February Quiltathon - Sunday Progress

Disappearing Flower Baskets is finished!!!  I also made two Morning Splash blocks.  Not as much done today, but it still was a pretty productive weekend overall.  Now I'm off to finish my sock homework.

Update:  I ended up finishing the last four Morning Splash blocks.  NOW I'm going to finish my sock homework.

February Quiltathon - Saturday Progress

I started the morning out by finishing my "T" blocks for Morning Splash. 

Then I made the mistake of taking a break and went off to get groceries for hubby's Valentine's supper.  After I got back, I cut the pieces for the next step.  I started cutting some rectangles and thought how the heck am I gonna get the required amount out of 2 strips.  Um, I was cutting them at 3-1/2 inches instead of 2-1/2 inches....braid fart #1.  When I started making the alternating blocks, I remember thinking "Amy, you gotta pay attention to where the colors go and that the stem of the "T" goes toward the center."   You know where this is going don't you???  Apparently I must have been bebopping or daydreaming a little too much because all the sudden I thought something didn't seem right on that last block.  Yep, brain fart #2, the turquoise "T" row (in the middle, 2nd row) was sewn the wrong way.  I even thought it was weird sewing that row. 

Now it's fixed and half of the blocks are done.  Now that I look at these pictures, the orange really seems to stick out.  Tomorrow I'll finish the rest of the blocks.  I also quilted Recipe for Friendship. 

Now this 3 cheese manicotti is in the oven and should be done in a little bit because hubby just got home from work.

Quiltathon Sunday

This will be short and sweet because I’m exhausted from doing so much this weekend.  It’s a good thing I have to work tomorrow, I can rest.  LOL

Today I finished the second pillowcase, finished knitting the second sleeve for my sweater, quilted Patchwork Party ‘09 and started binding it. 



I tried something new (for me) with the border.  I tried doing square feathers.  They kind of look more like ribbons.  Maybe I should have put a “stem” in the middle of them.  I think I should get an “A” for effort at least.  One long side is almost hand-sewn down. 



My goals for the rest of the week are to continue sewing down the binding, assemble my sweater, and finish sewing He Loves My Daisies into a top.  If I would get all of that done, then tackle making the “T” blocks on Morning Splash.  After that, I need to get back to working on BOM blocks.

I got a lot accomplished this weekend.  I'm feeling better about all the projects I have going, but I still need to keep at it. 

Amy

Quiltathon Saturday

I've been a busy girl today.  I was supposed to be quilting today but I'm going to wait to do that tomorrow.  Instead I decided to finish the 3 pillowcases that I cut out two weeks ago.  The picture shows all four Starry Night pillowcases.

I also cut out two more that are made with Valentine's fabric. One is done the other I'll work on tomorrow.  The second one has the fabric reversed.

Then, last but not least, I worked on sewing He Loves My Daisies into four more rows.  The first four rows are sewn together also.  (Sorry you'll have to tilt your head to look at it the correct way, neither Blogger nor Windows Live don't want to play nice today....you get the idea.)

Non-quilting related I ran over to the knitting shop where I'm going to be taking my toe-up sock class.  It was my first time there and my gosh is it tiny, but the owner was very helpful and friendly!  I chose Plymouth Yarn Co.'s Happy Feet Color 26 which is a mix of blues/grey.  Now, I just have to wait a couple more weeks for the first class.

Hop on over to Judy's blog to see what others are up to during the quiltathon.

Quiltathon Day 2 & Pets

Apple Cider Medallion BOM Block #3 is done.


The blocks and patterns are all being stored in my new project holder. I have a couple of clear plastic containers like this, but noticed that Joann Fabrics has them in all different colors. I plan on getting a couple of the other colors but only when I can use my 40% coupon since they're a little expensive (IMHO) at regular price. My 12.5" unfinished blocks fit great in here.

It's been a while since I posted pictures of the geese/duck and goats, so I figured I'd take a couple. Here are the three geese and duck sunning themselves. I'm a little concerned about their safety now. Our neighbors told hubby yesterday they've spotted a coyote wandering around their backyard lately. Also a couple of guys (who were tracking and hunting coyotes and fox on our property) told us there are a bunch of coyotes in the area. We've heard them a couple of times but never have seen them. I sure hope they stay away from our pets.

Here's Roxie and Buddy. I didn't notice when we put the panels up that this sign was on it.

Here is one of the Christmas trees that they've been snacking on. They striped it bare! Goats like the needles, which provide them essential vitamins, on the trees. Although a pregnant goat should not eat the needles. We're alright though since Buddy is "fixed". Also note they like your shrubs and regular evergreens (see previous picture where they've been snacking on the live trees also....as high as they can reach). So if there something you don't want eaten.....either put a fence around it, keep the goats in a pen or don't get goats.

Quiltathon/Doghouse & Snow

It's Quiltathon day, and I've been busy making HSTs for Judy's Quilt-Along, which I'm calling Dogs in the Doghouse. I have half of them squared up. I'll work on them more tonight and tomorrow.

The snow day I was hoping for on Wednesday decided to show up today. We were suppose to get 2 to 5 inches and we've gotten all of the 5 inches. And it's still snowing! The boys thought it was too warm in the house so they wanted to go out. The first picture is the first time I left them in, but after Riley had shaken some of the snow off. The other two pictures (Sonny, then Riley) I took right after I left them in from their kennel. Hopefully you can click on the picture and see a bigger picture....it's so cute. Although I really could have done without more snow.

January Quiltathon - Saturday Progress

I've been a busy little bee this morning. I made Kathy's two Block Party blocks and tore apart the "kit/PIGs" side of the closet to find the materials for Diamond Jubilee. Of course it was at the very bottom. I have about another 40 inches of binding to hand sew on Rambling Rose. I need to take a break because my eyes are bugging out and my arm kinda hurts. After my break I'll work on cutting fabric for Jennifer's two Block Party blocks. If there is time before I need to leave for the bball game, I will work more on the binding. For sure tomorrow it will be done!!

At Last!!!

FINALLY, Snow Wonderland is quilted! The Voyager ran wonderfully! I just ate lunch so I'm going to head back to the sewing room and work on the table topper for my boss. I'm thinking maybe of doing several more for a couple of my other co-workers, but we'll see. I also want to get the binding sewn to the front of Snow Wonderland so I can work on hand sewing it down tonight during TV time.

I apologize for not posting any pictures lately. I've got tons from our vacation and of the boys. So soon you'll get some eye candy!!

Ready, Set, Sew!!!

I was feeling ambitious yet last night so I finished making the rest of the HSTs for Heritage. Today I need to iron and square them up. Then I didn't really feel like starting on anything else, so I decided to clean up a little. I moved the stacks of fabric in front of my storage wardrobe so I can actually access it. Low and behold there was actually some room to jam stack some of that fabric in. When I was shopping my stash, I was excited to find a fabric that I think will work for the inner border on Winter X.

So now it's Saturday, it's overcast and gloomy out (even talking snow)....perfect weather for sewing!!! I think I'll start slow, either with laying out the blocks for Winter X or cutting piecing for my boss' table topper. Then time to get Snow Wonderland quilted.

On a side note, we watched the end of Wizard of Oz last night. Did I miss something? I thought it was always on Thanksgiving Day? This morning there were some Christmas movies on LMN. Although I love watching Christmas movies, I'm not quite ready for them. It seems like we just started November....is there a way to slow time down and speed me up?!?!

Quiltathon Progress Update #2

I made more progress on Fall Back in Time after my initial post yesterday, but didn't get to submit an update. I finished Steps 2 and 3. Took a little break and cut a bunch of background squares to make more HSTs for Heritage. Then hubby came home so I had to stop.

Today hasn't been nearly as productive since I had to do some house chore type things, but I did get the top made. The pattern is Keyholes from Anka Treasures' (Heather Mulder Peterson) On A Roll Again book. The pattern calls for two borders but I'm not really sure what colors to use. I don't have any yardage of this fabric line. If you have any suggestions, please post a comment.

If you read my blog, you know that last week I was going to hang a curtain rod in front of my table to hang my quilts. In order to move the table, I had to take several boxes of fabric out from under the table. I didn't put them back "just in case" hubby decides to drill the holes. Riley seems to like this empty space....he has taken up residence there when I'm sewing.

Here are our naughty little goats. When they're not eating leaves or grass, they like to hang out on our porch. Normally Roxie is the one who sleeps on my bench, but yesterday Buddy decided he likes it. Buddy has been pretty naughty this weekend....he keeps putting his feet up on the door or siding to try and look in the house.
So Roxie laid on the doormat which hubby had moved away from the door.
I've procrastinated long enough and now I'm off to work on quilting Snow Wonderland. I really need to practice quilting more but I have so many tops that need to be quilted so I don't take the time to practice. I'm so worried about ruining the quilt that I worked so hard to make. So then I procrastinate and the tops keep adding up. I just need to realize that they're not going to be perfect and like on the Nike commercials....JUST DO IT!!! So that's what I'm going to do! I'll let you know how it goes later.

Update: So much for that idea. I guess the bobbin thread wasn't the problem because the Voyager still isn't working. :0( I guess I will need to call Hinterberg this week. In the meantime I'm gonna check out the Hinterberg groups archives.

Quiltathon Progress Report #1

I was wondering why I was starting to feel hungry so I looked at the clock in the bedroom....it was already 10:00! So after three hours of sewing, what did I accomplish?

Jelly roll strips cut into rectangles.


Rectangle fabrics matched up.

Step one complete.
Here are what the boys (Riley, then Sonny) are up to while I'm sewing....

Sonny sleeps by the door because the goats (especially Buddy) like to come up on the porch and peak into the window next to the door.

I'm taking a little food break and then I'll get back to the sewing room.

Almost forgot, I think I figured out what was up with my Voyager. The bobbin thread was caught. (Guess it helps to read the MANUAL.) Glad it wasn't a wire connection problem. I'll probably wait until tomorrow to quilt though...I've stood enough already today.

Red Hot!!!

That's what the Brewers are right now!!! Man was today's game a blast to watch. Kapler, Braun, Fielder, Parra, and Hart.....smoking. The best was the in the park home run! Way to hustle Corey! The question now is....can they keep this momentum as they head back on the road?!?! Hopefully the answer is a big fat YES!!!

Now for quilting, I had been doing good until I got sidetracked by the Brewers game. Now I'm gonna get busy again working on borders. I have the first border on Rambling Rose. I wanna get the last two on today yet and start quilting Bricks & Stepping Stones. I'll report my progress later.

Quiltathon - Sunday

I spent almost 3 hours in the sewing room and only completed two blocks! It took a long time to cut the pieces and then get them all sewn together. The good news is that I only have one more Rambling Rose BOM block to finish and then I can sew the top together. I sure am glad that I made the alternating log cabin blocks a long time ago. I'm definitely starting to lose interest in this top now. Kinda like the Golden Memories BOM top which I finished the sampler blocks, but still have to make all of the log cabins. It'll get done eventually. ;0)

The two blocks was all I had motivation for today. I don't know if it's allergies or lack of sleep or both, but I was feeling pretty beat today. DH had a little problem with sleepwalking and the stairs the other night so I think I was constantly waking up last night to make sure he was sleeping. (I made him sleep on the couch on the ground level. LOL) The little turkey keeps telling everyone that I pushed him down the steps! >:- (I tell them the real version of the story.) Don't worry he is alright, just got a little road rash on his arm, head, ankle, and back. I can only remember one other time that he sleepwalked so hopefully this isn't going to be a regular thing.

Quiltathon - Saturday

I started a little late today, but I've finished the backing for B&SS and completed Shirley's star block. I decided to work on Shirley's block first since that actually has a deadline. Nothing else on my "current" or "someday" lists has due dates.

After lunch I went back and loaded the B&SS backing to the quilting frame. In a little bit I'll either work on loading the top or work on one of the three remaining Rambling Rose BOM blocks.

I may have to work tomorrow so I need to get as much done today as possible.