New Month Ahead!

Good Morning from brisk Indiana!  The sun is shining brightly but it's only in the teens this morning!  Except for a few weekly errands we have stayed close to home this past week.  I've made a pot of chili and a pot of chicken noodle soup this week - very comforting on these cold days.  Chet ventured out to the mailbox yesterday, I think it was his first time out in a week!  The week can't go fast enough for him - Super Bowl next Sunday! 

We keep tabs on the kids and grandkids by spying on them through Facebook.  I didn't think I'd care for it but it's good for a laugh now and then!

I will spend Super Bowl Sunday at a big sale at my favorite quilt shop.  I really do need a few things!  It's always jovial there - and the gals may be wear blue wigs! 

I've kept busy in my sewing corner this week.  Pictured below is the Carolina Lily wall quilt.  I was so tempted to hand quilt it but knew it would not get done in the near future.  I used a portion of a traditional quilt stencil in the four corners and then just stitch 1/4" from the flowers and stems. 

 

My guild is doing a 'half-square triangle' swap, each month we do a different color.  I spent a couple of days making them for the entire year - we swapped blue/cream in January.  Big job - but it's done!  I hope they don't call me an over achiever! 

 And the next photo is also a swap - from the fabric stash room gals.  We exchanged light, medium and dark green, 3 1/2" wide strips - total of 10 strips.  Seven of us took part - so we got a big variety of greens and not a single repeat (except for the gal who sent 5 darks and 5 lights of same fabrics - we forgave her).  We are each using a different pattern - the picture shows my strips cut into correct lengths - I am waiting for brown fabric to arrive - should be here sometime this week.  I will be making Bricks and Corner Stones - from Quiltville.com. 

Our next swap will be in July and we've decided to do black with white and white with black fabrics.  Ten gals have signed up for this swap but we will be exchanging three or four strips this time.

I've spent the morning cutting my scraps into 3 1/2" and 2 1/2" squares - yes, I feel another multi fabric quilt coming on!

Time to find some lunch - I eat early because I'm a breakfast skipper! Have a good week and thanks for stopping by to visit!

Picture didn't upload first time!

Another picture didn't load - this is the Block of the Month which I intended to add to the first post today. . . fussy little thing, isn't it?There are 48 pieces in this block!

Football & Rainy Sunday

I am posting early this morning so I can be out of the family room before the football mania is on TV.  I watched my quilting/sewing shows this morning, then left the room and now when I'm back here the TV channel has changed to football again!  I picked up two bags of peanuts in the shell for Chet, he was pleased and put them in a 'special place'!  I had to move them and later he said he needed them by morning!  I was kind and showed him where'd I'd put them. 

JD, Mark, Tracy & Anna Grace have been in touch this week.  They are all so busy - ah, I remember when I was young and busy! 

Our snow has been gone for a couple of weeks now but I'm sure we'll see more in the next couple of months. 

It's been quiet here this week and we've been keeping busy.  Yesterday we went to Columbus and shopped a bit - not a bit  of muslin fabric in the stash.  I need it to complete a quilt top using left-over blocks from years and years ago.  Picture below. 

These blocks are leftover from a quilt I made for a friend - Tracy bought me an antique quilt using this method and friend was envious - so I made one for her and she had a church group hand quilt it for her.  I plan to use a setting new to me, saw it in a Georgia Bonesteel book many years ago and fell in love with it then.  Let's hope it works out!

I also finished the Carolina Lily block by adding borders and it's ready to be quilted now.  I'd love to hand quilt it but I'm afraid it'd never get finished.  Picture below.

The Block of the Month quilt is a real challenge - I had to redo my choice of fabrics and am pleased with the outcome of the first block.  It took about 2 1/2 hours, from cutting to completion; it is suppose to measure 12 1/2" but mine is a bit smaller.  With coaxing from a few squirts of spray starch and a heavy, hot iron, I'm sure it will be the size it's suppose to be!  Ah - we quilters often have to use a bit of persuasion! 

That's about it this week - thanks for stopping by.  Leave a comment if you care to - comment will not appear until I approve it - had to go this route because someone was advertising something!  Have a good week.

Quilt As You Go Finished

Meant to include these photos on last post - 'senioritis' set in, I guess. I've been working on this thing for the past week and am so glad it's finished. It's my first and last using this method! I ran it through a wash and rinse cycle and it's in the dryer now - hoping the 'slight discrepencies' washed out! And with that said I'll sign off again!





Guess in my haste I didn't rotate the pictures - so please rotate your head!

Colts Win - Chet is Beaming

  Chet is so happy to see the Colts win the game yesterday.  He's also happy to have his FAT HEAD of Peyton mounted.  Mark and Tia took the figures home, cut the board for it (even rounded the corners) and gave it two coats of paint - they had to mix paints to get this special color!  It is now propped up in the family room, hiding the antique radio!  I had to call the guy across the street to come over and see it!  We decided during the summer months Peyton will be moved out into the garage so the guys can see it while sitting in the lawn swing!  I'll have to call Nate to come by sometime today to see it, too! 

 We've had some decent weather this past week - the snow is all gone!  It's also been a busy week here.  On Monday I went to quilt guild, we had a gal come in to teach the Lily Block - some people call it the North Carolina Lily, others call it South Carolina Lily!  Photo below!  I still have to add triangles to the edges to make it a square and then I'll add a couple narrow borders!

Thursday friend Pat and I went to Rushville to a lecture/demo of a quilt we will be doing - Block of the Month - name of the pattern is Rocky Mountain Sampler, by Paula Stoddard.  I'd chosen my fabrics from my batik stash but after seeing a finished block and the directions I decided not to use batiks.  So I spent a couple of hours going through stash containers and came up with what I think is more appropriate.  So I will start that project sometime this week.

Kids News - Tia is here and enjoying being back with her friends at North Decatur High School - she and Mark get along well.  We checked in with Tracy on her birthday; she and Anna Grace celebrated by going to a deli that serves their favorite soup - cheese and broccoli! I think she's inherited her love of soup from me!  Nate is putting in a lot of overtime but expects to be cut back anytime.  We had lunch with Mark on Friday and he came over that night and set up Peyton for Chet.  No news from Green Bay so assume all is well there.  JD hasn't checked in - he has a full load this semester.  Nate chats with him often so we know he's doing fine.

Lunch time - I'm starving!  Tossed the quilt in the washer and it's ready to go into the dryer now.  Have a good week and stay safe.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting.

Sunshine Sunday

  All's well in Greensburg - thank goodness!  We are having the bitter cold temperatures and got about 5" of snow this past week.  The sun has popped out a few times but the temps really haven't improved. 

  I haven't checked with local sons to see how roads are - I hit the grocery store on Wednesday and stocked up pretty good. 

  It's been excellent sewing weather!  I was surfing the Internet and found an interesting project and decided to give it a try -  a "quilt as you go" technique.  The piecing and quilting is done in one step.  So I went 'digging' again and got out the Rubbermaid bin of solid fabrics and pieced backs for each block.  There were a lot of pieces of different sizes and those babies just got stitched together and then squared to an 11"  block.  Next came the batting scraps and they too were pieced if necessary - also to 11".  The fabric strips are cut from a group of coordinating fabrics I bought a while ago.  After stitching about half of the blocks (12 blocks-24 needed) I saw I would be needing to hit the stash in the cabinets.  So I found various fabrics in colors to 'kind of go with what I started' with.  This first photo shows a stack of the completed blocks after they were squared up to 10 1/2"

The photo below is the pieced backing sides of some of the blocks. The strips have already been attached to them.

And this photo is a completed row - 4 blocks across and will be 6 rows.  The blocks are attached with a 1" strip on the back side and a 1 5/8" strip which has been folded lengthwise.

Joining the blocks is quite a project, I'm not sewing too straight but they are being joined!  And I'm hoping it will pucker up and my stitching won't show too much, after it's run through the washer and dryer.

  My quilt guild is having a gal come in tomorrow to give a North Carolina Lily lesson.  I'm hoping the weather man is wrong when he predicted two inches of new snow overnight.  She has to drive on a winding, hilly road to get to town.  Have no idea how the streets in town are - just not a lot of traffic out there.  This is an all day affair, in addition to the lesson we will have our usual meeting, too.  My Viking sewing machine is heavy so I am going to fire up my old Singer Featherweight machine and if it runs smoothly, I will probably take it instead.  It only weighs 15# where as the Viking is more than double that! 

  So till next week - take care all.

 

 

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Good wishes for everyone in 2010!  Special 'birthday wishes' go to sister Mona in Minnesota who is celebrating her birthday today.  No, I won't reveal her age - but I didn't realize we were so close age wise!  Oh well, out of our control, wasn't it, Mona! 

We have had cold and messy weather this past week.  Snow was gone due to non-freezing temperatures.  Then we had a bit of snow and the neighborhood kids tried to build a snowman.  Josh, Lauren and Libby gave it a try - except they made a snow woman - complete with a Dolly Parton figure!  The kids in the picture are waving at Anna Grace in Mississippi!

Our kids are fine - busy with families and working - thank goodness.  Anna Grace called three times this week - first call was about how sad it was/is to find out about Santa.  Second call was to tell me her Mom was painting a wall in the dining room RED!  Third time was to tell me she was rolling on the bed, fell off and hit her head on the night stand drawer handle!  I felt so bad being so far away and couldn't give her loving hugs!  So I mailed a surprise package to her and it should arrive soon. 

Friend Pat and I braved the elements and took a ride to Rushville to the quilt shop.  I had a quilt to pick up from Carolyn, my longarm quilter gal.  Pictures below.  Nice to have another completed quilt and the stash is going down.  Pattern is Split 9 Patch.  This is the 3rd or 4th I've made using this pattern!  The quilt works fine - I used it to nap under yesterday!

Close up of the quilt.

This is a picture of the top of the C'mas Log Cabin I been working on.  Not adding borders - let's just say that this isn't a quilt to be proud of.  However the container of C'mas fabrics is greatly reduced.  Am hoping to find a C'mas print fabric to use for the backing - at least one side will be pretty then. 

That's about it for the week.  Wishing everyone warmth and good health.  Thanks for stopping in to visit.