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Friday, June 27, 2008

Productive day...

When I headed downstairs, I still wasn't quite sure what I wanted to work on. However, I really DID want to start on "Cathy's 60th" quilt (the quilt that needs to be made by the end of August for the friend of the family. For lack of a better name right now---Cathy's 60th is it! since it's her 60th birthday.)

But, lo-n-behold----I hadn't washed ANY of the fabrics yet. So...off to the machine----and what to do in the meantime???

Putz, of course!

First, I thought I'd add some simple little hangers to the trial block I made. Now I just need to find a nicer hanger than just this little dowel :0)










Then, I really felt inspired when I came across these pieces I had cut out and stored in one of my Grandma's "old" quilt books. The book is downstairs right now, but (going from memory) the block is called Mohawk Trail. I had SO MUCH FUN using the blanket stitch feature on my machine. Ohhhhhh......it's soooooooo easy to do applique with a machine that handles a NICE blanket stitch! For now, the finished block (17.5" unfinished) will sit until I decide what to do with it. I don't know if I'll feel inspired to create an entire quilt of these blocks, or if this block will join in with other orphan blocks for a crazy sampler quilt.

By this time, the fabrics had been moved into the dryer----so more putzing.
DH has asked me to make a quilt for his head-contractor, Scot, for Christmas. Naturally, being a hunter of all sorts, a Camoflauge quilt was requested. I've been slowly adding to my camo stash since about last Christmas, and these are the fabrics I have chosen for him so far. I've also been looking around for different patterns, and I might actually make a "controlled" Chunky Churndash.


Lunch time! DH threw this recipe together a couple of weeks ago, and I wanted something quick, so I made the "mini-bagel-pizza" for lunch. Very simple-----throw half a bagel in the toaster; then layer with pizza sauce, pepperoni and cheese. Put under a lo-broiler for a few minutes, and v'iola! Instant "easy" lunch that the kids love!!!


Post-lunch: A few weeks back, this was a goodie that I won as a give-away. Still waiting for the fabrics to get dry, I figured I'd tackle getting this sandwiched and basted. And of course, even though the dryer timer went off while basting, I couldn't just LEAVE the darn thing laying out on the floor-----it needed INSTANT quilting. So----Not only did I have a day with my lovely Blanket stitch earlier----now I could try my first real SATIN stitch. Ooooooooo------so COOL!!!! I don't have pics yet, but will put them up tomorrow for sure. I just received my Connecting Threads order, where I had ordered some "Fall Virigated" (sp?) thread. PERFECT! But---boy! It sure took a long time to go all the way around the edge of the scarecrow.

So, finally came the time when I needed to take a break from down-stairs. DH was home early due to being "rained out" (even though it wasn't raining by us). So, the girls got their suits on and headed out to the "turtle pool" again; DH headed to the garden, and I WAS going to get some mowing done, but the mower had other things in mind. The belt needed replacing, and we didn't have the correct belt handy to get it going---so....... (now, here comes the whining)----it was TOOO MUGGGGGY for me! I had no ambition of helping in the garden, so, back downstairs I went, fabric from the dryer in tow.

I wasn't downstairs long when "drama" was breaking out upstairs. Ooooo----those girls can drive each other crazy (and ME too!) So, for the next couple of hours, I was upstairs, toggling between preparing supper, refereeing the girls, and ripping out the baby blanket quilting. (Slowly making progress on that---but no big hurry!)

By 8:00, I was able to head back downstairs to finish up the ironing. I even cut out ALMOST all the pieces. Well, all the pieces are cut out, but some of the strips need cutting yet into half-triangles, etc.

At 9:00, I took a quick time-out to shush the girls off to bed. Sorry---bad mommy tonight; no stories. They were all pretty much pooped out anyway, so bedtime wasn't a struggle tonight! Whew......

To wrap up the evening, I needed to get SOME piecing done on Cathy's quilt, so I took the mauve and cream strips, pieced them, and make about half of the required 4-blocks needed.

Oh---and that reminds me! This pattern REALLLY over-estimated the fabrics needed. The picture above showing all the pieces----yeah, well, on the left of that picture is all the excess fabric I have! I can definitely see some pillow shams being created!!!!

Whew----Nice productive day :0) Tomorrow needs to be a family day, though. DH will be working on some of his side-jobs, so it'll just be me and the girls again. However, I need to do something "organized" with them to keep them sane. Baking cookies is on the agenda for sure---not sure if the day will involve an "outing" or not.

4 comments:

  1. Oh my golly gosh, what a hugely busy and productive day! Do you never stop and smell the roses? (English phrase - ask me if you don't have it over there). Great to hear that your machine is behaving so well for you - can't you just feel the difference when you're using a quality machine? I did some machine applique the other day with mine, and I'd never have dared even try with the old one.

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  2. Good for you!Can you bottle some production? I am still in adjustment mode (my girls just finished school on Thursday). I can't seem to focus. Might it be the Drama? Hopefully, this week will be better.: ) I keep sewing my half square triangles backwards in blocks.So, rip and rip more.

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  3. Wow -- you have been busy. Isn't it great to be able to power through the list for a while? I love the floral fabric you chose for your new quilt. I think it's the same fabric I used on my last stripy lap quilt for the girl scout project. It went with a gold and a dusty rose I think.

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  4. Sounds like when you headed downstairs, you weren't sure what to work on, so you worked on everything. Your Mohawk Trail block is one I should make, as our 1st house when we were young was on Mohawk Trail, and there is a Mohawk Trail about a mile from us now. It looks so hard though. Your little pizzas bring back memories too, as my mother used to make them for us, except with English muffins. I love Bagels, so I'll bet those were good.

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