Check Out the Cool Glass!

I admit it, I love Mexican food.  Enchilladas, burritos, tamales... I enjoy most of it.  I like fajitas but it seems to me that might have been made for American tastes.  So, last night after I picked up Pat from leaving the car to be serviced we went to a Mexican restaurant.  Chips and salsa were good.  Salsa was nicely spicey.  And, I succumbed to a margarita. 

Now it wasn't that the margarita was so great.  Honest, I wouldn't really know if it was or wasn't I haven't had one for years.  But how cool is this glass?  And, yes, boys and girls, it was glass.  Jen -- don't you (or Kevin) have some plastic glasses similar to this?  You need to make a pitcher of margaritas to enjoy the glasses!  

The food was ok.  Not half as good as what we had in Clearwater, Florida.  But definitely made us feel like we had Mexican.  (Can you say refried beans?? LOL) I brought my left over tamale home for lunch (with more rice and refried beans...) so I will have a bit more Mexican today. 

Good news, I vacuumed the stairs. Brian, you may have been the last to do that as in September.  I'm going to drag the big vacuum down to do the area rugs and then it is sewing. I'm going to finish the quilting on the Nickel Mystery and then look at the dogs for a bit. I think I need to do some more 6" blocks so I don't have to fill too much.  That's enough for today. We still have to pick up the other car.  And, try to find an open car wash to remove dirt and crud from my car.  If we didn't have a back windshield washer I wouldn't be able to see at all!  

Happy Quilting All!  Bonnie 

A New UFO Project

Yesterday I said I should pull a UFO out to finish.  So as I was putzing around in the studio I noticed a dog block hanging around ... Ah Ha!  I had been in a dog block swap sometime ago.  Had to be '99 or later as someone had paper pieced something and it had a 99 copyright date.  So here are some of the blocks.  Doesn't he look cute?   The dog with the bone was done by Moira McSpadden. 

The little Scottie was paper pieced by Linda Becker. 

The dogs blocks are units of 3" finished. The above dog is 9" square while the two paper pieced dogs are 6".  And I have a 12" block too.  

The challenge will be to get them together.  I will have to put some sashing in and maybe I'll make some paw prints or other "dog" things.  

This guy was a paper pieced design by Moira but sewn by Joyce Corbin.  

I have no idea which group did this swap.  I guess I should write down some information when I start things so I can remember them later!  Will keep you posted on how these guys go together.  

Faithful Circle Quilters Alumnae is another group I am in.  We are all former residents of Maryland who were (and some are) members of FCQ.  We each have an assigned time period. (I'm Mar - April.)  We then tell the other members what we want them to make for us.  I'm still debating what I am going to want.  I write little notes to myself when I come up with an idea. Eventually I'll decide.  

The first package is for spring flowers.  I am going to do an applique wreath.  And, I'm making the flowers 3 dimensional with beading. (Am I crazy or what???)  I need 20 more flowers.  I figure it will be good hand work in the evenings.  (Do I need more hand work in the evenings!?)  Anyway I have 23 more days to get it done.  So I will work a bit each day on it and it will be done!  Quit laughing... it will be done, honest! 

Happy Quilting All.   Bonnie

2 Kind of Finishes

Here's a Valentine's Day Quilt I did a while ago.  I quilted it on my Bernina using Press n Seal -- it's actually a kitchen wrap but I traced the design on it and stuck it on the quilt and quilted it free hand.  Wasn't that bad, quilting wise.  I don't use Press n Seal all that much now.  I tend to draw the designs on lightweight tracing paper and then pin them in place.  Hum, this has a bad crease in the center.  I will need to fold it differently when I store it next.  

I still have two threads to tie off and bury on the Carousel Quilt.  I found out I hadn't done two short rows of quilting so got that finished.  Now to do the 10 minutes of work to finish the whole thing.  I keep my projects in plastic bins or boxes (depending on what is available.) I was happy to empty this quilt's bin.  I had quite a few fabrics to put away.  So, now can I start a new project?  NAW.  Maybe I'll take out an older project (UFO) and see if I can drum up some interest in it.  And, I'm still plugging away on the "million" piece quilt. There are lots of 1.5" x 1" finished pieces in this quilt.  Looks great when done.  So, again, I just keep adding to the sections.  Later I'll try to share pictures of what I've done so far.  

And, I finished the hand stitching on a quilt that's been done since Dec. except hand sewing the binding.  And, then I had only 1/4 of the binding to do yet it sat around.  It will eventually be a gift for a friend but not yet.  I'll get pictures after the label is put on.  Maybe I'll make the label today.  

I've spent some time recently on some knitting projects.  I was knitting at the Wed. quilting group and kept making mistakes on a very easy project.  I kept ripping out because I would figure out the mistake and go back to correct it.  Some of the mistakes stayed in.  Oh well.  Pictures when I finish.  

Time to get quilting.  -- I want to get the red hearts quilt quilted today along with some more motifs of the green, blue and beige quilt.  

Happy Quilting  -- Bonnie

It's Got to Be Better!

It's still early to tell if today is going to be a better day than yesterday.  I did get the quilting done on the Carousel quilt.  But I didn't tie off the threads as I had planned to.  Darn computer keeps sucking me in!  

So today it is back to finishing the Carousel Quilt.  And who knows what else. 

We had an inch or so of snow last night.  Today the trees and power lines are covered.  I assume the wind is blowing as every once in a while we appear to be having a snow storm -- some times light and sometimes heavy.  But if I look at the front of the house it isn't snowing.  It's suppose to get cold again today and have off and on snow.  Ain't winter grand! 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

and Kevin... I'm glad you got a good laugh out of my last post.  I refuse to be locked out there again! LOL> 

Squirrel 1; Bonnie 0

It was a day to forget ... at least the middle of the day.  Take a look at the back of our house.  Notice the two lovely porches.  Notice on the left one there are no stairs down.  There is a french door going from the great room to the porch. The right side porch actually has steps down and it really isn't all that far down to the ground. Not so on the left side.  It's about 6' in the middle to the ground.  Now that I've set the scene let me tell you about MY day.  

I was in the kitchen reading stuff on the computer and heard a noise from the porch.  The squirrels have been visiting the porch and trying to get to the bird feeder.  So, I looked out the window and found this culprit.  I knocked on the window and he didn't flinch.  He jumped up on the bird feeder and proceeded to gnaw on the metal hoping to be able to get to the seeds.  

I was irritated.  I went flying out the door to the porch, slamming the door behind me. I yelled at the squirrel which finally convinced him he should exit the feeder, NOW.  I turned to go back in the house. OH MY GOODNESS!  I was locked out on the porch.  Pat and I had locked ourselves out in the summer.  He dropped down and went into the garage, got a key and was able to let me in.  I thought, I can do that.  So being smart, or so I thought, I dropped one of the porch chairs down thinking I could reach it if I hung off the porch.    

Um, no.  The chair fell over and away from the house.  Now what?  There were almost no cars going by the side street.  It was 40º so I wasn't freezing but if I had to wait until Pat came home at 5:15 or so I'd be a popsicle.  We have a security guard that drives around the neighborhood. But I never saw him.  I did see Linda delivering the mail.  So, my plan was to try to flag her down.  Luckily she had her window down on her vehicle and heard me hollering and waving my hands.  It helped that I had on a red turtleneck!  Linda rescued me by getting the key out of the garage and opening the doors.  

All together I was probably outside for only 45 minutes to an hour.  And, I thank my wonderful postal employee!  My day did get better after that.  I finished quilting the carousel quilt.  I need the whole thing done before Saturday so I can take it to the Project Linus blanket day. 

So honey, that was my day, how was yours?  Pat laughed his head off.  We now have a way to get back in the house if we lock ourselves outside again.  

Happy quilting all!  Bonnie 

Heart Top Done

With Valentine's Day closing in, it is time to retire Mr. Snowman.  He was a round robin finished in 1998.  He was started in February, 1996 to commemorate the Blizzard of '96.  29" of snow fell beginning on January 7th. This round robin was organized on Prodigy -- if I remember correctly.  

Now a word from our sponsor -- labels.  "Yes, ma'am.  Don't you love that you remember all that snowy detail?  The only reason you do is that great label you made for Mr. Snowman.  And, everyone who worked on it added a comment  telling you what part they did.  And, smart you, you even mentioned it hung in the Faithful Circle Quilters' show.  So when doing labels think about adding more detail -- wasn't it nice to have all that info on this one!!"

Yes, yes.  It is better to have more details. 

 

I guess I will try to do better than name, date, maker and recipient in the future! 

Here is the finished top for the Mystery Hearts.  I LOVE it.  I have had the heart border for ages and haven't wanted to cut into it for anything.  But it just sings with this quilt.  And, remember this is a "free" quilt.  Everything came from stash.  And, I am hoping the batting will be a bit from used batts rather than cutting into a piece I have recently bought.  Now, do I want to add some beading to it??? 

I have goofed off on the computer way too long so will end now.  I'm thinking of the label I should make for this.  And, when Mr. Snowman comes down I'll try to add a pic of the label. The quilt was really called Baby It's Cold Out Here.  

Stay tuned for more quilting adventures! Bonnie 

Do You Mystery?

Have you mysteried yet?  Hum, quilters do tend to make words fit what they want.  The proper way to say it would be have you participated in a mystery quilt yet?  I enjoy them so much I am a member of a yahoo group that raises funds for worth causes and gives you mystery quilts about 6 times a year.  Part of the reason I like them is, generally, I use just my stash fabric.  So, it's a free quilt. (Right, sure!) The other reason I like them is I often end up making a quilt I would never start.  This summer I made an Irish Chain.I wouldn't have chosen it but, it went together easily and I really like the top so far. (sorry, no pics of it as it still needs borders and the finishing thing.)  This weekend was no exception.  Marge at Mysteries for Relay hosted a small mystery she called a Folk Art Quilt.  I was so happy with it -- even before I got it all put together.  Here's what some of the pieces looked like.

 

Marge gave a giant hint that it might be a great two color quilt, say, red and white.  I'm no fool and I couldn't remember if I had a Valentine's Day quilt.  So, I thought what the heck. A red and white quilt would look like a Valentine's Day quilt.  I cut the pieces the night before and started following the directions around 9:30 Sat. morning.  I was slow, I couldn't keep up at first. But eventually, I was finish with a clue right before the next one was posted.   And, even as I said to myself, it's a heart I couldn't figure out how it would make up as a heart!  See all the funny rows above?  But, I kept pluggin away.  I petered out around 6 pm.  Here's what it looked like then. Plus I found that great red and white heart fabric to use as a border.  (remember it is free as all the fabric was already in my stash of fabrics!) 

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous today.  Lots of sunshine and high up in the 40's.  The ice is melting off the driveway, the roads are looking dry.  But rumor has it we'll be getting some more snow tomorrow.  Don't know if we'll get a lot of a little.  Time will tell.  

I'm on my way upstairs to put the last rows together and maybe even get the borders on.  I'll keep you posted.

Happy quilting all! Bonnie