Still finishing up

Three things to be happy about:
(1) unsalted pistachios in the shell
(2) Trident gum
(3) toothpicks

Last Friday I picked up my anniversary quilt from the LA's, just have one more side of the binding to finish by hand and it's done!

Sewed the first border on the Milk Maid star quilt, looking good!

I'm haven't decided what to do about the outer border, maybe something with a large busy pattern - pull out one of those ugly pieces!  I don't think I want to use red for this one.

Remember this project?  It's my x and + quilt!  I started cutting fabric for it in this post.


I took a few bits and pieces to my last bee meeting and cut a lot of two inch strips on my Accuquilt GO! for the project bin.  

I put another block together, just to see if it's what I want to finish up next.

I think it's a go, let's move this one out of the box!






Just a few last pictures from the quilt show...


When I saw the quilt on the right, I just wanted to stand and stare at it!  

The placement of  the blocks, combined with the colors, creates a lot of interest and movement.

In this one I really like the way she placed the inserts, without being predictable!

You gotta have heart! 

That's it for now, sew forth and sew on til later!

Moving right along ... again!

There things to be happy about
(1) the end of the work week
(2) a good report
(3) figuring out a problem

What's the difference between these two pairs of quilting gloves??

The pair on the left only cost a buck in the dollar section at the Shoppers Food Warehouse!

They were labeled as knit work gloves, but they work just as well as "real" quilting gloves you get at the quilt shop.  You should be able to get these at your local dollar store - Dollar Tree is the bestest and  my mostest favorite!

I should have said these work just as well under "normal" circumstances...

I had very abnormal circumstances while I was trying to quilt my 10th anniversary quilt, it fought me like a knight!

I use fusible web for smallish quilts - hey it works for me! - but this time the back fused on with a wrinkle that I just couldn't get rid of ... when I was quilting it, the quilt just wouldn't move across the machine bed, the stitches were skipping, my foot pedal kept sticking in the ON position -  it was a fight and the quilt won!

Sometimes things just aren't meant to be, so I called my long armer and said "Oh please, can't you help me, can't you help me!!"  Long story short, I unpicked the stitches, separated the top from that ugly back, took it to her and breathed a sigh of relief!

Meanwhile I finished putting together that Milkmaid Star top I wanted to finish, it looks nice.  I don't think the quilt police will come after me for machine stitching the rows together on an otherwise hand pieced quit!

I've cut a 2" blue inner border...  I'll decide on an outer border later.

Finished a few more blocks for the Strip Twist leader ender project -

As I'm writing this I just got a phone call from my long armer - the anniversary quilt is ready, yes!!!

Things are looking up!  I'm going to eat breffus and arrange a rendezvous time with Patty D to get our beautiful quilts.  Sew forth and sew on til later  :o)

Moving right along

Three things to be happy about:
(1) a good start
(2) a great finish
(3) the process in between

Well, my 10-year anniversary top's all done - Marei was right, the top sashing border was too small!  I cut 3-1/2" sashing for the sides, so I needed the same size for top and bottom.

Now I need to decide how to quilt it so as to enhance the applique and embroidery blocks.  I never thought to take close up shots of my block collection before I put them together, there are two pretty ones that are 3-D!

The four black blocks were tricky to place, I wanted to have one in each vertical and horizontal row, sort of a suduku (?) effect.  Then I placed the red/pink/orange/red blocks along the other diagonal.  (Wee Bee members, if this quilt is supposed to be secret, please cover the picture while you read the text!)

On another subject, here's a great example of what NOT to do with bread pudding!

I thought it'd be a good idea to make little bread pudding muffins, so I wouldn't have to serve it out of the larger container.  They came out just a bit dry on the top and sorta dense in the middle, yikes!

Next day when I nuked one the top was okay but it had a light, slightly spongy (or airy) texture in the middle... maybe it's the breads I used - cinnamon bread, wheat bread, raisin bagel...

They don't taste too bad, I just wouldn't want to offer them to comp'ny!

We learn, we make adjustments, we move right along ... sew forth and sew on!

Well begun is half done

Three things to be happy about
(1) long fingernails
(2) scented lotion
(3) short fingernails

Since I got my new PC I have the hardest time typing on the new keyboard!  My fingers just don't want to hit the right keys, and my fingernails don't help a lot.  Time for a manicure, I think...

I'm putting my bee's 10 yr anniversary swap quilt together and it's coming right along!

This is the sashing and cornerstone combo I chose (sorry Marei!!!) and I think it'll make an interesting setting.

Two rows put together already -  half the quilt!

Rather than adding an outer border I made the outer sashing wider and I'm extending the cornerstones out as part of the border.

Looking at this now I see a mistake that - thank goodness - it's not too late to correct!  Do you see what it is??   ;o)

Meanwhile I went out and got some new luggage, yaaaay for me!

Since my last trip I've been promising myself new luggage before I made another trip anywhere.  Macy's had a sale last weekend - half price with an additional 25% off, so how could I resist!

I chose a 21" and 25" Samsonite, those two sizes should take care of my needs with no problem.

This is one piece of the pitiful luggage it replaced - it has casters on the bottom and a strap you can clip on the end and roll.  One of the casters is slightly wonky and the bag flopped over - A LOT!

My new luggage has a retractable pull handle and multi-directional spinner wheels - I can move it with just one finger!

I got 4-wheel drive, baby!

Sew forth and sew on!

Back to the blocks...

Three things to be happy about:
(1) safe drivers
(2) sage advice
(3) apple juice

Let's start with a road map of  the 10th anniversary block swap for Regina - hi Regina! *waving*

Our bee turned 10 last November, so to celebrate we had an anniversary block swap. We were divided into two groups, for example in a group of 12 each person made 12 blocks - one for herself and one for everybody else!

At the bee when the blocks were exchanged, each person got a block from everybody else in their group, so everybody ended up with 12 new blocks (I made the cake block).

The best part is that we get to keep our quilts, but no two will be exactly the same - clever!  Now we have to get busy and put our quilts together in time for the June 21 airing.

I collected 12 blocks but I wanted it bigger so I added enough to make a total of 16.

This house block I found was the correct size, so I just plopped a "10" on the roofline - perfect!

For a splash of brightness I made one of my lady designs on a yellow background,  just to be different.

Blue-green sashing and cornerstone fabrics ... sorry, no red for this one, it wanted to be blue!

Besides, I've been wanting to use this print fabric, I've had it awhile.



Well that's it for now, I'll share my progress as I go along.  The design is pretty straightforward, so it shouldn't take long to knock this one out.

Enjoy the turning of the weather, draw some color combinations from nature, sew forth and sew on!

Anniversary block swap

Three things to be happy about:
(1) finishing a project
(2) taking time for guilt-free relaxation
(3) other stuff!

At our April Wee Bee meeting we exchanged our 10th Anniversary blocks, what a great assortment!

First I wanted to show you the mouth-watering 10th anniversary cake Carolyn made, isn't it beautiful?  Carolyn is really talented with the cakes!

There were some clever block designs I wouldn't have thought of, such as size 10 flip flops and a ruler diagonally across the block:

There were counted items: a 10-year range of dates and 10 different batik fabrics in a block:

.

See the lady in the purple jacket?  Who the heck is that lady????  We finished the business part of our meeting and were gathering for lunch and - there she was!

She lined right up and just smiled and smiled... who is she? I figured maybe she was hungry and wandered in; Marlene fixed her a plate, she ate it and just sat and sat...



10 of hearts and an "X" representing roman numeral 10... I had to chuckle at the "tin" man, though  :o)

Lots of blocks incorporating the number "10"

A stitch in time...

saves TEN!

Unfortunately I didn't get a shot of everybody's blocks, there was a lot going on at the meeting, lots of energy in the room!  The presentation of the finished quilts will be at the June meeting, at the annual Community Day event; hopefully I'll get a few pictures of the finished quilts.

That's it for now, sew forth and sew on til later  :)

Keeping it simple-er!

Three things to be happy about:
(1) clocks that tick
(2) red staplers
(3) tv remotes

Still designing my bee's anniversary swap blocks - I wasn't keeping it simple enough!

After stitching around those letters in the 10th Street Cafe block I realized I didn't want to do that 3 more times!  Even after simplifying it and just putting a "10" on the tray, I knew I could do better.

So I found some clipart and decided how to combine it with the number 10...

Getting there...

I'm glad I took a photo of it first though... that "1" looks like the number seven!

Not bad, eh?  I like it!  Why didn't I arrive here sooner??

The ones I didn't stitch down yet will be replaced with this figure.  This is so super simple, and it's all one piece!



That's it for now, I have a dental appointment this morning, lucky me.  Enjoy your day, sew forth and sew on til later!

Cake for breakfast?

Three things to be happy about:
(1) pale green lichen
(2) a glass of orange juice
(3) a new recipe

I woke at the wee hour at 6:30 (5:30?) this morning and used my kindle for a bit, then decided to work on my bee's  anniversary swap blocks.

I don't know if I showed this one or not, but it was only fused down, no stitching had been done on it.

I stitched around the main part, now I have to do the letters.

Those letters!  Now I know what not  to do on the blocks ... those rascals can be tedious to stitch around unless they're super large!

The connected letters (cursive?) are easier because there's not so much start-and-stop action.

The good news?  They'll all get done by April's deadline - or else!

Last week the District distributed new trash and recycle cans ... see the snow still on the ground?

I didn't know we were getting them, they were delivered to the front  of the house - which means, since the entire neighborhood is connected rowhouses,  everybody had to drag their cans around back to the alley.

The new trash can is the same size, but the new recycle can (on the left) is larger than the old one was.

Some households need larger cans but the old one was fine with me, trash is collected once a week and I can usually get all my recyclables into the smaller can.   Whatever.

That's it for today, get out and enjoy the nice weather if you're having some... sew forth and sew on til later!

Three more done

Three things to be happy about:
(1) signs of spring
(2) the colors of spring
(3) springing forward!

Two sure signs of spring for me are the clock springing  forward and street cleaning starting up again!  Today they clean my side of the street and parking is restricted between 9:30 and 11:30 or you risk a ticket.  Can you believe this... last year they installed cameras on the sweeping trucks so they can take pictures of the scofflaws, upload it to the District's Public Works database and bingo - a ticket!!

I used this clipart I found someplace to create three more blocks for my bee's 10th anniversary swap...

I like the silhouette, it's clean and simple!  To keep  it simple I eliminated the cover, and traced the word "Cafe" onto the platter instead.


Here's a green one:

I hope someone likes green!

A red one...

and my favorite!

I had just enough left of this blue fabric for the words:

it looks black, but it's a lovely shade of blue.  Not even a crumb left of this one!

Temperature's rising, have a great day, do something creative, sew forth and sew on...