More Progress

Stack of twos

Pressed stack.

I'm making steady progress on this project.  I know a young man who would be thrilled to hear that... if he even knew about this project.

What I'm working on...

I finally have a Friday Finish to post this week, but you'll have to wait and see it on Friday.  I'm mailing the package tomorrow and it would arrive by Friday.

In the meantime, here are some teasers for my current project.

There are over 300 3 1/2 inch squares in the shoebox. 

I've been able to spend a little time in the sweat shop this weekend and hope to continue the trend this week. I'm working on a newly reworked schedule and I should be able to get 30-60 minutes on most days to sew.  I have to say that I LOVE the navy flannel I'm working with. It is just simply the most gorgeous blue and SO soft!

I'm feeling more and more confident on this project.

Not your average baby gift

My youngest sister married the boy-next-door, literally.  And while I had not been living at home for years by the time my parents moved to that house, I have known her husband and sister-in-law (EBG) since before they were teenagers (more than a decade). So when I heard that EBG was adopting a baby with her hubby, I made appropriate plans to send her something (stereotypically late, but none-the-less). 

I saw a tutorial for a baby towel here and knew that's what I wanted to make for her.  So I grabbed a towel and chose a coordinating fabric.

It didn't take long to make and I like it a lot!

Lunar Halo

This is tonight's moon from our front porch.

Tighter view

The full view

They call this a lunar halo.  Folklore has it that it "means bad weather, rain, or other foul atmospheric conditions are on the way."  Appropriate even here in the middle of the country where we will not receive the brunt of Sandy, but we'll surely receive residual effects. 

Stay safe everyone!

Entry Curtain

The entry has a smaller window next to the door that my in-laws have agreed to make a stained glass for, but for now I wanted something that would allow the light in without losing the privacy. I had some fabric from the bathroom curtain left over, but not quite enough to cover the whole window which meant I had to find a solution if I wanted to use it.  So I ran to  the local Hobby Lobby to look at their upholstery fabric. The first one I considered is this one: 

I like it, but it is rather formal.  So, I kept looking and found this:

I LOVE this fabric! Our entry walls are the same color as the darker grey medallion.  My intention was to make a curtain of just these fabrics, but then I thought that I liked the silk as well and it would be appropriate for the holiday season.  So then I thought about making two tops and attaching the gauze-like fabric with Velcro.  

I started to plan these curtains, but as I took before pictures I realized just how close the window is to our wall quilt.

This poses a bit of a problem because I do not want the curtain to clash with whatever wall quilt we have up. So, back to the drawing board.  I had some black canvas fabric left over after making some potholders for a friend.  So, I decided that simplicity was best in this case and made this curtain:

I like it. :o)

Memories of Provence

I want this pattern! I just read Thelma's post over at Cupcakes 'n' Daisies about her BOM rehab.  She was grateful for the encouragement to finish half-started projects.  This is where I first heard of Memories of Provence by Monique Dillard at Open Gate Quilts.  Have you seen it?

Photo Courtesy of Open Gate Quilts

Isn't it beautiful?  How did I not know about this before??  I am fond of Dillard, but had never seen this BOM before.  I've been searching for an hour for the pattern, but can only find links to BOMs that are 2-3 months into the deal.  What am I going to do if I can't find this pattern? I want!  I'm sending an email to Open Gate to see if it's even possible to find the pattern w/o signing up for a BOM.  Any suggestions?

Mary's Tea Cozy

I sent her a trivet made from the same collection as well.  I hope she likes it! 

Happy belated birthday, Mare!

What I've Been Working on...

This is a baby quilt for a young woman in our church.  She's had a rough go of it and just graduated high school.  Her baby is due Friday, but she's still planning to go to college in a few weeks.  I don't know if she's crazy or idealistic.  She's very lucky to have the support of her family and new husband. 

Anyway, I've had these squares for a couple years and I thought a nice 9-patch with sashing would be cute.  I have to say that I'm pleased so far.  I had hoped to have this quilted yesterday, but I processed a bunch of veggies we'd harvested during the day and didn't get to the store for batting until about 5pm.  Monday night is also date night, so no sewing time after end of business.  Today is another story, though.  I'm done with veggie processing (all the romas, melons, and corn yesterday) until Saturday.  I have a nice yellow with white polka dots fabric that I'm using for the backing and binding.  I have another project I'm working on as well.  Pictures to follow tomorrow. 

Oops

I have been remiss and it wasn't long before the pup reprimanded me for not including her on the "Pets on Quilts" post.  I tried to explain that she hasn't been with us long enough (just three months) to be included, but she was having none of it.  So, I am including a couple of photos of Miss Maddie "helping" me in the sewing room.

Here she is patiently waiting outside the sewing room.  She's taken to laying on the sheet that I use to cover my machines and projects when I'm not working on them to keep the kitty hair off.  In the beginning, she stole the cat bed next to the fabric closet.  See below.

She's WAY too big for that nonsense now. :o)  I can't go anywhere without my shadow, but it's sweet when she waits outside the room while I sew.

Pets on Quilts

Lily Pad Quilting is having a linky party.  They want to see pictures of our pets on our quilts. I can only think of one that I have:

This is Mac.  She's 10 years old.  I received her and her brother the summer I met my husband.  She's a little neurotic, but has been relaxing as she matures.  Where her siblings will force their way into my lap, she will not lay on me unless I have a blanket/quilt on my legs.  In this picture, I'm working on the binding of this baby quilt and she insisted on "helping" me.  She's a sweetie.

But, I can't leave the others out.  This is Ram. He's Mac's littermate and LOVES to help me in my sewing room.  In this picture, he's sitting on a Christmas quilting project desperately trying to get some love.  This is truly my favorite picture of him. And I'd regret it if I only included Mac and not Ram - trust me, he'd know! 

Finally, this is Clovey. She likes to insert herself into the process as well. Although, she's more concerned with the moving parts of the sewing machine and rotary cutter than she is with the fabric.  She's really just waiting for me to sit still long enough to settle in my lap. She's quality control. :o)

I have been looking at others' posts and am very grateful to find that I'm not the only one who suffers from pet insertion syndrome.  Everyone seems to have pictures of their pets inserting themselves into either the project or the process. Solidarity, Sisters. ;o)

Thanks for stopping by!

WIP Wednesday - HS Project

 As you probably know, I am working on a project I began more than 20 years ago in high school.  After taking it out of the box and realizing that much of it was cut out and some even stitched together, I initially just put it all back in the box and tried to figure out what to do about it.  In the end, I decided to deconstruct what was already sewn together, square everything up, sew it together, square it up again, sew the blocks together, and finally sew on the borders. 

I've deconstructed the blue and white blocks, re-squared the green blocks and sewed those together.  

Then I squared these blocks up.

They're all nice and pretty now.

Then I began work on the blue and white squares again.  Some of these were right on and some were way off.  Luckily, I've only had one that couldn't be trimmed to the new dimensions.  I just set that aside for now.  

I'm also lucky to have a sizable amount of leftover fabric so if I have to recut some squares, I'll still be OK.

Tedious Work, That.

I finally decided what to do about that quilt top from the 12th grade.  I spent most of Friday ripping stitches and taking apart the pieces that had been sewn together.

There.  That's done.  But BOY! was it boring!

Now that everything is in pieces again, the plan is to iron it all and square it up before trying again.  I have faith that it will work better after using the acrylic rulers to square 'em up.

Friday Finish - 4th of July

Wednesday I showed you this block as part of a larger project I was working on.

I indicated that there was more to it than just that bock, but not much more than that.  Last weekend, we took a little trip to Sioux Falls.  The hubs wanted to shop for beer brewing equipment.  We had heard that there were a couple stores, but we were supremely disappointed.  If we need brewing supplies, we're going to go back to Minneapolis, I think.

Anyway, the hubs surprised me by looking up a few quilting shops to take me to! AWW! While shopping in the first store, he saw this project and loved it. I mean LOVED it. The kit was reasonably priced at $19.50 including the backing!  Wednesday morning we got up and walked the dog and then after a shower, we went to our separate shops and worked on projects.  It wasn't long and I had another block done.

Before you knew it, the top was done.  By 4pm, the whole thing was complete!  Look how nice it looks on the entry table:

You can't really see it, but all three fabrics have gold pattern on them, but you hardly notice the color, right? Crazy.

So that's my 4th of July projects. :)

WIP Wednesday - 4th of July!

I'm working on another Fourth of July project.  I've gotten one block completed (10" square) and hope to have the others done this afternoon.

Fourth of July Finish

I finished this wall quilt this morning - just in time for the fourth!

Last week, I pulled together reds, whites, and blues from my stash to create this fun holiday quilt.  I have been very neglectful in my decorating and in creating fun holiday-themed items, but have made a minor resolution to correct that.  So this is the first of two items for the Fourth of July that I've been working on.  The other is not quite finished, but all cut out.  So I'll post tomorrow with a WIP.

I had the Henry Glass fabric for the light inner border and the navy blue with stars on it in my stash, but had to run to the fabric store (oh darn) because the red I was going to use turned out to be too busy and there was already a lot going on with the words and stars ... and when the hubby says "you should buy a different red tomorrow" what's a girl to do, I ask?? Go to the fabric store, of course!  I just bought a half yard of a red I had used in the stars so, it looks good. The light fabric of the inner border has the Pledge of Allegiance written in blue ink on a cream background.

I'm really happy with this one!

WIP Wednesday

Working on a project I planned last fall.  I think the young lady this is meant for will be thrilled when this is complete.

WIP... Thursday?

Normally, WIPs (works-in-progress) are a Wednesday report for most blogs... but most blogs are not written by a doctoral student. :o) I report when I have two minutes together.

I am almost finished with my Spring semester obligations.  I just have one final project left (due next week) and I received my feedback on the drafts last night.  I no longer have to make the 5-6 hours round-trip drive (depending on traffic) this semester either.  So, I'm taking today off from schoolwork.  This morning I checked email, read a few blogs, drank coffee leisurely and planned the rest of the day.  I had hoped to have lunch with a friend, but it wasn't in the cards.  So, instead, I worked a little on this blanket. 

I'm really loving this pattern.  

Yesterday, the hubs came home with flowers! It was such a pleasant surprise.

This afternoon I am planting a couple of bleeding hearts (one pink and a couple white) in the front.  Our front yard is in shade for most of the day, and I wanted perennials that would thrive in this condition - especially since the grass doesn't do well.  This spring, we turned soil in two feet swaths along the retaining wall, sidewalk and patio and planted a couple dozen shade-loving perennials.   Hopefully, by the end of the summer (or the beginning of next spring) we'll be able to see the beginnings of a beautiful shade garden!

I also have some onion plants to put in the ground.  The other day we were at one of the local home improvement stores to buy a new front door and saw that the tomato plants were huge and on sale for 50% off!  So, I'm going this afternoon to pick up a few of those and check out what else they have.  I'm also running over to the new garden store to see what they have.  Last fall, we learned that our favorite, locally-owned garden store was closing after several decades of business.   Apparently, they were unable to weather the slower business from the area flooding.  Anyway, they were bought out by a well-known, regional gardening group.  When the hubs drove past last week, he said that the greenhouses are overflowing with plants.  I can't wait to check it out! 

Enjoy the weather!

I Just Don't Get It

The recent trend in quilting seems to be including embroidered pieces as the center of the quilt blocks.  

Kim's Big Quilting Adventure:

Sister's Choice:

 Another blog, I can't remember:

 Fat Quarter Shop's Designer of the Day:

Meh.  It's just not my thing... at all.

That's not to say there's no place for it in quilting.  Obviously, there are plenty of people who like it and enjoy creating these piece.  I, personally, just don't get it.  It's not the first time that the quilting trends have not appealed to me and it won't be the last.  Typically, I enjoy more traditional patterns and colors, but not exclusively.  I LOVE Kate Spain and she's totally not traditional.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents.

What I've Been Up To...

 Lots of homework!  That's probably not what you expected - or maybe it is.  I'll tell you what, I feel like there's always more reading and writing to do.  My Spring Break is not until next week, and BOY am I ready for it!  I had hoped to spend the whole break working in the sewing room, but last week I had some homework dropped in my lap that will have to be done over break (seriously??).  So, I'm going to have to do some school work still, but I will definitely be getting some sewing done as well!

Dr. BB was on Spring Break this past week and he was finally able to work on my Valentine's Day presents.  We bought a turning lathe earlier this year for him (his dad has one and has been teaching Dr. BB over the last couple of years).  He turned a blush brush, a lipstick pen and a perfume spritzer for my purse!  Aren't they lovely?

Meanwhile, I've been working on another baby blanket.  I haven't been working on it much during the week, but last weekend we drove up to Minneapolis for a hockey game and I was able to get quite a few rows done on the way there and back.   I'll write more about it when I've completed it.

So, that's what I've been up to lately.  I'm still struggling to find me time, but I'm not sure it will ever be something that comes easy to me.