Arrggghhhh!

Why is it that whenever you have a deadline something always happens to the machine? I took mine in for service not too long ago - end of April I believe and trust me, it will never go back there again! My mistake - a sewing repair shop but not a Viking dealer. Tomorrow it will get dropped off on the way to drop the kids to Grandma's house and should come back in a better mood next week. I did call and she talked me through getting the tension issue fixed - stuck thread on top so I used a soft dollar to help work it out - but it is not sewing like it should.

I did manage to finish the binding on the Firecracker quilt last night and will add a few hand quilted stars in blue or red to the white spots on the top this weekend. This one will be sent off to Walter Reed Hospital to my step-FIL's grandson who is recovering there for the next 17 months or so.

I guess I'll switch to my grammy's machine on Saturday and finish fixing the tension so I can play with some more of my scrappy blue/white log cabins. I went fishing in the closet to the big bin of scraps and pulled a pile of darker blue and cream to make the rest of these. I am trying to remember the size of the bed out at camp since it 'might' find a home there. Mind measuring the next time you go out Mom?

While there I also pulled the tangle of yellow's out for this month's RSC challenge. I don't have too many of these so after making my snails, 16 patch and some peels I'll continue playing with blue. Head on over to SoScrappy on Saturday morning to see what other RSC projects are in the works.

Tonight (Friday) we have a graduation from Pre-K to attend. They did a pajama party at school today and mr. no nap cranky boy hopefully will behave tonight for graduation. I was thinking we would head to a restaurant after for a late dinner but I doubt he would be able to behave at that point. Leftovers or takeout it will probably be. Now to get out the 'snacks' to tide us over until after graduation for food.

Grandmothers Choice - Endless Stairs

This block was so easy to make. It would make a great scrap quilt with lots of colors in lights and darks. My version uses eight different fabrics that I have used in this quilt so far (I think!).

Now if I can get a backing ironed and sewn together this afternoon maybe I can pin the Kaleidoscope quilt tonight after the kids are in bed early (no naps.) That means I have to select a batting for this quilt. The warm and natural I usually use is not an option as she wants the feel of a quilt my Grammy made for my Mom. I have a twin size Farifield from Joann's Fabrics in 80/20 with low loft. I also got two Hobbs Heirloom batts-  one is 80/20 and the other is 100% cotton. She wants a soft feel but I also want her to be able to wash and dry it as needed and have it hold up. I think I am leaning towards the Fairfield batting but I'll see which one actually makes it into the quilt tonight. That 100% cotton batting is a queen and might just go into the Birds in the Air RSC from last year for hand quilting later this year and the other might be inside the Easy Street Mystery that is also waiting to get finished. See, I did have a plan when I purchased them! For now it is 90 degrees outside at the end of May and my kids are inside the air conditioning listening to a Christmas video of songs that they found in the video basket.

Tiny Tuesday - Cowboy star

This week was a completely hand pieced block. It is not quite tight enough in the middle but I'll figure that out later. I'm calling block number 89 - Cowboy Star completed.

Since yesterday was the Memorial Day holiday - I figured I should work on the firecracker quilt. I had started it on Sunday but was having issues with breaks on my meander. That all got pulled out on Monday morning and Monday evening I did straight line stitching on it and a little curvy wave in the outer border. I'm going to hand quilt some stars in the open white areas after I finish hand stitching down the binding.

Blue scraps.....

Why is it that when you use scraps of fabric to make quilt blocks the pile never seems to go down? I have been playing with a bin of leftover blue scraps and a bin of creams to make these fun log cabin blocks. I made another 9 of them this week to go with the 8 from last week. I was originally thinking I would make 24 blocks for a 4x6 setting of these 12 inch blocks (48x72) but I may end up making more of them! Can you tell they are fun to make? I guess I'll just keep making them until the end of the month next Friday and see how many I end up with. Head on over to SoScrappy on Saturday morning to see other blue projects that are being worked on this month. Miss Sophie is the fat white cat who seems to be in whatever room I am in all day long.

Since the school year is ending for us next Friday, we decided Aidan's other teacher needed to have a quilt to remember the class by. Aidan insisted she likes green so Ms. Tori got this quilt this morning and I'll bring the pen back Tuesday so the kids can sign their names on it like they did for Ms. Dawn earlier this year. Of course my models had to sit in for the picture. Emmy has asked for Ms. Tori and Ms. Dawn for her Pre-K teachers next year and she is all registered to go. I dropped Aidan's papers for Kindergarten registration off this week too so both kids are all set to start school next year. Yes, that is me doing the happy dance!

Emmy and I headed to the trail head (nature trails near our house in the forest) this morning and we decided to take a bunch of pictures of plants and animals to research later. We saw a cardinal, another bird that I need to look up, a couple of different colored butterfly's, lots of different plants with beautiful green leaves and a pine tree that had fallen down. The top had some green pine cones that she liked. I got a lot of quilting ideas for leaves...... =).

Today the plan is to get the firecracker quilt quilted. It got it pinned yesterday and the binding is all set to be attached. Once that one is done, I get to pin the Kaleidoscope quilt for quilting and maybe I can get that one done on the holiday on Monday. The other fun stuff we have been dealing with this week is a leech field that went kaput on Sunday night while I was doing laundry. Not fun when things back up into your house. G had three different companies out here on Monday - septic to pump, rotor rooters and a contractor to give an estimate for a new leech field. Those babies are expensive. The permits were applied for and the guy from the state came out yesterday to inspect the area. Hopefully we get a go today and then they can start digging up my nice front lawn on Tuesday. I can't wait to be able to do laundry again and flush the toilet more than a couple of times a day. 

Grandmothers Choice - Nonsense

This week was a fun block to make called Nonsense. The story behind her choice for this block was really interesting. It is amazing some of the 'thoughts' of doctors as to what women could and could not do based on our anatomy not too long ago.
This block would be a great option for a scrappy quilt in bright colors.

Tiny Tuesday - Weathervane

Today I quickly did a paper pieced block called Weathervane. It is #92 from the Sentimental Stitches Midget blocks that are free right now here. The hardest part of this was picking out the colors and marking them onto the papers for piecing! Now that one kid is up from her nap and the other has picked up his room ( I really should take a picture so I can remember it was clean at one point today and I could walk in there without injuring myself stepping on something!) it is time to make some pecan sandies that Daddy can actually eat. A good thing to do while the rain is pouring down during a thunderstorm.

Slow Stitching Sunday.....

After a whole day of resting and generally feeling icky, I am so happy to be feeling better and in the mood to do something today. Unfortunately, it will have to wait until after I get home from a short day of work today. I had hoped to get a quilt quilted yesterday so I could be working on binding but since that did not happen I'll pull out my never used quilting hoop and put it on my fireworks quilt which is all basted for hand quilting. I see some straight stitches being added to this while relaxing on the back porch later this evening enjoying the quiet sounds of the evening. Hopefully the thunderstorms stay away, although I do love watching the lightning in the sky.

Head on over to Kathy Quilts and see what other hand quilting projects are being worked on today.

Scrappy Saturday in blue.....

I made a blue and white Lady of the Lake quilt for my parents about 3 years ago. I seem to have made way too many hst's in blue and white. I used most of the leftover hst's to make Aidan's twinkle star quilt that I finally finished quilting this year. It lives on his bed. Well, there are still bits of blue left in that container! I got it out and started making some blocks. This is what I have so far..... some 16 patches, logs, a star from broken dish blocks and a mix of two of them. I finally ran out of blue and white hst's in this box! I think these will become a little 'doll' quilt for Emmy - Either Buddy the dog or Strawberry the Cow needs a cuddle blanket for her to cover them up with at night. I'm thinking a thin white to surround them and maybe some blue blocks along the outside to make it a bit bigger. Each block should finish about 8 inches.

As I was looking at the big pile of blue scraps left in the box I was thinking - what can I do with these.
Then it hit me.... how about making some log cabin blocks! I do love log cabins and blue and white/cream quilts. I made a blue/yellow log cabin a few years ago during the rsc challenge here and a scrappy version last year here. I use the instructions from Mary's blog for her strips and strings log cabin. I should probably dig into the closet and grab the big bin of scraps and pull more blue and neutrals out so I can play with some very scrappy, unstructured log cabin blocks. I am making these blocks 12.5 inches and here are my first 8 blocks which need some trimming up and a couple more logs put onto them.  These are so fun to make - no thinking until you get close to the end when you need to measure.

Head on over to SoScrappy on Saturday morning and see what other blue projects are being worked on this weekend.

An order.......

I ordered a couple of battings from Connecting Threads late yesterday to hopefully get an antique feel for the graduation quilt this year. My warm and natural would just be too dense for her. Since I needed a little bit more to get free shipping at the $50 limit....... I picked up a set of FQ in this.

It is called Hope Chest Sampler and I think it will look so cute in a Kaleidoscope quilt with a light cream print with little purple swirls on it as the background. The last one went together so easily that I want to do another one! I also got a couple sets of little 5 inch squares to get over the limit. You can never have too much fabric..... right?

GC - Nameless star

This week's block is another star block -Nameless Star. I really like these and it was super easy to sew together in a quick 15 minute slot of time last night. I believe there are 10 more weeks to this sew along. Time to figure out how to use the letter card on my machine so I can stitch the block names onto the sashing strips.

This afternoon I got the rows all sewn together for the Kaleidoscope graduation quilt. The directions can be found at Don't Call me Betsy's blog.This just needs a good pressing and then a wash for the backing and I can pin it for quilting on my kid free Saturday afternoon. It is measuring 60x close to 80 so perfect for a twin size. I'm thinking loopy swirls or straight line stitching.... the loopy swirls might win since I remember I have put words into the quilting the last two years so she might be expecting that on hers too. This has sewn up really easily so I could see making another one in the future. 

Tiny Tuesday - Blazing Star

Today I decided to skip ahead two to number 91 - blazing star. This one is paper pieced and went together 'easy peasey' as my kids would say.

This was my breakfast on Sunday. Aidan cracked and scrambled the eggs. Daddy cooked them and the sausage. Aidan arranged the plates for everyone. Two blueberry eyes, watermelon ears, a sausage nose and eggs for a mouth. It was a very cute monster for breakfast.

Saturday in Blue....

This weekend I will relax with a little bit of hand work when I am not working a sale at the store.
This my ongoing orange peels...... which I guess will be blueberry peels this month.
These are the prepped peels so far and a shot of all my hand appliqued peels for the year. The bottom part of the picture is the Kaleidoscope quilt which is sewn into rows. One month and I need that one done and shipped.

Another project is to baste the Fireworks quilt for hand quilting. I think I will just do some straight stitching through the chains and then something with curves on the outside borders. I want a little chain in the white border. The outer border will be decided on later but I have a few ideas running around in my head. Do you use a special thread for basting your quilts? I had a bit of thread left on a spool that was causing my machine to have fits so I am using that end for basting this.

Head on over to SoScrappy and see what other blue projects are being worked on.

Inspiration.....

Do you have a 'go to' magazine or book that you always seem to go back to? I have two and they date back to 1999 and 1998! I just love the star quilt on the cover of the second one.

The first one for me is Quick Quilts by McCall's Quilting back in September 1999. It is the one on the left in the picture.

I've made two of these quilts so far (churn dash delights and Made with TLC- the pretty heart one in the bottom left hand corner) and have the 'hearts' cut out for another Made with TLC quilt. Someday I can see that Dutch Apple Pie quilt being made - the apple one.

Harvest Home is also a pretty quilt that might get made someday from that magazine.

The second magazine is another McCall's - Quilting from December 1998. I just love the two quilts on the cover. That star one with the blue check border I have loved forever! Why have I not made it yet? Hmmmm. Maybe That will be a project start for later this summer with my bin of scraps.... I also had started buying some check fabrics to make that snowman wall hanging oh so many years ago. Never made that one either. That will be another 'someday' quilt. This one has a Viking ad with three scrappy quilts that are so pretty - they are on the page on the right; Snails trail, bird houses and a form of irish chain with stars.
Do you have some quilt books or a certain magazine or two that you always seem to go back and flip through when you want some inspiration?

Grandmothers Choice - Sunbonnet Baby

I had so much fun making this week's block. I may plan to either do this next year as a RSC challenge block OR prep a bunch of these babies and work on them while I am visiting Vermont this summer for a few weeks. I need to trim this up a bit so it will be 8.5 inches. Hmmm it would be really cute in the 1930's prints I have leftover from Emmy's quilt in progress.....

Tiny Tuesday

Today is Dotty Daisy which is block # 88 from the SentimentalStitches website. I just finished the hand applique on this while the kids finally went down for naps. It was a nice relaxing break from a very cranky boy who really needed a nap.

Slow stitching Sunday.

Today is an evening to sit back, relax and breathe. After working today and getting a little paperwork done I had time to prep a few blocks for hand applique this evening. Thank goodness it was a Chinese takeout night for dinner!
I'll be working on my Midget block - Dotty Daisy.

 and if that goes well then I'll work on my Sunbonnet Sue block for the Grandmothers Choice BOW.

I also need some ideas on hand quilting for this wall hanging I made a few years ago. It is 40x40.  I was thinking just outline stitching on the blocks and then a straight stitch through the chains. No clue on the blue border - maybe something with curves? Would that be enough quilting for a beginner like me or should I do an all over cross hatch or baptist fan? What would you do if it was your quilt?

Head on over to Kathy Quilts and see what other hand work is being worked on.

Saturday in blue.....

Sapphire blue was selected for this month over at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Since we were to sort into three piles - pastel, teal/greenish and sapphire I figured the dark blues should hit this month. Here are my two snails trail blocks in bright sapphire and navy blue.

And a shot of all my snails so far this year.

I also cut a little 2.5 inch square off the snails and added a few more bits from the bins to make this little blue 16 patch block. 

My niece decided on layout #1 from the last post so I'll need to start making the halves into blocks for the Kaleidoscope quilt but silly me..... I seem to have cut out 128  3.5x6.5 bricks to start a new quilt! It will be leftover homespun, check and solids in blue, green, maroon and brown with black and white/cream steps. The pattern for that is found over at Quiltville under the free patterns for bricks and stepping stones. I want mine a twin size so I'm adding an extra row to the bottom. 

Head on over to SoScrappy on Saturday and see what other blue projects are being worked on this week. As for me - I have peels to cut out and a RWB QOV quilt to get quilted on Saturday after the kids miss nap time to attend a birthday party. Friday night we are headed about an hour north to meet up with my other sister who is down in Florida for a working weekend. We are meeting up at a pizza place so we can visit a bit and she can see the kids. I think they have changed a bit since she last saw them in September 2011.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Some choices.....

I got to play a little this morning with the blocks and came up with these three variations. I think I like the second one.....

Layout thoughts?

I've been busy sewing the black kaleidoscope triangles into pairs and then halves over the last day or two. Now it is question time. How do you like this layout, too controlled.... or should I play with it a little more? I still need to sew the halves into blocks so there is time for changes. I hope this will end up twin size and it will have a black binding.

Sorry for the cramped space in laying it out but this is currently set up in the big living room. Emily set up the Thomas the train tracks this morning and the kids have been playing with this today.

Grandmothers Choice catch up.

I was able to catch up on my Grandmothers choice BOW this week and made last weeks' teacup block.
I really like how this one came out and could see a rainbow of cups being made for next year's RSC.

I also made this week's 'I'm an Anti' block. This one went together very easily and picking out the fabrics took longer than putting this block together.

Here is a shot of almost all of them. One star is in my hand work bag waiting to be stitched down to the background square. That might get worked on tonight while watching a show with G.