Time to Quilt

It's the end of Feb. and the snow is coming down. What an interesting year this is going to be. Since it decided to snow, I think I need to quit playing games and go quilt in my chair while watching the CSI:NY programs I missed.

Our 2 TAS groups meet at Quilter's Junction for a potluck with show and tell. I took my camera but wasn't thinking of taking photos of the quilters with their quilts. I did remember to take a couple of these photos:

This is the fun we all had, there must have been 20 or more of us. I was thrilled to see a big turn out.

Over the last few days, I've been quilting while watching TV and it's amazing how much one can get done! I have really been working on getting the connections in the quarter part of the quilt. The border part I was worried about didn't became a problem because the border is a lot wider than I thought.

From this photo, the border is the flowers on the right. Because the quilt is so big, those flowers make it a little easier to work with and I'll end up doing those triangle areas (4 quarters) quicker. So, I believe this will go pretty fast. I'm not doing the traditional 5/8" to 1" separations. I'm doing about 1/2" or smaller. I like echo stitching that is closer together because of the effect it gives a quilt.

This is the corner pieces I was referring to. I'm a little off on the left area, but it won't be noticed after it's quilted. I did try to even them up but this side won't be as even as the other side. Again, I don't think anyone will notice unless they look for it or unless they see this blog where I'm telling you what's wrong with it.  The more I do the more I'm thrilled with the results.

I'm really needing to do my TAS Retreat assignment. I did cut the fabric and sew two strips together for the leaves. I have the background cut and ready to put the leaves and stem on, but just can't seem to sit down and figure out what color leaves I want where. I'll take a few pictures so you can see what I'm talking about.

Mom is on her fourth block in the Christmas Baltimore Album quilt. Guess I won't be doing my BOM in that quilt till she's done, since she has all my stuff and won't let me bring it home since she's working on it. That's okay with me, still have project I need to finish and promised myself for every 2 projects I complete, I can start 1. Finished 4 so far AND haven't started 1 yet! I'm so proud!! lol

Till next time - Happy Quilting.

Past Week

This past week has been a bear! I forgot what it was like to be busy EVERY day of the week. Not being able to sit down and work on a project or read a book. It was almost like having my two children around when they were about 4 and 8 years old.

On Monday I was able to do some Genealogy, and found a few more letters floating around the house. So, yesterday I decided I would do a blog on all those letters. Two of them are posted and the link is on the side.

Tuesday was supposed to be a day with my cousin, and it never happened. My body decided whatever I eat the day before I was going to pay for. Not only the usual stuff but also a migraine headache that lasted all week. I slept the morning away and then decided the headache wasn't going to slow me down, so I did laundry and when I could I pulled out the Hawaiian quilt from behind the couch and quilted. I did get the border design quilted so I could echo on the quarter part. Now hopefully it will go quick and I can start on the next quarter piece.

Wednesday was another day at my mothers. It was the third day of going through her quilt room and getting rid of stuff so they can sell the house and move into town. We must have loaded a truck load of bags for goodwill and another truck load of stuff for the quilt show "country store" at the next quilt show in two years. Now, that I said all that, she still has a ton of quilt fabric, supplies, and stuff she wanted to keep. This was an all day job and it was tiring to say the least. We had bowling and I did really bad! Even for me.....

Thursday brought in our TAS groups potluck. When I mean "groups," it was groups - Haven't Missed a Stitch hosting the Myron's Girls group. We must have had 20 people. It was great. We set a raffle that cost 10 cents for each time one put their names in the jar for an item. We did good. The money will go for the potluck supplies and the other project supplies that me may need. We will even give off raffles for memberships at the end of the year. Both groups get together once every quarter to show off what they have been working on. It was great. Of course, I was the one keeping things going and cleaning up after with help from a couple of Myron's Girls. By the time I got home, I couldn't think straight. At night I sewed two sets of green strips together to be able to do my project for TAS' Retreat in a couple weeks.

Yesterday, was another one of those busy days but fun days. I went to a friends house and we talked, baked and worked on projects. I took my cross stitch that I haven't touched in over 2 years. I had to take out the right section because it was off, and I mean very obvious it was off. So, for two hours I took out the work....ugh. Now I know why I haven't worked on it in over two years. Now I can get moving on it again. Patrick couldn't remember the cross stitch so that tell's you how long it's been since I worked on it. Bowling last night, with two good games and one really crappy game.

So, now we are down to today....hum...now what.....not a clue! I WOULD LIKE to get moving on my block for the retreat in a couple weeks. Patrick talked about watching a Cary Grant movie today and I'm game for that. Don't know if I'll quilt on the Hawaiian, do the block or work on cross stitch......time will tell what I'm in the mood for - other than sleep.

In the mean time.....Happy Quilting.

Nothing New...

Not much going on with quilting lately, at least that what I think. I went to the TAS Myron's Girls group and I was able to baste two table runners. I haven't decided if I want to TRY and machine quilt them or just go ahead and quilt them. I'll figure that out later.

I went to my mother's on Thursday and help clean up her sewing room - or part of if. We spent a good 5 hours going through her cabinets deciding if she wants to keep or get rid of stuff. I was able to collect a few finished wall hangings and quilt related stuff, that I mailed them off to my niece for her auction. We still have 2/3's of the sewing room more to go and will probably be doing that today. I should take the camera along and take pictures, because her sewing room is bigger than most family rooms. My parents have decided to move into town. So, they are cleaning and clearing up the house. They have a lot of stuff they want to keep, so I think its going to be interesting if it all fits into the new place. Prayers are out there for their place to sell, but it won't go up on the market till they get more cleaning done. They have cats that need to be captured and taking for shots, and other stuff, then taken to the pound to get homes, but then they are barn cats and don't know if that will work. They are pretty cats, but they aren't used to people.

I was able to get a few stitches in on the Hawaiian quilt I'm doing. I have one area where I know how they will join and can quilt without having to worry about that. Trying to do a quarter of the quilt at a time, is a little more complicated then I thought, but I'm working on it.

I'm hoping to get more quilting done this weekend since it is a holiday on Monday, but the way things are looking, I may be spending today with my mother cleaning out the rest of her quilt room. UGH  I did mine a couple years ago, and got to the point of throwing things out, just so I wouldn't have to deal with all the "left overs."

In the mean time, Happy Quilting.

Jack of all trades

The last week I have been crocheting and knitting for my niece. She is going on the World Race - a Christian Organization that goes to 11 countries in 11 months. She is working toward her goal. One of those goals is to make enough money to go - about $25,000. So, for the last 8 months, she has been working hard, with garage sales, bake offs, etc. On the 27th of this month, she is having an auction. Since I wasn't paying attention or just didn't know, I figured I had to work fast for her. So, the quickest things I could come up with where potholders and wash clothes.

I was thrilled to find out the wash clothes were quick and easy! I had so much fun, I went more for the wash clothes then I did the potholders. Both took the same amount of time, but this was more fun.

So I decided to combine some of both to give people a choice.

Some potholders are smaller then others, but it works.

I was able to get 3 potholders out of 2 skeins of yarn. I should have gone to a different place then Micheals because they are more expensive, but I didn't want to fight the crowds are Walmart.

I also sent her a couple of the fabric baskets I showed below. I added a handful of floss,  cross stitch "holder" bags, and aida fabric. Hopefully she can make money on it.

Now I can get back into quilting for awhile. I have started the applique on the block I showed last week, and am ready to get to work on making the other block for my quilt. I will cut out the leaves for my Retreat project and get moving back into applique and quilting. Looking forward to getting more done in the next few days.

In the mean time, Happy Quilting.

A Busy Week

This week has started out busy and is still going strong.

On Thursday last week, I bought some silk and satin stuff for the crazy quilt block we need to have done for The Applique Society's Retreat in Seabeck, WA. I'm so excited about going, that I hurried up and started working on the block. On Friday, we (TAS group Myron's Girls) met at mom's house as usual. I brought a lot of fabric that was given to me, but wasn't cotton. We went through the fabrics and picked the stuff we wanted for our blocks. I cut the 14" square muslin pieces for the background. Since I was all ready for the block, I decided to do my block. When I finished it, my mother asked me to do her's (normal). So, both our blocks are read for the retreat.

Forgive me on where the photo was taken, I usually do better than that. I put it on the coffee table and since it was on the edge, your seeing the floor as well as papers on the table. Sorry - bad shot.

So, on Saturday I contacted my niece who is trying to raise money for the Christian World Race - 11 countries in 11 months. She is scheduled to go in June. Unless she can't raise the money to go. When we talked she said she was $10,000 short with about half of that pledged. (You know how pledged stuff goes) Anyway, my mother was telling everyone that she raised the money and she's going. When I talked with my niece, I found she has NOT raised the money and is having a silent action on the 27th of the month. So, I told her I would see what I could do for her. If I hadn't done those two quilts for friends, I would have sent one to her. I wouldn't be able to get one done for her in time. So....I wondered downstairs into my quilt room/craft room and started digging for quick things that people might like. That's when I found a "kit" the SWWRDQG did for a fabric basket. What the heck, why not?? After thinking about it for two days and reading the instructions over about four times, I decided to do it to see if it would work out.

This is what I did, and folded over the flaps and sewed buttons on it. I actually had 4 buttons in my sewing room that matched!!

It was easy enough to make. I decided I would fill it with floss and embroidery things for her and make another one that she can add sewing supplies to.

Monday, when I was thinking about her basket and decided to sew it up, I also thought about those Carolina Lily pattern I had cut and ready to sew. I figured out why I was taking so long, I didn't have the flowers cut out. Guess what I did!? I cut out the flowers for my daughters quilt.

Being left handed doesn't help. I had to figure out how to cut the pieces, and each time I was looking at it backwards. So, I gave up and taped where I needed to cut. Trouble was, I did that backwards too. I couldn't figure out my 45 degree angle. That took some work. At least I was able to get it done.

I still need to do mine. BUT I did do her block. I found the connections were hard but not as hard as I thought.

Once I had this done, I knew I'd do fine. I did cut them a little big, so when I got to this point, I trimmed them to the size I needed. It wasn't easy, so if you do this block, try and get the exact size you need before you start, so you won't have to trim as much as I did.

Once I got to that point I sewed up the flower blocks. I squared them up as well. Then I added the rest of the pieces.

Now I need to do the leaves and stems along with the design in the four corners. As you can see, I'm not completely done, but applique doesn't take long and it's more fun then putting this block together. I just need to work on mine and then I will have both ready for the applique. Again, sorry for the photos, was taking them as I worked and was on my sewing table.  Once this block is done, I can get started on the next set. I think this is for the 6th month block. I know I have a mariners compass to do one of these days, but hopefully that is the last block. I haven't really looked to see which one is next, because I didn't want to do it before I finished this one. Jumping around with blocks doesn't help, even though one block may be easier than another.

Now I'm getting caught up! Yesterday I went to Micheal's to get same yarn for my pot holders I would do for my nieces auction. I bought $20 with of yarn. I worked on one set yesterday and they are done. I will do more today, since I have a friend coming over to work on stuff and chat. It's crochet, but then I'm sure I told you I can do most crafts except for tatting. I will show you what all I've done when I get them all completed. I did complain to Sugar and Cream yesterday though. I paid $2 for 57.2 oz balls of yarn. Right in the middle of my project and in the middle of the ball was a KNOT. Nothing ticks me off more than paying higher prices for less amounts of yarn, and then having a knot in the middle. So, for the first time, I wrote the company and told them they could sell those as "samples" or "scraps" but not as good balls of yarn. Yarn should not have a knot in the middle - it messes up what your working on. And with the pot holders, I'm going around in a circle, so you can't hid a knot as well as you can when doing the afghans. Ugh. (sorry, on my soup box)

Since I haven't posted the frog quilt finished, I thought I would put it in here so you can see how it turned out. I gave it to my friend yesterday.

Okay, today will be working on those pot holders and seeing about doing a wash cloth to go with two pot holders. I need to find a good pattern for the wash cloths.

I'll post again this week, so you can see where I am. I have our TAS group "Haven't Missed a Stitch" tomorrow and should get some stuff done then too. If all goes well, I'll try and post on Friday...

Till then, Happy Quilting.

Another day....

Since the other day, I have quilted a little more on the Hawaiian quilt, but I have also been playing games and working on my genealogy for my Taylor family.


While I was quilting on the Hawaiian the other day, I found there were a couple of issues I hadn't thought about and needed to work it out before I continued on. I'm going to have to do the center part of the quilt in quarters while trying to get to the edges. This may cause problems if I don't keep my fabric, batting and backing tight enough to keep from puckering in the back or front.  So, I worked a few rows of quilting and then started to work on the edge that comes into the quilt - see photos. I need to quilt the outer part a little to be able to work with the background fabric.

As you can see: The tips meet together at some point and the echo quilting come together.

Here is the over view of the quilt as I quilt. 

This is the area I'm referring to. 


I believe my quilting stitches that were done on the "branches" will make the difference when it comes to puckering or not. I have quilted enough to know what I need to do to keep from puckering and I believe I'm doing it correctly. As you can see, my echo lines are closer together then the traditional Hawaiian quilting, but I tend to like a lot of quilting in my quilts. I do closer quilting then most, but find the closer the quilting is in quilts, the prettier and more "wow'd" one gets with the quilting.

Last week:


Last week when I wanted to do something and really didn't want to quilt, I pulled out my applique block for the SWWRDQG block of the month that I started in 2002. I finished the applique and then added embroidery to the block to give it some "wow" affect. I still need to work on the center part of the flower, and haven't decided if I want to do it in applique or embroidery. So, about the time I get these blocks done I will decide which way to go.

Finished last week -

Finished a while back.


As you can see, and if you have been reading my blog, you would know I am working on two quilts with different colors. The oranges and yellows belongs to my daughter, while the blues, purples and (ugh) pinks, belong to me.

So far this is what is completed out of the BOM project I'm doing. 

It's coming down to - NOT ENOUGH WALL SPACE FOR BOTH QUILTS.

My next block......ugh

Is the Carolina Lilly and I'm really not looking forward to putting it together. I have picked some fabrics for it and have them cut, just can't get myself to go down and sit at the computer to put it together. One I do, it will go fast, since there is some applique and embroidery work that goes on after. I keep telling myself it won't kill me, and that I need to sit my butt down and work on it, but after two months you can see how far it's taken me.

Funny part is that even the laundry and vacuuming sounds like more fun than doing two of these blocks. lol I'm getting there.....have too, told myself this is the next block and I can't go on till I do them.  Okay, so why haven't I gotten down there to do them?? Hummm

That's about it for now. I'm hoping to have more stitches in on the quilt, and I seriously need to go down and do those blocks by this weekend.

OH!! I did get my "homework" for the Seabeck TAS Retreat!! I'm so excited about it. I have two blocks that I need to work on before we go in March. I'm hoping to get with the group of us that are going, and exchange some fabrics for the crazy quilt block. We also have an applique block that needs to be done, and it looks really pretty so far. Luckily I have greens for the leaves, so it should be a problem getting that done before hand. The leaves are cut in half, so I will have to piece the fabrics together before I cut them into leaves. Not a problem...the problem is the Carolina Lilly block......

Till next time...Happy Quilting.