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!

Sewing with Kathy, then Becky and Bonnie

Today was a really stressful day.  A relative of mine phoned to tell me that he has cancer.  I think I am still in shock about this and can't believe so many of my family members keep getting and dying from cancer.  My mom is still in remission but hasn't been feeling at all well lately.  Kathy has no insurance and who knows what is going on with her cancer.  Now this.  UGH.  I was sewing when he called and continued to sew off and on through the stress of the entire day though I was not my usual self.  I skipped going to the PMQG meeting too.  Just couldn't muster the strength to smile and be social.

There are things going at at my work regarding a student I haven't even met yet.  Things have been completely blown out of proportion and my good intentions were not taken as such.  I can't tell you what a mess all that is, and how stressful it is to me.  I feel like I try my hardest to be the best I can and in two seconds one person who misunderstands can destroy things.  No fun, not what you are here to read but some of what I am going through and why I NEEDED some sewing time.  

Kathy sewed this morning and got her border on her mystery quilt.  Looks great!

 Last night I ordered a free collage from Walgreens and Kathy picked it up today.  I made it of the quiltville quilts I have made so far.  A few are missing, but I taped it up in the sewing room and it made me smile before my phone started ringing.

 I got all the blocks put together from night and day earlier and today I added the borders.  I really like how this one turned out and Coleman likes it.  So I need to make a backing and get it sent off to the quilter.  I also made the binding for the Thirties Quilt History quilt and put it away for later.

 Other than that, I sewed up bow tie blocks all day.  Becky came over and finished up her Nines Surrounded quilt (which I have planned to make too) and I was so distressed I didn't even get pictures of anything she worked on!  We put Bonnie on the webcam and that distracted me for a bit which was nice.  My bow ties are not as perfect as previous bow times--I hate the anxiety that makes me crazy.  The good news is DJ didn't cross my mind all day, HA!  Well, til now, ha!

I made TONS of bow ties and hope when I get them all put together there will be enough for another row.  This stack includes fabric BJ gave me last time I saw her and it was fun to see it become bow ties.  I am so glad I am blessed with so many sewing friends.  

More Sewing with Bonnie!

 I managed to catch Bonnie Hunter on her webcam again tonight...along with 400 other people including Amy, Angela and Nancy!  We wind up chatting via facebook while watching and commenting to Bonnie and it really makes a night of sewing fun.  I haven't met any of these people in person (yet!) but I feel like I know them and they know and get me!  I love my friends and co-workers of the non quilting variety, but they just think I am nuts.  My quilter friends can understand why I prefer Quiltville to Margaritaville, lol!  So Kathy sewed up these fabulous blocks (leftover bits from Night and Day a few years ago!) and I put the blocks into rows and will add borders too.  Coleman decided he likes this one and wants this one instead of Smith Mountain Morning (which is still in blocks waiting) as it is more him.  That is great because I have been wanting to make a quilt to give to my best friend Monica in Wisconsin and the other day she commented on my Jamestown Landing pictures on facebook!  We have been friends since we were 15 and I was dating Coleman's father and she was dating her now husband (some things work out, others don't!) and we have been through thick and thin together.  I love this woman like a sister and though I don't see her or even talk to her much anymore she will always be my best friend!  She sews and does a tiny bit of quilting, or did several years ago and appreciates the "value" of a quilt.  So I think Smith Mountain Morning will be well loved and well used.  I hope to have it done to mail her by October because that is her birthday month and her anniversary...this year will be 24 years for her and Bob!  They were married a few months behind me and my ex hubby so it is easy to keep track.  Do other divorced people remember on their anniversary and count the years?  Even though they don't count any more?  LOL.

Here are the nine patch blocks I have sewn up so far.  Just leisurely sewing them along and Jo is right...each step gets me that much closer to the next thing.  This Bucket List quilt--Hawaii Sunset 1848 was a great idea!  I think Amy and another bloggy friend Andra are going to sew this one up too.  Anyone else out there working on it?  Following along with Jo's Country Junction?  

I also pieced the back for the Thirties Quilt History quilt, binding to go.  

A Bucket List Start!

 Made more than half of my four patches for Hawaii Sunset 1845--my first Bucket List Quilt.  I am using what I have but loosely copying the designers colors since I love it so much.  Last year on shop hop I was really into the poison greens so now I will get to use them!

 Kathy spent a good bit of today working with the bonus leftover from the Night and Day bin.  I am SO happy to be turning these into a quilt (via Kathy!) and she predicts it will be huge or there will be more than one.  So far she has enough for 18 blocks and more parts to go.  So glad we saved the pieces as Eleanor told us to, but I have to wonder how many folks actually get around to using them?  SMILE, waste not, want not!  Today was a really good day.  Looking forward to more good days and less heartbreak in my life.  Time does apparently heal all wounds.

Productive Saturday Sewing!

 Finished listening to the Edwards short stories and dug Dreams of Joy out of my car (been there for like 6 months, I was on disc 8) and am most of the way through it.  I was inspired by Amy to piece a border for Star Path QOV.  I didn't add an inner or outer border as she did, but I am happy with this one.

 I also pieced the backing from the last of the Anaheim discount fabric from when we went to Disney.  It is the perfect backing for a QOV.  I also made the binding.  Now I will ship it off to Alycia and she can get another volunteer to quilt and bind it and it will be ready for a soldier.  Thanks Nancy for a great mystery!

 I took some of the quilts outside to get pictures in the Arizona sun (seriously it is 100 and something out there) but I see my shadow made it into this picture.  Doc Schnibbles for Rachel's baby in Norway.

 and the back.

 Star Path in the sun.

 Kathy worked on the parts of these Night and Day blocks and finished them off and sewed them into this tablerunner.  Found a cute border fabric in my stash (thanks June) and it is now ready to be quilted.  This will go to my cousin Tara since it matches her quilt and her birthday is later this month.  We also made a quick trip to JoAnn's to buy a Kaleidoscope ruler (half off plus 25% off for educators) to use up the other leftovers from Night and Day.  Waste not, want not.

 I bought the other three Denyse Schmidt fat quarter yard thingys too.  Figured I had a coupon and I had money from my mom for my birthday so they are now mine!  Oh, and two skeins of dishcloth yarn as I am almost running low!

 Here is what Jack in the Box is looking like now that I have added the aqua colors.  I took it down to make room for my quilt history block UFO.  We cut sashing and cornerstones for it but that is as far as it got today.

And last here is a picture of baby Caleb snuggling in the quilt DJ and I made for him on our Prescott Staycation awhile back.  His parents are good friends of hers in Vegas.  What a cutie!

Birthday Times Three!

 Kathy and Tina share a birthday and three days later it is my birthday (and two weeks later it is mom's) so the four of us got together and went and got pedicures.  Tina got Green Bay Packer toes, I am going to do that later this fall!  Mom and I got similar colors which just happens to be close to Angela's Rainbow color of the month and Kathy got more of an electric blue!

We went out for dinner and plenty of drinking.  All of the family in this area was there so that was nice.  We even had a cake.  Here I am between my mom and my (step)dad.  We had a really nice night and spend the night at Tina's new place.  Then bright and early this morning we headed off to Ros' to sew.

BJ's handwork blocks

I felt like I was sewing in slow motion today.  I didn't take too many pictures..got BJ's blocks and didn't take pictures of Meridith's blocks (first time I have met her at the Huggy Bunch) and have no idea what Ros was working on in between taking care of her adorable grandson Matthew.  As you can see I had to do some unsewing, not once but twice on these blocks but I am happy with them now!  These are the Jack in the Box blocks for August.

SoScrappy Rainbow Challenge Color for August

 Friday before doing toes we stopped and picked up the three quilts Ros had done for us and then I whipped up the binding so I could give it to her later that night.  She has several of my quilts and is always appreciative of them but she absolutely raved about this quilt.  She loves it and facebooked about it and everything.  I know she will cherish it always!

Tina's Crown Quilt--she loved it!

 We arrived home from Ros' and our joint birthday gift to each other had arrived!  We got a Kitchenaid mixer (pay no attention to the messy counter behind the mixer, lol!) which Kathy and I have talked about getting for a long time.
 I then went and finished up these stars for Smith Mountain Morning (I worked on the units at Ros').

 Now all three of the different blocks are done and the border units are sewn too.  Kathy helped iron and trim them today, yay!  I am anxious to get this one together, but I have several other projects pulling at me.  The good news is I don't work tomorrow or Monday so I might get several things done!

 Squared up a few more of these and got them together.  Waste not, want not!

Smith Mountain Morning Moves Along :)

 Had a short work day today (was thinking I was going to Deaf Expo in Vegas but plans changed and I stayed home) so I got to sewing when I got home.  I started out with the centers of the blue stars.  Had to trim a bit of width off them but otherwise they went together well  I trimmed the rest of the points and made the tops and bottoms and viola, 16 blue stars are made.

 I had to lay them out with a few of the logs..didn't look at Bonnie's actual layout to see if I was copying since I only have one brown star done, but just wanted a feel of what it would look like.

So I have 15 brown stars to go (all the parts are made but points need trimming) and then this top will quickly be coming together.  I don't suppose I will get lucky and Judy will pull this one for the UFO for August.  That would just be peachy!  

Kathy worked on more red, white and black bits from Night and Day too.  Then after Packer Waffles for dinner we did some serious fast forwarding through the opening ceremony of the Olympics and through the events we wanted to see.  I am all caught up now :) 

Blissful Sewing Day!

 Started off by making my sister's crown quilt binding...her birthday (and Kathy's) are next Friday...I need to pick up her quilted quilt from Ros and get it bound to give her next weekend.  Where does the time go?

 Here are the blues I cut the other night.  And today I added all the browns.  (Still need to cut the muslin so I can start putting the last units together!)

 Since I was tired of cutting I decided to play around and sew some bags.  This led to organizing all my zippers by color (see Amy there is another page for our book!).

 Meanwhile Kathy finished up her clue for the mystery.  Loving the look of this one.  She can hardly wait for the next clue.

 Then I made a few more modern looking bags.

 All while listening to Isabel Allende's "The Sum of Our Days" which was good.  Finished it tonight so it can go back to the library.

 I cut into my modern fabrics and sewed squares together.   I am sure you can guess where I am going with these blocks.  Always a dog in my pictures...

 And the border...

 And tada another Lil' Twister.  This is the first one I have made with the tiny, tiny ruler I bought awhile back.

 See how small it is?  Love it!

 Kathy continued to sew the leftover bits from the Night and Day quilt I made almost two years ago into these blocks.  She isn't too happy with the centers, so she insists I do that part on the remaining blocks.  There are lots of seams that come together and we haven't followed Eleanor's directions to spin the seams or whatever..but maybe I will try to figure that out.

So most of the day was spent in quiet company with Kathy and our audiobook while sewing and cutting to our own beat.  It was really relaxing.  Tomorrow I plan to cut the muslin and start sewing that last unit.  Megan is coming over again to work on her little quilt so I will have a companion.  Kathy thinks she will make some dog biscuits with Ayla.  Speaking of that...Kathy has launched her new website where she sells homemade dog biscuits.  The dogs love them (even June's dog who is quite fussy about what he will eat!) so if you are interested check out http://shop.jandrdogtreats.net/ 

:)