Saturday, April 28, 2012

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.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

#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.


Monday, April 23, 2012

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!

Saturday, April 21, 2012

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.

Thursday, April 19, 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.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

#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.

Friday, April 13, 2012

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.