Quilt Block Badge Reels / Scissor Leash

I was going to do 2 different types of blocks, but my frustration with my embroidery machine had me give up after these 16! I think they turned out cute & if it were not so late, I'd tackle the other 16. I can't wait to pass these out tomorrow. I hope they are as well recived as I thinkthey will be. If so/ Well, this summer when it's MY turn for door prizes, this is what I'm a bringing!! Good Night All! Sam

Bad, Bad Blogger

Ugh! I have to admit that I am a terrible blogger. For those that use my blog as a stepping off point as to what I'm keeping busy with....FORGIVE ME !!! ? (Especially DD#1) WOW! It's been since April since I have blogged? Seems so. Have I been busy? Yep. My real job has been EXTREMELY busy. I was on a weeks vacation the first full week of May & it took 2 of us TWO weeks to catch up when I got back. But that's no fun to write about. What did I do on vacation? Well! I spent 4 days at a quilt retreat. It was so fun & I brought all kinds of projects to work on. I got ONE done. ONE I started the weekend before I went to *camp*. I'll post pictures of it later. It was SO FUN to spend that many consecutive days just sewing. I spend some time not sewing too. QB1 was not in a position to a attend this time, so I roomed with Toni. Another member of our guild. We had a really good time! Fast forward to today. It's rained this weekend so there is no work ont he shed...well THAT & the fact we had to special order the shingles to roof the lean-to's. (the SHED is another reason I have not done much sewing! Working weekends on IT consumes a LOT of time, then I am too tired to sew.) BUT ! Since it's rained this weekend, I have FINALLY been able to sew together all my pineapple blocks for my On Eagles Wings Quilt. OMGosh, it's beautiful. I intend on sewing borders on it today & then posting pictures. It TOTALLY lives up to MY expectations! Also, today, I hope to embroider some badge reels to take to guild (ppssstt.....I am taking a PERSONAL day on Monday the 11th just so I can go to guild all day!!! Whoo-Hoo!) I bought an embroidery design pack with little mini quilt blocks & I thought I might embroider some up & attach to buttons (large 1.5"covered type buttons, like a badge) & then glue them to badge reels. I LOVE LOVE LOVE having my small sharp scissors on a retractible reel! So I amgoing to make a few up & give to a few of my QB's tomorrow. Then, if those are a hit, when it's MY turn to bring door prizes, I'll do some more for the door prizes. Maybe a BUNCH more so that everyone that is there can have one. But thats pretty ambitious...so I'll just PLAN on a 1/2 dozen Stay tuned for some pictures today! I can't wait to share! Sam

Niece #7's Quilt & a Basket

Nearly a year ago, my nephew in So Cal was diagnosed with a childhood desease & in an effort to send a hug long distance, I quilted up a quilt that I had made previously. Well, my nephew has a sister & I really felt badly that I didn't send one for her too. So.......I asked said niece what her favorite colors were & she said Pink & Green. As in Barbie Hot Pink & Neon Green.

To say that those colors are slightly out of my box, would be an understatement. A serious understatement. I made the body of the quilt LAST YEAR y'all. LAST YEAR. All I lacked was the outer border to complete the design & then the green final border. yah, I'm a slacker. I totally hate deadlines. So i don't make them.

I quilted it this morning. Amazing how quick a twin size quilt can be quilted! Loading, quilting & cutting off the extra was like 3 hours start to finish. You probably can't see the thread, but I used th darkest pink thread I had to quilt this quilt.

I used a pantograph called Wave Over Wave by Urban Elementz. Nice interlocking design.





And this basket is a LARGE one. Way easier to embroider than those mini ones!



Well - This quilt has been lurking for a year. It had to be done & I needed to get it QUILTED & sent.

Now I have 3 more quilts waiting to get done. MAP & Deb! You're up next y'all!!

Work, my real job, has increased some & my time in the evenings has been pretty tied up. So my personal commitments have suffered. I am not gonna complain about my job. I like what I do. A lot. So we'll leave it at that. In 2 weeks I'll be off work for a wekk for a quilting retreat. YAY ME!! I will have both , maybe all 3, quilts completed & shipped to thier owners BEFORE then!

See you all later, or next week, or maybe even next month!!

Sam

Irish Stars #1

Finshed Irish Stars (#1) this week. Hung it off the deck railing for pictures. it was slightly windy today, but the colors look much more accurate in real light than spread onthe floor or on one of the beds. That....and the fact that it's 18:45 PM.





As you can see, I opted NOT to make the piano key border. I love this red. I have been saving it for a while. I think I bought it at the Quilting Bee in Camden (TN). She doesn't sell many Civil War prints, she said they don't sell well....Darn it! & I LOVE them...


Oh! In case you think it's hung wrong...I didn't have any place I could hang it & get a full shot, so it's sideways........3 across & 4 DOWN.

Sam

More Shelves & The Last of Them

Prince Charming finished & put up the 4 shelves in the dining room. These look awesome in there. Again, we hung them with a ledger board. Wow, does THAT making hanging them easy peasy! We spent as much time measuring & centering as we did on anything...





This is the view of the dining room from the kitchen. When the dining room was RED it looked like a cave from this point. But now I really LOVE it.


I have decided that instead of making a cornice that will be upholstered, we are going to build one from wood & paint the same high gloss white as the wainscoting & the shelves. I think it will tie together lots better. Thankfully, Prince Charming has agreed too since he'll do the majority of the "work". Hee Hee!

Sam

Crown Molding Shelf ~ On The Wall!

It looks exactly how I envisioned it would & I love how it looks onthe wall. I have not got ALL the pictures on it that I want...but I'll get there, I am sure.







Went to Lowe's this morning & bought enough wood to build the 4 smaller shelves to flank the china hutch in the dining room. The shelf in the bedroom does not have one, but the shelves for the dining room will have a plate groove in them.

Sam

E-Mail

My email got hacked & there have been some emails sent this week from my account. I have re-set my password & totally DELETED my contact list. I have had the same email adress for a long long time! Maybe since 2006? Possibly before that. At any rate, if you would like to be a contact of mine, you'll need to leave a comment on my blog so I can add you to my contact list in my email.

I have my comments set so that I have to approve or delete them. So if you DO choose to become one of my contacts again, I will delete the comment when I save your email address.

I dont' know what else to do & I am sorry if this caused any problems/hardships/issues. It happens......

I'm Sorry AGAIN

Sam

Crown Molding Shelf / The Beginning

After the master bedroom got painted I begged Prince Charming to build a shelf from Crown Molding. I have seen them all over pinterest & certainly on the Pottery Barn website...but PB does not make them this long.

So, on the fly, he built this for me today. I labeled this post "the beginning", becasue I don't hthink you can accurately gauge the size of this shelf. Once it's on the wall, you'll have a better idea. I wanted it wider than the headboard. so Prince Charming made it 12 inches wider than the width of the headboard. It's 72 inches wide. I don't know how tall it is.







It will hand on the wall with a ledger board, that is already cut (that's what it's hanging on off the side of the plywood), and it will be painted high glass white. It turned out EXACTLY how I wanted it to look & I am totally jazzed that he decided to tackle it this weekend.

I still have to paint it with the high glass white, and I won't hang it until we have a 3rd pair of hands so that THEY can hold it up against the wall & I can decide where I want it ~ heightwise ~ onthe wall above the bed.

Sam

Ikea Purchase for The Sewing Room

Tuesday QB1 & I went to Ikea. I found these curtain rods & buckets & baskets in the housewares section. I thought that they would be perfect in my sewing room!

These 2 photos show the wall above my ironing board that I intend to hang the rods & buckets.



This is after! Aren't they perfect? I relaly like them.



I love Ikea! next time I go, I want to take more money & a PLAN.

Sam

American Beauty Blocks

These are the 5 (15) blocks of the American Beauty Quilt (s) that I completed this week.

They are not in any specific order & I can't even tell you which block is which month. (I dont' care, really) but I am putting a HUGE dent in the red basket!!







Not pictured are the 4 blocks for the 2 Ladies of Inspiration Quilts that I finished this week.

Sam

Checking In

I feel like I have been neglecting my blog! But in my defense?, I have been BUSY!

Let's see............last weekend, Prince Charming & trimmed all the bushes around the house & picked up parts of trees that blew into or off our trees from the storm. We didn't suffer any storm damage. It took all day Saturday to do that. We had to trim downt he knock-out roses & the hydrangeas before everything is convinced it's Spring (we know it's not...winter is no way over, not in TN) Then we started to insulate the garage doors. He caulked all the areas around the garage doors that didn't seal (it's brick on the outside) and then we cut 2 pieces of 3/4" foam insullation sheeting to fit each panel in the garage door. There are 8 per door. Sounds easy? It wasn't difficult. It was very time consuming. And believe it or not, styrofaom dulls blades rather quickly!! We ran out of the sheeting & decided to finish the following weekend (which is today) So TODAY we finished the top 4 panels & it took nearly as long as all 12 of the others together because we had to cut out for the little windows. We also painted the wall that has the garage doors on it, as well as trimmed out the door & put baseboard in. Please don't ask me why we waited so long, but it's a project we can check off our honey-do list. I am tired & I am glad its done. It makes a huge difference in the temperature of the garage too. HUGE.

I have been off from work all week. Vacation. Of sorts. Y'all know I keep my grandson while my daughter is in grad-school. Well it's a break from school, so I took it off too.

Monday & Tuesday QB1 & I went to North Carolina & visited with Joan. We also went to Mary-Jo's. Spending time with Joan @ her home & having her show us her quilts was a BLAST. I am so glad I was able to see her! She took us to Mary-Jo's & I didn't buy ANY fabric. For quilts! Not 1 piece for any quilt. But I dropped a boatload of money. I bought 10 yards of a green/blue plaid for drapes in my dining room. I thought that the green was going to be too bright. But it's a perfect match!! YAY!! I also bought 15 yards of a blue denim & 3 yards of red denim. The last 2 are for a slipcover for our family room couch. Prince Charming likes the denim but really does ot have an opinion (which means he does not hate it...) on the green for the dining room!

Before we got to Mary-Jo's we went to Ikea in Charlotte. #1 I did not have enough money to go hom with everything I wanted from Ikea. That's the plain simple fact. I bought an easel & train set & some cars for the baby & I got a curtain rod/bucket thing for my sewing room. Got a new shower curtain for the hall bathroom, and 2 hurrican lantern type things....I have already put up the rod/bucket thing in my sewing room. It looks great & holds a LOT of stuff. Yah, stuff. I'll post pictures if I can take one in natural light.

On our way TO North Carolina, QB1 & I stopeed at 3 fabric stores. 2 were open. Loose Threads is a nice little shop & the lady that was there could not have been MORE helpful. She was just so sweet & very chatty. I am sorry I don't know her name, but if you're ever in there, tell them I complimented them on thier customer service!! We went to MawMaw's Thimble in Knoxville. Nice lady too! Lot's of nice fabric & she has many free/easy patterns. Lot's of nice Civil War fabrics!

Driving through the mountains was awesome & breathtaking. Stunning. We had beautiful weather to be driving in too! No rain.

We got back late on Tuesday night. Wednesday I stayed home & sewed. Thursday my freind Deb (from Collinsville...remember back then? ONly Deb now lives in GA & was in Frnklin to visit with her daughter) We sewed. I have been working on the 2010 American Beauty BOM. Well 3 BOM's......I started with 2, QB1 hated the templates so bad, she gave me her quilt kit.So that's 3. Oh, and I started the 2012 BOM from Garnny B's. It's another quilt with templates by Marti Michell. I think this year's quilt is called Ladies of Inspiration. Oh, yah, I am making 2 of them. So if you're following closely and doing the math, that's 5 quilts. Right now, I am caught up with the 2 for 2012. The shop does not have the March blocks cut. Thank goodness for small blessings. And I have 4 blocks completed for the American Beauty Quilts. So , again, if yo're doing the math........that's 14 blocks that I have made this week. All 14 of them use those dinky little templates. The joints in my fingers are killing me. But! I am determined. Determined. DETERMINED to do them! (if you think I am trying to convince myself or brainwash myself into doing them, you would be right!)

Friday I spent sewing more of those BOM blocks. That's why I have 14 ~ people!!

Today ~ Saturday & this is where we finished the garage doors.

I am really hoping hard, that other than having breakfast OUT, that there are no more plans for home improvement projects. I would like to see if I can put the other half of my Irish Stars together!!

Well, that's what I have been up too. When I get aournd to it? I'll post pictures!!

TTYL
Sam

Saturday Sew In

Just me.

And it's all Joan's fault! I started a quilt. Yes.....another one. Y'all can roll your eyes here becasue we all know that I do NOT need another project. But I started one anyway!

I am no good at linking stuff from other blogs with that click on the word technique (so I am not gonna do it & if I do, remember, I dont' do it enough to make it work properly!!) Joan was looking for a pattern for a quilt that she saw on line or at a show...It is called IRISH STARS. I have a pattern in my extensive quilt book library. But it was not the same. Looked similar, just not the SAME. The pattern is from A Pieceful Gathering in Cary IL.

Saw it on THIS blog. And the quilt pictured below is HERS and it was what inspired me to wnat to make the quilt too:
"

I like it. So I went to the website of A Pieceful Gathering:
And bought the pattern. I think that was 2 weeks ago? Maybe....Bought BEFORE I started my painting spree. So I know its more than 3 weeks ago.

When I got the pattern, I read it front to back. As I do most patterns. Now, that being said what I am about to say/write is MY own opinion. So if you want to know MY OPINION then keep reading, otherwise stop.

I like the pattern. I like that they show you how to cut your fat quarters with little inch marks & diagrams. The pattern is also in COLOR (hear angels singing???) I REALLY like that. But!...Yah, y'all knew THAT was coming didn't you???. If I was a beginner, I could NOT do this pattern. I feel like I am a pretty accomplished quilt maker. I imagine myself as ADVANCED. The pattern shows you how to cut the peices & assemble the 2 major units for construction. But it does not give any kind of diagram or setting OR layout information of the sub-units. And there are no pressing instructions. So, if YOU decide to get the pattern, know in advance that these things are missing from the pattern. I feel confident that I can figure it out & get it done. I sure hope so, as I cut up enough fat quarters for TWO quilts.

I am currently working on the DARK 2 pc sub-units & the LIGHT 2 pc sub-units. I already have the CHAIN blocks completed. I used all different reds for the chain part of the quilt. Since I cut enough fabric for 2 quilts, I have more variety in the selection of strips for the chain blocks. I was able to make all 52 chain blocks without repeating the dark strip or the red chain in EACH block! I was NOT able to do that with the light parts of the blocks. Pick your battle & I decided not to bother trying too hard on the light parts of the blocks.

So...here is a rather chaotic view of my progress:

This picture is a view of my sewing space. You're seeing multiple projects in progres here & I am NOT going into detail of what is what....:(though the red basket holds 3 BOM's from 2010 that I determined to cut out & complete this year...)


And here are 52 blocks for quilt #1:


And....THIS is my attempt at trying to mix up the dark strips (when I cut strips out, I stack 2 or 4 fat quarters up & cut together - saves time- i assume everyone does this? But the fabric sticks together - so I throw them in a box & mix them up!):



I am hoping REALLY hard that I can get the body of the quilt done this weekend. We shall see! I will be making the blue stars all from the same color blue & the gold stars all from the same color gold. but the red blocks are going to be scrappy. While I have LOTS of blue to choose from, the same can not be said for GOLD. So That's why I'm doing it that way. Also - I don't know (at this point) if I'll use the exact same blue & gold for quilt #2. We'll see how much I use of what I have before I can determine that step. So far? I have bought ZERO fabric for BOTH quilts. 100% from my stash! Whoo-Hoo! That always feels good.

I'll show you more when I get there.

Sam

Now, it's Sunday morning & I have work to do for my REAL JOB, but before I get started on THAT work, I got all the sub-units completed.

Here is a photo of all the sub-units. This is, effectively, where the instructions stop. I have all these units & a photo (computer generated, it seems) of the completed quilt & thassit. I wing it from here. I wonder if MAYBE there is a page of the instructions missing????? Who knows, I am this far & I am not emailing to ask whether or not there is.



Here is a photo of half the sub-units laid out on my family room floor! See? I tolla you I could figure it out!!!

More Painting

You'l have to search thru old posts to see the BEFORE pictures of the bedroom. The walls used to be a dark green. I just don't DO dark colors. These pictures seem a little more yellow than it actually is, it's less yellow & more towards the tan side of yellow. It's called SUGAR COOKIE and I LOVE it.

Prince Charming is goingto build a crown molding shelf to go on the wall above the headboard. A really WIDE one too.

We painted the masterbathroom too. It makes a difference in how much lighter it seems.

I am glad it's done & I hope I am NOT painting for a few weeks. Maybe a few months....maybe? Hoepfully!!

Sam

Painting The Dining Room

I love Red. It's my favorite color. But it's been really hard to live with in my dining room.

Before:



After



Sam

PS - 2 coats of primer & 2 coats of color. We didn't repaint the lower part of the room. Left it the high gloss white. I still lack getting the fabric for the curtains & the chair seats. We'll be making a cornice box that I'll cover witht he curtain fabric.

Joan~ I think you hit the nail onthe head. I think the red was overwhelming in that space, and the furniture looked SO crowded in the there. The whole time we were painting, I kept telling Prince Charming that it looked bigger to me! He said it was my imagination, but this morning after we moved all the SAME furniture back in, he siad that it looked less crowded. And it's all in the same exact spot! Nothing less & nothing more! And he likes the color too. It looks washed out in these pictures, but it's a gray green color. I love it. Now....to paint hte master bedroom & m-bathroom!

Mine Mine MINE ! Quilting for Me.

This weekend, I decided to make a list of things I wanted to accomplish. Not one item on the list was SLEEPING IN. Seems (recently) that sleeping in is a luxury & when I do sleep in, it's usually past 8:30 in the morning before I ever roust myslef out of bed & then it's 9:30 or 10:00 before I ever get moving & get something started. Needless to say, that is a terrible waste of valuable TIME. One item on my list was to paint the dining room. That is going to be another post later...but quilting my finished Ladyof The Lake / Belle Meade quilt WAS on the list. Here you see it half way done.




I am always excited when it's my very own quilt that is getting quilted. Oddly enough? It takes me FOREVER to pick out a quilting pattern. Why is that? And thread too. Takes me forever to decide on a color.

My good friend Mamie (whom I miss dearly) and I would always try to pick a contrasting thread, so that MAYBE the quilting of the pantograph could be seen. Well, on this quilt, I chose a red thread. Blood red. It's actually called STRAWBERRY but it was a deeper red than the cone of thread I had that said RED...so strawberry is what I went with. Same color red as the Thimbleberries border fabric. I have a cream colored backing & the red thread is glaringly bright! But on the FRONT of the quilt? Not so much..........Amazingly? You can barely see it. But there's a LOT going on in this quilt.

This is the pantograph that I am using. I knew ahead of time (experience maybe?) that the panto would not be seen on the front & since I was using red thread & the backing is cream, I wanted something really pretty that I COULD see on the back! This pantograph is called MARIPOSA and it is by Urban Elementz. It is a busy , detailed panto. The butterflies look a lot like flowers. That's why I like it!


Here is a shot of 3 more quilts of mine waiting to be quilted. From right to left: Ocean Waves (been finished since AUGUST !!!!) Second Hand Clothes, and last is a floral quilt that reminds me of a rug. (I don't like the floral quilt & after I quilt it, I am going to donate it to my guild. Someone will love it one day, but that person is not me)It really looks like ther are more than 3 quilts here, but I have 3 backings hanging up too.


Lastly - Here is a picute of my dog Bourbon. I had the radio cranked up & I was jamming to a bunch of rock, I could hear him snoring over the machine & the radio! He does this everytime! It's comical. I can't figure out what lying on his back accomplishes for him, but he does it all the time. Especially when I sew.


Talk to you all later!!

Sam