Orca--err--GREEN BAY is Quilted!

Ros absolutely, positively outdid herself with the quilting on this quilt! She did a football panto all over and then surprised me with this:
GO PACK GO!
and GREEN BAY PACKERS! I was not sure who it was meant to be for and I was working on another (Bonnie Hunter, Smith Mountain Morning) for Randy because he is long overdue for a new quilt. Then I got the bright idea that he would like this....now that I see it quilted I seriously doubt I can give it away! LOL...this is going to be hard to gift! Ros Atwood, quilting extraordinaire you rock! I really needed this pick me up this week...lots of changes happening here that I am trying to handle...more on that later.

Bibelot Schnibbles Poses Outside

This is growing on me, lol. It looks good on the rocks outside and a few people commented they really like it on facebook. One of them might just wind up with it! Really looking forward to the Parade of Schnibbles!

Had a migraine today...I guess I was due it has been a light month! Now feeling better but just tired from the meds. Can't wait for Saturday. June and I are planning to go to Ros' AZ Huggy Bunch sewing to help take her mind off Herve's passing. She is going to have to pack her house and move since her income won't be the same without him and it is a tough time for her now but she has some quilty friends who will help schlep her fabric to the new place!

Here is my new t-shirt, it says Bonnie's #1 fan on the back! Can't wait to wear it. I sewed another bag today...so that is four for Christmas Through the Year and I have two more done already. Love it!

Decided to add a border to the Lil' Twister...so I took the leftover bits and added a border to it, cut out the squares and sewed it together. I should have added the border in the first place, I don't recommend this method, lol!

I still love how each of these turns out. Just so cute! I am sure this one will be a Christmas gift for someone, I will add it to be to be quilted list.
I had a relaxing weekend and feel like I didn't really do much of anything, but I suspect I needed that. Christine and I presented our workshop last Friday "Math: Factoring Out the Confusion" and we got great written and verbal feedback! We are happy with how it went and planning to do it again.

A Little Pink for the Pineapple Blossom :)

Made a pink block to add to the batch of blocks I had (and a red one too) and trying to decide on the layout and sashings and such.

I took this picture before I completed the last two blocks. Am thinking twelve blocks will be enough with the sashing and borders. BJ is working on one of these too so she challenged me to get out my long forgotten blocks and work on the top. Thanks BJ!
Pink Love! :)

My To Be Done List

A little more Cheddary Challenge progress.
Finally cut up those Lil' Twister blocks...I didn't put a border on it and may be adding that to the scraps and cutting it out because I miss it!

In May this quilt was sent to Janae and Ralph French for their soon to be born baby boy in Las Vegas.

Quilted this little baby quilt today. Just simple large X's in the corners and went around the orange rectangle and the edge. This one was made during our Staycation in Prescott so glad it is off the to do list! I made one more Pineapple Blossoms quilt block. I now have nine so I can either put this quilt top together or do a few more blocks if I want it bigger. I am not sure who this one is for..maybe one of DJ's older nieces so a little bigger might be better.

I spent some time tonight compiling the list of what I have to do as far as quilts go. I sure hope I haven't forgotten anything...this list is longer than I would like it to be. After all, I tell everyone I am a finisher! I updated the list on my blog and am astonished there are this many. Tonight while reading my blogs I really wanted to jump on the granny square bandwagon, but I think I better print this list off and start crossing them off one by one as I complete them!

TO BE QUILTED BY ME:

3 Mourning Quilts w'Dad's Clothing

Auntie's Anvil

Christmas Tree Skirt

Broken Crockery Rainbow

Little Basket Mug Rug

TOPS TO BE COMPLETED:

Bargello Seasons

Lil’ Twister Pink and Green

Mac’s Bluework Blocks

Cheddary Challenge ie. Bonnie's Sisters Sister Bow Tie Blocks

I Spy Squares/Hexagons (cut what I have collected so far)

Jack in the Box Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2012

Nine Patch and Snowball Top

Pineapple Blossom Blocks

Randy's Smith Mountain Morning

Twist of Fate

Quilt in a Day leftover bits from Night and Day

Tina’s Crown Quilt

Quilt History Blocks

HAND SEWN TOPS TO BE COMPLETED:

Hexagon Doll Quilt

Hexagon Bigger Quilt

COMPLETED TOPS FOR ROS TO QUILT:

Roll Roll Cotton Boll

Bibelot Schnibbles

Hmmm, what to start with first???

Two Challenges Met!

These first two pictures are actually pictures of a page and picture in my quilting journal...which is sadly not up to date anymore because the Modern Diary is now my quilting journal! But this large basket wallhanging quilt is my quilt number 4 from February 16th of 1991. I am including it here because today I worked on some TINY baskets which made me remember this wallhanging back from our peach bedroom days a lifetime ago. Seriously...this was made before # 3 was born and he is 19 now! It was from Eleanor Burns' May Basket in a Day book and I tied it with peach ribbon. No idea who I passed it on to, but it has been MIA for many years.
On to what I did today:
Here is Eye Spy Two all tied and ready to be gifted! Completed that while watching Phantom of the Opera recorded live from Royal Albert Hall. My daughter saw the show on Broadway four or five years ago and loved it..so we bought her the movie but twice I fell asleep trying to watch it so concluded it wasn't my kind of thing. I should have concluded I was too tired to watch it! DJ (Deaf, lol) picked up this dvd at the Redbox because she has actually seen it performed and enjoyed it. I went ahead and put it in at about 3 AM (after watching Whistelblower which was also really good) and managed to stay awake til "intermission" when I just had to crash. This afternoon (when I got up, lol) I watched the second half--I really enjoyed it and now I understand what Hannah meant! Now I have added that to my bucket list (since Wicked is not crossed off it). Randy is watching it now downstairs and so I am enjoying the music all over again as I sew and type!
Close up of the tying. Nothing special just yellow variegated embroidery floss. I am still pretending I don't see the two monkey blocks that found their way into this one! And back to baskets:
So today I worked on my tiny "Remembering Adelia" Civil War Basket Quilt. I planned to make at least four baskets and would love to have made twelve, but.... Here is the start of the block without the handle. I hand stitched the handle (first time and it look ok from a galloping horse in a misty dawn) and then unstitched where the handle should be in the seem allowance and resewed that part. I also make the bottom part of the other three blocks but the one that came out the best was the first one, go figure.


I hung it up and am happy with it! This was the challenge that Kathleen Tracy of Sentimental Quilter challenged on her blog and in her yahoo small quilt group. I have now managed to complete all of the March things I planned on, so now I will have to figure out what is next on my own!

Actually Spring Break is over in two days so I need to see what is up for teaching this coming week, grade some papers and then go over my powerpoint for the Math Interpreting Workshop Christine and I are doing on Friday. Time is flying but we are just about ready. Hope your sewing weekend was productive and fun!

Christmas Throughout the Year for March

Hunted through my stuff to come up with an idea of what to make for Christmas Through the Year and decided to go with the "Simple Bag" from one of my books. I have made lots of these bags and always get hung up on how to do the last step. I confuse it with a bag that gets turned out through the lining. This time I made a note on my pattern to help me remember this one isn't like that and to stop overthinking it! Randy and DJ and I each had a bag and were trying every possible combination to flip it out when there was nowhere to flip it through...eventually the brain kicked in and I remembered how to do it. I read the directions eight times aloud and in sign and STILL!! LOL, but three bags are made and if I am in the mood I may try to do a few more. These work well for gifts stuffed with color books, crayons, or whatever we pick up. DJ's nieces and nephews don't have them and there are nine of them so I may be making six more!
So I still need to tie the Eye Spy Two quilt...I did get the backing (put corduroy on it and no batting) on it and the edge stitching done a few days ago, but that is all the progress on that UFO. Other than that the only other thing I *have to* sew this month is Civil War Baskets Quilt for my doll quilt group. I think that one will be fun so I saved it for last.

Bibelot Schnibbles....

I have to admit this may be my least favorite Schnibbles pattern yet. I was hoping that when I saw it in the fabric I picked I would like it better, but for some reason this one just doesn't appeal to me! I used Moda's Collections for a Cause: Faith for the fabric and did all of the cutting Wednesday and Thursday. And there was a lot of cutting. I had to do it myself, lol no help! This one is called Bibelot, and I have no idea why!
Here is the very first block, completed before working a long shift on Thursday. I rather liked it and was hopeful...

So today I made up the blocks. I had to trim them all because my quarter inch well, isn't a quarter inch. I should have just cut the white edges a tad bigger than it called for and called it a day.

I didn't like that I was supposed to randomly lay out the blocks. I am a pattern follower and I didn't want to try to copy Carrie's random layout so I really did just throw them together however they went. I was three blocks short and do you see how I solved that problem? Yep threw in some charm squares and just kept sewing. Apparently I can't count!
I do like how the border added to it and I will say that the measurements for that fit exactly, go figure! I have no idea who this quilt is for or what I will do with it beyond shoving it in a drawer to await some idea.
I have loved every Schnibbles I have ever made so it is okay that I am not nuts for this one. I am really trying to honor my commitment to myself to make the Schnibbles each month so I went ahead and did it. I am sure it will find a home. And Carrie if you are reading this..I LOVE all the other Schnibbles! How about you...tell me if you like this pattern or not and why. I am dying to know why it just doesn't do anything for me!

Now to try to find a Christmas gift I want to make for my other commitment!

Arizona Quilters Guild: What We Liked

Arizona Quilters Guild
2012 Annual Quilt Show
Our Heritage: Copper, Cotton, Culture

These are some of our favorites from last Fridays quilt show!

oops it is still sideways! Turn your head, you get the idea!

I still love Bargello!




DJ loved the wolf..sideways, oops!

This churn dash really appealed to me!






















It was a fun afternoon!