Getting Things Done

I am finally starting to catch up on some quilts I started. Here is a close-up of the quilting I put on this small quilt which I made for a table in the living room. I made it by using some charm square packets. This is only the second time I have tryed using prarie points around a border. The first time I did it was on the very first quilt I ever made! Being naive sometimes allows you to do things you would never dream of doing other wise! It has taken me over 25 years to try it again. This time I found it much easier though! ;o)

Here it is all finished. Simple but elegant. Charm squares and Prarie points! Horray! One down and how many to go???

This is a project that I am currently working on right now. It is called "Welcome Home". I am hand quilting this one. I've had the top done for a while. I just couldn't decide how I was going to quilt it. Sometimes I have to look at a quilt until it speaks to me, as to how it should be quilted. It is about 3/4 done! It's getting there one stitch at a time!

Here is the back of the little mini quilt, which is pictured below. I had just enough small pieces of fabric left after finishing the top of the grab bag project to make a scrappy sort of back. I did not have to finish the grab bag quilt. Only a top was required. I liked the idea of finishing it though! I know if it was me, I would prefer to recieve a finished project then one that is a work in progress! I have enough of those already! :#)

Ta Dah!! Here it is. All finished! I ended up hand quilting it. Some quilts lend themselves to machine quilting some to hand quilting. This one said please hand quilt me! :0)

Happy Quilting!!

Last of My Daffodils

Well, these are the last of my daffodils for this year. They are gorgeous. It is such a gloomy, rainy, cold and foggy morning, that I needed to see something cheerful. Daffodils always make me cheerful! They are sitting on a table runner I made a few years back. It was from an "Atkinson" pattern I believe.

This is my helper! He seems to enjoy quilting just as much as I do. Maybe I should have said that he enjoys sleeping with quilts, instead of quilting them! Now you see one of the reasons why I don't get much done! I am handquilting this particular quilt. (Whenever I can get at it) I will take a better picture of it soon.

I have my new computer finally! It is sooooooooooo fast compared to the other one! It is also very sensitive! I need to have lighter fingers now. I deleted some e-mails by mistake because the cursor mouse is really, really sensitive!

Look! A white deer! This is out my back window. She is a ways off so the picture is blurry, but I caught her on my camera before she disappeared. I see her mostly on rainy days for some reason.? I have watched her grow. My daughters and I have named her Abbey. If it was a male deer it would be Al. A nickname from "Albino". Although I don't think she is albino. I think she is a pure and simple white deer! The first time I saw her she was just a baby. In August she will be 2 years old. I can't wait to see her babies! Will they also be white?

Round Robin Block 3

I had a bee meeting this past Wednusday. We exchanged our round robin blocks once again. The above picture is the block I recieved. Aunt Gracie style fabrics in this one. Below is what I did.

I added the 2 1/2" blocks. I am begining to wonder if I made it too dark. I may need to change this one. I was trying to use only the fabric I had in my stash without having to purchase more.

This is the grab bag mini quilt. I had enough leftover fabric to make a pieced back! It came out cute. Some of the girls in my bee already brought there finished ones in, which makes me feel like I should hurry up and finish this! I am hand quilting it, which of course takes longer to do....Although it will not be overly done since it is a mini. I didn't think it needed too much quilting. We have until June to officially finish them. I have been doing so much stuff for the bee lately, that I have not been able to work on any personal projects. I think once this mini is done I will be able to finally get back to working on a few other things. I must say that I do enjoy some of the challenges that my bee comes up with! They are often outside of my comfort zone. Therefore I view them as learning experiences!

I have been busy baking cookies for Daughter 2. She had her piano concert last night. I had signed up to bring in some treats for the guests. She did well. She played the "Pineapple Rag". It is a piece she has been working on since January. So, it will be nice to hear her play something else now. Before we left we wanted to bring home the cookies that were left, otherwise they just throw them away. There weren't any left! :o)

Brown Paper Grab Bag!

Hurray! I finally finished the top from a "Brown Paper Bag" Grab Bag exchange! When I first recieved the paper bag and took a look at the fabrics I had no idea what to do with them.

I went through a lot of books to try to find something to fit the small amount of fabric and the personality of it. I am not supposed to know whose fabric this is. I have a really good idea though!

Ooops! I goofed. Same picture. Oh well.

Here is what I recieved. Brown paper bag and all! The object of the exchange was to put some fabric in a brown paper bag and bring it to the bee meeting. Then mix the bags up. Grab a bag! Do Not Pick Your Own! No Peeking until you got home. Make something out of one or all fabrics. Do not add any fabrics! Only use what is in the bag! Make a pillow or table runner or table topper of some sort or a mini quilt. If you only had enough fabric to do the top that is O.K. If you have enough fabric to make a finished product then go for it. I have the top finished. If I have the time I will put a back on it and quilt it. I have to see how much fabric I have left first. I am very happy with how it came out!

My Sewing Room!

I took some pictures of my sewing room after I finished with the "Spring Cleaning". I'm glad I did, because it doesn't look quite so clean anymore! I have been working on some projects, so of course, there is now fabric and books and rulers laying on my table. By the way my husband built the sewing table for me!

Here you see my books. I love collecting books! They are so great for Inspiration! If you look on the design wall you will see my round robin in progress. My design wall is an old flannel sheet! Don't laugh it works! Fabric just sticks to it without having to be pinned! I've just learned to ignore the floral pattern! I actually have 2 more rows on the round robin now. I am still trying to decide what to put onto it next. One of the pictures on the smaller book shelf is of my best friend and I. We are holding our first children.

Fabric! Thread! Rulers! Iron! All the necessary items to be a quilter and or crafter!

Here is my sewing machine. It is a Husqvarna Viking Quilt Designer. It was my 40th birthday gift from my husband! The little bee pincushion is from a pattern shared by a new friend! ;0)

The other half of the sewing room is a guest bedroom. The "Kasper"(clown) on the bed is handmade by a relative in Bavaria Germany. My Mother made the rug on the floor and crocheted the afghan on the bed.

I found out yesterday that the new computer I ordered has been delayed. They don't expect it to ship until March 25th now. boo hoo. Oh well. That's ok, It will come soon enough.

This past week it was sunny and in the low 80'sF. Today it is in the 30's and rainy! Go figure. I feel like we are on a weather rollercoaster! It does make a super day for staying in and doing some quilting! Guess where I'm heading?! :-)

Block 2 of project "Round Robin"

I just learned that when you get your photos to post they are in reverse order! That is why block 1 on the previous post is not in order. So, now with block 2 I have learned to go backwards!

The above photo is how block 2 began as a 9 patch. Below is the block when I recieved it.

Here is the block when I finished. I added the 4 1/2" squares (Unfinished). This person requested staying with the theme of "Sewing". I don't know if you can see it or not, but the first set of 4" squares have buttons on the red fabric. I happened to have just enough blue fabric with needles and thread in my stash to add to her block! Yeah! I like the way this one is coming along.

I have only had 2 blocks to do so far. The next one will need the 2" checkerboard to be added. I found that the checkerboard uses up a lot of fabric!

My college bound daughter has returned to school. I will not see her again now, until May 2nd. That is about 6 weeks. When we go up to get her we will be packing up all her things to bring her home for the summer. We are trying to figure out how to bring everything home! We took things there throughout the school year as she neede them, so I know it will take more then 1 trip to bring it all back home. We may end up renting a small truck or U-Haul. We have also been considering renting a small pod for the summer to store it in. That way we won't have to bring it all back again in the fall when classes resume. Hmmm. The dilemma of being a parent. :o)

Quilt Bee Project "Round Robin" Block 1

Here are some pictures of the first "Round Robin" block that I recieved from my quilt bee. I had to add two rows of 2 1/2"blocks in checkerboard style. The photo below is of the block before I added the next 2 rows. The photo above is the block when I finished. This person asked for all scrappy, with any blue and yellow fabrics.

Snow!? In North Carolina!

Daffodils in the snow! This is a picture my daughter took on Monday of our daffodils still pushing up through the snow. It does snow in North Carolina every once in a blue moon! We had 3 inches of snow. School was closed on Monday and we had a 2 hour delay this morning due to black ice. School should be back on a normal schedule tomorrow. (No more sleeping in for daughter2). I used to think it was funny that everything would shut down whenever it snowed in North Carolina! But after living here for the last 15 years I now understand why! It is easier to just let it melt. It is supposed to get down to about 15 degrees F.(10C) tonight , but it is predicted to be 79F (25C) by Sunday! I think my poor flowers are very confused.

My college bound daughter arrived home safe and sound on Saturday by train, well before the snow came! This was her first time riding the train home. It seemed to work out quite well for her. I think she may use the train again when traveling to and from school. My husband and I are planning on driving her back to school on Sunday though, which happens to be her birthday!

With the help of my daughter1, I was able to decorate my blog just a bit. I was showing her what I would like to do, but just did not know how to go about doing it. My computer skills are not as advanced as I would like them to be. I am working on them. The more I use the computer the more comfortable I am becoming. (Slow but steady wins the race). After my daughter saw my blog, she decieded to start her own! I have added her to my "followers" list. She is not a quilter, but is doing her blog on how to be "Green". If you have a moment, go to her blog and check it out! If you visit don't forget to leave a comment. She will be very happy if you do!

Needless to say I have not done much quilting this week. I was out playing in the snow and taking pictures of course! I am also enjoying the time I have with my daughter, before she heads back to school on Sunday. I did get the 2" checkerboard onto the blue and yellow "Round Robin block". I will be going to a meeting tomorrow morning and be coming home with someone else's Round Robin block. That one will require me to do the 4" blocks all the way around. I can't wait to see what colors and fabrics this one will be made up of! I am currently working on a hand quilting project, which has nothing to do with my sewing bee. The quilt is called "Welcome Home". It has 9 different types of buildings on it, which include houses, a barn, a church, a school, and trees. It has a fence that goes all the way around the outer border. It is made up of mostly Thimbleberries fabrics. I am about 2/3 done. I hope to have it done before to much longer. Once summer gets here it will be too hot to work on lap quilting! Summer is when I like to work on piecing and machine quilting. Happy Quilting!!