A Friday Finish.....

The last appliqué block for The Century Quilt is completed.

 I have another of this December block in a package which will probably be made up for a pillow to go with this quilt. All 12 blocks are completed so in the next two weeks I think it will be time to start assembling this into a top. I have not trimmed down the appliqué blocks to 12.5 inches yet so they look a little bigger in the photo.

I now have all 12 of these pattern instructions.... what do you tend to do with them? Do you ever make another quilt or some of the blocks using the pattern and your own fabrics? I could see those four appliqués done as a wall hanging in some batik type fabrics......

The boy was home yesterday with a fever (twice already this year - I think it is time to test for allergies!) . He went to school today and I'll head in and have lunch with him. I had his open house last night. Boy,  first grade down here seems like grade 3 or 4 when I was in school! His teacher also mentioned having him tested for their 'gifted program' but they won't let the paperwork be handed in until week 12 of school. Seems strange to me as both his teacher last year and this year as well as his teacher he goes to for enhancement reading all said he should be tested. Oh well, we'll wait for the process I guess. It would mean he is taken out of class one day a week and sent to a teacher to challenge them more in all their subjects. We'll see what happens with that and hopefully he does not get too bored in class in the meantime. It sounds like they have to teach at one level despite having children at lower and higher levels in their class. I would think they would have grouped the kids together a little better to have like learning skills to make it easier for the teacher, but that is public school for you. 

Ok - time for me to finally play with prairie points and get those attached to the other quilt this morning. I hope to get that one to a top by lunchtime.

Tiny Tuesday.....

After dropping the kids off to school and my walk this morning I got to sew. Yesterday - no sewing except some hand work in the pick up line. I had to go into work to open for a little bit and then ran errands while I was near all the stores in The Villages. By the time I got home it was kid pick up time. Last night was the first Cub Scouts meeting. I think all us parents of Tigers (1st grade) were completely overwhelmed but it looks like a fun group and I think Aidan will really like it. Emily found a friend from her class there too so they hung out together. I'm trying to get her into girl scouts as a Daisy - there is a troop that meets at the same church but it is not listed in my available troops so I'm looking into that. If it does work - then we'll adjust schedules at work so Greg can be with Aidan and I'll be with Emmy at their scout meetings. At that age each needs a parent present for the meetings.

Ok - my Tiny Tuesday block is called People and Peaches. A very strange name and don't look too closely at the cut off points. Those were tiny pieces and I calculated wrong. It turned out the correct size so it's staying. Sorry for the terrible picture - my sinuses are killing me and I am too lazy right now to go take another shot of the block.

Slow stitching Sunday - Century Block

On this slow stitching Sunday I am joining the others at Kathy's Quilts with a few stitches on my last appliqué Century Block. I need to prepare the leaves and the green flower stems to be put onto this block next. Then I'll prep the final blue flower for the middle. I changed it up a bit this time and added some color before adding the leaves. It makes me smile when I look at it, especially since I know this is the last block before I can put this top together for my niece, Sally.

Head on over to Kathy's Quilts and see what other turtle stitching projects are being worked on today. This is a turtle I saw walking on the road last year on the way home from picking up Aidan from school last fall. You never know what you will see down here in rural Florida.

First Saturday in Orange!

I actually got some time to sew this week and it feels great. Angela posted two RSC Sampler blocks this week - bear paw and kick. I had fun picking out my orange fabrics for these. I am using a peachy orange for the lights this month. Oops, the bear paw is upside down!

I've been busy working on testing a pattern for Joanne who blogs as Canuckquilter. Starlight Wishes is going together beautifully. I just love when the seams all mesh together perfectly. That rarely happens with my sewing but it sure is working great on this quilt. I went with brights and black as a background. The next step is the first border and then prairie points. I have never done them before but her instructions are wonderful. I am having so much fun playing with this pattern. Wouldn't this look great done up in Vicki Welsh's hand dyed fabrics? Joanne plans to have this pattern available for sale later this month.

As some leader and enders I have 40 of my 120 four patches in green and orange completed for a step in the Celtic Solstice Mystery.

Head on over to SoScrappy on Saturday morning to see what other orange projects are being worked on this month. As for me..... I have a sick boy home (no fever but I know he is congested, sore throat and he was saying his tummy felt off this morning. By ten he was 'fine' and bored. Arrgghhh.) He so kindly shared these germs with Greg and I. Lets hope the girl does not come down with it next since it is her sleepover at Grandma's this weekend. I've got an hour to prep some appliqué pieces for the car line hand work. I'm guessing he won't want to stay home from school again even if he is sick =). He did some math problems on the board in the kids playroom, then some spelling words and shapes. His teacher had sent home some extra work sheets this week which he has worked through. Now he is counting down the minutes until we can go pick up his sister from school. Hmmmm maybe they'll play nice together so I can sew some more?

This is what is happening in the sewing room. Lots of chain sewing on the Starlight Wishes quilt. I started marking my sewing line on the squares this morning in my sewing room and noticed I was hunched over..... I piled all 156... well 136 since I had done 20.... onto my small cutting mat and moved to the island in the kitchen. Perfect height for me to draw those lines on. I also move out there for lots of cutting although I completely forgot about it yesterday when I was cutting all the squares and rectangles out for this quilt. I lined them up 20 at a time  to draw the line and they went so quickly that way. I must remember this for the future.
As you can see - I went with a black background since I had a bunch in my stash left over from Jillian's Graduation Kaleidoscope quilt from a couple of years ago. I also pulled some brights - red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple for the stars. After sewing that first line, I went back and sewed a second line using the original sewn line as a guide for a whole bunch of bonus half square triangles (hst's Mom). I've been thinking of a plan for them as I was sewing..... =)

The boy was all stuffed up last night so the humidifier was in use with vicks on his chest and some children's allergy meds. Greg mentioned he is stuffed up and has a sore throat last night. Both were outside Monday (one did the lawn and the other was in the pool right after the lawn was mowed.) Not sure if it is allergies or a cold.....and lucky me .... I am feeling stuffed up now too with a sore throat. Must be a cold. Don't you love when germs are shared? Oh well, I'll try and take it easy and hopefully this will pass quickly. Time to head out and run some errands - trash and recycle, hair cut and I need to pick up a few things at the store. I think the rest of the leftovers from Monday will be turned into a beef and veggie soup for my lunch. A great way to clear out the fridge.

Hopefully I'll have a bit of time before the kid pick up to cut all those bonus triangles off and press everything. One more side of unit 1 to go and then I can start laying it out. This is going together so easily - did I mention I love Joanne's patterns? So easy to read and understand. Oh - must remember to pin the last four stems onto the appliqué for car line. Those curved ones are all sewn down already.
Is it just me or things move much more quickly when the end is in sight?

Tiny Tuesday....

It has been a great day in the sewing room so far. Yes Mom, I took my 45 minute walk this morning first =).
First I made my Tuesday block from The Civil War Diary Book. This is called 'A consoling Thought'. It is 6 inches finished.

Next, I prepped the last appliqué block for The Century Quilt. This is the December block. It has been outlined onto the background with a marking pencil and the stems are made. I put four down so I can start this today in the car line. Hopefully I can do the other four stems tomorrow and then leaves and buds....

Now it is time to reread through my Starlight Wishes Pattern and make a decision on my colors. Better find a coin to toss as I think this would look great in either of my color choices. I can't wait to try those prairie points! A first for me. Thanks so much Joanne for letting me test it.

Happy Labor Day

I got a few stitches in today to finish up the yellow dots on this appliqué block. Time to move onto the last appliqué block for this Century Quilt. I picked up two of the December appliqué pattern for some reason so I think I will make one for the quilt and one for a pillow to go with the quilt....

The kids and I spent a bit of time in the pool this afternoon. Lots of games were played (Sorry, Zingo, Trouble) and a few of the kid puzzles were put together. A nice visit with Grandpa A and Grandma H with a mid afternoon BBQ was enjoyed by all. Now to get the kids cleaned up and into bed early so they are all set for school tomorrow. I think there is one more s'more from the grill this afternoon that needs to be devoured. I can't let that go to waste now can I?

I think I will hand stitch that last row of flowers onto the spring quilt tonight and maybe start the border. I guess I need to prep some hand work tomorrow after my walk and before I dig into the new quilt I am starting. Oops, need to get a Tiny Tuesday block done too. I see a good chunk of my kid free time tomorrow in the sewing room! Pure Heaven.