Officially Caught Up

Having spent yesterday going up to the hills with DH and then doing the shopping that should have been done a week ago (ran out of chocolate!), I had some catching up to do. My first-thing-in-the-morning waking up thing to do is turn on my phone and see what the 365 Challenge block is for the day. Oh my goodness did that wake me up fast! All the blocks so far have been 3 inchers so that is what I was expecting. Upon further investigating I (fortunately) discovered that we are now doing the center block, which is 18 ½ inches.

Feb 28

This is the center; so tomorrow we add a couple borders to make it 18 ½ inches. Computers sure do odd things to colors; what looks to be yellow is actually cream and gold and those purpley triangles are really mostly blue.













This is the one for the previous day:

Feb 27

T

Then I proceeded on to the Circa 2016 blocks. They are easy and so relaxing to do.

These are bright and scrappy. I'm doing Westering Women, 365 Challenge, and Splendid Sampler in 1800s reproduction fabrics but Circa 2016 is being done in more contemporary colors, totally scrappy with no regard to matching colors. I'm using up a lot of old charms and scraps from Gypsy Wife. It's a carefree quilt..

Caught Up (for now)

Today was a catch-up day. I did the past three 365 Challenge blocks, this weeks Splendid Sampler block (not another appliqué!), and the Westering Women block for the month. And another day the seam ripper sat unused; after sixty years of sewing maybe I'm beginning to finally get the idea.

Westering Women - "Indian"

Splendid Sampler - "Happy Happy"

365 Challenge

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Gypsy Wife Hates Me

Strippin'

Today was spent on cutting and labeling 60 different strips for the Gypsy Wife quilt. Maybe. The materials list on the back of the book said 2 inch strips. Inside the book said 1 ½ inch strips. I've also found a few other discrepancies in measurements. I'm thinking something was lost in the translation from metric to decimal. There are a few 1 inch strips and a few 2 inch strips but the greater majority , about 55, are supposed to be either 2 inch or 1 12 inch I hope I picked the right size. If I chose wrong there are enough that I can tie them together and hang myself.

The final two

Lazy Sunday

I was wakened early today by the sound of silence. That probably needs a bit of explanation. We have doves. Normally they start making dove noises as soon as it's light. Most make typical dove cooing, but one of ours sounds just like a barking dog and another sounds like a child laughing. At first I couldn't figure out what was wrong or why I was awake so early (for me), then it dawned on me that we were getting the silent treatment. They were out of food. I dragged myself out of my warm bed and went out and fed them. Feeding birds is my husbands job but I didn't feel like waking him up .

Splendid Sampler 

By then the chilly air had me wide awake and going back to sleep was not an option so I headed into the sewing room. Sunday is a Splendid Sampler day so I turned on the computer and downloaded the pattern for today. More hearts. Then I did yesterday and todays 365 challenge blocks.  All before noon. I hardly knew what do to for the rest of the day but I managed to somehow fill the hours, even letting DH make a quite good dinner of beer can chicken, greens,  kasha, and fresh pineapple. Ice cream for dessert, of course.

Youngest Daughter is recovering from her surgery and is home from work until the stitches  are out. To keep herself amused she is planning a hobbit village for the hillside outside her home.

365 Challenge

Tequila Sunrise

Today The guild had a Jelly Roll Race class so I went, even thoughI've made a couple of them already.  I used to be in a group that exchanged batik strips so I figured this would be a good use for some of it. I picked out reds, hot pinks, oranges, and yellows. I took a Featherweight as I didn't feel up to lifting the Bernina in and out of the car. A half empty spool of orange variegated thread. I'm into using up stash this year. I was into using up stash last year too but it didn't made a difference. I think someone is sneaking into my house when I'm sleeping and leaving fabric because I look at some of it and honestly can't remember buying it or what I used it for.

So put on your sunglasses, here it is. Some strips were cut on an angle and some had squares in between. The squares were kind of an afterthought just to see what it would look like. The class suggested the name Tequila Sunrise.

If you can't make it good make it bright!

The Featherweight held up well although the motor did feel awfully warm by the time I was done. The cut finger didn't hold up quite so well; lifting the iron put pressure right on the cut and it started bleeding again. I guess I can't iron for a few days. Too bad…. :-)

Catchup Day

After being gone for a couple of days I had catching up to do -- three 365 Challenge blocks, one Splendid Sampler, and only one Broken Dishes block for Circa 2016, although I suspect more of these will be needed.

While we were at the hospital waiting for my daughter to be out of surgery we went down to the cafeteria for lunch. Across the room from where we were seated there was what appeared to be a large mosaic covering the wall and after lunch I went over to take a closer look. It reminded me of a watercolor-type quilt.

Imagine my surprise when I got close up:

It was made up of photos of employees of the hospital foundation. Amazing! I admire the talent it took to accomplish it.

My words of wisdom for today are if your rotary cutter falls don't try to catch it.

I just hope it will be functional without too much pain for my jelly roll class tomorrow.

A Better Day

I've been away for a while; my youngest daughter had to have surgery and called and said she needed her mommy. So I went. It doesn't matter that she is 48, when your kid needs you, you go. The surgery was successful although she was in a lot of pain still when we left last night, but much improved when I called her this morning. It was dark and raining hard when we arrived home but as we pulled into the driveway I could see yellow in the light of the headlights -- six daffodils were blooming. A lot less than what we usually have but the sight of them made me so happy. Tiny white blossoms are beginning to appear on the wild plum tree. The earth (and me) are ready for Spring.

I made progress on the blocks for Gypsy Wife before I left. Only two more to do and then the hard part of laying them out with the 1 ½ inch strips. I have a feeling there will be some words of power uttered during that part.

15 fabrics in one block

The one on the bottom reminds me
of the New Mexico flag

Another busy block

I spent a lovely day today with my sewing ladies at our once a month get together. I wish we did it more often, we have so much fun. I brought a chili cheese crustless quiche for the potluck, and finished sewing the hanging strip on the postage stamp quilt. Two of the other gals have also signed up for the Jo Morton Little Women club this year and several are doing the 365 Challenge.

Made a quick dash into the guild meeting to pay for the retreat next month.  The guild program tonight was about t-shirt quilts, which I'm not particularly interested in so I left early to have dinner with my husband.

Strange color combination?

A Very Valentiny Day

Beautiful sunny day, a little windy in the morning but not at all cold. I could smell Spring on the wind. The plum tree has tiny green buds and I saw a tree in bloom in town coming home from our Valentine dinner. Violets are just beginning to bloom.  I've had daffodils bloom for Valentines Day every year for 30 years except this one. Lots of strappy green leaves but instead of the hundreds of blossoms we usually have there isn't a single one this year. Another drought victim :-(

Today was the first day of the Splendid Sampler sew along and as could be expected it is a heart design. I love hearts. But I don't like appliqué. I would like it much better if I could still sew by hand, but I can't so have to do the fusible machine thing. It just isn't the same. I have lots of reproduction fabric so that's what this quilt will be. It is a cute little block anyway inspite of being done on the machine. Here is Hearts Aflutter:

Here is the 365 challenge block; sorry it isn't trimmed yet

Landmark Day

Yesterday was a landmark day for me. I didn't use the seam ripper all day. I believe this is a first.  I made the 365 Challenge block and five Gypsy Wife blocks and finished the folding block station for the Splendid Sampler, all without using the seam ripper. Unfortunately I made up for it today assembling the center medallion for the Circa 2016 quilt. I kept getting the hourglasses turned the wrong way.

Shops during Quilt Rush used to hand out pretty nice favors: charms for bracelets, rotary cutter holders, rulers, coin purses, tape measures, etc. But since the downfall of the economy such dandy items have become obsolete. The last several years they have handed out charms, the 5 inch fabric ones. The fabrics mostly are ones I wouldn't buy; probably from the bolts that have been on the half price shelf for the past year. If I owned a shop that's probably what I would do, too. Anyway, I had a box of these charms that I had no idea what I would do with. I decided to use them in my Circa 2016 quilt. Remember the first rule of scrappy: the more fabrics you use the more they will all go together.

Tomorrow is the first block for the Splendid Sampler; can't wait to see what it is like!

Beautiful Day

I woke up to sunshine and blue sky--a beautiful day about 72 degrees. Most years we get a week of nice weather in January or February and I think this is it. I love it; it makes you believe that Spring really will happen. Another good thing about today was the vertigo was mostly gone.

So I sewed. First I did the 365 Challenge block of the day -- that's my wake up exercise every morning. Then I did all of the various square-in-a-square blocks for the Gypsy Wife quilt.


It's going to be one wild quilt. Not like my usual somber reproduction quilts. I guess everyone needs to climb out of the box now and then.

The pictures look slightly askew because they are sideways and I forgot to turn them properly.




                                                                                                       

Primroses

This morning I woke up with a bad case of vertigo. A real problem to stand and walk, not so bad sitting down. I made it through sewing up the daily 365 Challenge block. I had primroses to plant so DH told me to point where I wanted them and he did the rest. I then staggered back into the house, sat down in the recliner, and declared a day of rest.

Maybe tomorrow will be a more productive day. I sure hope so!

Quiltingbowl Sunday

                                                                 

Superbowl Sunday. I wonder when it will be made a national holiday. Since it's always on Sunday everyone would get Monday off, thus giving them time to get over their hangovers. There's probably going to be a lot of people calling in sick anyway. I'm not a football fan, can you tell? I spent the day in my sewing room watching the Kitten Bowl and making more blocks for my Gypsy Wife.

                                                                                                        Here are two of my best friends: Kipling and the Bernina. 

Treasure in the Mail

The mailman brought me Great Treasure today:

The patterns for this years Little Women Club. There are a couple I won't be able to do as I can't do much handwork anymore due to RA in my hands but there will be enough to keep me busy inbetween all my other projects.












A nice selection of Jo Morton fabric came with the patterns. I'm looking forward to using it. I'm glad there are more light colors this year as I usually run short on it. Wish there were more blues.





After I got through petting and rearranging the fabric I made a few blocks for the Gypsy Wife quilt. I made the two blocks that are just 16 HSTs, the cute little heart block, and another whose name escapes me right now.  I wanted to make this bright and scrappy but I'm beginning to be afraid that it may be too bright, like put on sunglasses before you look at it. Or maybe it's just that I'm used to the more muted and somber reproduction fabrics I've been working with for the past several years.

                                                   See? I said it was scrappy and bright!


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Busy Friday

Spent the morning sewing the last three 365 Challenge blocks; I had to go to my Civil War sewing group yesterday so got a little behind with these but I'm all caught up with them now. Until tomorrow morning, that is. Took a trip to the grocery store for more fresh veggies and to PetSmart for more cat food. DH treated me to dinner out at Golden Corral. I like it there as I can pick out  gluten free options .I hope -- time will tell. I really pigged out on the sweet potato fries sprinkled with cinnamon.

 These are my 365 Challenge blocks for the past week. A couple of them were real challenges -- those teeny tiny ½" half square triangles and the T block. If were doing the easy blocks now I hate to think what they will be like by the end of the year.




DH had to go out after we came home so I took the quiet evening time to finish up my homework from the class yesterday. Then I sewed up this week's Circa 2016 blocks. 28 hourglass blocks. I'm using up charm squares gathered at the last several years of shop hops.

It's going to be very scrappy. I hope nobody notices that there is some very ugly fabric in it.

When it rains….

It's really pouring now. Quilt projects, not rain. In addition to the 365 Challenge, Circa 2016, Westering Women, my Civil War sewing group, the new Jo Morton book, and Gypsy Wife, the new Jo Morton Little Women Club has started. Just a month ago I was puttering around cleaning up the sewing room wondering what to do next. Now the sewing room looks like a quilt shop exploded and I'm wondering how to get it all done. I'm happier now; once again life has purpose. Unfinished projects are immortality, right? You can't leave something unfinished.

This is one of my treasures. It's a Johnson and Clark Improved New Home sewing machine from 1868-1870. She sews a beautiful stitch.

Sewing Room

I'm so happy to have my sewing room. I've been told I should call it a studio, but I'm just not a studio kind of person. After all, I sew in it, not study. Thirty years ago when I first moved here this room was our bedroom, but after a few years I moved the bedroom to the room in the back of the house where it is quieter and the fireplace is and the original room became a guest room. But we never had overnight guests so it turned into a catch-all messy storage place. Then for a year it was home for my daughter and two grandkids. They moved out and it once again became the messy storage place. My sewing during this time consisted of sitting on the living room floor as I had given away the dining table. One day as I was looking for something in the storage room I had a Great Epiphany -- this room would make a great sewing room! So I casually mentioned it to my husband. I drew up plans and picked paint. We started by tearing the wallpaper murals off and made great progress on the first day.The stuff cluttering up the room was relocated, given away, or junked. Then I hurt my back; in bed for two weeks and using a walker for a couple of months and work on the sewing room came to a standstill. A friend had booked a cruise to Panama and her companion backed out of going so she asked me if I could go with her.  I thought a cruise would be a perfect place to recuperate so off we went on a most memorable three weeks. On my return home I found a wonderful almost completed sewing room awaiting me, complete with shelves for part of my sewing machine collection. Feeling blessed.

Jo's Little Women

The mailman brought me treasure today! New books are always fun. Something else to keep me busy, at least until Jo's Little Women Club 15 comes out. I love my little quiltlets.

The following quilts are some from Jo's Little Women Club #14 from 2015. It was the first year for me and was a lot of fun.


 This is Gosling. I put off making it for a while as the ½" by 1" flying geese were rather intimidating. But I gave it a try and it came out rather well, and those baby geese weren't bad at all.

Stars for Autumn. The colors didn't photograph quite right -- they look rather yucky in the photo but the are nice fall colors in reality.

Lots of little hourglasses. This one went fast.
Instant gratification.












                    Little log cabin blocks in winter holiday colors.











Snowy claiming Burgoyne Surrounded as her own. I want it on record that she is not my cat. She's my husbands spoiled darling and doesn't even like me, she just likes the quilts and having her picture taken.

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Circa 2016

Temecula Quilt Shop is doing a quilt- along, with each step being posted on Fridays. This is for the second Friday: twelve nine patch blocks, 3 inch finished.

Last year was my year to finish up UFOs and WIPs and I think I did pretty good, quilting six bed-sized quilts, piecing and quilting several others, completing all of the Jo's Little Women #14, and generally just getting projects done. Then there was the lull after finishing all that and before my Civil War group started it's 2016 project and Little Women #15 isn't out yet. So I started projects: the 365 Challenge (one block a day), Temecula's Circa 2016 (once a week), Barbara Brackman's Westering Women (one block a month), Gypsy Wife (whenever I can get to it), and my Civil war groups several blocks a month. And of course I want to do Jo's Little Women Club again (6-8 little quilts). When it rains it pours. I hope I can keep up with it all. Oh Sheesh! I just realized all those tops will have to be quilted when the piecing is done! I guess next year will be another year to finish up the UFOs and WIPs.