Scrappy Neutral Saturday

Well, not too much progress this month but I did get a few of the birds in the air blocks done. I paired them with blue and got these little guys on Thursday.

I started the second block of the QSA and have all the parts pieced for the outside and the applique drawn onto the background. I just need to pick the fabrics and prep them for some applique, then I can get that one finished up.

I also have the third block for the Quilt Square along to do and have it at this point so far.

I have two of the nine anvil blocks completed and the others are all pulled for fabrics. I just need some time in the sewing room to finish this up. Hopefully this afternoon I can spend some time in there and work on finishing this little guy up.

As for us, I think I am going to grab a shower and then take the kids to a Butterfly festival the next town over and see what that is like. Hopefully we can spend a couple of hours there before it gets too hot and humid, tire them out and then they'll take naps this afternoon. A girl can dream.....

Go on over to SoScrappy and see what everyone else has been working on for this neutral Saturday.

#37 Imperial fan

Finished! I modified it a bit and removed the outer circle... because the fans did not line up to the edge like the pattern thinks they should have. Oh well. It is done and came out pretty cute! I did have to make the middle circle a wee bit bigger to cover the edges of the fans.

Sow along 7-10

I was able to get the next four done for the Sow along over at Randy's blog.
They are churn dash, broken dishes,  a basket and friendship star. That brings me to ten blocks completed out of 24. Baby steps....

Today was also our HIPPY day. Ms. P comes over on Mondays and works with me on the HIPPY lessons for the week for each of the kids. They love doing it so far and this is our second week of lessons. Last week I had to cancel since I had the flu. We got little shapes - 4 colors for each shape - circle, square, triangle, rectangle and stars. Since they needed something to be held in.... Mommy had to whip up a couple of little bags for them. One for each child's shapes. Aidan chose the bumblebee fabric so I guess Emily will get the trains. I just measured a 6x10 piece of fabric. Created a channel at the top where I put a piece of yarn through at the end using a safety pin. Then sewed the sides together and got these little bags.

Did anyone else notice that the editor changed suddenly on Saturday. I can't say I like the new one but I can figure it out. It would have been nice to have been informed of the forced change. Ok, my complaining is done. Better get working on stitching down the inner circle for my Midget block for tomorrow. Have a great day!

A little sewing...

Well, I did make it into the sewing room a bit over the last two days and have all 96 of the blue blocks completed for the boy's quilt. This is a picture of 80 of the blocks laid out on the floor.

There will be two more rows on the bottom and that should make the quilt about 48x72 without borders. It is a toss up right now as to what the borders will be. I know there will be an Aidan at the bottom but I may do the alphabet around the other 3 sides or just go with a plain border..... ???

I also spent a lot of yesterday working on cutting these little fans for my midget block for the week. This one is very time consuming but I think it will be pretty. Hopefully I can get it all together for Tuesday. I just need to figure out how to keep the tops down to applique them..... must invest in some glue to help me I think.

If I get some time in the sewing room today I plan to cut out some more of the Sow along blocks and some things for the Birds in the Air blocks for next week. I also need to do a fix on the graduation quilt and then get that pressed and rolled for pinning. I hope to get that pinned off tomorrow night after work and dinner. Then hopefully a week from Wednesday I can get that quilted and the binding put on.
Not much of a neutral Saturday but there is some neutrals in there. Go on over to SoScrappy and see what others have been working on for the Rainbow scrap challenge of 2012.

Feeling blue....

Not really but I was working on some blue blocks last weekend after cutting up a bunch of blue 2.5 inch squares so I could finish these blocks. I needed one of the stars and twelve of the nine patches. That gave me 40 each of the stars and nine patch blocks. Here is a shot of 80 6.5 inch blocks.

I think that will give me an 8x10 setting... but I had some notes of making 8 more of each block.... so I guess I was thinking I needed it longer and two more rows would do the trick. I need to do some math and see how many more blue squares I need to cut..... I believe I have that many hst's left still so it will clear out all the remaining leftovers from my parents anniversary quilt! I just love using up existing pieces that are just sitting around waiting to be invited to join a quilt. Don't you?

On the other front....time to clear out the fridge. When you don't feel well and don't cook for 3-4 days.... sometimes you need to poke around and see what needs using up. I talked the kids into eating some apples for a snack this morning... they were getting soft. A bunch of oranges will probably be squeezed into some juice and used with some honey to make some orange chicken for dinner tonight. The kids won't eat oranges... but will drink orange juice and eat this chicken. The two cukes..... one was made into a dill salad for lunch and the kids each had 3 or 4 spoonfuls! It is a quick salad I found years ago from the Taste of Home Magazine. I never use the recipe anymore and just do it by taste. A big spoonful of mayo, some vinegar - maybe 2-3 teaspoons, some sugar - 1 tablespoon or so, some salt to taste and then some dill weed. I use a good sprinkle - maybe 1-2 teaspoons. Stir this together with a whisk. Then add some cucumbers that have been sliced. I usually use one European cuke or a couple of regular ones from the garden. Put in the fridge for a bit before eating... although I never get around to it and it tends to get eaten all up before I can chill them.

#36 - 4-H Club

#36 is called 4-H Club. There were a bunch of extra lines in the paper piecing on this one to help line up the block.I decided to eliminate them and think it came out pretty good. Still on track with doing one a week this year at 4 months in.


I doubt I'll be in the sewing room much this week. I've been sick in bed for the last two days and am finally able to sit up today. Thank goodness for my Mother in law who came and took the kids to her house Monday afternoon and kept them overnight and returned them last night after dinner and baths... in time for bed and after Daddy got home from work. The goal today is to do a little laundry and try not to overdo anything while keeping an eye on the kids. Wish me luck.

Scrappy Saturday in neutrals...

Here are my two scrappy pinwheel blocks for the neutral month.

I think all but one of the fabrics would qualify as 'neutral' with one being a brown. Now that project is crossed off the list for the month. That leaves the Birds in the Air blocks for next week. I'm still thinking on those....

I also got one of my Quilt Square Along blocks done.

This one was pretty quick although I ended up with some colors together that I had not planned on when I laid them out late one evening this week. Oh well, it is put together and once the whole quilt is done it will not be that noticeable. I could easily see this block doubled in size for a 24 inch block and then make six of them for a nice sized throw.

That leaves the boy's quilt. No progress on this yet. I need to grab the stack of blue fabrics and cut a bunch more of the 2.5 inch squares so that I can finish the friendship stars and make the other 9 patches. I think I needed 9 of the stars and 8 of the nine patch blocks but I'd have to go check my notes and probably lay out the quilt again and do some calculations. I have a feeling I will be making a bunch of letters to go around this quilt as we are working on letter recognition now so it will be a little learning tool.
I'm linking up on Saturday with SoScrappy's blog for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge of 2012. Go on over and see what everyone else has been working on.

Sow Along 4-6

I was able to cut another 3 blocks and get them sewn up in little bits of time here and there over the last couple of days. These are the second set of three blocks which can be found here at Randy's blog.
They are Autumn Tints, Box and Calico Puzzle. They were really easy to piece and Randy's directions were wonderful.

I would have shown all six together but the upload is not working for me right now. Maybe with the next batch.


I was also able to finish the hand quilting on one of the quilt square along blocks (March) and have started on the second one that I have ready to go from February. I hope to get this month's block cut out today and maybe a little bit of sewing done on it. Since I am planning to do the remaining three on the pattern.... I am going to start with the easiest one today so I'll have it ready for hand quilting this weekend. I'm finding that if I have it hanging around in the living room I can get a lot done on it while watching the kids a bit during the day. One length of thread worked on here and there.... and you get a done project very quickly. I am starting to feel more comfortable with the hand quilting (I am too lazy to mark anything so it is all done free hand) and think once I get caught up on these blocks I'll pull out the fireworks quilt from last year's July rainbow challenge and work on getting that quilted. Here is a picture of the fireworks top from last year.

#35 - Butterfly Midget Block

#35 is called Butterfly. I took a note from Angela over at SoScrappy and decided to eliminate a few of the paper piecing lines. They had three lines of the red middle part and yet...it was the same fabric. I just did it as one piece and then put the backgrounds around it. It went together very quickly and came out pretty cute.

Ham leftovers....

First.... I was all set to pin the graduation quilt last night and found a little hole it in. I will have to take it off the boards and fix that somehow today... better to find it now than when quilting it. Somehow a seam was a little less than it should have been. Instead... I pulled out the March block from the Quilt Square along and only have a few more stitches of hand quilting before I put this one aside until I put the quilt together next year sometime. I really like having something to grab that I can work on in the little minutes of 'free' time I get with the kids. Not too bad for 2 days work. I had stopped at my local quilt shop on Friday to pick up some hand quilting thread that would match better than the one I used for the January block ...but they had closed at 4 and it was 4:10. Bummer. I looked in my sewing room on Saturday and found the thread I just got from Connecting Threads and I think it works great with this quilt. I fear that my hand quilting will always be without a hoop or thimble =(. It just feels easier for me to control.

So, what do you do with all the ham leftovers from Easter? I had a 7.78 pound ham for 4 adults and 2 kids....so there is a lot left over. I got out the Seal a Meal and made two pouches of ham to go into the freezer for later use. Please remind me to go in there and find this ham in about two or three weeks!
The rest will be split up into these three recipes that I'll make today.

The first.... French Lentil Soup. I got the original recipe here from the Costco Connection magazine on-line. I used to have a Costco membership up in Vermont and loved this magazine. They usually have some good recipes and the month and page I am referencing is Crock Pot recipes. I admit... I've only made this one and I love it. I modified it today by putting the ham bone with ham surrounding it into the crock pot to cook. about 2 cups of chicken broth I had leftover in the fridge and water for the rest of the liquids. The Herbs de Provence I picked up for a recipe from Melissa De Arabian over at the Food network with skillet zucchini and onion. Another yummy recipe. Anyway..... I have made this soup multiple times... sometimes I use just Thyme and other times I use the Herbs de Provence. Either way it is a very yummy soup. The kids will even eat it! Got to love that. Emily was playing in her room while Aidan and I put this together. I cut and chopped, he measured and added and stirred. So nice to have little helpers around (when there is not time limit to getting things done!)


The second recipe is a new one to me and I'm going to modify it. Dinner tonight will be some soup and then a ham and veggie pasta that was in my e-mail this morning. I think it was from Betty Crocker. It is a warm dish with penne pasta, ham, veggies - (I have a summer squash, mushrooms, spring peas in the pod and onion in the crisper that need using!) and the 'sauce' is an italian dressing. We'll see how it turns out later tonight.

The third recipe is my old standby and a favorite at my house. The original quiche recipe for Light and Fluffy Quiche is from Allrecipes.com and I modify it a bit to fit my needs. Tonight.... it will have leftover asparagus, ham and cheese in it. This will probably be my breakfast tomorrow and the kids and Daddy's breakfast or lunch tomorrow.

So.... what do you do with all the leftover ham from Easter?

Sow along blocks and Happy Easter

Happy Easter! The kids are working on finding some Easter Eggs that were hidden around the house so I decided to get a post set today.
Excuse the extra blush on one side of the bunny's face.. Em was 'helping' Mommy!



I was able to do the first 3 sow along blocks from Randy over at Barristersblock blog last night while waiting for G to get home from work.

Basket Weave, Contrary Wife and Big Dipper. These went together really quickly. I decided to swap out the light fabric I was originally thinking of using with a light cream print. We'll see if I can continue using just the three fabrics... I may have to get a little creative with some of the blocks.

First Neutral Saturday and a Birthday!

My baby girl turns 3 Today! Happy Birthday Emily.

I had to think a bit this month for what to work on. First... I decided to finish the two red birds in the air since they have neutrals in them.

Now I have 12 each in red, green and pink. I am undecided if I will try and do 12 in the neutral shades or not but I have a couple of weeks to decide.

I also promised AT that I would work on 'his' quilt after I finished the graduation quilt for Mindy. Well, her top is finished so I pulled out the 12 inch holder where I have the blocks stored. This was a picture from last year when I was working on it.

The white and blue HST's were left over from making the Lady in the Lake pattern for my parents anniversary a couple of years ago. I laid it out the other day and determined the amount of friendship stars and 9 patch blocks that I need to make to have enough to make a good sized top. I originally was thinking of putting the Twinkle Twinkle Little Star song around the border on this one.... but I think he is getting a little too old for it. I will put his name at the bottom like I did with his sisters crumb quilt.

This month over at the quilt square along at Jo's country junction we have our choice to make one of the three patterns left on the pattern we were working from the first four months of the year. I think I am going to try and make one of each, which will become a quilt as you go project of each of the 12 inch blocks. I have 2 prepped from February and March that are all set for hand quilting.

I am thinking I will do one each week for the Saturday neutral quilt along so that I can get them done. I am going to try a quilt as you go for these blocks and decided to do checks on the back. I have a few in various colors in my stash and think it will make a neat looking scrappy backing for this quilt.



I'll also plan to make something for the Birds in the air and Pinwheel blocks but have not decided what yet. I'm going to not do any of the 2 inch squares this month since I think I want the background fabric to be consistent for next year's little project and I'm not sure what that background fabric will be yet. So all of the above and getting a quilt or two quilted will be the 'goals' for this month. Oh... I also am starting the Sow along over at Randy's blog and have those fabrics washed and ironed and ready to go. I think I have the first 13 to make.
It will be a very busy month. Go on over to SoScrappy's blog and see what everyone else has planned for the neutral month of April.

What I'm working on...

I got a few minutes in the sewing room Wednesday and put together a butterfly block that I'll show next Tuesday for the Midget progress.
Then.....while the munchkins were napping I decided to piece the pink 2.5 inch strips together to make the binding for the pink scrappy quilt. That is all measured, ironed and rolled so it will be ready to sew on once that one gets quilted. I did three strips how I normally do them... just match seams and sew along the line... and then had a thought. With all the scrappy pieces I'd better try the triangle method so the bulk is spread across the length rather than my 'normal' way. I hope that it will make the hand sewing less bulky on this one. Time will tell. The backing is pressed and cut but just needs to be sewn together. I hope to do that Friday so that when I pin the graduation quilt so I can pin this one too.

I also got a few minutes yesterday and was able to wash, press and sew the backing fabric for the graduation quilt. I picked a bright dot print on a black background. The top and bottom are rolled onto the boards so that I can pin the Starburst quilt once I cut the batting and get about 30 minutes of free time. I hope to get this one pinned and quilted this weekend.

I also cut some extra batting and just need to piece it together so that I can prep the two little squares for hand quilting. These are February and March from the Quilt Square Quilt along.

What are you working on?

March Quilt Square Along

Jo over at Jo's Country Junction is having a sew along and this month was the stars little quilt from Lori Smith's Quilt Squares #1.

I pulled out the fabrics and cut things out on Thursday night. Sewed it up on Monday and this is what it turned into. I will hand quilt this one in the evenings this week when I get a chance.



Go on over to see what everyone else came up with for this months blocks.

#34 Rocky Glen redo

Well, after I made Rocky Glen last week and took the picture, I realized that I put it together wrong. For some reason this one bugged me so I recut the pieces and sewed it up on Friday morning. Here is the correct Rocky Glen. I cut all the little 14 squares into triangles this time and it went together much better than when I did the sew on each side of the line.



Here is a picture of the 34 blocks that are completed so far. Yes, there are 35 blocks here since I had to redo #1 since it came out a wee bit too small.