Whirlwind Weekend!

 Yesterday Kathy and I met up with BJ and Ros and Jacki and went to 35th Ave for the first BOM meeting.  This is our first time doing this!  The bad picture above is what the quilt will look like after one year.  We paid 10 bucks to join and as long as we finish each block before the time of the next month's meeting we get the supplies for it free.  We did upgrade to the larger size and to using black as the background so we had to buy NINE yards (each) of black fabric, but we had a 50 percent off coupon and so we got our Kona black cheap!  This was our first bolt purchase ever!

 Here is what it looked like in white, I didn't get the picture before she folded it back up.

 This is block number one..it goes in the center.  This is the sample block, lol, I haven't done mine yet!  HA!

After that we went to the PHXMQG meeting and heard what our new chairs have planned for the year.  Lots of awesome ideas and it was hard to pick what to join and what to pass on!  I signed up for a mug rug swap and for the Pile of Fabric Skillbuilder BOM (but I seriously don't think I will make all of those and I don't plan to make the quilt anyways..I may do some of them and turn it into other smaller projects, not sure yet).  More on the meeting later.  

Then after I got home, Barb came over and I finished up piecing my Streak of Sunshine quilt and then made another one that is very similar.  Barb worked on knitting up a hat that DJ had left on the peg thing since I didn't really know how to do it.  She also wound bobbins and we gabbed the night away.  It was fun!

 I am pretty sure the one with the cat will be for Sam and Tif's baby.  Though I had dinner with Tif and she told me they are thinking of decorating the nursery with monkeys...lol that is okay I can make and gift them two!

 The one with the yellow will find its way to another little boy, not sure who yet. 

 Oh and I finally picked out the Schnibbles Summer Day quilt for my cousin Jamie's baby girl who is due soon.  Will get this in the mail this week.

 So today Kathy and I got up early and drove north to sew with BJ and Jacki.  Here is BJ with her first project of the day.  She also worked on her NYE Mystery and on Easy Street too, I think.  We turned Bonnie on QuiltCam and listened it too!

Kathy worked on putting together our Old Tobacco Road.  It is a bit of a bear because it goes together in rows not in blocks and she wasn't used to that, but with a little help from me and BJ here and there she got a good chunk of it done.

 Jacki was working on a game case for her grandson that was labor intensive and when she finished that she kept on with her Easy Street.  It is looking great!  She didn't get enough contrast in her four patches, but we decided it looks GREAT anyways...it is almost like she tweaked the design a bit and hers is more unique!

 I cut and pieced my second braid in a day quilt...so I will have a semi matching pair or couch quilts.  These protect the seats from dog hair--ie I wash them often and change them out just seconds before people come to my house :)  I didn't pay any attention to which direction the braids were going in this one as I did the first one (center one is different in the first one, this one the one on the right is) but it gives them personality I guess.

So after an all day sewing session, we went to my Mom and Dad's where we celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary with a pot of Boiled Dinner.   My sister and brother didn't come, but my brother's fiance and Kathy and I did and it was a nice night!

Tomorrow I am off work and I will be in my sewing room--but I am sleeping in first!  I plan to piece a back for the Gnome Braid in a Day above, Easy Street and Cheddar Bow Ties.  Also need to choose a pattern for my cousin Kai who just got married!

Six Quilts in the Sun

My camera died, so on Black Friday we got a new one and apparently I need to figure out how to adjust the settings because all my pictures look overexposed.  Usually I bring my phone out and do pics with that at the same time to put on Facebook, but this time I did not, so since I am not trucking them all out there again this is the best it is going to be!  First above is Leap Year Schnibbles.  Below, is Anita's Arrowhead for my daughter Hannah this Christmas.  It matches her Christmas Tree Skirt I made her last year.

 This is Star Path and was a mystery quilt.  Pretty sure this one is going to Jill--my longtime friend from before Coleman was born.

 This picture is the worst...this is Dime Store Schnibbles..it has no home yet.

Above is Quilt History blocks from 2010..this one will go to my cousin Trisha and her hubby Bob.  Below is Bonus Night and Day for my son Coleman for his birthday coming up just before Christmas.

Randy's younger brother (in Ohio) had a massive stroke last night and prognosis is he will not survive (and if it does he will be a vegetable) so Randy will be flying to Ohio late tonight to say his goodbyes and be with his family during this hard time.  Dave was a great guy and I know he will be missed by all who knew him.  Life is short and you just never know...tell those you love that you love them often.  If you are the praying type, please say a prayer for the Clark's in Ohio.  

Binding Marathon!

Today Kathy and I met up with my mom and dad for the Tempe Arts and Crafts Fair.  We shopped and walked and got a great philly cheese steak sandwich at Corleones.  We were exhausted  by the time we left but very excited to get home and sew.  We put in Walk the Line and then The Green Mile and got busy.  I put the bindings on ALL SIX of the quilts I got back from Joanne.  YAY...several of them are Christmas gifts so I am really glad to cross them off my to do list.  I won't mention that none of them has a label yet, UGH.  So that is still on the list.  Tomorrow I will take pictures of them outside so you can see them all, but here they are getting bound.  

The first one is Hannah's Christmas Quilt (Anita's Arrowhead) and I forgot to machine bind to the BACK so I could machine bind it on the front, but I made it work anyways!  

 The second one is actually Kathy's most recent mystery.  This one may be for my good friend Jill (who was Coleman's father's girlfriend at the time he and I met--he has been out of my life for 25 years, she has remained close to my heart always..funny how things work out!)  or it might be for my cousin Tricia and her hubby Bob for their ten year anniversary.  At the time they married I wasn't big into quilting, so she is my only married cousin that doesn't have one of my quilts.

 This is was number three.

 I think this one was called Dimestore Schnibbles (I should check but I am in bed on the laptop--yep it is checked google!).  Not sure who is getting this one yet, but it will find a home.

 Number four is made of Mary Englebreit fabric.  Love this one!  It is also a Schnibbles--Leap Year.  I haven't been doing the Schnibbles the last few months.  Just have had too much else to do but I see pincushions are the next challenge and they make good gifts so I may try to squeeze that in somewhere this month.

 Leap Year.  Not sure who will get this one, I really love the fabrics, but I sure don't need to keep it.

 Number five is Coleman's 26th birthday quilt (coming up on Dec. 9th!) and this was made from leftover bits of Night and Day by Eleanor Burns.  Really happy with this one.

 And last but not least in the binding marathon was my quilt history quilt from 2010.  I am quite happy with this now that it is done...debating on this one for my cousin Trisha and her hubby Bob too.  My mom says she likes Americana so this quilt might fit the bill better than the one farther up.

Tomorrow, in addition to quilt photos in the sunshine, I plan to pull out all the "can be gifted" quilts and see what should go where and make the final decisions on these that I am on the fence on!  So very happy Joanne was able to quilt these up and get them back to me so I can get them out the door.  

In other sewing news...Kathy cut both our clue two rectangles that Bonnie told us about for a future clue and then she (and later I) cut some strips and squares for more Moth in the Window blocks.  I have been cutting them as I go and now we kitted some up to speed that project along!  I did sew up one spool block and cut up several more from leftover bits from making the bindings.  I have a great habit of making the binding when I do the backing but somehow with these six I had only made binding ahead of time for TWO of them!  I do have  a leftover binding drawer and I used a few from there and had to make a few too.  

Bonnie will be on QuiltCam tomorrow so I will be sewing up Moth in a Window blocks while listening to her!  Hope you have had some time to sew too!

So Much to Say...

Here is a picture of some of my knitting...I have made a ton of these dishcloths now and in fact am thinking I should branch out and try something (anything) else! I have this pattern down and at least have lots of Christmas gifts premade!

Here is the picture of the fabric I bought in Tennessee. I thought it was cute, but no clue where it will wind up.
The shop we went to was featured in a magazine (which I bought there) so you can see some photos of the shop.

They had tons of bright fabrics.

I finally sewed a back onto this panel I won over a year ago. I think I will mail it off to my daughter and she can figure out what to do with it!

Finally got the binding on this little Schnibble. Looks good from a galloping horse at 20 feet. Sigh. Done though--happy about that. It will be a dog or dolly quilt, so either way it is fine.

Also did a few more of the inside of the Smith Mountain Morning blocks and remembered to take a picture. I have more to do.

Finished the quilting on this tablerunner...trimmed it, next I need to make and attach binding.

Best of all I got this Halloween quilt tied. We used purple and orange floss to tie it and it makes me smile.

Here is the backing fabric on both of the Halloweed quilts. Love it too. Very happy to have used some of this year's shop hop purchases already.

(Not So) Pictureless Post

I was debating blogging since I haven't done so all week and didn't snap any photos today..hey wait I did put one on facebook I can go get, lol. I have been crazy busy back to work. Interpreting college classes and teaching three of them too. All told I survived the Arizona heat despite wearing black most everyday (to contrast with my hands) and having to hike seriously from the farthest points across campus daily. Before work today I quickly quilted my Paganini quilt (hey I have a pic of that on fb too!) so I could get the foot changed out!








Then off to work I went. I finished work today and went out for lunch at a Thai place with my friend and co-worker Christine. Was nice catching up with her and not long after she was in a car accident but her and the kids with her are all fine. I am so glad for that, she is an amazing lady and we have lots in common so I wouldn't want anything to happen to her. And at lunch one of the things we talked about was losing a child and how we couldn't cope with that.
Anyway, I came home and got right to sewing and DJ got right to cutting out the stuff for my sister's Crown Royal Quilt! I managed to make a few blocks but only took a picture of the one.

Once I get four done you will be able to see the star pattern it makes. I was shooting for that tonight, but the Packer game was on and I no longer have cable TVin my sewing room (instead the TV is a videophone for DJ) so I managed to catch the last, best, five minutes of the game and never went back in to sew. I did however haul all the stuff to my bedroom and pinned for an hour. So I have my center blocks pinned for Smith Mountain Morning, four more of the other center blocks pinned, lots of crown yellow/blue hst sheets pinned, and my RRCB border and twelve corner blocks pinned. I should have taken pictures because that is alot of progress!

I work tomorrow for two hours and then I am heading to June's house to sew. That is the reason I pinned the night away. Makes it real easy to gab with June if I don't have to think at all while I sew. I will be sure to get some photos tomorrow!

I also want to put some prayers up for Randy's youngest grandaughter who is in ICU right now from an accident overdose. She isn't even two and is in a coma until the drug gets out of her system. Very scary. Also praying for anyone who may be in the path of Hurricane Irene. Lots going on in the world right now.

Blogger's Quilt Festival--Picnic

It is time for another Blogger's Quilt Festival! Here is the link if you want to know how you can get in on the fun!
http://amyscreativeside.com/2011/05/13/bloggers-quilt-festival-spring-2011/

It was really tough to make a decision about which quilt I should show off for the festival! In the end I decided to pick the most difficult of the "Year of Schnibbles" quilts I made this past year that Sherri and Sinta had going on. I really enjoyed the challenge of making a little Schnibbles quilt (Miss Rosie's Quilt Company--Carrie rocks!) each month and though the quilts were small these quilts taught me alot. This particular quilt is called "Picnic"and I can't tell you how many hours went in to squaring up these babies! I recall the feeling of satisfaction I had when it was all together and things lined up as they should. I made a note to never make another of this pattern (most of them I would do again in a minute) do to all of the squaring up. Since then I have learned other options for half square triangles and it wouldn't be as much squaring, but still!

Anyway, it represents an entire year of getting to know some online quilting friends. I won some prizes, I added several blogs to my blog roll, and I got to see the same fun pattern in lots of fabric lines or colorways. I also shared the love and gave away several of these tabletopper size quilts. All of these things made this quilt my favorite of the year! I am happy to paricipate in the Blogger Quilt Festival again--you should too!

P.S. I blogged about each Schnibble as I made them if you want to go back and check them all out!

Saggy Baggy Elephant and More

Last night I whipped up another quilt for soon to be four year old Seth. He loves the quilts I give him to death. I think this is his fourth now. He chews on the binding for comfort or something and they wind up in tatters from the washing. So I didn't take tons of time on this quilt, but wanted him to have another one because he keeps asking for one!

I quilted it myself just following the lines in both directions. It is far from perfect, but I know Seth will jump up and down with happiness so that is all that matters. I need to do binding after work today because his party is Sunday! Thinking I may bind it in the black but not sure...may go black and the yellow scrappy ish.

Finally mailed off Scratch (from Schnibbles Times Two book!) to my cousin Jamie and her new husband. I hope she loves it as much as I do because this one was hard to part with!

It finally has a label too...though I didn't upload that picture.

I have been playing with hexies lately...these aren't sewn together yet but are from Denyse Schmidt's fabrics. I have about ten of them together now..just randomly doing them by hand when I get time. Really fun!

This is the pattern I won from Jona at the Phoenix Modern Quilt Guild meeting. It is by Cherry House Quilts. If you look closely at the Saggy Baggy Elephant you will see I used the measurements from this pattern but changed up the color placement and didn't add circles to it. So this pattern has already come in handy! I like it as it too (there are two choices in the pattern) so I am sure I will be making it again. Thanks Jona!

Off to work, but I am sewing with June and crew tomorrow so I should be making some more progress!

Scratch and Designer Mystery BOM for September

Scratch is now all bound. You can't see the top red border in this picture...I will get more soon. I also started hand binding Flock of Triangles while watching the Packers stomp Detroit. Well, maybe not stomp but still. Both Hannah and Mackenzie were at the game so it was fun texting them and chatting about it from afar. I can't wait to see the pictures.

I also cut out the BOM for September.

And here it is coming together.

And done! I am pretty happy with it and how the seams lined up and such.

Here are all four blocks together. I need to order the sashing and backing soon.
Debating what to work on next. Yesterday was date day. We went out to eat (to Applebee's where I made a good choice and then there was so much pepper on my little steak I couldn't eat it anyway) then to see the movie "Eat, Pray, Love" which I thought was rather dumb. I am sure the book is better. I did eat popcorn and m and m's at the movie. That was my treat for the week (if you don't count the pumpkin scone I had from Starbucks!) and it was delicious. I lost another 2.2 pounds so I am down 17 now. Yippee. So treating myself on Saturday and then dillegently sticking to my points and riding my bike is working. Whatever gets me through, right!