Beautiful weather for a Picnic

I finished the last few inches of the binding this morning. Finished just in time once again. I added an extra black border after the brights. I wanted it a bit bigger plus I think the black helps "end" the quilt. Without it the quilt just didn't look finished.

Once again there is a slight breeze blowing when I went outside to take the picture. Never fails. It is beautiful outside though. A nice day for a picnic. Too bad there is school and work.

This is the first time I tried this kind of piecing on the back. I had a bunch of left over pieces of the brights from piecing the border on the front and decided to add it to the back like other bloggers have done.  I like it and it wasn't very hard to do either. It gives the back a nice touch I think. Sure is hard to get a good pic of it though.

Here is an inside picture. This looks a bit better. I did some wandering quilting in the larger black areas only.

This quilt was a fun one to work on. I didn't learn any new techniques this month but I did learn patience and perseverance. I also learned the value of a good seam ripper lol.

Advent Calendars

These Winnie the Pooh advent calendars are from panels. I made 2 more this year so that all 4 of our Connecticut grandkids have matching advent calendars. My stepdaughter is a Pooh fanatic and also likes all the kids to get exactly the same thing. All matchy matchy like. It took me awhile to find 2 more panels on ebay. I'm glad I started looking early or I might have been in trouble.  They received these in the mail before Thanksgiving so they are all set for December 1st.

I didn't finish everything from my vacation to do list, but I did get the important stuff done.  I'm OK with that. The rest will get done when it gets done.

More vacation finishes

I think you will be seeing more of these chair shots for awhile. At least until I get bored with them lol. This is Jess' quilt all quilted and with binding attached. I picked up a dark blue sheet at Walmart for $2.50 and used that for the back. Nice bargain! I always check out the sheets when I go to Walmart because they mark their flat sheets down alot. They work nicely for backs, borders, and bindings.

For the quilting I just followed the lines from the blocks and tried to stay out of the big chunks of white since I was using blue thread. Now I just need to make labels for all 6 quilts going up north. Better get to that soon.

Jess' husband Dan is a big golf fanatic so I decided to make him a quick golf quilt. The base of this blanket is one of those really soft fleece blankets. I picked it up at the after Christmas sale last year. I also had a "GOLF" applique that is meant for hats that I ironed on and then stitched down. I made a green or whatever it is called, added a flag and felt ball and called it a day. The picture doesn't do it justice. It actually came out pretty nice.

What I did on my vacation...

Do you remember back in school when you had to write a report about what you did on summer vacation? Well, here is my report...


I started my week sick for a couple days. Then I had to go for an MRI on my neck and shoulder. I have been having problems with a pain in my shoulder for a few months and finally dragged myself to the doctor to get it checked out. The brief summary is that I have some problems with my neck starting with a bulging disc. I'll find out the rest when I go to the neck doc on the 8th. Later in the week my asthma flared up and felt sluggish for the rest of the week. So much for a restful vacation. Anywho, I did get a few things accomplished:

 

I quilted up the pink DNP quilt and finished up a Viking hat. I have a group of ladies that have buying Viking hats from me for a bit now. Each time a new baby arrives where they work, they buy them a new hat. I decided to send them this quilt as a thank you for being such loyal customers.  I haven't heard from them yet, but I hope they like it. I'm sure the new Grandma will love it, who wouldn't?

I used a piece of purple fabric that was sent to me as a RAOK a few months back. I also used that same purple as the binding. I use purple thread to quilt it in a meandering wander to tie it all together. I kind of hated to see this one go but it will be wonderful for a new little baby girl.

I've seen a few blogs where people used chairs to take pictures of their quilts and I love it. Just had to try it out with this quilt. Kind of fun :)

I also finished up my Fall table topper. I really love the way this one looks on the table. It looks great with the wood. I didn't finish the turkey for it yet though. It will have to be for next Thanksgiving I guess. No worries.

I'll show you some more of what I finished tomorrow.

The Day After...

This is what we all wanted to do today after the big meal yesterday. Suzi has the right idea. Grab a comfy pillow and rest.

Our table in the livingroom goes up and down depending on whether you need a coffee table or a table to eat at.  Every time we raise it up, Suzi plops her head on it. She always looks so pathetic. Almost like she is saying "I'm hungry too. If only someone would feed me :( "  I don't feel bad for her because she is spoiled and gets plenty of good things to eat. She loves to eat apple. If you hold it for her she will eat it just like the kids do...round and round leaving the ends uneaten.

I actually went out around noon and braved Target. I have never seen the parking lot so full before! I didn't even bother checking the ads because I knew I wasn't looking for any electronics are anything special. I picked up some older movies for the family, some cd's for Mandy, and some headphones for Justin. I also found some clothes for Robbie and a few other things for him. I also picked up a new artificial tree for Robbie's room. He loves having his own tree that he can decorate anyway he wants. I love being able to give him that freedom.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and survived Black Friday!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

 

Here are my two turkeys this year!

I hope everyone is having a great Thanksgiving! We just finished up a delicious dinner. Robbie was such a big help this year. Each year he is in charge of the snacks. He picks the cheese, pickles, etc. that we will be eating. Then he cuts it all up and places it in the tray. This year he also helped with the pies and all the fixin's. It was nice to be in the kitchen just the two of us.

I try not to make any side dishes that we eat on a regular basis throughout the year. I like for Thanksgiving to be special. This was the first year Robbie actually tried a bite of all the different veggies we had. He said it was better because he made it and knew what was in everything. Smart boy! He even said he would be doing it again next year. Even better for me :)

Miscellaneous babbling

Wordle


Just a little mix up of things I have been blogging about.


My vacation starts today...HAPPY DANCE!!  I have a couple little family things planned but I'm mostly going to be getting all my projects caught up.

Here is a partial list:

* 2 Winnie the Pooh advent calendars
* Jess's quilt
* Justin's quilt
* Dan's blanket
* turkey stuffie
* fall table topper
* List all finished quilts in the shop
* Learn to use GIMP or photoshop
* work on getting all quilt blocks from "the drawer" into quilt tops
* quilt the two 9 patch quilt's from the quilt along with AmandaJean
* work on some I Spy quilts
* I also have a couple crochet patterns to type up and get tested and then listed. Will probably be looking for * testers for these in the coming days.


That should keep me busy for a bit lol. I'm putting the blog on hold for now while I get these things done. I may pop in every now and then if something exciting is happening.

Have a great week and I hope you all get some fun projects finished!!

Project hopping

I was feeling fidgety the other day and started working on some new projects.

I started this tumbler quilt from the charms leftover from Kara's quilt top. Of course I ran out of fabric before it was a nice size for a baby quilt. I didn't even bother ironing the rows. I knew it would be put up for a bit before I had more light greens, blues and yellows to go with the pinks I still have left. This will be a very cute baby quilt once it is finished. I'm really enjoying these fabrics.

I made this quilt top from one of the I Spy swaps I did. I grabbed all the girl squares for this one. There weren't very many to chose from though. This will go to The GracieJane Project once it is done.

With some of the boy I Spy swap fabrics I made a bunch of 4 patches. I think I am going to use some white sashing around these to help break them up a bit. I was too lazy to cut the white strips, so this one is half finished too!

I told you I did a bit of project hopping. I just couldn't seem to settle on any one thing to finish to the end. I also started a small wall quilt from a kit I won but I don't have any pics of that yet. I only made it as far as the background when I realized I don't have any fusible web to attach the appliques. I could just pin them on but there are some smaller pieces that I don't think it would work for. I guess that means a trip to JoAnn's this weekend. Darn!! 

Blocks received

The blocks have been arriving for the SigOrnament swap! Everyone's ornaments look great!!

Melinda sent these and also some extra fabric. Love it! I think my fave is the one with the music notes on it. Great job Melinda!

Shari sent these. She also included "extra" ornaments for everyone! If you are making the Christmas tree, now you have extra ornaments to fill in some of the spaces. Thanks Shari!

These are from Frieda. I love the green fabric she chose. Very Christmas-y. Wonderful ornaments Frieda!

I believe I showed you Diane's blocks. They have a wonderful Northern feeling to them. Reminds me of mountains and snow. Di, these really are "Blissful".

Cecelia sent these. I love the gold outlined leaves and stars in the red center portion. Celestial job Cecelia!

...and remember mine? I think we will have a great variety for our little quilts/table toppers!

Kara's quilt top

Our great niece Kara (11) has requested a quilt.  I think since she has been seeing her sisters quilts come into the house she decided she would like one too. I crocheted her an afghan when she was a baby but now she needs a big girl quilt. Her favorite color is pink.

This top measures 40" X 50" and is made from a charm pack and the leftover fat quarters from the pink friendship blocks I made the other day. It should be just the right size to snuggle under. Once it is quilted it will be going to Kansas, probably after the new year.

This is what happens when you try to take a picture of a quilt top and it is windy out. 

Half square madness

Our neighbor recently gave Mandy and I a tub full of fabrics that she had no need for. She likes to go to auctions and buy fabric. She will see a piece of fabric she likes but you have to buy the whole box of fabric to get just that one piece. So, she gave us all her "extra" fabric. A friend of hers also gave her a baggie full of Christmas colored HST. They  measured around 1.5". As I was ironing  and sorting them by color I noticed that some were a smidgen smaller than the others.  I took the smaller ones and made this little doll quilt. It measures 21" square. All the fabric used was from my neighbor. She has a 3 year old granddaughter and I think this will be perfect for her.

The back is this cute white fabric with red flowers all over it. I quilted the center with white thread and the border with red. This is the first time I used two colors to quilt with. No big deal, just the first time.

The rest of the HSTs were turned into this pinwheel quilt.  This one is 31" X 32". No idea why one side is off an inch from the other but it looks fine. This one will also go to the neighbor. I thought maybe her church would like it. They could either raffle it off or donate it to a member who is having a baby.

For the quilting I just did some stitch in the ditch, or at I tried to. I would wobble out of the ditch every once in awhile. This quilt also used all of the neighbor's fabric. The green was just perfect for the back of this quilt.

I received Di's blocks for the SigOrnament swap. They turned out great!

I "borrowed" this pic from her blog just in case she didn't want her name and city plastered all over the web :)

Picnic top

I finished my quilt top for the November Schnibble "Picnic". I had to take this pic inside because Hurricane Ida is causing lots of wind here yesterday and today. No rain, just tons of wind. The wind has blown several grapefruits off our tree to the displeasure of Hubby and Robbie. This poor tree has suffered so much from all the hurricanes that have been through here in the last few years. The boys were hoping this would be the year that they could have more than 2 grapefruits.

I absolutely LOVE how this one is turning out. Just like I had pictured it. That doesn't happen very often. I think the next trip fabric shopping I will bring home a few yards of black. I think a black and bright circle quilt would be fun. Now to just figure out how I want to quilt it.

Did anyone notice that there is a correction to the Picnic pattern over on Miss Rosie's?    It is for those who received one of the first batch of patterns. My pattern is correct as I believe most of them that are being bought for this month are.

It's Picnic time!

A fellow quilter from another board is having some health concerns, so each member was asked to make ONE pink block to send to her. Obviously, I am not able to follow directions because I sent TWO blocks.

I had a bunch of pink strings sitting on my sewing table so my first thought was a string block. I was worried that the other ladies were going to be making traditional blocks so I also made a simple 4 patch. This way she can have a choice of using one or the other or both.

I also was able to start on this month's Schnibble pattern Picnic.

I made a total of 6 blocks yesterday. The last one is still sitting by the sewing machine waiting for the seam ripper to finish his job. 2 out of 6 blocks needed to be redone so I decided it was time to quit for the evening. I wanted a variety of baskets in the quilt so made a couple of each designs provided. The problem came when I started twisting the little blocks and getting them all sewn together wrong. It's so easy to get the pieces turned around when sewing them together. The pattern calls for 16 baskets. I'm hoping to get a few more done today. Plus, I would like to get started on my great-niece's  quilt. I picked up a couple of charm packs so that one will go together pretty fast.

Have a great Sunday!

Little shopping and a litte crafting

My daughter and I hit the Target after Halloween sale Wednesday.

I found the basket at 75% off. I think I ended up paying around $2.50 for it. I loved the leaf fabric inside it. Too bad there was only one because I would have bought more if they had more.

I found the Smurf figurines in the dollar baskets in the front of the store. I have always been a Smurf fan. I guess they are making a come back because I also saw some little tote bags. One of them said something like you have been Smurfed. Too cute.

The pattern I bought off Ebay. If I ever get the fabric for it he will be my centerpiece for the living room table.

Oh Yea...we also bought about 10 bags of 50% off candy too lol.

Take 20 Christmas cards leftover from a couple years ago (good thing I buy extras at the after holiday sales) ...

Add in 20 handmade Snowmen ornaments and you have a finished swap!! I have been working on these guys bit by bit for a couple weeks now. Good thing they are done and in the mail because they are due on November 15th.

 

My November Schnibble arrived from Quilt Taffy . I just had to grab some of the yummy dessert fabric too.  That will be put away until I figure out just the right pattern to use it on.

I also grabbed some of these brights from Etsy. I plan on doing this month's Schnibble in black and brights.

Better late than never I guess

My niece's birthday was September 25th. I had good intentions of getting something made for her and in her hands before her actual birthday but that never happened. Anywhooo...I made her a buttercup bag and I'm also sending the owl I tested. She is so hard to buy/make for. She has very specific taste (she is 14) and likes very expensive things. Oh well ... now on to the next birthday.

Need a gift?

Fabricartist21 is having a give a-way over at her blog.   She is giving away some lovely fabric! I see pillowcases when I look at this fabric. How about you?

Go take a look at her Etsy shop. She has some great gift ideas in there. I love her rag quilts!

Weekend finishes

I had a little free time this weekend to finish off some quilts. These were all quilted. They just needed their bindings stitched down.

This is the Downy quilt all finished. I plan on adding another quilt to the box before I ship it out.

The next three quilts all have the same backing. I love this fabric. I think it is the shade of blue that I like the most. They also have the same binding fabrics.

 

 

 

I figured some pirate ships would like great with the blue water and islands of the backing fabric.

I've got the whole world on my bed....lol.  I like all the basic colors on this fabric. This one I quilted by following the longitude and latitude lines that are on the fabric.

Born in the U.S.A.

When I saw these two fabrics, I knew they needed to be turned into quilts. My guys would have loved to lay on a quilt that has all the states/countries on it. I can just picture them taking their matchbox cars and driving them all over the world.

Whole cloth quilts make fast quilts :)