Design Wall Monday

I've spent lots of time this week thinking of the families that lost everything from the tornado damage. Judy L is collecting money for the Red Cross and quilts to be distributed to some of the victims in Joplin. Go here to see how you can help.

I am making this quilt to send. This is my favorite quilt in Scrap-Basket Sensations called Island Chain. I pulled open the 2 1/2" strip bin and started pulling out strips. Wednesday at quilt group, I spend the morning cutting the color strips for 2 quilts. Thursday I cut the background and this weekend I sewed.


I always copy from the book so I can have my copy right at the machine and with this quilt, I needed a picture right on the design wall. This is the original layout and after looking at it for a while, I decided to leave it just as it is. Then it was time to sew the twosies together....I needed more help putting them back up on the wall.

Thank goodness for digital cameras and printers! I printed off this picture so my twosies would be in the right places. I've started sewing the rows together and hope to have this one off to Judy L. in the next few days.

Retreat Pictures

Here they are, in no order at all, a few pictures from retreat. Show and Tell is always so much fun and inspiring. My friends do amazing work. If I have posted your picture and you don't want it here, please let me know and I will remove it.

This is Marian on the left with her stunning One Block Wonder. Click the photo to make it bigger and more beautiful. Her helper and dear friend is Sharlene.

This beautiful quilt is a memory quilt for our friend Alice. She was a very active member of Kiwanis and Kathy (on the right) is too. Kathy asked us to make make star blocks we thought Alice would love. You can only see 2 star points of my block on the left side of the chair. Kathy and Billie put this top together to send it home with the quilter.

This is our lovely Pam and her Golden Harvest quilt top.

Here is the lovely Pam as quilt holder with Sonya the quilt maker. Aren't these colors fabulous??

Jo Ann on the left doing what she does best.....love you Jo Ann. On the right are gals working on their Judy Niemeyer projects.

I had to stop on my way home one night to take this picture-you should click it to make it bigger and brighter. Views like this make me stop and think. I'll keep my thoughts to myself.

Pam again, helping me with my crumb quilt. I love showing off this quilt to show what you can do with your bits and pieces. I'm hoping dear sweet Lacey didn't take my ribbing the wrong way. I know there are quilters that just can't save the scraps.......I say give them to me. ;0) At the next retreat, Pam and I are going to share our crumbs and make blocks. Thank you to all my friends that gave me new bits and pieces for the next one.

Thank you to Sonya for all the hard work you do to make our retreats so fabulous. I love that I spent my birthday weekend with such wonderful women. Really, I love whenever I can spend time with these women. Thanks for being part of my life.

Design Wall Monday

This past weekend I was at our spring quilt retreat. I had a great birthday weekend. Thursday, I finished up the deer quilt top and backing so it will be done this week. On Friday several of us started Judy Niemeyer projects. Some of us are doing Golden Harvest. Others are doing Christmas Celebration Tree Skirt. Each project different looking that the others, each project is fabulous beyond words.

I have the first 3 steps done and I cannot wait to work on the next step. Do you think my mojo is back?? But first I have to get the deer quilt quilted......so the incentive to do that is pictured here.

I'll post more about retreat later. I'm headed over to Patchwork Times to see other design walls.

Design Wall Monday

Design Wall Monday on Sunday Night

Between projects (laundry and other fun things), I spent lots of time working on the deer quilt for the hunting club. The bottom section matches the top section. After yesterday's post, DD2 and the kiddos came over with dinner so no more was done on the top. When I went in this morning, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

I think I'll go back in and work on the borders--aka get away from the tv--and maybe get this finished tonight.

What To Do, What To Do

Today is the final day for this session of Hunter's Education for Ernie. When they finish with the range portion of the testing and all the guns are cleaned and locked away, the guys are spending the remainder of the the day doing trash pick up in the woods. It really makes me mad that people feel the need to chuck their garbage out the window of their vehicles instead of taking it home to throw away. I figured it would be the perfect day to get the deer quilt put together. I have lots of parts sewn and now have to figure the layout.

Not too sure I like so much green around the center block. I think I need to put something else there.The green 4 patches really are for one of the borders. I also like that the half square triangle borders around the deer block are different. I didn't pay attention to how the first block was sewn together when I did the second.

Now that my unexpected company has left, I'm going to eat some lunch and then get back to it.

Design Wall Monday

It's that time of year again. Time to make the quilt for the hunting club. The picnic is in June and this is how far I have gotten. I have the quilt all designed and I don't like the design I have. Now I will just go crazy and free lance a design. Each of these blocks will get a border on them so they can be made into a workable size. I have the border pieces already cut for that and strips ready to make into a checkerboard outer border. That's it for my plan so far.......but I have an idea of what I really want and have lots of time today to work on it.

To see last year's quilt, go here. (Or just look up in the header on the left side, 2nd down.~Thanks Mary C for pointing that out to me. ) Our friend Art won the quilt and says he naps under it almost daily. His wife thinks she needs to win this one because he isn't good at sharing.

To see other fabulous design walls, go here.

Tuesday Knitting Report

Whoopsie! I forgot last Tuesday and almost forgot this week too. Really, I did forget to post on Tuesday because today is Wednesday. I continue to do one color section a week. That's not much progress but it's better than none. So I'll keep making progress and one of these days, you'll be surprised to see the Abracadabra sock finished!

Design Wall Monday

I love tumbler blocks. I love homespun plaids. I love homespun tumbler blocks. I hope some young boy will love this quilt. I have 3 more rows to sew together. I have some fun fabric for the backing of this quilt. It's blue and white plaid background with race cars all over.

This started out last week as leaders/enders while I finished up the Crabapple top-and it is finished!-and soon turned into my main (as in avoiding the timing of the longarm) project.

And with the finish of the Crabapple top, I need a new main leader/ender project. My overflowing 2 1/2" square drawer needed to be emptied so I started sewing 4 patches. Then I looked in Bonnie Hunter's Adventures with Leaders & Enders book and saw Hopscotch, Butterscotch on page 66. I didn't even read the instructions, I knew this would be the project for my 4 patches. It didn't take long to put the sample block together. I also have a drawer full of 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" bricks. This will make a nice dent in the drawers but will not empty them out.

**I finally read the instructions and Bonnie uses 2" squares......guess I'll have a bigger quilt.

If you go to this post at Patchwork Times, you will see a bunch of fabulous design walls. Better bring a cup of something....you may be there for a while.


After reading comments from my post yesterday, I need to say I wasn't beating myself up at all. I was hoping to inspire myself by writing my thoughts. I do feel bad that I haven't followed through like I wanted to but I seldom beat myself up. Thanks for all the kind words. I have such great friends in Blogland!

Hanging My Head In Shame

I was so excited when Judy L started the 2011 UFO Challenge. I couldn't wait to get started. I made my list, posted my intentions and completed January's project.


Then I moved on to February's project. I did nothing about it in February and waited to load the top until March 19th. I am embarrassed to say it has been on the frame for weeks. I knocked the timing out and I am still tweaking and it is not going well. It would go better if I went in there and worked on it until I had it perfect but I don't. I'll fiddle with it for a while, get discouraged and sit down and sew instead. So February's project is staring at me all the time. It makes me feel bad about myself. :>(


When March's project was chosen, I was so excited to put those blocks together into a finished top. I am not saying this UFO is done until it is quilted and bound.

These are the blocks for April. I took them out of the bag to take this picture last month. I put them back in the bag. My Mojo was missing so these were not even thought of. Again, looking at them makes me feel bad.


This little beauty is May's UFO. I think I have a few more blocks stashed away to add to this, maybe not...I don't know. With a new grandbaby due in October, I am excited to work on this one.

With the return of the Mojo, I have been busy, but I haven't been working on my UFOs. I plan to change that but not today. Today is a super nice sunshiny day and I am going outside to enjoy it. Ernie is on the tractor and I have a couple projects for him. It is supposed to rain again tomorrow......I'll sew then.