Easter, 2008

Here you can see how well Dad is looking these days. Actually, he's had a few bad days in the last week, but I think he may be coming out of it, thank You, Lord! Judy looks pretty good in this picture, but I've titled this one, "Dad, Judy and double chin!" I refer you to the next picture which shows me in a much better angle! LOL In this one, it's Miss Brit that has the double chin so we know who she takes after! Bless her heart...



This alphabet cloth book is for my niece's soon-to-be-born baby boy. It's part of the gift package I've made for him along with a bib and,of course, a quilt.
Time to get ready for the day. I want to go to Portales today and see an exhibit they have at the library. It's in honor of Women's History Month and they corraled me into showing some of my quilts. I think Elizabeth took five of the ones I had in the backseat of the car. I wasn't very organized or I'd let her take some of the ones I have at Dad's. Off to shower...

An "eclectic" vest

Well, I've certainly had some comments on the back of this vest! LOL Not a bad thing, though. I appreciate any and all comments, whether the project is to your liking or not. I decided this vest, Amy's, is going to be an "eclectic" vest. The definition of eclectic is as follows, according to the Merriam Webster dictionary --
1: selecting what appears to be best in various doctrines, methods, or styles
2: composed of elements drawn from various sources. Definitely has elements drawn from different sources! I suppose I should show you a picture of what's been done to the front, so far. The front was done by the second lady in line for the round robin.

Amy is a very artistic lady and I'm sure she'll find something nice to say about it. LOL If not, it'll be real easy to "unsew".

Okay, time to work on the baby quilt and the edges of the DWR. Oh, I guess I'll have to try to get into the dentist sometime soon. aaaarrrrghhh!! I have been having some problems with a back molar for quite some time now and, when I started eating dinner tonight, I realized there was a HUGE piece of tooth missing! My tongue just felt something very strange and I finally realized that a part of that molar has just broken off! I'm afraid the filling will be next. I'm not really having any pain, unless I bite down on it, but that's been going on for a while. So, I hope I can get in to see the dentist quickly. Yeah, NOW I decide to get my butt over there! lol Please say a prayer. I'm a chicken...

Finished Sunbonnet Sue

Pictures of the Sunbonnet Sue quilt, front, back and a close-up. Forgot to take a picture of the label. Thanks to April for writing the info on it for me.

It's been a busy day what with paying bills, taking Dad to the chiropractor, going to the MVD for him (found out he needs to present with all kinds of information if he wants to renew his driver's license), trip to Walgreen's, then picked up lunch at Sonic. I think I'm ready for a nap! My lower back is killing me so I may take some Aleve and lay down for a while. Need to work on the baby quilt for my niece's shower in April.

It's Monday, again.

Sunday night was spent teaching Judy how to quilt one of the Super sized nine patch quilts. She caught on very well after a few rows of circles. It just takes practice and these little quilts are perfect for that. I'm waiting for a picture to show ya'll how well she did.

This is a picture of the back of another round robin vest I'm working on. The owner requested an Oriental theme, just like the last one I worked on. We're trying to use different styles and techniques on each vest we work on so I chose to use a curve pattern. These are clamshells. If you examine it, you can see the clamshell pattern especially where the contrast is the greatest. I cut half circles and left them a bit longer, as you can see in the bottom row, then sewed fusible interfacing on, turned inside out, and they are ironed on. I still need to applique, with monofilament thread, around all the curves. I really like the look. It's different. She wanted black and white with a touch of color. The owner of the vest did the upper part and paper-pieced the stylized fern.

I have finished the Sunbonnet Sue quilt and will take a picture of the whole thing today.

Time to get ready for the day.

Sunbonnet Sue dilemma solved

Thanks to all who gave me their input on what to do! I decided on the more simple advice - echo quilt around the doll one more time. It looks pretty good. I should take a picture of the back, and I will once I have it all done, because it looks really neat. There is a cornerstone that gave me some trouble since it's not pieced quite accurately so the fabric was not lying smoothly and I was getting a huge pucker. I just took out some stitches, folded the excess in towards a seam, quilted over that and I think it will be fine. This has been so much fun to work on. As usual, click on the picture to get a closer look.

In addition to quilting on the Sue quilt, last night I made 3 Super Sized Nine Patch baby quilt tops. Blame April! LOL She called and had me look at this pattern to see if I thought she'd be able to whip these up in no time. Well, it only took me an hour to cut and sew and now I have 3 quilt tops to sell or give away. I'd seen this pattern before, and had seen the lady demonstrate it on Simply Quilts and knew I'd have to try it someday. I want to get other, more contrasting juvenile fabric and try it again. I'm not sure how well you can see the patterns in this picture. So, April, go for it! LOL

I'm off to work. Early day today and I have some Scentsy calls to make after work.

Sunbonnet Sue dilemma

This is a client's top that her mother did and she has asked me to quilt it for her. I like the flowers I did in the sashing, and I outlined the Sue, but I'm wondering if I need more quilting around the doll. If so, what shall I do? Stippling? Large meandering? I'd really like to leave it as is, but if ya'll think it needs more, I'll do it. lol Help! My sister suggested the same flower in front of the doll. I thought that might work and I told her I could have the stem coming out of her sleeve since she has no hands. She thought that'd be kinda creepy. lol I'm thinking the flowers at the bottom will have to be a bit wider to fit the space better but, all in all, I'm liking the look. Any suggestions?

Interesting numbers

I clicked on the link, added my name and here's what I got..

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 28 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

I've laid out the top I'm going to quilt for a client but haven't decided what to do yet. Actually, on the trip to Lubbock today, I may have come up with something during the drive. I'll have to work on it later tonight...if I'm not too tired.

I've also begun to cut another kaleidoscope. It's addicting! I'm not sure this fabric will yield as nice a collection of kaleidoscopes as the last one, but we'll see.

Summer is coming!

Ok, so it's still cold outside, but aren't these little flip flops cute? Thank you, Patty, for sharing your pattern with me. I'm not going to make as big a quilt as you did (you should see Patty's! oh my..) I'm just going to use 9 blocks for a wallhanging for a friend's daughter. Since I'm almost done with the DWR (that sounds good, doesn't it? lol) I will work on this off and on. After all, her birthday is not until June. I have a few more urgent projects that need my attention. I didn't realize, until I put the block up on the wall, that the background fabric looks a bit like sand. Don't you just love it when you do something right without even thinking?

Don't forget to move your clocks forward tonight!

I'm getting excited!!

Believe it or don't, the Double Wedding Ring is all quilted!! I made myself work on that baby until I finished it last night. Now I begin to concentrate on how to finish the edges. I'm thinkin' I'll cut with the curve of the rings and do a nice, curvy, bias binding. That's what I did on the DWR wallhanging last year and it was fairly easy and makes a nice ending. I hope Rob and April enjoy using this quilt as much as I've enjoyed working on it. As with many quilters, the excitement of beginning a new quilt sometimes dims as I am in the middle of the project, thinking, "why did I EVER start this!" But, as I was stitching the last few inches last night, I had a nice feeling start in the pit of my stomach. A feeling of accomplishment! I know, I still need the binding, but, in my book, it's nearly done! lol

I'm off to work..

April's 1st quilt!

Yes, she has made rag quilts in the last two months, but this is her first "real" quilt! She even designed it! I'm impressed! lol You done good, April! I'm glad I was able to help last night before you strangled Rob. lol Just 'cause he's lived in my house doesn't mean the boy knows how to join the binding ends! Silly girl..but, now you know how. Can't wait to see what you do next!

Birthday tablerunner

 This runner is for a very special client's birthday. Helen is a very sweet lady who has become a joy to have as a friend. Since I only had two days to do this, I thought I'd take some of the leftover kaleidoscope blocks and fix up a little tablerunner. I did some trapunto and then stippled around that. The k-scope blocks have some very simple quilting on the flowers.

Now, I am going to work on the Double Wedding Ring!

Another Nativity

Some of you might remember the Nativity Scene I worked up in December. It was made with a pattern called "Window Panes". I've been toying with the idea that I could make it up using an actual Attic Window pattern. I ordered several more Nativity panels and this one was different from the others. I closed my eyes (well, not really) and just jumped right in and starting cutting and sewing. I wanted to do a perspective attic window but I have no pattern to go by and my head just hurt too much today to even try to figure it out. So, I did a traditional Attic Window, added borders and I like it. The wavy part of the border is just that I didn't smooth it out on the flannel design wall.

So, Jim asks me, "Are you looking in or out of this window?" I hadn't even thought about it! Upon further thought, I realized that you must be looking out of the window since you can see sky! LOL Oh, a side note...The blue border fabric was bought just last night as an impulse buy when I stopped by Hobby Lobby for fabric for the mini kaleidoscope. I saw this rolled up piece of fabric in the remnant bin and just picked it up. Works perfectly for this piece.

My headache is much better now so I think I'll have a bowl of cereal. We're listening to the wind blowing outstide bringing in some winter weather. Maybe I'll have to stay in tomorrow and sew!

A Quilt for me!

Check this out! I got home today to a large, squishy package sitting at my place at the bar. I couldn't figure out what it might be since I haven't ordered anything lately and I'm not participating in any swaps online right now. I opened it with great anticipation, especially after seeing that it was from my friend, Kate! That sweet lady made ME a quilt! If you can see the quilt up close, you can see that a lot of the "girls" are hairdressers! What a fun quilt and it's mine!! lol Thank you, thank you, thank you, Kate! I can't wait to take it to group and to the shop to show it off.

I'm still working on the DWR and the kaleidoscope. Well, the k-scope is ready for quilting, but will not be worked on until I'm done with the DWR, really... But, I'm also working on another window pane with a different Nativity panel. I can't wait to get cracking on this one 'cause I plan to do something a little different than the last one. Check back in a few days for pictures....

Don't forget to take a peek at my Scentsy,page. The new Spring and Summer line is here. Beautiful new warmers have been added as well as new scents.

Kaleidoscope

After spending the morning at Dad's I decided to come home and really work on this quilt top. I've got all the rows put together in three sections. I plan on quilting them ala Georgia Bonesteel. Her method has you quilt the sections then attach them totally different from the quilt-as-you-go method. I've made a few other quilts this way and am looking forward to doing this one. I had thought, at first, that I would send this one out to be quilted since it's going to be mine and my quilts tend to end up in the closet as "flimsies". lol So, instead of dreading the idea of paying to have it done, dreading having to quilt it myself because it will be so big...I will quilt it in sections. I still want to add a 4" border which I have yet to purchase.

The DWR is patiently waiting for me on the living room couch. lol I WILL finish it before I begin quilting the kaleidoscope. That's the plan...

Another little project I have underway deals with the points I cut off the aforementioned kaleidoscope triangles. I can't bear to throw them away especially since they're all stacked and ready to be worked with! I plan on arranging each little kaleidoscope, each piece butted up against each other, on fusible web. I will iron it on, cut off the corners (no, I won't keep those!) then fuse the piece onto a 6" or 7" square of fabric. The one you see here is my prototype :-) I satin stitched around the triangles. I'm not sure what I'll do to make sure the center stays attached, but I'm thinking that quilting with take care of that. I didn't want to sew these pieces because it would have made it way to small for my preference.

Time to check the roast..

Thursday morning

Just a quick note to show ya'll what I worked on last night. I know, I know! I should be working on the DWR and, I am, I just needed a little break. I found this pattern in an old magazine I was browsing and just had to try it. Judy and I ran to Hobby Lobby last night for some fabric and this is what I found. Amazing to me what a little careful placement and cutting can do! I'm having a little trouble lining up my centers, but it's so busy that I think I can get away with it.

I wish I could stay home and work on these as well as the DWR today, but I gotta run! Dad's doing well, thank you, Lord!

Comfort quilt for friend

Robert calls this "Two Worlds". Joe calls it "Peppermint Squares". Jim calls it "Peppermint". I call it "A Hint of Mint". Judy and April just laugh at me. LOL Oh well... This is going to a friend's house. She is about to undergo some surgery and is having some difficult personal issues. Thanks to my QOR friends for making the blocks. I put it together, quilt-as-you-go style and tried the 3" sashings instead of the 1 3/4" front and 1 1/8" back sashings. I also added the cornerstones. It took a little longer to put together, but I like the results.

Now that this is done, I'd like to concentrate on working on Rob and April's DWR. I really would like to finish it before their first anniversary! LOL Time to go eat with Jim.

Quilting 201?

Here we are after a long afternoon of working on these quilt-as-you-go tablerunners. We started about 12 noon and finished about 8 p.m. These girls worked hard! I think they did a great job from choosing their fabrics to finishing up the runners. April even put buttons on her's! Judy hand stitched her binding while April put her's on with the machine. They learned a lot today and I am very proud of them. I think they were a bit leary at first because the pattern was a bit intimidating, especially when it looked for a minute there that I didn't know what the directions were trying to tell me! lol But, I'd made this pattern before so I knew it would work out.

While we worked, Rob and Jim played a round of golf. After they'd been home awhile, we decided we would like tacos for dinner. Rob and I ran to WalMart while the girls sewed their bindings on. Robert and Judy then proceeded to make tacos and Spanish rice. Yumm!! Thanks, guys!

Now the dining room and kitchen are back to normal and Jim and I are left wash dishes. That's ok. Most of us used paper plates. lol Rob ran a plate over to Dad. He's doing great. He and I go to Lubbock tomorrow for a checkup.

Round robin vest started

(Since I posted this last night, I have taken out the left strip of flying geese and repositioned it so it doesn't show the little bit of black next to the pink. Just in case anyone noticed. I know I did! LOL) This has been my week's project. Our local group is doing a round robin and we're constructing vests. Well, mine will hopefully become a jacket when it's all said and done. I'm not a vest person. Layering is just too much heat for me! I'll take this, along with fabric I want the ladies to use and instructions as to what I'm hoping can be done, to the meeting on Monday. I'll come home with someone else's vest that they have done the first round on. I think there are only 5 of us participating so we might be done in the next 4 months or so.

I've felt better this week so I've been able to work a little longer each day. I've been keeping busy with Scentsy,. If you haven't had a chance to look at the website, check it out! We are lovin' these warmers!!

Super Bowl Sew-In

We missed you, April! Judy and I got these two runners together in the time it took the Giants to win the game today. April had a party to attend, so she missed out on Quilting 201 today. Maybe we can catch her up next week.

The runner on the left is Judy's and mine is on the right, as they are facing you. The shiny things you see along the edges are binding clips. Thanks again, Vicky, for the clips! They sure keep my arms scratch-free unlike the pins do.

I slept until almost 9 a.m. today but I'm tired enough to go to bed right now. I think I'm still trying to get over whatever it was that hit me last week.

Customer inspired

When Vicky walked in with her Valentine runner today, I knew I had to come home and make another one myself. But, I didn't have enough of Valentine fabric, so I just pulled some of my pinks out. I'd forgotten how fast and easy these are to make.

I'm feeling better, but still get a little weak. Haven't been able to eat like I want to, (a blessing! lol) but I can tell the appetite is working it's way back.

Speaking of, I think I'll go get me a bowl of Shredded Wheat.