Sidney and Cole Happy Easter

 

Meet Sidney and Cole - they are the children of the gal who figures my taxes.  I gave her these folders about this time last year and she gave them for Easter Gifts.  She tells me they enjoy them and she's had to replace the tablets a couple of times now.  She sent a photo last year to use on my blog but it never came through, so we tried it again.  Her son has been checking my blog - looking for his picture.  So - here you are kiddos - Happy Easter - enjoy your Easter Egg Hunt at your Grandparents and the lovely meal, too. 

Hour Glass Quilt - Bunnies and Cabbages

Hi Family and Friends - from rainy Greensburg.  Weather man tells us we are to have nicer weather the rest of the week!  Lawns are 'greening up' and some flowers are poking through the soggy ground.  I finally took my snowman collection and the holiday mantle cover off the fireplace. . . brought out the pastel baskets cover and put a few Spring things out.  The picture below was taken with the treasures on the floor - too dark to take pictures on the mantle.  The rabbits were a gift from my nephew's wife, Janice in Texas.  The ceramic cabbage salt and pepper shakers I made in a class many years ago.  Aren't they precious!

We've had a lazy week and I spent a lot of time in my sewing corner!  I was looking for something and started checking my containers and found some Snail's Trail quilt blocks, they only needed the last round of triangles sewn on, so I cut light and dark fabrics to finish them up.  Worked on ten blocks and discovered I'd done something wrong - so removed 40 triangles and laid them out and took a good look at them.  It finally dawned on me that I'd sewn the last round of triangles on wrong.  And imagined that's why they ended up in that container and got tucked away - out of sight - out of mind, I guess.  Well then I ended up with a stack of triangles and decided to make Hour Glass blocks and stitched up the quilt below.  Right now it measures 28 x 36 and I hope to find border fabric today. 

Have a safe week - till next time - Bye!

Spring has Sprung - - Friendship Star Quilt

Yes, our snow is gone, trees and lawn are 'greening up' and the lawn has been fertilized.  Chet boarded his riding mower with the little trailer attached and picked up limbs that had fallen through the winter.  A few robins have made an appearance! 

Wednesday we went with Mark to pick up Tia, she went to Michigan for a few days while on Spring break.  A three hour drive (one way) to Auburn, IN - this is about half way from her home in Michigan.  She was glad to be back here and has continued her break with a party and a bon fire at Mark's house.  Mark is working on his pontoon and hoping to put it in the water in a few weeks. 

JD was here for a few hours on Friday, he's on Spring break, too.  He hurried back to Bloomington to see a special person there.  He was a big winner at a nearby casino and was thrilled; he is looking to buy a car now and he really does need one.  Chatted for a bit with Nate yesterday, he is still working six days a week but down to 8 hour shifts now.

The two out of state children seem to be occupied with many things involving their children - I check on them via Facebook.  I kind of feel like Marie Roberts spying on her kids - but that's the way it is!

We had to replace our phones so I went shopping and found what we needed/wanted.  After installing them there was static and it was bad.  I broke down and read the instruction manual and learned I needed a DSL Filter!  Made several calls around town and found out that we got the filters along with the Internet kit.  After digging in boxes I found the gadget and installed it - we are now static free!  We checked in with Chet's sister in Arizona and it was nice for both of us to be able to talk/listen at the same time. 

Being passionate about sewing, most of you know I have to sew something everyday!  During the past week I made this little Friendship Star doll size quilt.  All fabrics from stash, of course!  And I'm proud to announce that it ended up being the size of the dimensions in the pattern!  This is rare for me!

Must sign off for this week - hope everyone is well and has a good week.  Till next time, bye for now.

Short Post - Rocky Mountain Sampler Blocks

We are having a very dreary day in Greensburg this morning.  Rain has been sporadic  the past three or four days.  Temps are above freezing so our snow is washed away.  I did venture out to Quilt Guild on Monday and enjoyed all the ladies.  We are having a block swap in the group and it is always the high light of the meetings.  I think it could be classified as a Chinese Fire Drill.  The group started with 7 or 8 members and now we've grown to over 20 members.   Our car needed attention so I took it for an oil change and wash - and it rained the next day!  I should have known better, eh?  We did some other errands and went out to eat.  There is a lot of street repair going on and it's a challenge to turn into the businesses you need to get to.

Family is doing alright - or we'd have heard from them!  (grinning here).  Mark did call and we made plans for this week to pick up Tia half-way between here and her home in Michigan.  She's on Spring Break this week, her sister came to spend a couple of days here visiting friends, going back to Michigan today for a few days.  It's a long ride but it gives us an opportunity to spend time with Mark and Chet enjoys the ride!  Other than that I plan a quiet week.

On Thursday a friend and I met for brunch, then headed to Rushville for our Rocky Mountain Sampler quilt lecture/demo.  We did two blocks this month because snow kept us from having a February meeting.  We are given patterns and instructions each month for one block.  Pictured below are the two blocks I finished this week.  (January block shown in older post).

The block below is a tad smaller than it should be - however with the persuasion of spray starch and a heavy iron, it will fit in the quilt!

I plan to play in the sewing area today - Nancy Zieman had a guest on her show last week and I was taken by the methods she was using.  Maybe there will be a photo next week - and maybe not!

Till next week, take care and thanks for stopping by.

Site Correction

To see the variations of the 9 patch blocks, ry this site and see if it will work for you - if not, do a 'search' for it.

http://quiltingpassion.com/blocks/pieced/ninepatchvariation/index.html

This and That 9 and 4 Patch Blocks

This week passed quickly and right now I can't remember what happened around here - it must have been fairly boring!  Our snow is almost all gone; there are remnants along the edge of the driveway and the bottom half of a snowman in our backyard!  We have a lot of branches in the backyard - Chet will love getting on the riding mower and picking them up.  Our temps are going up slowly and possibly rain most of the week!

Thursday a friend and I went to Bloomington, IN to the quilt show.  It was a big show with about 225 quilts on display.  Many vendors with booths there but I did not buy a thing - not even a spool of thread!  The quilts were awesome and most of them were machine quilted.  Beautiful work!

My sewing machine was humming all week.  The Brick Wall of Wabash County top is now finished - and I love it.  It was a lot of work but well worth it.  It's ready to go to the longarm quilter when we go to Rushville on Thursday.  I'm taking at least two quilts to her - not sure I want to take the Log Cabin I made a while ago using C'mas fabrics.  It's kind of a nightmare!  Photo below - folded to show a fourth of the quilt.

After finishing the Brick Wall quilt top there was a lot of fabric leftovers so I played.  I'd heard so much about the Disappearing 9 Patch so decided to give it a try.  Using different size blocks, I made three sizes.    Quilts using this block can be seen at: quiltingpassion.com
This site shows variations of the layouts. 

Then I found another interesting block on the Internet using 4 Patch blocks, sliced them up and rearranged them.  Directions for this block can be seen at:  http://sewwonderful.blogspot.com    Check the Feb. 3, 2010 post.  My photo below. 

Thanks for stopping by - have a good week.