Stash Report 2.14.10

With all of my sewing this week, I have nothing to report as used for my stash report. That's fine with me because I have nothing to report as added either. I'm hoping to post big numbers next week. Not big numbers like Judy L does, but big numbers for Judy D.

I added to my small group BOM-the one on the top left. This BOM is from 2 consistent white background fabrics and the brights are from the scrap box only. No new fabric pulled from the shelf, no new fat quarters from the bin. It is fun to pull out the fabrics and see if they will play nice with the other colors. I'm glad Billie picked a bock that used more color than background color. It's helping the pink and green block out quite a bit. Thanks Billie.

Used this Week: 0 yards
Used Year to Date: 34 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date: 23.5 yards
Net Used for 2010: 10.5

Visit Judy L's Patchwork Times to see how awesome she is doing, then visit other blogs friends to see how their stash is shrinking or not shrinking. I'm doing the stash reports as a method for me to keep track of my own stash busting and building. I've always been curious as to how much fabric I use/buy in a year and have never kept up with tracking. Posting every week is helping me out a lot. And it's fun.

Quiltathon Weekend

Judy L is hosting another Quiltathon this weekend. I started yesterday but didn't get very far. I tried again today but the Olympics pulled me away. Oh, I have a tv in my sewing room but it isn't the ginormous one in front of my recliner. And this afternoon it called to me loud and clear!

These are the blocks for a BOM group. We have stars for this year's theme, one traditional pieced and one paper pieced. January and February's paper pieced blocks brought with them lots of frustration. I am used to working with Carol Doak designs that are perfectly sized. These 2 blocks may have been perfectly sized when posted to the internet but between cyber space and my printer, they shrunk. I had to draw a new center for the top right block and the bottom right one, I added a black border to make it the correct size. So they are now put away and are waiting for the next month's blocks. With 24 blocks, I am thinking of making 6 more to have a very nice sized quilt when it's finished. As I look at it on the design wall, I wonder how in the world I am going to quilt this. I still have 6 months to worry/think about it.

Tomorrow I am planning on finishing the quilt that has been on the long arm for too darn long. I need to finish it so I can get to my boxy stars quilt. Which I have decided to use the scrappy binding on.

Happy Valentine's Day. I hope you get to spend it with your someone or someones special. Thank you to my Valentine for the beautiful roses. This is our 38th Valentine's Day together.

Giant Leap

Well maybe not a leap but I am jumping up and down inside my head. I finally got the last border sewn on and now I'm trying to figure out how to quilt this top. I need to decide whether or not I want to use up the remaining strips and make the binding from them or cut them into pieces for the piece bins. I have enough from the final border fabric to use that too. I am going to leave it lay out on the bed for a while so I can glance at it and come up with an answer for myself. Do you ever do that?

The rest of the day I am going to work on my BOMs that I am behind on. I finally got them printed off so I have no more excuses. None that I can think of right now anyhow.

Design Wall Monday On Sunday Night

This week I have 2 design walls to share--the quilt wall and the ground outside.

I am making great progress on my Boxy Stars. I had planned to start attaching borders today/Sunday but it was a nice day and hubby was in the mood to continue the outside work.

Monday I will be home alone and have no errands to run so I am going to hide in my sewing room. I hope to have this top finished.

As I stood at my kitchen sink this afternoon, I started my planting plans. The dirt patch on the right is where we plant our pumpkins. This year we will have a temporary fence around it as soon as we plant the seeds. The patch where the 2 chickens are has some daffodils and bearded irises popping out of the ground. We trimmed up that scrubby bush so I will plant wildflowers there and again, a temporary fence will be put up. Down by the big rocks, he totally went crazy with the chain saw and almost cut down the shrubs. He does that every few years so we know they will grow back.

Be sure to check out Judy L's Monday post and see what everyone is working on.

Stash Report 2.7.10

I continue to work on my Boxy Stars quilt. I started piecing the scrappy border yesterday when the sunshine called us outside to start some winter cleanup. I felt a bit guilty working in the sunshine while I knew at least one of my blogger friends (Diane) was cleaning up from a nasty snow storm. I spent last evening parked in a chair with aches in the muscles I keep forgetting I have, working with a new skein of sock yarn, wondering if Diane's muscles were as loud as mine.

This week's stash report looks pretty good. I'm very happy with myself.

Used this Week: 7 yards
Used Year to Date: 34 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date: 23.5 yards
Net Used for 2010: 10.5

Check how every one is doing at their pown stashbusting by visiting Judy L at Patchwork Times.

Big Girl Steps

My baby steps of yesterday turned to big girl steps today.
Tomorrow I plan to put the borders on. Hubby is busy in the morning and then we have plans for the afternoon.

I'd like to turn this into a finished top in the morning. Wish me luck.

I have been racking my brain on how to quilt this. I don't have a clue but something will pop into my head, hopefully.

Right now I'm going to spend some time with my book and then with my pillow.

Baby Steps

No not a real baby, he's too little to start taking steps yet. I'm talking about quilting baby steps. I have decided I need to set myself up for progress and stop being water in a hot skillet. (I really want to call myself a fart in a skillet but that doesn't sound very ladylike!)

We were supposed to be with Crystal and Mike and the kiddos at the beach this week but with Ernie's work, our animals and a few other things, we needed to stay home. I decided I was going to spend the rest of the week on staycation. I'm spending mine in my sewing room and working on baby steps with one project.

Monday afternoon I cut all my pieces for the Boxy Stars Quilt blocks and haven't been back in the sewing room. Today my plan is to get all the blocks done and start the sashing. Already this morning I have done steps 1 and 2 and have myself set up for steps 3 and 4. I'm squeezing laundry in between steps--yeah, it's a staycation but somethings need to get done. Steps 5 and 6 should happen before lunch. I'm treating myself to tomato soup and grilled cheese. Steps 7 through 10 hopefully will be done before dinner. I have meatloaf and acorn squash on the menu for tonight.

Now I need to tie my shoes and get walking. One step at a time...

Design Wall Monday

I want to know who stole January away! Did that month go by fast or what!

I hadn't done much sewing last week but on Saturday afternoon I played for a while--ok, it was midnight when I turned off the sewing machine! I played in my string bin and my crumb box. Here are a few of my blocks. They just go in a pile until there is enough to do something with. Sometimes I get the bug and just sit down and sew away on those little blocks.

I got an email yesterday from my blog friend Diane saying she had been making crumb blocks. She is showing them on her design wall today. They are so fun to make. We thought it was rather spooky that we both were doing the same thing without knowing.

The scrappy block on the left is hopefully the last of the leftover bits from Quiltville's Orange Crush Mystery . That block will go into the 9" block bin. Next to that is the beginning of a 2 1/2" strip bin clean out using Quiltville's Boxy Stars. The lighter blue fabric is at least 10 years old and that is the last strip of it. There is a little left that will be made into 2 1/2" squares and bricks.

Go to Judy L's Patchwork Times and see what everyone has on their design wall. Judy has a quilt on her wall that is definitely on my to make list.

Stash Report 1.31.10

There has been a whole lot of nothing going on in my sewing room most of this past week. I think there were a couple days I didn't even go in there. I was in sitting and knitting mode. You know you are going to have that kind of a day when at 6:45 a.m. you are checking the Lifetime and Hallmark movie channels to see what is coming on next. Really, I shouldn't watch those movies first thing in the morning.....you know the kind, cry your eyes out, blow your nose all the way through movie. Yeah, that kind.

Saturday afternoon I finally sat at my machine. I pieced crumb blocks and string blocks and I put together a scrappy 9 patch from bits that were at the bottom of the bin. I think I ended up with 16 blocks total so I'm saying I used 2 yards. Guestimating counts in stash report, right???

Here is my pitiful stash report.

Used this Week: 2 yards
Used Year to Date: 27 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date: 23.5 yards
Net Used for 2010: 3.5

Check how everyone is doing at stashbusting by visiting our hostess with the mostess, Judy L at Patchwork Times.

Happy Feet

I've got new socks to keep my toes toasty. I can't believe how fast I got this pair finished. Only 2 weeks--that's pretty fast for me. I only work on them at night, mostly--there were those days when I just sat and knitted for a bit.

This is my first time using Patons Kroy Sock yarn. I think it knitted up nice. It think I did pretty good getting my stripes almost even.

Next on my agenda is a sweater for me. Or another pair of socks.

Say Cheese!

I am a huge fan of Suzanne McMinn's Chickens In The Road blog. I read it first thing in the morning--every morning--while I have my coffee. One morning she wrote about making a cheese press and I thought hmmmm, that's interesting-I could make that. Then a few days later, she wrote about making farmhouse cheddar. The wheels were already turning and then I started to wonder if I could make cheese. So I read a few articles on the web. Not too hard, I should seriously think about this.

Then Judy L made a comment on Facebook that she had ordered supplies to make cheese. I relied that I had been thinking about it and she invited me to join her. It didn't take much and I am now patiently waiting on my order so we can get the first cheese aging.

I went to Goodwill today looking for a big pot and didn't find one but when I found this fabulous cheese dish, I had to have it~~it was a sign~~I have cheese in my future. The funny thing is that I hate mice--with a passion. But these are cheese mice so they don't count. That's what I'm sayin'! Cheese!

It's Monday-That Means Share Your Design Wall

Here it is! I have made very little progress on Leland's cowboy quilt. These blocks were just put on the wall to show me what it could look like but I think I need to work a little harder on it. There will be several more blocks for this one. Pieced and not pieced. But it's progress and that's what I needed.

I started quilting my January UFO. I'm doing a feather border......I hope my feather technique improves today. It takes practice-that's what I keep saying. And that was one of my goals for the month so I'll keep working on it.

I have a few home chores to do this morning after being a slug most of yesterday. Then I am going to make some more feathers.

Grab yourself a cup of something and enjoy seeing what is on other design walls. See Judy L's tip about taping the block up in front of her, that's a good tip. My leader/ender block is taped up in front of me. It's so easy to get the little triangles turned the wrong way.

Stash Report 1.24.10

Gramma needs to show off Taylor's self portrait. It reminds me of when she was little and we watched Monsters, Inc. all the time. She would run around yelling "I've got my eye on you!" Someone needed to keep an eye on me this week.

I haven't spent much time in the sewing room after last weekend's Quiltathon. Just a few minutes here and there. I did finish the back for my Floral Freeze Frame quilt and it is now loaded and the quilting is started.

I've spent lots of time knitting this week and putzing around accomplishing not much of anything. I had my 2nd sock ready to do the heel flap and had to rip it all out and start over. My pattern called for 52 stitches, I for some reason had cast on 64. Maybe I should count more often instead of waiting until I'm ready to divide stitches. Now the 2nd sock is almost complete and then I'm going to start my sweater.

Here's my stash report:
Used this Week: 7 yards
Used Year to Date: 25 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date: 23.5 yards
Net Used for 2010: 1.5

Visit Judy L to see how awesome she is doing and check the links to other quilter's stash reports.

Happy Birthday today to my Mom.

Farm Fun

Since I don't have much to show in the way of sewing, quilting or knitting, I thought I'd share some of 10 year old Taylor's farm photos. She loves to take pictures and I think she is very good at it.

I can't believe she got Tony Dog to stand still long enough to get this shot. He is the guardian of the girls. He likes to play games with them and when they have had enough, they peck at him and he moves on to someone else.

Thanks for all the kind words and good thought for Jonah. He is doing fine now and I'm sure driving his poor momma crazy. Little boys shouldn't have to have their tonsils out and be confined to the couch. But he has his quilt and "Hey Doug, my snugglie has hugs in it."

Today I am going to spend the rest of the day in the sewing room. I have to have something for my stash report and design wall posts. ;-)

Design Wall Monday

Here is a quick design wall post. I did my small online group BOM late Saturday night. The new block is the one on the top left.

I am using 2 background white on white fabrics and the colors are brights that I pull from my scrap bin only. No cutting into new fat quarters or yardage.

Now that I am sitting here looking at the blocks, the pink and green one bothers me a bit. But before I make another one, I'll wait to see what the other 6 end up looking like. Who knows, after 6 more months, I might like it. ;)

Head over to Patchwork Times and check out everyone else's design walls. Get a snack and something to drink first...you may be here a while.

Quiltathon Day 2

I had goals for this Quiltathon weekend that Judy L of Patchwork Times hosted. I wanted to finish Jonah's quilt, I wanted to finish the Freeze Frame quilt, but first had to piece the back. 2 out of 3 goals is pretty good. All I have left to do to the Freeze Frame is cut the batting off the roll, load it, wind bobbins and get quilting. I'll have hubby help me with the batting roll after his show is over (can't interrupt Ax Men) and hopefully can quilt it on Tuesday.


While I was sewing my backing blocks together, I kept feeding half square triangles as my leader/ender. I have a pile of lights and colors right in front of the machine for easy pick up. When a row of backing blocks was finished, I had enough HSTs for one quarter of my l/e block. With 9 rows of blocks, I have enough HSTs to make 2 complete blocks. I'll start putting some of the quarter blocks together when this basket is full so I have a good variety. My 2 1/2" strip drawer is overflowing so I've been picking through that to cut pieces from.

So I will consider my Quiltathon weekend a success. I sewed, I spent time with my family, ate pretty darn good and didn't have to go anywhere. Now Taylor and I are going to make Grampa some chocolate chip cookies.

Stash Report

With all of the time I spent sewing this week, the only numbers I'm using are for this quilt. The other projects is on hold and I'll use those numbers when that quilt is done.
This week I had to get the solids for this quilt. So here's my report:

Used this Week: 10 yards
Used Year to Date: 18 yards
Added this Week: 4.5 yards
Added Year to Date: 23.5 yards
Net Used for 2010: <5.5>

Should be in the black next week, she says all hopeful.

Quiltathon Saturday

Judy L at Patchwork Times is hosting a Quiltathon this weekend and I couldn't pass up this event! I had a plan but you know how plans go sometimes. Among other things, I planned to finish this Warm Wishes quilt for Jonah. He is getting his tonsils out on Monday and I needed to make him a quilt--with motorcycles! I don't know how I managed it but the quilt is finished and he loves it.

While loading it on the frame, he had lots of questions.
Jonah: "What's that?"
Me: "That's called batting?"
J: "What's if for?"
Me: "It holds the hugs."
I started to meander.
J: "Why are you doing that?"
Me: "Because."

Off he goes to find other people that might answer his questions. Taylor was beading a necklace so she kept him entertained. I got the quilt quilted and I'm sewing on the binding and here he comes again.
J: "What's that?"
Me: "It's called binding."
J: "Why is it there?"
Me: "It keeps the hugs from falling out."
J: "Oh."

Off he goes.......As you can see, he likes it. He said he is going to sleep with it all the time. That makes my heart swell.

My other plans are still plans---maybe I can get a couple of them done tomorrow but tonight I need to spend time with with my kidlets.

2 More Finishes

January is looking good with finishes. It feels good to mark projects off the list. One more important project to do and then I can be picky with what I work on.

This is a diaper bag for my niece Anna. Her baby is due any day and I put this off until the last minute. I am not a fan of camo, especially for babies, but it's what she wanted so it's what I did. I used the Miranda Bag Pattern from Lazy Girl Designs. I love Lazy Girl Designs. I added the pocket to the front with a velcro closure inside the pocket and on the flap. There are lots of pockets inside. I hope she likes it and uses it. I think next time one of the girls wants a camo diaper bag, I'm going to tell them to borrow Anna's. I'm not sewing on camo any more.

Here are my socks that I finished tonight. I told hubby that I was going to stay up until I finished them. I only had the last 3 colors and the kitchener stitch to close the toes. I always have to get out my paper and read the directions out loud when I do it.

Edited to add yarn info: Felici self striping sock yarn from Knit Picks. And it looks like they are having a sale!!! I love wearing my socks made from this yarn!

I started another pair yesterday and when those are finished, I'm starting my sweater. And maybe another pair of socks.

Finished Projects

Last week at our Wednesday sewing group was Marian's birthday party. Me, being me, had it written on the wrong week so I didn't take her birthday gift. Marian had asked for blocks that were roller skating related. She was an award winning artistic roller dancer in her younger years. So I thought I would do an applique block. It was so horrid, it ripped, sewed, ripped and wadded it up and threw it in the fire! Then I got a brain storm and decided to make blocks with words that mean something to Marian. After talking with another friend, I had a list of dances that Marian did. After I got started, I just kept making them and ended up with 12 6" blocks. Today I took her the blocks. She loved them. Yeah!

Here is my fabulous hat model. She wasn't in the mood to model her latest hat, instead she put it on her foot. Then it became a game until.........

Peek A Boo!!

I really do have the cutest hat model ever.
Now I'll go back to my unfinished project........

What's On My Little Design Wall?

It's time for a new leader/ender project. Yesterday in the Stashbuster emails, someone posted a link to Merry Mayhem's page with an article written about scrap control. I had to go take a look! She has some very useful ideas but what really stuck with me was the photo of a quilt block.

On the left of my little design wall is 1/4th of the block she shows. It's an excellent long term leader/ender. Make 4 of these, join with the dark square in the center and you have a 12" block. It's going to take lots of these for a quilt top. Good thing I have lots of little fabrics. I need to fill my little basket with some light and med/dark HSTs to have beside my machine for easy picking/stitching. Do you know the name of this block?

The block on the right is based on Judy L's Out of the Bag quilt. You can find her free pattern in the side bar on her blog. My friend gave me a stack of 9" x 12" fabrics a couple years ago--before the layer cakes were all the rage. It's all cute western prints. So I resized Judy's block to fit my fabrics. So far this is as far as I've gotten. I need to get working on this before Leland is a teenager--you all know how fast time is going for us now!!

My agenda for the week is pretty full--I have to finish putting the last border on my drunkard's path sampler, finish a diaper bag and make a quilt for Jonah before next Monday. (He is having his tonsils out and needs a quilt from Gramma.) Hopefully I can get all this finished and have time to quilt the DP too.

Grab yourself a cup of something tasty and visit Judy L's Design Wall Monday and her friends to see what's on their design walls. Monday is my favorite blog day but I'll have to wait until later to visit everyone, I need to get to work.

Stash Report

I knew this was going to happen. I needed to buy fabric for 2 specific projects. And then I found a couple pieces at JoAnn's for 70% off and I couldn't leave them on the shelf!

The blue snowflake batik will go to a friend and the snowmen are part of a book panel. The motorcycle fabric will be for Jonah's quilt and the greens and brown are for the drunkard's path sampler. And there are a couple other pieces that I can't show just yet. So everything I bought has a purpose!
Even the 4 skeins of sock yarn. winkawinka!!

My stash report is:
Used this Week: 5 yards
Used Year to Date: 8 yards
Added this Week: 19 yards
Added Year to Date: 19 yards
Net Used for 2010: <11>

How NOT To Start Your Day

I had such great plans for today....finish the borders on my drunkard's path quilt so I can get started on the next project. I have a rolling tool chest that is to my left at the sewing table. I have a 16" square ironing board on top to that and that is where I do all of my pressing while sewing.

First thing this morning, I turn to press and CRASH, I sent the whole thing over! And you know that sent other things falling. My iron landed right smack on top of a project bag!

Here is my blatant product endorsement. Dritz Iron-Off Hot Iron Cleaner. If you don't have any, run out right now and buy yourself a tube or 2. Or wait until you are at the quilt/fabric store and remember to get some before you need it. If you are clumsy like me or if you work with fusibles, you want some in your tool box.

Now I need to get some more, so it is already on my list. It's one of the items I don't mind paying full price for because you know if I'm out of it, I'm going to need it.

Back to my borders.

Are You A List Maker?

I am! I need my lists to get things done. Truth is I like to mark things off my list. It shows me that I do get things done during the day.

This morning my list includes laundry (I keep track of how many loads I do), dancing with the vacuum , finishing this quilt top, make binding and make progress on the drunkard's path top.

So far I have marked 2 loads of laundry done, the quilt top finished and the binding made. I'll also mark on my list that I updated my blog.

I use Google calendar (you can get your own when you have a google account) to make my dinner menu for a week or 2 at a time...makes it easy to take what I need out of the freezer. I don't write that on my list but I used to, now I just check my calendar. When I took out the pork chops for tonight, I also took out a package of pumpkin puree and a package of pie crust so I better write make pie on my list!

This photo shows an awesome cloud formation from yesterday. I was fixing dinner, looked out the window and saw that so grabbed the camera and went out on the deck to get the picture. I love God Moments like this.

Now I must fold that load of clothes while I watch my favorite local morning show and then get back to the sewing room.

WaaHoo

I have a list of goals for January and now I get to mark one of them off! WaaHoo!

It's the little moments in my life that sometimes get me through the day. I mean silly, little moments. Like achieving a small goal that I set for myself. I have been sewing for a kabillion years and quilting for almost that long and I have never made a mitered corner! That is until today.

Next time I'll be a bit more careful with the fabric I choose but I decided to do the miters after the fabric was picked from the stash and cut. That's what happens when you use the design wall and pictures, you get to make different choices. Well I do anyhow!

So now that I have marked on my goal list, I need to get out of here and head to JoAnns to see what's on sale and what I can't live without--I need needles and then go to the quilt shop to buy special fabric for a special little boy. And hopefully get it used so I can stay in the + column on my stash report. I tell myself it isn't about the + or -, it's about how much fabric I use is a year. OK, whatever, it's about the winning the game with myself and that's means it's about the +.

Design Wall Monday

I love Design Wall Monday! It's my favorite blog day of the week.

This was my design wall as of last night--then I took it down to sew the borders on this morning. This has been my leader/ender project on and off for the last few weeks. My 2 1/2" bin was overflowing. Now I can shut it.

I saw a quilt almost like this at Quilting and Stuff by Knitnoid and bookmarked it knowing that someday......this is a perfect 9 patch and 4 patch quilt. After emailing and asking if she minded if I copied, I printed her picture to use as a guide. When the 4 and 9 patches were made, it went together really fast.

After seeing the picture, I don't like the 9 patch in the corner and I don't like the way the fabrics meet on the other corner. I think I am going to try may hand at mitered corners. And then to the yardage bin for some backing fabric. I am going to try freehand baptist fans like Mary does on this quilt.

Grab a cup of something to drink, head over to Judy L's at Patchwork Times and see what everyone else has on their design wall. I love Mondays in blogland.

Stash Report

I think Judy L at Patchwork Times has been doing the Stash Report for a couple years now. I love to read how everyone is doing and decided it's time to my to keep track of my stash. I think it will be fun to see exactly (or close to) how much fabric I use this year. I don't have a big stash of yardage but I have a big stash of scraps and small pieces. I don't usually buy fabric without a purpose but sometimes I just have to!

Bonnie at Quiltville has a great page of Misc. Stuff that will help me figure out how much yardage my scraps total.

This week I've been working on my leader/ender Sister's Choice quilt. The blocks are finished and sashing has been started. Today will be a great quilting day.

My first stash report beginning January 1 is :

Used this Week: 3 yards
Used year to Date: 3 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date: 0 yards
Net Used for 2010: 3 yards

The photo shows what I saw yesterday morning from the computer desk. I don't remember what was on OPB but whatever it was Maemae was talking to Papa about it and Elliot was concerned. How stinkin' cute is that!

Goodbye 2009--Hello 2010

2010! Hello! Can you believe how fast the twenty-o's went by??? All the hype and scare from 2000 and now, all of the sudden we welcome 2010. Unreal!

I've been thinking a lot about my goals for this new year. This morning Pat Sloan writes about choosing her one word for the year. My word is simplify. I hadn't really thought about choosing one word but simplify is what I have been trying to do. Now that I have chosen that word, I need to concentrate on it.

I do have a few other goals--I have had EQ5 for a few years and haven't taken the time to learn to use it, so that is one thing I want to do. I'd like to sit down at the computer and design a quilt block or a quilt without having to get out the books and relearn everything. I've been working on 2 quilts so I sat down and played until I had layouts that I want and it was fun. I know EQ6 has been out for quite a while but I own EQ5 so I am going to use it. I don't mind being out of date.....

I am going to learn to quilt feathers with my longarm. Judy L posted a great video where she explained how she does hers--I've been envious of Judy's feathers for a very long time. So I am going to take out an old UFO and get practicing. I will no longer be afraid of the feathers!

See how simple that was, 2 achievable goals that will cost me nothing but my time. I already have the fabric, batting and thread and I own EQ5 and my computer so I don't figure in any cost--yes, my mind at work.

My other goal is our food. I have been focusing on that for a while--no diet, just plain, simple, mostly homegrown, homemade good food. Oh don't get me wrong, I like to go out to eat once in a while--we have a very good teriyaki house and I'm not ready to give up Taco Bell just yet!

Have a very Happy 2010. I hope all your goals are achievable.


I got my cute clip art from LILLYARTS.

2009 In Review

I am excited to say that my BOMs are current. The right 2 blocks on the bottom row are for December. The blue and cream Connecticut block is from Carol Doak's 50 Fabulous Paper-Pieced Stars and the peach and pink is called Dorothy's Star from Quilter's Cache. I am really liking this quilt.

For my small online group, we have a UFO challenge and I needed to get my list of 12 in before the 1st when the number for the month will be called. Then I will work on that UFO and hopefully finish it before the next number is called. This proves to be very motivating for me. Last year I completed 7 of the 11 and the others are at the need quilting stage. When I finished my UFO early, I had someone in the family pick a number for the next project and I set myself a goal to finish that one before the next number was called. It really doesn't take much to entertain me.!

While I was creating my UFO list, I noted a few other things. My main focus was going to be not to start anything new. Well that lasted about 5 minutes and then Bonnie of Quiltville posted a mystery and I had to do it. So, I started 17 new projects that I blogged about. Of those, 8 are completely finished, others need quilted. My last year's UFO list had 29 projects on it. I finished 13 of those. My new UFO list has 33 projects on it. I'm sure there are others I didn't write down. I have 2 WIPs that I am not writing down.

My personal life was full of exciting things. I had a new puppy to deal with and I'm still dealing with him. I was grounded from sewing with an injury to my knee and my foot so I learned to sew left footed. I got lots of knitting done during elevation and icing. In March we welcomed our great granddaughter Jaelynn into the family.

In May I became a chicken farmer. The garden was planted and I spent a lot of time playing outside. Then the canning started and I spent a whole lot of time inside. But it was worth every minute.

In September we adopted another dog, Louie. And in October, we welcomed grandson Leland into the family. We truly have an fabulous family.

This is sounding like the Christmas letter so it's time for me to go. Maybe I'll go knock off one of those UFOs........nah, that will mess up my list for 2010!

Final 2009 Design Wall Monday

I have had fun with Design Wall Monday. Judy L. started this 30! weeks ago. I think I have posted every week but I'm not sure. I do know that it has motivated me to work on my projects. Or sometimes not work on them. ;-)

I have all my drunkard path blocks finished for the center of this quilt. I have the sashing strips cut but need to buy fabric for cornerstones and borders. I have a plan.....stay tuned.

The blocks on the left are BOMs for my small online group. We are taking turns picking the BOM. My turn was December and I picked the block with the orange star points called Country Farm. I think mine will be the only orange one. I am doing all of my blocks with 2 different white on white backgrounds and brights from my scrap bins. I even know how I want to set these blocks when the time comes and have the instructions with the blocks. I'm usually not this organized.

After I took this picture, I took all the blocks down and put up my other BOM. It is black background with bright stars. Each month is one pieced star and one paper pieced star. Again, I picked for December but my paper piece star is almost finished and ready to put on the wall. Maybe this morning while I quilt for an hour or so.......

Get yourself a cup of something and go over to Judy L's and see what others have on their wall. Thanks Judy, I'm looking forward to 2010 Design Wall posts.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

Every year I say I am going to be ready for Christmas at least 2 weeks ahead of time and every year I'm not. Today I am doing the last of the wrapping and bagging of gifts. It's not too bad. I'm not stressed at all. Most things are ready to go. Not like some years when I was still shopping or sewing like a maniac!

In the morning I will put the cheesy potatoes in the crockpot and get the veggies cleaned and cut up. And then we will relax until it's time to leave. We are gathering at Crystal's house this year. I love spending time with my family and watching everyone interact with each other. I have a fabulous family.

Remember the reason for the season. I hope your day is special. Merry Christmas.

Design Wall Monday On Sunday

I love Sunday mornings when hubby wants to sleep in, 3 dogs want to sleep in and I want to sew. I got to spend a couple hours in my sewing room this morning and was very productive.

I've been trying hard to spend at least an hour a day just sewing but I missed Saturday. We went shopping, visiting and came home in time to play on the computer, fix dinner and then knit and watch tv.

I have 3 more blocks to make for my Drunkard's Path Sampler. I don't have enough of anything left in my bin to make complete blocks so I will pick 3 more fat quarters and do the last 3 blocks. I'm not too sure about that in your face green block but that is how the picture shows it, that's the fabric I picked and maybe it will go on the back! I do know that all the leftover bits will be pieced and used on the back or made into a pillow top. I want that bin empty and ready for something else!

Today I am going to finish up my Christmas sewing and finally put up the tree. I have not been feeling Christmasy until Thursday evening when we drove into town for hubby's company Christmas dinner. The lights were so pretty and my mood lifted. Especially after shopping yesterday and picking my own gifts......after this many years, sometimes it's nice to give him a break. He got me more 1950's hens and a rooster for my collection. I think now his gift shopping will a little easier. Just go to an antique store and buy me old stuff!

Go over to Judy L's and see what others have on their design wall or read about their stashbusting or try one of Judy's recipes or make one of her fabulous quilts or order her new book or any of the other fabulous things she writes about. Get yourself something to drink, you will be there for a while. Thanks Judy for Design Wall Monday--thanks Judy for your excellent blog.

*Monday morning edit: I didn't get one stitch sewn after posting this yesterday. Taylor came to spend the night while SantaMom finished some things. What I did get done was my Christmas decorating. The tree is up and pretty, the Santa, Mrs. Santa and Rudolf are sitting pretty in their spot and Mr Snowman is gracing the kitchen window. Taylor decorated the little tree for the play room and it looks quite festive in there. Not sure what we will do today but for a while this morning I am going to sew while she sleeps.

Merry Christmas everyone.............

Quilt For An Hour

Inspired by Judy L and her Quilt For An Hour Projects, I have decided I am going to take 1 hour in the mornings and go into my sewing room and sew/quilt. So far, sew successful!

Yesterday I sorted and pressed my drunkard's path pieces and made one block for my sampler. Today I made 2 more blocks. I used my little "design wall" to arrange my block, putting in the extra pieces that need to be made. I even have the next 2 blocks ready to sew. I could very easily go back in there and put all of today's plans on hold. But I can't. I have other things planned for today.

I think some of these blocks look a little funky but I'm going to continue on and make this quilt. It has been on my list for quite a while. I must have really wanted to make it because I have now found 2 of the pictures that I tore out of the catalog. I think this one may have turned into my newest obsession.

Design Wall Monday

I can't believe this is my 28th post for Judy L's Design Wall Monday. I've had weeks when nothing has changed, I've had a day when I've taken down what was on the wall and put it away because nothing was inspiring me.

I've been working a little at a time to get my sewing room organized. This week I found a zip bag with the contents of photo 1. A bunch of 3" drunkard's path blocks. Then I found the bin in photo 2 with sewn blocks and cut blocks for a kabillion more. I wonder when I started working on these. I did my drunkard's path quilt in 2005 so these have been floating around since then!

Originally I was going to make a pillow cover, then I found that bin and I think there is enough in there for a lap quilt. I love using the Curve Master Foot. It is one of those "must have" tools I saw demo'd at a quilting expo. I didn't buy it then but I came home and stewed about it and ordered it. I wished I had it when I pieced my first dp quilt.

The last photo has 16 blocks in it, it will be a 12" block! This is going to take a while. I wonder how many times I'll change that block around. Oh wait, I have a picture I tore out of a Keepsake Quilting catalog of a dp sampler......I know right where that picture is! Yes, this is how my mind works! Now that I have the picture in front of me, I am ready to get stitchin'.

I did a search and found a webshots photo that momparde posted. She has some beautiful quilts! Ohhh, I'm excited!!! I need to go in and sew! Go to Patchwork Times and check out what everyone else is working on

It's Done-Almost

After my whining post (thanks dear friends for the sympathy) I decided to go in and finish the quilt. I went back through my blog and see that I wrote about this October 2008 (picture of mine here) after seeing it on Quilter Going Bananas blog header. I'll go back into the quilting room and make a scrappy binding out of some 2 1/2" strips and sew it on and then hand stitch it down tonight while watching tv.

This quilt has already been gifted to my cousin Julie. She posted on my Facebook page one day that she would love to own one of my quilts so I wrote her back and told her to send me her address. Things didn't work out to mail it to her so we will meet up when she gets "home" for her Christmas break. She is a nursing student in Nebraska. Her mom was my sewing mentor. I still use the basics today that Aunt Sharon instilled in me. I sure miss you Aunt Sharon.

So now I am going to go in and make binding while hubby naps and then I am going to put something up on my design wall that I am excited about. Because what's there now isn't exciting to me anymore. It will get put in the UFO box to be worked on later or never, whichever comes first!!!

Go to Kathy's Fancy Stitching News and see her Advent Quilt Show. She is showing some amazing quilts and has her Barbed Wire Fence quilt like mine shown on December 7th.

Owie!!

As the end of the year approaches faster than a speeding bullet, I want to get just one more UFO finished. I was happily quilting along on Friday when all of the sudden----yikes, I quilted my finger. Nope, I didn't break the needle. I guess I know how it happened, I got my finger was too close to the needle. ;~)

I was stitching down the edge and should have slowed my speed down-no stitch regulator and too lazy to reach up and turn the knob. Other people have done this, I've never wanted to be in their club......but evidently it is open invitation.

There is another club I don't want to belong to...that's the "I cut myself with the rotary blade and had to get stitches" club. No thanks, I don't want to be one of them! And you know everything jumps out and hits the owie. Just like having a sore toe and kicking everything within 10 feet of where you are walking.

Lessons learned, turn down the speed when you need to, keep your finger away from the hopping foot, and that fancy ruler you bought--go ahead and use it!

Design Wall-Week 27

Look at the size of that egg! It weighs 3 ounces! The others weigh 1.75 and 2 ounces. Impressed? I was. The one in the middle isn't 2 toned, it's just wet. Wouldn't it be neat if it was that color?

I'm hoping to distract you from my design wall that has the exact same thing on as it did 2 weeks ago. I've been quilting for my friend and sewing on secret things. And knitting! Really I only want to knit but secret things must get finished.

I've come a little ways on my Tipsy sock-pattern from Sleepy Eyes Knitting. You need to go visit her blog, her book is out! Exciting......(more distractions!) I am going to buy myself a Christmas present!

Sometime today I have to decorate the Christmas tree. Then tonight I get to go with hubby to his hunting club meeting...I know, how lucky am I! The club secretary is out of town and the assistant secretary may not make it tonight and she sweet talked hubby into sweet talking me. She is such a little doll, I couldn't say no even though I really wanted to. Gosh, I haven't taken down minutes from a meeting forever! They may be in for a surprise........I'll take my knitting just in case Alice shows up!

Head over to Patchwork Times and see what everyone is up to.....Monday, my favorite blog day of the week. Don't forget to work on secret things today if you need to....yes, I'm talking to myself again.

Funny Girl

I finished Ian's hat yesterday and had to take it to my hat model to get a picture. I followed directions for a change and the hat turned out ginormous!!! I'm giving it to him anyway and if it's not going to work for him, I'll make him another one. (The hat model is Clella, almost 2--Ian is 9 1/2.)

I'm quite pleased with myself, I think I am getting over the cold and am ready to get back to my normal schedule--whatever that is!--but while I was down, I did finish the hat and the socks!

Last night I started another pair. I wanted to do 2 socks on 2 circular needles but my hands felt like elephant hands. So I am going to stick with what works for me. My double pointed needles. I love the way they feel in my hands and I don't get all mixed up with which one comes next. I am working a different pattern, this one is quite easy, called Tipsy Socks from Sleepy Eyes Knitting over on the right hand side of her page. This is the same gal that has the Amanda hat that I made for Amanda.

Today I would like everyone to jump over to Chickens in the Road and vote for Suzanne in the contest for a job. She writes a daily blog post about her life and is one of my daily must reads. I love all of her adventures, recipes (the best pizza rolls that were requested this morning), and of course her chickens and other pets. And as a bonus today she has added a link box for her readers to post their web pages/blogs. Look at all the new friends I can make!!!! I'm going to fill my coffee cup back up and head on ove there.

Thanks for helping out.........

Stuff I Have On My Mind

I don't feel good today. I have a nasty cold. It makes me whinie. I'll try not to whine... but I reserve the right.

I've been sitting in hubby's chair, watching last night's Biggest Loser, knitting on Ian's hat when I ran out of yarn. I went into my sewing room (that I have been trying to organize so I knew right where the bin was) to get the other skein of yarn (it's the blue with the tan label-Premier yarn, Deborah Norville collection, Serenity chunky weight, color Stormy) so I can go back to the chair, cover up with my quilt and knit while watching tv. Then I took the lid off the bin and thought hmmm, awesome blog photo! I grabbed my camera and here I am.

I have a list of knitting projects.....first is to finish my monkey socks and Ian's hat. Then there is the checkerboard slipper pattern I found and remembered when my sister made those and now I want a pair! And the other hats and the other socks........where can I find more time! I should be quilting on a quilt for my friend but I don't think now is a good time to work on someone elses quilt...maybe later today. Maybe tomorrow.

I should go to the PO to mail 3 packages...again maybe later today. I don't see myself going out for my walks today. Going out to check for eggs several times a day has become a habit and I try to take a 15 minute walk each time I'm outside but dang, it's cold outside today and you know I don't feel good!

Today is my son Doug's birthday. He is OMG 35!!! When did I get old enough to have children that old (and older)??? Happy Birthday Baby Boy. It seems like yesterday! (sniff, sniff)

I need to decorate for Christmas but I always wait until after Doug's birthday so maybe tomorrow I'll get some stuff out. Right now, I'm going to call my friend Marian and tell her I won't be coming today--I don't want to share my cold with anyone (I just want someone to take it!!) so I'll be sitting in the chair cuddling with my blankie and knitting. Good thing there's beef barley soup in the freezer so dinner will be ready when hubby walks in the door!