My sewing area

Imagine my surprise to find Moose sleeping on my AMish Tumbling blocks. I know that cats normally love quilts but don't we even get to finish them before they start sleeping on them????


Let's take a tour of my sewing area in the alcove of the dining room, shall we...............

Large storage drawers fit under the dining room table or if we're having a party, under the sewing table. It keeps my red/pink- green blue- and background colors that I use most right here in the house.




The wood coffin top was from my first treadle that I got rid of the table part. They wanted over 1K to restore the table- so I kept the 2 drawers that were in good shape and the coffin top to cover my embroidery machine to keep less dusty between uses. The basket ontop has embroidery projects and blocks - like Hunter's Star that I'm working on.



Sewing table with Maderia thread case in background. See the baggie on the left with my newly started collection of 2 1/2" blocks???





Storage tower holds stabilizers and hoops for embroidery machines Assorted stuff in old treadle desk drawers for art quilt type stuff shiva pencels- foiling stuff- rhinestone gun thingy. Finished blocks waiting to become tops are in the larger bottom drawers- like my quilt along blocks and pinwheels and patches from Quiltville -



Storge on top of shelf and works in progress hang by clothes pins.
Full quilt tops are on hangers- I should heed the Simplify sign huh??? See the strips cut for the pumpkin wall hanging and the mystery quilt? They don't get lost and you try and use them right awy so they don't get dusty.



For Joansie, one of my 3 book cases. All are just as packed. The big white binders are classes taken from Quilt University online classes-



the small storage tower holds all my 2 1/2" squares in the bottom two drawers and the top drawer holds 2 1/2" hsts. I love all those tiny squares and seem to use them alot so I try and use them up but I think they breed at night because they never seem to empty-EVER!!!

Hubby bought a couple yards of Buffalo Bills fabric thinking I could make a quilt for DS-hahahahahahaha. Well anyway I attempted at my first pair of curtains for his room....please excuse the mess- he is a teen male and it's better than normally.

Hunter's Star

So remember these blocks from the other day???





So DD thought if you used a water colored bckground fabric and assorted colors for the opposite block parts you can make fishes!
I left them all orange. I made a quilt kinda like this for hubby's aunt and uncle that they have on their bed at the shore house. I think DD has one of the blocks that I made because I made too many in her sampler quilt.




She needs me to make a baby blanket for her to give to a school mate that's having a boy this fall. I'm trying to explain that buttons are not the thing to put on a quilt for a baby. I might stamp the eyes because I don't think that I want to applique a couple dozen small circles for the eyes

Are you kidding me???

Gotta love this pic almost as much as I love this one :



I actually own the second one and it hangs by my sewing area. Tek rocks ( even if he is a Red Sox)

Ahole makes 27 MILLION bucks a year....guess how many rbis he has in the 8th and 9th innings this year??? 2 yep a whole 2.....

Let's see we're going into the playoff home stretch and we're playing the Sox and how did Ahole do last night in 5 at bats???

Zero for Five

a strike out
ground into a double play
flyed out to center
another ground out into a double play
and then yet another strike out

and lets add an error for good measure....and you wonder why they Boo Birds are booing in the Bronx and I think I have 9 more years of this idiot to watch.....
Put a fork in them Yankees as long as Ahole is on the team we're doomed....( notice no pennants let along World Series since he got here? Coinidence? More like a curse................

Are We Ready for some Baseball??

One for Paula's team. But DD wants to know how much A Hole ( I mean Arod) is getting paid to throw the games and how he can have a 300 batting average since everytime she see him bat he strikes out or hits into a double play.



Three more games this week Boston Red Sox vs Yankees...at the moment the series is tied up.



Hubby dreads these games......

We Have a Flimsy :)

I got my pattern in the mail yesterday and had a bunch of nuetrals and oranges pulled.



Like Nanette says," I don't know what it is about little
squares but they make me happy." I agree whole heartily :)
I usually cut the squares from left over projects and it's fun to see past quilts in my new projects. But I worked on the smaller pumpkin yesterday and finished the top today- tomorrow I'll baste it for hand quilting. It's going to be so pretty hanging on my door this fall. Notice I left them as pumpkins and not jackolanterns- so I can enjoy them longer. Somewhere I have that panel I hand quilted last fall I need to find and put a hanging sleeve on. It was just a panel to get me back into hand quilting practice but will be lovely just the same,
As for the placemats I was putting borders on to finish- they're too big :(
So I'm going to use them for the doll quilts the guild is collecting to go with 16" dressed dolls some of the members finish for little girls for CHristmas.....

Monday musings

This weekend I got the name of a friend that I have for my second secret santa I'm doing. She loves 30's prints and heaven knows I have enough left over from my Cathedral Windows. I was looking for something totally different and found my templates I used for my Grandmother's Flower Garden and decided to make a nice table runner for her. I have a bunch of 2 1/2" squares all cut and ready to frame 8" blocks with these appliqued in them...so how long do you think it should be??? 50"???


I got the patterns I ordered from Nanette in the mail today with a bonus pattern of tumblers and some very cute fabric...You ladies need to make some of delightful patterns...very easy and I love they're small enough that I hand quilt them.


Today I made this after my patterns came in the mail :)




This is the block I was playing with last week :) I"m keeping the yellow parts to make an impact on the design so my star POP!. Of course talking to Leah, she used hsts there instead of the arrow head thingy I make. Which Leah THANKS! It made more sense for the person I was helping that way and yes the wonder cut will work great for this block 3 swipes of a fq gives you more than enough for 3 blocks worth ;)



When you put four blocks together- you really can see the Hunter's Star pattern :)



Hubby's home for vacation this week with the big family party on Sunday. The Honey Do list is pretty long but he's taking 2 or 3 small items per day. This morning I finally finished quilting my black and white quilt and took it off the frame. Was getting ready to load the mystery I just did and the backing was too small by 6". I would have been so pissed if I started quilting it and that happened AGAIN!!! SO I put it away to cut small orange squares - then I took a nap because benadryl makes me so tired and that itchy rash I get is back on 5 different fingers and this time my wrist -grrrrr. Hubby called and got me an appointment for the reg dr this week. I'm so tired of this.

It's all Leah's fault

While asking a simple question this morning about wondercut rulers- Leah told me how insane she is with bonus hsts. And look!! She's got me making flying geese now too with the bonus hsts-lol! They finish a mere
1"x2"...never fear she's making them too. So when the time comes and they lock me up- she might have the room next to me for the crazy quilters.....

Bonus HSTS

Last night I was reading that Scrap Quilts book before I crashed for the night. Of course I had to figure out in my head the very simplest way to make a block I've been dying to make. I figured it out and tried the directions I was going to give one of my groups. The first few blocks I tossed the trimmed parts. But the 5th block I decided to see if I could get a decent sized ( ok useable) hst out of the waste parts. I can get 3 broken dishes blocks out of each of the blocks I make. The little blocks are 2" finished-
hahahahahahahahahahaha
Get that padded room ready for me- I'll be needing it. I think Winston, My Vermont Teddy Bear needs a quilt don't you????





Now if anyone knows how to add pdfs to these eblogs, I'd love to know in case I want to post the block directions.....

Books and Amish Tumbling Blocks

I got the scrap book in the mail this week....and the other is the
Ultimate Quilt Book- which is one of my very favorite books for quilt inspiration. I think I spent $8 for it including shipping....





The other night I was reading the Ultimate Quilt Book and came across a layout simular to the one I'm using for my Amish Tumbling blocks.........



One of the awesome parts of Electric Quilt is the ability to print out a black and white drawing of the quilt top. One rainy day I gave the teens each a fresh box of colored pencils and 2 sheets to help me figure out how I wanted to do these blocks. DD's coloring won - can you see the X it makes???? But the best part is how it's kinda like the book's pic and we all know she's not reading them in her spare time.



So since we've been back from New England I've managed to get 4 complete rows done and am adding the fifth row :)




Crap!!! Look what I missed ( upper right hand corner):( Never fear- I fixed it an am piecing the blocks for row 6 :)

Tumblers and Thimbles

Look I've been playing with the pyramid templates abd my new thimble/ tumbler template.....





And look what happens when you're a good citizen and donate blood!
We're going to see the Mets vs Cubbies!!!

Yoyo makers and flower makers

How many of us have bought those cute little clover yoyo makers???
I have my hand waving!! I lent mine out to Katie and her DD to work on some yoyo's while DD heals up from an accident.
I wanted to use the flower one for the guild's challenge only not to understand the directions. They were very poorly written by Clover Co....grrrrr....
But Tracey at Sew Thankful has a YOUTUBE video on how to make them -YEAH for Tracey!!!! Click the word video- there's actually part one and part two...now where are those flower makers????

Charm Quilts

There was a discussion on one of my groups on what makes a charm quilt. So when you hear charm quilt what comes to mind for you?
I did this one in 2002 - I about made myself crazy trying not to use any of the same fabrics- there lots of fabrics- can't remember the total right now. What I did was sew rows of tumblers together and promise the kids a buck a piece if they could find duplicate fabrics as we went along. I think I paid $12 out -I remember buying lots of precut squares off of Ebay that summer.....



Today I'm dragging- was up late watching the frigging Yankees lose AGAIN! and then the news. NYC and our county was under a tornado watch last night AGAIN! what's with that? I didn't move to Kansas 15 years ago because I didn't want to deal with tornados and being home with kids alone. Now the kids are out and about in cars and the warnings come in...scarey I tell you.

But I'm making 2 different dinners tonight- pulled pork and burritos...yum to the second one :) And that's it for the weekend I think- well maybe I'll cook the ham too and have stuff for sandwiches. That should cover me a few days I hope. I dropped quite a bit of money and only bought meat, some dairy and produce and very little of anything else and still spent almost $250. Thought the freezer is full and the fridge will be packed tonight when the cooking is done it hardly looks like I bought anything other than makings for tomato sauce and a ton of pasta.....I can't wait for DS to go back to school.....he's killing us financially trying to feed him

Thread Catcher Link

Here's the link for the thread catcher. I tried email it but it kept coming back :(

THREAD CATCHER LINK

Follow Up to DD's pic

Yesterday, or the day before I added a pic of my DD being a model for a class doing make up at her school. Well my sister just sent me this lovely of my DD's God Daughter dressed for Halloween last year :) Isn't the resemblance eerie???? She's my brother's youngest....

First Thread Catcher

Ok Mel, I see what you're talking about. I have learned I like the ladder stitch better for closing and I think I'm going to use 1 fabric for inside and 1 for outside or 2 different pairs to make the next one. But tah dah....I finished it







So I tried another one. I kept the 4 of the same for the inside and the outside and liked it better.

of course I have such quilters A D D that I almost missed my ultrasound test this afternoon. But never fear I made it with one minute to spare.....now we wait for the results :(
Did I ever say I'm not good at waiting????? I"M NOT!!!!

quilt blocks - pets and monsters

Yesterday I got this pic via email from DD . One of the advanced classes in school was working with makeup....scarey huh?



While I love the blocks- I need more - 9 more to be exact :(
So this morning I worked on making the hsts for them. Assorted sizes like these- just no big 12" blocks.



Helping with quilt block layouts is very hard work. Kitties need a nap afterwards -here's napping Moose.




Nancy's tired too !

Ann's Mystery Revealed- stash report

Looks like this is a popular setting for the mystery. Of the other 2 I saw they look very simular in settings but different colors.
Here's Leah's and here's Beth's. Great minds think alike or something like that.
Picnic in an hour or so last minute prep work like frosting cupcakes etc...enjoy your Sunday.

Stash report- let's see, no finishes, still waiting on part for frame. I brought in a jelly roll set, got orange charms in the mail for a pattern, I think there are 40 of them 3" and 3/4 of a yard of egg fabric for Nanette's cute pattern.And the backing for the ocean waves...almost forgot :)

Mystery Blocks and great mail

Stashbuster Group is doing a Burger Queen- Have it Your Way Mystery. It's been going on for weeks..I think 6 weeks. But with all the stuff I was trying to finish before vacation I never even started. But Thursday night I tried 2 sizes of my block and liked it so yesterday all day and today I finished all the blocks. And am now ready to finish the step posted for last week. I just might be caught up by Tuesday when they post the next step.
In the pic are blocks in the following sizes

5-12" blocks
5- 9" Blocks
13- 6" blocks
and the killer 22-3" blocks. But amazing but true they are all the correct size and ready for what the group is calling "plate formation" We use 9 paper plates with numbers that correspond to what is need in that block....we'll see how that works Monday when I start that part.




This is what 40 1 inch finished hsts looks like before I cut the sheet apart and press them open. Enough for almost 7 of the 3 inch blocks in the pic above...teeny tiny !




Last week I ordered a pattern from Nanette and then found the PERFECT border fabric for it...eggs!!!LOL! An my friend sent me 50 assorted 3" orange squares so I think this week I'll order the pumpkin pattern she has in her etsy shop.




A pattern from Fig Tree Quilts on a Lone Star block with NO Y SEAMS. Jelly roll friendly. Maybe the newest jelly roll needs to use this.....




Another good book on making scrap/stash quilts. I've already tagged a few for "someday".




Lookie, a pyramid template for another project coming up :)

Mysteries and Stuff

I want to thank everyone for the well wishes on my anniversary- my best friend and I had a ball- we went out to dinner and then sat here and watched the baseball game that our children and my hubby were at. She's a wimp and went home by 9- she works for a living so she goes to bed by 11. What a concept I'm usually an hour on the other side of midnight *VBG*

Aren't they cute??? After a thorough cleaning of lint from the Viking feed dog area I decided to bite the bullet and decide what block I was making for the Have it Your Way mystery. I have about 5 different sets started :( They weren't what I was looking for....Here are two sample blocks one is 6 " finished and the other is a mere 3" finished. Cool huh? I'm using the left over blues and greens from my ocean waves quilt to make it for my niece to have tea parties on for Christmas :) I got her a tea set too! Now to make another 21 of the tiny one and a dozen more of the 6" one. The thing above the blocks is actually 12 hsts sewn together through a thangle type paper I print on my computer to the size I need. A full sheet will give me 40 1" finished hsts-very cool.

Welcome to the gardens part 2

Happy Anniversary to Me :)

I got this in a package this morning. hmmmmmm I didn't order it. I looked at the packing slip and it was ordered by hubby for moi !
I called and asked why and he said it was for my anniversary and he was so happy it FINALLY arrived. It was "supposed" to come last week. Today my blogging friends is the 6th anniversary of the first time I was told I had cancer. And look! I'm still here to cause havoc in blogland *VBG* Normally today/tonight would be the day my bestest friend ( who I've know since we started kindergarten together 41 years ago) would get trashed on expensive champagne. Weird tradition but it's all ours and no one gets to join in except our kids who can have ONE glass with us ! But hubby is taking a bunch of people to the Mets game Wednesday night and we figure that we could have peace and quiet and eat whatever we want. I'm making these- they were wonderful the other night when I made the trial batch.


Not exactly what I wanted but close enough! Isn't it great? It's the backing for my Ocean Waves flimsy :) It's called a Fatt Back and you can order them reasoniblly here This is the second time I've order from this company and I've never been disappointed. I ordered it Sat morning and it came today. Ok they're in CT and I'm in NJ but still .



So I've been playing all day with my disappearing 9 patch blocks and realised I need to make more :( but it's going to be awesome when completed. I just know my niece is going to love, love, love it.