Abby, Design Wall and Done

I decided to share what I wake up to each morning. Isn’t she the cutest?

I don’t think Abby realizes that she is a dog. She sleeps under the covers, note the beautiful quilt she is under, and likes her head on the pillow. I have wanted to get a picture of this but until this morning, I had forgotten that I can take pictures with my cell.

On my design wall are the blocks from last year’s BOM at my LQS using Eleanor Burns’ Egg Money Quilts Book. These are definitely not my style but it has been fun both to try new things and getting together with other quilters to talk (complain) about some of the challenges. There is one more block to make and then one will be chosen to use as the label and it will be time to rearrange the layout. I spent part of Sunday, while a major thunder storm worked its way through our area, working on a layout design which I hope won’t look anything like any of the quilts in the book. This, of course, means lots more sewing but I am really excited about how this will turn out. I must say that this 30’s fabric is so far out of my comfort zone that that in itself has been quite a challenge for me. Every time I work with it I want to run to my batiks and dive into it. Be sure to stop by Judy’s blog to see what others are up to.

And, the great accomplishment of last week is that Sunday morning I finished the Not Quite Traditional quilt, now called City of Roses.

Saturday I kind of locked myself in the studio and sewed the binding strips together, pressed and then sewed the binding on. While doing that I embroidered the label so it got sewed into the binding. I really like the label to be permanently sewed in and this time I got it done in time. Sometimes it takes me almost as long to designing the label as the quilt but this one came together very quickly. Then Saturday night and Sunday morning was spent hand sewing the other side of the biding and throwing it all in the washing machine. And it only took me 24 days to do this one day project: remember it was a New Year’s Day class: for me it was a New Year’s Month class.

Have a great week!

Is Football Season Over Yet?

It seems that Dish offers a special deal to be able to watch all the Big 10 football games. Ask me how I know. Football started Friday and was on ALL weekend. I must say that if I am at the stadium to watch a football game, I am a real fan and can yell with the best of them. But on TV, I don’t think so. But 3 solid days of football and I am so over it. Lol


So while the games were on, I spent all day Saturday in the studio. I worked on some paper pieced blocks I had been gifted by Pat and completed a quilt top that will be a gift so can’t be shown at this time. I, however, was really impressed that I got a complete top done in one day. The blocks were a little rough, some still had paper on them and some were made using cut away stabilizer and wash away stabilizer that had been “fused” to the back due to steam pressing. And, of course, they came in several different sizes. lol So, most of the morning was spent cleaning up the blocks and cutting the sashing strips and borders. The afternoon was spent sewing it all together. This is the layout that I have drawn: sorry I can’t show the work until later.


Sunday, because football continues all weekend, I worked on this charity quilt. Last week I cut out and sewed the blocks for this quilt, a D9P using shirting and fish fabric.

I had decided on no sashing between the blocks so it went together pretty quickly. All of the fabrics came from stash: I am so proud. Once I figure out a backing I hope to get this on the frame Monday and try a new panto on it. I really like these bright quilts.




Last week I finished the block at the top of this picture and was really excited. I had started this BOM in April or May and now I was caught up. Just as a matter of course, I counted my “finished” blocks and it came to only 7. “That couldn’t be right” I thought since I had just finished block 8. I got out all my instructions and low and behold, I hadn’t made block #7 cuz it wasn’t even in with the other patterns. But now I am all caught up, even have #9 done. These three haven’t been machine appliquéd yet but that will be part of next week’s work.

While I was working away in the studio today, DH was fixing brownies. Ask me how I know…

So, between daily rain and football, I have had a very productive weekend. How about you?

Great Week

Quilting work: My South Seas top is completed.


And yesterday I found the perfect backing fabric but I forgot to take a picture so it will have to wait until I get it off the frame. I just ordered a new panto for this quilt so will not start on it until sometime next week.

Pool/Stairs: All of the stairs are moved and today I had help with the last set. It seems that DH thinks I abused his reputation in my recent posts so he was “eager” to help. He even volunteered to have his picture taken, helping.

Have I ever reported that he teaches drama? Oh, my, what a ham!!

Anyway, now all those who expressed concern about me and my physical exertion in moving the steps can stop worrying. I did wind up with interesting bruises.

And there is even a knot under that yellow mark. But it only hurts when I touch it so I am not touching.

Giveaways: A couple weeks ago I won, from Pam at Mama Sparks World, a $50 gift certificate from Bunny Hill Designs. I was given a coupon code and only two weeks to use it. And, that was while we were on our MD trip. So when we got home I spent time on the Bunny Hill web page and this is what I ordered.

I am thinking that I will make the Christmas one for us: will work on it all next year. The other will be a gift but who knows when that will happen. I really like doing fusible machine appliqué but it does take me a long time. I have, however, been really enjoying the Bunny Hill basket BOM so I am sure I will enjoy these, too. Thanks, Pam.

Entertainment: Friday we went to see Julie & Julia and it was GREAT!! How uplifting to see two women, decades apart, finding what made them feel creative and fulfilled. Now cooking would never do it for me, but it was fun to watch each woman struggle with their challenges, much like I do, and then the sense of victory when it turned out great. I started smiling when the movie started and didn’t stop until it was over. Both actresses were perfect: as has been said by many before me, Meryl Streep was Julia Child.

Wow, as I write this I can see that I have had a great week. Thanks for letting me share.

Frustration and Success

I had no email this week until today. For some reason I was unable to get onto the AOL web page or the Facebook web page. I could get to my blog page, no problem, but sometimes I was unable to get to other blogs. I tried four different computers here at home with the same result so I knew it was not my computer. What I don’t know is what was going on or what to do about it. But this morning everything was working all right again. Yippie!

To ease my computer frustration, I spent a lot of time in the studio for the last two days. I have gotten the center of, what is now know as South Seas, sewn together (no picture as it looks just like it did in the last post). LOL I am auditioning several fabrics for borders: nothing seems to be just right so I may just have to go fabric shopping again. What a terrible thing to have happen to me. And I now have 7 embroidery centers done: they really take a lot of time.

The big news is that I finally have the binding done on Alabama Escargot.

I am really happy with how this has turned out.

These last pictures are my “I am woman, hear me roar” pictures.

These steps are extra ones we have here and I have been moving them, little by little, for the last couple of weeks. It is REALLY heavy so I can only move it a little each day and then I have bruises on my arms from lifting it. But today I got them all the way to the pool: they are half of my makeshift deck. There is another set of steps just like it that I will start moving tomorrow. I keep hoping that I will develop arm (and back) muscle enough that it will get easier. NOT! Oh, well, I will at least have a full deck before it is time to winterize the pool. LOL

What a great day today was. I spent almost the whole day in the studio and actually accomplished something I made that I can show.


This is made with the quilted fabric from my practice with my first panto. Doesn’t it look like I planned it? I am going to an EQ6 class on Friday and will be trying this out. I wonder if having a wonderful, quilted notebook cover will help me to learn.







I also got a quilt on the frame.

This was a BOM in 2005 and I got the top put together in January 2006. And then, nothing. Once again, I was afraid to try to quilt it because I didn’t know what to do. It is a sampler with patchwork and appliqué.

I have started quilting: did ½ of the top border. I am doing a long feather but no one will be able to see it because the border fabric is busy and I am quilting with white thread. The feathers are for practice as I still have trouble keeping them in scale. Maybe I will be better by the time I get done.

Because of the differences in the blocks I will be deciding as I go and I think I will do cross hatching on the squares blocks. Because I can’t seem to work on just one thing at a time, I may be working on this for a while. Since it is now April, I have three online BOMs to do as well as two local BOMs. I just realized that at the end of the year I will have 5 UFOs just from the BOMs so I guess I will have to join another UFO/PRIM completion challenge.