Happy to be Scrappy

Orca Bay Show and Tell

2012-02-06T16:45:00.000-06:00

Yes, I have shown this picture before. Or at least one very much like it. But I wanted to participate in the final Mystery Monday Link Up at Bonnie Hunter's blog. This was a terrific mystery quilt. A ton of scrappy sewing with great directions. It was so much fun to see everyone's progress along with all the different color selections.
My top has not made it past the flimsy stage. But it will. This is the next top I plan to quilt. So hopefully I will quit procrastinating and get her done.
I'm sure like many others in internet/blogland I will patiently await the next mystery Bonnie shares with her faithful followers.

Happy sewing,

Julie

Variety

2012-02-01T18:13:00.000-06:00

I have been playing with the bonus red and white 1/2 square blocks. They will finish at 2" each. These have been my leaders/enders for my last two projects. And every once in a while I just sew through a stack of them so there are more of them to play with.
Here are a few of the different layouts I've tried. And goodness knows there are a lot more block possibilities than this.

Aren't they great. I just love how red those reds are. This just may lead me to start a red/white sampler quilt. But first I have to get done with what is roaming around in my head.

Happy sewing.

Julie

Bonus Triangles

2012-01-25T20:12:00.000-06:00

While I was making my Orca Bay top I was using these red and white and the blue and white bonus triangles as my leader/enders. They measure 2 1/2" after being trimmed down. There are 102 of the red and about as many of the blue.

The entire time I was sewing them I just kept thinking about doing more flying geese. Then I laid a few out in the pinwheel design and now I think that is the way I am going to have to go. There aren't enough to make much of anything. But the lucky thing is I still have over 3 yards of the background fabric.

These bonus triangles are from this quilt.

I made this top several years ago. I had to flip through several of my notebooks to find the pattern I used. What surprised me is that it is a Bonnie Hunter pattern called Fourth of July . You can find the pattern for free on her blog. This was made long before I was a daily follower of Bonnie's blog. I remember searching for scrap quilts using red/white/blue and this is what I came up with. I never would have guessed that a few years later I would have made so many of her patterns. Someday when I learn to do something besides straight line and meandering this will get quilted. It needs something a little more special in the white areas. So in the mean time it has stayed folded up on my quilt rack. I had to move 4 other tops before I got down to this one. Guess I better learn how to quilt.

Happy Sewing

Julie

2012-01-18T17:25:00.001-06:00

Here are my five inch blocks with what was to be their sashing. Yes, WAS is the word I used. After getting off of here I am going to tear this all out and hope that the blocks survive the process. I absolutely love the look of it. It couldn't be scrappier. But it couldn't be more of a disaster.

When seen up close it is apparent that I needed to spend more time making sure that I was getting an accurate seam allowance. Can you see the puckers? I can. And hopefully, I will learn a very valuable and time consuming lesson to take more time and pay attention.

I thought I could stretch, tug or pull this into submission. Nope it's not going to work. This can't be pressed out. Trust me, I tried. So this evening when I should be working on the border I will be ripping ALL of this out.

Does anyone need a few hundred 1/2 square blocks that are ALMOST 1" each?

Julie

Orca Bay Happy Dance

2012-01-15T08:57:00.001-06:00

Click on the picture to see a larger picture.

It's done. The top that is. This is my version of Bonnie Hunter's Mystery Quilt Orca Bay. Another great mystery from Bonnie. It was a fun pattern from start to finish. Of course she included more string blocks. But this time I was ready to make them. After all this wasn't my first Bonnie mystery quilt. Here is my version of Roll Roll Cotton Bole which was my first effort at string blocks.

Anyway, this is it. A back has been chosen for it. So now it's down to the quilting.

Happy sewing.

Julie

Block of the Month

2012-01-12T17:12:00.000-06:00

Here is what I have been working on this afternoon. It is the December block of the month for the spiky/peaky Kansas colors blocks from Quilting on the Square in Holton.

And here are all that are done to date. These are actually going to end up looking quite nice. Could not have proved that by me when we first started making them. That might be because the yellow one on the lower left was the first and it is very plain. These blocks are on a dark blue and not black background. I am still not imagining any settings for them. But there are still five to go so plenty of time.

Well off to work on my Orca Bay borders. One done. Three to go.

Happy Sewing

Julie

On The Wall

2012-01-09T06:00:00.004-06:00

Well, I'm still working on Orca Bay and it looks done from this angle but it still needs the border put on. There will be time for that this week. I love the way the yellow/orange turned out with the blue. Not too much of any one color to overwhelm the other. However, I must say that I love the red versions too. This may be one time that I might be a little disappointed that I veered from the original version that used red.

Here is a close up of a couple of the blocks.

I plan to have the top done by this coming Saturday. I hope to take it to show and tell at the LQS in Holton. This is another one of Bonnie's quilts with a big "Wow Factor" so I do expect a few ohhh's and ahhh's.

There was no sewing for me on Sunday. We had a birthday party for my mother. She turns 81 today. Not everyone was able to make it but we turned it into a great day of food and card games anyway. Happy Birthday Mom!

In the midst of her presents I was given one of my own. I had asked for a mailbox for Christmas and was given a terrific white one. I know, it's a weird present to ask for. But it beats a toaster every time. Unless, of course you need a toaster. Anyway, back to the mailbox. My white box turned into a work of art. DS Jesse and DIL Victoria decided to take pictures of quilts and put them on the box. Then it occurred to them to use pictures of quilts I have given to them and put them on the box. So here are pictures of each side of my new mailbox.

This is the side that will show the most.
Starting from the top left:
Bugs in a Snowball - 2008
Pinwheel Daisies - 2008?
Angels for Grace - 2008
Pinwheel Daisies alternate block.
Bottom row:
Churn Dash - maker unknown
Christmas Trees 2011
Pinwheel - maker unknown
Blue Sampler - 2007?

This side will be next to another mailbox so it won't be very visible. Top row:
First three blocks - maker unknown
Blue Sampler - 2007
Angels for Grace - 2008
Christmas Trees alternate block - 2011
Blue Sampler - 2007
Random block - maker unknown.

Thanks to whoever made all of those random blocks. They helped turn my new mailbox in to one of the most unique mailboxes in town. And a huge thank you to Jesse and Victoria for making such a fun project.

Be sure to visit all of the great design walls at Patchwork Times and to see the Orca Bay updates at Quiltville .

Have a great day.

Julie

On The Wall

2012-01-02T09:15:00.000-06:00

Like many other people this morning, I have my Orca Bay quilt laid out and ready to be sewn into rows.

It took several hours and much searching of those tiny pictures to get this one laid into rows. It is such a busy quilt with all of those string blocks. But I don't think I would change a thing. This is one quilt where I did not worry too much about fabric placement. The main thing I worked with was the yellow centers. There are two of each fabric. One in the dark block and one in the light. So I did attempt to keep the two apart.

Here is a close up of the two rows I have together as of this morning. This is the first quilt where those dancing cats appear. That is a fabric I filched from my mother. She contributed several of the blacks that appear in this quilt.

Well, as soon as this is posted I can get back at it. So I'm off.

Be sure to check out all of the design walls at Patchwork Times and of course the home of Orca Bay Quiltville .

Have a great day.

Julie

A New Year 2012

2012-01-01T08:27:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year.

Hopefully, everyone had a safe and enjoyable New Year's Eve. I choose to spend it at home sewing. So yes, it was a good night for me. I finished up all of the components of the Orca Bay mystery. This morning when I woke up I had planned to work on my 5" blocks which can be seen here . That was while I was still under the impression I had one more day until the final Orca Bay part was revealed. I was wrong. Today is the day. Therefore, I will spend the morning laying out all of these blocks.

So off I go. And yes, this is what I call fun.

Julie

Kindle Cover

2011-12-29T14:19:00.000-06:00

My daughter Jennifer gave me a Kindle for Christmas and of course it needs a cover. So I did some looking around the internet for a pattern and was able to find one that I could tweak a little and make it mine. Here is the Kindle sleeve pattern I used to make mine. It came from Elizabeth's Whimsie's. A site I hadn't visited before so I'll have to go back and take a look when I have more time. It was a fairly simple pattern to follow.

Here are a few pictures of mine in progress.

Since I already have all of these yellow and orange strips cut for my Orca Bay project I decided to use them for a back.

I don't sew each of my strips to the backing paper. Just on the first two strips. The rest of them I leave loose. That way I only have one row of stitching to pull the paper off of.

This Friendship Star finished at 3". Can you see the bee that I fussy cut for the center? I found the pattern for the star here at The World Wide Quilting Page . There were several blocks that gave different size options in their directions. That background fabric is actually brown. Even though it looks somewhat red in this picture.

Here are the front and back before quilting. The fabrics on the left were given to me by daughter Jennifer last year for Christmas. I have been looking for a way to use them. So this couldn't have been a better solution. And there is still a lot of fabric to use for something else.

Ta Da. Here it is. A Kindle and cover. Now I'm ready to take it anywhere.

Happy reading.

Julie

On The Wall Today

2011-12-26T09:18:00.002-06:00

Since this post is for design wall Monday I'll start it with my current project. Which as can be seen by the blocks in the picture above is Orca Bay. When Bonnie first posted this step I was so disappointed that I did not go with her choice of red. The blocks with the red center are just amazing. What I was thrilled to discover though, is that the blocks made with the sunny yellow and orange make me smile just as much. I still have 9 more of the dark blocks to do and then can get started on the light blocks. Shouldn't be a problem as I have some extra time off this week.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. I sure did. There was a lot of time spent with family. Which around here usually ends up with a good card game. And we certainly worked a few of those in.
I'll end this post with some of my favorite gifts. The homemade kind. Be sure to click on the pictures so you can see a larger view.

This is a quilt my mother made for me. I have been eyeing this top for years and I am just thrilled that she quilted it. And better yet - gave it to me. Thank you Mom it's great.

Here is a vase that my daughter Jennifer made. Isn't it stunning. Every view of it is a little different with the swirls of color streaking through it. She is lucky to have found a place that she can continue to blow glass and make such beautiful pieces.

And these are some of the ornaments that my 3 year old granddaughter Grace made. She had a little help from her mom making them but I believe those paint jobs to be all her own. I'm a little concerned over that Jayhawk painted gingerbread man. So we will have to get her to watch more Kansas Wildcat games. These, of course, will be yearly additions to my Christmas tree. I am already looking forward to "finding" them in one of the boxes next year. Do you forget some of the decorations, only to find them the next year and it's just like getting them all over again.

Be sure to check out all of the great posts at Patchwork Times and Quiltville's Quips & Snips.

Have a happy and safe week to come.

Julie

Orca Bay Progress

2011-12-19T16:16:00.000-06:00

This weekend I spent more time getting ready for Christmas then I did at my sewing machine. Priorities. There are 80 blocks done for Orca Bay and 60 to be pressed then they can be added to the done pile. That leaves a whole lot more to be made. I can see from my picture that the stacks still in the plastic bag exceed the stacks of cut corners. Guess that means I'll spend a little more time at the cutting mat before these are finished.
It is raining like crazy right now. And the weather men have promised that the rain will turn into snow before morning. I just hope they are wrong about the sleet and possible freezing rain. I'd rather have a foot of snow then a skiff of freezing rain.

Click on the picture to make it bigger.

I'm sure I will be the only one who can tell from this picture, but that is my 3 year old granddaughter kneeling on the right behind baby Jesus. She was Mary in the church Christmas skit. She did not have a speaking part but when it came time to sing she knew the words and sang along with the older kids.

I found out later that her mom told her to sit very still. She had been asked to wear her boots and she told her mom that Mary didn't wear boots. Grace thought Mary would have worn white tennis shoes that flash if you tap your foot. I never saw a flash coming from under the manger so she never moved her feet. That child is such a good kid.

Have a wonderful week. Merry Christmas!

Julie

Having Fun

2011-12-13T18:59:00.000-06:00

Last night I finished up the 128 triangle string blocks I needed for the Orca Bay mystery quilt. These were a lot of fun to make. I enjoyed working with the yellows and oranges. And they were just the right size. Not as large as the string blocks we made last year for Roll Roll Cotton Boll and 2" larger than the itty bitty 3 /12" string blocks needed for Part 2 of Orca Bay. Now I'm ready for Part 5. Bring on Friday.

Since part 4 is ready to go that left me to work on another project. So when I got home from work today I made three more of these blocks that will finish at 5". These three give me a total of 15 blocks.

The top of the blanket chest that these are being made for measures
25" x 37". So as of right now I am figuring to set these in a three by five setting with something for sashing and a narrow scrappy border. Tomorrow I'll start messing with some scraps to figure out the sashing. Right now I'm thinking a four patch where the sashings meet. Be sure to click on the picture so you can get a larger view of the blocks. I'm not sure how that black one is going to fit in with all the rest. But since the whole thing is scrappy it will probably just blend in. I used the brown with it to tone down that deep purple and the black. I'm not really sure that helped.

Have fun sewing,

Julie

On The Wall Today

2011-12-12T08:17:00.000-06:00

What a great weekend. Most of it was spent at my sewing machine. And when not in the sewing room, I was with family. It just couldn't have been better.

I was able to finish my cardinal runner/hanging in time to take it to Quilting on the Square in Holton for show and tell.

The finished size is 38" x 18 1/2". I put a hanging sleeve on the back so it can go on the wall or table top.

Here are a couple of close up pictures. Which may not be such a good idea. But here they are anyway.

I was also able to almost finish part 4 of Orca Bay . I had a lot of fun with this part. I pulled out most of my yellows and oranges. There were only a few that just were not going to work for these blocks. And the next time I need strings of this color there will already be some cut. Unlike this time when there were almost none pre-cut.

There are just eight blocks left to finish. So that will be done in no time. Then I will be able to move on to something else until the next part comes out this Friday.

Well since it is Monday it's off to work I go. Have a great day and a wonderful week.

Julie

Good Morning !!!

2011-12-09T07:29:00.000-06:00

It's Friday and I am home and soon to be at my sewing machine. I realized it's the middle of December and I still have a few vacation days left. So I decided to treat myself with a "me" day. And there is no where I would rather be than right here in my sewing room. And of course I had to take a Friday off instead of let's say a Monday because the next Orca Bay part came out today. So on to part 4 of Orca Bay.

The boxes are what I have pre-cut and ready for the latest string blocks we are doing. From left to right misc., 1 1/2" and 2". Yes, nothing is cut. And with that said...I am off of here and can be found with a rotary cutter in my hand for the next several hours. Yippee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No work today.

Have a great day.

Julie

On The Wall

2011-12-05T06:44:00.001-06:00

Here is part three of my Bonnie Hunter Orca Bay mystery quilt. This is 350 half square blocks that will finish at 1 1/2". This part was a breeze. I can't wait for Friday!

This is my cardinal quilt pinned and ready for its quilting. I am looking forward to seeing this one done. I love the way the border turned out. Those flying geese finished at 1" x 2". They are bonus triangles from my Christmas Tree Quilt that I made last year. The Tree quilt is a Judy Laquidara pattern. The cardinal quilt is a couple of Thimbleberry blocks I combined with my flying geese to end up with this.

Have a great Monday and week to come.

Julie

On The Wall Today

2011-11-28T07:20:00.000-06:00

Well, I have been able to make progress on Orca Bay. I have all of the hour glass blocks made. These are the units needed. Plus a few others.

They turned out better than expected. I usually have trouble with this pattern. Only two went in the trash. The rest will work just fine.

Here are 50 of the 72 string blocks needed. The hardest part of this step was committing to a color. I know my primary color is going to be yellows/oranges and I had thought I would use greens with that. But my daughter and mother both said they liked blue. So blue it is. Not to lead either of them to believe this might end up on their bed. Deciding that might end up being the hardest part.

Be sure to visit Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times to see all of the great projects there today.

And for directions to Orca Bay visit Bonnie Hunter here.

Have a great day.

Julie

Scrappy Mess

2011-11-26T09:53:00.000-06:00

String blocks in progress. See there on the left - two are done! That leaves just 70 more to be made. Yesterday was spent cutting strips. The box on the left is full of actual scrap strips but that wasn't going to be enough variety. Which led to the two boxes on the right. They are 1 1/2" and 2" strips. Most of the 2" strips won't be used except for the corners. I'm finding that 2" may be just a little too wide to fit a minimum of 5 strips per 3 1/5" paper piece. I actually read the directions more than one time to convince myself that they were really supposed to be only 3 1/5". They are.

Here are my 1/4 square triangle blocks. We need 224 but I'm sure there are a few extra here. At last count 235. It is always nice to have a few extra available. That way when you get to the end of where they are being used there is still a variety to choose from But what does one do with the left overs. I'm still trying to figure that out from the border pieces of my Roll, Roll, Cotton Bole quilt. I have quite a few of these Here purple and green sections left over. They are too nice to be thrown away and too few to make anything. So into the scrap, not really a block, storage tote. Guess the left overs from these triangle blocks will join them. Maybe Bonnie Hunter will come up with a design to use the leftover almost block pieces:)

And that is my progress to this time on my Bonnie Hunter Orca Bay quilt. You can find the directions for it here.

Well, enough messing around it is back to the sewing machine for me.

Have a great day.

Julie

Orca Bay Week One

2011-11-21T07:57:00.000-06:00

Bonnie is doing a link up of our Orca Bay progress. So I am doing a second post this morning specifically for posting my progress.
Here are my 1/4 square triangles all ready to be pressed open. This was this morning (way to early). And if blogger wasn't giving me fits I would show you the picture from two hours later with all but 60 of these pressed and ready to be paired up. Oh, well blogger wins. No second picture.

Making Progress

2011-11-21T07:22:00.001-06:00

Here are the 5" blocks that I made this last week. I haven't decided what else I am going to do to them. I am sure there will be some sashing and maybe another small block to border them. They are for a table topper for a blanket chest my son made when he was in high school.

Here are the 1/4 square triangles that are for Orca Bay (see it here). This is Bonnie Hunter's latest mystery quilt. This picture was at 5:00 this morning. Right now there are only three more stacks of 20 to be pressed open. So I am hoping to get these sewn together in the next day or two.

Don't forget to visit Judy L's Design Wall Monday here.

Have a great day!

Julie

Orca Bay Is Here

2011-11-18T07:22:00.000-06:00

Yes, right here in Kansas. Or where ever you might be. Just go Here to find Bonnie Hunter's latest mystery quilt.

I can't wait to get started. But I suppose I should go to work first. They might not understand another day off for quilting. Hmmm, wonder what we will be doing with 448 quarter square triangles. Something good, I suppose.

Of course there is still one little problem for me. I can't decide for sure what colors I want to use. I keep pulling colors and laying them next to each other then putting them back. MY SEWING ROOM IS A DISASTER. I was hoping that the first clue was going to make me decide. Nope, not going to happen. The first clue uses the neutrals and the blacks and I already know what they look like. So I guess there is yet another week of indecision. One thing for sure - my quilt won't be red, blue and black. Mainly, because I have just about exhausted my supply of red.

So off to work for a day of hurry up and wait. Then home to sew, sew, sew.

Have a great day.

Julie

On The Wall Today

2011-11-14T07:28:00.001-06:00

Yes, this really is still what I'm working on. And as of this week it has leaves on either side. They are sewn on so they are probably staying. I have an enormous amount of bonus half square triangles left over from my Christmas tree quilt. You can see it here http://juliekayequilts.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-presents.html I don't have time this morning to figure out the link thing right now.
Anyway, I think those bonus triangles are going on as a border to the cardinals. We'll see.

I am also working on this block. It looks pretty large in that picture. But it will finish at 5". I don't have figured out yet how I'm going to use these. But I am ready to get at making more. I started with some 1 1/2" scraps and started making 1/2 sq triangles. Then figured out the rest as I went along. I tried using EQ7 but I just couldn't make the measurements work for me. I wanted to work with strips and squares I already have cut and EQ wasn't doing that. So it all worked out in the end. But even though I wanted EQ so much that I finally bought it. It has still not helped me at all. Someday I will stay away from the sewing machine long enough to figure out how EQ works. Maybe.

Have a good day and a great week.

Julie

Nothing Much Done

2011-11-07T07:17:00.000-06:00

I just have not done much in the way of sewing for the last two weeks. I started on the cardinal runner at least two weeks ago. And this is all the farther it is.

I made three other blocks trying to get something to go on either side of the cardinals. None of them worked for me though. I think the tree will work but still need something else for the other side.

And as can be seen, I did get my b.o.m. done for Holton. And I don't even need it for another week or two. I am usually working on blocks the night before or even the morning of needing them. So I have accomplished something.

This is where I was trying to stretch my red and green fabrics to make a back for my Smith Mountain Morning. That did not work. I was trying to use the blocks that were made for the cardinal runner. (Those three blocks can be seen blending in with the SMM top.) I just could not get that piece of green to be large enough. So that is now all folded up and put away. And no I still don't like those blocks for the cardinal runner. They don't have enough color and it just makes it too long. I do have another piece of material (11 yards) that will obviously be large enough to cover the back. It was just something that I did not want to use.
If I sound whiny, I am. After all, it is Monday.

Julie

In Progress

2011-10-24T07:22:00.000-05:00

My Smith Mountain Morning quilt top is finally done. My motivation got lost somewhere in the middle of all those border pieces. Actually I think it was the strip that fits between the top and the border. After sewing on the 2" inner border that was called for I just could not get my pieced sections to fit. So after cutting off 1/2" all the way around it finally worked out. Borders are not really my thing. So after a week or so of putting it off I finally put it (border) on. Now on to the quilting.

This is what I started on this morning. Guess I just can't get enough of Christmas. So I've started this project which in my mind is just a table runner but in the book it's a quilt so it is yet to be seen what size the actual project will be. These cardinals are from a pattern in the Thimbleberries book Block by Block to Beautiful Quilts.

Five minutes til it's time to leave for work. So on to Monday and the beginning of a great week.

Julie

Pretties

2011-10-15T20:33:00.000-05:00

Here are some pretty table runners that I found at a yard sale on Friday. I just could not pass up the one with sunflowers. I have just the place for it. It was risky but they were run through the washer on the hand wash cycle and for the most part they did just fine. The dishtowel with veggies on it ended up with a few small holes in it but it will still look nice folded up. They were a steal just $2.75 for all of them. It still leaves me a little sad that someone put so much work into such pretty things and they end up in a yard sale for a few dollars. However, they are now out of a box and will be enjoyed once again.

And this great piece of material is over six yards and only cost $1.00. Be sure to click on the picture to super size it. This small picture distorts the view. There is no selvage information on the fabric and it doesn't feel like new material it just feels quite old so I'm sure it will end up the back of something simple. It would be great for the back of a tree skirt or table runner. With as much as there is it can go on the back of both. I ran it through the washer on hot and it did just fine. As great as it is it just doesn't have the feel of something I would want to back a big quilt I put dozens of hours into.

Just wanted to share my pretty things. Now I'm off to work on the last few blocks of my Smith Mountain Morning.

Julie

Design Wall Monday

2011-10-10T07:25:00.000-05:00

My version of Bonnie Hunter's Smith Mountain Morning has made it from the wall to the bed. However, what can't be seen from this picture is that it barely reaches the edges of the bed. That didn't come as a surprise. I knew that was going to be the case when I saw the finished quilt size given in the pattern book. I just needed to decide if it was going to be a bed quilt or one to be hung from the wall. And the bed wins. So now it's back to cutting and piecing more blocks. Which is really what I like to do anyway. Maybe that is why it's so hard for me to do a lap quilt. I'd rather be piecing.

Check out all of the great design walls at
http://www.patchworktimes.com/2011/10/10/design-wall-monday-october-10-2011/
I have to figure out how you all do that link thing.

Have a great day.

Julie

New Block Design?

2011-10-01T08:39:00.000-05:00

I chastise myself on a regular basis for not reading directions. It happens more and more all the time.

These are the two blocks for the Overbrook and Baldwin City block of the month. I've never been one to sit down and do these right when I bring them home. That said, this morning when I was making the block on the left I erred. Yep, it is very noticeable in the picture that something is just not right. Those corner four patches should all be facing the corners. And the flying geese should all be flying the same direction. Personally, I am just going to consider it a new block design. I've never liked having my blocks look like all the others. And in this case it is probably safe to say this block does not. Someone familiar with the actual block design might also notice that the center is not as it should be. In my defense the LQS did not give me the light piece of material so I had to substitute my own. But the nice hour glass design, that is NOT there, well that would be my fault for not reading the directions before cutting. I'm pretty certain that if I scrunch the block up enough that they won't notice all of the ~~errors~~ changes and Overbrook QS will hand me my next block. Which I will probably not make until the first Saturday of next month.

In my defense the block on the right for Baldwin City is just lovely.

Now on to prettier things. This is the way my Smith Mountain Morning looked on Tuesday.

I have since finished the other four blocks and am starting to get them sewed into rows. This quilt is going to be one of my favorites.

Have a great Saturday. I get the pleasure of spending the morning with Mom going to our two block of the month shops. And this afternoon Grace and I get to play the afternoon away. If anyone wants to join us at the Auburn parade we'll be there by two.

Julie

Followers

2011-09-27T08:18:00.001-05:00

I absolutely cannot get my Followers tab to work. One time it is there and the next time it's not. It is so frustrating. I have asked google for help. A lot of help that was. NONE ! I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling and that did not help. So I am truly sorry that if you should want to follow my blog the only way to do it is from the tab at the very top of the page. It means that your profile picture won't be seen on my page at this time. I'm just sure that at some time blogger will get this glitch worked out.

If you have been experiencing the same problem and have figured it out, please let me know. I would love to get it taken care of.

Julie

Days later same problem. BUT. But I did figure out that when I log in through Explorer the followers are there. It is when I use Firefox that they are missing. I really dislike Firefox but have to use it on one of my other computers in order to print. Nope, don't ask me that is. I don't know why.

On the Wall Today

2011-09-26T06:14:00.001-05:00

This week I am still working on my Smith Mountain Morning quilt designed by Bonnie Hunter. The wall doesn't look much different. But I am actually about done with all of the blocks. There are still six green stars to be made and I need to finish up the border units. I've moved on to using the border pieces as my leader/enders while making the green star blocks. Pretty soon I will need to pull back out my bonus triangles from other projects to use as leader/enders as I can see that this top is about together.

Visit Judy Laquidara and all of the great design walls at
http://www.patchworktimes.com/2011/09/26/design-wall-monday-september-26-2011/

Julie

A Good Day

2011-09-24T21:17:00.000-05:00

Today I feel so blessed. Tired but blessed. This morning I was at granddaughter Grace's soccer game in Topeka by 8:15. At three she is still unsure of what soccer is let alone whether or not she really wants to chase that ball around or just play with her friend Lucy. Either way, she is just adorable and a pleasure to be with.

After hitting the grocery store to stock up on everything. I took a much needed and deserved nap. Followed by an afternoon of my favorite pastime, sewing.
This is what I have up on the wall so far. It is starting to coming together. I feel like I'm making a lot of progress on it. I have been trying to decide if I want it to be predominately red or green. And after looking at this picture I'm leaning toward red. We'll see.

This evening mom and I headed to the lake to spend the evening with son Jesse, Victoria and Grace. Sister Joyce and Bill were there to share in the fun too. What a great time. We roasted hot dogs followed by marshmallows. We all ate way more than we needed too and just generally had a great time.

Victoria and Mom

Grace and I taking apart and blowing Cattail fluff.

Well, now the decision, what will end the day? TV, Sewing, Bed? I won't figure that out til I'm off of here. Night all.

Julie

On the Wall Today

2011-09-19T05:27:00.000-05:00

I had the opportunity to take a class from Bonnie Hunter last week in Holton, Kansas. She taught her techniques for her quilt Smith Mountain Morning. It was a great class. Bonnie is a super person with high energy and lots of great ideas.

So this week I am working on my version of Smith Mountain Morning. I wanted to do mine as a Christmas quilt therefore all the greens and reds. I already had a great selection left over from last year when I did Judy Laquidara's Walk In The Forest quilt from her book Weekend Quilts. So I just added a few more greens and reds and this is how it is turning out.

These blocks are the three blocks that I got done in the class and we were busy the entire time. It was a lot of instruction using the rulers Bonnie suggests you use to make the block easier in the long run. She uses the Easy Angle, Tri Tool, Rec Tool and the Companion Angle rulers. And they do work. It is worth the effort to figure it out.

And these are the 30 blocks I have been working on since the class. They just need red on the lower side and then a green on the other two sides. The pattern does not call for this many Cornerstone blocks but I will be making my quilt larger so it will be big enough for my bed. I have been using the pieces to make the stars center pinwheels as my leaders and enders. So I end up working on both the star and the cornerstone blocks at the same time.

After Bonnie's trunk show she asked if anyone had brought quilts made from her patterns and three of us had. Here is Bonnie and I showing my Roll Roll Cotton Bowl. It was so much fun to be a part of her trunk show. I also showed my version of Bonnie's Blue Ridge Beauty. You can see a picture of that on a previous post.

Be sure to check out all the design walls at http://www.patchworktimes.com/ Have a great week.

Julie

What a day !

2011-09-16T06:52:00.000-05:00

Bonnie Hunter was in town. Okay, she was in a town about an hour from Burlingame but close enough. I sure wasn't going to miss this opportunity and I'm thrilled to say I didn't.

Bonnie showed some of her spectacular quilts. Her blog and books do not do them justice. The colors are just amazing. And all the small pieces will just knock your socks off.

What was especially fun for me was that she asked anyone who had brought quilts made from her patterns to show them too. So here are Bonnie and I showing off my Roll Roll Cotton Bowl. I asked her to sign the label and of course she graciously did.

And then my version of Blue Ridge Beauty. I ended up naming my version Berry Bliss. It just didn't seem right to call it Blue. Here she is pointing out the variety of pinks.

It was just terrific to see a sampling of her quilts in person. She gave a great talk that encouraged creativity and self expression. I have no doubt that if she ever gets this close again I will be in attendance. And I'm sure there will be more quilts I've made of her patterns.

On day two of Bonnie's trip to Holton she gave a class for Smith Mountain Morning. This was not a quilt I was particularly interested in but since we have been doing pointy stars for our block of the month at Holton's Quilting on the Square it was the one chosen. Unless you see the quilt in person you don't know how vibrant brown and blue can be.

Here are Mom, Bonnie and I standing in front of her Smith Mountain Morning.

Our class was a lot of fun. But that is not as Bonnie would say an easy peasy quilt to make. Before I left home I was just sure I would have half of my blocks made and be ready to sew the top together in just a few days. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! I was lucky to get two of the star blocks made and one of the cornerstone blocks.

Here is a picture of my first star block. I see now that it was taken before it was finished and no I did not take a picture of my own block after it was done. Insert heel of hand to forehead here.

Here is a picture of Mom's. Isn't that going to be great in red/white and blue. My favorite quilt colors. Hint, Hint.

It was a great workshop and I for one can't wait to finish my quilt. Especially since Bonnie used my pieces a couple of times for some demonstrations. (My stuff was just closest.)

Thank you Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville fame http://quiltville.blogspot.com/ . And a big thank you to Mark and Connie of Quilting on the Square in Holton for hosting Bonnie.
http://quiltingonthesquare.com/

I had a great time. And now I'm off to work on my quilt.

Julie

Pressing and Cutting, Pressing and Cutting

2011-09-12T07:27:00.000-05:00

Can you tell what color my next quilt will be?

These are some of the materials I will be using at the workshop with Bonnie Hunter that is in Holton on Thursday. I was reading through the pattern this morning and just starting thinking that I was going to spend all my time pressing and cutting instead of sewing blocks. I know that it is a workshop to learn a method and I intend to listen and learn but I also plan to be ready. So after work today I am going to be pre-cutting some of the strips for the quilt. I won't cut it all out. After all I need to have something left so I can follow the directions.

So if you need to find me I will be in my sewing room pressing and cutting for what looks like hours and hours. No doubt enjoying every minute of it.

Julie

What I'm Working On

2011-09-05T05:30:00.002-05:00

My plans for yesterday fell through at the last minute. But that was A-Okay with me. I ended up spending a quilty morning finishing up the quilting on my table runner and sewing the binding on the table runner and my pink quilt. All that is left to do on them is hand stitching down that binding. Which is still the way I prefer to do it. As I am typing this though, I realize neither of them have a label which is something I usually do before sewing on the binding. So I will need to get off of here and get at making a couple of labels.

The binding I used for the runner is one of my favorite fabrics. I love those black flowers on that brown fabric. I am sorry to say that other than this one small scrap it is all used up. I have no idea where I bought it or what manufacturer it came from. There was nothing on the selvage edge to tell me. Or if there was I used it up in a previous project. Being a scrap quilter I have my go to favorites. They could end up in every quilt I do, color permitting of course, and this brown was one of them. Guess I'll have to stumble on to my next favorite.

Have a happy and safe Labor Day. I will be heading to the pond to go fishing with family and then to dinner with all of them. What will make it so good is of course family time. And it doesn't hurt that I will get to sew all morning. I love three day weekends.

Son Jesse and granddaughter Grace, fishing Memorial Day 2010.

Design Wall Monday August 29, 2011

2011-08-29T06:22:00.000-05:00

Here is my current project. These are blocks from Thimbleberries Block by Block book. The book shows using six blocks and making a wall hanging with a wide border. I will be making just one more block and then I plan to do some type of scrappy sashing and border. This will be for a table runner to go in my living room.

I also finished the quilting on my version of Bonnie Hunters Blue Ridge Beauty. This pattern is from her book Adventures with Leaders and Enders. It was an easy pattern to follow and a lot of fun to make. The two pieces I used for the back would not look good right next to each other but ended up looking just great when I put a scrappy strip of blocks between them. My plan is to get the binding on this one this week.

Have a great Monday and be sure to check out all of the other design walls at patchworktimes.com.

Procrastination

2011-08-21T09:55:00.001-05:00

Okay, this morning I am just full of other things I want to be doing besides what really needs done. I have spent an hour sewing. Cleaned the kitchen and done two loads of laundry. Oh, and wasted time writing this post. So now I should to get to the real needs of my day.

Thursday night an awesome wind blew through and did some horrific damage to my yard. I call it an awesome wind because I could hear it rolling in. Looking back on it I should have headed to the basement. It was that apparent that it was going to be a big blow. And what I thought was patio furniture taking a tumble must have actually been my huge old trees taking a break from their lofty heights.

This is a red bud tree that is broke in half and of course it is way over our heads. But as can be seen it is just laying up there side ways and will need to come down. And it seems we will just take the one next to it too.

Luckily this big branch broke off nicely at the top and just needs to be pulled down, cut up and cleaned up. The tree should live.

This big old Walnut tree was kind enough to lay itself down across my chain link fence. And to say it has caused us problems is an understatement.

This is how far we got. Four hours and still can't get that largest branch to break loose and to top it all off there is another broken branch way up on the left and not much left to the tree once it all comes off.

So after some consideration and frustration it has been decided that the entire tree must come down. Okay, it made me mad and I'm ready to make kindling out of it. We had an offer we couldn't refuse. BIL Bill is willing to come help with the removal in a few days. His help in this will be terrific. As you can see there is a metal building behind the tree and I am standing in between my house and the tree to take a picture. So there is some risk involved. But as long as I close my eyes when they make the final cut everything should turn out okay. And if not - that is what homeowners insurance is all about. Right?

Hope everyone has a lovely day. I know I am going to. I plan to spend the rest of it outside with my family. Yes, we will be working like crazy but it can be great fun to have a common goal.

Design Wall/Table

2011-08-15T17:11:00.000-05:00

This is what I have going on today. This was originally going to be part of the back to my pink quilt but it didn't make the "cut". So I decided to just make a table runner out of it to give as a bridal shower gift. I will give it and the pillow cases together. If it gets finished by this Saturday. No problem.

I see from this picture that nothing would make my kitchen table look good.

Enjoy what is left of your Monday. And be sure to check out all of the other design walls at Judy Laquidara's site. http://www.patchworktimes.com/2011/08/15/design-wall-monday-august-15-2011/ I see she has made it to Brownwood. Sounds like quite the move.

B.O.M. Saturday

2011-08-13T07:24:00.001-05:00

In my opinion it is too early on a Saturday morning to be up and thinking about quilting or blogging for that matter. I woke up 10 minutes ago (6:55) jumped out of bed, took a few bad pictures and here I am. Okay, I'm always up this early and usually at my sewing machine by now. But in less than an hour I'll be headed out to Holton to pick up this months B.O.M. These are not my colors but they are great blocks to be learning something new. And so far so good. My points are pretty good. Just don't look too close at the center of the orange one. And as seen in a previous post the one on the right had to be remade when I cut it wrong and then remade again when I was told they would ALL have the same blue background. But that just means I'll have yet another orphan block for my pile.

The colors are meant to be the same as what are in the Kansas flag. And since Kansas is celebrating 150 of statehood this year that seems very appropriate.

And now with absolutely no more time to waste I'm off to have a great day. Good thing I took time to run a spell check first though.

Read The Directions

2011-08-01T11:20:00.001-05:00

These are the pillowcases that will go with the pink quilt when it is done. Be sure to click on the picture so you can see the paisley fabric that was used. They would have been finished in no time at all but I am not one to read directions. Therefore, I spent time ripping out a seam that should never have been sewn. In this case the seam was the side and width of a pillowcase. Just reading the one line "fold in half - wrong sides together" would have saved a lot of ripping. Oh, well they are done and I like how they turned out. The pattern that I used was from http://www.canadianquiltshop.com/. I will let you go to their store and find the free pattern yourself. As I did not ask permission to post the actual pattern link. The pattern is called Hot Dog Pillow Case.

The Pink Top is Done

2011-07-25T16:44:00.001-05:00

Here it is. The pink top is finally done. And I love it. I like the variation in color depth. This picture isn't great. But I'll post another picture once it is quilted. I only noticed one time where I actually got two pieces of the same fabric together and it was too late in my opinion to do anything about it. Move one block in a quilt like this and you have to move ten. At least it was an off white small piece so unless I tell someone it will never be seen. And I'm not going to tell a soul. In the picture it looks like there are two of the same darks together but they are different fabrics and up close it is easy to see the difference.

You would think I like pink with all the pink on this blog. But it is not a color that is found in my house with the exception being the stash in my sewing room. I might actually have to FINISH a quilt for myself that is done in pinks. The quilt in my header picture has not been quilted yet. Some day it ~~might~~ will be.

I must have been needing to add some color to my life. I ordered new dishes and are they ever bright. They are great. But now I need to paint my kitchen because they clash.

You can just barely see my kitchen wall and even though it is yellowish orange, it is neither orange or yellow and does not look good with these bright colors. There is also to be a blue set but two of the saucers had flaws and alas they had to go back for exchange.

Have a great day and happy sewing.

Julie

Spiky Star

2011-07-08T17:27:00.000-05:00

We started a new block of the month in June at Quilting on the Square in Holton. Needless to say we are due to show our proof it's done to get Julys block tomorrow. So today is the day to get my block done. At least I didn't wait until tomorrow morning this time.

First to be noticed is the dark blue at the bottom of the picture. That is the original blue that was to be cut 4 1/2" wof. Nope I cut it 4 1/4" and that was not going to make anything come out square. So luckily I had a sort of blue kind of purple fabric in my stash which worked just fine.
Second is that if you don't line up the pieces correctly it won't form a square when done. So it is just a good thing that I did not assembly line sew these pieces or I would have had to rip out more than one.

Even though the picture didn't turn out very well the block turned out just fine. However, I felt like a beginner with this one. This block was a great learning experience. And has led me to believe that I probably won't be doing a quilt using this pattern any time soon.

There are only a few more hours until I see what next month's block will bring.

On the Wall Today

2011-06-27T05:42:00.001-05:00

Here are a few more blocks from my pink quilt. I have about 100 of the 8" blocks done. So I still have many, many more to go. But I love the way the colors look.
I also have several more rows of my red/white/blue done. So I am about half way through getting that top sewn together. I am using the pinks in between the r/w/b to keep both of the tops in progress.

And I got EQ7. I have been wanting it for months. Mom will tell you I look at it all the time. Well now I actually get to look at it on my computer. In order to get free shipping I needed to spend a few more dollars so I bought five yards of material and they threw in a fat quarter as a "free" gift.

The program is loaded on my computer but I have not spent the time to figure anything out yet. I am reading through the book and will start watching the videos when I can drag myself away from the sewing machine. The two bottom fabrics have already found their way into the pink quilt. Those little pictures on the site aren't really large enough for me to tell the colors so I got what I ordered whether it was really what I was anticipating or not.

Have a wonderful day.

On The Wall Today

2011-06-20T06:13:00.001-05:00

Here is what I am working on this week. This pattern is from Bonnie Hunter's book Adventures with Leaders and Enders. Her quilt is done in blues and is named Blue Ridge Beauty. I think this one will require a name revision. I currently have about 100 four patches and 100 half sq triangles sewn. As can be seen I will need to spend some time laying this out to mix up those lights and darks. For some reason I think I have to cut out the whole quilt at one time. So I have hundreds and hundreds of pieces cut out for this using over 30 different whites and off whites and over thirty different pinks. As soon as I pinned these up on my wall I knew it is going to be hard to give this one away. Guess I need to get it done before worrying about that.

This is a design book I made using my shirt scraps. I wanted something to carry around in my purse to jot down any ideas that my come my way. It also needed to have graph paper. So I printed a page off the internet, ran it through the copy machine, cut it in half and wa la. Two different sizes of graph paper and all cut to fit in my purse. I sewed button holes inside to fit the notebook prongs though. It is also made so a regular store bought notebook can slide into it.

Blow Out !!!

2011-06-03T21:55:00.001-05:00

This afternoon when I was driving on Hwy 75, doing 75 (MPH!), passing a car (bet it scared the tarnation out of them too) and oh, yeah eating a hamburger from Spangles my tire decided to give a huge pop and blow out on me. That was fun. NOT. Wow, I'm not sure when I have been that scared and yes, it all happened so fast. I did see as I was fish tailing to the center of the road that my car so nicely informed me that my tire was low. I didn't even know it would tell me that. Hopefully, I never see that again.

Here is what the highway looked like as all the cars kept driving by. I was surprised that some of them didn't give a little wave. Seriously, it was probably safer that no one did stop. That highway was busy. In my boredom I decided to count vehicles. In 5, yes, five minutes fifty vehicles passed by my car. So that means that in the 45 minutes I sat there hundreds of cars went by. I just hope that one or two of them called in a disabled vehicle. I would have and have done so in the past.

I can say that I was one happy girl to see this truck pull up in my rear view mirror. And his lights sure did the trick of moving people out of the lane next to me.

It took him less time to change that tire than it did for me to get pulled back out on the highway. I didn't tell him I was taking pictures so I didn't show his face for that reason. What a brave person to do what he does everyday. Guess I'm feeling a little sappy right now.

This is not a very good picture of the culprit. But I am certain that a football would have fit right through that hole with room to spare.
I'm just grateful to the Kansas Highway Patrol and the state for having people that drive up and down the highway answering calls to do stuff like fix tires.
All that and I didn't drop my hamburger. I didn't finish eating it either.

Progress

2011-05-24T18:34:00.001-05:00

Finally a little progress on the red/white/blue 4 patch quilt. Here is what was laid out as of 4:00 today. This WAS my dining room. I tried laying this out in the living room and it was a no go. With the blocks laid side by side it measures right at 106" and that was not going to leave me any room to get around. Therefore, the move to the the dining room. However, most of the chairs are in the living room, so at least I get more choices of where to sit and rest between bending over to lay out blocks.

Here it is as of 6:30. Half of the blocks are laid out and I have started sewing two of the rows together. I decided to sew them in blocks of four to make it more manageable. If you click on the picture you can get a better idea of my plan. You can also see how I made use of the table feet to gain some more room. There is absolutely no way I can lay this whole thing out with the area I have. So with a lot of hope and some prayer this will go together the way it's supposed to.

I am excited to be getting something done on this instead of just making four patches. I love the way it looks laid out even with only half of it down. The yellow room dulls the colors, but trust me, it is bright.

Design Wall Monday May 23, 2011

2011-05-23T06:34:00.002-05:00

   New Monday same old quilt. But as of last night the blocks are all done. Yippee! I finally took the time to draw out my plan on a piece of graph paper which then let me know how many of each color I was actually going to need. I was not even close. Last week I had 364 blocks made. After drawing it out I knew I needed 529. Yes, really, that odd number of 529. That will make it a 92" x92" top. You can see the drawing above the blocks. I am planning to use the upper of the two drawing plans.
   On the back left are the few pieces I have cut out for the border blocks on Road to Brownville. The center of the top is sewn together. But doesn't look any different than it did last week so no new picture.

Please remember those people that were killed and injured in this weekends tornados. The pictures above and below are what we saw when we tried to do a drive by of the damage in Reading, Kansas. A road block turning people away while they tried to assess the damage and restore power.

The tornado all but destroyed the town of 250 people. Here is a link to one of the local Topeka news items about the town. www.wibw.com/home/headlines/Reading_Target_Of_Serious_Storm_122400579.html Reading is about 20 miles south of where I live. I work with several people that live there and several years ago had worked with the man that died as a result of the storm. So you never know.

There were numerous tornadoes on Sunday. Especially hard hit was Joplin, Missouri where many people were killed. Just keep all of the victims in your prayers.

Design Wall May 16, 2011

2011-05-16T07:17:00.001-05:00

Here is what I have done on my Road to Brownwood. You can probably tell that not all of my rows are sewn together. And no, I have not even started on my border blocks. There is still a lot of work to do.

Click on the picture to enlarge. It removes some of the camera distortion.

This is what the livingroom floor looked like Saturday morning. Still needed to set the corners. However, it is not there this morning. Invited over the family for dinner and I didn't think a few hundred 4" squares and a three year old would mix well. So now I have to start laying it out all over again. Since the corners weren't laid out I couldn't pick it up in rows. Oh, well it is good excercise.

Have a great Monday!

2011-05-12T09:03:00.000-05:00

I'm sure that I am not the only one who does not know how to respond to viewers comments. There must be some directions out there that I can read.

What keeps turning up is that I can select Google e-mail to be my first/primary source and then I can respond to comments. I DON'T WANT TO CHANGE where and how I view my e-mail. And I am not sure that if I select Google that I can unselect it to change it back. ( Can you imagine, I had to add the word "unselect" to my dictionary. I'm just sure it's a word. OK, maybe not.)

Anyway, trust me. I want to respond. I really do. So far I just don't know how. But I'll learn. EVENTUALLY. Where is someone under the age of 30 when you need one. Guess I'll have to get one of my kids to show me yet something else on the computer.

By the way the picture is of Granddaughter Grace she was a little over a year old at the time. She picked up a little booklet/trash at a ball game and was reading me a story.

Design Wall May 9, 2011

2011-05-09T06:28:00.001-05:00

Here is what I have done for Road to Brownwood. I have enjoyed putting together these blocks. It seems to be going very fast. Thanks to Judy at patchworktimes.com for a great pattern. Just need to get busy on that sashing.

The red/white/blue hasn't made it any farther than this on the wall. However I have made more of the 4" blocks. Almost ready to take it to the floor to decide on the final layout.

Also I found as I checked my e-mail this morning that I was a lucky winner of one of the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks magazines. Mine will be coming courtesy of Robin Gallagher at robingallagher.blogspot.com. Thanks so much to Robin for the magazine. She did a terrific block.

Impatiently Waiting

2011-04-28T09:13:00.000-05:00

Days like today just drive me crazy. I just can't wait to be home sitting at my sewing machine. When I walked out the door this morning I said "OK, eight hours". And now looking at the clock it seems that time is at a stand still and there are still over six hours to go.

Not only that, but Judy at Patchwork Times http://www.patchworktimes.com/ has not yet posted the second part of her Road to Brownwood quilt. I AM READY and impatiently waiting. It's not often that I am caught up and ready for the next stage of construction. But this time I am. Wish I had a picture of the fabrics I'm using but since I'm at work and not home at my sewing machine, I don't. So I will just keep looking forward to the end of my work day which will get me home to my sewing machine.

What is really note worthy about this post is that I was able to make a link to Patchwork Times. My wonderful daughter Jennifer showed me how to do that. Some things so simple completely stump me for so long. Now I just wish I could remember the rest of what she showed me.

Monday April 25, 2011

2011-04-25T07:15:00.000-05:00

My design wall actually has much more on it this morning than this. But due to a very busy Easter weekend my camera battery is dead and I cannot take pictures right now to show the progress.

I "think" I've decided that I like it having the blue center. Right now that is the layout. I have also removed most of the lighter colors in the blue and red. They muddy up the breaks between the lights and darks.

Since my scraps have been getting out of control I thought 2 1/2" squares would be a good way to make this quilt and use up some of those piles. However, I am sure it is not going to make much of a dent.

This is part of my scrap disaster. I can say that as of right now the scraps are out of the brown paper bags (there were five bags) but the large tote hasn't changed much. I just have not added to it. It's just a good thing that I have a sewing room because I could see my whole house being consumed by scraps. Hard to believe that I love scrap quilts so much but have so little control over the mess.
Enjoy your Monday. Hope you are able to get to your sewing projects often this week. And don't forget to check out the design walls at Patchwork Times.

Design Wall Monday April 4, 2011

2011-04-04T05:00:00.001-05:00

WaaLaa - Drum roll please........ I finally got my Double Churn Dash top done. This was made using recycled plaid shirts. I'll take this opportunity to thank my sister Cathy for sending me some shirts from Wisconsin. It was a Bonnie Hunter idea to use 100 % cotton shirts bought from local thrift stores. And now I can't wait for yard sales to start so I can get some more shirts/material. My camera doesn't like plaids. It tends to distort them. So sorry my picture is blurry.

Thanks to Patchwork Times for a place to share our design walls on Mondays.

I also want to share how to make the block. This was a block that I did not have a pattern for but wanted to make. I don't have a computer to program to help with the math so that is why it is a odd size. If I knew then what I know now......anyway here are the measurements I used for the blocks.

The small/inner block finishes at 4 1/2"

Cut from the fabrics

Light Fabric   (small block)                                               Dark Fabric   (small block)
1 @    2" x 2" sq                                                             4 @    2" x 1 1/4"
4  @    2" x 1 1/4"                                                            2 @    2 3/8" x 2 3/8"
2 @    2 3/8" x 2 3/8"

Using the 2 3/8" light squares mark a diagonal line from corner to corner.

Lay a light piece on the top of the dark piece right sides together. Sew a scant 1/4" on each side of the diagonal line. You will then cut it apart on the line. Press the seam line open toward the darker of the two fabrics. Trim off the dog ears. These will be your corner units. This will make four units.
Using the light and dark pieces that are 2" x 1 1/4" lay a light on top of the dark and sew down the 2" side press open toward the dark side. This will make 4 units.

Lay the pieces out as shown in the picture above using the 2" x 2" light square in the center. Sew together in rows as shown below.

I have shown you the back so you can see how I pressed the seams in opposite directions. Then sew the rows together and tada a 5" block. (Which I did not take a picture of.)

For the large block cut from the fabrics:

Light Fabric (large block)                                                            Dark Fabric (large block)

4 @    5" x 1 3/4"                                                                        4 @    5" x 1 3/4"
2 @    3 3/8" x 3 3/8"                                                                  2 @    3 3/8" x 3 3/8"

Alternate center cut:

Light Fabric

1 @    5" x 5"

Follow the directions given above for the smaller block. However, this time your center block will be the small churn dash you already made. You could also use the alternate 5" center to make a single large churn dash block.

I suggest sewing the block with the center facing up. You will be able to see the points on the center block which will help make sure that the points don't get cut off in the seam line.

Block size is now 10" and will finish at 9 1/2".

Monday March 21, 2011

2011-03-21T17:14:00.000-05:00

I finally have made some progress on getting the blocks all sewn together. Will probably have all the rows together by next week. So at least one more week on the design wall or surface. Seems like laying out a scrap quilt always gets the best of me. No matter how hard I try to spread out the colors I always get like colors too close to each other. But I guess that is one of the good things too. It just really doesn't matter.
I am planning to write out the measurements I used for my blocks. Hopefully, I will get that done by next Monday.

The bag below is a "schlep" bag I made for my mother's birthday. Not new. I just forgot to post a picture when I was making it. It also is from my scraps.

Enjoy the rest of your Monday. And be sure to check out all of the great design walls at Patchwork Times.

Peaceful Thoughts

2011-03-17T13:18:00.000-05:00

I just needed a minute where I could have one or two peaceful thoughts today. Yep, been one of those days. So I started going through old pictures on my computer and got what I was looking for. Nice, serene pictures and good memories.

The pictures above and just below were taken at the Missouri Botanical Gardens. They are both of Chihuly glass sculptures that we saw when we went to St. Louis on vacation a few years ago. Daughter Jennifer studied glass blowing in college (yes, there is a degree for that). So when we heard there was to be a Chihuly show we loaded up and headed East. It was not disappointing. The best part was the trip with the family. So this qualifies as a peaceful thought.

And the little fellow below, Jennifer and I saw on a trip out West. He entertained us at Bryce Canyon in Utah. These were all around while I was growing up in Arizona. But we don't have them in Kansas. At least not in our part of Kansas. Chipmunks always bring a smile to my face. Unless the are singing in a cartoon voice.

Time to go back to work.

Monday March 7, 2011

2011-03-07T06:00:00.000-06:00

Well, I have some more blocks done. And have been working on a sashing. And I think that has been my hold up. Wanted something different for the sashing - just don't know if this works or not. Maybe should just go with the standard dark/light/dark strips and leave it at that.

These blocks have not been laid out in any order. This will probably be 5 x 6 blocks.

Birthday Postcard

2011-02-19T12:14:00.001-06:00

Here is this years postcard for Grace. No I still don't do applique very well, and no I have not read any posts about how to make these. But for some reason for her 1st birthday I made her a fabric postcard and here she is already three. And so far I have made three. Guess I'll have to see when she is 15 if she is still getting postcards from her grandma. And what to do when there are more grandkids?

These postcards are like the Christmas stockings - everytime there is a new addition to the family I have to make a new stocking. The first stockings were made by Jesse and Jennifer's great granny. And for some silly reason I thought everyone should get one. Maybe it is time for the tradition to pass to the next generation. Jennifer or Victoria are you ready to learn about making granny's stockings? Hopefully it won't have to pass a generation like it did with me. If so, I figure there is only 7 or 8 years until Grace is ready to pick up the needle and thread and stitch one up.

A year from now I will be trying to figure out what picture to sew on Grace's postcard. Trying to come up with something clever to say on the back. And thinking about the first three postcards and the ones yet to come.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRACE.

February 14, 2011

2011-02-14T05:09:00.002-06:00

Not much new since last week. Just a few more of the plaid shirt blocks and lots of time to think about setting ideas. But I believe I have a good excuse for not getting much done. During our last snow storm on Tuesday I took a terrible tumble off a slick step. After a few x-rays it was decided that nothing was actually broke. Thank Goodness! But, my right hand is still in a splint and the bruises just keep getting darker and darker. Trust me - I would much rather be sewing. Hopefully next week I will be able to get back at it.

Have a great week. And be sure to visit Patchwork Times to see all the Design Wall posts.

Monday February 7, 2011

2011-02-07T06:30:00.003-06:00

These are the blocks I have been working on with my shirt plaids. I have quite a few of the dark plaids but have figured out that I need quite a few more of the lights. So another trip to the Salvation Army is in my future. You can go to my last post to see more information about the shirts that are in these blocks. I haven't decided yet how they are going to go together or how big this project will be. We'll see.

I am also quilting on my RRCB. It would be going so much faster if I could just see where I have already been quilting. My thread blends in so well on all those strip blocks. Makes for slow going. I decided to just go with meandering on it. So far it looks good. It's just not very far along. Patience, Patience.

Visit Patchwork Times to see all the great projects that are posted.

Plaids

2011-02-01T14:41:00.001-06:00

I started with this. These are shirts I have been buying at Salvation Army. All plaid and all 100% cotton. Jennifer and I have been having fun going to look for them. So far there are 15 different shirts/materials.

This is what I have ended up with. Lots and lots of usable material. At this point I am not planning to mix this with my quilt shop cottons. I'm just hoping to get something made with these plaids. The shirts were a Bonnie Hunter idea from her blog Quiltville quips and snips. The plaids may be too busy to use on their own. I'll just have to see what it looks like. Whatever "it" may be.

And this is what I have been playing around with. No it's not an original idea. But I don't have a pattern for this so I sat down and figured it out. The small one is only 4" and not quite as big as I wanted. So on to the 5" block. Much better. The large one is 10" and has the 5" block for a center.
I have wanted a quilt with a Churn Dash block in block for years. Between the Churn Dash and a Star pattern I wouldn't be able to say which was my favorite. I carry around a bag that I made from a Georgia Bonesteel churn dash pattern that was done in red/white and blue. It was a difficult pattern to follow and I knew I could do better, so I did. Yipee! Hopefully, I will have lots to share in the near future.

Monday January 31, 2011

2011-01-31T06:10:00.000-06:00

This is a post I have been waiting impaitently to write for several months. I am thrilled to be finished with my Roll Roll Cotton Bowl top. Yep, top. It does still need to be quilted. But with this quilt that is the easy part. And I'm quite sure I have never said that before. What a great project this turned out to be. It was so much fun to work so hard each week trying to be ready for the next weeks mystery post. I have always enjoyed string quilts and have bought several pattern books using string quilts. After the making the sixty blocks in this quilt I may be broke of the desire to ever make another one with strings. But there was certainly a great sense of accomplishment when they were done. I did decide to make my quilt square. Therefore, I have blocks left over for pillow shams or a small quilt. But they will certainly NOT go on the back of a quilt. At least not the back of this one. Thanks so much to Bonnie Hunter for such a great pattern. It was a lucky day indeed when I found Quiltvilles Quips and Snips. She has plenty of inspiration to share with a little bit of humor thrown in to boot.

Be sure to go to Patchwork times for a great place to see projects on Judy's Design Wall Monday. And check out her great patterns while your there.

And the next time someone says mystery quilt, I'm sure you will see me and my posts tagging along for the ride.

Design Wall Monday January 3, 2011

2011-01-03T05:30:00.001-06:00

Here is my version of Bonnie Hunter's "Roll Roll Cotton Boll". However, I will need to name mine "One of These is Different" as one of my purple blocks was put together wrong and should be taken apart and redone but...... hopefully it will be the only one. I still have 16 of the purple blocks to do and the 1/2 blocks that go around the outside. I also decided to do mine in purple and yellow instead of pink and red. I think it is looking great. I am glad I decided to do it in this color scheme.

Here is a close up.

A huge thank you to Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville for the terrific pattern and fun mystery. And to Judy Laquidara at Patchwork Times for a great place to post the updates and pictures.

I love the yellow quilt Judy has planned to do. May have to follow her lead on that one. Check it out at Patchwork Times.

Christmas Presents

2010-12-27T09:29:00.003-06:00

Finally done! It seemed like I was never going to finish this one. It is a Judy Laquidara pattern from her book Weekend Quilts. It ended up being 84" square. Absolutely nothing against Judy's pattern but I obviously do not sew as fast as her. My quilt is larger than the pattern in the book and I changed the border and made the background scrappy. That may be some of the reasons it took me several weeks to get this done. But done it is. Yippee! I used a large meander to quilt it which worked out well for the quilt and me. This was a gift and needed to be done by the 24th and it just barely made it under the tree. I love the finished quilt and kept it at my house so I can take it to quilt guild in Burlingame and Holton in January. I wonder if my son and his wife will notice if I don't give it back to them?

I also got this tree skirt done for my daughter Jennifer and her husband Zach. You may notice that the center of the skirt hasn't been cut yet and the binding is not on here. Silly me, I do not YET have a picture of the finished tree skirt. I forgot to take one. I did the binding in strips of the different reds that are in the skirt. These block patterns were from a block of the month we did at Quilting on the Square in Holton last year. I thought the log cabin worked well in the reds and greens and stands out nicely under the tree. And hopefully someday I will put together the blocks that I did last year. They are in browns.

And these lovely fabrics are a gift from my daughter Jennifer. A girl that takes after her mother. Wow, I just couldn't believe it when I opened my Christmas present and these fabrics were in there. She bought all of these on one of our Kansas shop hops this last summer. I drooled over all of it then and can't wait to get something done with them now. Might have to work with those moths and bumble bees first? I know she is secretly hoping to end up with the results of my labor and who knows she just might. Only time will tell.

This pillow is a gift from Mother to me. My sisters also got one. (Hope I didn't spoil Cathy's surprise.) Each a different pattern. Behind mom is a lap quilt she gave me last year. So as you can see I get my quilting genes directly from her. Thanks mom the pillows turned out great!

To top off this wonderful list of gifts son Jesse and family gave me a 19" monitor for my computer. It is wonderful to be able to clearly see all the posts at Patchwork Times.

What a great Christmas. Jesus is the reason for the season. God Bless.

Design Wall Monday November 29, 2010

2010-11-29T06:21:00.000-06:00

It was a great weekend to wrap up the piecing on a couple of projects. The tree quilt is my version of a Judy Laquidara pattern from her book Weekend Quilts. I changed it up by making my backgrounds scrappy which changed the way it had to be pieced together. Much more work to lay it out. I also added two more rows of blocks and a different border. I wanted to end up with a queen size quilt. Needless to say, this did not get done in a weekend. But now it is ready to be quilted. My least favorite part. I just can't decide how. Any ideas? I do all of my own quilting on my sewing machine so I don't do anything fancy.

Last week I also started Bonnie Hunters Roll Roll Cotton Bowl mystery quilt. I chose to use purples instead of pinks to go with my greens and browns. I'm not sure the purples and browns will work out quite as well but I have one unfinished pink and brown project so didn't want to start another one. I haven't decided on the other fabric yet. When she gives us the directions for it I will go to my stash and pick something out. Maybe a burgandy paisley that I have. You can find Bonnie's mystery quilt on her blog at Quiltville's Quips & Snips.

Wow, that was a great holiday weekend. I am so sad that it is over. It was so nice not to have to go to work I was able to get a lot of sewing done. Which was exactly how I wanted to spend the Thankgiving holiday. Dinner was great with all the family here. But no one ate enough. There were too many leftovers.

Check out everyone else's holiday sewing at Patchwork Times.

First Quilt Show

2010-10-25T06:18:00.000-05:00

After hemming and hawing forever about it, I decided to put a quilt in the Maple Leaf Festival Quilt Show in Baldwin City, KS. It was not a show that handed out prizes to the best or worst so just the place for my fragile quilting ego to start out.

The drama was finding a parking place so Mom, Jennifer and I could go view my quilt and the other quilts of course. Ended up that Jennifer and I ran into the the show. Looked at all 122 quilts (I was told that amount by Sharon at Quilter's Paradise). And left to go back to Mom who was sitting in the car three blocks away. It was a let down that Mom couldn't see the show and that we couldn't take our time. Baldwin City definitely needs a larger venue and more parking for their quilt show. But I do thank them for the opportunity to let me show one of my quilts for the first time.

Busy Week

2010-10-09T20:30:00.003-05:00

Thursday October 7, 2010

Jennifer at the quilt show.

This week has been full of events. Jennifer and I went to the AQS quilt show in Des Moines, Iowa on Thursday. We had a great day. Long day but a good one. We got there at 10:00 and stayed until they closed at 5:00. I'm sure we could have filled another day there. We both spent too much money and yet I'm not sure that I ended up with anything but more fabric to go in my stash.

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Friday October 8, 2010

View of one cell. The arched area is the toilet hole. I'm sure not a comfortable place to read a magazine.

A view from outside the cells looking up. There are three cell levels.

On Friday before leaving from Council Bluffs we went to the Squirrel Cage County Jail. Very interesting place. Scarry to think people had to spend any time in there at all. Its claim to fame is the shape. The cells are built in the round and each of the different cells is pie shaped with the toilet area against the back section of the cell. The three different levels rotated by being cranked with a handle. The jailer would turn the crank until the cell door lined up with the exterior opening so the inmated could exit the cell. I cannot give a very good description of the jail so I would highly recommend that you google more information on it. And if ever in downtown Council Bluffs that you pay your $7.00 and see how horrible of a place it really is.
I tried to post a link but it ended up taking you to advertising. Just google Squirrel Cage Jail and it takes you to an information page.

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For and ending to our trip we stopped at a quilt shop in Nebraska City, Nebraska on the way home and both bought yet more stuff. Fabric and books. Just can't get enough of the stuff.

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Saturday October 9, 2010.

Grace getting her face painted.

A balloon kitty for Grace.

Saturday I spent a few hours with Jesse, Victoria and Grace. We went to an open house at P.T.M.W. which is where Victoria works. They recently purchased the old Payless Shoes distribution center and refurbished it for their manufacturing plant. It is a huge set of buildings. Just never would have imagined such a large operation. P.T.M.W. provided a meal and entertainment for the kids...face painting, balloon animals, and jumping tents. Grace never did get bored. There were too many people to watch and too much to do.

Thanks to my family for helping me enjoy my few days off.

Design Wall September 20, 2010

2010-09-20T07:11:00.001-05:00

I made some progress on this baby quilt. Blocks are done I just need to put a border around it and get it quilted. Have had a busy week so I'll use that as an excuse for not getting done with it. On Saturday I ended up at the Topeka Quilt Guild show with my Mom, sister Cathy, nephew Jeremy and daughter Jennifer. It was a good show with lots of quilts to enjoy. Jeremy was very patient with us and even had a few good comments to make. Thanks for the outing everyone. It was nice.
Be sure to check out all the other design walls at Patchwork Times.

Design Wall September 13, 2010

2010-09-13T06:52:00.000-05:00

I started another new project on Friday. At this time I'm thinking this will be a baby quilt for my great-neice. She is due to arrive in November. Her name is Iris Lee so I wanted to put a flower pattern in her quilt. I haven't yet figured out what pattern to use as a border. Will just have to see what it looks like when all these blocks are done.

Enjoy your Monday and check out Patchwork Times.

Nothing much new today.

2010-08-30T18:54:00.001-05:00

I now have a design wall. I put up a 4' x 8' piece of 2" insulation and covered it with one of my mom's old flannel sheets. The sheet doesn't fit all the way across but in time I will get it all covered. For now I'm just happy to have a larger area IN my sewing room to look at my progress. On the left side are some yellow and white blocks I am trying to work out. It is an old pattern but couldn't find one the block size I wanted so I am working on getting that figured out. And below them are the current block of the month blocks from Quilting on the Square in Holton. Not my favorite colors choices this year but the shop is great and the people who own the shop and the ones who work there make it worth the 50 minute car ride to get the block.

I still have way too many 4" blocks to make on my flower quilt. But I'll just keep plugging away at it.

I just noticed that there is way too much mess shown in this picture. A messy quilting area is a busy quilting area. Sounds good to me.

2010-08-21T11:05:00.000-05:00

It sure has started out a productive day. Guess since I've been up since 5:00 it has given me more time to SEW. So far I've made 34 blocks today. Taking into consideration they are only 4" and that I need 360 of the little buggers I need to work harder and faster. lol I did take time out to farm and cook. On facebook of course. Less time on there would sure free up more time in the sewing room. I refuse to let myself count how many blocks I've made all together until tomorrow night. I've been working on them for about two weeks for an hour here and there. But do plan to spend most of this weekend putting together as many as I can. Guess I'll see how far I have to go when I count and then post on my Design Wall Monday. It sure gives me incentive to get something done. That and there is absolutely NOTHING on TV.

Color combos for today include these but I'm not done quite yet. There is still alot of today left.

And here are some blocks from last night.

Design Wall Monday August 16, 2010

2010-08-16T06:02:00.003-05:00

This week I was able to get the panels framed to the size I wanted. Ok, I don't do math so that took me more than one try. I've made about 1/3 of the blocks needed. Best guess to date is that it will take 360 blocks. Give or take a row or two. There are several more color combinations for the 4" blocks yet to be done. But it is coming together and I can see what I was hoping for.

Be sure to see all the great design walls at Patchwork Times.

Design Wall Monday August 9, 2010

2010-08-09T05:30:00.003-05:00

Sorry, I've done it again. Not posted correctly on Judy's site. I WILL FIGURE THIS OUT! What a way to start a Monday.

Well another Monday is here and I'm exicted to share my latest project. Last Monday I had planned to sandwich and begin quilting on one of my already finished quilt tops. However, a panel I had seen at my local quilt shop turned my attention toward a new project altogether. I bought two of the four panels that were available. Trimmed up they each measure 20"x22". Nothing is set in stone yet but I plan to frame them to measure 24"x28" and then surround them with 4" broken dishes blocks. I am not following a pattern so the final quilt should be a surprise to all of us.

Be sure to see all of the other design walls at Patchwork Times.

Design Wall Monday August 2, 2010

2010-08-02T06:14:00.008-05:00

Some of you may have seen this as I posted early this morning. Evidently, there was a problem and it was deleted from the list. So I will try again. Happy quilting!

Well, I was able to get the bear paw top finished. Turned out the way I wanted. Very colorful. I am going to set it aside for a while to think about how I want to quilt it. You might have noticed that I used the same method to sash both quilts.
So now I am going to start quilting on another top. It has been done for over a year. This week I am working on the back and getting it pinned. Hate that job. But the only way to reach the end.

Be sure to see other the other Monday Design Wall posts at Patchwork Times. What a great way to get motivated.

2010-07-29T17:46:00.002-05:00

If you like me enjoy talking about your quilts or just quilting in general, buy a t-shirt. Yes, it's that easy. On a shop hop this summer I bought a pale pink t-shirt that shows a harried woman frantically searching for some material in her stash. That shirt has brought me more joy than you could ever imagine.

Quilters young and old have stopped me and asked if I quilt, and of course, I am pleased to share that indeed I do. Last week I enjoyed a conversation with an older woman. We were standing in in a very long line waiting our turn to make our purchase, when she asked if I quilt as she pointed at my shirt. Turns out she has been quilting for most of her life. She appeared to be in her eighties and seemed quite frail. I asked if she uses a rotary cutter. "Heavens, no!" she said. She still uses her good old scissors. Just keeps them sharp. I cannot imagine doing all the work it takes to cut out a quilt with a pair of scissors. I don't care how sharp they are. She talked about quilting with passion and enthusiasm. Said she loves to start a new quilt to see how it will turn out.

I can only hope that when I'm in my eighties that I am still as enthused with quilting as she seemed to be.

Design Wall Monday July 26, 2010

2010-07-25T21:23:00.003-05:00

No actual design wall (yet), just a bed, the table and the floor. This is a quilt that is bits and pieces of other quilts I have seen and liked. My favorite quilt colors are red, white and blue which worked perfectly with what I'm doing here.

The center bear paw blocks and scrappy sashing are done. I am now working on the piano key border. The fabrics are all the same as in the bear paw blocks just looks different with the lighting in the dining room. This quilt will be queen size when finished. I hope to have the top done by Wednesday so I can take it to quilt guild.

Grandma's Recipe Box

2010-07-22T19:07:00.000-05:00

Last week mom offered to give me grandma's ugly old yellow tin recipe box. She didn't put it quite like that, but anyway. It sure isn't much to look at but I just happen to collect things just like that. Not much to look at but perfect in every way to me.

This box brought back a treasure trove of memories for me.

Breakfast at Granddad's and Grandma's. We would be sitting at the table finishing up our ALL BRAN cereal (loved that stuff) and he would lean down and give her a kiss as he headed out the door to go to work.

The cake's she would bake in her square electric skillet. Never have seen or known of anyone else doing that.

She would make Blueberry Salad for family dinners. I've never been sure if anyone really liked it or not. But I'm happy to share the memory and the recipe with you.

Blueberry Salad
1 can blueberry pie filling
1 lg pkg black cherry jello
1 sm can crushed pineapple (drained)
1/2 cup cool whip and 1/2 cup mayonnaise
refrigerate 2 hrs

After a discussion with mom I now know that you stir together the pie filling, the dry jello and the pineapple. Put it in a nice serving bowl. Stir together the cool whip and mayonnaise spread over the top and refrigerate for two hours.

I think the mayonnaise is what throws people off this recipe. So personally I would be thrilled to eat it now if the mayonnaise were left out and just use cool whip.

Tripping over myself.

2010-07-21T20:04:00.000-05:00

I really thought I would get on here and put this blog page together without too many problems. WRONG. How can I have thought that this would just look great to begin with. Not many people can put together a quilt without auditioning the fabrics. And this page is not going to be any different. So as you follow this expect to see changes. The colors are going to change and the blocks are going to get moved up, down, right and left. So, welcome to my blog as I cut, stitch and move the pieces around.