Jen's Baby Quilt -- Quilted

My part is done! And, done without issues! YEA!

Quilt by Jenny Lang, backing pieced by Bonnie, quilted by Bonnie.

Close up of quilting.

Pieced backing using left over blocks from the front and few extras made to match.

Warm and White 100% cotton batting, YLI Trilobal Polyester -- Tulip (a variegated thread). Panto -- Fleurs 10"

This is the third quilt I've done in a week (which is a lot for me.) I am beginning to get my skill back after several months without any quilting.

All of yesterday's goals are done except packing to leave although the craft part of that is done, on to the clothes. I will be posting as I have time and will be taking pictures to share!

What's Up Next:

• Bind my two quilts

• Make some cards with Emily

• Shop at the Container Store & Wegman's

• Have some fun!

Happy Quilting All!

On the Trail to Finishes

Mystery #15 from Mysteries for Relay came off of Ruthie yesterday. For some reason it was giving me a bit of grief. The problems went away when I loosened the sandwich on the frame. It doesn't seem like the right answer for shredded thread but it quit after I did that. The quilting is all finished.

Last post's to do list was all done! Oops, almost all done when I looked at what was on there. The million pieces blocks have been trimmed and I've started sewing on the next pieces. I did the trimming at the sit and stitch... much more entertaining to do a boring job such as trimming when at a social/quilt event. The batting pieces were sewn together and the quilt is quilted. I did start the tie off on the Happy Quilt but didn't finish. I also tied off the loose threads on Mystery 15 although they haven't been buried yet. I tend to tie most of the threads while quilting -- doesn't seem so boring but I just got tired of it yesterday -- sigh. So I will work on both of these at quieter times.

Here's today's MUST do list:

• Finish piecing the back to Jenny's quilt.

• Load it on Ruthie.

• Quilt it.

• Pack for my weekend in Maryland.

Yep, I am on a deadline here as I want to take the quilt back to Jenny tomorrow. I was disappointed it took me so long to finish Mystery 15 on Ruthie. I would have been farther along on Jen's without those problems with #15. I'll post pictures of Jens after it is quilted.

I'll be in Maryland to stay with Jenny while her hubby attends a wedding in Ohio. Jen's 8 months along and isn't traveling any more. I mentioned to Sharon that I was coming up and she seduced me with a card making class with our buddy Emily who is a Stampin' Up representative. We used to go to these classes off and on. (The card shown here isn't from Em but from a trip to a scrapbooking store in April.)

I'll spend the night with Sharon on Thursday and then go to Jen's and Brian's the next afternoon, hopefully before rush hour. Jen & I are hitting the Container Store in the morning and her sewing group is coming in the afternoon. I'm hoping to be able to put bindings on my two quilts over the next day or two and get them finished on Saturday. Hopefully I'll have some decent finishes and fabric usage for this month! I'm getting going earlier than normal for me so ...

Happy Quilting All!

A Close to Finish...

Here's the first of the three quilts I am doing on Ruthie soon. This is a Happy Quilt top I finished before the move and had hoped to get quilted before we moved... didn't happen until now. I used a new pantograph and I'm not that excited about it. And, I am definitely rusty too, which may be why I'm not all that thrilled with it. My curves are lumpy. My points are bumpy. I need to get my skill back. I practiced a couple of rows of two or three pantos before doing this one. Sigh. Maybe by my third one I'll be back up to snuff, so to speak. On the third quilt I am going to use a very easy pantograph of roses. Monday I'll be quilting last weekend's mystery quilt -- probably freehand stars with curlies going around too.

This panto is called Flyaway by Willow Leaf Studios. I used navy So Fine by Superior Threads and Warm and White batting, preshrunk.

Guess who got a hair cut today? Finally. And not a day too soon -- it was about 104 in Richmond today. Shoot, it says it 102 in Powhatan at 9 pm. Yikes

Do you keep up with visitor count on your blog? I do a bit. When I checked all of the statistics the other day everything was gone. Yikes. Where did it go? But, today, info is back. Hopefully it is accurate... although I don't pay that much attention to it -- more curious than anything else. And, the number of viewers each day fluctuates wildly. But it is nice to see that a few people read this. It's nice to have an audience.

Goals for tomorrow:

• trim million pieces blocks.

• tie off any loose threads on Happy Quilt.

• go to sit and stitch with Country Piecemakers.

• sew batting together for mystery quilt.

That's more than enough for me. Some of those things will be done at the sit and stitch, some at home.

Happy Quilting All!

Mystery Top's Done, Well Almost

Here it is!

I LOVE it!

Wait, oh no!

Why is that block, um, piece, not conforming?

Yep, I did turn one of the pieces wrong.

So I will be pulling that out and turning it the right way. These were all small pieces of fabrics -- except the white background. Most had been used in several other quilts. The red of the inner border was what was left from a backing. (And, I still have a bit of that left.)

Tomorrow's goals:

• fix block.

• make backing for this mystery quilt.

• make backing for Jenny's quilt. She wants me to quilt a baby quilt for almost grandbaby.

If there is any time left I'll either work on the million pieces quilt or get a quilt loaded on Ruthie

Since I am only getting one item on my list done each day I'm hoping I'll do 100% better and get two things done tomorrow!

Happy Quilting All

In the Spirit of the Fourth of July

We hung one of our quilt holders this past weekend. And, it may be the only one as we don't have a lot of wall space. I decided to hang this red, white and blue kaleidoscope.

The little animals at the top are for sentimental value only. The two ducks were painted by Jenny and Kevin when they were probably 6 and 3. Kevin's is the one laying down with the yellow and orange body. Jenny's is now missing part of its beak. And the mouse came from my mom. Either my brother or I must have given her the mouse. I've always enjoyed looking at it and the happy memories of my childhood... or teenhood or who knows what age I was. It's just cute. Sigh.

Well that nice long to do list from yesterday can be repeated...

• finish Saturday's mystery blocks and sew into a top -- I have almost all the blocks sewn together so will get them into a top today

• put the side pieces on million pieces blocks

• start on the Quilts for Kids kit

I did not get motivated until about 4 pm yesterday. And, sorry to report not much else got done in the house. Hopefully I'll be better today!

Gardening

We received this lovely hydrangea from my brother and sister-in-law. (Don't let that fool you, sil did it, if they are anything like us!)

Hydrangea's need shade with some light and certainly not the full sun our backyard gets. So it definitely needed to be put in the front yard around the house. Except, the front yard is nicely landscaped already. So we checked out all the areas and decided a rose bush that hadn't been pruned in years needed to go. Pat cut off all the branches (and believe me there were a lot more besides these.) My job was to cut them in small pieces so they would fit in the trash can.

His job was to dig out the root ball. Except, we had a shovel malfunction. What? Yep, it snapped in two. Luckily no one was hurt by flying debris.

We had to take a break to acquire soil amendments and more mulch. (And, lunch, groceries, a new watch battery -- you get the picture.) I came back exhausted and overheated. But, Pat went at it again getting it planted and watered with our new curling hose. Just as he came in the clouds covered up the sun and it poured rain with thunder and lightening. Yikes. I had such a headache I collapsed on the couch. (Well, that's my story & I'm sticking to it!) The power was out. Not a problem for me I was sleeping! We were happy to see it come on just in time for a late dinner.

Here's a quick photo of my cutting table in the studio. Marge at Mysteries for Relay held another one Saturday. I had to get the table cleared enough so I could cut bigger pieces of fabric than the scraps I had been cutting. I was somewhat successful. Things are getting better but there is no doubt in my mind that I have way TOO much stuff. I'm trying hard to use it up. I am hoping to have several finishes this month although I guess I should get off my duff and actually get quilts ready to quilt on Ruthie. She's waiting patiently!

Today's plan:

• make 14 more blocks for the mystery quilt and sew all of them into a top.

• work on the Million Pieces quilt -- ready to sew the last two pieces on to the block. Then sew into a top.

•start on Quilts for Kids kit.

That is a ridiculous list for only a day. It will probably take me the rest of theday to sew the mystery quilt blocks and put it together. At least this list will help me focus on what I really want to get done... maybe!

Hope all of you are having a happy quilt day!

She's BAACCCCKKKKK -----

RUTHIE is up and running

Saturday, Pat put her together.

He had a bit of supervision.

Boy, that supervisor was working hard!

Here she is in her new room.

I was happy to see I could still do a little bit with her.

Thanks Pat and Raggs for getting Ruthie back together and sewing fabulously. Now I need to do a quilt or two!

Happy Quilting All!

Trying A New Restaurant

Sine Irish Pub and Restaurant - - in the Shocoke section of Richmond. And for those in the DC area there's another one in Arlington. You can check their web site: http://www.sineirishpub.com/

We decided to have several appetizers rather than a regular dinners. So we had crab cakes. Very nicely done.

Then we had Irish Nachos. Different -- instead of chips -- think potatoes -- cubed and cooked. Then pour on the nacho stuff: chilies, tomatoes, onions, sour cream, and cheese. Surprisingly yummy.

And, here is what the fried artichokes looked like. Good sauce. But I'm not that fond of fried foods so this wasn't my favorite even though I love artichokes.

And, the best part of the meal -- bread pudding with a whiskey sauce for dessert. Oh my yummmmmm!

This weekend I'm participating in another mystery quilt put on by Marge at Mysteries for Relay. Here are the fabrics I've picked to work with. We need lights and darks. (the floral print is the stool -- not fabric for the quilt!)

I've been taking pictures of lots of things the last few days so I'll do a better job of blogging. So come back in the next few days to see what else I've been up to!

Happy Quilting All!

Sometimes . . .

I just don't think before I do something . . .

All those little balls and white things are various parts of a feather pillow.

We have a very old feather pillow. The ticking cover is actually full size but the feathers only fill up about 1/3rd of the case. It is old, it smelled old. Bright thought -- I know I've read where people have washed their feather pillows. Heck, geese, duck they all get wet and it doesn't ruin their feathers. I'll just chuck this pillow in with the sheets and then air dry it. It'll smell so much better.

WRONG

Well, it could have been ok except for the "old" part. The ticking holding the feathers ripped apart in the wash. And that is what faced me when I opened the door to my front loading, high spinning washer. ACH!

Wet feathers almost every where.

My clean up plan actually worked, thank goodness.

First I cleaned out as many feathers as I could get and threw them in a trash can. Then, I put a beach towel on the floor and moved all the sheets to it. That whole pile went into the back yard where I tried to shake out as many feathers as I could. My blue shorts became nearly white.

Then I dried the sheets checking the drier every 10 minutes to clear the lint trap. And, I got my super sucker-upper vacuum cleaner to clean up the lint trap. After several vacuumings of the lint trap the sheets came out feather free and the drier is pretty much good to go.

Too bad the washer isn't as in good a shape. I vacuumed it also. Cleaned the flap as well as I could and now it is running on clean. I suspect I may have to do that a couple of times. Needless to say I won't be washing any more pillows -- well until I verify that you can wash newer pillows.

Before the exploding feathers I got several more of the Million Pieces blocks done. I've decided I need 63 and I currently have 50 done. This may actually get done in the near future. I also had some fabs picked out for the border but that won't work with the navy in the room where it is going. I'll peruse the stash again but I will probably succumb to purchasing a new border for it. Sigh.

(secretly Snoopy dancing at the thought of visiting new quilt shops!)

Hot Topic

Top Number -- Outside on the patio.

Bottom Number -- Inside in the kitchen area.

What more can I say. Other than that was yesterday.

Today it isn't quite so bad. Yet.

I finished unpacking boxes that were still sitting on the floor in the studio. I put away a lot of the rubber stamps I had piled up. Friday I hit a super JoAnn Store. I bought a bunch of pretty boxes to store my stamping stuff in (40% off), a couple of plastic bins (50% off) and a 3 drawer plastic drawer unit (50% off) plus a 10% off everything coupon. Did I feel great? Of course. I wish they had more of the pretty boxes as I bought all they had. The pretty boxes look much nicer as you come up the stairs to the studio.

After I got that done I sewed on the million pieces quilt. I figured out how many side strips I could cut from the fabric I had. I thought I would make whatever size quilt I could based on how many side strips I could get out of the fabric. If I cut the short side of the strips parallel to the selvedge I could get 84 pieces, if I cut the long side I could get 180? Hum, I think I need to do the math again. Perhaps I should get out my book on Taking the Math Out of Quilting? I'll keep you posted. If I really can get 180 out of the fabric I have a LOT more blocks to make!

There's still a lot of work to be done in the studio. I need to clear off the tops of things: sewing desk, cutting table and shelves. I would love to have this studio stay NEAT. (All right Pat, Jenny and the rest of you who are laughing like hyenas...) I can dream of being neat even if everyone who knows me knows that is just about impossible for me.

Happy Quilting All! The studio calls me!

HOT Virginia

Wow! We've been having some hot weather here in the greater Richmond area -- and all up and down the east coast for that matter.

9:40 am and it is already 95 degrees. Thank you Willis Haviland Carrier for inventing the modern air conditioner in 1902. I also learned the ancient Romans used to cool some of their buildings by circulating water through the walls of buildings.

Quick update on our July 4th Weekend. Jenny & Brian

and Aimee & Kevin spent the weekend with us -- a chance to see our new home. And, a highly motivating factor in getting our stuff unpacked. We visited the YWCA to go swimming on Saturday. Hung out on Sunday and attended a neighborhood party. They left early Monday morning to miss that I 95 corridor headache.

I basically did not take pictures until I got this one of Jenny 7 months pregnant. Hum, little grand baby wiggled a bit this weekend. Jen's feeling great and doesn't she look great too?

She had a really cute baby quilt she is making for baby. Shoot, I should have taken a picture. Oh well... I'll snap one later.

The studio looks like a bomb went off in it. I've unpacked most of the boxes but haven't been able to put everything away yet. Pat helped move stuff for me Monday afternoon. (minor note -- I bent down to pet one of the dogs this weekend and my back went out again. Thus Pat's help was definitely needed.)

Plans today include more putting away in the studio. Moving quilts out of a suitcase and into permanent location for storage. And, maybe some piecing. I'm tired of not sewing.

Happy quilting all!

Lost But Now Found

It's been driving me batty . . .

I have been looking for this little guy for a year, at least. I vividly

remember putting it in a drawer. What tricks that memory played on me. No, I didn't put it carefully in a drawer cause I cleaned a bunch of drawers long before the move looking for it. I found it when I brought out a different purse to use. Which I have actually used several times in the last year. The difference this time is I lifted the empty purse from the bottom. (It's a backpack style by that famous designer who I can't remember her name...) What? What is that I feel in the bottom? I investigated the zippered compartments... and lo and behold, I feel my little shuffle but I don't see it. I finally realize there was a hole in the lining of one of the compartments and the iPod lived there for at least a year. I immediately loaded it with an audio book.

And how about my most recent loss:

My cell phone charger went missing. I had it Saturday at Jen's. But I didn't have it Monday at the hotel. Argh. Jen didn't find it so I ordered a new one. For $2.99. Cheap, so I also got a phone charger: $2.99. And about $5 postage. Cool. It took forever to get here (ok, ok, about a week.) And it came from Hong Kong. I was nervous that it wouldn't work but it did. Yea! I can connect to the world again. At least via telephone.

So I am off shopping today -- going to get some baskets to store my rubber stamps in and some sort of drawers (maybe) to store little items on my desk. Then some grocery shopping and finally home to await the kids.

Happy Quilting All.

June Stashbusting Report

June Stash Report

Fabric Acquired: 0 yards

Fabric Used: 2 1/8 yards

Net Fabric Used: 2 1/8 yards

Year To Date Report

Fabric Acquired: 25 1/2 yards

Fabric Used: 24 3/4 yards

Net Fabric Acquired: 3/4 yards

I didn't remember using any fabric this month. But when I checked my notebook where I keep track of stuff I had used some. And, even better I didn't buy ANY! And look how close I am to USING more than BUYING. Once I get Ruthie up and running I will have some big usage numbers. Or at least that is what I tell myself.

WOW! I actually got most of the stuff on my list done yesterday.

Repacked boxes - check.

Laundry - check (Or at least one load)

Iron & rehang curtains - check

Not bad. Today pack stuff to give away. Pack stuff for Heidi. Quick clean of bathrooms before kids get here. Wash towels. Vacuum the rug. And, head for the studio as I didn't do anything in it yesterday. More than enough to keep me busy.

Happy Quilting All!