Aaaah...First Fire of the Season

Well, technically it was the last fire of summer because it was Friday morning -- but who cares?! It was wonderful. 'Course, it's warmed up since then, so we haven't had another one yet, but by the end of the week we should be able to again. This was the smartest thing we've ever done -- had a fireplace built into the eating area of the kitchen -- and if I ever build another house, I'd do it again!

Spent the last two days babysitting AJ (and he completely wore us out), so got nothing else done. Today I hope to spend an hour folding fabric -- that has become a new project for me -- re-organizing my fabric cabinets and re-folding the fabric. Then, maybe work an hour on the hour a day quilt (I know -- it's still September, but we're going to be out of town for a week in October, so I need to work on it now - how's that for an excuse?) Oh, and I also want to spend some time hand appliqueing -- probably during the Bears game today.

Gratitudes:
1. The kitchen fireplace.

2. AJ - what a treasure a 2½ year old is. What a blast it is to watch his mind work.

3. Patience and humor.

Quick Update

Looks like blogger is planning an outage, so I'll see if I can get this published. This is the first block for the new 1 hour quilt. The background is the fabric I had and the dark is the fabric I bought to go with it. Color is not very good in the picture, but hopefully you can see that the red/rust matches the cherries or whatever those things are in the background!

Got lots going on this week and have to pick up AJ for two day stay tomorrow, so probably won't be able to get back til Sunday night! Have a good weekend everyone!

Confession Time

I blew my self-imposed fabric budget out of the water today! If you'll recall, I decided to give myself a $50 a month fabric budget. I spent half of it 9 days ago on 3 yards of fabric. I spent the other half and another two months + worth on fabric today! It's all Judy's fault though. See, she posted a picture of October's One Hour a Day Quilt. I like it. I pulled piles and piles (indeed) of fabric from the shelves to make it. I found a fabric I've had for a few (probably 5) years and decided it would be perfect for the background of the alternate blocks. Then I found a fabric for the dark in that block -- but....I don't have enough of that fabric. I do have plenty of fall fabrics for the leaves, and some backgrounds for them, but really, a background that would blend with the other background fabric would be much better -- I have some, but not enough. So, I spent a couple of hours this morning refolding fabrics and re-stacking them neatly, but have not put any of them away yet. The more I thought about it and the more I fondled the fabrics, the more I knew I needed a quilt store trip. (This is going to be a busy week where I won't be able to do much sewing at all -- so I needed the quilt store trip as a mental health day, also!)
If you're still with me...called my quilt buddy, we decided to blow off quilt guild tonight and just spend the afternoon at the quilt store instead. Oh....it was heaven! My favorite store -- Sew Many Antiques in Pearl City, IL -- the owner was working there today, so that was a plus! I found both the dark fabric I needed and another background that goes really well -- which means I'm really going to doubly enjoy doing the Hour a Day Quilt.
Also found two other fabrics that I had to buy! This because, as I was folding my fabrics this morning I had an epiphany! I have tons of fabrics, but more than half are half yards, fat quarters and smaller. I really don't have lots of yardage fabrics any more. So, now when I buy, it'll be back to buying two or three yards of one fabric instead of 10 or 20 fat quarters! I just need a well-rounded stash, that's all! And really, I'm going to make most of the quilt with stash fabrics!
That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Gratitudes:
1. A wonderful quilters' mental health day today.
2. My stash and my stash enhancement.
3. No complaints about my thrown-together quick dinner.

Sunny Days - Top is finished

The circles didn't take as long as I thought. I finished 7 of them last night and after visiting with Steph and AJ this morning, I came home and did the last 5. The first picture is from the bottom -- I laid it on our queen size bed. The second picture is from the left side showing the top circles.

I'm real pleased with it -- hope Briana loves it. I need to see what I have for a backing -- might have to go shopping for one if I can't find something appropriate. I'd like to start quilting it in another week or so.

Time to start on the next one! I'm waiting to see what Judy is going to come up with for the October 1 hour quilt, too.

Gratitudes:
1. Seeing Steph and AJ today. AJ changes every time we see him now.
2. Running into Deb at the mall while AJ was riding on one of the truck rides.
3. Stopping at the Farmers Market today -- farm fresh green beans and decorative gourds.

Sunny Day...

It seems its been cloudy and raining for a week, but today we finally had a sunny day. It's a good thing I got to sew most of the Labor Day weekend, because it's been hard to find time this week. I did manage to piece the Sunny Days top together on Monday, after chores and between laundry loads. And that was it til today. Today I got the borders put together and all but the last top border on the quilt. The last border needs 12 circles appliqued on it and I had to wait till the rest was done so that I knew what size to cut the border. I managed to applique four of them today and hopefully I'll get a few more done tonight. I won't be able to finish the top until Sunday anyway -- have the second baby shower to go to Saturday and tomorrow Steph and AJ are coming down for a visit. We haven't seen them for over a month and I just know that little boy has grown leaps and bounds. Anyway -- not taking a picture of the quilt til the top is at least finished, so you'all will just have to wait!

I did put out my fall quilts and a few decorations today, so I'll share one with you here:

Gratitudes:
1. Bill was able to get back outside and work today -- he doesn't do well cooped up in the house!
2. Fall is in the air.
3. Blogger friends.

God Bless America

September 11, 2001.
Everyone remembers what they were doing and where they were when they first heard the news. I never have the tv or radio on in the morning, so it was a typical Tuesday morning for me -- getting ready to run errands. As soon as I got into the car and headed to Oregon, IL to pick up the dog's tags, I heard the news on the radio. I listened in disbelief all the way there and all the way back. I stopped at the grocery store in Byron and saw the first tower collapse on the tv I didn't even know they had in there. I came right home and told Bill. I remember thinking when I first saw the tower collapse the line spoken by, I believe the Japanese admiral involved with the attack on Pearl Harbor: " we have awakened a sleeping giant."
I was proud of America in the weeks and months following -- all the flags that people started flying. We have always flown the flag -- every day. And where are the flags now?
Why are they making movies about the terrorist attacks? I don't want to see what some producer/director/writer "thinks" happened. I don't want to see some biased account of the events. We've already lived through it. I don't want to hear whose fault it was -- it was the terrorists' fault.
If all the information that flows into the intelligence agencies came to your computer, would you have figured out ahead of time what was going to happen? When you first heard or saw the attack, what did you do? Did you run into those buildings to help those people? Most everyone was in shock -- plain and simple. There is no blame to spread -- we must make our country safer ourselves -- we can't leave it for others to do for us. We must follow the rules at the airports, we must be aware of everything that goes on around us, we must be vigilant at all times, we must be aware that we are not loved by everyone -- there are those that hate us for whatever insane reason they have and the only thing we can do about it is be aware and be ready. And we must never forget.

#14...

Block #14 is finished as of last night:

And, block #15 is finished as of today -- I finished it while watching the Bears whup the Packers! Go Bears! I also finally made the rest of the hst's today, so sometime later this week I should be able to trim and square up the blocks and start putting the top together. I will still need to applique 12 circles onto a border for this quilt, but I think I'll do that after I get the rest put together.
Yesterday we had our BOM class at the lqs and of course spent some time checking out what is new in the shop. This fabric jumped right off the shelf into my arms and screamed at me to take it home. How can you resist something like that? It is a beautiful green from the Bound to the Prairie line of Kansas Troubles from Moda.

In doing Judy's One Hour Quilt last month, I realized that even though I have a ton of stash, most of them are not much more than 1 yard pieces, except for the backings fabrics I buy. And sometimes you just want to put a nice wide border on that is not pieced. So, I bought 3 yards of this fabric.

That was the first purchase I made in September and it was extremely hard not to buy 3 yards each of about 4 more fabrics, but I held my resolve and only bought this one - at 15% off because it was class day -- so I still have $25.53 left in my September quilt budget! Yay me!

Gratitudes:

1. It was a gray, damp, cold and windy day here -- perfect for opening day of football, along with a Chicago Bears win, and chili for dinner!

2. Finishing the applique flowers.

And another...

Just two more flower blocks, 2 circles left to applique onto hst's and 12 circles to applique on a border strip. Making progress.

A couple of friends from Byron and I joined the bigger Rockford guild yesterday. They had a nice speaker from Missouri who talked about the Amish and their quilts. Very interesting. Next month they will have Billie Lauder speaking -- of course I will be in Virginia so won't be able to go to that one! It was a fun day yesterday -- out to lunch before the meeting, then did some shopping and met another friend for dinner and spent an hour in the bookstore with her after dinner -- we had a grand time. I bought the Emilie Richards book, Endless Chain -- I want to start reading it, but may need to finish the applique blocks first!
Tomorrow I have another BOM demo at the lqs, so maybe will get some quilting in in the afternoon.

Today was house cleaning and spending some time organizing paper stacks. We're drowning under paper here and it's way past time to do something about it. So, a little each day....

Gratitudes:
1. Barnes & Noble bookstores -- what a delightful way to spend a few hours.
2. I haven't spent any of my quilting allowance -- yet.
3. Phone conversation with Steph.
4. My lists.

Block #12

Moving right along!

I got my car back today! YAY! No charge and we suspect they did a bit more work on it than was done previously -- like replace the torque converter and a pump -- at least it wasn't listed on the first bill and was listed on the second. Anyway -- I've got wheels.

Melanie asked for my Chicken Noodle Soup recipe the other day. It is: www.Sparkpeople.com!
This is a free site for healthy lifestyles -- it has tons and tons of information about diet and exercise and just about anything else. It does require you to register and sign in -- but only with your name and it does not cost a cent. There are tons of recipes and lots of other stuff! I used their Chicken Noodle Soup recipe and only added sliced carrots.

I've also fixed a great pork recipe a couple of times. It comes from a small wire bound book called Better Health, a collection of traditional recipes made healthier, by Schoolmate, ©2002.
The recipe is called: Pork, Cashew & Green Bean Stir-Fry and it's fabulous.

1/4 c. low sodium soy sauce
2 tsp. cornstarch
1 lb. pork tenderloin, cut into 1/4 in thick slices
4 c. fresh green beans
2 tsp. dark sesame oil
1 T. fresh ginger, minced and peeled
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c. fat-free less sodium chicken broth
2 c. hot cooked rice
1/4 c. chopped unsalted cashews, toasted

Combine soy sauce and cornstarch; add pork, stirring to coat. Cover and chill. Place beans in a large saucepan of boiling water; cook for 5 minutes; drain; plunge into ice water; drain. In a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, heat oil over medium-high heat. Saute ginger and garlic for 1 minute. Add pork; stir-fry for 1-1/2 minutes. Add beans; stir-fry for 1-1/2 minutes. Stir in broth, reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Serve over rice; sprinkle with cashews. Yields 4 servings.

Using the pork tenderloin makes this recipe so tender it melts in your mouth. And it's a fast fix!
I got this little book as a gift last Christmas and have never seen it at a book store, but I would recommend it -- it has lots of good, fast recipes in it.

Block #11

Getting close to finishing the applique blocks. Only 4 more to go.

Still haven't gotten my car back -- they promise it tomorrow. I very much dislike riding in Bill's truck -- I'm a bit of a front seat, grab the dashboard, hit the imaginary brake on my side kind of rider!
So, today Bill had an appointment with his opthamalogist (My husband is 80 years old, had a cataract removed from his right eye a couple of years ago and has macular degeneration in both eyes, but the right is worse than the left). The dr told him today that his vision is 20/300 in the right eye -- and he can no longer drive at night. He can still see well enough with his left to drive during the day though. So, we stopped for groceries, came home and he left again for a dentist appointment. He stopped at his friend's down the road on the way home and when his friend asked what he was going to do if he couldn't drive at night, he said, "Hang on and scream" (inferring that he doesn't like the way I drive!). He's telling me this over dinner tonight. So, I said, "And you've learned how to do that from me, right?"!
It's good to have a sense of humor, I think. It's a real PITA getting old, but I guess it sure beats the alternative.

Note to Melanie: I'll get that chicken soup recipe for you tomorrow -- I haven't forgotten completely! Also had a great pork dinner tonight I'll post the recipe for tomorrow too.

Gratitudes:
1. I'm glad we both have a sense of humor, or life would really be tough.
2. This is just another bump in the road, but he can still drive during the day.
3. Phone conversations with two kids, one sister in law, one high school chum of Bill's, and two good friends today. I guess I was the only one that stayed home and sewed all weekend!

Block #10

This was the tenth block -- I finished last night. Today I managed to make 8 hst's and appliqued a circle onto 4 of them. I still have the other four and the last 5 blocks to applique. Didn't finish the hst's -- we've had some pretty good storms run through this afternoon and more to come tonight, so haven't spent much time on the machine or the computer.
Oh, and the laundry is finished!

Gratitudes:
1. I really am grateful to have Bill -- he's up to any task I have for him!
2. We haven't lost power even though we've had some pretty good rain, hail, lightning and thunder today (knock on wood)!
3. Hand stitching.

My Keystone Kops Story

I wrote half this story this afternoon and promptly lost it because blogger died. So, I'll try again.

The background: I do laundry on Mondays and because we had no plans for today, I started the laundry as usual. But the first load was not drying very well.
We live in a two story solid log home. My laundry is in a small closet outside the master bedroom on the second floor. Because the ceiling of the first floor is the floor of the second floor, there are no spaces in between for plumbing, etc. The plumbing on the second floor runs to one inside wall that does have space and goes up or down (we have an air conditioning unit and furnace in the attic for the second floor and one in the basement for the main floor).

So, the last time the dryer didn't dry well I called the Maytag people and they recommended we clean out the dryer vents before they send someone out - thereby saving me some money. It is a good idea to clean your dryer vents regularly -- the pipes all the way to the outside of the house get clogged with lint and this is a fire hazard. It is also the reason the dryer doesn't dry well! The last time was about a year or year and a half ago and at this time, Bill pulled the dryer out as far as he could (it is propane gas); then layed across the dryer to reach the duct in the back of it to pull it apart. We vacuumed the inside dryer vent and the back ducts, but that wasn't enough. Following the duct up into the attic, we went up and cleaned out the duct from the top -- this part is straight up from the dryer -- but it is at least 10 feet straight up and down. Then we looked at the duct part that goes outside -- it goes all the way across the bedroom (about 35 feet) to vent outside above the roof of the clutter room, which is just one story. It too, was full of lint. This is the Keystone Kops part: (Oh, and my husband is a retired mechanical engineer -- he was the Manager of Engineering for a subsidiary of Borg Warner). He decided he would go outside to the vent, use his leaf blower and blow the lint into the shop vac that I would be using in the attic at the other end of the line. He set me up with the vac hose with a shop rag wrapped around it to plug the much larger vent, went outside, climbed the ladder to the roof and proceeded to blow the lint from the outside vent to the vac, which I turned on. Oh -- and my husband is deaf --he actually has two hearing aids which he can't wear when he's working with loud machinery -- and he's at least 35 feet away from me -- and there's a solid log wall next to him. Can you see where this is going?
The shop vac immediately plugged with lint, the shop rag was blown off the end of the duct and the rest of the lint was being blown out into the attic all over the insulation and, of course, all over me -- as I'm screaming at the top of my lungs to shut the da_n thing off and pounding on the wood support beams hoping he can at least hear that! ROFLOL! He finally shut it off (not because he heard me either), came back up to the attic and I was in tears because I was laughing so hard! To top off that day, he dropped the shop vac carrying it downstairs and emptied it in the foyer of the house! I just laughed and cleaned up the mess. We spent an hour trying to get the vent hooked back up to the back of the dryer and the dryer moved back into the tiny closet.

Fast forward to today. Bill is now 80 and his hearing has not improved any. I told him we needed to clean the vent, but that I wasn't going to be on the receiving end of the lint -- that maybe taping a bag over the end would be a better idea! He also managed to vacuum at the top without removing the duct from the dryer and had me turn the dryer on to blow the lint into the duct -- which worked quite well. And, the duct to outside was not too bad, so the bag on the end worked well. Of course, 5 minutes after he got off the roof it started pouring down rain. But the job is done and the dryer is working well once again! And I will never forget the first time we cleaned it out! LOL

A Finished Quilt

I spent most of the day finishing the Buck a Block. Did the border on the Bernina and it came out pretty good! I did it using a stencil of Christmas trees. The binding is on and it's been washed and dried! I think this may be a Christmas gift.

While I waited for it to wash and dry, I prepped the last 5 flower blocks and 20 circles to be appliqued onto some of the hst's of Sunny Days. Tomorrow I'll probably piece the hst's

Gratitudes:
1. Another pieceful/peaceful day
2. Homemade chicken soup for dinner -- trying to cure Bill's cold before he gives it to me.
3. The rain has held off all weekend, until tonight anyway.
4. Hazelnut candles.

Block #9

I finished block number 9 last night. Only 6 more to go. Today I also made all 15 ninepatches that alternate with the flower blocks.

I also quilted the Buck a Block center on the HQ -- only took a bit more than an hour and part of that time was fighting with the nylon thread -- my Brother machine does not like nylon thread (and neither do I), but it was the best choice for the top. I had to really loosen the top tension in order to get it done. Stitches look okay though. It kept skipping on me, so had to stop frequently and loosen the tension a teeny bit more! Royal PITA! Anyway -- it's off the HQ and hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to put it on the Bernina and do the border. Also want to make some HST's for Briana's quilt -- that's the next step. Can't put anything together till the flower blocks are done.

Gratitudes:

1. The nine-patches are done.

2. Another lovely sewing day.

3. My water bottle.

4. Getting a whole overstuffed file folder shredded; 1 down, infinity to go.

Good progress today

This is the eighth completed block for granddaughter's quilt. The name of the pattern is Sunny Days from the book, "Curl Up Quilts" by Piece O'Cake. The quilt in the book was done in yellows -- and I love the yellows, but decided I'd better do Briana's in pinks!

I also did the block for my latest BOM from the lqs. And I went back and added the block borders for the 3 previous blocks -- I had left them off until I decided what I was going to do. So I'm caught up on that project.

Had planned on starting the piecing from Briana's quilt, but was thinking about the ufo's I have and decided now that my HQ is a bit more stable, I might as well get another ready to quilt. I pulled the completed Buck a Block BOM from the other lqs, stitched a backing from bleached muslin that I had in stash, cut the batting and pinned the whole shebang to the HQ; wound another bobbin, chose a nylon thread for the top -- too much white, green and red and didn't like the looks of those colors, so clear nylon it is; cleaned the machine and rethreaded and it's ready to go. (The picture is back in July of my blog -- but I don't know how to make that a link without linking to the whole July archive!)

Anyway -- nice productive sewing day. Tomorrow I'll do some piecing on Briana's quilt. And maybe some quilting on the Buck a Block.

Gratitudes:
1. Old friends stopped by last night - they live in NC, but are visiting their son. It was a great visit and good food at the 5th Alarm.
2. A peaceful and pieceful day.
3. Turning the calendars to a new month and a new start.
4. No plans for the weekend -- I love free weekends!

The Last Day of August

This is the finished one hour quilt -- I had to throw it over the porch railing lengthwise to get the picture. Guess those lighter blue squares do stand out -- but I still like it. I like it enough to keep for myself, but I may give it as a Christmas gift.

This is the last day of August. Also it would have been my dad's 89th birthday -- he died 13 years ago. He was a great dad and I miss him, but only have one regret and that is that he didn't get to see our log home being built -- he would have loved to have been here for that. He spent all the years of his retirement taking care of my mom, who had Alzheimer's, but he never complained once. Now that was true love -- it was a long haul. Happy Birthday, Dad.

On to the saga of the car: Service Manager calls me today to tell me they have to order parts -- that indeed the transmission is leaking. Good news is that they will be paying for this fix, bad news is, because of the holiday the parts probably won't be there until Tuesday, so I will be without a car. I could borrow one from the dealer if I needed transportation, but we have Bill's truck, so really don't need it. That said -- you know I normally wouldn't need the car this whole time, but as soon as he said it wouldn't be ready today I thought of all kinds of places I wanted to go! vbg Then I decided I could just as well spend the entire four days + quilting and catching up on things around the house -- it's all in the attitude! I did have Bill drive me to the bank to pay our real estate taxes that are due tomorrow and hopefully that will be the extent of "having" to go anywhere.

So - back to the end of August. I can't remember if I finished any ufo's other than the 1 hour quilt this month -- don't think I did. I have been working on Briana's Christmas gift -- the twin quilt with all the appliqued flower blocks. I did buy fabric, so not very good on the No Fabric Challenge. I did make 3 baby quilts and used stash for two of them.

For September through December I've decided to give myself a "Quilting Budget" of $50 a month. This will include anything quilty -- including books, which is my downfall. If I have to, I can borrow from the next month, but I really would rather save up for something from month to month. I am going to keep track of every penny. This is just a fun challenge for myself -- I'm not going to make myself crazy with it!

Gratitudes:
1. The car is not going to cost us anything -- yippee!
2. A beautiful late summer day with a nice breeze.
3. Cleaning the house so that I can have 4 free days to sew.

And yet another...

I think this was about the sixth of 15 done. I keep plugging away at them. I did finish the one hour quilt -- binding is sewn down and the quilt has been washed and dried. I'm going to try to get a picture of it outside tomorrow.

Otherwise, this week is another of those "spend all your time on the phone, or waiting for something" weeks. The car is back in the shop -- for a transmission leak, no less. Certainly hope they don't plan on charging me to fix it this time -- I'm not going to be a happy camper to deal with I can tell you that!

Gratitudes:

1. Bill cleaned the truck so I can actually see out of the windows (the dogs "breathe" on the windows and you can hardly see out of them after awhile!).

2. I have all the pictures that were stacked up since AJ was born put into albums now. Not necessarily in order, but at least they are put in the books!

3. Paper shredders.

4. Dinner with friends and a nice dinner with Steve & Kim on Monday night.

Another flower

Last night's accomplishment. There seems to be a never ending supply of blocks to be done ;-).

Today's to-do list is long, so will have a busy day. Better get at it!

Note to Eileen:

Eileen asked about the company taking care of modifications such as replacing the track with metal:
The answer is NO. I bought one of the very first HQ's that came out -- in my humble opinion, they rushed to be one of the firsts in the home quilter market and shipped with many flaws. Everyone that bought those first ones had to modify the rails because they were light weight aluminum that did not support more than a small wall hanging. Another company made "Handi-handles" so you could plug your machine into them and eliminate the foot pedal, instead of standing behind the machine, hold the foot pedal with one hand and try to guide the machine with your other hand -- honest.
I complained to the company immediately about the track -- pieces of plastic of different lengths that you had to tape to your table and they didn't always butt up close. I got no response at all. I did join the HQ list and got lots of information from other users in making our own changes, but I went no-mail when it got to be too much and didn't get the angle iron fix. I quit using the HQ for months at a time.
I would in all honesty, not recommend the HQ to anyone because I don't believe they are a user-friendly company. I don't believe they stand behind their product at all. This is just my humble opinion, folks.

Frustration Factor....

Virtually eliminated! I quilted the 1 hour quilt on the HQ today. Finished the entire top except for borders. They have been marked and pinned and I'll do them on the Bernina this week. The new metal tracks are great. Thanks to Judy C for telling me about the angle iron others were using to replace the original HQ track. It really does help.
I also had my thread break twice, so switched from a 70/10 needle to an 80/12 and that solved that problem. Had no thread nests on the back at all -- because I remembered every time to put the foot lever back down (vbg). I increased the speed on the handi-handles, because I tend to move my hands faster, and that really helped give me more uniform stitches (I still don't have that hand/foot coordination with my Bernina, but I'll work on it! All in all, I'm not unhappy with the stitching on the quilt -- it could always be better, but I'll take good! I'll post a picture when I have the borders done and the binding on!

Gratitudes:
1. Conversations on blogger -- really a learning experience. I learn from all of you.
2. A relaxed day of quilting - most unusual for machine quilting for me - vbg.
3. Bill's new chain saw works well -- he's worn out two previous saws!
4. Thanks to JudyL for the 1 hour quilt pattern.

A Quiltin' Saturday

I finished this block last night while watching the Bears lose to Arizona -- waahh! I have another prepped to work on tonight.


While I was off in Rockford today picking up my next block for the BOM I'm working on (and buying a bolt of Warm & Natural with my 40% off coupon at Hobby Lobby afterwards), Bill was busy buying some metal and retrofitting my Handiquilter yet again. It now has metal tracks to run on -- maybe it'll be a little smoother now. So, I pressed and sewed the backing and then pinned the 1 hour quilt on it this afternoon, cleaned and oiled the machine and wound a couple of bobbins and it's ready to go. My plan is to do some general meandering and loops and swirls and I'm going to do the borders on my Bernina after I take it off the HQ. We'll see how it goes. Maybe tomorrow afternoon I'll be able to work on it.

Gratitudes:
1. My hubby is a real gem -- yes I do appreciate that he treats me like a queen.
2. Homemade meatloaf.
3. Homegrown tomatoes and green peppers.
4. Saturday night at home -- peaceful and quiet.

The top is finished!

I apologize for the color -- I pinned it to the quilt that is hanging on the wall in the clutter room (hence the flying geese on the left side :0); the ceiling light to the right of the quilt needs a bulb changed and it really isn't a good spot for pictures in the first place -- had to lighten it artificially with the photo editing program. I finally admitted to myself that of all the steps of making a quilt -- I dislike adding borders the most. But I kept at it today (probably should have done two today and two the next time) because I really wanted to see how it came out! The borders are the same background fabric as the blocks, one inner red border and the outer border is a dark blue also used in the blocks. Those light blue blocks do not stand out quite that much in real life :-).

I love the quilt anyway. I've got the binding made, the batting cut and the backing chosen -- I'm going to use some of the ugly $2 a yard fabric that really isn't ugly, for the backing. It needs to be pressed, cut and stitched -- but it'll wait til next time.

Judy mentioned that she might put a new quilt up each month -- I think that'd be fun. I may not be able to do every one, but it sure is a good way to use up scraps and stash and aiming for an hour a day has been a good idea.

Judy's got another blog

Judy surfaced from under blogpond: Judy's Blog.
I'm off to quilt today -- working on the borders (oh, and I still like the quilt this morning hanging on the wall in the clutter room!)

The 1-Hour quilt

I worked on the 1 hour quilt for about an hour and a half today. Managed to get all the sashing done and the top itself put together. No pictures, but I'm really loving this quilt already! Tomorrow I'll start on the borders.

I've been reading a book the past week or so -- The Simple Living Guide by Janet Luhrs. I bought the book because I was going to take a class at BN university a few years ago and needed the book for the class. As it turned out, and, as usual, I had too many irons in the fire and didn't keep up with the class and the book ended up in the sewing room patiently waiting. Anyway -- I picked it up and started reading (thinking that if she tells me I have to move to a commune, etc - I'd just toss the book!). I have ten more pages to read (and there's 300 or so). There are quite a few "roll your eyes and 'get real' points" like do all your clothes shopping for yourself and gifts for others at resale shops -- that's not going to happen. But she also makes a few good points like live below your means, and on a cash basis so you don't have to work forever to pay off things you don't really need, etc. One point she made was that we, as Americans, live in bigger and bigger houses and then we fill them up with stuff, and then we must work much longer to pay them off. While, in most parts of the world, people live with less stuff and smaller houses and are probably happier than we are and probably less stressed also. I can vouch for the fact that we live in bigger houses - we live in a very large 3 bedroom log home that I really can't wait to downsize because I have to spend too much quilting time cleaning it! vbg My ideal house: One very large room with a bath w/shower, a hot plate and microwave, futon for when I need to sleep and all my quilty stuff surrounding me. But I digress. The book has chapters on money, health, exercise, housing, gardening, decluttering, travel, etc. and I am really amazed that it really is interesting reading.

Anway, soon as I finish it tonight it'll be back to the applique blocks for Briana's quilt!

Gratitudes:
1. I am grateful for the house we live in, even when I have to clean it (like today!).
2. Wild turkeys -- a whole family of Tom & Tina and at least 6 babies in the woods.
3. Sewing time.

Back At It

I worked 2.5 - 3 hours today on the 1 hour quilt. It's been a few days since I last worked on it, and I was on a roll. I have all 20 blocks to this stage now and will start sashing next time (tomorrow).
I did this applique block on Saturday night. I have another ready to go, but I've been reading at night instead of appliqueing -- I'll get back to it after I finish my book.


Gratitudes:
1. Bill is going to get some angle iron to make new tracks for the Handiquilter -- that should hopefully solve some problems with the HQ. And, it buys time on saving for the longarm. :-)
2. Lunch with Deb yesterday.
3. A wool penny rug workshop at guild on Monday -- great instructors and lots of fun -- although there's another unfinished project waiting in the wings.
4. Making decisions on Christmas gifts to make.

My two projects

No sewing at all yesterday -- did the school shopping thing with daughter and grandkids. Briana is more than set for school - which doesn't start until September 5 for them (in this area, the schools are starting on different days next week and the week after).

I finished this block on Thursday night and if I had taken the time on Thursday to prep a few more like I was going to, I could have gotten another done Friday night -- but I was too tired to pull fabric and make decisions.

For my 1-hour quilt, I cut the rest of the strips into 2 patches today; then assembled strips of 5. I have the sides ready to be added to all the blocks, but I only had time to put one together completely today. I like the block a lot. Probably won't be working on it for another 3 days though -- have a picnic/baby shower out of town tomorrow, guild and a workshop on Monday, and errands to run on Tuesday.

Gratitudes:

1. Made it safely home yesterday, even though I had to drive through rain the whole way (but we didn't get much at all!)

2. Sleeping in today.

3. Dinner out tonight (I hope :-0)!

The 1-Hour quilt

I spent my hour today chain stitching 2" strips of various lengths together, then pressed and cut a whole bunch of 2- patches. When the bread machine timer went off, the bread was done, and so was I! Actually, I still have some more 2-patches to cut, but I'll save them for next time. I think I have plenty for the blocks already, but I haven't counted. I also managed to empty two or three bobbins. I like to use up my partially filled bobbins when I do scrap piecing -- I use the thread before it rots and no matter what color it is it won't show (well, dark with dark and light with light, of course).

Here's the 2nd applique block for Briana's quilt. I did this block last night. I have another already prepped for tonight. Tomorrow I'm going up to do back to school shopping with Steph and Briana, so probably won't do any sewing tomorrow. Maybe I can get a couple more blocks prepped though -- it's nice to have them ready to go when I sit down in the evenings.

Gratitudes:

1. I encountered a wasp nest on the front porch today and managed not to get stung. I did spray it immediately so need to remember to sweep it down in the next day or two.

2. Fresh peaches.

3. Clean front windows and screens.

4. Light drizzle today -- but it's been awhile so we'll take any amount of rain we can get.

Today's Progress

I spent 3 hours weeding/cleaning up flower beds and cutting back bittersweet vine today. Came in, showered, had lunch at 2:15 and really didn't want to sew today -- I'm a little sore from all that extra work! Forced myself to sit down and sew and an hour later, I have finished all 20 churn dash blocks. The colors are off because I brought them to the basement where the camera was to take the picture and just layed them on my basting table. But, done is done and ready for the next step.

Also took a picture of baby quilt #3 -- the Paper Pinwheels. It, too, is a terrible picture for the same reason as above -- laziness! After washing, the quilting doesn't look as bad as I know it really is. No toe catchers though, so it's going to be moving on to the new parents whenever the time is right.

Didn't do any appliqueing last night, after I prepped two blocks, vbg. Maybe tonight. There's nothing on tv, so last night I just read, while Bill napped.

Sew For a Hour Project, Hour 2

My progress today: I trimmed the hst's, then sewed them to the sashing strips and pressed. That took care of the hour -- I have all 20 blocks ready for the next step.

Then I switched gears, finished the last piece to applique down on the block I prepped last night.

Then, switched gears again to iron the six or seven shirts in the laundry basket! Then, hand sewed the binding on the 3rd baby quilt -- it is now in the dryer. And finally, shifted gears one last time to prep two more applique blocks for Briana's quilt (there are 15 in all -- but all easy like this one. And that was my day more or less!



















Gratitudes:
1. Nice breakfast out with friends this morning.
2. A pleasing conversation with my favorite grocery store employee today. She's a very pleasant woman to talk with.
3. My resurrection lilies are blooming in the front -- need to check the backyard yet.

Sew For an Hour Quilt

Thanks for the answers to the longarm questions. I'm definitely buying one -- it just remains to be seen when I can save up the money because it definitely will be paid in cash -- no financing here. I'm pretty sure it'll be a Gammill, too. Because the Gammill dealer is the closest to me. Every longarmer in this area has a Gammill -- so I'm more familiar with them, also. A good friend bought one at the end of last year and the lady at one of the lqs upgraded last year and added the Statler Stitcher this year (no -- I don't ever plan on buying the SS --costs as much as the longarm!) Anyway -- except for quilts that I have to have done by a certain time -- any of the larger quilts I do from here on out will wait til I get the machine to be quilted! I'm not going to fight it any more -- way too frustrating.

I'm doing the Sew for an Hour Quilt that Judy at Sunshine Quilts designed for us and challenged us with. Today was day one (or hour one). It took me about an hour and a half to pull fabric -- all from stash and scraps, press it and cut it to size. Then, I marked my squares to make hst's -- because I also use that method to make them, and sewed 40 squares, cut them apart and pressed them -- so I have 80 (4 blocks x 5 blocks) hst's ready to be squared up. It only took me about 45 minutes to actually do that part, but I was tired from doing chores, and running up and down stairs doing laundry in between the cutting/sewing part. vbg I think I made a respectable start today anyway. I cleaned up my mess -- actually I stacked the fabric left over and stuck it in the cabinet without sorting, so I need to clean out the cabinet again -- big time.

Then, I managed to prep one applique block for Briana's quilt -- the pieces are all cut that need to be pieced, but I haven't pulled the fabric or cut any of the applique pieces. I'll do them one at a time. That's the next big project I'll be working on -- so I'll probably be doing it in between the Hour a Day Quilt. I hope to do the applique tonight on that one block.

I also managed to sew the binding on the baby quilt I no longer like. vbg Still need to hand stitch it to the back. I washed the Jacks baby quilt and it is now ready for baby -- well, still need to wrap it and buy a card. Need to wrap the first baby quilt - hearts and stars -- too.

So, basically, it was a quilty day and I even managed to finish the laundry and clean the basement and the bath down here and mop the floor in the basement. ('Course I mopped this morning and left the bucket of vinegar/water with the mop still in it until this evening when I came down and remembered I hadn't emptied it!)

Gratitudes:
1. Bill had to run to the hardware store, so he picked up the salad fixin's for tonight's dinner (I hate having to run into town for one thing at the grocery store - especially since tomorrow is shopping day.)
2. I'm glad I organized my next projects in bags waiting on the table -- so much easier to open the next project and have everything I need right there.
3. Another beautiful day in the midwest -- but no rain.
4. I'm getting the rush from the longarm dealer -- another note in the mail today. That's okay -- keeps the idea fresh in Bill's mind, so he will know when the money is saved that it's going to be spent on the longarm! vbg

Quiltin' along and longarm questions

Baby quilt #2 is finished -- binding and label included. Quilting was easy -- although it took about 5 hours to do it -- all in the ditch, including the centers of the pinwheels. I took this picture this afternoon on the front porch and the quilt is now waiting to be washed. I finished it yesterday afternoon.

Today, I quilted Baby quilt #3. The stitching in the ditch was easy, but the rest was a PITA! My freehand quilting, even following a pattern drawn on the quilt, leaves a lot to be desired. I cannot for the life of me control the consistency of the stitches. I am so frustrated by the time I'm finished I actually hate the quilt. I still need to put the binding on, but decided to give it a rest today.

I got a call from a sales person for a longarm dealer yesterday afternoon (because I signed up for the newsletter on their site). She was calling from Park Ridge, near O'Hare airport -- the dealer is in Wisconsin and thought that anyone with an Illinois address should go through this lady I assume -- problem is we probably live closer to the dealer than the sales lady! vbg Anyway -- she was very nice and we talked for a few minutes. She wanted to know what stage I was in (how close to buying a longarm). I told her "dreaming and drooling"! I'm saving my pennies and realistically, I may be able to buy one next year.
But now I have a question or two for all you longarmers out there: Were you quilting a lot and well on your regular sewing machines before you bought your longarm? Did you learn how to quilt on the longarm -- I mean, I keep dreaming about being able to quilt really well on the longarm, but what if I can't quilt on it any better than I do on the sewing machine, or with the Handiquilter -- I will have wasted a whole ton of money. I plan on taking all the classes the dealer offers (and the first two are free, but they also offer some advanced classes I'd be interested in). One of the reasons I think I can do better on the longarm is the stitch regulator -- for me that would be a godsend, I think. Thanks to anyone that answers me!

Gratitudes:
1. We had tomato/bacon/cheese English muffins for dinner tonight -- fresh garden tomatoes!
2. Even as frustrated as I was today, I still count my blessings that I have a very nice sewing machine to work with.
3. Listening to a whole range of music on cd while quilting today -- Fleetwood Mac, Shania Twain, Eric Clapton, Roy Clark and Neil Diamond!
4. Another beautiful day in the heartland -- but please send a little rain.

Another day

Played with fabric most of the day today -- made enough blocks for the new baby quilt, except I needed to buy some border fabric and wanted to make one block with that fabric. I'm going to do 9 blocks, no sashing, and 3 inch borders. I like the Paper Pinwheels blocks, they go together easily and they really let the fabric speak for them.

The car was finally ready at 3 this afternoon -- $825 later.....there was nothing wrong with the power steering line! Just the major seal problem on the transmission! So, picked up the car, got some quick groceries (even bought a couple of steak kabobs for dinner -- really lazy way of cooking), then on to the quilt shop! Bought two different flannels for the last two baby quilts and a piece of kids print purple for the center block and borders on the pinwheels. Threw the fabrics in the washer while I fixed dinner and into the dryer (they should be done by now). I hope to get the third top finished tomorrow and maybe one of them pinned for quilting.
While I was waiting for the car call, I made giant 9 patches (well, they're 9" finished) with the fabrics that I cut for the original quilt I was going to make -- I had all these 3½" squares leftover even after using as many as I did in the pinwheels. I made up a bunch of 9-patches using those squares and the same background I had in stash. I still have some more squares to use up, so might end up with two small size quilts for charity after I finish the baby quilts. And those are from stash.

Gratitudes:
1. The car was cheaper than I thought; I'm thankful it's fixed.
2. Playing in the sewing room today and using up stash.
3. Buying fabric today-- I can see the end of the baby quilts soon!
4. Random Act of Kindness: I set the mechanic at the garage up with our neighbor/friend that repairs tractors -- it was one of those just "mentioned in passing" things and turned out well for both parties.

One thing leads to another

Took the car in this morning for what I thought would be a quick repair -- NOT! Seems the transmission seal is leaking, along with whatever is wrong with the power steering. Had to call dh to pick me up -- probably won't get the car back til Wednesday, at a cost of about $1000, because, of course, the car is a 2004 bought brand new, but it has 40,000 miles on it, so the 3 yr-36k warranty is no longer any good! Okay, I can deal with that, I don't like it, but I can deal with it. But when Bill came to get me (oh and I had to call the neighbor to go down and tell Bill to pick me up, because Bill can't hear the phone at all!), anyway, by the time he got there it was 9 am -- quilt store doesn't open til 10 so didn't think I should ask him to take me there and wait! vbg Now that was hard to take -- all my shopping plans shot.
So, came home, did laundry, finished the Jacks top and pulled fabric for the 3rd baby quilt. Good news is I have the background for it in stash. The first quilt I planned though, and cut the pieces for, didn't work the way I wanted, so I dug a different pattern out and started it. Problem is, I didn't have enough of some of the fabrics to make the change. But I think I may just need one bright fabric and may do sashing and borders with it. The pattern is from Quilters Cache and is called Paper Pinwheels. It's really a great block to make! I have four done and may only make 9 instead of the 16 I was going to make. I think the quilt will be big enough (they're 12" blocks), if I sash and border it. Here's the four I have done so far: The rest will be made using some of the kids prints I used in Jacks and the first baby quilt.

Gratitudes:

1. I'm grateful the car didn't fall apart when I was driving it and they found the problem immediately.

2. I'm thankful Squire was home this morning when I called so he could get Bill!

3. I'm glad I had the background fabric in stash.

4. Corn on the cob for dinner because Bill ran to the store for milk.

5. Crockpot beef!

4.

August No-Buy Challenge is

down the tubes!
I have all but the top and bottom strips of the last border done on the "Jacks" baby quilt. I have the prairie points made and the borders cut to size, just need to put them together. So, now I need to buy some more baby flannel to back this quilt with. So, I give -- I lost...uncle! I'm going back to my original resolution of not buying stash enhancing fabric, but trying to stick to backings, borders, background, etc. I do want to use up some of the old stash this year, and have done so, but still need to do a lot more!
I have one more baby quilt to make after I finish Jacks -- and I think I know what pattern I'm going to do, but need to work it up in EQ tonight. I will have to buy background for this one, too, and flannel for the backing. Should be able to use a lot of the brights I bought for the other baby quilts for some of the blocks.
I have to take my car in to have the power steering line fixed -- LubePros said it was loose and leaking, so I have an appointment at 8 am at the dealers. I'll probably just bring a book along to read while I wait, but I've been making a shopping list out so I can combine errands on one trip to town. None of the stores open til 10 though, so I may be sitting in my car in some parking lot for awhile! vbg

We had a ball at the pool party yesterday. AJ (2½) wore a one-piece suit that had pockets in the front and back that you slid little inflatable pillows into. What a wonderful invention. He loves the water, but can't swim yet and the suit kept him afloat easily. Kevin's pool is an inground one -- big. AJ was jumping off the side into his "Unca" Steve's arms, or mom & dad's. Briana, 8, is learning to swim -- she had little water wings, but she did quite well without them. Steve & Kim are planning on giving them a subscription to the Y for Christmas so they both can learn to swim well. I even went into the water -- been years since I've been swimming. It was wonderful actually -- but boy was I sore this morning -- obviously used muscles that I don't use in quilting. vbg Food was excellent and I think a good time was had by all.

No sewing day

Well, didn't get around to sewing today at all. Managed to get the house cleaned, ran to the store, made up a pasta salad to take to DS's tomorrow -- we're having a pool party at Kevin and Deb's -- they have an in-ground pool (but maybe not much longer -- they're talking about filling it in and putting an addition on their house). Anyway, we did this last year -- had the grandkids in the pool and they loved it. Last year I did not get into the pool (actually, I did not get into a swimsuit). This year, I will do both. I hadn't had a suit on in so many years, the ones I had died of dry rot in the drawer. So, I bought a new one at the end of last season and I will actually put it on and get into the pool. It's only our kids and grandkids, so won't be parading around in front of strangers anyway! LOL

I did manage to write a little in my quilt journal -- still need to add some pictures -- I rarely print off digital pictures, so will have to make a new habit there. I also got my journal out and started writing in it too. While I was getting it off the shelf, I found my "The Simple Living Guide" book by Janet Luhrs. I bought this book a couple of years ago because I signed up to take a class from B&N online, I think. I never did read the book, and didn't even keep up with the class -- best laid plans and all that. Anyway -- read the introduction this afternoon and think I'll read a bit of it to see what's what. I'll let ya know....

I've spent some time the past couple of days reading blogs -- I find it very hard to keep up with every one I want to read -- there's way too many interesting people in this world and if I spend all my time reading their blogs, I won't be able to quilt at all. I don't always take the time to comment either, so I tried to make a point this time to comment.

Take care everyone, until I see you again -- maybe tomorrow, maybe Sunday! Have a great weekend!

Baby Quilt #2 Progress

I made 24 blocks today (made one the other day) for a total of 25. The crib size calls for another row of 5, but I rather like the 5 x 5 size, so it'll be a nice sized baby quilt. The pattern is called "Jacks" from P.S. I Love You Two by Smith and Milligan (Possibilities). The pinwheels are actually prairie points. I've made this quilt twice before (and I dislike making the same quilt more than once), but it really is impressive looking when it's finished -- and I only make it for very special babies - for friends and family. I hope to work on it some more tomorrow.

I also took a picture of the pattern by Blackbird Designs I was talking about a day or two ago: (It's hanging on my bulletin board above my sewing machines -- which happens to be quite messy at the moment). I really like this pattern, so I really want to finish my "have to make" quilts and get started on it.

Gratitudes:

1. Bill is much better today after having a bad night and day yesterday -- something akin to an allergic reaction, but at 1 am after being asleep for 2 hours -- really weird.

2. The rain showers cooled the air and took the humidity -- even turned off the A/C today.

3. Making progress in the sewing room -- it sure feels good.

Baby Quilt #1 finished

As promised -- a picture today. This is the baby quilt with the binding on the front, pinned to the wall. I have since sewn the binding to the back, but the second picture wasn't as good as the first and I need to recharge the batteries in the camera!

I did a meander with stars and hearts all over and stitched inside the stars and hearts about 1/4" from the edges. The stars and hearts are machine blanket stitched to the quilt top. The background was all stash/scraps. I actually made a quilt with a similar background and had the 2-patches leftover. In fact, here's the original quilt that now hangs in my daughter's house -- it was for AJ, of course! The upper right balloon looks black, but really is a deep purple!

Gratitudes:
1. Two hummingbirds fed at the trumpet vine while I walked on the treadmill this morning. What a great thing to watch.
2. One baby quilt done, two to go!
3. We're supposed to get storms and rain tonight -- a welcome relief from the heat.
4. Having an all-day in the house, nothing to do but sew day.

First Day of the Month - August Stash Challenge

No pictures today -- no quilting!
Time for a monthly update though. I did manage to finish two ufo's last month -- the sunflower table runner and Tulip Farm -- although technically, Tulip Farm is not finished because I need to unstitch and restitch the borders.
I did buy fabric last month -- but mostly for particular quilts which are in progress. Except for the great buy on backing fabric -- I don't have a particular quilt in mind, but it sure was a great price at $2 a yard!

Now, for the August Stash Challenge Vicky has made. I already blew it -- and early in the day too. vbg I bought a yard and a quarter of flannel for the back of the baby quilt in progress -- so guess it doesn't count, 'cause it is a backing, but still.....I should have bought it on Saturday.

Anyway -- I'll start over on the challenge -- no more fabric for the rest of the month. How 'bout you -- think you can keep from buying even that FQ you think you have to have?

I did buy a pattern today -- it's actually last year's pattern by Blackbird Designs. I can't remember the name of it (CRS), but it has a house with a black cat on top in front of a full moon. The house is surrounded by pieced stars and there are vines with leaves in the borders and a bittersweet vine next to the house. I don't actually like Blackbird Designs (the same people that designed Tulip Farm), because their patterns are not well written at all. But the shop had this quilt made up at the end of last year and it didn't get much time before the season was over, so they're getting it out now and I fell in love with the quilt. Theirs is made with a lot of homespun fabrics and the background is black -- it is just a wonderful quilt. I had to have the pattern -- and I sure hope I can get my "have to" stuff done so I can play with this quilt! I'll have to get the camera upstairs and get a picture of the front tomorrow.

Gratitudes:
1. The tomatoes are finally starting to ripen on the vines.
2. Edy's Fruit bars were on sale today.
3. Lunch with a friend.
4. A/C in the car.
5. Quilter's General Store in Rockford.

Road Trip and Stash Challenge

Whew! This has been a basic no-quilt weekend! Did have a BOM session at the lqs on Saturday morning, and did buy 11 fat quarters at 15% off for the baby quilts and Briana's quilt, but didn't get to touch them since. Jackie, my quilting buddy, and I went to Mary's Market (local cafe/sandwich shop), for a great salad afterwards, then went on an adventure to Steph's house in Wisconsin. (I say adventure because we took a new to us route and found that even though it added about 10 minutes to the normally hour trip, it was such a peaceful drive -- no I-90 backup at the toll booth, no crazy drivers, just a nice 2-lane trip with little traffic.) Anyway -- picked up dear 2½ yr old grandson, AJ and brought him home with us. We did come back I-90, but the traffic going into Illinois from WI isn't bad -- it's everyone trying to escape Illinois that is crazy! vbg
Dropped Jackie off at home, took AJ home, then went to dinner with "Papa" and AJ at a nice "hip" restaurant in Byron that is owned by current Byron Fire personnel and is housed in the original firehouse of Byron and of course is decorated with fire hoses, fire hats and coats, pictures of trucks, dalmation dogs on the bar separating the eating area from the bar area, etc. Eye candy for AJ, I can tell you! The name of the place, btw, is The Fifth Alarm! Got home, settled down for an hour of playing, then bath time and by 8:30, AJ was in bed without a peep and slept til 7:30 this morning! I, on the other hand did not sleep much so took a nap this afternoon after Mom came and took AJ home!

Now, if you're still with me -- here's the FQ's I bought yesterday:

And, I just read Vicky's August challenge to us Stashers and have decided to accept the challenge. I hope to get by with my stash now for this next month and not add to it in any way. I think I have enough brights/kids prints to finish two baby quilts and probably Briana's twin quilt and I certainly don't need any other fabric. I am seriously thinking of picking up some punch needle stuff and trying my hand at that though!

Just a quick note

to Linda J: The puppy came from a book called "Critters, Dancin' in the Moonlight" by Brandywine Design, ©2002. I should have put that on the original post, but unless I have the book in front of me, I can never remember the name or the designer!

I'm off to meet friends for lunch, then run a few errands, back home, and then meet different friends for dinner. My day.....eat, eat, eat!

A cute little puppy dog

I mailed this little block last week to a young mother who just had her 3rd baby -- a boy. She's on a couple of the quilting lists I'm on and some of us made a block for her to put into a quilt for her new baby. It was just a little fun 6½" block and only took a couple of hours to make, from finding the pattern to embroidering the features. Nice to take a break every now and then and do something just for fun.

Today I managed to get the 16 patch together and decided to applique some pink hearts and blue or yellow stars and call it a quilt top. I'll back it with baby flannel and should have it finished next week. Baby quilt #1 done! I also made some prairie point windmills for baby quilt #2. This will be a quilt from PS I love you 2 book by the Possibilities ladies (these senior moments are really annoying!). I'm going to make the backgrounds light blue and the windmills will be brights -- blues, greens, purples, yellows, etc. I've made a couple of these quilts and they are labor intensive, but they look like it too, so very impressive. This one will be a crib size, which is larger than I usually make. I'll take some pictures when I get a few blocks done.

I hope to get a couple of the applique blocks ready for Briana's twin quilt tomorrow so I have something to work on at night. Then when I have Baby quilt #2 finished I can work on hers til it's done. Planning, planning...it all takes planning!

Gratitudes:

1. I talked to Steve on the phone today...a very nice conversation. (It's nice when your kids call you!)

2. Getting my "to do" list done and everything crossed off.

3. Spending less time on the computer, but enjoying it more (smile).

4. It's too hot and humid to work in the yard, so I'm "forced" to play in the sewing room.

Wednesday

No pics today, but I have been productive!
I managed to wash, dry and iron the fabric I bought yesterday. And then I cut it all up. So far, I have cut all the fabrics for the Christmas present wallhanging I'm planning, most of the fabrics for the baby quilt that needs to be done by Sept 15 for the baby shower (I need to pick up a few bright FQ's on Saturday when I can get them for 15% off!), most of the fabrics for Briana's Christmas present -- a twin size quilt, (see above on the FQ's!).
Then, I finished sewing down the binding on Tulip Farm and decided to unsew the borders that I don't like and redo them -- the middle of the quilt is fine, but the borders are not done well and I can do better and I like the quilt so I will fix it!
Then I spent the rest of the afternoon tracing templates for two of the above projects which have some and a lot of applique on them.

Then I walked out into the wet, hot air and got the mail out of the box - whew, it is humid! And, in the mail was an invitation to great nephew's baby shower/picnic. Two cousins (nephew and his cousin) are due to have baby girls on the same day in September, so the picnic will be a double family picnic and shower -- it'll be great fun, but now I need to finish the 16-patch quilt I started this week, so I'll have to decide what to put on the front and pick up any fabric for that and the flannel backing on Saturday, too.
BTW - Saturday is the meeting for my BOM at the same shop Dawn just got back from their annual Farm Fest. On meeting days we get a discount on fabrics -- I think it's 15%, but it could be only 10% -- either way, a discount is a discount and I'm waiting to buy the fabrics I will need until then!

So, that pretty much is my day in a nutshell!

Sunflowers Revisited

I finally picked up the old sunflower ufo tablerunner, quilted it and finished sewing the binding down last night while watching the last 4 episodes of "24" - the first season. Borrowed the DVD's from Stephanie and now am hooked! Love that Keifer Sutherland -- he's as good an actor as his father. Anyway -- another quilt for the gift box and another ufo bites the dust.

I also finished quilting Tulip Farm on the handiquilter yesterday -- am not happy at all with the quilting I did, but time to put it to bed. I squared up and sewed the binding on today -- hopefully will get it stitched down this week. I still like the quilt and hopefully the quilting won't show too much :-}! I'm keeping it anyway.

It feels good to get back in the sewing room and actually do something besides hand applique. Although, I picked out two patterns I want to make for Christmas presents and they both have applique on them (vbg). I cut some fabrics for them today, but will need to buy some more -- one will be a twin size quilt for my DGD and of course, it'll have to be pink and I don't have enough suitable fabrics in pink.

This afternoon I pulled out a bunch of two-patches I had made extras of when throwing together a baby quilt last year. I mindlessly stitched them into 16 patches and will stitch them together and make another baby quilt -- not totally designed yet, no less! These are all lights/pastels and 2½"squares. I have set the 16 patches 4 by 4 and will add borders to bring it to 36" - 40", but I want to add something to the top -- maybe a quick applique of a duck or something. This will be a quilt for my great nephew's new baby girl due in September.
Then I need to decide what quilt to make for my best friend's son's baby boy due in October/November. And then I have another one to make for my son's best friend's new baby due November 1 -- but I can't remember whether it's a girl or a boy. We'll see. Lots of baby quilts to make and I really want to start and finish the twin bed quilt for Briana for Christmas.

Gratitudes:
1. Fresh green beans from the garden for dinner tonight.
2. Getting something accomplished in the sewing room.
3. Having breakfast with my brother and sister in law yesterday.
4. My daylilies are breathtaking this year -- it's been a good year.
5. Catching up with friends.

Hi Ann!

Had guild meeting last night and a friend told me she reads my blog all the time, but never sees herself mentioned at all. I told her I never see any comments from her either! So, here we are -- Hi Ann! I signed up for a workshop Ann is giving next month -- wool penny rugs. I'm looking forward to it as a change of pace from quilting.

Thanks for all the great comments on my Double 4patch quilt. I do like it, but it'll have to wait it's turn in the quilting que. Oh -- and I revamped the web page (hopefully, correctly) that I posted the directions for the Double 4 Patch on: http://home.oglecom.com/porchrocker/page4.default.htm

On the way to guild yesterday, we stopped at one of my favorite quilt shops (it's not actually on the way, but it's generally in that direction, and then another 30 minutes beyond! vbg). I confess I bought some fabric -- about 15 yards altogether -- all $2 a yard! Can you say, great backing fabric, boys and girls?! This shop is called Sew Many Antiques and is in Pearl City, IL. Jill and Vicky carry all my favorite fabrics -- Moda - the Kansas Troubles line, Sandy Gervais' lines -- all the warm country colors I love. So, I think I do well when I only buy backing fabrics.
And I always come away from the store inspired to go home and quilt.

Today is errand running day, so I best get to it. 'Bye, Ann!

Finished is better than perfect, right?

The borders are on. I'm not real happy with the spacing of the top border, but I'm so sick of this quilt, I'm glad the top is done. vbg It is definitely going into the ufo pile, because 1. I am sick of it, 2. I may go back and fix the borders before I quilt it and 3. I don't have a clue how I'm going to quilt it right now. I actually do like the quilt with the appliqued borders, but maybe I'll love it if I leave it awhile. (;-)

Gratitudes:

1. The Double 4 Patch top is done!

2. As of tomorrow, I have been happily married to the best guy in the world for 25 years. I know he's the best, because I was married to the worst the first time and for 10 years. Apples and Oranges.

3. It's been unbearably hot and humid here (and a lot of places in the US), so I'm really glad I can spend the whole day in the AC, quilting!

A little bit of quilting

I managed to finish block #3 of the oak leaf quilt last night. I spent most of yesterday eating -- well, that's what it felt like anyway! Met friends for breakfast, then met Steph and AJ at the mall, so after letting AJ play in the play area awhile, we had to go eat lunch, of course. Did a little shopping and back to the play area. By the time they went home and I headed to Sam's and the vet's, I was exhausted. (Oh, and the vet's bill was $392 -- I just about dropped my teeth. That was for heartworm pills for two dogs for 12 months each, 6 months worth of phenobarbital for JR, and an $80 charge to draw blood and test it for levels of phenobarb.) Guess who won't be buying fabric this month. vbg

Today after cleaning the house, I pulled the beets from the garden (mind you -- there are only two of us and we didn't plant many beets or anything else -- still it took me 2½ hours to cook them and freeze 8 quarts and make a batch of Swedish Pickled Beets and clean up the rather large mess I made of my kitchen!) This was all time I had planned to spend sewing today -- I hate how having to do a few things cuts into my sewing time! It never cuts into cleaning time. vbg

Anyway -- did manage to applique 4 flowers down on the dbl 4 patch borders and have the rest on one border pinned to sew down tonight. I'm not going to start another Oak Leaf block til these borders are finished and on the quilt -- hopefully by the end of the weekend.

Gratitudes:

1. I'm grateful we didn't plant any more beets than we did!

2. I'm grateful JR isn't having any more seizures, but I sure think the prescription bill for dogs is outrageous.

3. It was wonderful to play with AJ yesterday. He is such a card.

Wednesday Afternoon

I took a break from appliqueing the borders on the double four patch and instead put together my buck-a-block block. We have one more block to go, but I found out when I picked up this last block that most of the quilters have already done all the blocks -- they just looked at the final block and put it together without the directions -- we have plenty of strips leftover anyway. I thought this was somehow cheating -- I don't know, kinda like defeating the whole purpose of a block of the month! But, I decided I might as well join the cheaters! vbg. I made two blocks today and put them together with the 9 blocks I already had together and the one block that was waiting. I had the sashing ready to go and the borders and binding fabric already cut, so it was a simple job of putting it all together. The first picture shows the finished top -- it's about 40 x 50. The second picture is a closeup of the fabrics -- I love the border print! Now all I need to do is quilt it before Christmas and I'll have a new Christmas quilt to decorate with.

I also cut out the rest of the flowers to applique to the last two borders on the Double four patch when I finished the Buck a Block top.



















Took JR to the vet yesterday -- he's fine and will continue on the phenobarbital without any changes. So, tomorrow I get to pick up six months supply of pheno and a years supply for both dogs of heartworm meds -- the bill will be in excess of $250 I'm sure.

We're meeting friends for dinner tonight (our usual Wednesday night gig!). Tomorrow we're meeting some other friends for breakfast, and then Bill will head home to mow while I go on to meet Stephanie and AJ at the mall. She's back to work this week and tomorrow is her day off. I'll have to give up a day of quilting, but family is worth it, don'tcha think?!

Gratitudes:
1. Air Conditioning (it's heading back up to the 90's this week and Humid!
2. Filling up the calendar with friends and family.
3. My Bernina -- it's so nice to just sit and sew and I know I can count on her to be ready when I am!
4. Accomplishing something in the sewing room and tidying up after myself afterwards.

Still plugging away

on the hand appliqued borders for the double four-patch. Have almost reached the point that I'm real tired of the quilt, but trying to finish the borders anyway!
Also working on another oak leaf block in the evenings.
I do have a Buck a Block block to put together, so maybe I'll get that done today. Most of the day has been wasted -- need to take JR to the vet this afternoon for a check up to see how he's doing on the phenobarbital he's been on for a month and a half. I'd like it a lot if she'd cut him back to one pill a day, although we've done pretty good remembering both.

Not much else going on around the ole homestead -- it's a rainy, gloomy day that would be perfect for quilting -- guess I should go up and do a little stitchin'!

I am a Daffodil

I am a Daffodil What Flower Are You?

I have too many projects!

At least too many going on at one time. This is the second oak leaf block. I finished this one last night. Today I prepared block #3 -- it's just so handy to have to work on in front of the tv with JR in my lap.

During the day today, I did some more quilting with the Handiquilter on Tulip Farm (I spend most of my time dreaming about how much easier it would be if I had a real longarm machine!) Then, when I'd had enough of that, I went up and worked on the applique borders for the double four patch. I now have both the side borders on and have the top and bottom borders cut. I also got the vines ready to be appliqued down.

I also have two other applique projects I'd like to work on, but need to finish one or two before I start. Sew many projects, sew little time! Saturday I'll pick up my latest Buck A Block block and then go to a quilt show in Byron (big time Byronfest this weekend!). Then in the afternoon, have to go to DS & DDIL's 30th Wedding Anniversary Bash -- how 'bout that -- our kids have been married 5 years longer than we have! vbg

Gratitudes:

1. Steph's doing well - even is allowed to go back to work on Sunday (she works retail).

2. We've had some beautiful summer days this past week. I love watching my flowers bloom!

3. Lunch with Deb yesterday.

4. Phone conversation with my quilting friend today.

Happy Independence Day!

This was just a quick challenge a few years ago to make a patriotic quilt using up some scraps from a different quilt.

No - we don't use the binoculars to spy on our neighbors! vbg We live in the country -- every now and then we can see a few deer across the road and way back towards the woods, plus we can't always see the flag on the mailbox to tell whether the mail is here or not! It's quite annoying to walk all the way out to the mailbox and back to the house to turn around and have the mail truck go by!

I haven't done my monthly update for June: I don't think I finished any ufo's last month at all. Shame on me. Will have to get busy! I bought fabric -- but most of it was backgrounds. I did enroll in a BOM at my lqs, but it's a $5 BOM, so if I manage to keep up, the quilt will only cost me $5 plus use my stash!

Gratitudes:

1. I'm grateful for our freedoms in the US -- I was just thinking about this yesterday -- I believe God put us on this planet with the intention of us being free. His are the only rules we need to live by.

2. Stephanie is resting and healing.

3. My hollyhocks are blooming along with the daisies, coneflowers and lilies -- what a riot of color.

Home again, home again, jiggedy jog

You'all didn't know it, but I was out of town for three days last week.
DD, Stephanie, decided that she had reached maximum pain level and went to the ER Tuesday night (after working all day, no less). Diagnosis: Inflammed gall bladder with large gallstone stuck. Cure: Surgery to remove said offending organ which happened Wednesday at 3 pm. I went up early Wednesday morning, spent the day at the hospital with Steph and her DH, Aaron. Then followed Aaron to his sister's to pick up AJ and then their home. Spent Wednesday & Thursday night. Steph came home Thursday morning. Aaron had to go to work, so I had the tough job of taking care of a 2-1/2 year old grandson. He understands owie, but not that he couldn't climb into Mommy's lap. We had a grand time anyway. As of today, Steph is feeling much better, even stretching out the time between vicodin tablets. She'll go back to the doctor on Wednesday, hopefully to get released to go back to work. Medicine is truly amazing nowadays.


Here's my contribution for the upcoming Fourth of July Celebration. This little quilt was a Thimbleberries pattern that appeared in a magazine back in the early/mid 90's. I made it in one day -- just loved it. Been planning to make another sometime but never got around to it.

Finn has a patriotic picture on her blog of a little boy and dog waving flags. I was talking to Stephanie yesterday afternoon and she was telling me about the parade yesterday morning in their little town in WI. AJ was loving the police cars and fire trucks, sirens and lights flashing, and all the candy that he and his sister and her friend got to chase after. And then the color guard came by (I'm assuming it was veterans, possibly of Viet Nam, Korea and WWII because she said it was "older guys" (vbg) and she's 30, so it's all relative, don'tcha know!). Anyway, Aaron has been teaching AJ how to salute and when the color guard came by, he saluted them and they actually stopped in front of him and turned and saluted him back! How reminiscent of John-John can you get? And, of course, no video camera because Aaron had to be in charge of 3 kids and make sure Steph was comfortable, so he forgot it! Oh well -- I'm proud my kids are raising proud Americans.

Gratitudes:

1. Stephanie is on the mend -- I hate when my kids are ill.
2. I'm grateful for the bond AJ and I have. My daughter missed out on having a grandmother close to her, because my mom's Alzheimer's was fairly advanced by the time Steph was 3.
3. We had dinner with old friends on Friday night -- they called out of the blue on Tuesday. Really nice to get together. I'm not the only one that wants to stay in touch with old friends and family.
4. I'm proud of my husband, he's a WWII Navy veteran. He served in the South Pacific.
5. I'm grateful for cell phones -- they let me update both of Steph's brothers and Dad while she was in hospital/undergoing surgery/recovering.