Paper Pieced Pineapple Piecing Peace !

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers....or something like that...tee-hee!

I finally finished piecing my Pineapple! It is not without it's problems, but I am my own worst critic. Prince Charming tells me that all the time.

You know, right, that I am rotten at math? Sometimes worse than other times. Seems I messed up my block counting. But you know that because I had to make MORE blocks right? Guess what I found when I was cleaning up my sewing space after putting the rows together....GUESS ! Ah, ha, ha, ha ,ha!!! 13 blocks. 13 completed blocks with the paper already off them! I felt SO stupid. I purposely shortened the quilt because I just didn't want to make more of them. One row would have been 13 blocks. Definately my lucky number, huh?

Anyway - I am sewing the binding strips together tonight or tomorrow night - depends on how late I have to work tomorrow...Quilting will be next month some time.

I hired my friend Leslie to make an embroidered label for me. She designed one with pineaplles on it. I am excited. I am SO terrible at making sure labels get on my quilts. But seriously? I spent WAY TOO MUCH time on this baby not to put one on it.





My box of scraps is still pretty full. I won't throw them out, but making another one of these is NOT in my near future. I don't think making just ONE more would totally deplete that scrap box.

QB1 made one too. I started mine before I left Alabama - that was over 2 & a half years ago, so I am pretty sure this quilt is 3 years or better int he making. QB1 has more vision than me. She did hers in under a year. But I don't think she'll make another one too soon either!

Sam

PS: What's up next to be finished? Well, my Ocean Waves of course!

First Time Making These!

I have had this recipe for a while. And I KNOW you can cheat & melt caramels & there USED to be these caramel "wrap" things you could buy to wrap around apples. But, I wanted to make them from scratch. Took me 2 hours start to finish, and you stir the WHOLE time. Will I do this again? Yep, I will. They turned out great, look great, taste great, and I am pleased.

I drizzled them with white chocolate. I wanted to drizzle them with milk chocolate too, but I just got too tired. 2 hours is long enough to be standing in the kitchen. I had to eat my dinner standing too!

the "caramel" color didn't actually begin until nearly the last 10 minutes.





I kept the apples in the fridge - but I still got those little bubbles. That is the ONLY part of them that I don't like.

the baby isn't getting one of these. #1 -he don't have enough teeth. #2 That's pure sugar. PURE. (4 cups white granulated sugar & 2 cups of Karo syrup)

Sam

Not A Christmas Gift

QB1 brought me a few gifts today. One is a basket - monogrammed just for me! It folds flat. Isn't that cool? I carry so much around with me, a basket is WONERFUL idea......And what color is it people??? MY FAVORITE color. RED, red, red. I love red. See? QB1 listens to me.

Also she brought me a folding travel Rowenta Iron. She has one just like it & uses it during guild meetings. I have been gushing over how neat hers is....so she got me one.

The other box is something she picked up for me that I will be gifting. Not as a Christmas gift, just gifting. It's a butter keeper. Do you have one? They are the NEATEST thing. You can load them with a whole stick of butter in it.(real butter here people, not the yellow fake junk) Put the cup part into the bowl part upside down IN WATER and the water seals it & prevents the butter from going rancid. My DD#1 bought one for me that I keep on the lazy susan on the kitchen table.

Yes, i know, those butter keepers are an old idea. You caint get one on @ WalMart - so it's a new idea, right?

Today I finished quilting the last "customer" quilt of the year. I can't go into what it was because MAYBE the intended person reads my blog. Fat chance of that, but it might even be accidently read over someone's shoulder. Let's just say I called it the Fonzie Quilt. After Christmas, I'll tell you what I mean about "Fonzie". (remember Happy Days? I am likely dating myself here...)

Thank you QB1 for the presents. I love them & will definately use them. Darn it, I forgot to send home those little cheese cakes with her too.........I promise you, it's gray hair I have, not blonde...

Sam

Pineapple Update

My regular daytime job, the system that I work in is being upgraded, so I got to take Friday off. Decided I was goint o be SELFISH & sew all day.

I went & picked up the roll up door that Prince Charming & i will install on the shed (probably tomorrow) and then.............I went to QB1's house to sew all day.

QB1 was having new vinyl double hung windows installed (very nice too!) and the guys installing them, replaced the sewing room window FIRST, so that we could sew. Wasn't that sweet of them?

We worked on our Pineapple quilt. Assembling it. It was a fun day. It's been a long time since we sewed that long together.

Let me tell you - my daytime job is not as a brain surgeon - so some things can be complicating for me. On-Point settings is one of those complications. I can not just blindly sew rows together & get the side setting triangles in the right direction. I have to assemble each row individually. Otherwise, I mess up which way the triangles are sewn on.

Since I loathe Frog-Stitching, I just do it the slow way. Thank goodness that QB1 has a similar issue and we got to work together!

What you see here is one row short of being half way done. I am absolutely excited about it. We have a queen sized bed & I am pretty sure this would be a good king size. When it's done, it will be an adiitional 14 inches wider. So it's going to be BIG. I love a big quilt.

At one row short of half way - there are 49 blocks right NOW. I'll have to make MORE to finish it (knew that was coming didn't you?) I only have 23 completed blocks left.........




I am thinking that this baby is going to spend some time hanging on a wall before I use it any.

Have not decided which pantograph I'll use, or what color thread I'll use....(speaking of thread, I have a few spools that I need to send to Joan) Maybe I'll order a NEW pantograph JUST for this quilt. That sounds like a plan.

After this one, I want to complete my Ocean Waves Quilt.

Anyone looking at these 2 quilts, would think me a glutton for punishment. I'm not, a glutton I mean....but I sure love quilts with a bazillion little peices! Edited to add: I have 19 blocks less than half done & if I did the math correctly - I will have to make an additional 20 to make this quilt as large as I want it. Let's see....excluding the side setting triangles & borders - that is roughly 111 blocks @ 37 peices per block = 4107 peices of fabric. That's pretty close to a bazillion, ya'think????



Sam


( I was asked if I quilt for others. Yes, I long arm quilt for other people. Though I do not make quilts for other people!)

Stretched Stars

Finished this quilt sometime last year. I think I posted a photo of it being held up by QB1 & I during show&tell @ a guld meeting.

Well! Since it was finished (&quilted by ME, no less) DD#2 took it to Alabama @ her house. Well DD#2 now lives with us & last weekend my quilt was returned to MY house. Soon as I spotted it, I washed it & spread it on our bed.

So nice & comfy.

I think the pantograph is "Lush Leaves".






Psst! Had to make the bed to take these photos. I really love a photo op, makes me look like the Domestic Diva that my sister thinks I am.........

Sam

Hair

I have a LOT of hair. And it's really LONG. I cut 10 inches off the length a few months ago - but it's still pretty long - long enough that the biggest hair clip that I can buy at Wal-Mart will NOT hold it all up. Not for very long anyway.

I treated myself to a few items of hair jewelry this week. Why hair "jewelery" ? Well because what I paid for one hair clip was more than a few yards of fabric. Non-discounted, not on sale....fabric.

This little gem (below) I got off Etsy (dot com) I twist my hair in a faux french roll & secure it. This jobbie holds it all. Without slipping! Who-Hoo!



Every once in a while - it's nice to buy something nice for me.

Sam

Shed Building

Again, cell phone pictures!

Prince Charming & I spent our Sunday afternoon framing in the ends of the shed. We ran out of light after getting the plywood up on the back wall - but it's already cut for the front. We have to go pick up the roll up door this weekend.

When you looka at the back, the bottom of the window is at the 12' mark! Those walls are 12', then it's floored @ 8' so we have a second story storage area.

There will be no power to this shed. It will have 2 - 12' wide lean-to's on each side too. We just have not got that far. When we get to the finishing part of our building endeavor, it will be sided in white vinyl - to match the house!

Sam

On-Point Pineapples

this is a cell phone picture, taken @ night in my sewing area. So it's quality leaves a LOT to be desired. But I was so excited about how it looks. I bought that black/green paisley print a few weeks ago from The Quilting Squares in Franklin, TN - I love it. It is really ver pretty IRL.

I decided I'd set my pineapple blocks on point - hopefully I won't need so many? One can only hope. I want the side setting triangles & the border fabric to be the same black/green print, but I want to separate the side setting triangles & the border fabrics with a very thin inner border of green. I mean thin. I think I'll cut the strips 1.25 inches. But I have to find the PERFECT green. It's got to match that paisley. So I need to go shopping! Darn it.

I don't have enough blocks completed to set them all - and I sure don't have the paper torn off the backs either! So it's going to be a slow go.

QB1 is this far too. I hope we can get them done simultaneously so that we can do Show & Tell at the January Quilt guild. (I think that's pressing my luck!!!)

Sam

You know what?

Life.

Is.

Good.

I have had a HARD week. and I have had to (multiple times, mind you!) remind myself that I have many more blessings in my life than I have problems.

I have spent all week in classes and I am SO far behind in my "real job", that it's not even funny. but you know what? There IS light at the end of the tunnel.

There are some things I can control & most things that I can't. And for the things that I can't? Well, I let that be handled by a higher authority. It's so nice to just let go - take a deep breath & know it will turn out okay!

I am SO ready for some holidays! How about y'all? This is another Christmas that I am not making any quilts for gifts. Quilting quilts for gifts! None I have made & none that I am giving - but it still doesn't count. Oh well.

Thanksgiving. My sisters (plural!) are cooking Thanksgiving @ my oldest sister's house. I get to bring pies. that's good. I LIKE making pies. I might try soemthing different this year.

I REALLY - REALLY need to get some pictures posted on this blog. I can't find my camera. (Seems my freind Joan is having the same issue - only hers is getting mailed back to her!) I don't know where mine is. I think I put it away to keep out of reach of the baby - well it's put away pretty well becasue I can't find it.

Talk at you all later!

Sam

Rainy Days & Mondays

Prince Charming & I spent last week off from work. We (narrowly!) got the shed/barn dried in. I was bone tired. I actually whined on Sunday & asked "Do we haf tu?" - but we had to ge tthe rest of the plywood on the trusses to dry in the whole thing or risk wasting a bunch of money by letting all that wood get wet.

Now that it's dired in, we can take a break. Sorry no pictures yet. I have been too tired at the end of the day to go back out & TAKE pictures. got to get close enough so that I can show you just how big this "shed" is. Haven't been able to take pictures after work - becasue ...well - it's dark when I go & dark when I get back.

it's rained Monday & Tuesday & I think it's supposed to rain on Wednesday too.

I have a quilt on the rails. Finishing my neices. Then I have 2 more customer quilts. i met VR 2 a quilt shop in east TN (east meaning east of Nashville, but not memphis) She has entrusted me with 2 quilts that she has made for her daughter-in-laws. Plural. Two. They are very beautiful & i should have both of those done this weekend. I think QB1 has one for me to quilt too.

I had business cards printed for long-arm quilting. Put the shingle out, so to speak. I'm not up for making any kind of web-site , i would just like to take in local quilts, i think. We'll see how it goes. I been holding off becasue I just didn't know how my "real job" would go. it's going well, and settling down.

At any rate, folks - i need to sign off & let the big dogs into the kennel in the basement (can't let the fur babies stay outside in the wet/cold!) after that, I think I'll go hug a feather pillow or two for a few hours1

Sam

Remember These? PPP (Paper Pieced Pineapples)

Remeber these? I got 12 of them finished today. Don't think I started from square one, I did not. Those 12 blocks were better than 1/2 done, so it wasn't hard to GET them done, it's just been finding the TIME to sew them. I have off these whole week & spent nearly the whole day at my guild meeting.

Guess how many I have???? Waaayyy more than I thought I did, I'll tell you that! I have 81 finished. How many do I need?

No. Clue.

My next bunch of them that I make will get me to 100. So I am tackling 19. And, yes, I'll be starting from square 1. Literally. Once I get them done, I'll see how I want to set them. I am seriously thinking about setting them on-point with some sort of black print side setting triangles as well as an extra wide black border (same print) , I have several black prints, but not likely enough for what I want. Darn, I'll have to go fabric shopping..........

My goal , this week, is NOT to finish those 19 blocks. Bet you got no clue what the goal is! Prince Charming & I are building a shed. More like a BARN. 16'X24'w/2 12' lean-to's on each side. 12 foot walls with a sub-floor at 8'. OUR goal this week, is to get the roof on.Going to Lowe's tomorrow to buy 40 2X6X12's, and that does not include the tie pieces from truss to truss. We're going to be So busy & SO tired....but when it gets done, we'll get the lawnmower & the golf cart out of the garage. As well as all the other "yard" acruements. If I think about it, I'll try to get photos of it. Our land is not level - so it's pretty high on one end. but guess what? QB1 is getting new windows and she is giving us her old ones to put int he barn. We need windows becasue we're not running power or water to the barn. The dogs think it's for them....Ha !!

Talk to you all later!

I can't wait to show you my 100 paper peiced pineapple blocks!

Sam

PS / was asked where I got my papers from........the truth is, I found a free block on the web somewhere & it was only about 5 inches finished. I enlarged it to about 8 inches, I like that size - small enough to be interesting & not too large that it looks sloppy..... I made about 500 copies becasue I figure THIS won't be my last PP Pineapple Quilt becasue of all the scraps I generate. If I can get "A" quilt plus another ONE from the scraps - whatever is left from trimming the PP peices can be trashed. (I guess! Right?)

Back in the Saddle Again!

Well, hopefully I am. My regular day time job is NORMALLY just 40 hours or less. But in the last 3 months, I have been all over *heck* & half of middle Tennessee and parts of Alabama. Hopefully, my schedule has slowed down & I can get back to normal. Whatever normal is.............

Good thing too!

I really need to sew. I have many many projects in mind. Quilting & clothing. I have been buying fabric & not sewing & my sewing room looks like a tornado hit it. Which would be okay if I could just close the door. Such is not the case - my sewing room is part of our family/bonus room & it can not be hid. Oh well. I can kid myself by saying it's all a work in progress.

No pictures today. Soon though. I promise. I have a quilt loaded on the rails - it's my neice's. Her grandmother made it. I wish I knew someone that could hand quilt. This quilt is all hand peiced & hand appliqued. It will look beautiful when I have it done, but it would be prettier if it was hand quilted. I just can't reproduce that type of look!


Update on my dog: Briscoe has made a FULL recovery & last week he finished his vet required confinement. We turned him loose in the (fenced 1/2 acre) yard & he runs & jumps smoothly. Like it never happened. His hair cut still looks funny, but he really does not care. I'm glad I had the surgery done. That peice of bone they pulled out of his elbow joint was about the size of a dime, round, like a marble. It had to have been very painful for him. And he's such a lover. He only barks bad, he's a big cupcake. Do you know who he is named for? Jerry Orbach from Law & Order. We got the puppy just after Jerry Orbach died. JO played Lenny Briscoe on Law & Order. It was a "B" name, so we called the puppy Briscoe. Seemed fitting for a german shepherd. Though he's no cop dog, that's for sure.

Oh! I ordered business cards for longarm quilting. Putting out my shingle - so to speak. Maybe I can generate more business! Ya think?

Talk to you all later!

Sam

Dog Update

Well, we talked it through & decided to go ahead with the surgery. Briscoe had his surgery on Wednesday & came home on Thursday. They sent home the bone that they fished out of his knee joint. Honestly? I was HOPING that it was not some itty bitty teeny tiny kidney stone size of a bone. If it had been , I'd have been disappointed. But, I'll tell you - I was totally surprised by the size of the bone that the vet had to remove! It was HUGE. No wonder my poor baby was in so much pain & limping. It iw the size of the top half of my thumb. I mean like fromt he bottom of my nail @ the cuticle to the tip of my thumb. Amazing.

This dog don't model on que - but these were taken after we'd been home for about 2 hours. He's on some good drugs - so he's pain free. Consequently, he thinks he's cured. He has to spend 2 weeks in the kennel in the garage. Only out to controlled walks. Then after the staples are removed from his incision, he'll spend 4 weeks in a kennel out side.

All in all, I am glad we had it done. But let me tell you - getting him to lay down while I ice his elbow 3 times a day - is much easier said than done.

Sam

argh! I don't have my pictures on THIS computer.........

Dogs............& Decisions

This is ONE of my 3 dogs. This is Briscoe. I had him to the vet yesterday. He's been limping for roughly one week. He did this last year too, but the vet gave us some Rymidly (sp?) and he stopped limping. This time? He's not so lucky Turns out he has fractured his elbow on his left front leg. Actually, he's fractured BOTH. It's a bone issue common with GS's....3 x-rays later, we have to wiat on a consultation with a doggie orthopedic specialist. I have no clue what the cost is going to be. I have a number that I cna't go over...but over that? I don't know. We'll see. I love this dog. He's a GOOD dog. He barks a lot.......but you know? He's a DOG. He is in a lot of pain. He is basically being jabbed in the bone of his leg everytime he moves.

I hope the specialist calls today.

Sam

NQR - Re-Useable Shopping Bags

Well, I use some bags that I bought from Kroger. They were not cheap! $3.98 each (I think). I have 12 of them. They are a very good size & the inside is coated with a plastic - sort of. Anyway - I get a lot of compliments on them from various stores & checkers when I use them. But I digress, I am off th topic as to WHY I was making this post. Yesterday, in west TN @ Wal-Mart, I was using my bags & the checker says to me "Oh these are nice, where'd you get them?" Kroger's, I say. She says "They seem small." I say - Really? Because 2 one gallon jugs of milk fit in there with room to spare, how many jugs of milk do you put in a plastic bag? She says "2". Then she says - "well it's a good thing that you have them" - I have not had a good week, so by now I was READY for a DISCUSSION (argument?)I respond to her with Why is that? She says - "well, after the first of the year, we're going bagless!" I told her that I had not seen anything advertised anywhere about that....She says- "Well, you'll have to bring your own, or buy what we have"

So, there you have it. Get your bags before the price gouging begins.

Sam

Ocean Waves SO FAR !!

Well , this weekend I had 2 goals. One was to get my day time job caught up (long story short - Someone resigned & I am "filling in" until a replacement can be hired & trained - and I am behind on BOTH jobs....) Enough of "work" , who wants to hear about that anyway???????? Second goal was to get all the rows sewn together on my Ocean Waves Quilt.

I did that.






13 blocks X 15 blocks. Currently 75 inches by 89 inches. I still lack the half blocks. I dont' have ANY started. None. Then there will be a 1.5" innner blue border, a middle pinwheel border, and then a 6" outer blue border. And it will be done. Don't hold your breath thinking it's going to get done in September. If I get it done before Christmas, I will be happy.

Well? What'cha think of it now?

Sam

Rowing (?)

I have 5 rows sewn together now! They look awesome.

It was 10:30 PM when I got that far, so NO PHOTOS. It would not have photographed very well at all.

I am SO excited. It looks like a quilt now. Those half blocks will definately go far to completing the pattern & giving the design the semetry that I like.

Sam

Ocean Waves - PROGRESS !!!

Here are 8 of the 15 rows that I need for my queen size Ocean Waves Quilt. This 8 has the pinwheels going in one direction & the other 7 rows will have the pinwheels going in the opposite direction.

I don't have any part of the 7 rows started. Well, that's a lie. I have the blocks with all the half square triangles done, just not the "ocean" blocks (meaning the ones with the blue background..)

After those rows, I lack the half blocks, that complete the design. I will need.....wait for it.........56 half blocks. Which is equal to........wait for it.....448 half square triangles.

THEN there is the pinwheel border. No clue YET, how many hst's that will use.

I'm thinking that I don't have enough hst's for the 2nd quilt. Dang. I will have left over hst blocks, so I'll just have to make more. (probably not right away....you know?)




Went to a shop in Franklin - the Quilting Squares (I think) & bought a new pattern. it's an addiction, you know??? the pattern is from Bonnie Blue Quilts called "Belle Meade". It is a Lady of the Lake variation. Belle Meade is a city in Tennessee near Nashville. It a gorgeous high dollar area. I never knew the history of Belle Meade. Originally, Belle Meade was a horse farm. BBQuilts always has a story for their patterns. Makes them so much more interesting.

Anyway - The Lady of the Lake pattern is another of my favorites. since I have SO MANY half-square-triangles, I would'nt have to make more! Remember - I have musling hst's too!



I think it will look very different with plain muslin as the light areas.

I am feeling better this week. Not quite as MANY dizzy spells. Still have them though. They are a huge p.i.t.a. for sure. It's the nasea that comes after the dizzyness that is hard to handle.

Talk at you all later.

Sam

More Progress

I had such big ideas for this weekend. I wanted to get all the rows sewn together on my Ocean Waves. Well! THAT didn't happen. I did get 2 rows done. 2 of 15! And I did get half the ocean blocks done. I have been sick. Sick since Wednesday. I went to the Dr on Friday - he said I had "LABYRINTHITIS" I have been dizzy & nauseated. More nauseated then dizzy today. I (literally) spent all day Saturday in the bed.

So, no sewing. I can't stand up to run the iron. Oh well, the DR said it might last a few days to a few weeks. I hope it's only afew days........I really don't like being sick.

If I get anymore done this evening, I'll try to pot some pictures. The 2 rows that I did get done look SO nice! Porgress, Progress!

Sam

Ocean Waves PROGRESS

Above is the block I am currently making. Photo curtesy of Quiltville.com

Below are photos of the progress I made this weekend. That's me (in all my glory!) and my Bourbon. He is always within touching distance. As I type thispost, he's lying between my legs. He is no small dog.........65 pounds. But he is a lover , and he has took to the grandbaby too.......

ANYWAY........I have made all the dark wings for the alternate "Ocean" blocks. Well, maybe ALL. I have made enough for 72 - but I like big quilts & will likely end up making more because I like my "queen size" quilts to be nearly as large as a "king size". I have half the triangles sewn onto the light side of the wings & maybe tonight I can sew the 2nd half on. I disassembled ( nice way of saying frog-stitched) 288 hst's for these "wings". Do you see what I mean by "wings" in the top image?

It's progress and I am SO loving it. Once the Ocean blocks are done, it's just a matter of webbing the blocks.......Maybe that's the term. (?) Then all I lack are the half blocks that go on the sides, which go on before the the inner border, which is same color as the background. (Blue in this rendition.)

Then I'll have a middle border of HST's set as pinwheels & then the outer border of the background fabric.

It IS progress. I can't wait to start sewing blocks into rows & rows into a quilt top!






I'm sure I mentioned this before, but I have enough HST's for 2. The next one is red. Then I am working on another 2 (yes TWO) Ocean Waves Quilts. Muslin is the background on those 2. Don't hold your breath waiting on ANY of them (including the blue one) getting finished in 2010.

My feather pillow is calling.........

Sam