Another binding

Here's a cute little Happy Block quilt made from a leftover piece of cat fabric.
I love the wavy line quilting on this and it was quick and easy.
Look who started waiting for his dinner before 4PM today -- he's such a little piggy!


Email me

20 years ago today

He looks worried doesn't he?

This may be one reason why...

and here's another one.

It hasn't always been easy but I wouldn't trade the last 20 years for anything and I'm looking forward to the next 20+.


Email me

Celebrity sightings

Since I don't have anything interesting to report from my day (going through mail, paying bills, creating some collages for a birthday, talking to Mom on the phone, packing up quilts and gifts to ship out tomorrow) I'll share my celebrity sightings - tonight we had dinner in a neighborhood restaurant and saw both Brian Setzer from the Stray Cats and Al Franken.


Email me

More Fans

This is Mom's quilt - very soft and feminine looking and the Baptist Fans look great on it. For this quilt - I used my Circle Lord template.

Don't you just love the texture?
This is top #1 of 10 and I also made and machine stitched the binding on the 2nd of the quilts waiting for binding. I'll start stitching it down tonight when we're watching a movie. You guys have made me a little nervous about whether I can get through my list by May 31 but I'm going to give it my best shot and today was a very productive day.


Email me

One binding done

This was the HeartStrings top pieced by two male students for a class project and sent to me to finish and donate. Details on the freehand Baptist Fan quilting can be found at this post.
Since this is one of Judy's Quiltathon weekends I'm going to move on to loading a top on the longarm while Keith plays around on i-Tunes.

Email me

From today's outing

I love lying on the ground and looking up through the trees

A bike ride this afternoon almost did me in -- 15.5 miles and it was all I could do to pedal that last mile and then I chased it with a migraine that put me in bed for the rest of the day. I did manage some progress on assembling Adam's Boxed Squares before the bike ride.


Email me

Yes, I did sew today

On and off I read about people being in a quilting slump - I find for myself the more I get done the more motivated I am to work...so having not sewn anything in the last week or so I haven't really been motivated to quilt but today I turned on the sewing machine and worked on assembling the blocks to Adam's Boxed Squares. Of course it doesn't help that assembling blocks into tops is one of my least favorite tasks so it's easy to procrastinate.

Another motivating factor for me are my lists - so here's the new one. Since I've been traveling this month and I'll be traveling again in May, I'm going to try and accomplish the following by May 31st.

• Quilt 10 tops
• Bind quilts - I have 8 here that need binding plus once I start quilting that number will climb so lets set this goal at 10 quilts.
• Complete Adam's Boxed Squares tops -- I have to assemble what's on the design wall, make blocks for another 3 rows and assemble them, and put a border on it.
  
• Make more QAYG blocks for Australia - I have until the end of April for this HeartStrings project
• Make a set of 48 log cabin blocks from my strings.

Once I get going I should pick up some steam!


Email me

Spring

It arrived while we were gone. It's 65 and Keith suggested lunch
downtown - outside!

A few photos of us

My best photos are of the scenery but I do have some of us enjoying ourselves too. Click collage to enlarge.



Email me

A lazy day for me

We arrived home last night and after picking up Chesty this morning, I've had a quiet day. I took hundreds of photos but for now I'll just share a few.



Email me

A walk and coffee along the Liffey

Heading out

Some drama around here has kept me occupied for the last couple days but Keith and I are heading out to the airport now. We're excited about the trip to Ireland which we've dreamed about and planned for over 10 years now.

See you in about a week.


Email me

Can you tell not much is getting done?

Not making any progress on the binding or piecing front the last couple days. I've been transitioning my sleep schedule to nights again and finally feel like I've gotten a little rest. I did spend the afternoon downtown yesterday - a visit to Barnes&Nobles, lunch out, and a haircut. It was nice to be out and about for a few hours.


Email me

Postcards

Not sure I'm completely thrilled with these two but after running my errands and before cooking dinner tonight I managed to finish them.




Email me

What's on your agenda this week?

• Binding -- #3 of 10 is in progress and I'd like to get at least one more done this week.
  

• 
• Continue to assemble the blocks on the design wall -- still have more to make but I'm out of room so I'll work to get these into one piece before doing the last 3 rows.
  

• 
• Playing some more with postcards - nothing is sewn on these yet, just auditioning layouts.
  

• 
• Errands on Monday
• Haircut on Tuesday
• Meet with accountant on Wednesday to sign off on taxes -- we are getting a refund which is good news!
  
• Laundry & packing on Thursday
• Leave for Dublin on Friday
  

Email me

#10 is done

It's been months since I've quilted Wonky Feathers and I was a little shaky on this HeartStrings top pieced by Paulette but these feathers are very forgiving and I'm surprised at how nice the quilting looked when I was done.

If you haven't checked out the Pajama Quilt DVD, you should - it's one of my favorites. Clicking on the photos will enlarge them.



In addition to quilting I've been trimming quilts, working on a binding, and I started assembling the largest section of the Boxed Squares quilt. I have the bulk of the tasks I wanted to do before our trip done so I'm pleased.


Email me

Poor me

I'm pouting because Keith is in GA with the boys and I'm home alone (well Chesty is here too) but I'd rather be in GA.

He'll be checking on our Condo in the N. GA mountains today - It's in a beautiful spot and we had some good times there before we moved - maybe we'll get back for a week sometime this year.



Email me

Impulsive?

Buying the small die cut machine after seeing it on Deb's blog was impulsive and I admit I wondered if I would regret spending the money but I'm having fun now so no regrets. The photo will enlarge if you click on it.

Between the GO Cutter, the new sewing machine and this little one, I think I've stimulated the economy enough - it's your turn now - I've done my part!


Email me

#9 of 10

I wasn't in the mood to quilt tonight but made myself do a small top before heading up to the sewing room. This is a little Happy Block top I threw together after getting my GO Cutter.

Before trying a grid on one of the larger tops I thought I'd experiment on this one. I like kids quilts to stay soft and cuddly and this one has just enough quilting I think - no marking - just following the piecing lines. You can click directly on the photos to enlarge.





Email me

Clamps

I broke another clamp last night -- I love these featherlight clamps but they're just too fragile so I did a search on my MQ Resources link and pulled up a link and suggestion to use chip clamps -- since I have an account with Amazon where I pay an annual shipping fee and get 2 day shipping all year -- I ordered a couple sets. Worse case, they get banished to the kitchen.


Email me

Google Sites

One of the questions I get periodically (or see on other blogs) is how to upload files other than photos to blogger...well, you can't but you can upload files to another site and then link to them.

I was reading a post on Tanya's blog and did a search last night. I didn't realize that Google has a webpage *site* that allows you to upload files. So if you've been looking for a place to host your non-photo files, check it out, it's free. I uploaded a PDF file of my boxed squares to test it and it works!

Google Sites is an online application that makes creating a team web site as easy as editing a document. With Google Sites, people can quickly gather a variety of information in one place -- including videos, calendars, presentations, attachments, and text -- and easily share it for viewing or editing with a small group, their entire organization, or the world. Get started with Google Sites at http://sites.google.com/site.


Email me

Yawn # 8 of 10

Since I liked Whirlygig on the previous Happy Block Quilt, I decided to do one more of them while I had the pantograph and yellow thread loaded on the longarm.

This is my Twisted Happy Block top and it was nice to work on one of my quilts. All the photos should enlarge when you click on them.


The yellow thread makes the design stand out on the turquoise backing.
Just 2 more to get done before our trip next Friday and with Keith out of town Thurs - Sun of this week, I should get them done easily.


Email me

Coffee or tea?

The highlight of my day was getting my replacement brewer in -- ours died a few days ago and I've been without my hot tea for too long. Keith loves coffee, I drink tea and we want it all different hours so the single K cup brewers work great for us.

I'm in a slump...not much progress going on but I'm going to try and get another top done tonight since my body still seems to be on the *night* shift. I think I'll carry a cup of tea down with me!


Email me