OPAM

I finished my 'work in slow progress' in the middle of the month and hoped I'd have a second project to post on the last day of the month but THAT project is not to the quilting stage even yet. So some of you have already seen some pictures of this quilt; CHURN DASH' I participated in an exchange in Baytown January 1990 that got me these blocks. That means I worked on the blocks during November and December of 1989! I got the blocks sewn together quickly... I mean in at least a year or two; I didn't put any sashing in so I could get the star that you see here. I've been looking at it for a LOOOONG time.

We are really enjoying the weight of the wool batting; although it is a little small for the queen mattress it is on. (Sometimes I wake up and someone else is hogging the quilt.)

zippers etc.

I used 2 zippers this week! I decided that my new purse needed some special pouches. The first one is a bit wimpy but still holds stuff. The zipper isn't quite the right green so I hid it. I didn't even realized that the zipper was put in with the pull on the wrong end until I used it so the button is to remind me where the pull is. (It also used every smidgen of my green rickrack.) The second bag is a little 'skiwampuse' but it will still hold some lipstick and mascara. I have not read any directions on the use of selvages; clearly I should have, pressing might have helped too. I think using a very flimsy gingham contributed to my crookedness.
Before I leave the subject of zippers; When my daughter came in February she used one in her skirt AND she took one for a future skirt so now I'll subtract 4 zippers from my zipper list. That leaves me with only 66 zippers left to use!

This is the basket quilt that I'm trying to get a border on. I cut some triangles and they are clearly too small. At least I only cut 8 and not the 96 I need. So I need to look some basic information up; like what size do you cut a triangle if you want it to be 2" when it's finished... I thought I knew. I'm quarter square triangling...

Goals?

I have way too many things flitting through my head; maybe writing them down will help nail down what I will actually work for me.

I need to divide my life into different parts;

food/meals/diet

house/cleaning/laundry

spiritual/lesson planning

creating/quilting

health/exercise

So here goes my thoughts;

FOOD- I have a killer shrimp recipe to try...killer because it uses heavy cream. My boys don't like shrimp so why make it this week when I can make it next week while my parents are here... I really want it NOW but I guess I'll wait. So it's:

• Baked chicken, broccoli , salad
  
• enchiladas-- make enough to freeze , rice, green beans
• chicken tortilla soup 'cause the boys love it and will eat it
• leftover soup
• Fish, zuchini, salad
  
• Pinto Beans, corn bread, carrot sticks
  

HOUSE-

• guest room My parents are coming!
  
• entry into laundry room from garage WE actually park our car in the garage and the path to the laundry room is kind of narrow and cluttered. It is not hot yet so need to do it before it gets HOT!
  

SPIRITUAL-

• write in journal 4 X's I started a computer journal 2 weeks ago but keep forgetting to write in it.
  
• read next weeks lesson I teach the 7 year olds in Primary (like Sunday School).
  
• listen to conference 4 sessions; (our Church has 2 general conference sessions a year and this week end we get to sit in our living room and listen to it on the internet.)
  

CREATIVE-

• border on basket quilt
  
• 10 dark stripe quilt blocks; I'm trying to make my stripe quilt different but the same as my sister's...
• something with selvages-I've been collecting them but only using them to tie up the roses in the backyard.
• something using 1 thrift store item; I bought 1 jacket and 2 velour dresses last week so I have to use something before I go again.
  
• 1 zipper item; I have too many zippers and I'm trying to use them. 
  
• Use computer on long arm for something; test the new system--maybe one of the thrift store velour pillows....with a zipper.
• I really want to do a ' long arm journal quilt' So 'START IT.'

HEALTH-

• exercise 4 times and LOG the activity on Presidents Challenge
• Reformer, Pilates and weights

I'll look at this next Monday and see how I did.

New bag

Months ago I found a pattern that I thought might look good quilted... Kangaroo Bag by Kayla Kennington. I bought it and this week I took apart a linen jumper that I'd bought for .99 and quilted it.


I ran out of linen and HAD to run to the quilt shop and get a batik that would go with it. The bag was pretty simple to make IF I hadn't quilted the straps! Turning the straps was impossible. I ended up turning them half at a time; out through the seam that I opened up in the lining. 

Stash busted with this... well not so little bag; 3 1/2 yards! Honest that's what the pattern calls for and then I used an extra 1 1/2 yards for the extra interlining that I used to back the quilting before putting the lining on. So I busted this week 5 yards. 

Which is a very good thing since I went shop hopping and bought ... this:
and this:
 

Only one of those pieces does not fulfill a specific 'need.'

I am working on a stripe quilt and a reproduction quilt so it's clear that I NEEDED all 5 1/4 yards!

I have to admit 1 fat quarter was just cause I love double pinks. that brings my purchases up to 5 1/2 yards. :(

Stash Report for Week Number 13
So my stash busting report:
In: 5 1/2 yards
Out: 5 yards

Year to date:

In: 13.43 yards

Out: 64.4 yards

Year to date: I have used 50.97 yards more than I've purchased.

Basket Quilt 1

One because I'll be quilting another one of these soon. I hope to get mine done before the third Tuesday of April. I'm going after the 'admiration of men' well, women. I hope to wow someone and get a few more basket quilts to quilt. This turned out so nice I may have to do feathers on mine too.

Basket Quilt

Isn't Vickie's quilt great?

I've done the large basket blocks but the small ones are so pretty. Five inch blocks look great; one of the baskets I didn't like at 10 inches looks wonderful at 5! I'm regretting not doing them too. Oh well I've already started my alternate block and bought fabric for it. 

So my stash report:

In; 5 fat quarters of reproduction fabric (I was surprised I had so few.)

Out; 0

year to date;

in: 7.93 yards

out 59.4

Busted to date: 52.72

camping

Last week end it was VERY cold but a camping trip was planned so they went. Roger and both boys; it is hard work defending our tug of war championship but it is our duty. (No pictures though.)

I was home alone and so invited a friend (also a weekend widow) over for dinner where we brought in take-out and used my fancy new dishes. such a quiet evening... just what the Dr. ordered.

Last week was Spring Break and Roger has a tradition...new with these 2 boys... of taking the 11 year old on a backpack trip. Since he is the 12 year old Scoutmaster it is the last time he can take his boy camping and actually help him instead of saying; 'ask the senior patrol leader.'

Does it look like Spring here? They found dogwood's blooming.

Does Andrew look happy?

 I LOVE Texas in March.

new pillow for my birthday

You may recall my thrift store stack of a couple of weeks ago. In there was a pink cashmere sweater. Beautiful. Small. For some reason I thought of my sweater Sunday night, after everyone else was asleep, and realized I had pink thread in the sewing machine. Ten minutes later the pillow was finished. It is 14 inches square but the 14 inch pillow form looked wimpy; so I stuffed in a 16 inch pillow. Nothing fancy but I think it will look great on my bed when I get the pink red green sampler quilt finished.
This pillow I made about 4 years ago. I used a .99 velour shirt that was perfect but a turtle neck (I can't stand to have anything around my neck). So I enlarged the letter S in Word and printed it backwards then sewed through the paper on the wrongside of the pillow with a piece of batting between the paper and the velour; then trimmed the batting out around the S. The fringe was from a 40% off sale at Hobby Lobby. I have pictured a pale pink version here and this pillow with another green one here. 

My all time favorite pillow though is blogged about here. But here's a picture.  I have posted and pictured more pillows (check my side bar under pillows) since I started blogging. I'm inspired to make many more after seeing what some of ya'll have come up with through Kari and Kijsa's pillow parade. Go ahead and look at the beautiful pillows around blog land.

Pulling random threads

One of the things you do when you get ready to quilt a quilt is to get rid of random threads on the top and the back. I KNOW  I shouldn't just pull them out HARD but it is soo tempting. So this is what may happen if you pull a random thread that's poking out between your seams. A JOB!It's a pain when you do something stupid. Just pull gently and cut. Just pull gently and cut. Just pull gently and cut.
I'm using this project as a relaxer between harder jobs and as enders while I'm working on the borders of another quilt. My husband thinks it should only be a baby quilt...what do you think?

Stash report

I finished another quilt! The quilting and the binding of the Hole in the Barn Door (or Churn Dash-the pattern is the same and I've used it interchangeably with this quilt; each time forgetting completely that I had ever called it by the other name or even that the patterns are the same) is finished. I used a wool batt by Hobbs and am very pleased with the loft. I did overall freehand feathers and love the way the quilting looks on the back. Now we just need to sleep under it in hot weather and cold.. won't be very hard since it's winter here again but I'm sure it will be summer again in a couple of days. :P I'm hoping my husband will LOVE the weight of it since he can't always handle the weight of a cotton quilt on his foot.

stash report

in: 3 yards for a commissioned duvet cover edge

out: 13. 6 yards I simplified my counting; (I think I read about it on Bonnie's site but it may have been Judy's. If someone tells me which is correct I'll fix this.) Figure out the yardage for the back, add 25% to that measurement for the front, add the binding. Done.

total year to date

in: 6.68

out: 59.4

I LOVE adding the yardage of a whole quilt to my total!

the parthenon

This is one of the project that Andrew had due today. Luckily I knew about it and we started on Saturday. We had some packing material saved from the computer we bought months ago.

We learned a lot about this building; the columns should be tilted a little bit in (not out like this).

Here it is with the roof. He wanted to be able to take the roof off so he can add stuff next week for fun. It needs more columns inside and a giant statue...he probably won't put in the sculpture. It was fun to do with him.

Key Lime cupcakes

I finally made the key lime cupcakes that Michelle posted about here. I made a double batch and used a lot of limes. They were a great hit at pack meeting this week and with my family. I added a lime glaze under the frosting to give it another jolt of lime; I think it improved the taste. A friend and I did a taste test and both of us like the one with the glaze better. So here's what you do;

take 3/4 cup water boiled with

6 tablespoons sugar then

1/4 cup lime juice.

When it is cool brush it onto the cupcakes; after it is absorbed frost them.

You're right; I used just a smidgen of the glaze, so cut it in fourth. I also colored the frosting. Yummy, but don't eat one late at night, my acid reflux acted up and I was sleeping in a chair.

I got to wear my cub-scout committee meeting hat this week.

We had a very successful service project; we arranged with our city's beautification board to put rocks around a flower garden in city park. The boys worked like little ants and were done in about 15 minutes and then got to run around the park playing while their parents visited. I think it was a success.

IMPROVEMENTS:

• Fewer cupcakes When does that ever happen? Leftovers from a pack meeting; unheard of. We considered trying to get some of the joggers to eat them.
• Bringing a drink... although the park had a drinking fountain and that was EASY.
• Having a picnic at the park before hand.
• Bringing gardening gloves? I had a pair and had a basket of spares but they were only left hands! How did that happen? I brought silicone gloves too.

I wonder how many years it will take us to get all their beds done if we do one a year....

Get Well SOON or the laundry cure

Today J. woke up with a 'VERY sore throat' so I let him stay home from school. A. woke up with a very big project due tomorrow that I made him stay home and finish. At 9:30 A. was finished and begging me to take him to school immediately! Turns out today was Science day with loads of science labs planned. I was so mean I told him he'd better eat breakfast first then I mentioned to the novel reading very sick boy that he should drink something and eat because when I got back from taking Andrew to school WE were going to fold laundry... about 5 loads. Guess what? 10 minutes later J. asked me to wait while he got his backpack 'cause he 'felt much better.'

So when you're sick look at a giant pile of laundry and it will make you better!?? 

I guess that won't work for Moms.

(If I was a good blogger I would take a photo of the laundry just so y'all could feel better... but I'm a bad blogger.)

Grandma's flower garden

My mother is piecing a Grandmother's flower garden. She is to the edge and I thought I'd post some pictures of how some other people did it for her.

Here's one with a half block used as filler. 

This one has a filled in space the same color as the paths.

Here's one with an appliqued border.

Here is my previous post about flower gardens...each picture has a different edge treatment.

Here's another edge treatment; it really is here just wait until all the pictures load and scroll down and you'll see some exquisite quilts and a grandmother's flower garden different from others I've seen.

 

There's one on this page that has the deep insets. 

This one also has deep insets.

I hope this helps my mother decide

stash report

I bought just enough to finish the border of the pink, red and green quilt I posted about here. Then after cutting the border pieces I COULD NOT FIND the 2.5 inch squares that I'd already cut and needed for the border. I looked for most of a day and gave up. Put a quilt in the long-arm so I could do something. Then found them the next day; so will get back to this wonderful quilt next week.

The sashing is finished and the border designed and cut! 

In: .75 yard

out 0

 year to date:

in: 5.58

out: 45.8

OPAM

On the long arm is my March OPAM. It's a 'Hole in Barn Door ' quilt set with no sashing or borders. I'm doing feathers all over and using a wool batt.

The stripes is a quilt my sister and I are working on ... together? She lives in Colorado and I live in Houston...so not really together. I've sent her some stripes; she's sent me some strips. She has over 100 blocks made I have... well 4; what you see here. I think she is going to get done first

.

New dishes

Last week after shopping at the Thrift store I went into a resale shop and found some beautiful dishes. I DO NOT need new dishes... but my birthday is coming up... I hadn't spent my Christmas money from my parents yet.... so I bought them. I called them lime green and pink but I think a better discription would be apple green and pink.

There's a lot of dishes there. More serving pieces than my old set had. Won't these look beautiful on Mother's Day? Most of my other serving pieces are clear glass but you'll notice the 2 sherbet dishes I put in... I'll need more of those won't I?

EACH of 12 place settings have 7 pieces!

Thrift store RULE

This is what I have left from my trip to the Thrift store last Friday. I have imposed a NEW RULE for thrift store shopping… Don't go unless you have done something with a previous thrift store FIND. So I could really go since I mailed the wood model kits I found to Tyler and the picture dominoes to Tyson. But my big find was this gorgeous sweater;

Can you tell it is too big for me?

I thought I'd send it to my sister since she lives in COLD COUNTRY (Colorado mountains). But when I sent her this picture she didn't think she'd wear it. I thought;  okay, a wonderful pillow and threw it in the washer with some hot water and soap. When I pulled it out 40 minutes later I decided to NOT put it in the dryer until I tried it on. IT FITS! So I have a new jacket/sweater for next year. It got up to 85 yesterday so I won't be wearing it much this year. I paid the full price for the sweater; $5.00 usually I only look at their half price stuff, everything else was reduced to half price.

So I have fulfilled my quest and I COULD go to the thrift store again. BUT I have too Much to do.

THAT STACK on the chair is still talking to me. 

• See the pale pink cable CASHMERE sweater? A pillow for my bed, to go with the pink/red/green quilt I'm working on. 
• The 3 stripped shirts? To be cut up and sent to my sister who is working on a striped quilt. 
• The plaids? One is wool and goes to my wool stash;
•  the red plaid is for Brian's quilt and the 
• blue/purple because it was unique and beautiful.
  

WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH THE PURPLE, too small for anyone I know, wool SWEATER?

half tutorial

My daughter lives far away :( and she wants to make a 'box' out of fabric. I tried to tell her how over the phone but it was difficult so here is my rough draft of a tutorial... I don't have time to finish it but will come in and delete this and finish it later.. this is just to get her started...

the box is to be 9 X 10 with 6 inches tall.

the bottom is supposed to come up 1 inch.

I allowed 1/4 inch seams... bad idea do at least 5/8

I am using iron on interfacing she is using non iron (but I'm using what I have.)

Trim the corners out of the interfacing leaving a little more than I did to catch in the seam.

Cut your lining using your interfacing as the pattern but make sure you have enough fabric in the corners for a seam.

Liz, Lay your bottom onto your interfacing ... draw onto your interfacing how far the bottom should come up. then sew the 'wings/sides' on to the bottom through the interfacing and the bottom fabric.

I've got to run if I'm going to get to my exercise class 

LOL

p.s. I made it to class but can't decide on the lining for this 'box' but here are the next 2 steps.

computers and quilts

I think this is cool... not that I'll take the time to copy it but enjoy a new way of looking at quilts.

Stash buster

I didn't post last week since I hadn't finished anything or bought anything, didn't sound interesting to me either. I kind of killed 2 birds with one stone this week. I FINISHED a long term project; the Pinwheel quilt (pictures here and here ) so it counts in my 'work in slow progress' goal and it counts in stash busting too. 

The math is fun too; trying to figure out how much fabric is in a finished quilt!

back 6.5 yards

front 8.25 yards

so this week;

In; binding= .75 yards

border of new quilt .5 (Monday I have to go buy more since my math was way off!)

border .33 (1.5 inches short here; so I get to buy more.)

total in 1.58 yards 

out this week;

14.75 yards!

Year to date;

in: 4.83 yards

out: 45.8 yards