life, quilts and a cat too

This is where I left off last night at 8:30.  Another of my FWIS blocks but one of my additions and/or substitutions called "Crazy Anne"  #1856.  This is the 17th block of 111.

I used a Marti Michell suggestion on the conversion chart for this one but added another short cut to eliminate another seam.   The process I used might be a good "hint" for another post so I will get some pictures and graphics so it might make more sense than my describing it. 

I cut it out with instructions from EQ but that left that pink and background piece with a very long skinny, machine eating shape.  I would call that a recipe for disaster!!  I do own a set of Tri-Recs rulers and knew from past use they had a way of nubbing those off that made it easier to line up and stitch the pieces without guessing how much to off set the overlying piece. It appears to be right on the money but I think I need to square up those "Mary's Triangle" units a bit before I join the remaining sections. 

Of course, after I posted the other day I had to play with the Twister ruler a bit but mostly because I wanted to size a block would result if you put 4 charm squares together.  The answer was 9 inch finished (9.5 with seam allowances).  BUT I cut and stitched the whole block up and still need something for demo purposes.







Not anymore----I slapped 4 squares together and just need to put on the background bits and I'll be set for Belles on this coming Tuesday.  Maybe I'll just join the two blocks and put some sort of frame around them for another placemat??  Or more likely it will go in my long awaited Oxmoor House adapted Christmas quilt.  My blogging lefthandedquilter pal and her friend Linda are starting their Christmas race.  It was tempting to pull that out and join in but I am resisting..........for now anyway.  Too many irons in the fire at the moment.

 I was playing around with this on Monday afternoon as well.  Oh, you KNEW I would, LOL.   Pat may be joining Cher, Norma and I when we do the twister sew date.   She has a guild challenge coming up and this might be a pattern option.  I mentioned that Martha Thompson tells you to warm up to the technique by  making a placemat---or 4, LOL.   This technique is from her book Square Dance, after all, but someone made a ruler to make the cutting easier than marking around it with a template.  The acrylic ruler with feet stays put while you cut........ which is nice. 

Anyway, she says to cut the squares 4.5 inches and the border around it about 3 inches. Set the squares in a 3 x 4 grid.  Once you border the twisted stuff again it would finish up about 14 1/2 x 17 inches.  Pat wondered how big this might turn out.  Mine unstitched , measures that exactly.  If my math is correct I think I would lose 2 inches in the length and 1 1/2 in the width and that should STILL fit my plates.  I'm just goofing around and don't know what I would use for a border anyway since most of these were charms and cut 5 inch squares from another project.   That mini red print looks pink and I should have separated the colors in that dark blob in the corner, LOL.   The picture is not showing as much contrast as there is in real life.  BUT it will do for an example.   I've got more Christmas squares leftover but just not bright ones such as the ones I used in this one.  I could easily pull 12 more and whip another placemat in another colorway.


And here is another chapter in the "make me happy" category.  As a quilter who loves vintage quilts, this box is pure gold to me!  The shoe box stuffed with fabric arrived yesterday from my mom.  (I knew it was coming.)  I didn't have time to really dig through it yet but I love that red stuff on the top!!   There are bits of 30s in there too but as I said, I have not had time to look through the treasure this box contains.  THX Mom.  If not this quilt, then one down the line.

She called yesterday to tell me that she had finished the binding on a very special bed sized quilt.  I am happy dancing for her as I know it is not easy for her to do that hand work with achy wrists and hands.  She always does the donation quilt binding on the machine.  You see, the 2nd grandchild is getting married on October 6th.  Blake and Julia live in central IL about an hour from where I am from but have decided to getting married in the Denver area.  ( Julia has some family there.  So does Blake--my sister Janet and her family.)  They know that the quilt is coming.  In fact, they had asked for some of the fabric swatches to help in picking out the bed linens and curtains.  I know what pattern Mom had picked out and what color was basically selected but I cannot wait to see a picture of it.

The wedding will be small and a reception held later so no, I am not going to the wedding.  My sister Diane (the MOG) has made travel arrangements for both sets of grandparents, her husband and herself as well as Blake's sister and her husband to get out there on various time schedules but they all fly back on the same plane.  Maybe Blake and Julia are "on their own" for getting to Denver. I'll have to ask Mom the next time I talk to her.  Can't have a wedding without the bride and groom!!

Well, daylight is burning and I had planned on making some cookies to take to the quilt set up tomorrow.  We were down to 49 for an overnight temp and even with the sun beating down, it is only up 10 degrees from that now.  Translation:  I won't mind the oven being on while I bake about 5 dozen Pride of Iowa cookies, LOL.  And DJ won't mind home baked goodies either.  

I hesitated to call this a "Design Wall Monday"post since I have only gotten as far as setting up the machine to sew. I don't even have it threaded up yet.

Just plain busy day so far! Today was laundry day. I also needed to vacuum up the sewing room as I was tracking thread everywhere in the house. DJ did the hallways but I know I was the source, LOL. I had about 90 minutes of kitchen time this morning with about 30 minutes off before I had to start up the grill to finish up the noon meal preparations. (DJ wanted brats so I was making some Hot German Potato salad and braised red cabbage and apples to go with it. ) Thankfully, last night leftovers will be a fast re-heat.

The picture at left is my weekend sewing project, another WTIL donation top finished to flimsy last evening. This one counts under the "Belles Scrappy Challenge" banner for the year. I do not know the name of it or the designer and call it "Diagonal 4 patch chain". I first saw it in the chatter on stashbuster list and have no clue as to its source other than that. I think the name I gave it is fitting.

I only had 2 rows of it assembled clear back in April of this year and plucked it down from the hanging spot off my bookshelf. The 4 patches WERE completed using Billie Lauder's two at once with nickel squares, way back then but I still needed to make 5 rows of blocks (25). Most of the prints were some charm squares that Linda C had just sewn together randomly but I pulled them all apart to do this and added more cut fabrics from the scrap bags. The blocks finish at 8 inches, 5 x 7 set. I am not going to border it as it is big enough for my purposes.

I will say that I intended to do the last block differently. The last block in row 7 design wise should have just one four patch in the upper left corner and then background color for the remaining part of the block to complete that last chain. Apparently I did not cut the rectangle 4 1/2 x 8 1/2 that I needed. I had to go on a treasure hunt looking for any of the leftovers. No luck, though I have wheat, mushroom, parchment moda marble and another fabric line of a coppery colored neutral that is a similar but not whatever color this is---natural, I think. Rather than order more and/or ask webfabrics to do a color match (again!) I just stuck in an extra 4 patch to "no-where".

Here is what I will work on next. WTIL donation/Belles scrappy challenge Triple Rail last seen in May at the sew-in---shown in THIS POST . Come to think of it, I haven't done any more on it since, LOL. It looks the same as it did but the picture was probably taken from a different angle. I need 6 more rows or the lower half of the top. The rail blocks ARE done---I think. I'll find out soon enough!

I started this on the Jem so will continue on with the same machine retrieving the blocks and the machine from the car trunk. The Brother really should go in for servicing, just on general principles plus the auto needle threader is hanging up, skipping stitches even with a new needle put in, etc.

While searching for the 4 patch background I left one of the kits out. This uses some yardage that Ellen sent from WTIL headquarters and is one of two I have cut with a fall-ish theme. One is probably going to be a Snuggle Up but I cut this one to be like staggered bricks. I told Norma the other day that after all the seam matching I have done lately with D4P and now the diagonal 4 patch chain. I was ready for something a little less fussy. This one might fill the bill and will be next up after the triple rail is done. Short term goals are now set for the week.


Tomorrow is the Belles quilt meeting and I'll probably take my hand quilting. We plan on going out for lunch to Olive Garden for the summer birthdays---should be fun. Marilyn told me she had baked another cake for our dessert. Yum! The fabric I ordered with my bday money they gifted me with arrived today so I know they will want to see that. I will share my FAB bday gifts with them for "show and tell"---some do read my blog, some don't or just aren't on the computer much and haven't seen what my pals made for me. I'll load the car up in a bit as I am always in a rush to get out the door in the morning.

And sew it goes-----off to the machine and see how far I get.

It has been a busy day today but NOT from doing anything in the creative department. There were a lot of little odds and ends of the paperwork variety both personal and pertaining to the quilt group, a few errands to run, re-organizing the bag that I schelp around to the meetings, cleaning out my purse......and so on.

Shown at right, the scrappy fall log cabin blocks I made for the Friendship Quilters guild, my Monday project. The organizer asked us NOT to trim them down to size so they do not look square. I had hoped to get around to the name badge thing then but it didn't happen. Tomorrow, then.


The quilt group met yesterday so I have a couple photos to share. Jane had finished the binding on Leann's "Romance" challenge quilt so it was ready for its "glamour shot". I had quilted it for her a couple months ago and her grandmother Aline had put on the binding.

Next up is Beverly (hiding her head) with a top she came up with with a large fabric panel. We had discussed doing something she could do that would not decapitate the dogs too much. I love how she fussy cut the dogs for the squares.

It was a laid back day. Beverly and Jane pinned this little top. Linda C was working on a hand project but needed some help in dealing with a fusible project. Janet was machine quilting a lovely fall piece she had been working on at the last meeting. Brenda was hand finishing some binding.


............and Betsy an I were sewing. I pair up the triple rail blocks from the Belles scrappy challenge project. Mostly I stitched up a pile of pairs---till I forgot I was doing 9 blocks across, LOL. Janet had her ripper more handy than mine so I un-sewed some to put together two rows of it anyway before we left for the day.

This will be an ongoing project as I am putting this back up till next meeting. I have plans for getting back to a couple of appliqued and/or pieced personal projects this week. I'm thinking either the Welcome and/or March Joined at the Hip Button Up projects. I already have the spring "In Seasons" base already done so the applique motifs need to be prepped for that. Saturday is Friendship Quilter's meeting so I have a feeling it will be a handwork sort of day while I sit.

We had quite the rain event starting yesterday afternoon and not really letting up until just before lunch today. Some lightning and strong wind gusts too. We measured just shy of 4 inches of rain in our gauge! When I left on errands late morning, I was stunned to see the small creek/bridge that I cross frequently was out of its banks and flooding the nearby fields. There was no water standing on the roads near here or I would have turned around and went home. The ditches and culverts tend to get clogged up with vegetation and debris so the rain water run off had no place to go. No doubt some locations in the county and state were not as lucky. As you can imagine walking on the grass this afternoon was like stepping on a sponge, squishing. DJ was out working to cut down some overgrown bushes by afternoon.

That's about it for this note. I hope you had a great day and thanks for stopping by!

When I posted on 11-22 I was preparing to really hit the pile of donation quilts atop my armoire. At left you see 6 of 8 quilts that I took care of during that week's time.

My rail fence on point, my Bridge Creek Blossom, Lois' Many Trips Around the World, Leann's pinwheels (not really sure what the block is but will find out for the quilt documentation). The two you see folded are Aline and Leann's challenge quilts. I'll get pics of them at the Christmas party next week when we do the reveal.


In addition to the donation quilts I also quilted Linda C's Redwork Garden quilt designed by Alex Anderson for pay. Those blocks were a freebie last year that she called "12 Days of Redwork" so I guess it has been renamed and put in a different spot on the website. LOL, I gave Linda my printouts once I had my quilt done but I used a different setting blocks and ironically, mine is hanging in the closet because I never took it with me to the meeting site to get it pinned. Linda C's is quilted but mine isn't.

I got done in enough time on Saturday with the 1/4 of Lois' quilt that remained that I quilted Linda's redwork quilt and then this little primitive cutie from Joined at the Hip which had been pinned and stuck up on the shelf since late January 2008. About time, dontcha think?? I don't think that this pattern is still available but was one of their yard longs "Best Friends" I think was the name???

I wrapped yesterday by completing the quilting on my on point rail fence (about a 1/4 of it was left) and then spent the rest of the day binding my two donation quilts, the little quilt above and even my Daisy Chain I picked up last month got binding and a sleeve applied. Poor Skyler wanted me to play so bad that he kept hopping up on the quilting set up and just sitting to get my attention. DJ thinks I was taking this quilting too seriously---my retort was that I want this stuff done and that means I have to work on it to make that happen. Fairy dust and wishful thinking does not do the job.

I am currently down to 4 pinned quilts of my own on the armoire. I want them done by year's end if possible. Daisy Chain is up there to hand finish the binding and there is another one that I want to dismantle and re-sash but that is another story. But I am taking the day off though I may press the fabric I laundered for the Belles challenge piece I need done by 12/7. The other stuff can wait---it waited this long, LOL so what is another day or even another week?

Some of the FABS and I are planning on doing some Christmas sewing this weekend. I have a pretty good idea what I will work on but there are few choices in that department so I guess it depends on what floats my boat come Saturday morning. Start something new or make some blocks for the Oxmoor Christmas quilt??? HMMMM.

We are in an unstable weather situation at present so I think I will sign off and shut down for a bit. The weather alert thing went off at 4 in the morning and after two hours of trashing about in the bed and not going back to sleep, I just got up and got my day started. A nap might be in order today as 4 hrs of sleep are not enough. Thanks for stopping by----------

I have kept fairly busy since I last posted---a little of this and that. One thing at the top of the list was this little wall hanging for my pal and fellow FAB Cher who had a birthday last week. The pattern, originally purchased as a kit from Keepsake Quilting, is "Don't Go Out of the Lines, Plant the Seeds" from Plain Brown Wrapper. Because it has a gardening theme, I thought it made a good choice for Cher.

The original pattern called for perle cotton stitching and raw edges with maybe the batting sticking out or some such thing. It had jute ties and a stick for a hanger. Now I would like that folk art-y vibe but it just didn't seem quite Cher-like. Nope, I ordered a little split bottom hanger from Ackfeld Wire and put hanging tabs on the back instead. The pigma pen writing and coloring were fun, fun, fun!

The plaid fabric that came with the kit was filched for my last two months Calendar quilt stitcheries. I substituted the little bit of fabric leftover from my Sisterhood of Quilters instead. There are little butterflies amongst the ivy, butterflies being a motif Cher enjoys. I did purchase the darker green dot to complete the project---also from designer Jodi Houghton. I hand quilted around most of the small motifs which wasn't easy with whatever batting I had stuck in there-- just some piece leftover from something and in the sewing room closet is all I know! So Happy Birthday, Cher-- a few days late.

I picked up a "new to me" sewing machine from my friend Lois on Friday. It had belonged to her mom who recently had to be admitted to a nursing home. It is a Singer Stylist 6548 circa 1978 (with cams) but let me tell you, it has a nice stitch. A lot better than my carry around Jem is doing right now----tension issues that I need to look into a little closer. My dad will cut me out a sewing machine table insert as I was able to trace off the table extension around the free-arm (it is missing some legs) but I did put the machine to work.

I whipped up a pile of triple rail blocks for a donation quilt I will be making. My friend Norma does strings as an ongoing sewing project when she doesn't feel like anything taxing, matchy-matchy----I do triple rails or bowties, LOL.

Since the triple rail project will go on point I prepped fabric and cut the side setting, alternate blocks stuff along with new HST's for those donation blocks we received last week. I pulled those blocks and rows apart essentially starting from scratch with most of the same fabric. You see, whoever had made the blocks had used QST's around a large triple rail for an Economy block type thing. You guessed it---big time bias problems on the outside edges of the blocks. Since I had it all apart, I scaled the rails down a bit and the blocks will finish at 10.50. With sashing it will make a nice quilt for the kids.

Other things on the home front that kept me hopping over the weekend:

• finally boxed up that stack of donation quilts so I could get in the closet behind it. Woohoo, two boxes on their way to WTIL as of this morning

• Because I could finally get in the closet easily, I switched out the seasonal clothing and purged two lawn and leaf bags of stuff out of both closets, plus the armoire and the blanket chest while I was at it. I subscribe to the theory that if you bring something into the house, you get rid some thing else. (My husband does not do that though, LOL) In this case it was a few new pair of jeans and a couple t-shirts for two big bags for the thrift store. Delivered that stuff this morning too.

• I put the bunny/Easter decoration stuff away. It's May so it was time. Well, all but the April calendar quilt piece was put up I don't have the May piece stitched yet but I did trace off both it and the May Freckles snowman block. I have just a little bit of calendar stitching done---not much.

• Walking program resumed. I laid off too long. Bad girl! Put some weight back on. My triglycerides are probably back up or still up, more like. I made a pact with the MD to let me get back on track with my walking and then see where the numbers are in 6 months. Still up after I have been exercising and making some dietary changes?? Fine, put me on meds if I have to but give me a chance to do better first. I started slow and am going just a hair over one mile 6 days a week which is an increase over the every other day I had started with. I had to wait till my knees and shins forgave me. Another week like this and I will add another lap every two weeks till I reach 10. My pace is pretty good though I am not out there long enough quite yet---.28 miles in about 6 minutes consistently.

• Went thru all my recipe clippings and printouts and kept only the stuff I have actually made or will make soon. I had enough paper removed to ditch one entire notebook and a pile of mixed paper to take to the recycle center in town. That was my late Friday--early Saturday foolishness, LOL.

I took this pic of Skyler a few days back. This little sunny spot in DJ's room is a new haunt lately as he tracks the sun thru the house. He has not been sunbathing the past three days though as it is has been very overcast, windy, humid as all get out. Rain and storms were in the forecast but nothing came of it most of the weekend. Finally we got some rain after we went to bed last night----just a tad under 3 inches according to our rain gauge.

We needed some rain but TN really got hit! My brother and his family, a dear long time friend and a former secret pal all live in the Nashville and surrounding area so I could not help but wonder how they all fared. 1-24 is the route we travel yearly on the way back up to IL. Hard to imagine a manufactured house floating down that interstate or the prospect of the Titans' football stadium being covered in 2 ft of water. My prayers go out the residents dealing with this massive flooding as well as the oil spill mess down in the Gulf that effects my state as well as LA, MS, FL and TX. What a mess!

Guess that's it for now---time to heat up our lunch. Where had the morning gone?

Quilt group meeting today---several are out of town right now but 4 of us managed to get quite a bit done. Shown is a pinwheel top that Aline's granddaughter made and gma quilted. Good job, LeAnn!

Our first order of business was to deal with a new box of batting. Nu-style packs a 48 x 60 some yard roll of batting into a box 18 x 16 x 28 inches. We needed to un-stuff it from the box and then roll it onto the tubes we had saved in the storage closet. Fortunately we were able to put it up on two large serving tables in the Fellowship Hall and spare our backs and knees.

Linda C had 4 donation tops and 1 personal project to pin so we got busy with that. Two of the top needed additional batting added. I took care of that while the others pinned. Turned out some backing needed seaming as well. My Jem is always out in the car so I did that too--darned machine seems to have developed some tension issues so I will have to look into that!

3 of the tops came home with me and 4th would have but it needed additional yardage added to the back----next meeting we'll finish it up. Looks like my days of no sewing and no quilting will be coming to a screeching halt soon. 6 tops piled up on top of the armoire at present.

I had suggested an Arby's run for lunch out at the Oxford Exchange and offered to drive. As I pulled up to the 2nd stop light on our route I could see one of our quilting pals in the rearview mirror. Or at least I thought it was Pat anyway. My three passengers were waving and trying to get her attention without much success. Finally she figured it out who it was at the next light, LOL. Not sure where she was headed or we would have asked her to join us.

Skyler was running around like a crazy cat when I came home, madly dashing down the hall to DJ's desk chair to the love seat about 90 miles an hour. He thinks of this throw as his actually. DJ uses it in the recliner in cold weather and Skyler tucks in beside him anytime after 8 p.m. Truth be told, it is MY throw, LOL---purchased years and years ago on a trip to the Amana colonies and the woolen mill there. I don't care if the boys use it, of course.

And look what just opened up today!

For several days it looked they might be ready any minute. A few warmer sunny days and boom, the daffodils are blooming. As I was leaving for the meeting I noticed that the Bradford pears at the approach to the nearby sub-division are about to pop open too. Always so pretty---like popcorn. Rain is on the way later tonight and tomorrow but I hope the temps don't drop like a rock once they showers clear out.

Well, I didn't get a lick of stitching done on my redwork hearts at the meeting even though I drug them along. That's fine though. I've got the rest of the evening to play. 3 1/2 blocks to go and I could conceivably have all 12 done by the weekend. Woohoo!

Thanks for stopping by----------

I hope that you have a wonderful holiday with family and friends!

It will be a quiet day here, as most holidays are, with just DJ and I and our fuzzy little "boy" Skyler. The weather report looks to be a little forbidding between here and IL where most of our family is located. We didn't plan on going back anyway---normally we wait till May or June if we are going. My family had "Christmas in July" earlier this year though not everyone could be there. Actually the wind and rain is picking up since I sat down to write this post.

I have been busy this past week though don't have much to show for it. Hand quilting continues on my FAB challenge quilt though I have the body of the quilt done and marked the borders yesterday. My favorite quilt hoop bit the dust this past week though so I am in the market for its replacement----a 14 inch round that I had since 88. DJ tried to re-glue the join but it is not going to hold. :-( I need the half hoop now for the outer border so no rush.

I also found time to cut out my Sisterhood of Quilters Gratitude quilt and had enough leftover to share with my FAB pals and cut for them too. (Merry Christmas!) The Atkinson "Daisy Chain" that Norma and I plan to sew next week is cut as well except for one piece that was on order. Looking forward to both projects.

I gave up on the last two donation quilts for now. Yeah, I wanted them done before year's end but it isn't going to happen. I'm okay with that. I figure the quilt group meets on the 2nd Tuesday in January so I have a little time if I really want them moved along. At some point I will get my own donation quilt pinned and add it to the bunch.

A little extra cooking going on as well. DJ is enjoying a batch of homemade cookies made earlier in the week. You don't know just how rare it is for me to bake cookies but I had promised him I would do so. I had also made a batch of Maple Nut rolls recently with a mix from Prepared Pantry----yummers! Most of all those baked goodies went to the freezer to be parceled out over time. Did I say how much I love my new mixer? Well, I do though I still need to make something with egg whites to use the whisk attachment. One of these days..........

I will pass on a little something from a quilting friend before I go.

Twas the night before Christmas, I'm glued to the tree.
I'm wondering what Santa brought just for me.
Could it be fat quarters or a pattern or lace?
Or a quilt kit, I said, with a smile on my face.
And that's when I heard him,

"Hi Santa," I said
"You know....good little girls should be in their beds ".
"I know I should Santa, and now I've got caught..
But I was just so excited to see what you brought."

"Well, let's take a look in this room where you work."
He shook his head quickly, And left with a jerk.
I heard him exclaim as he put it in gear.
"You've got enough stuff, I'll see you next year!"

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EACH AND EVERY ONE !!!!

I have nothing to show, really, for a week's worth of time in the sewing room, LOL.


I have been in quilting mode again. 1 comfort quilt is done for my quilting pals' guild bee and picked up but I didn't snap a picture of it though the cable I did in the border sections looked pretty good. 2 WTIL donation quilts are also done though someone else will do the binding down the line----you'll see pictures of them down the line when posed for their "official portrait."

I have two more to go as pictured above with the backing side out. One is a larger version of one I just finished-- 24 blocks of 16 patch HST blocks sashed and cornerstoned provided by Linda C. After doing the 16 block version, I have the SID quilting path down on that pattern! The other one you see folded up was made by Aline's granddaughter who has been so sweet to think of the kids and provide some tops to the group. I know her grandmother is quite happy to have her follow in the sewing foot steps! Because Aline has had some physical problems this past year, she is not able to do the quilting so I will finish up. While I know what I will do in the body of the quilt, I am not sure what is needed on the triple borders but trust me, it won't be cables!

By Sunday I needed a break from the machine and hand quilted for two days on my FABS friendship quilt, a personal project. Some progress is being made on that score with the two alternating blocks completed as well as the "right side" of the quilt. By that I mean, two setting triangles and two corner triangles if you were to look at the picture shown on the link. Now my poor stuck fingers, wrist and thumb need a break! So if I am not abusing my back, neck and shoulders machine quilting I can make something else tender, it would appear, LOL.

I'll get back to the machine work today as I am postponing the reward for finishing the stack. If you look back up at the picture, that stack of fabric represents the next two sewing projects that need to be cut. I want to kit up the Sisterhood Gratitude for sewing and while I am at cut for the Atkinson "Daisy Chain" that Norma and I plan on sewing between Christmas and New Years' when she is on holiday. The pattern is hanging off the peg board or click HERE. We have been talking about this for months and month while looking at some gorgeous examples of colorways on webshots. Going to make it happen!

So 10 more days till Christmas! DJ put up the tree and put on the lights last week but it took me a couple days to decide if I would put ornaments on it or not. Last year we just did lights and bows as I didn't know how Skyler would behave. LOL, I still don't know! I put a few cloth ones down low that I wouldn't mind if he drug off to play with. (Pippi did that and they became some of her favorite cat toys.) So far, so good! I would like to make a couple of holiday themed placemats so may drag out the Christmas fabric bin from its hiding place to see if there is enough yardage on hand to whip up a couple of them for our holiday meal.

It finally occured to me about two weeks after the fact, where I had put a missing decorative snow scene plate so it is back on display as well. I spent a good part of the afternoon on decorating day searching for it in every conceivable spot I could think of. Turns out when the Christmas decorations were put away last year, I had kept it and a couple other snow related items out for January decorating and naturally, they didn't get put away with the rest of the holiday stuff. Now the great hunt is on for the owner's manual for my DVD recorder/player but I found a copy of it online so may give up looking. How much do you bet that once I get the pages that I need printed off, it will show up?

No holiday baking though! I did make some banana nut muffins yesterday to use up the over-ripe "naners" from the freezer. In error, DJ was saying "cookies!!!" when he spotted the racks. He was so excited about the prospect of them that I promised to make him a batch of less healthier ones next week. I keep tell him that I would consider making him cookies, now and again but as long as he is happy with the $1/pkg oatmeal ones from the store, why bother? He said he eats those because he thinks they are a healthier, not that he loves them so much. He will not express a preference so what kind do I want to make? Pride of Iowa which is an old family favorite or Hilary's version of Oatmeal Toffee if I can find the almond brickle on the grocery run? Or my personal favorite, White Chocolate Macadamia Nut??? Oh, that would be dangerous!

I don't know that I will be sending out Christmas cards this year or not. DJ always does his own and some have shown up at the house for both of us. I debate every year about the expense. There are other means for me to communicate these days. Time may just slip by without my getting around to it, I'm guessing.

The weather has warmed from the 20s of last week to 50's, 60's. Warmed up to rain. It was 55 out when I got up this morning but damp and probably foggy in spots. DJ pointed out a neighbor mowing over the weekend but what he was cutting down, we don't know. An errand at dusk last night showed a lot of Christmas lights up to enjoy and our small town's Christmas parade has been moved from a Saturday 10 am event to a Friday at 6 p.m. followed by caroling at the park instead. It would be nice if the weather would hold a few days if the townsfolk are going to be out on the 18th!

Best get myself on the move---errands to run and then back to the machine and the audio book I was enjoying (Dismas Hardy legal mystery by John Lescroat---onto my third one though not in order). Hope that you have a good day and thanks for stopping by------

Shown, the Two of a Kind/Cheap Trick a third of the way done. I have one other "mini row" on the pressing table and another pinned and ready to feed into the machine or I would have a start on the middle third---the long rows. As the quilt grows it is getting harder to tell exactly where each color will land but you know what? As long as it isn't the exact same piece or the same print in a different colorway, I am NOT taking it out. IIWII and I like it!

I stalled out the last couple days in the sewing department. It has been paper pushing and tossing, if the truth be told. Stuff stacks up when I am busy sewing though I separate out the things that need to be dealt with soon. The rest waits. The catch-all basket, desk cubby and top desk drawer are all cleared out leaving the recipe and quilt pattern printouts to be filed---or not, LOL

DJ asked "why are you taking a picture of that?" Blog fodder, I replied. He didn't know that I mentioned having the kudzu removed. Anyone in my family or friends who have visited our home know what it looked like back there too. Our neighbor DID come over and took a good bit of it out. A small section in the middle remains as not only was that area not level but we have a narrow area behind an overgrown bush or two that he could not fit through with the heavy equiprment. There are some tree stumps there as well. Anyway, there was no need to risk dumping the endloader or the ground giving way and falling from about 10 foot up. You see, they cut right through this hill to put the road in below. Our little lane is the OLD section of it that went up the incline and back down. That is why the across the road houses are on an even level with our house but the road is not visible between.

Friday the Persephone Garden Club had their annual plant sale and I went. My pal Judy is a member and the quilt I just bound for her was going to be raffled as a fund raiser. (I thought it was for the Salvation Army auction though she is making one for them too) All the proceeds go to local charities at any rate. Last year they had to cancel it due to the drought conditions but that has been reversed so the sale was on. They even fed their customers sandwiches, desserts and punch/coffee! I asked Judy for suggestions on what to plant on Pippi's grave site since the frost zapped the marigolds we had planted earlier in the month. Hosta, it is. Will tolerate the full sun, like the afternoon shade and sound virtually indestructible. DJ pulled out the copy of Gardening in the South for the care reference and planted it for me.


Boy, has it warmed up around here! Recently I read a description of the 4 seasons in Alabama on a cooking blog. According to the author who lives somewhere in the state, they are as follows:

• Almost Summer
• Summer
• Still Summer
• Christmas

I had not heard THAT one yet but I think there is some truth to it. DJ is always insisting that we didn't have any spring. Well, yeah we did---it was when the pollen was blowing and we had 50's and 60's for highs. Still, I suppose that perception is reality in his case. We are into our 3rd or 4th day of high 80's and not ready for it though it is not as humid as it will be in a month or so which makes things fair less bearable. There are two closets in my bedroom, one of which I use for coats and off season clothing. I switched the winter stuff out yesterday and took 3 bags of stuff to the donation boxes. Spring purging. If that doesn't bring on colder weather, I don't know what will.

My only real goal today is to put away the Easter decorations. Personally I like the rabbits myself but it is time. I put two of the ones that were tucked away in the sewing/computer room in the living room to be sure they made it into the box and DJ made some crack about them reproducing. He also made some crack about being blinded by the light hitting off my white legs when I took the outside pictures too. What do you expect after winter and jeans? Funny guy or just thinks he is funny??

DJ did the laundry while I groceries so I still have things to put away--wash it if you will but let me fold, hang my stuff. You can see what Skyler thinks about it being laundry day. Just try and remove those from under him! Another shot I took of him shows him at full meow when DJ took out a few pieces. Looks like his blending right into those whites with that full belly exposure.

DJ has a birthday coming up on Tuesday. Normally we would go out for lunch on or near the date but I have quilt group. I think he has made his selection about where I am taking him. He was no help with deciding what kind of cake or pie he wanted--whatever you feel like fixing. Sigh, that is what I always do though I do take suggestions. Because I needed to get the supplies in, I finally decided on Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting from the Cake Mix Doctor cookbook. THIS would be a similar recipe. It was a little night time reading going through the two recipe books, LOL. Oh , I also spotted a really yummy sounding brownie recipe in the chocolate version of the cake mix book that I could take to quilt meeting sometime. Flag that page too!

Guess that is it for this installment--hope you have had a good weekend at your home.

It was a busy week last week but not so much in the "creative" department. From Monday till Saturday afternoon, off and on, I was slogging on the binding on my version of Scrappy Bargello. Considering that I started this on Super Bowl weekend 08 that is a pretty fast finish of a personal quilt, thanks to Norma quilting it for me. Trust me, I have projects way older than this one.

Yesterday I got out the 'ol rotary cutter and raided the stash for the background yardage for my version of Two of a Kind/Cheap Trick. I had cut the print pieces about 10 days ago but after all, that binding I was itching to sew! The picture above shows where I left off last night when the storms began rolling into the county and I needed to power down.

As explanation, the reason that I keep using the name "Two of a Kind/Cheap Trick" is that I know of two versions of what is a very similar pattern. I found the "Two of a Kind" pattern in the American Patchwork and Quilting magazine April 08, Issue 91 designed by Darlene Zimmerman and her daughter Rachel Shelbourne. BUT Miss Rosie's Quilt Company issued a very similar pattern and called it "Cheap Trick" RQC #97. The sizes to cut the sectioning are different mostly because the "Cheap Trick" version that Sheila shared with me was designed to use charm squares, layer cakes or fat eighths rather than the scrappy yardage and fat quarters I had to work with. In my case I took the cutting instructions from one pattern and the piecing directions from the other

There is also a little bit of difference in how you approach the piecing in the two versions but not dramatically so. Basically there are NO real blocks---it is pieced as a bar quilt and the pieces go on point to give the illusion of overlapping sections, like a modified Card Trick quilt in a way.

edited: 4/21 My mom told me recently that she had seen a Hanky Panky quilt at a quilt show in Bloomington (IL) that reminded her of the "Two of a Kind" (2oK)quilt. She thought it might be easier to piece IT than the one I am tackling. It turns out Zimmerman and Shelbourne designed it too! I like that one too but I believe that this is new take on a old block. It is attributed by Barbara Brackman's numbering system to Farm Journal is called Squares Upon Squares #1104 . Not that I would piece it the same way as shown HERE but Quilter's Cache has a version of this block. Another one that is similar and again, an old block from the Nancy Cabot days is Squares Within Squares #1102 b. If I were doing either one of them, I would be eliminating some seam lines especially if it is sewing the same colored squares together! Rectangles surely would work. Another day perhaps.

Because the magazine and pattern both show a smaller quilt than I wanted, I drew it up full/queen sized in EQ, more to help in calculating how many strips, squares, etc to cut. The coloring is more or less what I am following to aid in laying out the sections. You really need to watch what you are doing when you pick those pieces up. I have found that if I isolate just the row I am working on by folding over sections of my printout and block out the preceeding rows I have better luck verifying the layout. Then I concentrate on just sewing each "mini" row at a time before moving onto the lower half. So far, no ripping----yet!


So what else have I been up to since I last posted? The Bama Belles met on Tuesday for one. Several of the quilts that were out for binding were turned in so I had pictures to take. Mostly it was the aforementioned binding for me though the girls did pin several tops while a couple others sewed.

Unfortunately my camera battery ran out before I had a chance to take a picture of a top I thought I might be dealing with on our next "move it forward" day. ( I had promised Norma a picture of it as it might be one of my oldest tops---15 years old maybe?) Still, I had the opportunity to spread it out and measure it---only to find out that it is about an inch bigger at the top than the bottom! I had planned to put two borders on it but no way will it lay flat with that descrepancy. Part of the quilt was done as a pass around project with about 8 other piecers involved. That might account for why there is a difference since I pieced the 2/3rds on my own machine later. I don't remember having to ease the two sections together and it doesn't appear to be wonky to the naked eye. Back to a no borders quilt as originally planned?? I need to think on this a a bit more. What is a few more days at this point when you consider how long the top has been antique-ing, LOL?
The Belles were having a potluck dinner on Saturday evening hosted by Judy and her husband Conray. All the spouses were invited to attend this one. ( I had spent some time earlier this month sending out the invites after updating the roster) Judy asked me to ride shot gun with her over to Atlanta so she could get some food and supplies for the party. Sure, glad to go! Our first stop was at Tiny Stitches in Marietta. I knew from emails, blog reading and comments back and forth that Melinda works at the shop. I emailed her to see if she would be working--she wasn't but lives fairly close, she said and came over to meet us. Lovely lady! She pointed out some of the pieces she had made and quilted in the shop and gave me one of her sister's foldable to purse size Tote Along bags. Thanks again for that! Link is HERE for the pattern but they have them at Tiny Stitches too or as Melinda put it, they are the "East Coast distributor", LOL. I got one while Judy found the yardage she needed for her project as it is such a clever idea.
We also made runs to Trader Joe's, a party store in the same shopping center and after lunch, Costco. We had a yummy lunch at The Brickery. To be honest, I didn't have much a clue just where in the Atlanta area we were most of the day. Somewhere around Marietta--Sandy Springs maybe? -- but Judy knew where she was going so that's all that mattters! I got home about 6 pm on the dot. Judy shared some filled chicken ravioli that she picked up at Costco so I threw that in the pan, fixed some Italian green beans and garlic bread so we didn't have to go out for supper after all.

We had a good turnout at the party. I had met almost all the husbands over the years but I don't know that many of the guys had. A few maybe. We had talked about doing this for some time so it was fun to see everyone in a social setting. I had said if the guys were balking at coming then we should remind them that they would get a better meal and have better company if they came along with their wife, LOL. Delicious food but I already knew we had some good cooks in the group.

The other pictures I used for filler--the lilac in more bloom than the original one I posted about a month back. The smaller azalea is open now and the white encore variety is starting to bloom now too. The tulips were more or less a surprise as we thought those bulbs were long done. He did save the bulbs from the tulips he purchased for our anniversary in January putting them in cold storage in the fridge. He planted them in late March but those aren't them! And Skyler? It is now part of his nightly routine to run up to the top of the pass through. He starts yowling like crazy, showing off that he is up there. If that were not enough he stands up on his back legs merkat fashion or runs back and forth being anything but careful.

Other happenings in the neighborhood. We think that one or both of the people across the hard road are moving out. U-haul there over the weekend. Next door they continue to work on remodeling and painting the interior of the house. The step-dad tore down an old shed in back and even had the across the lane neighbor come in with the endloader and clear out the old kudzu mess on the bank at the edge of the lot. We need to have that done to keep DJ from spending two or three evenings each week during its growing season trimming back the new growth! We have a much longer lot ( a narrow acre) and more to have scraped off. We didn't know you could do anything with it short of burning it up and risk starting everything one the hill below on fire doing it. He talked to the neighbor about his fee--very reasonable. He'll be over when the ground dries up a bit from our latest rainfall. DJ has been doing some repair work on the eaves as well as some painting and caulking, some of it up on the roof. Definitely need to get any roof activity done before the summer heat gets here and those shingles get like hot tar.

Guess that's about it for this post. Thanks for stopping by!

For several months now a couple of the Belles have been coveting the hot iron covers that we have on the irons at our meeting place. The ones we have and that I have at home were made by June Tailor products and called “Iron Cozy”. I know I purchased all of these at Hancock’s several years ago. We keep looking online and in the fabric stores but to no avail.

I found a pattern online from from Kay's Quilts recently. Pretty cool pattern as it is given for the standard size and for a travel iron size. Might make a good secret pal gift, door prize. I thought I would make one for my Black and Decker Classic iron as it is shorter than the standard size. Mom has the pattern too so we have been comparing notes a bit the past few days.

The more I studied the pattern and with talking with Mom, the more I didn’t want to do it her way. Isn’t that always the way? Look at a pattern and immediately start thinking of ways to change it? LOL I don’t think hers was lined with fabric and Mom said that two layers of insul-bright was just too stiff. Being such a visual learner, I didn’t quite “get” what I was supposed to be doing either. All the more reason to take off with what I am seeing in my head, right?

I looked at my existing cover and see that they had seams at the iron tip and two at the base to shape it and decided to make a prototype last night. Woohoo it worked but I didnt waste the insul-bright on my muslin prototype but I knew it would fit the iron quite nicely. Today I actually made my version with the insul-bright batting. I’ll share the instructions with you.


The pieces I was instructed to cut on Kay’s pattern looked huge! I narrowed down the oval shape considerably but checked to see that it would cover the metal part of the iron plus about an inch. I ended up drawing roughly an oval shape about 15 1/2 inches long and the widest part about 11 inches. I drew it on freezer paper but mainly because it was the widest plain paper I had around here. I folded it to find the middle and cut a notch out at the tip end and two notches at the base. Your iron may be taller so adjust that measurement as needed.


Oh almost forger the fabric requirements: Fat quarters would do it for the body of the piece but you will need more yardage of one of them for bias binding or self ties. Half yard on the insul-bright. Joann’s has it I am told and so does Hobby Lobby.

To cut I pressed the freezer paper down to the top layer of cloth but I did pin it to cut the outer fabric, lining fabric and the insul-bright batting but I used only one layer of it. Wrong side up on the outer fabric, then the insul-bright with the shiny metal looking side up (the instructions on the wrapper said to have that side be near the heat source) and the lining fabric with right side up. I did pin all three layers to cut it and then used some 505 spray to hold things in place but that might have been a little “bass-ackward”.



I had bought some coordinating ribbon to use as a tie to hold the cord of the iron for transporting. Really you could use anything---make matching fabric ties or that stuff like tote bag straps (webbing?) and a bit of Velcro to secure it like the commercially made product has. I folded the pieces in half, top to bottom to roughly find the middle for the ties and stay stitched all around the outside to baste it in place. I cut off about 24 inches of ribbon and halved it. The measurement might be a bit long but I’ll live with it for a while. Can’t stick it back on if you change your mind. I piled up the loose ends in the middle just to keep it out of the way.


In this step I was matching up the notched out edges and sewing a 1/4 inch seam from the lining side of the deal. The one on the left side of the base is already sewn. I was preparing to do the one on the right side of the base. I was using the regular machine foot at this point and would go on to overcast the three seams once they were all stitched in.


This picture shows that the cover is starting to take on the shape of the iron. It will need some way to hold the elastic to gather it in and mold around the iron.


I cut bias strips of the lining fabric 2 1/2 inches but way more than I needed for this little project. (Fold a big square into a triangle and then fold it half at the fold edge and start cutting strips---no need to do the continuous tube thing on something this small) I may make another or can use it for a quilt down the line so no biggie. I needed a piece about 50 inches long in order to do the join but you may need a bit more if your iron is taller than 9.5 inches like my classic.



I put on the walking foot and sewed the binding on inside of the cover. I pressed the binding to the outside with the seam right at the edge of the cover and stitched it close to the edge leaving an opening to put the elastic through. Yeah. there are a few puckers when I sewed the binding back but it won’t make any difference in the end as the thing draws up like a shower cap.

I used 24 inches of the 1/4 inch elastic that I had on hand but could have gone a bit wider. In the picture above, I had an old hemostat stuck on one end and safety pin on the other to thread through the track. Once you have the two ends of the elastic meeting, go over to your iron and pull the elastic up evenly. Mark the spot where the seam should be. I yanked it up a bit tighter and clamped the hemostat on it till I got to the machine. Sew the elastic together, cut off the excess, stuff the ends into the track you made and then sew the opening closed.


Here is the finished product. The ties hold the coiled up cord in a decorative manner.

I will tell you though—empty the water out of the iron if you are transporting it or if the iron is a bit top heavy and might tip over before you cover it. Ask me how I know, LOL. Just to be on the safe side, let the iron cool a tad and pack up the rest of your retreat stuff before you put the cover on.

So you know how I spent my morning! I would have done with it a little sooner but I broke one needle just as I hit the tip seam. NOTE to self: mash those down as much as you can with your finger, stiletto, whatever as you go around those thicknesses. The broken needle would not have been a big deal but when I tried to take the old one out, it feel down into the bobbin case. I got it out but it is hard to get those screws in and out of the plate on my Brother (Innovis NX-450) Third time was a charm on getting the bobbin case seated correctly too. After two failed attempts to sew, to be on the safe side I changed the needle again, changed the thread spool and bobbin since I needed thread to match the binding anyway as the top stitching would be seen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am waiting for a pan of cinnamon rolls to go through their 2nd rise right now. DJ was being a smartie pants about why I had to move almost everything off the counter to prepare to roll the dough out. I have so little work space in my kitchen. What else was I supposed to do? The exchange got even worse to the point where he suggested using my sewing table! I told him that he didn’t behave he would not get any rolls. He got me back by saying he would hide the coffee (which he makes, not me) so I couldn’t have a cup to enjoy with my rolls. Point taken. Hope they turn out. I should be thinking about making something for supper as well but the oven will be tied up for a bit. Soup from the freezer and grilled cheese it is! We went out to Captain D’s for lunch so lighter would be better anyway.

Tomorrow I plan on getting back to the sewing on the Cheese and Crackers quilt top with the participating FABs. (or Cheese Spread as Pam is calling it, LOL) I should have the rolls if someone will put the pot on!

Boy, the weeks seem to be flying by! Middle of February already. Hope you all had a lovely Valentine's Day.

Pictured is Skyler seeing if the "kitty eating machine" is going to stay where it belongs before venturing from the safety of the sewing room. That, and he thought we should head to the kitchen for some reason. I was getting plenty of meowing just before the vacuum came out. I had just finished cleaning off the air exchange grate with q-tips and made a mess of the carpet which DJ took care of since I had done the hard part of the job. Of course, Skyler thought q-tips were toys-- like pencils, LOL. I am sure to find one under the kitchen bookcase along with his puff balls. He loses stuff and I retrieve it--the never ending game we play.

So what have I been up to? Some of the FABs were doing the Cheese and Crackers quilt. The "plan" was to start cutting this weekend and depending on how far we got, start on the strips sets shooting for a virtual retreat on the 21st. It was kind of a last minute thing anyway. Norma, Pam and I had been talking about doing this for months. Then it was narrowed down to when Norma got back from her bus trip and finally "are you busy this weekend?"

Pat had some things to finish up first (woohoo! t-shirt quilt is done!) but she will catch up this week going with blues and creams, she thought. Cher was not that nuts about the pattern so probably would have opted out but that cast on her right arm is presently a deterrent to sewing. Every team needs a cheerleader, right? Norma planned on working with 30's repros like me while Pam was going to satisfy an item on her bucket quilting list by making something scrappy.

I pieced the base for my March "Be Attitudes" block (Be Positive) before I started working on the strip sets for Cheese and Crackers. I sewed off and on all weekend watching a couple movies on DVD plus the bonus features for one that DJ and I watched recently. The picture shows where I left off last night, ready to sub-cut today, maybe start a few blocks too.

You see, the way I have the sewing room set up means taking the board off the table to cut as the mat is underneath it. It isn't all that heavy to lug it around but I tend to do as much sewing and pressing as I can before doing that. For smaller seams I can handle the 12 x 18 June Taylor mat on the right hand side of the table along the cutting mat. The width of a fat sort of exceeded the limits of space -- you don't need a hot iron too near the mat!

Anyway, I went ahead and pieced the border units even though the body of the quilt is NOT pieced. Terry Atkinson writes thorough directions with good pictorials so it was easy to jump ahead. The stacks on the top row are for the body of the quilt and the others below are for the pieced border. There is a fair amount of white space between the blocks. The whole deal you see gets cut into 3 inch strips.

Now I happen to know that Norma as getting bogged down with cutting background bits and moved ahead to piecing blocks---like 40 of them before she quit for the night! Me, I got piles of strip sets, LOL. Pam has her blocks done and units pieced for the borders. She went more lap quilt sized and resized the blocks a bit so she could use the bricks she had cut from the scrap bag---pretty smart! I expect the pictures to go flying back and forth next weekend as we gather around the machines and work on the assembly process--turn those blocks into rows and rows into tops.

Sometime this week I need to pick out some fabrics for the Twisted Sister class and track down some Insul-bright for an hot iron cover pattern some of the Belles want to try to make. I still need to make a back for the challenge top I finished recently. Add all that to the list! You know where to find me.

Thanks for stopping by............

Last time I posted I was all excited about working on my Rosy Red St. Nicholas redwork piece. I had foundation pieced the borders and was all set to try the mitered seam to join them. It worked so well (NOT!) that I threw in the towel after I had three borders on. I ended up taking the seam ripper to the borders and removing them. There was no way that it was ever going to lay down flat. I folded up the whole deal and decided that I would work it into my re-designed Oxmoor House Christmas quilt. I tried and will try mitering again but much later down the line.

After that humbling experience, I opted for making the donation quilt shown below. It was next on my list anyway but how easy was it to just make a bunch of strip sets when you think you can’t do anything right? The pattern is from Quick Cozy Couch Quilts by Sandy Thompson, specifically her quilt number 2 from that book. (I ordered mine from Connecting Threads). Because we shoot for about a 40 x 60 quilt for WTIL I re-sized the block by using 2 1/2 inch strips rather than the 3 1/2 inch strips so it is about 42 x 54—close enough for me.

I left off last night with just the seam to join the top and bottom halves. I know that the yellow is a bit much but it a fabric challenge project. It would be worse if I had not used the flip side of the blue—all those veins on two fabrics would probably make your eyes bleed, LOL.

The Wrap Them in Love listers call this “THAT” fabric. There is a lovely cobble stone piece that goes with it. Ellen, the Wrap ‘Em founder had received a huge donation of the stuff, maybe on more than one occasion, if I remember correctly. There were two color ways---red and blue. At one point Ellen was kitting up the yardage and we could have the whole deal for $5 bucks in our choice of colorway. Needless to say, we have used a bunch of it over the year, often for backs to get rid of it. Pieces show up in various quilts in the gallery pages and you have to smile and say to yourself “there is some more of THAT kit fabric”. Now, I love the gold tone on tone piece to the point that Ellen sent me a large roll of it. Any guesses what I plan to back this top with, LOL?? The yellow with red or blue vein on it----ugh!

Anyway some time back I posted pics of three different quilts I used with this stuff. Actually I was working in series---the cut aways and overcut strips from the first one became the two that followed. I dug through my archives and will direct you HERE. You will spot the lovely cobblestone, LOL.

Today 4 friends and I were invited out to another friend’s home to do some handwork and visiting around the kitchen table. Our hostess is recuperating from surgery and is starting to get a little stir crazy with her activity restrictions. It was good to get out of the house for a while and sit and stitch with like minded friends. I met up with two of the girls at a local Fred’s to share a ride out to our friend’s home so took the opportunity to get a few more 20 qt hinged containers before I came home. I got a bit more of the under table stuff packed away a bit more neatly when I got home. Truth be told, I probably should have bought a couple more.

I got a bit more done on my February Bird Brain Designs “Here Comes Santa” redwork block at her house. It is shown HERE in my WIP Wednesday post from almost a week ago. Currently I’m working on the basket area where there is a lot of concentrated stitching and down to one strand of floss with the fine detail. Super Bowl Sunday was occupied with knitting so the golf head cover you see in that post has grown to starting on the required color bands. I don’t really feel like revving up the sewing machine tonight so may grab that to keep myself busy.

And, I almost forgot---on Sunday afternoon DJ handed me another mending job. I swear he thinks I can fix anything from pants pockets to trying to sew the zipper back down in his shag bag! This time the repair was replacing the no longer closing Velcro on a nighttime neck support band that we have rigged up for him. I was not sure which of the sections--the hook or the loop--was not working so I took off both. I only had industrial strength no sew variety on hand so I told him if he wanted it fixed than HE could go off to Walmart to pick up what I needed while I busied myself with the seam ripper. Armed with explicit directions as to just where the fabric department was located (between electronics and shoes on the back wall) so he would know which door to park near and the basic locale in the department (to the right of the cutting table on the hanging board) he still said "I don't suppose you would want to ride along?" Nope, said I, LOL and kept ripping. By the time he got home with the product I was ready to fix his product.

This is what I was working on yesterday. The quilt is called "Two of a Kind" and was featured in APQ April 08. They gave the number of blocks to make the quilt full/queen but I was having a hard time picturing the rows should I decide to make one bigger than the article showed. I drew a version up in EQ to play with and make a coloring sheet. See Below. No surprise, I love the 30's version since I don't have many batiks on hand as the cover article shows. The actual construction is different than what I drew it up to be so I would be back to referring to the magazine for piecing. Being a visual learner a picture helps!


What’s up next? Tomorrow, I will probably be on to the Be-Attitudes “Be Loving” block. With its Valentine’s theme, it would be nice to have the mini-quilt completed for the holiday. Piecing? Not sure yet—maybe get those string blocks that Theramae had made up turned into a top. I got a whole bag of strings she had leftover for more—might suggest that at our next quilt meeting.

And that’s how it goes around here---thanks for stopping by.