Yesterday morning, I started the day by sewing on the borders for Nancy's (Life is a Stitch) mystery, and also sewed together the bonus triangles to make 24 pinwheel blocks. I see Nancy has posted step 6, but I haven't jumped into that one yet----but I sure wasn't expecting Piano Keys (step 6) for this border. How cute! I'll have to see how I can incorporate these pinwheels with her mystery border suggestion.


Once that was set aside, I plunged back into the Scrappy Baskets and Diamond Stings quilt, which I am now calling Grandma & Catherine. I still had to tinker around with the inner border(s) in order to get the outside string blocks to fit nicely. The difficultly I'm having (had) was that blasted light fabric I used in the string blocks. It's SO THIN, definitely NOT 100% cotton! It was from Grandma's stash and I used up everything that was left over from the OC quilt last year.

Anyway, at this point, it'll lay on the floor so I can see it everytime I pass by. I'm not ready to put on a final border (the fabric shown on the bottom left). I will make this bigger, so.......thinking about what I can do to accomplish that. More blocks? More borders? That's what I have to figure out......

DH shooshed me out the door at 10:00 cuz he knew I wanted to go to the LQS (local quilt shop). (and he wanted to go fishing when I returned).

As always, I ONLY had intentions of visiting and do some window-shopping. Yeah right! I saw a crate of FQ's (10 for $15.00); a BEAUTIFUL pack of greens caught my eye. BUT, dutifully, I placed them back and kept window shopping. Then, I went to the back "clearance" room and saw some lovely creams and golds, but once again I was desciplined and walked away. As I walked and chatted, I walked by the FQ crate again; those greens kept calling my name. So finally.....I caved! Then I figured since I had a handful of greens, I might as well go back and see about those creams and golds. In the end, I didn't go too crazy, BUT I did come home with some beautiful fabrics. The entire time I was picking them, I was thinking about the "March" calendar picture. So, upon returning home, I turned on the computer and played around with a layout (using Excel----I don't have any quilt design software. Excel is limited to what you can do, but it works well enough for me.)

Since then, I have been pressing and cutting and sewing and pressing some more and cutting some more and sewing some more. :0) One thing about buying fabrics from this shop---THEY SMELL SO GOOD when I press them! Her shop ALWAYS smells lovely!

There have been two ladies requesting some simple directions for this quilt, so I'm ending this post in order to put another "tutorial" post together.

Happy Sunday!

Pay it Forward, 2009!

Just taking a few moments to check in, and WOW! In my email was a comment regarding the PIF, 2009.

Grandma Shell (as she calls herself) has decided to be my third person to receive a handmade item from me, and in return will share her talents by making gifts for three individuals who decide to play with her. Grandma Shell is a newcomer to me, so I am looking forward to getting to know her :0)


My day has consisted of quilting, trip to LQS, quilt designing on computer, and then more quilting/piecing. Camera is still downstairs and I'll upload/update my day in a bit more detail later tonight or tomorrow.

Happy Saturday!

Taking things for granted....

HA! Laurel's comment in the last post made me realize that we sometimes takes things we share for granted.....

No Laurel, I am not a size 16W or 20W; I have been fortunate enough to still keep much of my athleticism from my youth and remain to be a runner and volleyball player, and active with my children. Therefore, I remain right around a "proud" size 5-7.

The capris were only seen as CHEAP FABRIC in my eyes.....nothing more.

As for plans with them.....cut 'em up, strip 'em down, and fold into the stash. :0)
I also came across some Plus size christmas shirts that are 100% cotton, also only ONE DOLLAR! There was still a good selection so I grabbed the largest sizes; they are still in the Walmart bag (from a couple of weeks ago). I think they were XXXL! LOTS of fabric!



On another note, also related to the blog title regards a statement President Obama made yesterday when rationalizing to the American people about his proposed budget.... it was close to....'Sometimes you can redecorate your house and sometimes you can't. If they money isn't available, you have to make your priorities....'
Well, at school, I have been writing a Smart Board Purchase request along with our school's Media Specialist. Our Superintendent quoted us a budget amount to use in addition to a few other sources of funds. In the end, she and I submitted our request with a final note of "$200 extra dollars being requested" with the rationale that one more complete setup could be purchased for the Elementary school. When I spoke with him unofficially in the hall with the request, his remark was "when is enough enough??", but then proceeded to grin and nod, being fairly confident the extra funds could be found. BUT, his comment DID get me thinking, and when I heard Obama's comment, I put it all together, and really sat and thought about a DIFFERENT solution that would keep us within the original budget. Outcome: she and I are still trying to be creative by seeking out some used Smart Board stands......but.....the bottom line: we all take things for granted. How many of us take our spouse for granted? I for one KNOW there are too many times when I take DH for granted! I "get on his case" when things don't go my way (part of being the 3rd "spoiled" child & the baby of the family, I think). But yet....he does SO MUCH for me and I don't always give him the recognition he needs.

At school: there are many of my coworkers that belly-ache, but I found myself as one of "those teachers" yesterday with the request of additional funds. My superintendent was right to say: "when is enough enough?"

So, what do YOU take for granted?


(wow---this post went off on a tangent)

Ummm...-test/test?

Having a panic moment here-----my complete blog just POOFED! Nothing showed....

let's try this!

Seven Shirts progress

Since Nancy (Life is a Stitch) posted yet another step for the Sevens Shirts mystery, I figured it was time to get downstairs to make the blocks from step 3. Ho-hum, ho-hum, an hour-n-half later, not only were the Snowball blocks finished from step 3, but they were also paired up and pieced into the quilt's center (step 4). THANKS NANCY! This went lickity-split!





However, sorry Nancy, but I just couldn't see those little "trimmed-corners" going into ANYTHING other than some bonus triangles! So, I eye-balled up each corner-to-corner piece on the snowball blocks, then double-sewed in order to get 48 bonus tris! Whether these get used up in the border (???), or if they get saved for some other scrap project, it doesn't matter to me. But, once again, just LOOK at what can be saved and "recycled" instead of simply tossing as scraps.!!! I'll be able to piece 24 pinwheel blocks, finishing at 3" (3.5" unfinished).



Last night, after volleyball, DH and I stopped at Walmart to pick up a few odds-n-ends. While walking down one of the center aisles, I noticed a few racks of clearance items. HOLY BUCKETS! These are Plus-sized capris (size 20W). 98% cotton, 2% spandex....I couldn't resist! They were only ONE DOLLAR! Not only did I pick up these, but there was also a hot-pink pair (size 16W) that I grabbed for $1 as well. AMAZING deal! Sometimes my DH can just be goofy! When we got home, he (for some reason) felt he needed to model the capris for our babysitter! We had a good giggle!

Friday tomorrow!!!! Let's see----goals for the weekend:
BESIDES housework: Depending if Nancy posts anymore clues, I might try piecing the Diamond Strips & Scrappy Baskets together since I THINK I know which avenue I'll head down now. THANKS for all the suggestions, by the way! I thought about the name for the quilt while I was mindlessly piecing the snowball blocks tonight-------I'm thinking: Grandma & Catherine. Catherine was my Aunt who passed on from pancreatic cancer many years ago. My mother is thinking MOST of the "stash" I received from Grandma ACTUALLY belonged to Catherine. And since so much of the scraps that were used in both sets of blocks came from Grandma's (Catherine's) stash, it just seems very fitting to me. I can't help but think about both of them anytime I work with much of the stash/scrap fabric anyway.....

Also, I think DD has been on hold long enough; perhaps I'll dig into step 3 with that as well.


Happy "almost" Friday!

Inspiration!!! And now a road-block :0(

The 2nd step (actually 3rd) of Life's a Stitch's Seven Shirts & Seven Steps was posted. I printed it off and headed downstairs all set on tackling it.......

but......I first needed to unpack everything (including the sewing machine) from last night's class. In the process, I set the 12 Diamond Strings blocks on the ironing board for the time-being. Just as I was getting ready to dive into the SS&SS, I had a moment of "ah-ha!," because in the back of my mind was what I was ultimately going to do with the DS blocks.......

For those of you who have been around my blog for awhile, you may remember these gems???? These are from May (2008); 10 of them have been completed. So.....I played........

I pulled some mauve/pink fabric; cut and sewed some sashing. I pulled a cute flowery (very GRANDMA-ish) black fabric; cut and sewed some corner-stones.......and 9 of my Scrappy Baskets are now a quilt center.....

And after sewing up 4 more complete Diamond String blocks..........

I HIT A ROAD BLOCK! I've been staring at the layout.....I've been sketching and drawing on paper.....and I just am at a loss on how to continue. This is why: the Basket blocks are 8.5" (8" finished).......BUT the Diamond strings are 9" (8.5" finished!).

If I continue with the same sashing fabric, the "lines" won't line up due to the uneven size of the outer blocks vs. the inner. So....maybe a different sashing fabric? Maybe the black that I used as the corners in the center section?

Do I sacrifice nice corners in the Diamond blocks and simply trim them down to 8.5" (8" finished)??? JUST to make it piece nicely?? (I think that's what I'm leaning towards......)

So...I needed to take a break anyway...I figured I'd post to see if anyone had any advice.

Do you?

In the meantime, I'm back off downstairs to actually work on the SS&SS quilt.......
Happy Tuesday!

Two finishes, so why not another NEW project???

I met my goal on Saturday by cutting through all the shirts and piecing the 24 9-blocks. DUH ME though---I didn't have my camera handy to get a pic. When I was done with that, I was fairly tuckered out after having such a late night Friday. I hung out with DH and the girls Saturday night, watching the HULK as a family, and puttered online perusing Bonnie's site. I was getting antsy for yet another NEW project. WHY??? I have no idea, but I went to peek......

Sunday morning brought anew energy, and I was downstairs by 8:30 am. I had been playing with the idea of creating a quilt label for each of the ladies in my Beginning Quilting class, so.....I DID! Now that they have been gifted (at tonight's 4th session class) I can freely blog them without giving away any surprise :0) At the same time, I created some labels for a few quilts that have been labelless for too long.

I needed to prepare the Quilting & BInding tutorial for tonight's class, so I pulled out the Class Act that was quilted Friday night and plugged away at completing the binding. Rather than hand-sewing the binding to the back, I carefully machine-stitched using a very small "seam allowance." There are a few small spots where the sewing lines show up along the border on the front, but....eh! Minor! This baby isn't gonna be hanging in any quilt show! :0)


So----binding done......slap on the label......Project #4 of the year complete!








NATURALLLLLLLY, with so many other projects laying around the sewing room, what is one to do but start yet another FUN project?!?!?! I kinda got excited when looking at Bonnie's Diamond Strings pattern. My bin of strings had almost reached the "I-can-no-longer-close" stage, so it was time to do something with them. Her method of piecing these babies was AMAZINGLY quick........in no time, I had 14 sheets completely sewn and ready for cutting.

After cutting and taking this lovely shot, I headed upstairs. The girls and I threw in KUNGFU PANDA and they all volunteered to help me tear off the paper backing. What sweathearts!
After the movie, dinner, and some baths, and once they were all tucked in bed, I headed back downstairs to see how far I could get on the blocks. How far did I get??? Finished up 48 corner pieces which would create 12 complete blocks once sewn together. But, it was 10:00, and I was ready for bed........(YES! I DO SLEEP!)

As mentioned, tonight was the 4th night of the Beginning Quilting class which got the ladies quilting & binding. Well.....no one got as far as binding, but I used this wall-hanging (that was created from their Session 1 practice squares) to show a demonstration of a complete binding. It was nice killing 2 birds with 1 stone here :0) My FIFTH finish of 2009!



Oooooooo, and look! Once all the ladies were comfortably quilting away tonight, I pieced the 12 blocks of the Diamond Strings. At this point, I don't think I'll make any more string blocks; rather I'll play around with some wide sashing OR alternate some plain blocks amongst these to make a twin size. ??? I'll play tomorrow night once the girls are in bed.





A few working shots of tonight's class.....

Who needs only FIFTEEN projects?!?!?

HA!
Been out surfing this AM; came across this gem: Uncommon Threads Quilting Guild's Strip Quilt that I've dubbed the "SOM quilt" (Strip of the month).

Ummmmm...........dare I??!!?

*lol*

Oh yes, besides that......Bonnie is putting the idea out for a green March project. She narrowed the pattern down to her Jared Takes a Wife pattern. BUT, I've actually been eyeing up this quilt from the Fons & Porter 2005 March calendar. I found this calendar in a box of "give-aways" that my mother had given me last summer. Originally, patterns were given with the calendars, but it has obviously been lost. No biggy for this quilt, though! The 4-patches can easily be made from 2" strips (measuring 3" finished), and the HST's from 3.5" strips (measuring 3" finished).

The question now becomes........

WHERE OH WHERE will the time be found to finish all these wonderful projects?!?!??!?

Happy Saturday!