Applique and Quilting

Today turned out pretty good when it comes to the day. No plans. Which made my day easier. Patrick worked out in the yard. Like I have always said, the yard is his baby. I help when he needs it or asks, but other than that I don't do much.

I pulled out the eagle block and started working on the grapes. After Patrick got up and headed outside, I went downstairs.

I decided to get some quilting in on the Butterfly quilt.

I started where I left of the last time. I added more "trails" and then rolled the quilt. The pill box there is for used needles or needles that have gone bad.

I then work on the end I ended with before I rolled the quilt.

I was able to get quiet a bit done. I'm to the point of being able to roll on this side of the quilt, but I need to work on the center and the other side.

I was able to get to the edge of the center area. I was even surprised at how close I am to finishing the center area. I didn't realize I was about half way done with the center.

As one can see, I do not have a set pattern. I am doing the quilting in a way that looks like butterflies flying. They fly around the circles as well. I've been trying to quilt each butterfly differently as well.

I will try and quilt on it more, this week. Who knows, I may have another quilt done this year. I can hope!

I then came back upstairs and worked on the eagle again. I added a few more basted grapes. I'm almost done with the grapes. Once that is over, I can move on to the vines. I will admit that I have been getting better with the grapes. They aren't looking so much like a bird nibbled on them.

So, my day has been watching Harry Porter and getting some quilt related stuff done. I hope others have had a good day as well. Happy Quilting!

Saturday

Today was a busy day. Not sure if I'd really say "busy" but a day of being away from the house day. I woke early as usual. When Patrick woke up, we headed to the casino. We were there a good 4 hours. Then we headed to the grocery story to get a few things we needed. Mom and dad called and we ended up going out to eat down in Kelso. When we got home, we played a game of gen. I won the game. lol

So, today was not a day of quilting or any other craft. Sorry, not much to report today. Happy Quilting!

An Actual Quilting Day

Today was another walking and cribbage day. Afterwards, I came home and relaxed till after lunch. Then I headed back downstairs to finish up the Black and White quilt.

I had all the sets sewn together - after I fixed the 2 mistakes that we found yesterday. I then took this photo for Katt. I still need to do the borders. The borders will be a black and orange border with a black as binding. Patrick and I were talking about finding an orange sheet for the back. If I get a set, I can cut the "fitted" part for the border. We'll see what we can find. I even started sewing some pieces together for a pillow case. Now if we find a sheet, I may just use that pillow case for the quilt.

Since the Black and White was done for now, I started back on quilting the other butterfly quilt.

I worked on this side of the quilt. I was able to get a few stitches in.

I just need to quilt a few more stitches toward the right. Then I can roll the quilt again. I didn't realize I was half way on the center piece. I'm getting a little excited about working on this quilt again. I just hope I don't find a few more "dirty" lines. Now I can take my sewing machine to the shop to get cleaned and then see if there is anything else I want to sew on.

This is the restroom in McMenamins in Centralia. Patrick and I went out to eat before going to the movie. This is a fun place to wash your hands! lol

Now I'm back home and going to get a few things done.....Happy Quilting!

From One Project to Another

This morning Patrick cooked the cinnamon rolls that I prepared last night. I let them raise overnight. They really turned out nice and fluffy. One of the better batches! I had made them for Art. His Birthday was yesterday. So, he got 3 of the buns and I gave Ruth the 5 that were in another pan for her to cook.

After walking and playing cribbage, I came home and picked up a little. Then I headed downstairs and started working on the Black and White quilt.

I had the 7 rows done finally.

Now I need to sew the rows of 2 rows each. In other words, I sewed 2 rows together, 3 times. As I was working on one of the sets, I found I made a mistake. I had Patrick come down and see if he could find the mistake. Instead, he found a different one. So, tomorrow I will fix them both and sew the quilt top together. It's funny because I found another mistake and fix that earlier when I was doing the last row. I must have been off that day, because two mistakes where in the last row and the other one is in the second to last row. Oh, well. Now is the time to fix them!

I then pulled out this quilt that is ready to be quilted. I need to figure out what I want to do for quilting designs. I was playing with a couple different ideas. Still not sure which one I will do, but I'll keep looking at the quilt. It will tell me what it wants eventually. I'm going toward feathers. Funny how I want to quilt during the summer time!! I can't believe all the sudden I want to quilt this, and it's so dang hot!! Ugh! When will I figure out that winter time is the time to be quilting!!

Last night I worked on this quilt. I am hand piecing this quilt.

I was ironing this, so it looks better. I have the two pieces to put on it. I was putting the muslin pieces on the blocks, so I can just grab one and sew it on the top. This was started over 15 years ago. I'm not sure if I have enough muslin to finish it, but I do have three rows so far. There seems to be enough muslin there for the pieces. It's a wait and see game. I may have to see if mom still has some muslin that I can use with it. Not ready to check it out yet.

Things are good. Best wishes to all and be Happy Quilting!

Amazing How I Can't Keep My Quilt Room Clean!

Today was another great start. I walked with our neighbors. Got in a lot of walking.

Got back home, started doing laundry. I got quite a bit done actually. The morning was more for cleaning then it was for anything else. I got a lot of cleaning done. It is interesting how much of a mess I can make. lol

After lunch I headed downstairs, and saw this wonderful mess. So I had to clean it up before I could work on the Black and White quilt. Or any other quilt! As I was putting things away, the doorbell rang. I answered it to the postal worker who asked me to sign for my package.  WOOHOO! My butterfly fabric that I ordered from eBay was here!!

I paid enough for it but it was worth getting!

I then started taking the red fabric out of the quilt! I realized I only needed two pieces out of the fabric. I ended up with 1 1/2 yards extra! lol - I have plenty of fabric for another day.

I'm happy to say, the red is gone. It looks a lot better! I will now have to figure out the center. I'm not sure how I'm going to do the applique in there, but it will be fun to figure something out there.

This is the container I bought yesterday for my embroidery. I have a tray in the box that holds smaller things. I have the pattern and books under the tray. I also found my kit that I bought last year in Portland.

I finished this off this morning as well. This is block #10 of the Bountiful Baskets. I will be posting my finished baskets on it's own page. I had fun doing the embroidery! I'm not sure what I will do tonight. I have plenty of things to work on. I may work on another basket or I may do some quilting. Still haven't decided.

After working on the butterfly quilt, I worked on the Black and White quilt for Katt.

I was trimming the blocks then putting them together.

I'm happy to say, I have three rows done. I need to do the other three rows, and will do that tomorrow. I will then put them all together by rows. I like how it's coming out. Just hope Katt likes it as well. It's coming along faster than I thought. Since I had to fix the butterfly quilt, I didn't get as much done on this as I would have liked. That's okay, I have plenty of time this week.

The sun was out and it was gorgeous! Really nice day! I spent most of it downstairs. Love the glass windows in my quilt room!

Happy Quilting!!

A Day in Tumwater

I got up and went to Ruth's to take a walk. We walked around the neighborhood. Afterwards I got back home, collected my coupons for JoAnne's and headed for my cousins house.

I arrived at 10 am and we went shopping. We hit the "World Market," "JoAnne's," "Fred Meyers," and hit the nursery. I bought a storage case for my embroidery. I had two coupons that helped out a lot. I also got my 10% VIP card from JoAnne's from my membership with TAS. They have better cards now. Cindy and I then went to the nursery, where I bought some strawberries for Patrick. I also picked out a pretty flower that I don't even know the name of. lol

We had a great time, and when I got home I was trying to figure out what was wrong with my fitbit. It wasn't working right. I couldn't get it to sync. So, I unloaded and re-loaded the program. Then I decided I better try recharging it, since the reload told me my battery was low. Of all things, my battery much have been low because it finally started working. Go figure! I had charged it on Saturday and made sure it was a couple hours.

I finished the petals on this block. I finished the last one today. I'm getting ready to do the embroidery now.

We bowled tonight and I bowled a 224, 225, 258. Not bad! Remember 9 pin no tap. I'm getting there!

May you have a great day! Happy Quilting!

Memorial Day 2015

Before I talk about my craft, I would like to give my thanks to those who served to keep us free.

James M. Hodge, great grandfather who served during the Civil War.

Eddy Study and his "Chum" during WWI

John Wineland, injured during the Civil War.

Two other family members who served during WWII

May they all rest in peace. There are more in my family who served. I haven't found their photos yet. I know I have them, but there are too many boxes to go through to find them right now.

Now on to my day.....

Today we meet for Brazilian Embroidery! I worked on the purple flower on the bottom as well as the pink flower on the left.

I was able to get a lot done at our meeting. We had fun! Mom came for the first time and we got her started on her piece like this one. She has a kit for when she's done with this piece. I have one too, and I'm getting close to being able to start it. I really am having fun doing these flowers. I can see where some of this will work great in quilts.

When I got home, I sat and worked on the big flower in the center. I worked on it while Patrick and I watched an old movie. At first I was doing it wrong, then went to my book, The Art of Dimensional Embroidery (Fifth Edition) by Maria A. Freitas. That book is awesome when it comes to showing me what I need to do. I have one more set of flowers to do. I also need to finish up the french knots and then I can pull out my kit and work on it.

After I finished the flower, I decided to go back and work on block #10 of the Bountiful Baskets. 

I had this much done last night.

Now I'm working on the flower. I have a hand painted fabric that will work great on this block. I have two of the petals basted on, and will work on it the rest of the night. I'm hoping to finish it tonight. Would be great to have 10 blocks done.

Since I'm going to my cousins tomorrow in Tumwater, I won't be able to work on the Black and White quilt. I'll have to wait till Wednesday to get that all put together. I can't wait to see how it looks ones the blocks are put together. I still have to wait for that Orange fabric Katt wants for the border. I'll go ahead and put the small part of black on the first border. As long as I do all the borders the same way, it doesn't have to be mitered.

Back to another movie, so will pull out the basket block and try to get it done tonight. It's been a good day.

Oh, I would like to say thank you to who ever was so kind as to pay for my parents breakfast yesterday morning. They (a family) must have seen my father's hat, as he wears his hats that show he's a vet. A family was so kind that they paid for his meal and everyone that was with them. They will be next to "pay it forward." Thank you for your kindness, whoever you are.

Happy Quilting!

A Planned Day That Actually Worked

Today started out early. I didn't sleep very that well. I sat and played games as well as started to work on the basket block I was working on last night.

This morning I finished this block. I had finished the applique of the last petal and then did the embroidery. This makes block #9 done.

I then went a baked chocolate chip cookies for Patrick. I decided to use up some of my chips that were left over from other things. I had some mints as well as chocolates. They turned out great. I also added nuts.

Then I headed downstairs, while Patrick and Phillip changed oil in their cars.

Since I just needed one row of blocks on the Black and White quilt, I matched them up. Actually I took the row I needed. Put the blocks on the side of the table.

Then I took one block at a time and put it on the table above my sewing machine. Then I sewed each piece according to the block I needed. That way, I didn't end up sewing the wrong block again. I matched each one and finished each block, one or two at a time. When I got down to the end, I sewed a couple pieces wrong and had to take them apart. I was lucky, because I was close to having no more triangles or 4 squares left. I do have some pieces left over to sew together. I'm going to sew them up and use them for the pillow case that will go with the quilt. Now I just need to sew them all together. I trimmed one of the blocks before I gave it up. Patrick wanted to go shopping for supper. lol

Now that I'm upstairs and ready to relax and watch TV, I'll work on block #10 of Bountiful Baskets. They are going fast. It helps that I have a lot of the baskets already done.  I may even pull out the variation nine patch quilt and work on it. Should be interesting. I was thinking I need to find my Baltimore Liberty quilt blocks and work on that as well.

We are doing great. Life is good. Happy Quilting!

Finished Basket #9

Last night I was able to work on the basket block. 

I worked on the center pieces last night. I found that I didn't care for the center piece on the left. I had it all appliqued on the block. Then I found it didn't fit right and was a little of center. So, I pulled it apart. I can give myself some credit, it was so hard to take out. I guess you can say I do a great job of applique when it doesn't want to come out. 

I did the embroidery on the right flower and called it a night. 

This morning I worked on the block as I was playing my game on the tablet. I liked the center better today then I did last night. 

I was able to get the block done this morning. This is block #9 of Bountiful Baskets.

Once I had that done, Patrick woke up. lol  We then went and cleaned out the garage and went through a few boxes we had. We stacked Katt's boxes up. Now I can get to my stuff and she can get to hers. After that, we went to the movies. We saw "Tomorrowland" and I would recommend it! It was a great movie. Good points in it too. 

We then went to Red Lobster down in Kelso. It was Patrick's Birthday meal for me. He's a sweetie. We had crab and came home. 

I needed to get more walking in, so I walked the neighborhood. I chatted with 3 of our neighbors as I walked by. It's so nice to have wonderful neighbors like we have. They are very friendly. We may not see each other every day, but when we do see each other we stop and get caught up. 

Tomorrow I'm hoping to get back to the Black and White quilt downstairs. Patrick wants to get some work out in the garden. While he's in the garden, I can work downstairs. 

Tonight I will be working on block #8.

This morning I finished that petal and basted the next one. I'm going to work on the rest of this and hope to have it finished. I will work on getting the 5 blocks marked for this month. June is going along pretty fast, so I may have to mark 10 instead of 5. lol 

Looking forward to being Happy Quilting!

Fridays Applique Meeting

Today was applique at moms. I had a list of stuff I had to do before going. I needed to get over to Quilter's Junction to give her the photos from the retreat. I also wanted to go to Walmart (hate that place) and pick up my hair dangler spray. I met Ruth this morning and we walked a lot farther than we did the other day. She's doing great with her cane and my arm. We went all the way down our end of the street. Willie (her dog) couldn't wait to get out and walk.

Afterwards I got in the car and headed for Walmart. I got what I needed and headed to Quilter's Junction. I was getting ready to load the photos when I realized her computer is way to old and doesn't have the slit to put the disk in. I figured I could load it onto a thumb drive at moms, but when I got to moms, she didn't have the slit either! So, I'm going to do that here in a few minutes and take the thumb drive back over to the shop. Never fails. I loved Evelyna's response! She burst out laughing when I told her on the phone that I need to do it at home.

I worked on this basket block. It's block #9 in the Bountiful Baskets. This block hasn't been as easy as it could have. This is the block I basted the leaves on and realized I needed to put the stem on. So, today, I took out the basting threads. Then I realized I could have left 3 of those on, and just needed to take out the top one. Oh, well. Put them back in and appliqued them down. Then I started putting the petals of this flower on. Then I realized it would be easier to do the whole flower than it would to do each petal. At the same time, I looked at the pattern and realized that's exactly how the pattern was done. DUH! Since I'm doing back basting, I need to pay more attention to how these blocks are put together. It will make life so much easier!!

While I was getting my computer out, I found my African Violets where looking sick. Broke my heart!! I love those plants. One of the plants was dead. Another one is looking just as bad. I can't understand how it got over watered. Patrick doesn't water them, and I don't water till they are ready. I'm wondering if it was when it rained like crazy outside and no sun got in the house. I didn't water them for a long time, and thought they needed water. Guess not. Oh, well. I may re-pot them later. Patrick brought me home some potting soil and I have a couple plants in the house that I want to group together and another that needs to be separated.

Patrick wants to go to the movies tomorrow. Not sure if I will get time to work on the Black and White quilt. I did get another quarter yard black fabric yesterday. I'm really wanting to get moving on that quilt. ----Might go down there tonight, as Patrick's outside doing a few things in the yard. Might give me time to cut the fabric and get the pieces sewn together.....Will see if I can do that after I'm done with the computer.

After our meeting at moms, I met dad at the garden. He drove over to the garden area (because he needed to take stuff - he said). I asked him to take a walk with me. We walked around the neighborhood. He did really good. He was breathing heavy a couple times and stopped to tell me about something as we walked. I waited till he was ready to walk again. Told him I had PT Wednesday but realized it's the following week. May go anyway to walk with him.

My "wish list" for this weekend is to work on the baskets, the Black and White, and even get a few stitches in on the quilt downstairs. May start quilting on one of the ones I have up stairs too. Then I think, Careful, the wish list is getting too long! We'll see how it goes this weekend. May you have a better chance at being Happy Quilting!!

Applique Meeting Today

Today was a good day. I'm happy to say they come often lately. I went down to Ruth's to get her out walking. We walked farther today then we did the other day. She's really getting out there. Funny part was that I had been so tired after I got back home that I fell asleep on the couch for an hour. I slept a little longer than I thought I would. Got up and headed to the meeting.

We had a great day at the meeting.

I took the baskets with me to work on. I finished this one.

Started and finished this one.

Started and finished this one as well. I took a photo of it at the meeting for our groups blog.

I decided to applique down the leaves on this one. Almost done with it. I will work on it tonight. I would like to get another flower done. I love how fast these are.

After getting home, I was still tired and crashed for another hour before we headed out to the restaurant for my Birthday dinner. My parents were already there waiting. Phil forgot and didn't make it. At first I thought he had trouble on the way home from work, but he just forgot. We had a good dinner.

Got home a little bit ago, and I'm planning on working on the baskets tonight.  I need to mark a couple more blocks and will work on that this weekend. I have more eagle patterns to copy as well, so I'll pull out moms lightbox and see if I can get more done.

I have another group meeting tomorrow at moms. I need to correct the date on the blog about our second meeting next month. In the meantime, be Happy Quilting!

I Don't Do Scrap Quilts.....So I Thought!

Today was an early start. I won all three games of cribbage and skunked Art in the last game. Went down to see Ruth but she already left to put flowers on her family's graveside.

I decided to get back downstairs and work on the Black and White quilt. I was down there at 10 am this morning.

These where the pieces I left behind when I called it quits the other day.

Today, I had a visitor that wanted to be around me. Charlie has her quilt and spent the morning with me. She wanted to be on the quilt frame, but changed her mind and joined me at my table.

I pulled down the block I needed to make. I had several of them that needed to be done. It was the block I wasn't getting done last time. I put the pieces on my table to see I could get them done easier that way.

I had to make more triangle pieces and 4 patches. I still need to do a few more, but that's okay. I made more as I was going. It feels like I'm coming up short on the black.

I don't understand how quilters say they can get a quilt done in a day! There is no way a quilt with this many pieces can be done in a day! It takes too much work to get a quilt done. I trim as I go, to make sure they will fit right. I like to make sure they are coming together right. I can't just say, "oh, well," and keep going. I was taking some pieces out today.

This is 5 x 7 rows. I need one more row before this is done. I will have to trim up the blocks before they go together. I was doing some of that the other day. Today, I was trying to get the blocks done. I need 7 more blocks. I just hope I have enough pieces to do it. I am out of black with white prints. I did cut some solid black just to help me out. I may have to do that again too. I'm going to figure out what the row is that I need to do, and pull the blocks down to help me make sure I have them right.

At 2 pm this afternoon, I called it quits. I wanted to do some applique. I'm missing my applique work.

I added a few more grapes to applique down. One at a time. I'm getting there! I need to mark for the embroidery work, and I can work on that as well. I may work on the baskets tonight. I'm wanting to get another basket done.

After supper, Patrick came in and told me there were some really pretty flowers outside. I decided to head out there and see what I missed. (All because of rain!)

So, here are a few of my photos! I'll add more on my nature page.

That's just a taste of what I found outside. Check out my nature photos page. We have some really pretty flowers out there!

I'm going to get back to appliqueing tonight. That will make my day a very good day! Happy Quilting!