Getting the Baby Afghan Made

The last couple days has been awesome. Of course, I'm still being lazy and playing games, but other than that, I've been crocheting. 

I love to crochet! It's so easy and fast. I tend to get stuff done faster when I crochet or knit then I do with quilting. 

I was able to get 2 sets of rows done the last couple nights. Each stripped area is 6 rows. The bottom of the afghan is the pink. 

Tonight is bowling night, so hopefully we can "kick butt." Problem is that I'm not feeling all that great and my voice is almost gone. I didn't get much sleep last night and now I have a feeling it's because a cold is coming on. Funny thing is, I feel fine as far as my body goes, it's just my voice and a little "fuss" in the head. LOL - if one asked my family - they'd say I have a little "fuss" in the head anyway! lol

Life has been quiet lately. My son is in the process of getting a house, and moving out. I'll probably be jumping for joy when that happens! lol - Not really, just would be nice to have all his stuff out of the garage, and life back to what I thought was "normal."

May you all be Happy Quilting....

Quiet Week

This week has been pretty quiet compared to the last month. I do enjoy a quiet week. Not too much going on, and then again, not much going on with my crafts either.

I did do some quilting over the weekend, then come this week, I had to figure out what I was going to do with the baby afghan. I started a zig zag afghan, had about 6 rows done, and took it out. I didn't like the way it was looking.

So, I went on line and looked for another pattern.

I was able to get this much done last night.I like the way it looks, and it's really easy to do. I found this pattern at http://moderngracedesign.blogspot.ca/2012/09/baby-blanket-free-pattern.html - another blogspot blogger. I changed the colors from what "Modern Grace" had.

I found something interesting while cooking yesterday! I needed some mushrooms and when to get some out of the bag I had. When I pulled out a mushroom, I found a mushroom that was a double mushroom! First time I have ever seen that!

Weird looking mushroom!

Today was Myron's Girl's quilt meeting. We all sat and chatted. I worked on the the block for Connie in my Haven't Missed a Stitch group.

I don't care for the purple colors. The photo makes it look a little better, but it's dull. Connie wanted batiks and one has a really hard time finding batiks that are bright in purple. UGH

It's almost done, I need to finish the bottom petal.

This week, I went and got copies of Jeannie Austin's patterns that she let me borrow. I sent one quilt pattern to our newsletter editor for The Applique Society! We are going to run the quilt again in the newsletter. I'm excited about getting that quilt in the newsletter again! I've also been working on getting the blocks ready for the gals that said they wanted to help with the 2015 give a way quilt. We are waiting on P&B to see what kinds of fabric they will give us for the quilt. I'm really getting excited about this. I'm working with Jeannie Austin to get this done.

If you would like to get our newsletters - you can get them on our website - http://www.theappliquesociety.org/ We are working hard at getting the website updated. It's slowly getting there. TAS is well worth paying the $25 to be a member when you get applique patterns in your newsletters! Newsletters are every other month, so your getting 6 issues a year! I think it's a lot like the older Quilter's Newsletter magazines. - a little better! lol

Okay, now that I've said that, I need to get back to working on the baby afghan and hope to be done soon so I can be Happy Quilting.....again!

Had a Great Walk this Morning!

This morning was cooler. It was really a nice day to get out there and walk. The fall season is here and the trees are starting to turn. It's one of the reasons I love it up here in Washington!

The colors are coming out so bright!

Love the blueberry trees that turn colors.

Of course, Charlie, was waiting on me and wanted me to get moving and let her in.

Miss attitude!

Yesterday turned out awesome! I actually got to quilt. I gave Patrick my game on Pogo (game site www.pogo.com). He played with my neighbor and I quilted! It was so nice!

I finished that area I showed.

It was so much fun to get that done!

Then I went to the triangle and filled it in, didn't like it being open. lol

Then I moved over to this area. I was able to get the white quilting in the leaf area, but only outlined it. I'm now working on filling in the leaf and getting the border outline done. Once I do that I can go in the white area and start echoing there.

I need to figure out an afghan pattern for a baby gift. Afghans take less time then figuring out a baby quilt. Since this is a friend, she love anything that is hand made, so I figure an afghan will take less time. I have about 8 weeks to get this done. Went to the neighbors to see if she had some yarn that would go with the two color I had. She gave me a couple more colors. Now the hard part is - What am I in the MOOD to make. ugh, have't figured that out yet. LOL

May your week be Happy Quilting....

Good Morning, Sunday!

It's Sunday morning and I was able to sleep in for the first time in a very long time. It felt good. Funny how one gets weird dreams that tend to wake you up! I had a couple of those, or the ones that tend to tell you what you should do in the morning. Those tend to keep me up. But last night was awesome, I actually slept.

I worked on the quilt a couple more days this week. Charlie was laying on my lap as I was working on it. Half on me and half on the couch with the quilt over her.

Last night I was at this point on my quilt (still the side of it).

I put in about 1-2 hrs of quilting time and was able to get this far. I'm hoping to work on it today while watching TV - but that is in questions, as I'm playing POGO with a friend and we both need to win 65 game of Dominoes. We play a couple hrs last night and were able to get both of us up to 25 wins. I even had Patrick play a couple for me, as I had to do a few things.

We are talking about going to my daughters for Thanksgiving. I just hope the Apple Cup (WSU vs UW) isn't in Pullman then. With our luck it will be the year it's in Pullman.

I haven't done much applique work lately. We do have our meeting this week, so I need to finish up the two blocks I was working on.

My parents are leaving to visit my Uncle and my brother this week, which means we will stil have a meeting without her. She has a quilter house sitting for them.

I'm hoping this week will have me Happy Quilting......more than I have been this last week. May you have a great day and be Happy Quilting.

A Quiet Day!

Today is a quite day! I went to get a mammogram today. LOL - So it starts out pretty quick. I even stopped and got milk at the store. While I was there, I picked up two Chi Tea's for me and my hubby. I thought I would drop his off at work to give him a "pick me up." He was surprised to see me. Love it when I do that! lol

My helper!

We bowled last night and that didn't turn out very well! lol

Today I have been working on the 2015 Give away quilt for The Applique Society! I'm so excited about this!! We are working with P&B fabrics to see if they can donate the fabrics. Then I'm going to work with Jeannie Austin (her designs for the quilt!) to get this out to the ones that said they would help.  I need to send out emails to them to let them know.

I learned last night, I have 9 weeks to get a baby gift made for a friend of ours! I'm thinking about doing a baby afghan. That would be the quickest thing to do. I'm not sure if I want to knit it or crochet it. Should be interested when I finally decide. How much you want to bet I end up waiting for the last minute! lol

I did post more letters on my Letters from the Past page, and will do more here pretty soon. I hope...

So, in the meantime, I'm going to try and quilt tonight while watching the Seahawks kick butt!!

May you and I be Happy Quilting......

Tuesday, Oh, My!

Today is Tuesday....oh, my. Where does the time fly?

Since the last time I "blogged," I was at this point on my quilt. I'm thrilled at how fast this is going!

I actually bowled really good on Sunday, so the quilt was left alone on that evening. I didn't get anything done on it that day. I was visiting with Jeannie Austin to work on the 2015 Give-A-Way quilt for The Applique Society! I'm so excited about using her patterns! She is working with me on getting this quilt for 2015! I even talked to a very dear friend, Dian Keepers - who is well known in the machine quilting area and she said she would love to do the quilt when it's ready to be quilted next year! I'm stoked! Jeannie is awesome. She's so much fun to be around. She had way more quilts in her house than my mother does! I asked if she was still teaching and she said she does but not so much. I told her when she's ready to get her feet wet again, I could have a class for her in Centralia.

My helper tends to get in the way. I was being a pest last night and taking her photo. As you can tell she closes her eyes when the camera goes off.

I worked on the quilt last night and got quiet a bit done. It was awesome how easy and quick it was going.

I did take time to make "Grasshopper Squares" that my family loves. It's really not that green, the picture looks brighter than the actual color.

Patrick was giving me "guff" about taking pictures every time I get more done. I laughed at him and said I was doing it for my blog. - He has no clue! lol

Yesterday was not my best day, but today is looking up! I'm going to work on this quilt and get the side done so I can get to the corner. I can't wait to get moving on the corner. I should have done the corner first, and then the side! That way I could get done faster. lol - Makes it seem that way.

I'm sitting here watching "The Chew" and they are talking about taking food to someones house and then leaving with what's left! Too funny. I can see it both ways!

Okay, I'm going to behave today...get back to being Happy Quilting.....

Good Morning all!

Good morning all. It's starting out to be a great day, but I know there is more to come in this day! Has to be more, since it's only 8:30 am.

Yesterday was interesting, but informative. I had dad come get me and take me to the eye doctor. It was quick, and with the "fog" in my eye, I was told it was a "silent" migraine. Woo Hoo! This one was SILENT! I told him I could live with those. He also told me he was surprised I didn't have the headache that follows and then the nausea. I told me I don't do things the way everyone else does, and that's okay by me. So, not only do I get regular migraines, I get two different kinds of silent ones! As long as the silent ones come and go, I'm okay with that!

I had quilting at mom's afterwords. It was a full house - no room in the living room for everyone and we were missing two of our regulars. I ended up being in everyone's path and had to move every time someone needed to get a cup of coffee or go to the bathroom. Can't complain, I actually got more done on the friendship block than I would have. I was chatting with dad a good part of the time when I got there, because every seat was taken.

Mom is farther on getting the white on white quilt she's making for a niece who just got married in September.

The above quilt is the one I'm quilting and wanted to show where I am on it. As I was laying it out and taking photos, Charlie decided I was doing that for her.

This is the area I still have to quilt.

As you can see, most of the rest is quilted.

She's having to check it out and see how she wants to lay on it.

After cleaning herself, she gave me a look for taking a photo.

Life is good and she's happy now. Just wait till I move her! That is going to be fun! She has an attitude when it comes to my quilts. I have finished quilts for her to use, but NO, those aren't good enough when I'm working on one.

I'm looking at the quilt now, and noticed that the widths of the quilts have gotten smaller over time. So, one part of the quilt has bigger widths while in the beginning they were further apart. Didn't notice that till just now. Too Funny! I guess I was having fun the more I went on.

I was looking for some good quilt bloggers that talked about what they do. So far I have only found Karen and myself that actually talk about what is going on. The others are more for patterns, cutting or something else that those of us who learned quilting from our ancestors already know. So, I hope I'm not boring, but probably am. No worries, you don't have to read this. ^^^smiling^^^

May we all be Happy Quilting!

Friday morning

It's Friday morning and I've got quilting to go to. Or so I thought. Have you had one of those days, thinking you could get a good night sleep, and the next day would be better?! Guess not!

Yesterday while my husband was taking me to the doctors appointment, he received a call from his boss's boss. He was informed his boss was no longer working for Chehalis. Did you know that is like being told someone "died?" Seriously, you think, what the heck just happened, why now?, etc.

While at the doctors office, chatting with the doctor, I'm thinking "Great, a hot flash now?! come on!" Glasses fog up and I'm still chatting as if nothing happened. After a few minutes, I said, "wow, guess I'm going through a hot flash, my glasses haven't cleared up!" Give the doctor credit, he didn't say a word! As I wait for the information from the nurse on my visit, I noticed it wasn't my glasses that fogged up, it was my eye! I went out to Patrick and told him what was going on. He said to keep an "eye" on it and see what happens. after 45 mins it cleared up. Okay, that's good. But my eye felt weird.

We got home, and no Charlie, not unusual and no big deal.

I quilted and "sewed up" the hole.

This morning I woke up to a fog - yet again! So took my walk, called the eye doctors to see if I need to come in, and now have an appointment to see what the heck is going on.

Because I'm without a car, (yet again - if I had a car this would not be happening!) I had to call dad to come get me and take me to the doctors. UGH Now I told her, I won't have a car till after 10:30 this morning, and she said, the ONLY time she had available was 9:50, so I said, fine, get me in. NEVER FAILS, no car but need to be in today! ugh ugh ugh

Okay, now on a lighter side, I started working on another area of my quilt! I'm getting there!! I'm so excited about where I am with this!

I am now working on the side of of the quilt. This is the last "side" I need to do, then I have one more corner and the quilting will be done! I'm actually getting a little excited about this. The closer I get the more excited. Trouble is I may get to that last few stitches and stall again! It's been my "baby" for about 14 months and I'm not sure I'm ready to let it go! lol - meaning am I really ready to finish it. Time will tell. I'm getting a lot done, not as much done as I could get done on it, but it's getting there.

Okay, time to get moving and get ready to see what the eye doctor tells me - "Gee miss, your getting old, and that's what happens when you get old."  LOL - I'll let you know if that's what he says.

In the meantime wishing I was at the quilt group being Happy Quilting.......

Life without a Car!

If you would have told me a week ago, I would be without a car, I wouldn't have blinked. Most of my days are here at home. Not because I have to be, but because I choose to be. I don't like going to work, too much garbage with other workers that drives me nuts. That being said, I figured now that I don't have a car, my brain has decided I need a car!

When Phil was in the car accident on Wednesday, I felt okay with letting him use my car. Why not?! I wasn't using it, and 4 out of 5 days the car was parked in the driveway, or Patrick's truck was there. No worries, didn't need it.

SO,.....why is it that now that I don't have a car, I need one??! This week I'm without, and guess what! Quilting is the next two days. On top of that, I had to take Patrick to work yesterday, go to the quilt shop to work on two more classes for my two Applique groups, and then go pick him up to get our flu shots.

Quilter's Junction moved to 404 S. Tower #5, Centralia.

The store looks like she has more, and actually she doesn't.

Okay, back to NO CAR! I'm sitting here, trying to figure out how I can try and get to quilting the next two days. Tomorrow is out, as I have a doctors appointment in Lacey tomorrow at 3 pm. Patrick is having to take time off work to come get me and take me up there. Ugh! Why is it that when I need the car, that's the time I don't have the car!! Next week is blank.

This morning was awesome! My neighbor is back from Texas (goes to help er grandchildren out), and we were able to walk again. That was fun! Got to chat with her about all the stuff going on while she was gone.

Had my cell phone with me, and found some really cool spider webs! I think it's so interesting how they spin a web! When it's cold out, you really get to see the webs! Now, if you showed me a spider, I'd be running out of the room! But a web, I can deal with to look at not walk through.

I found a lot of them out there today, but only got two mail boxes this morning.

So, with no car, you would think I could get a lot of quilting or piecing in. Nah, not Lynn! I played on the computer this morning, working on the Facebook accounts, and checked on TAS's member only page. Need to check my email as well.

Charlie has the quilt right now. Last night Patrick was in one of his moods, so we went to the casino so he could relax. We came home with $20 - big whoop! But at least he relaxed enough to get a good night sleep.

Okay, time to get moving...need to call a friend to see if she'll take me to mom's house Friday. If not, will call dad to come get me. lol

Hope everyone is having a great week! Best wishes and Happy Quilting!

Things are getting done slowly.

Sunday was a good day for getting more quilting done! I rolled the quilt again, so it's slowly getting there. I'm close to half way with this one. 

I was a little more disappointed in the way this was put together. I thought all quilters knew when they have light colored fabrics, you don't sew them together with navy blue or black thread. What in the world was this person thinking? (I didn't say that did I?) I'm sorry, I really like this quilt, but I'm finding as I quilt, there are black/navy blue threads that were used to sew the white and yellow areas. I could not believe it. It makes the design look "dirty" when you look at them. 

I also found it very hard to do the seam area. This was paper pieced and I'm finding they didn't trim the fabric so that it would be easier to quilt by the seams. So, I decided to go up the middle of the piece. By doing that, I found the "extra" fabrics behind are still there. They were not trimmed. I realize most quilters do machine quilting, but truthfully, if one doesn't know how one is going to quilt it or if one is giving away a quilt, then it seriously needs to be trimmed properly. Think about it, if someone gave you a quilt top, wouldn't you want to have all that taken care of before working on it? When someone (including me) does a paper piecing block, it needs to be trimmed before moving on to the next piece. Once it's sewn over, it's hard if not impossible to trim. Okay, off my soap box!

Today is one of those days that I need to go to the quilt shop - Quilter's Junction, to get a class set up for out group. I decided I'm going to Kmart to get some sheets while I'm out. My day will be busy with getting the newsletter information approved, website stuff checked and just seeing what is going on with The Applique Society. See my side bar for the link. We are having a Membership Drive for new members. please consider becoming a part of our wonderful origination. It's well worth getting the newsletter. (I think of it as a great magazine that comes in every other month!)

I was actually thinking about finishing the last little circle on my quilt. Kinda hard to ask Charlie to move, as she's so comfortable! lol 

I will try and get some time in today. Part of my problem when it comes to quilting right now is that I pulled something in my neck and if I try to move my arms a certain way, I'm in pain. So, I'm trying not to do that right now.  I would like to bowl tomorrow night. lol

As the day goes by today, I'm going to try to work on my applique, since quilting seems to be out right now. 

May we all be Happy Quilting.....

Back to Quilting!

After a few months of hot weather, it has finally cooled down enough to quilt again. Let's hope this year I get the quilt done by December! I remember trying to get it done by our Retreat, and that failed! I do know Nancy Chong will be there again this year so the good news is, if I get it done this time she can see it finished. lol

I worked on this quilt again on Sunday. Will probably be working on it again today. 

Wednesday while we were eating and getting ready to go bowling, we received a call from my son, saying he was fine and was in a car accident. We had to drop everything and go get him. He was okay, with cuts and bruising but he could stand on his feet. Surprising considering the shape the car was in. We are VERY thankful he came out fine. In the meantime, he's using my car. Funny how you don't realize how much you depend on your car till you don't have it. 

The last couple days I've been working on the Hawaiian quilt at night. I'm getting quiet a bit done and happy with the results. 

Monday I was at this point. I quilted about 3 days this week and it's coming along nicely. 

I'm not worried about the stitches, there are way too many to worry about. I'm just enjoying the process. I'm not concerned that it's not a "traditional" Hawaiian quilting, because I love to quilt. So, my idea with this was that I would quilt it like we did in art class as a kid, and go around with both skinny and fat widths. It brings out the fun and it brings out an "ocean wave" of designs. 

Last night I was at this point. I'm really liking the results. I've even been thinking about the next quilt I'm going to design. It's so much fun to do these, and yes, it takes time, but the enjoyment over powers the time. 

I'm getting a little more excited as the time goes. I'm getting closer to finishing this quilt. As for the other quilt, I find I'm not happy with it. It's not my favorite quilt, and it's driving me nuts that it wasn't done well. But, hey, I'm working on it, and maybe the closer it gets the more I'll get excited and want to get it finished. 

In the mean time, I hope everyone is Happy Quilting......like I plan to be!