Saturday, May 10, 2008

Progress on OC and Stars-n-Stripes

I've had a full day.....
and believe it or not, it started at 5:55 am (sorta). #2 (Caitlyn) came marching down the stairs. You have GOT to be kidding me! We usually have to drag her out of bed at 6:30 during the week.....*sigh*
So, breakfast was made a little early...
We went grocery shopping at 8:00am, back at 9:15, unpacked by 9:45 (yeah.....LOTS of groceries!). Then DH had to head to Rice Lake (town about 30 minutes away) to get a few specialty items (oil for tractor so we can till the garden up and plant it tomorrow; and my contacts came in at the Shopko optical.
So, while he was gone, I actually CLEANED!!!!! But I limited myself to an hour so that I could get some quitling done. So, my bathroom is clean, all the dished were washed up, and a couple loads of laundry got done.
(not that this has anything to do with this blog, but when I was out looking for a "cleaning toilet" image, I came across this graphic. I giggled, so I thought I'd share it here too.....)




By 11:00, I headed down to the basement to start OC#4. I pulled out my colors that have been set aside for a month. The dark brown/black and the light brown/gray colors are my two colors for this part. However....I wasn't "feeling" those drab colors today....Nope, Nope, Nope.

So.....I gawked, peered, dug, and sifted through the stash.....

Ta-da! The green you see pictured is what I "felt!" I was able to cut all the triangles and get all of the green/black squares pieced before DH returned. But then, I had to play "mom" for a bit because Cassie was invited to a bowling-birthday party today at 1:00. DH husband actually took her and hung out with the birthday girl's dad while I stayed home with the younger two. I plopped a movie in the Portable DVD player downstairs, so I was actually able to continue sewing. Yeah! I finished up 10 of the 30 blocks and laid them out before deciding to put it aside around 3:00. I'll tell ya this though----I have a feeling this is going to be a larger quilt than CC. Those 9 blocks pictured take up a good size! 9.5" blocks......

It was time to get back to Grandpa's Stars and Stripes. After cutting up yet MORE 1.5" whites, I started piecing some sashing. Putzy, putzy, putzy. It's this method: "place the 1.5" blue square on the 5.5" white strip, sew the diagonal, trim off access." On BOTH sides of the 5.5" strip. Then, sew two of the strips together. Ugh, ugh, ugh. I'm kind of tired of such SMALL pieces!!!

But, lo-n-behold. Throughout the rest of the afternoon and evening, I've been able to complete ALL the white sashings. I'm actually amazed I haven't run out of material! I mean, those white PJ's weren't all that big, even with the shorts. I have the solid burgandy colored pants yet that haven't been used at all. I will most likely use these as a border, so this will end up being an excellent sized quilt for Dad.



Here is one fullly completed section that shows how the sashing creates the blue stars.


I won't get a lot of quilting time tomorrow because we plan to plant the garden and do some other yard work. Spring has FINALLY sprouted here in Wisconsin, but I'm a bit nervous about planting yet. It's still unseasonably cold---many nights are still in the 30's!!!

2 comments:

Amanda said...

My oh my, you have been busy! I like the green you chose for the OC and your stars and stripes quilt is looking good. I'm usually awake and raring to go by about 6.00am, but all my family have always been late risers and now the boys have left home I usually have a few hours to myself on Christopher's non-work days. Have a good day's gardening - you must have quite a big garden if you have a tractor. Lots of space to fill.

Candace said...

I like the green you chose, and I think your dad will love his quilt. It sounds like a working Mother's day for you, but I hope it is a nice one.