Orange Crush with Borders...this is HUGE

I added an orange border (2 inches) to my OC and then added the border Bonnie suggested which I think really adds to the quilt. I had to add an extra half a goose (instead of a full flying geese block) to each row to get them to come out to the right size and on the last row I had to widen out three seams to get them to fit right. By that time I wasn't so worried about perfection and just went with it. This quilt is so busy I doubt anyone will ever notice anyway. Next I added a 4 inch red border (not the red I used in the OC because it had black dots and was a busy fabric and I was going for calm) so I did do cornerstones of the red with black dots though hard to see in this picture. I hung this HUGE quilt from my loft and we took pictures. I would have used my black fabric for the outer border but I didn't have quite enough. I think I like it with the red anyway and I am so glad to have this one done! I need to find a new longarmer in the area and I hate to give her this one first lest she think all my quilts are this big and this bright! I really enjoyed this mystery...I am hoping next time Bonnie does one there is a smaller option and maybe I can do it as a Quilt of Valor quilt as I am feeling the need to make one of those and contribute to donations. This OC quilt is most likely going to be for Kathy's niece's wedding at the end of summer if we get it back in time.
This is Kathy's "Double Stack" quilt with the border I sewed down all attached. I think she did almost ALL of this quilt on her own with very little help from me other than the hand stitching she doesn't enjoy. This was her tenth quilt and she is getting good at this! This one is for her sister JoAnn back in MA.
Here is another sneak peak of Rachel's "Outside the Box" quilt now that all the blocks are done. I spread it on the design wall (this one is sideways I think) there will be strips of brown where you see the white showing through and a brown border, but I am loving how this looks! Hope Rachel does too.

Posting from Arizona!

We are here in Arizona! We left early Thursday morning and got to my parents' house in Prescott on Friday night! We were so sick of the car by then even though the dog and cat were FAR better than we expected them to be. My non travelling dog Rosey is now officially a welcome travel companion! I think we will leave Jade at home though she was one good kitty until the last few hours of the trip Friday night when she wanted to help drive and sit in front of the steering wheel!
I got some sewing done in the car..here is a picture of the binding I did for Kathy's sister's Double Stack quilt. I got the whole thing done while driving across Colorado and New Mexico. You can see my quilter (Jen Bauer from Rice Lake, Wisconsin) did a fabulous job on the flowers on this one!


I arrived to some great mail sewing bee prizes! From Trisha in my Stashbusters group I got this great fabric which looks like roadrunners and maybe quail! I am sure she was thinking of my move to AZ when she sent it out. I love it and will find somewhere cool to use it!



The next sewing bee prize is from Donna of my Stashbusters group too. She sent some cool thread..the green one reminds me of cactus and summer! She also sent some sewing machine needles which of course I can always use! Thanks ladies if you read my blog, and I need to make sure to email my group a thanks too...I am way behind on the emails and blog reading and I really miss it!

I have been working on the quilting studio. It is so much fun to organize it and make it workable. It is going well and I will take pictures soon and post them! I hung up some quilts here and there too on the various railings I have. We are taking a break from house stuff today and heading over to my sister's house in New River. She is having a little get together for Hannah's graduation! So off we go!

Kathy's Double Stack Done!

Kathy's Double Stack in Progress

Kathy was sewing away last night and I was her assistant for a change. She had me ironing and color consulting, lol. She didn't even need me to walk her through the directions...not bad since when she first started to sew I had to pretty much explain each step and watch her do it...she always worries she will mess it up. Now I think she has gained confidence and realizes she is an expert at frogging (she helps with mine too!) so she just went for it and did great! At first she was not doing the block the way they have it but by adding a half block to the top and bottom of the one she did she made it look like two rows of theirs. She got up this morning and faxed a bunch of stuff on the house out (house passed inspection, only a few things to address!) and after getting me coffee so I could lay around and read my blogs in bed (what a perfect morning) she got right back on the sewing machine. She isn't even sure she should give this away since she has fallen in love with the dotty fabric....lol. This is supposed to be for JoAnn in MA....might have to pry it away from her. She is turning into quite a quilter..I just heard her say "it's a little bit wonky" which she used to make fun of me for saying! SMILE.

Today we are doing some cleaning, packing and then getting Hannah's stuff to her new storage so there is space in the garage for more stuff we pack. Oh-I stopped over and visited my Papa DeLos yesterday and today need to visit my Dad's mom, Grandma Nan and give her the Vera Bradley purse I got her (and one for me!) I can hardly wait to see if she likes it! I think it is the Betsy (need to check the lable) so here is a picture of it....I LOVE this purse! http://www.verabradley.com/Site/Store/ProductDetail.aspx?colorid=2&sku=152%3a2 if you need one too!

Orange Crush Step Four In Progress!

Here is a sideways sneak preview of Kathy's "Double Stack" quilt. She did quite a bit of cutting last night and now is finishing it up. This is what one block looks like--they are quite big so it should go together pretty quickly for her. She is turning into quite the quilter. Used to be she came with me to the store and got bored, now she often finds something before I do and I wind up helping her coordinate fabric and forget what we went there for in the first place! She is making this for her sister JoAnn in MA.
Bonnie suprised us with the fourth step of the Orange Crush Mystery early today! I was busy doing online searches, resumes and phone calls so that I will have a job in Arizona to pay for my gorgeous house and as a reward I started reading blogs in the early evening...low and behold the first blog I read (Doxies on my Quilt) mentioned the fourth clue was out! So I was way behind on the news but good thing or I would have spent the day sewing instead of finding a job! GRIN. I quickly cut out some of the triangles and put one block together so I could give you a preview of what they will look like. The orange fabric underneath is what will go in the Orange Crush somewhere but not sure where yet! So this weekend I am going to be sewing some more of these blocks...think it said we need thirty so twenty nine to go!