Determined, despite "surgery"...Now or Forever sees a finish!

The morning started later than usual, awaiting my parent's departure, but eventually I found myself chaining through 104 broken dishes for Carolina Christmas, part #4.

Then I grabbed Now or Forever and started quiltin' along....until ...."cher-chuck, chuck, clickity-click, click....."...

The sound sure wasn't normal, so I figured I'd give the machine a good cleaning and oiling. Sadly, it didn't help. I'm not a technician, but I have trouble-shooted it a bit----the needle/bobbin-case are "missing" each other. Either the needle is a fraction of a second too early, or the bobbin case is a bit late. ((**sigh**)). So, after sitting STUMPED for a few moments (maybe 10 ???), I finally faced the inevitable and packed her up for a trip to the shop. Sadly the shop is an hour away, so she'll have to wait until the weekend, which will mean at LEAST another week after THAT before I get her back....

....so ol' standy-by "Brother" made an appearance.
I was soooooooo close to being finished with the quilting, and I remember the frustration I used to have with the Brother when it came to FMQ...BUT, after a practice patch and adjustment of the tension, I was off-n-runnin' again! By mid-afternoon, the quilting was completed and binding sewn on, still awaiting hand-stitching though. I don't have a walking foot for the Brother and I SURE MISS IT!!!!!! In fact, there are a FEW things I am now taking for granted on the Bernina 440 QE that my Brother doesn't have...
1) The needle up/down feature
2) the on/off button when FMQ
3) the stitch regulator! But it sure was fun and relaxing to take the quilting at a nice leisurely pace.
4) the needle threader (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
5) the 1/4" foot
6) the bigger "table"
...to name a few...
but, she came through when I needed her.

And then.......with only an hour left of guilt-free quilting time, I figured it was a perfect opportunity to tackle the "true" Paintbox quiltalong. (See side bar for link).
Carol (Cornfield Quilter) sent this BEAUTIFUL jelly roll of Moda fabrics when she returned Perkiomen Daydreams from quilting. What a lovely PIF gift!!!!!!!!!

The quilt-along uses 10" squares for the "focal" fabric part, but the pattern works perfectly with 2.5" strips too! I first cut off 2.5" square, then a 2.5"x3.5" rectangle for the back, then need to thin the strip to 1.75"....

JUST enough is available in the strip to cut 2 each of 6.5" 5", 4", and 2.5" rectangles!!! It's was meant to be.


My first set of Oh Fransson Paintbox's :0)

I'm a bit behind, but should be able to catch up in no time. As clearly shown in the picture, I am doing the variation with white. Thanks again CANDACE for the beautiful motivational Paintboxes on your blog!!!!

Goal setting Sunday

Okay
No football today
No hubby today (fishing)
No #1 or #2 today (fishing WITH hubby)

Just me, my mom and #3; hanging out.
SO.......

I think I need to actually establish some goals today and broadcast to the world----(ie: therefore MUST meet them!) Since 4 is my favorite number, here are four (manageable) goals for the day:....

#1) Sew another set of 10 blocks for Pineapple Blossom
#2) Sew another set of 10 blocks for Scrappy Log Cabin
#3) Sew the 42 Modified Paintbox blocks from yesterday into a top, minus borders.
#4) Finish quilting Now or Forever (Feb. UFO)
oh...let's keep going shall we???...
#5) Sew up my three BOM's for March and start working on the directions (tonight in front of the Olympics)


Whew!!! Manageable???? Quite possibly if I get my lil' biscuits off the computer and get the day started!!!
Happy Sunday everyone!

Quilts for kids (3); Now or Forever; Stash Report

(Left): Prince in Training [[Thanks for the name suggestion Angela!!]]
(Middle): A Cowboy's Life (the kit from Downy)
(Right): Lilly Pad Hop [[Thanks for the name suggestion Laurel!]]

With a few major hiccups yesterday, I ended up being 3 hours delayed (actually closer to four) with the finishes of my Quilts for Kids. I was clippin' along merrily with the quilting, and was ready to start the binding....and then frustration hit! TENSION!!!!! I FMQ'd (free-motion-quilted) in the borders, and didn't even THINK about checking for tension problems because I simply haven't had problems since I got my new machine. So----I spent 1.5 hours with EACH quilt, ripping out the border quilting ((**sigh**)), and then another hour of re-quilting the borders. But...ho-hum...it happens. Today the final touches were put on (label and binding stitches). Hopefully they'll be hitting the mail tomorrow, but more likely Tuesday.


Despite the frustration with the tension, I persevered and kept going last night....until MIDNIGHT! I couldn't believe it when I looked up and saw 11:30! I was in a zone for sure.....

Now-n-Forever saw progress in the form of sashings, borders, and piano-keys! At the moment, it is under the machine with quarter of the quilting done. It will also see a name change----> Now or Forever. LOL. If I were to complete the pattern as given, it would be ABSOLUTELY forever until it would have seen a completion. Those roses just hung me up big time! ((Here's the proposed design in case you've never seen it.))

This afternoon, Caitlyn and I pulled out her "100th day of school" project since tomorrow is the Big Day! She needed to place 100 items on her poster, so I offered her a few suggestions; the typical items like cheerios, maccaroni, buttons, spaghetti.....and I threw in pictures and stickers as well. Those ideas were a hit with her, so...to the computer I went to print out 50 little pictures of the past few months while she sought out some stickers. Now----to just find some clothes for her to wear to look "old". :0)

Stash Report: February 1 - 7
Used this week: 9.132 yards
Purchased this week: 0 yards (Yes, Z-E-R-O!!!)
Used-to-date 2010: 40.132 yards
Purchased-to-date 2010: 86.25 yards
Net used: -46.12 yards

Happy Sunday

More quilts for kids; Now-n-Forever returns; new scrappy blocks

Something to show for my past three evenings.....
Sunday night, I started cutting up some of the new loot for a Quilts 4 Kids project...

... and I had enough of this frog fabric to make two. VERY fast piecing....
but now...I'm stumped on names for these two quilts. Do you have a NAME suggestion? Otherwise, I'll be doomed to put "Frog-green" and "Frog-blue" on these labels! LOL

When I went downstairs tonight, I spent the first half hour tidying, cutting up some scraps that have been collecting on the side of my cutting mat (which had been reduced to about 20 "working" inches due to the scraps)..., and I found myself cutting for my Scrappy Log Cabin that I have been stock piling pieces for in a shoebox. So....I whipped out 9 blocks, just to play :0)

Umm...yeah...tonight was a night of "play" and "putz"---because after I finished up those blocks, I looked around my quilting room. I walked over and blew the dust off of my Now -n- Forever blocks, and I figured I might as well start working on them now, or it will be forever until they see a finish. ((yeah, pun COMPLETELY intended)) :0)
I sewed up the two purple blocks and the two orange blocks tonight. All 12 blocks are now complete, but I don't think I'll make the TRUE Now-n-Forever design. Nope--no way! I think I'll just turn it into a cute lil' girl's lap quilt since the fabrics are lively and bright.

Okay: tick-tock, tick=tock.
Night everyone
Happy Wednesday

DWR DONE! Babyquilt DONE! Bag Dispenser DONE! And a few other projects underway...

Ahhhhhhhhh
Yesterday, after relaxing in the morning, I decided to FINALLY just finish the DWR! And then, I just kept going...

I spend most of the day working on the DWR, finishing it up around 4:00. It feels SO GOOD having that done and off my back--seriously! I think this is the biggest quilt I have made so far. It measures 96"x108", and is pictured on our King size bed.

With the extra pieces, MIL and I pieced together some pillow shams and an additional "monogram" pillow. MIL hand embroidered the "H". (Hmmm....I must not have taken pics of the pillow-shams, which are now in the hands of MIL for final completion; I quilted it, but she is putting the backing on.)


I was still in the mood to sew (amazingly!), so I kept going. Wednesday night I started cutting up some adorable FQ's I bought off a fellow Quiltvillian. They are just adorable!
While at my sister's last weekend, I went through all my old quilting magazines (again), and sorted them; patterns I will someday make and mags that can finally be given away. I only set aside 19 mags open to patterns (sarcastically undertoned!) Gosh---when will I ever make them all?!?!? Anyway, Wednesday afternoon, I came across a hidden box of white, white, white that had been given to my from (who else?) my mother. It was given to me last summer with all the other fabric donated to church. I simply had forgotten about it. So...I pulled some white, I went and pulled the lovely FQ's, and pulled a McCall's Quilting (March 08, I think??) The mag is downstairs right now and I'm too lazy to go get it to double check. But I'm fairly confident the pattern was called "Emma's Garden", which I have now changed to "Barnyards and Prairies". (40"x46" not counting Prairie Points)
The top was finished at 10:30, but I wasn't ready to turn off the machine yet. I pulled some yellow-check gingham from the stash and prepared backing. I pulled SIX scrap strips of batting and pieced them together. Boy, it feels good to get some of those scraps used up. It's so easy to piece the warm-n-natural batting on the machine!
The quilting is simple; SID (stitch-in-ditch) verticle lines. This is only the second time I've worked with prairie points (and I have decided I simply LOVE them!!!), but it's the first time that they have been the "border" of the quilt. The pattern called to press under 1/4" of the backing and hand-stitch to the back of the points. However, I took my time ironing and pressing the backing so that I could machine stitch the backing to the front; it didn't turn out all that bad. I finished it up just before midnight and finally called it a night! :0)

Wednesday after, while lunch was cooking, I browsed online and read through the past weeks' worth of Moda's Bake Shop blog. I had read through this pattern (Bag Dispenser; posted in June, I think) before, but wasn't really sold on it. But, for some reason, I was motivated to try it and whipped one out using some 5" scraps I recently cut up. If you haven't looked at the Moda Bake Shop blog, you really should if you are looking for some inspiration. I love the fabrics, even though I don't have any of them. But the patterns are very universal (as most are).

Here are some other things I've been working on since Sunday...

I posted about the sixteen fabrics that I've been strippin' up, getting ready (finally) to attempt the pattern pictured. I still am amazed I was able to pull all sixteen directly from what I had on hand...

Here is the other set of strips I cut up with Jille Kemp's pattern (from Red Rooster Fabrics) in mind: It's the Berries (even though I'm not using the suggested fabrics.) I'm using all of Grandma's flowery fabrics for this one; I don't think any of the fabric was something I had purchased.

I took some time to make up the June block for Now-n-Forever, the BOM by Beth Ferrier. July has just been posted, so I'll see about taking that on after I come back from Mom's this weekend.

Last Wednesday, I spent some time working on my Rolling Star UFO. I think I have been calling it Rolling Rock in the past, but now that I have found the pattern, I have corrected myself. Six down, seven more to go before being able to applique them onto blocks. Hmmmm! I'm glad I found that box of white fabric!!!

Finally, I am posting a pic of my Wafter Cookies flimsey that I finished up last Wednesday. It has joined with Seven Shirts on the wall, awaiting quilting.

So, that's it folks (I think!) I believe I have completely updated the blog on my past week's worth of quilting.

Laundry is underway and I have the task of packing up all three girls for TWO WEEKS. They will be down at both sets of grandparents for the next two weeks; next week with my parents, and the following week with DH's parents. It's so nice that they (parents) get along and that they live 5 miles apart from each other :0) I have some professional development classes for the next two weeks, so they are helping us out so we don't have to cough up $500/week for daycare! Besides, it's VBS week next week at my mom's church, so the girls will take part.

Happy Friday!

OUCH! Never...

...test to see if your iron is on by putting your hand on the sole plate!

ugh! I have a new iron, and the lights work a bit different with this one (obviously now!) On my last one, there was always a light on (green meant it was up to temp; red meant it wasn't, and if it sat idle long enough, it auto. shut off and there was no light present). Well....... THIS one is different! Now, a flashy-red means its auto shut off, green means it on and getting up to temp, and NO LIGHT means it's up to temp!!!!!! So, here, I had thought I turned it on, but no light was on......going with habit from the old iron, I put my hand on the plate to see how "cool" it had become.....UGH! It's just too bad my pain receptors didn't kick in a hair earlier! I've been keeping it on ice ever since (7:00) because it hurts to darn much when I don't!!! Quite possibly, three fingers will have blisters and/or some burn-site marks.

Yesterday, it felt so good to get downstairs to actually SEW SOMETHING! It has been so long since I've done anything! I still had a stack of HST pieces sitting my the machine for another sample of Steppin' Out using some dyed fabrics, so I whipped through those to just get them done; they were then set out of the way for now, joining the 4-patches that I had done the day before I had started these so many weeks ago.


I thought it would be fun to start my summer break by starting a new project (HAHAhAH......AS IF I need something else to work on!!) But, come on ----it's BONNIE's Christmas Lights mystery. I can't just sit by and let everyone else take part in this one and not me.....so.....it turned into a classic "putz" day of pulling fabrics, cutting, sewing.....and before I knew it (seriously!!!), all of Step 1 was finished!!! Proudly, all of the fabrics are from the stash; I can NOT buy anything new. I will NEVER use all my fabric---and I don't even really have that much compared to some individuals!

Remember last week when I said MIL and I were cutting fabric for a Double Wedding Ring quilt for a friend of the family? Well, here are some of the pieces I was in charge of (already sewn and pressed). My MIL was in charge of cutting 196 of EACH color; which she has cut, sewn together and already basted. I was in charge of 98 of each color, which I have also cut and sewn, but I am waiting for basting because she is going to teach me how to hand-baste with thread. (I normally cheat and glue-baste the edges.) Well---I DID glue-baste 24 of them because I am making a wall-hanging to go along with the quilt we are making.

So, with some time left last night, I decided to print out the May block for Beth Ferrier's BOM Now-n-Forever. May's color is emerald.

The first "kinda-sorta-official-day" of volleyball practice went well. Actually, it was FUN! Gosh---those girls were playing well for not having touched a ball in months! Tomorrow, I'll have another short practice.

Tonight, I WANTED to start sewing the DWR rings onto the background, but my iron-accident stopped me early. Tomorrow, that will be my game plan.

It is now 9:35, and three of my fingers have indeed start blistering. GOSH, it aches when I remove it from the ice!!!!!!!!!!!!! My heart now goes out to ANYONE who has ever suffered burns! The pain must be crippling!!!

Happy Monday

Another rose; better?

Today, I sat for a few moments, watching Beth's applique tutorial video. Not only did I learn quite a bit from watching it, I also found myself chuckling at some of her humor!

Anyway, tonight, after shipping the girls off to bed, I dashed into town to pick up some washable glue sticks. Then from 8:00 until about 9:30, I cut, glued, sewed (and probably made up some of my own rules on Beth's process) ((**looking around for applique police**)), and completed another rose. It definitely looks different because I didn't use a satin stitch with white thread. Instead, I used a blanket stitch with transparent (nylon) thread.

The left rose is from tonight; the right is from last night. I like the non-stiffness of the left one (my altered Beth-version) versus the fusible-web one on the right. I chose to make the outer petals all light pink to try to eliminate the "see-through" problem (The light pink is VERY light fabric) I had from last night.

When I came upstairs to blog, I asked DH's opinion on my first two roses. And, believe it or not, he gave me some other ideas to try next. One idea: if I stay with the colors tonight (left), he suggested cutting ONE light piece based on the "outer petals" (cutting out the "inside" of it); then cutting a dark pink petal-layer (again cutting out the inside of it), and then layering the top three small petals. This actually sounds like a great idea; it would eliminate quite a bit of cutting & piecing. I could do my altered-Beth-version with that OR use the fusible web. I may have to try both.

This has been a nice learning experience so far for me. I won't make a final decision on whether I like applique until I've tried a few different ways to applique. It's been kinda fun trying/learning something new.

Happy Wednesday

DH's EDIT
he needed me to add that his suggestion was INGENIOUS!! (and time saving so that I can spend more time with him in the evening instead of hibernating downstairs in the quilting room.)
:0)
(cough-cough)

A WIP brought to surface...

Amazingly, I pulled out the DD bits-n-pieces Sunday night and started putzing on some blocks again. After a couple of hours Sunday night, and most of the day off-n-on yesterday, I have the top completed, basted into 2 sections, and about 70% completed with the actual quilting. WOW! That came together fast!


Tonight, rather than quilting on the DD, I printed out the April step of Beth Ferrier's BOM. The first two blocks were easy-piecing! This month-----oh dear-----involves applique. I am NOT an applique'r! I've made one applique quilt (you may remember Caitlyn's Flowers ??? ((pictured below))) Anyway---here is the first attempt at the April Rose block. Ummm.....I defintely have to rethink the placement of the darker/lighter fabrics. (You see the darker pink through the lighter pink?) 28 of these bad boys need to be made. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. This one took me two hours!!!!!

The weather was once again GLORIOUSLY SPRING today! I headed out for my longest run yet.....3 whopping miles. (of course, I walked probably about half of a mile, though---up those lovely hills :0) )

Happy Tuesday!

Project updates...

The biggest project I have been undertaking over the past few days is cutting and sewing up a sample for the Advanced Beginner Quilting (Steppin' Out) class I am planning to offer over the month of May and beginning of June. This one will take more than the 4 nights that the Beginner's class was; I'm thinking more like 5 solid work nights with a couple of hours of "homework" every week. I had seen a picture of a quilt similar to this in my browsing on the web a year or so ago; it's use of 4-patches is enough to keep it still at a beginner's stage, yet can be considered a bit more advanced due to the HST's (half-square-triangles.) I also plan to demonstrate the Quilting-in-Sections method for those individuals who want to attempt machine-quilting on their DSM (domestic sewing machine.)

DH went to play open-gym volleyball tonight (since we had a bye in our tournament series), so I headed downstairs (UNWILLINGLY if you can believe it!!!----still dog tired! I can't seem to shake it; it must be this poopy, gloomy, rainy, cold weather!) Anyway.......

.....I headed down with intentions of just doing something small; cut and sew up the March block for Beth Ferrien's Now-n-Forever BOM (block-of-the-month) quilt . I needed to see something "finished," (even if it was only two blocks) since I have so many loose ends downstairs. Seriously; I should take a pic of all the projects I have laying scattered all over the basement floor! DoubleDelight is laying out on the main carpet area, untouched in about 2 weeks; Steppin' out is in the main concrete area; the Seven Shirts is hanging on one main wall reminding me it needs batting and quilting; my 100+ Perkiomen Daydreams blocks are scattered next to DD; Oklahoma Backroads is folded up waiting for batting and quilting; Country Spirit, Chloe's Colors, and Scrappy Irish Chain are all laying over the back of a spare matress, all in different stages of quilting, Lake-n-Lodge is also in that stack, basted; March green quilt blocks are on one shelf, and then 8 or so other UFO's are stacked in some kind of order in a spare book case......

*sigh*

When the two BOM blocks were done, I worked some more on Steppin' Out and have most of the rows sewn together, but quit at 9:00 to head up to blog......

Catching up from Monday and Tuesday.....

I know I said in my blog post yesterday that I hadn't been done any quilting on Monday or Tuesday, which is true, but I helped Cassie put together her own special blanket from fleece; one of the simple "cut and tie" blankets. She measured up the fabric and matched the bottom and top up, trimmed up the edges, and then cut slits about an inch apart. The whole project took about an hour and half; she was very excited to sleep with it right away Monday night!!!





Last night, pretty much from the moment we got home from school/work/day care and after supper was finished, I relaxed in the glider with a good book : New Moon, the second book of the Twilight Saga. I'm re-reading it (ONLY for the 2nd time---honest!) Candace and Caitlyn were going around the house with my camera, snappin' pics from their perspective again.


A few other shots they took....... Happy Wednesday!

Now-n-Forever; DoubleDelight; Seven Shirts & Seven Steps

I added TWO new projects to my WIP list this past weekend.........


The first blocks for the Now-n-Forever that is being shared by Beth Ferrier as a BOM. I am bound to ONLY use my stash without purchasing any fabric.






I started digging through my shirt piles to find the requirements for Nancy's (Life is a Stitch) Seven Shirts & Seven Steps mystery. I'm so glad those shirts are finally finding a project, which is the MAIN reason I'm jumping on board with this mystery! In fact, that "grey" shirt still folded in the pic was just added to the pile last week when DH cleared his closet. I'm excited to see what this mystery will bring.


Finally, I did get Steps 1 & 2 pieced in the DoubleDelight mystery and am planning on taking them to tomorrow night's quilting class in hopes of trimming some of them down while the ladies are sewing on their bindings. I can honestly say I WISH I had some time to work on the DD this week---I would LOVE to have Angela's jaw drop when she returns from her vacation and see a near completed quilt top, but....that just isn't going to happen. I worked the BB game tonight; quilting class tomorrow night, another BB game Thursday night. Friday will be the first chance I have to get back into the sewing room.

Ah well....
Happy Tuesday!

Hold me back!!!

I think this is how UFO's come to be......toooo many awesome projects all come in view in such a little amount of time....

Nancy Singer over at Life is a Stitch invited us to join her in a Seven Shirts & Seven Clues mystery, and my interest was captured. *silly sigh*

So, after spending the day sewing away on DoubleDelight and completing Step 2 (no trimming yet), I spent an hour tonight digging into the shirts that have been stacking since last summer. At least they'll finally get into a project instead of just piling and piling.

So, I have pics to upload:
- First blocks of Beth Ferrier's BOM Now -n- Forever (BOM-NnF)
- Step 1 & Step 2 DoubleDelight blocks (DD)
- Fabrics for Nancy Singer's Seven Shirts & Seven Clues (SS&SC)

...but I'm off to bed right now. I'm beat!

Linda's top

Yeah Linda! One of my "students" emailed last night with a pic of her pieced top center. Her colors are beautiful; she purchased her fabrics through Connecting Threads. I can't wait until Wednesday for the next class! Thanks for sharing Linda.


I finally was motivated last night and headed downstairs at 6:00 pm. I dug into the stash for the Now-n-Forever BOM quilt; I'm doing it and have already completed the first block. It SHOULD be easy enough to complete this project since it goes until October, with each block coming out on the 14th.

I also plunged into step 1 of DoubleDelight and completed it by 10:30 pm, with only trimming remaining. I am losing interest in quilting my tops that are stacking up, but my piecing motivation has returned thanks to the DD.

I'm off......
Happy Monday

Dare I?

put yet ANOTHER project on the current list???

Beth Ferrier from Applewood Farm Publications just started a new BOM project: Now -n- Forever. A lady from Quiltville-Chat posted the URL to the group and I got intrigued instantly. It's seems very manageable with having only one block per month. Besides, I agree with her statement from the site.... "...it is destined to be an Heirloom..."

BOM Page: http://applewd.com/BOM/page1.html
Beth Ferriers blog: http://applewd.com/blog/

Sooooo.......any other takers?