what HAVE I been doing........?

Lot's.

Just nothing exciting.

I have sewn some of the "On Eagles Wings" blocks. I don't think I have (even) 30 yet.

I got the borders sewn on my Ocean Waves Quilt! Yay! No pictures, as I want to get it quilted first.

I have been working on a quilt for my neice in CA. (Pictures of that one will be in another post)

And..........I made the floral quilt, below, it didn't come out the way I envisioned. Not at all. The one ont he wall in the fabric store was pink, I didn't make the center panel narrow enough, and the floral is a little over-whelming. Oh well, it will be either 1 - a good GIFT quilt or.........2 - a good quilt for the dog.





Sam

Happy Birthday USA !!

My camera was in my purse, and I was wet from watering the dogs, so you're looking at the front of my house after I hung up the buntings on Friday.

Happy Birthday USA !!

I absolutely LOVE red / white / blue. My most favorite color combo.

I almost didn't pout these up this year, but you know what? I am SO PROUD that I did. It warmed my heart to turn the corner & see that white house all decked out for America's Birthday. It looks great.

Other residents hung out flags, but let me tell you, they are going to have to work harder to have more pride displayed that this !!

Happy Fourth of July!!

Sam

Dylan's Cowboy Quilt

I made this quilt several years ago - it's Cowboy Themed. Some of these fabrics are out of print & simply no longer available.

When my brother let me know that my nephew was diagnosed with a desease, I decided that since I could not HUG him in person, I'd send him a quilt.

Dylan is 7 - I really hope that he isn't too old for Cowboy's..?

This shot is of the quilt while on the longarm quilting machine


Another shot of the quilt ont he longarm quilting machine. It's being quilted with brown thread & an all over Stars & Loops pantograph pattern


Label - Made by Leslie!


This is te front of the quilt - you are seeing it on a "double" size bed & in this shot - you are not seeing all the borders.


Borders


Backing - I didn't have enough of either cowboy themed print for the WHOLE back - so I used both - you can't tell in this shot, but the darker print is centered fairly well. I just don't have the quilt centered on the bed.



I still lack gettingthe binding sewn on it & then off inthe mail it goes to Dylan. I hope that everytime he uses it, he feels a hug from me.

Sam

Lydia - Top Done

I have the top for the Lydia Quilt completed. I liked these blocks. They were not so fiddly as I normally work with. And I really like the open spaces - if I did more than just pantographs with my long-arm quilting I could put wreaths in those plain squares.

The pattern has it "done" @ this stage,with no borders, but I have enough of the cheddar print to put really big borders on it. Sounds icky, but once it's quilted, I will scallop the borders & that's why I need them wider than normal. I had origianlly thought about doing a blue border, or even a red one, but changed my mind. I can do that, you know......

Ihave never put scalloped borders on a quilt!



There is not usually SUN in our family room, but I have the day off & was able to take advantage of the natural light that only comes in during the morning hours. A rare treat up here ("up here" means the bonus/family room - becasue it's in the attic roof area of our house)

And here is a picture of the little dude - just coz he's adorable!


Sam

Future NQR Project < sort of a rant!>

This is a Non-Quilting-Related post! And I am going to rant too. So read at your own risk.

Prince Charming & I are always planning projects. So far our most afggressive has been our shop that we're building. In this heat, it's about to kick our butt. White vinyl siding in the sun, is no fun. But when it gets completed, it will all be worth it.

A project that we have lined up is to start a rose garden. A real one. Lot's of roses. Tea roses. Complete with pathways & a gazebo & possibly some (or "a") pergola. Prince Charming wants a waterfall too. We have the space in our yard. Anyway.......I have started 4 rose plants. 3 are doing well, the 4th......not so much. I have also started some roses from seeds & there are 6 that have germinated!

This post is about my quest to find BOOKS on roses. Not what they look like, but how to care for them, type of soil, how to keep certain deseases away....etc. Well, yesterday I drive all the way to Nashville to Books-A-Million. It's the closest book store & it's roughly 30 miles away. Guess what? No books on roses. None. No magazines dedicated to roses either. Not one. To say I was disappointed is a an understatement. But what I want to rant about is what follows.

Not only did they NOT have books on roses, but they DID have 4 DIFFERENT books by seperate authors on growing............wait for it...........

Marijuana!

Yep!

Pot!

I am a pretty liberal person. But I guess not. I guess the older I get, the more conservative I become. But give me a break! I live in Middle Tennessee. The South. The Bible Belt. I can buy a book on cultivating pot, but not ROSES ?

Nashville has a Rose Society, I am headed to thier website to see if they have any recommended reading. Certainly, B-O-M doesn't have what I need!

Seriously? No books on roses! (My local library wasn't any help either)

Sam

Mother's Day Gift

As I get older, I have this NEED to be organized. I like everything put away & organized. And I like GLASS in my kitchen. I don't like platic storage containers at all. Well, when I got asked what I wanted for MD, I said got to "X" Store & get the little glass spice jars for me.

What you see in the picture is just 1/2 of them. I only ended up with ONE unlabeled jar, though I have many EMPTY jars because the spices were expired..........And some of the spices I had still had price tags on them. TAGS, not bar codes. How old could THOSE have been???



Anyway............I'm a Happy Camper. I like that the glass can be cleaned and relabled. Figure I'll pick up a few more incase I need them. Got to see if there are some slightly larger for parsley flakes (use those a lot!) and chili powder. I buy huge containers of that too.

The jars did not come labeled or with labels, I used my own label maker & put the labels at the top of the jars so that the ones in the back top shelf can be seen & read. Aggravating not to be able know what those spices are!

You know what I used for those spice shelves? Ha, Ha !! 2X4's. Just had Prince Charming cut them to fit the cabinet. Works like a charm. Cheap butt, huh?

Sam

Fun & Done

We'll start with "done" first.

I finished quilting QB1's quilt. I hope that she didn't hurt her fingertips while she was at the lake this weekend, because she's got a binding to put on her quilt! And it's NO lap quilt. I used an old pantograph that I have - it's got leaves on it. QB1 wanted something loose so that the quilt would be puffy. I used a complimentary thread & like ALWAYS, you can hardly even SEE the thread. Not on the front. I guess that's a good thing. It's finally done & I already took it to her house. She wasn't home, so it will be a surprise!

Now comes the FUN part.

Y'all know right??? That I do NOT need another project? I just don't. I got off work early one day the week boefore last & I wandered up to a quilt shop in Goodlettsville. I can't remember the name (I am sorry, but as many as I go too, it's hard to keep them straight) I bought a pattern (saw that coming didn't you?) by Bonne Blue Quilts, called "Lydia". They had one made hanging up stairs int he shop & let me tell you, it nearly screamed at me to be made! The pattern cover photo does not do , what the REAL quilt looked like, justice at all.

Here's a photo of the quilt on the pattern cover.


But it's really done in a chrome yellow & blues & red. I happen to have aobut 6 yards of a chrome yellow with little red flowers on it. I made 9 blocks in under 2 and a half hours. Super easy & the way they are set on point withthe background color on the outside of the block makes it look like they are floating. Really pretty.

AND.........while digging through my stash, I found what might be the perfrect border fabric for it too. It's blue with chrome yellow motifs on it. I got all the yellow @ Whittles. Saw it on line, called themt o make sure they had X # of yards & I got it the NEXT day. Whittle's is AWESOME. Just AWESOME. When I bought the yellow, I didn't know what project I wanted it for. I had seen a yellow & red quilt in one of Bonnie Hunters recent books, but when I saw the Lydia pattern, I thought "WHY NOT"?

Though, let me tell you.........I finished 9 blocks & have 28 more cut out. I was using fat quarters & the pattern calles for 1/3 yard cuts...anyway, Saturday I go buy 5 more blue fat quarters. As long as I have been sewing, I STILL make STUPID mistakes. Yep! Cut every single FQ wrong for the next 9 blocks. The fabric is not unusable, just not usable for THIS project... Oh Well. Give me my "idiot" sign & I'll gladly wear it. How did I do that you ask? Ha! Because I was too confident in myself & thought that I had all the cuts memorized & when I went to cut the last 5 fat quarters, I didn't even bother reading the instructions. See? Idiot. Doesn't that go with "measure twice, cut once"? Well, duh! Only measruing wasn't my problem.

So, there you have it, my Fun & Done post.

As soon as I have enough different variety of those Lydia blocks, I'll post my progress.

See Ya !

Sam

Say It On The Wall

This week I got busy hanging up all our pictures on the walls. I emptied a whole closet. I can honestly say that the movers did a wonderful job packing everything.

No, people, we didn't move.

We have lived here 3 years & I FINALLY put the pictures on the walls. No, I don't have a reason. I am not even going to try & figure out WHY I was so lazy. Not worth the effort.

Anyway.......I wanted to be able to hang my quilts behind the bed, full length. The hanger is sort of crude, but Prince Charming has said he'll build a NICE one for me. This set-up will suffice until then.






Sam

ps/ i can never get good pictures....I am up against a wall where I am standing & there is a huge cedar chest there too. I can't get far enough back to get a good picture.....oh well, you get the drift.

Piddle Piddle Piddle & Fiddle

I can't beleive the sewing slump I have been in lately. I have done precious little sewing. I did get 4 more "On Eagles Wings" blocks completed. That gives me (I think) 22. I still have a long way to go. I spent Sunday morning CLEANING my sewing area. What a terrible spread out mess it was. I needed to get it clean so I could prioritize my projects. I have too many going to stay focused, it seems.

So I finished those 4 blocks & put them away in their little box until I can finish something else or to take them to work on whle sewing with QB1. I have finished cutting trimming & tearing the paper off all the BLUE hst's for my r/w/b Belle Meade. Ironing them too for.ever. Now I am cutting the red hst's apart. Once those are trimmed, paper removed & ironed...the blocks will go together super fast. I am excited to get them that far. (I think I made more hst's than I'll need....we'll see!)

I have my Ocean Waves on the table & ready for the outer borders. My freind, Leslie in AL, is making an embroidered label for me. I love her labels. But hte quilting is going to wait a little bit. I am going to quilt an old "Focs Fabric Quilt" that I made several years ago. It's cowboy themed & I am going to send it to my nephew in CA. H'es been diagnosed with a desease & I can't be there to hug him & feel like this is the next best thing that I can do. I am sure my nephew will fare well through his illness, but I worry about my brother. He is really having a hard time coping with this issue.

Anyway - now that my sewing area is cleaned up - it's much easier to feel like i want to sew!

I bought a BUNCH of patterns while I was @ Paducah & I just put them all away. I just have so many projects truning cartwheels in my head that if they are out on the table, I get sidetracked & want to start another project!! Ack! Can't do that.

I'll post some pictures as soon as I get something worth looking at!

sam

Wish List - Champagne Taste

Ugh! How come i always fall in love with something that is 10 times more expensive than I need to spend?

We have fully functioning patio furniture that we use on our deck. It's an aluminum set we bought in 2006. Maybe 2005. It was when daughter #2 graduated from high school. Bought it from K-Mart. It's a nice set - but it would be an understatement if I said I was NOW bored with it & want something new.

This week I got a new issue of Southern Living & they have a spread about porches in Charleston. Lots of wicker. I have had a love affair for wicker furniture for a LONG time. I think my Mother gave me the love. She never had a set. I wish I could have got her one. Fast forward to this week again.......I SO want new deck furniture.

I had a white wicker set about 7 years ago - but I didn't have the money to buy "all weather" wicker. it didn't last.

I found what I want!! Yipee! But there is no way I can buy it all at once. Pretty sure Prince Charming wont' jump at it either.

If I can't have exactly what is pictured below - it has to be super similar.


I don't want white. I don't want bulky. I want traditional. And I want it dark brown or black. I only want 2 rockers, 2 chairs, 2 side tables & only 1 sette. Maybe only 2 chairs.....Picky, huh? Well, if I spend what they want for that set, I better get EXACTLY what I want. From Orvis - The Champlain Set. Let's see...how many "gift giving days" are there in 2011? My birthday is already passed, Valentines Day is already passed, Anniversary is already passed..... Pretty sure I can't get a "gift" for The 4th Of July. But hey! I still have Thanksgiving & Christmas!!!

I can DREAM, can't I ???

Sam

Edited to add: Ha! My friend Donna Reminded me that MOTHERS DAY is next month!!! And....I do have wicker furniture. It's on my front porch. 4 chairs & 2 end tables. We don't use it. It's eye-candy for the front of the house. It's not the style I want for the back deck - that's where we spend all out time in the spring & summer.

Spring

This is an old quilt. Well, old for me! I made it with a pattern from a Fons & Porter magazine that was published in 2000. A freind in Alabama asked me for the pattern just last week.

Changed the sheets & quilts on the bed & since everything was starting to bloom - I decided that I wanted something cheery on the bed. This particular quilt can be VERY girl-lee so those dark green walls are toning it down some.




We're sitting here, watching the weather channel to make sure that there are no tornadoes to get into the basement over. They are still about 30 miles west of us. Getting closer. I hate those things........Tornadoes, I mean.

Sam

Weekend Work

QB1 is probably going to skin me alive, as I was supossed to have her charity quilt completed. I got the backing loaded & that is as far as I have got.

What did I spend my weekend doing?

Landscaping.

Saturday, Prince Charming & I laid down 110 bags of mulch. Yes. 110. Why bags? Well we priced mulch by the yard (buckets) One place had it @ $20 per bucket (less than one yard.) Another had it @ $33 per bucket. Looked like a full yard. Wal Mart actually had it the least expensive @ $2.88 per bag. Lowe's had the EXACT SAME brand @ $3.44 per 2 cf bag. Decided the bags were a better idea too because then we wouldn't have to use the pitch forks to get into place. We got it at Wal Mart. Had to make 3 trips to get all the bags becasue we didn't want to drag the trailer through the yard that Prince Charming just seeded & fertilized 2 weeks ago.

ANYWAY.....

Last weekend we put down 1500 square feet of landscape fabric & then Tuesday of last week there was this horendous storm. No joke. It was bad. Straight line winds & rain. (that is something to see!) Worst we got was that our plastic storage doo-hickey thing got blwon off the porch & it was full of empty planters (& not cusions it's designed for!) and the planters blew all in the woods of my neighbor's house. But I was afrid that when I got home all that landscape fabric that we had put down was going to be strung up in the trees through the whole block. This didn't happen & I was glad. Seems overdoing the little metal pins/stakes paid off.

This weekend we put down mulch & filled the planters on the front porch. Prince Charming made the planters out of some old oak that we have. (we have a HUGE pile of it...lots & lots....it takes up a lot of space in the garage!) - we filled those planters with trailing petunias, caladiums & gladiolas....Some calla lillies (they did really well there last year) and soemthing else that I can't think of. The petunias should cover up the front of the planters in a month. I hope. We just wanted some COLOR out front without doing anything permanent. I still lack filling the containers @ the front door. You should have heard the conversation about the planters @ the front door! It went something like this:

Prince Charming: What are we going to put in those planters @ the door?
Me: Ferns
Prince Cahrming: What kind of ferns?
Me; Faux Ferns.
Prince Charming: Pho Ferns? What do THOSE look like?
Me: PLASTIC !

They have not arrived yet. I can't keep a fern alive or without drying out for anything. So I'm going with faux. They live longer.

Anyway - below are the pictures of what we got accomplished this weekend. Notice the black geese. I painted THOSE last weekend too. I should have left them in the back yard - they seemed to keep the blackbirds away from the bird food. They LOOK better on my front porch.






Funny thing happened @ Wal Mart today. One of those "you know you're getting old when...." times. I'm standing in line behind this couple that are buying a boat load of cleaning supplies. I thought they were going to drag out a notebook full of coupons becasue there was THAT much cleaning stuff...Kid @ the register says to the lady "wow it looks like y'all are doing a LOT of cleaning" - Lady says "Yeh, we been doing it for 2 weekends in a row" (well since I don't ever know a stranger) I say "yeh, I know how you feel, we have been doing yard work for 2 weekends in a row too!". Lady turns to the kid & says "Keeping up with the Joneses is a b!tch", I said to the lady.."I told my husband that the Joneses can kiss my @ss." We all have a good giggle & the lady & her husband leave & the kid starts scanning my groceries. The kid says to me "So? Y'all live on the same street?" I look at him & say "No." He says "But you both KNOW the Joneses???" I didn't know what to say! So I said "Yeh, we do..." I guess you know you're getting old when the younger generation doesn't know what "Keeping up with the Joneses" means....I nearly laughed at the poor kid's face. Bless his heart.

Y'all have a good evening. I'm looking forward to sitting at my desk at work tomorrow. No mulch!

Sam~

April 1st!

Prince Charming & I took Friday off. It was our 22nd anniversary. Yep! 22 Years. What did we do? Well we started the day by dropping off the F250 @ the Ford dealer. It's a 2006 and the engine is still under warranty & there is a "check engine" light on. Something to do with the turbo. They'll have it fixed next week. No, we're not down a vehicle. It mostly sits in the driveway. Prince Charming has a company truck. Then we went & had breakfast @ Cracker Barrell. I always get the same thing. Momma's French Toast Breakfast. Then as we were headed to the Plant Ranch to find Hydrangeas, I got a phone call from a guy from Clarksville. He used to fix industrial sewing machines & agreed to come & see if he could get the hook timed on my longarm. He'd never done one before.

Let me tell you about my longarm. It's been a wonderful machine. Perfect. I have NEVER had to time the hook in the 3 years that I have owned it. (really a little more than 3 years) But once it got OUT of timing & I fiddled & fiddled & adjusted & re-adjusted, I was So aggravated that I was desperate to take it to the closest dealer. The "closest" dealer is in....get this.....Agusta, GA. 6.5 hours drive one way.

So, he came & looked at it. Adjusted the hook. SHOWED me how it's supposed to look when I have to do it. We tested it multiple times until he felt I was satisfied with the stitches. It sews perfect stitches now. I quilted up some sheets that the dog stained up. I'll use what I quilted as a car blanket for Bourbon.

After my machine got fixed (really though it wasn't broken, just out of time...) we went back to the plant ranch. got 2 hydrangeas and 4 rolls of landscape fabric. Then spent about 2 hours pricing mulch. And vinyl siding (siding for the shed) You know? you can spend a LOT of money on plants.

Fast forward to Saturday - Bourbon had a hair appointment. He's not such the fuzzy duck now. He is so prissy after a hair cut.

Prince Charming is making planter boxes for the front porch. He's making them from rough cut lumber that we have in the basement. You won't see them with the plants we'll fill them with, because hopefully they'll cascade over the sides. I finally got off my dead butt & spray painted the iron geese a fresh coat of stove black. Took me all of 40 minutes & that incleded drying time. Why'd I wait so long? They are positioned back @ thier post on the front steps. I want to tie some pink or yellow ribbons around thier necks! Yes, they are named. Petey & Penny. We had a set of geese when I was a kid & that's what my Mother named them. So? that's them again. Beter than Morticia & Gomez though, don't you think?

Tomorrow we are putting down the landscape fabric in the flower beds in the front yard. Next weekend we'll buy mulch & spread that all. Then? maybe the Joneses can keep up with US. (Probably not, as the new folks in the house at the corner just put in an in-ground pool....)

Oh! Forgot to tell y'all this though. On top of all we're doing, going, and making. My allergies are absolutely awful. I have taken pills, get medicine head. Nothing has stopped my running nose. I look like a 3 year old with a cold. My nose is SO raw, and I am applying burt's bee's LIP BALM to my upper lip, below my nose becasue I look like I shaved myself too close! I gave up using kleenex. Now I'm using a dishtowel. It's softer.........My head feels like it's going to explode & my eyes look like I been petting long haired cats. but Hey! Once I get through this little ordeal I'll be good to go. 23 years ago, when I lived in Califonia, I had perpetual sinus problems. Not so much now. Maybe once a year.

Prince Charming (there's areason he's PC, you know!) told me that I'm beautiful, Rudolph nose & all. Ah! True Love. Who can live without it?

I'll post pics of the ugly dog blanket when I get the binding on it.

See Ya!
Sam

Belle Meade ~ The Beginning

Remember this photo? This is where I had all my papers & fabric stacked up & ready to sew.


I have all the 2" hst's sewn as well as all the center hst's. I lack cutting the 2" hst's apart, removing the paper & ironing. I also lack cutting the large/center hst's apart & ironing.

Then? Well, THEN.....all I have to do is asemble them just like these 2 blocks below!




In the photo below, this is the paper from just 32 of the small hst's! Just 32! Amazing.........that's a lot of pieces.


Red, White & Blue is one of my favorite color combo's. The pattern is named "Belle Meade" & it's a Bonnie Blue Quilts Pattern. Though I don't think I'll call it Belle Meade. I'll have to think up something much more patriotic. No clue whether what color the borders will be. I'll have to wait & see how it looks assembled before I can make THAT decision. I have plenty of 3 yard cuts of blue. Not so many of red. If I set the blocks on point, as the pattern calls for, 3 yards won't be enough. So? We'll see.

Well, I did'nt accomplish what I wanted today. My longarm machine is giving me a fit. The stitches were'nt what I wanted them to be. I fiddled with the tension and it never got better - so I figured it was the timing. I took everything apart & the whole bobbin assembly fell out! Right to the floor. Scared me nearly to death. So after getting it back in - my buddy Cotie got me a website that has some photos - I adjusted everything & screwed it back together. Well, the BAD news is that now it's skipping stitches. It wasn't doing that before. The GOOD news is that the stitches (that are NOT skipped) are perfect! Ack! So now I have to take it apart again & try again. And then maybe again..... Right now I don't feel like I am winning the fight. But I AM learning more about it..........(heavy sigh here...)

I'll probably spend the evening piddling with those Belle Meade hst's. Cutting them apart & peeling the paper. If I don't do that, maybe I'll cut out some boxer briefs & tank t's for the grandbaby (summer jammies) I am also babysitting the grand-dogs. They are pretty good lap warmers! I just don't need my lap warmed while sewing or visiting the bathroom. You know????

Prince Charming has been on the road this week. He's home this weekend & it's doing nothing but raining & thunder storms. So no yard work this weekend. (OH DARN! Can you hear my regret????) Anyway - in about 30 minutes I'm going to make some cheese fries & steaks. Sounds good just typing that.

Sam~

On Eagles Wings - The Beginning

This is my *new* paper piecing project. Another Pineapple - but it harly resembles the last one.

The pattern is called "On Eagles Wings" - by Laundry Basket Quilts

Don't hold your breath thinking it's going to get done anytime soon. The last one took over 3 years.

I am pretty certain that I will NOT set these on-point, only because I think my eye is drawn too quickly to the line of black/white rows that the design would create. I will set them side by side, straight set, alternating a shirting/light geese block with a black geese block.

How many do I have done? HHHmmmm....5 or 6. How many do I need? No clue really. I printed 100. Only because the last PP project I completed - the blocks were 8.25" unfinished. These are slightly SMALLER.

These seem to go really fast! There are only 4 pieces less than the last project, but in this *new* project: In each block the center & all corner/geese are the same color, each "side" is the same color. No time spent checking/sorting/making decisions. Pretty easy.

I am excited about it.

Sam

More Storage

(BEFORE)


(AFTER)



My sewing "room" is in an area of our bonus room. (or family room - huge room over the house - our 3rd story) I take up about a 1/3 of it. It's a nice space. I can interact with the family & I can see the TV too. Though I don't watch it, I usually only have it on as "company", you know?

Anyway - I have one of those fold out cutting / craft tables, but I only use half of it because: #1 it takes up a LOT of space when it's all the way out - & really isn't very useful for quilting all the way out, #2 my favorite cutting mat fits on half of it. So I only use half.

Forever & ever I have had these plastic drawers under the one side. 10 , 12 years or better....but they are not quite tall enough, I have to stick a 2X4 under there to make up the difference in height.

QB1 had a couple of dressers/chests of drawers that she was getting rid of. I needed one for the grandson & took both when she showed up. This one fit perfect under my cutting table! Perfect! And it is SO much more stable then the plastic drawers ever were!

Did I get rid of the plastic drawers? Well, what do YOU think?

Of course NOT. 3 of those drawers in the chest are empty, I just moved the plastic ones to another place (under the window).

One day, Prince Charming is going to make all matching furniture for me. Cabinets, cutting table, ironing table, and a counter with drawers...(that's the plan) until then? Well, this is good enough. Besides, who is going to complain about more storage????

Not this me.

Sam

PS: my longarm machine is in a room in the basement. So I have TWO sewing rooms!!

Ocean Waves - UpDate

Do you see this? I could bet that you may not know why this post is so important, nor that you really know what you're looking at!!

What you see in this picture is the very last side of the inner pinwheel border on my Ocean Waves Quilt. Yippee! Yay! I did this on Thursday night - what was Thursday? I think it was the 17th. QB1 came over to the house & we sewed some. It was the first time I have "sewed" in days & days......thought I was going into withdrawls.....

All I lack now is getting the outer plain blue borders on it & to get it quilted.

Normally, I put 6 inch outer borders on my quilts. Just do. No reason. But if I finish this quilt with a 6 inch outer border - it makes it 105 inches wide. I am thinking I need to make them only 4 inches. If I make them 6", I don't think I can comfortably quilt it on the longarm. All the printed backings that I have are all 108" wide. 3" just isn't enough wiggle room. Not for me.

sam

Checking In

Ugh! I have been busy. Busy with "work" (meaning my regular daytime job!), busy with life, busy being sick, busy with family, and very little sewing. My long arm customer (s) probably think I dropped off the face of the earth.

I didn't.

But it sure feels like it.

On the other hand - today seems like it's gettting bak to normal. I took Friday off & sat & sewed with QB1. Actually we did very little sewing and did a lot of jawing. We also went & had a sandwich & went to Wooka's & the new Mennonite store in Charlotte. My friend Chernal was going to try & join us & that didn't work out (hopefuly crossing my fingers worked for you Chernal!!!)

I have tried to get motivated to finish the borders on my Ocean Waves. I am going to have to finish it THIS month as I have already ordered the label for it with MARCH 2011 on it. If that isn't a motivation maker, I don't know what is!

I think I have Pineapple Fever. What is that you ask? How silly of me, I will explain. I just finished a pineapple quilt that took me over 3 years to complete, i have a 30's Pineapple (pineapple variation...) that all the blocks are done - I lack setting the rows with cornerstones, putting on borders & appliquing flowers on the borders. NOW - I have started another Pineapple. Another variation of sorts. It's called 'On Eagles Wings". Google it, under images - It's really pretty. Block goes together super fast - even though there are 32 pieces in each 8 inch block - and after that one, I want to do (what will hopefully be my last & be OUT of my system forever) another Pineapple called "Everlasting Wreath". I think I'll pretty much have my paper piecing technique down pat! Whatcha think?

Here is the 2nd Dear Jane block that I have finished. ( WOW, I am SO glad I am NOT doing this baby in the real 4.5 size!!!)Actually finished this block over a week ago - just been too busy to get it posted.



And here is the A-3 flop. I'm just going to applique teh melons onto a square - I'm no good at curved seams, can you tell???


Sam

Pantographs - Free Ones!

I have several sites that I order from. One is Willow Leaf Studios & the other is Urban Elementz. Sometimes I'll order from Columbia River or Kingsmen. Depends on the product & whether or not I need it NOW or not.

I like Willow Leaf becasue they have them rated: Easy / Intermediate / Advanced. I consider myself an advanced pantograph user, but sometimes you just don't WANT advanced. "Advanced" normally means DENSE. As in densely patterned. Tight. Lot's of stitches or lot's of changes in direction. Sometimes the quilt itself does NOT lend well to a dense quilting pattern. For instance - Flannel Quilts. Anything intricate is totally lost on an all flannel quilt. Or if the quilt has little teeny tiny peices. My Pineapple Quilt is one I would not have liked a dense pattern on.

I like Urban Elementz becasue they have some very un-traditional patterns. Many times you can match a quilt theme to one of thier patterns. You have to keep in mind, though, that you MIGHT not ever use that pantograph again, when it's themed. They have a panto-of-the-month program that I had belonged to, but since I was buying more pantographs than I was quilting for quilts for customers....well, I stopped the membership. However - they have WONDERFUL pantographs. No ratings though. I have found that U/E's pantographs are all dense. You are going to quilt a LOT if you use their pantographs!

I have an equal amount of Pantographs from W/L & U/E. But the purpose of my post today is to tell you - the readers that use a long arm or short arm quilting system - that Urban elementz has some new FREE Pantographs posted on thier wesite. Yes, I know - you have to print & tape....it's free! What do you expect? They have "Leaping Lizards" & "Strawberry Fields" that are just too cute! You never know when you'll need JUST THAT pattern!

Get yours today!

Sam

Dear Jane Block A-1

I have decided to TRY & make a Dear Jane Quilt. ONly, I'm a wimp. I am NOT doing one with blocks that finish 4.5 inches. No way. I am making it with my freind Chernal & QB1. And MY blocks finish @ 7.5. What's that? 200% bigger?

Here is block A-1


This is the mess I made to make ONE block. I used the backing fabric off my pineapple quilt & the border fabric from my pineapple quilt. I decided I'll just use what ever I can put my hands on. Nothing co-ordinated. So I have , wht?, 132 blocks left???? I think it will either make a 2 sided quilt, or more than one quilt. ONly time & effort will tell.


Here is a look at one of my *new* projects. I am making it in Red/White/Blue. Various shades of each. It is a variation of a "Lady-Of-The-Lake" pattern called "Belle Meade" by Bonnie Blue Quilts. I'm branching out a bit & using some papers that I already have instead of using the "triangle papers" the pattern calls for & I'm not silly enough to make ALL THOSE HST's without a method!


I should have got MUCH more done this weekend, but Saturday moring while taking my dogs out, I slipped & fell in the mud/snow & wrenched my back & bruised my thigh. I been moving around a little slow......THAT might be overstating my ability right now. I feel better than I did yesterday - but I can't move fast nor lift anything.

I'll tell ya......I'm sick of snow. It didn't last this time. But it made a muddy mess. Just tired of it. For a state that "doesn't get too much snow", we have had more than I have ever seen in my life. I don't know how people up north can stand it.

Sam