New Quilt!

My Granddaughter is graduating from high school in May. Of course, one of the gifts she will get from me is a quilt. We have been talking about it for a while and she really doesn't have anything in mind. I was going through some magazines and saw this really neat hexagon quilt. Now I am NOT a hand quilter and so the Grandmother's Garden is out of the question, but I remembered that one of the very first GO! dies I purchased was the hexagon. Recently I got the triangles that you could put in the corners that made it easier to sew together. I looked through my stash and found 4 Charm Packs---Snippets. I also have some unbleached muslin that is perfect for these 30's/40's prints----so I am making her a quilt using them. I got them all cut out with the 5 inch hexagon. I figure that I will have 13 rows of 12 blocks and then add a border. This would bring it to a twin size which is perfect for a dorm bed. This will be her quilt---which as I think about it is perfect!!!!

It looks like I am in the mode for quilts made from one block shape. First the apple core and now the hexagon.

xoxo---

What Have I Been Up To Lately?????

I am having computer problems....at times my mouse doesn't work and so I have a hard time posting. We have other computers, but I try to use one primarily for my blogging. I am treating the mouse carefully so hopefully I will be able to finish this post.

I am on Spring Break next week----HAPPY DANCE!!! I think I will pretend I don't have to work so I will not keep watching the calendar to see how many days I have left :c) I plan on getting lots of quilting done---I will clean the house and cook some meals, but I am one tired girl and really just want to rest! I finished quilting a donation quilt for my Guild (another member pieced the top)---see picture above. It really is a nice quilt---it quilted nicely---I just did a simple meander, but I like it. I will pass it on to Becky who will give it to another Guild member to bind. All of us will get a chance to participate....so that is off my list to do.

My plan is to work on the Tumbler, and several others I have in various degree's of completion. It is my hope that at the very least I will complete Tumbler. I am so looking forward to the week --- I will have to live each day slowly so the time will seem to last longer.

Well, gotta go---just wanted to post a short update. Take care and hopefully I will have some completions pictures next week.

xoxo

UFO #1

Judy chose the March UFO which is #1. For me that is the "Scrappy House" quilt. I HATE that quilt!!!!! I looked at it and it is too scrappy and just looks weird, so I had decided to not even go through the trouble of making it. Since I didn't finish the February UFO and really only had 10 anyway, I am going to make the decision to continue with the apple core. I have completed 4 rows of 19 and have the next 4 on the design wall just needing to be sewn together. After that, I will have 7 more rows to go. It is relatively slow going, but I am determined to get it done. I got a little bored and decided to put one red block in---sorta quirky like me--but I think it looks nice.

I have several other quilts that I alternately take a little time to sew on--wouldn't it be nice if I finished two quilts in March. I also now have 2 charity quilts I need to quilt and I am picking up a couple of more on Thursday, so I am going to get Harriet oiled up and get to "cracking".

Hope your day goes well!

Patricia

Life Gets In The Way!

Just a quick note----I know I have been "missing in action" for the last couple of weeks. Things have been VERY busy around here and although I have been quilting (of course) I just haven't had time to blog about it. Work is consuming me right now---I have LOTS of deadlines, but hopefully, after next week I can take a bit of a breather.

I have had to prioritize what I want and can do, in relationship to my quilting goals. I am not going to complete the CW blocks "Of the Week". The blocks are too small and too much trouble/time for me to enlarge to 12 inches, so I am putting this to the side....plus I don't have enough CW fabrics anyway. I am going to try instead to do the GO! Mystery Quilt. This is an opportunity for me to use fabs from my stash. Unfortunately (for me) I didn't have all of the dies that are being used, so I HAD to purchase several (tongue in cheek). Several places were having sales so I have the Chisel, Circle, Critters, and Blazing Star on their way! .....I will need to work a couple of extra shifts to repay the budget---oh well, such is life! Except for a couple of strip dies that I would like, I now have the majority of the dies that I will use. Diane purchased herself a Valentine Gift of the GO! so it will be fun to have someone to really talk to about the cutting system. This also gives us yet another thing in shopping common so it will be fun!

My UFO Challenge for Feb. is coming along very slowly. I knew it would though---you can't whip through a apple core like I did the January quilt. I will just have to be behind those who finish, but I still am anticipating that by year's end I will have completed my list of UFO's---I may have though added 12 to replace them, but compared to some, I don't have that many UFO's anyway.

I am also going to enter a couple of quilts in a show. I have them completed, but will need to sew the hanging strips on........so you see, I am a pretty busy girl!!!!!!!!

Well, gotta go---I have work to do to prepare for an important meeting on Tuesday. Take care and don't give up on me. Although I am not getting any comments, I can see I am being visited! Keep coming, it does a heart good to see that so many are interested in my little blog! Have a wonderful Sunday and coming week!

xoxo

How Many Applecore's Are Too Many?

I have cut 922 Apple Cores. The quilt I am making needed 461 blocks--that is one light core and one dark core per block. Although I have always loved the Apple Core block, there is NO way I would have made this quilt and cut each of these out with a template. The GO! allowed me to cut them all within two days. I could have cut them all at once, but I had other work to do and so couldn't devote the time in a block. The quilt will be 19 blocks x 19 rows. I would have liked to make it with 23 rows, but I ran out of blue and white, so it will be square. I am working hard, but I don't' think I will have this done by the end of this short month. My special machine foot makes sewing the core pieces together easy, but I have to switch to my regular foot when I start putting block to block. I do think this will be a pretty quilt. I think I will back it in muslin like most antique quilts are, since it really does look antique to me.

Well, just wanted to keep you updated. The sun is shinning bright here although it is very cold!!! Next week it will be in the 60's---almost dyeing weather!!!!!!

Hugs! and have a great week-end!

Super Bowl Sunday!

I am making my apple core's using my GO! This makes it possible for me since I would NOT cut all these out with a template. I love my GO! I think this was a appropiate purchase for me. When you cut the core there are little notches that make it much easier to put them together. It is still curved sewing but with my little gadget below, it is a little easier.

My curve master foot that I am using to put the apple core's together. It makes it easier, but there is a learning curve I am still on (the picture is turned sideways for some reason--sorry). I am a bit inconsistent, but I have decided to not obsess about that. I am also trying to not obsess about the placement of the colors either. I just want to have fun and moving things around 100's of times isn't making this fun.

This is UFO #10. ...my blue/white/neutral CW apple core that I am working on. Diane gave me some of her blue CW scraps so I have a pretty good variety. CW as I have mentioned before isn't really my favorite period or fabrics, but the blue and white/neutral looks so crisp to me. It will be a nice summer quilt I think. It will be queen size when I finish (of course). I haven't decided yet if I will leave the edge scalloped or not. I think the scallop will look pretty, but it all depends how I feel once it is finished. I don't think I will finish this in February....but I am going to work really hard to. I have about 50 of the two core's put together, and about 200 blocks cut. I think I will put them together by 4's and then 8's and then sew those together...(what I did on the far right in the picture). I will still have a long seam to sew in joining rows but I think it will be more manageable. The way I am figuring, I will need 20 rows of 18. I am going to put the first 4 rows together and see if it will be big enough. No, I will definitely NOT finish this in February.

Normally after church I go to a LQS or to Joanne's to look around at the very least. I really didn't feel like doing that this year. The weather was sunny but cool and after coming home from church and putting on my pj's, I really didn't want to get dressed. After church I had dinner with two of my kids and got a take-out for DH, so I didn't even have to cook. I did make some cookies for my grandson and his friends (my grandson is such a picky eater, I made him a grilled cheese sandwich with sides for dinner and he was happy), but other than running the vaccum in the downstairs den I really didn't do anything other than sewing a little.

Hope you Sunday was a wonderful one and your week will be just as great!.

UFO Challenge!

I completed the January UFO Challenge (UFO #6) without any real difficulty at all. I finished it, quilted it AND put my binding on (including sewing it down) all within the month of January. The UFO for February is #10. For me that is a apple core quilt cut in blue and neutral CW reproductions. As I have mentioned before, the CW period isn't my favorite and I actually once didn't like the fabrics. I however have changed my mind a little since there really are pretty bright CW's. Brights, Kaffee prints and batiks are still my favs, but I also think you have to broaden your view. The apple core is going to be a challenge for me, but I am going to complete it...I AM, I AM. The quilt will be larger (of course) and I have purchased a machine foot that I hope will make putting it together easier. We'll see---stop at Judy's site and see the other UFO Challenges.

What Have I Been Up To?????

I have been one busy quilter! First---I finished UFO #6 completely!!!!!! I quilted it AND put the binding on!!!! I now just need to hand stitch it down, which I have already begun. The quilting really turned out nicely---don't you think? I though see one mistake I made. I normally quilt with pale grey thread, and I automatically kept it in the needle when I began to put the blocks together. I did change to a white but didn't take the other seams out---I didn't think you would see them. I do see a couple of seams that are sewn with grey thread. I am NOT going to take them out, clearly, but hope when I wash the quilt, the crinkle will make the seam less noticeable. If not, oh well---I will just keep it for myself and make another quilt to gift.

I also have been making bread--doesn't that loaf look good? It tasted pretty good as well. I do love this machine! A couple of loaves I made fell, but I have figured out the problem. I was using Walmart brand bread flour--I got the name brand and haven't had the same problem. Don't know if it was the flour or something I was doing wrong. Hope that never happens again, it is so sad to go through all that, have the house smell wonderful, just to get a loaf that is sunken in the middle.

Now, I normally don't "get on my soap box" very often, but since this is my blog, I figure I can "rank and rave" about something a little. If you don't want to read about it--it is okay, you can "disconnect", if you read on, just like good friends do, it isn't necessary to comment---just listen. So-------Because I am a nurse, I take prevention very seriously. As a result, I try to get my annual exam every year to make sure "all is well". Since I am getting a "little long in the tooth", there were more invasive tests I had to take. Now I thought I had good health insurance, I pay almost $500 per month for coverage for my husband and I. The plan and company changed this year and my husband and I looked over the plan and chose one (we thought) that didn't have a high deductible since we knew that statistically we would be using it more given our age. I went in to get my test and the physician's office said I would have to pay out of pocket for the test---almost $1000 because my deductable was $1500. What I said! There is a mistake! I went immediately to the HR dept. to point out the mistake. Ha! I was the one that was mistaken. I have a $1500 deductible (it seems that is the lowest this insurance company has), and even when that is met, I am still responsible for 20%---and remember I am still paying almost $500 a month. Since I couldn't afford all the test, I elected to only take the one that I could afford since I had to write a check.

Now at the same time Coal got sick. He went in to have his teeth cleaned and ended up with IV's etc. Now he has health insurance as well (he is high maintenance) and his hospital procedures costs more than my test. Guess what his deductable is-----$20. Now what is wrong with this picture! Of course, I have to have more tests because there was a abnormal result--so more money. I have such mixed feeling, the more test I have to take, the quicker I will get my deductible met, but also that means something is wrong.

4 inches of snow is expected tonight. Maybe I will have an extra day to sew! I am suppose to go to have follow-up test tomorrow, so if I don't go, that means I will have extra money to buy fabric---oops, no I will not. I have to meet that deductible!

xoxo

What's Up?!?!??

Quite a lot has been going on since my last post.

As you might remember in previous postings, two of our adult children had moved back home, one with his wife and two children. Well, both have now moved to their own homes. One graduated from technical college and is not only working at a local company but has started his own little company on the side. He is doing pretty good---he hasn't asked to borrow money and in fact paid half of the costs (with my daughter) of getting my longarm repaired! The other son and his family moved last week into their own place. The house is quiet now, although I will certainly see them often, and I have been spending time putting everything back together again.

I have also had "the" annual physical exam yuk! As you get older, there are more places to look for problems. At this point everything has been turning out okay, so I am good for another year it would seem. It has been an ordeal though---goodness I hate "preps".

I (of course) have been busy quilting. I have decided to do some quilting for some friends (I am NOT starting a quilting business), so I am trying to get my own latest quilting project done. Of course because I want to hurry---all kinds of things are stopping me---broken threads, tv shows, blogging, etc., so I am not moving as fast as I would like. I am a little nervous about it because when I make mistakes on my stuff it is no big deal, but I don't want to mess up someone's creation, especially since they will be paying me for it. These friends are forgiving though, so hopefully if I do a "oops", it will not be a big deal. I am taking very few quilts because my life is pretty busy and I don't want to get a quilt in and then not be able to have a quick turn-around, plus I am still a novice so I am taking it slowly.

The block above is the latest Civil War Block---well not really. The actual block was applique (!) which I DO NOT DO! so I made another one. This block was really pretty complicated, it took me a couple of days to complete it, but I really like it. As I mentioned, I am making my blocks 12 inches instead of the 8 inch, since I don't do "little" either.

Well, gotta go vacuum, and work on my quilt. Take care and thanks for stopping by!

xoxo

FINISH #1 OF 2011 (UFO #6)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Diamonds In" is completed!!!!! I am so very glad I kept the white/beige background. It really allows the diamonds to stand out and makes this a very contemporary quilt. The only challenge---since I used a jelly roll of 45 strips, there is some repeats---nothing I can do about it. I did add a couple of orphan strips so that helped a bit. It is queen size and isn't asking for a border. I am going to have a look in my stash for a appropriate binding. I think as I have been doing a lot lately, I will do a faux piping so I can bind it by machine---we'll see. This is a GREAT first finish. Since there is a lot of "white" space, again, I will use a busy panto. I am thinking of keeping the one I already have loaded. The round edges of it should go well with the sharp corners of the diamonds. I feel pretty good!!!

I am ready for the Feb. UFO for sure----oops better not get too "cocky"----I have quite a few UFO's on that list that will not be as easy or fun to finish!

xoxo