Quilting Bug has bitten me hard and I'm so happy that I'm seeing Stars. Let me explain...the other night I was in AC Moore picking up some yarn, and while I was in line waiting, I picked up the new McCalls Quilting Celebrate Your Stash - America Love Scrap Quilts - whew, what a title, eh? Well, as I was flipping through the pages, I came across this quilt that just sung to me. What's not to love, scrappy, red/white/blue, and a sampler of stars --maybe, I can even put a major dent in some of my stash - hey, a girl can dream!!

Since all of the Season Finales are finally over, I decided not to turn on the TV on Thursday night. I took the magazine up to my sewing room and started pulling fabrics. Good-bye clean sewing room - hello new project.

I've been busy. It was like eating potato chips -- one block led to another, and sew on and sew forth. I must have been destined to make this quilt, because everything went together beautifully.

I was on vacation Friday and my morning ritual is usually a cup of coffee and Sudoku - I forwent the Sudoku puzzle and started sewing until the sun came out.

Since this quilt uses 4-patches as fillers, I've been sewing them as my Leaders & Enders.

I'm kind of a computer geek, because I made up an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of the blocks that I made and the many, many that I have left to do. But, I have been enjoying the process and that's all that matters.

I met up with my Quilting Buddies on Saturday for a little quilt retail therapy followed by Afternoon Tea and Show & Tell. What a perfect day. If you look at the reflection in the glass, you can see picture-perfect blue sky and not a cloud in sight. I also fell in love with the planter between Deb and Susan that housed a Diplidina -- I just had to have one and stopped at the garden center to pick one up. As a matter of fact, all three of us got one!



After we left the quilt shop, we made a side trip to Joann Fabrics armed with our coupons and I picked up this cool Art Bin that is now holding my Star blocks together waiting for me to get finished.

Party with Patrick

On Wednesday night, I attended the first Party with Patrick celebration at The Quilter's Hive. It was so much fun. The theme was a bridal shower and many of the participants came with some of the most outrageous bridal veils. They held a judging and had the women parade throughout the store for prizes. My creative juices weren't flowing to come up with a bridal veil, so I just shot pictures.


My name got called in one of the drawings and I won a roll of Steam-a-Seam 2. I was so excited since I've never used it before (I've been a Heat and Bond Lite gal for quite some time), but, I love trying new things.




They also demo'd the monthly project (a May Flowers banner) and my friend Susan and I got sucked in --They cast the line and we were caught, hook, line & sinker. At least it was a kit, which included everything needed to complete it -- even the backing fabric. And, of course we had to have the sunflower hanger, too.

The celebration was complete with dessert and a delicious punch.

Wake Me Up When February Ends

Five days after the ice storm and it still looks like we live in an arctic tundra. The good part is we have had sunny days which melts the ice, but the temps have not been above freezing, so unless the sun shines on what is melting it freezes again. You should see the size of some of the icicles - unbelievable. Now I know why bears hibernate in the winter, it's no fun chipping away at ice.

This cold weather has me longing for Spring. So, I dug through one of my Mary Engelbreight books and found a pattern for a Spring looking pillow. I needed to add a little bright pink, turquoise and lime green to my diet. I also have a Spring Basket quilt that needed a border with appliqued flowers. I'm not really happy with the border fabric, but done is done.

(Mary Engelbreight pillow) Doesn't this look spring-y?

Baskets are my absolute favorite right after stars.

I've been all over the map with my quilting and maybe just a little attention-deficit. I'm still working on the piano key border for the star quilt (1) which I'm doing as a Leader/Ender. Then, I started working on Daisy Vines from the March, 2007 edition of McCall's Quick Quilts (2) and I have started a broken dishes top (3) by making HST's out of scraps that I've been cutting down.

(1)

(2)

(3)

And, what would a post be without a hello from Bailey?

The weather forecast for tomorrow is supposed to be in the 4o's - that will feel like a heat wave.

A Little Snoopy Dancing

I can't believe a whole week has gone by and I haven't posted anything. I haven't spent a whole lot of time in my sewing room because it's just been too cold. We have been in a deep freeze for about 10 days and my sewing room seems to take the brunt of the cold weather, especially in the evenings. Instead, I have been doing some handwork and a little Snoopy dancing because "Glory Be" is done. Thank you for all of your wonderful comments and encouragement. I took your advice and used the gold for the binding and I am so pleased with how it turned out. I snapped this photo while it was lying on the back of the chair -- so the borders aren't really wonky, it's just the curve on the back of the chair - honest.

On this past WIP Wednesday, I did sew together the rows of the Star Cookie Cutter quilt top and even put on the muslin border -- now I'm searching my stash for something to use for the border. I know what I want, but I don't seem to have a long enough piece in my stash of what I want to use. I could cave in and break my fabric diet and buy something or, I'm also debating about doing a piano key border to use up some more of these homespuns. I'm kinda anxious to get this one quilted. Bailey just got his hair cut this morning, so he had to strike a pose on the quilt top. Doesn't he look cute?

I've also been doing some embroidery - my second love after quilting. I started stitching this teapot during the Super Bowl and it's the first time that I have stitched something with a piece of batting behind it. I really like the way it turned out -- now I just need to turn it into a wall hanging and I have some cute teapot fabric in my stash to complete it.

This morning I went to a Dakota Collectibles Trunk Show with a friend. We both own embroidery machines that have been collecting dust for some time and thought the trunk show might give us some inspiration to pull them out again. Oh, there were so many nice designs but that's a pretty expensive hobby even after owning the machine. I saw some really cute designs and I almost bought the CD with flamingos (yes, I just love flamingos), but I would need a card reader box ($400) just to be able to transfer the CD to my computer and download to a memory card -- whew -- I passed it up. So, instead, I just enjoyed all of the knowledge that I gained at the trunk show and only purchased a quilt book instead. This book has so many cute, folky, scrap flower quilts, that I came home and sat looking at it trying to decide which one I want to start first.

Back in the Saddle Again

We finally went out to celebrate Bob's 30th birthday last night at a cute little Italian restaurant and had a wonderful time - good food and good company and a glass of wine - what's not to love ?

Of course, Bailey wasn't too happy that he couldn't join us and was really disappointed when he didn't get a doggy bag.

I very rarely post this kind of stuff, but every once in a while, I stumble across something that totally astounds me. That just by answering a few questions, I can get something that sound so much like me, just blows me away. And to think, I thought I chose a Blue Blog because my favorite color is blue - who knew?

Your Blog Should Be Blue

Your blog is a peaceful, calming force in the blogosphere. You tend to avoid conflict - you're more likely to share than rant. From your social causes to cute pet photos, your life is a (mostly) open book.

What Color Should Your Blog or Journal Be?

After doing a lot (OK - too much) of Blog-Hopping today, I decided that I need to start on something new just to give myself a jump start. So, I decided to knock-off this from Quite-Quilted and start using up some of the bins of homespun plaids. My sewing room is a mess as I have been tearing out this and flinging that trying to find just the right plaids and I couldn't be happier.

I also have been in the mood to work with some of the bright and novelty prints that I have accumulated over the years, and I started this as a Leader/Ender project when doing the 9-patches. The nice part of this is that the star points don't come all the way out to the edges - so there are no cut-off points. This was a freebie pattern from P&B Textiles called Star Fling by Terry Atkinson. Aren't these prints just so cheerful? It's a real stretch for me to work with these colors - but it's been fun. Of course, I still have 14 more blocks to make.

I've also been knitting hats for Newborns In Need when I sit down to watch TV. It's amazing how fast these seem to fly off the needles. Now they all need pom-poms - a chore that I rank right up there with putting the borders on a quilt.

I've had a terrible time with Blogger today trying to upload this post and I've noticed that a lot of comments that I made on blogs today just never showed up.

Hmmmm….Border Phobia

Someone teasingly pointed out in the comments section that I may be suffering from "border phobia" and, you know, that kinda sums it up nicely - since a border can make or break a quilt top.

I have absolutely no trouble just randomly picking fabrics and sewing them together with a ‘devil-may-care’ attitude while piecing together a quilt top, actually it’s quite liberating. But, when it comes to the border, I really struggle. I have an idea in my mind of what I want to do and it usually involves red, white and/or blue -- ho hum, so boring -- so safe. It’s just hard for me to venture outside the box, sometimes. And, then there is all of the math involved when trying to figure out a pieced border (how many HST's do I need if the border is X by X and then don't forget the seam allowances). Can't you just see my eyes glazing over?

If I use some really fun and bright prints, I can usually feel pretty secure about using a black inner border, just to give the eyes a place to rest. WOW, talk about working with a safety net - why do I feel the need to play it so safe?


Check out this top "Happy Scrappy Houses" from which the instructions came from Bonnie's Quiltville site. For me this was really stepping outside the box -- who knew that I had all these great novelty prints and that I would use them all in one quilt top??? I just love that black and turquoise together. I even have a black border fabric picked out that has dots of almost every color of fabric that I used in the top ready to cut and put on. What am I waiting for, you ask? -- I had put this one away when decorating for Christmas. I usually keep my WIP's hanging on the banister in the hallway upstairs so they are a constant reminder that they need work. However, I put everything away when I pulled out the Christmas decorations and now it's like Christmas all over again when I discover these goodies that are just begging to be worked on. Blogging about them is a big help, too. Just by putting these thoughts and photos into the blog is almost as good as walking past them and that they are just begging for me to take another step to finishing them.


On this just past WIP Wednesday, I did the inner mitered border and all of my fears about doing it were well founded. I will NEVER do another mitered border AGAIN. Now, if I could just locate the WOW fabric that I planned to use for said outer border….. this is one project that I will be glad when it is a memory.

I was over looking at Jennifer Chiaverini’s website (http://www.elmcreek.net/) to see when her new book will be coming out and lo and behold….the border around her website is this same blasted quilt with the mitered border that I’m working on. Do you think it’s an omen for me to finish it??? WOW, it sure looks good on her website. I can do this, I must do this, I gonna do it............once I publish this post.

WIP Wednesday - January 17th

Well, here it is again - WIP Wednesday and I am bound and determined to get something "Done" tonight.

I am agonizing over putting the mitered border on the 9-Patch and Hourglass Quilt top, so that I can start the applique. Why am I agonizing? If the mitered border doesn't work out perfectly, the applique will probably cover it -- or I can do a straight border and who else will know besides me -- or now you, too, if you're reading this Blog!!

But, and you knew that was coming, right? I still have a few more things that I can work on. I finally have SnowShoes (the bluework snowman top that I have all emboidered and pieced together with shoo-fly blocks) that can finally get a border -- no mitering there. I think it needs a double border, but I can't decide whether to stop your eyes with red or black. Hmm....black might be too dark against the dark blue. I kinda had my heart set on a snowman print for the outer border, but everything I saw with snowmen just screamed Christmas -- and I don't want this to be a Christmas Quilt. I spent too much time embroidering it and it is, after all, Snowmen Thru the Year. So I want to leave it out until Valentine's Day...or longer.

Or, I can baste this 4-patch with stars that I dug out of the UFO bin. I don't know why it was in the UFO bin because I really like it and it already has a double border sewn on (no, it's not mitered, either.) I usually stall when it comes to adding borders. I'm always unsure of what will look good and I have this habit of always using red and blue. This quilt top was made entirely from my stash, so it is only fitting that I dig through my stash to find something for the backing, even if I have to piece it - so I can call it a true "Stashbuster" quilt.

Sew many decision, sew little time...I'll let you know which one I picked to work on. Maybe by giving myself all of these decisions to make, I'll tackle that mitered border on the 9-Patch and Hourglass quilt after all.

When Did I Turn Into A Such Follower?

I've been reading a lot of different blogs and folks have been cleaning and organizing their sewing spaces, so i followed suit. It's so nice to work in a clean and tidy room. Then folks complained about being in a slump after the holidays, and there I was tagging along, having to force myself to sew in said nice, tidy room. What should have been a pleasure was a chore.

I finally took the "bull by the horns" and started working a project (a WIP) and have been plugging away on the nine-patch and hour glass for the past week. As a matter of fact, I was feeling rather smug that it was going together so well. Then, when I got to the last row, I stalled. I just couldn't bring myself to sew that last row together so that I could move on to the border, even though it was already pinned together and just begging to be sewn.

Tonight, I sewed the last row together, hallelujah! pressed it and laid it out on the floor to admire it and something didn't look quite right. Argh!!!!! Quilter's Dyslexia (Thank you, Patti for that term). Somehow, I had turned 4 rows around and sewed it wrong - 4 rows!. What should have taken 10-15 minutes to sew together and press has taken almost 2 hours to pick out and correct.

I guess I should be grateful that I didn't discover this glaring error after I had sewn on the borders. And, now it is sewn together, wanna see a picture?

Now, I am anxious to start reading about all of those finished quilts that are just flying off the machine. Now, that's a bandwagon I want to jump on.

I also picked up these cute plastic baskets as the drug store today - they are perfect for holding projects and they are stackable.

On the weather front, we are experiencing 60-degree temperatures (in January), but a cold front is getting ready to move in. Thankfully, the rain has moved out, so the cold front will only bring cold weather and not snow.

Gratitudes:

• Finding a mistake while it's still correctable.
• My Clover seam ripper
• Warm weather in January
• Such nice comments left on my Blog that keep me challenging myself, when I sometimes just want to give up.

WIP Wednesday

I received an email today that it is WIP (Work in Progress) Wednesday (thanks Deb!).

Since it's a "W" day, I also made a Wal-Mart run at lunchtime and found myself with someone asking to help me in the fabric department -- that's a switch, I usually have to ring the bell like a crazy woman or page someone. I was also amazed at how well stock the fabric department was with spring-y fabric as was the calico wall. However, it doesn't look good for the fabric department at Wal-Mart continuing. This is bad on so many levels.

OK, back to "WIP" Wednesday. I'm still working on the 9-patch and hourglass quilt. I have 8 rows sewn together (128 blocks), so I am half done. This was not an easy feat with a sleeping dog parked in the middle of the top that I'm working on.

Once he wore up, he decided the top was a good place to gnaw on his chewy. It looks like he is staking his claim on this quilt. I guess I should be glad that he appreciates a quilt-making mama, but how does he know exactly the row I want to sew together and park his behind in that spot?

Earlier this week, I went to Hancock's with a friend at lunchtime (all this temptation at lunchtime - yikes) and I was like a kid in a candy store at the bin of fat quarters. Look at these lucious goodies that I picked up. I have no idea what I'm going to do with them, but they are just so spring-like and I'm ready for spring.

I'm beginning to think that "WIP" Wednesday is more Why I Purchase rather than Work in Progress.

Well, I'd better get back to work. Once I get to the half way point on a quilt, I start looking at it with a very critical eye -- not always a good thing -- and I stall, which is why I probably have so many UFO's. I'm going to keep plugging away on this one. I'd like to be adding the borders by next WIP Wednesday -- and I already have the fabric for that...so no need for more shopping.

The Weekend's Here

We are setting a weather record today - 73-degree temperatures in January. I have the windows open, the sun is shining and a beautiful breeze is waifting through the house, airing out the smell of winter.

I want to be outside, but there isn't much I can do outside except enjoy the fresh air and play throw the tennis ball to Bailey, so I'm trying to keep up my sewing momentum by sewing together the 9-patch and hourglass quilt top.

The Supervisor is barking that the mailman is here and looky-looky what I got ............another one of the parcels that I ordered off of the internet while I was in my slump. I may not have felt like sewing, but I sure did some buying. The Fat Quarter Shop has these neat charm square packets, so I ordered these :

and since I needed a quick 'fix' to do something with these cute little charm packs....I also ordered this:

I think The Fat Quarter Shop was just what I needed to get out of my slump and I think we are going to become fast friends. Isn't shopping over the internet just the greatest? You don't get the touchy-feely sensation that you do in a fabric store, but, oh-my, the selection of fabrics is just wonderful. Whoever thought up these Charm Packs ....just a sampling of everything that is in a fabric line.....was a genius!

I had this really nice T-Fal iron and it died today (insert eulogy for a good iron) and I decided that I will no longer buy an expensive iron. I've had nothing but problems with Rowenta irons leaking all over the place and spitting rust flecks, so I went with the T-Fal one - which served me well for 18 months. I went to Target in search of the cheapest iron that I could find and low and behold -- I got this Westinghouse iron for $9.99 and I must say, it's not a bad little iron, either, although it does not have an automatic shut-off -- and maybe that's not a bad thing. Don't you get tired of having to jump up and turn it on, every time you're ready to press something? I do.

Use Me - Turn Me On

No, it's not the latest promo for Grey's Anatomy -- it's my Bernina calling to me. I have been in a slump after the Holidays and not wanting to sew. Well, not wanting to sew isn't really true - I've wanted to sew, but for some reason, I keep putting off what I really want to be doing. This isn't even procrastinating, I just can't find anything -- so much for having a tidy sewing room. When it's a mess I know exactly where everything is because it's in plain view.

In my haste to clear out the sewing room for my new Horn table, I did some major cleaning in the sewing room and it was easier to clean with everything out of the room. So just where did I put everything -- that's the answer that I'm still trying to find - Where is everything?? I guess I'm going to have to start rummaging through boxes to find whatever it is that I'm looking for and hopefully, something with spark my interest.

Finally, I found something. This little box contained a treasure trove of 9-patch and hour-glass blocks AND, I even remembered what it was that I had planned to make with them. So, I finally turned on 'Nina' and decided to start sewing them together. After a few hours, that stack of blocks is starting to take shape.

I went from a box of pinned together blocks to this.....in just a few hours.

Of course, Bailey, "the supervisor" has decided to walk across the "layout" numerous times - so it's in my best interest to keep on sewing blocks into rows and then sewing the rows together.