I live in South Alabama: the Heart of Dixie. It is supposed to be warm in the winter and hot in the summer. Well, summer went as predicted and winter, up till now, was mild and nice. And then this "Arctic blast" has come. It is supposed to be 16F tonight, with wind. Well, I didn't move south to be that cold and I am complaining. (Of course my SIL in NH has no sympathy for my complaints. ;-) Oh, well.) Now the reason for my concern about the cold is that my studio has no central heat: I heat with space heaters. They do a very good job on normal winter days but it takes me running over there in the cold and turning them on and then waiting a while for them to heat the rooms up enough so that I can sew. Fortunately, tomorrow is our anniversary and we will be gone all day and most of the evening so maybe it will warm up a little after that.

I did have some time in the studio today. I completed the quilting on Ode to Flavin and sewed the first run on the binding but still have to finish that so no picture. I also worked on the B&W Challenge quilt. Can you see what I am doing to embellish it?

I have the rows sewn and will sew them together next week.

And one family related item. My DD, grandmother to the child in an earlier post, was here today. She had just gotten her hair cut and wanted to show it off. She has been going to Weight Watchers, too, and has always planned to cut her hair just prior to getting to goal thinking that it would get her there earlier. Well, last Monday, weight in day, she was 3 1/2 pounds from goal: doesn't she look great?

I am so proud of her. She says that one of the first things she is going to do is get a new picture taken for her driver's license.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off To Work I Went

Back in the studio, how wonderful. Today I finished the quilting on Ode to Flavin. I have it squared but for some reason I hadn't cut the binding so I had to do that, too. It isn't on yet but it sitting, with the quilt, by the sewing machine, ready to go.

I have all the blocks done for the Double Delight table topper:

Next I need to cut the setting triangles and then sew the rows together. The triangles will be the same blue as in the double 9 patch blocks and I think this is going to look great.

I also worked on the embellishment for the B&W challenge quilt but that won't be shown until it is done.

And to end this post I thought I would show a quilt I did for DH several years ago. He collects B-Western "stuff" including a lot of comics

so I made this quilt for him:

It is tied as I hadn't learned how to machine quilt at that time. The pictures are getting faded but I don't see me doing another any time soon.

Monday, Monday

Anywone want to know why I'm not sewing? Last night I was asked to babysit with our great grandson. We did really well until he got tired and then we had this until he fell asleep on greatgranddad. He will be here all day so no studio time for me.

Multiple Projects

What a fun day I have had. A little quilting:

this is Ode To Flavin - started after Flavin Glover was a teacher at my LQG in 2007.

I also added some double 9 patch blocks to the Rolling Star Block. I still have several more of each to go but we are on our way.

This is a new project. I am part of the Calendar Quilt Challenge and this is my start. The challenge is to add a strip a day for the entire year and it will eventually be a coin quilt, something I have never done.

and a little crafting: I took an old lamp and made it beautiful......

Lots of work: Small progress

So, yesterday I spent time in the studio. I cut, sewed, trimmed, sewed, pressed, trimmed, cut, sewed, pressed, sewed, pressed, cut, sewed, pressed, sewed, sewed, sewed, and pressed.Above you see the Step 2 blocks for the Double Delight Mystery (and the pile of real scraps). I had decided to make only 9 blocks, at this time, and would you believe I still came one little block short. With all this education and I can't count to 36. Anyway then I spent quite a while figuring out what fabrics I wanted to use in the little 9 patches. I really don't like pink so fiinally decided on a blue but forgot to take a picture of that process.

But this is the result of my work yesterday. Yes, I only got one block completed but now I know where I am going. I only need to make one my brown and chedder (orange, my favorite color) little block and then I can finish my blocks. I am working on an on point layout in EQ6 that will let me have a nice, bright table topper for my kitchen.

Today is house cleaning day, uck! I like to do the housework on the days DH is teaching (T & Th) because he is not underfoot. When he is here I hide in the studio, a separate building, where I usually get stuff done. I have a quilt on the frame I need to get back to and I need to make the last BOM from last year so at least that part of the project is off my list. But where am I? Sitting in the living room, watching a rerun of Simply Quilts, and writing in my Blog. I guess everyone has to have priorities. LOL

Good Studio Time

Here is what I think I am doing with my Black and White
Challenge blocks. I tried several layouts in EQ6 and this appealed to me the most. I spent quite a while rearranging them to be sure that no same fabric met between blocks. You know, it is easier to rearrange on the computer than it is on the wall. This is a 5 x 6 row layout and the blocks are 13 3/4" square. I currently am planning four various sized borders and one more orange tweek in the center.











However, I have also been working on Bonnie Hunter's New Year's Eve Mystery Quilt. I am really slow because other life stuff takes up my time. Also, I very quickly get bored with fabric cutting. So, what do you get after you have this?

You get these. They are only 3 1/2" sq. I only have made 36 and Bonnie calls for 120: I may only be making a table topper. I don't have pictures, yet, of the constasting little squares needed for the 9" blocks but I have them about half made (pictures to follow).

Yesterday I took time out from quilting to do laundry and sit in the 75F sunshine and read. Then we had our DD and DSIL over for dinner and to watch The Alamo with John Wayne. While the movie was running we shared our trip to San Antonio and how much the movie set was like the real thing.

Back to Normal

Well, this is not normal in AL: hail. We had hail that was a little larger than pea sized but this was about all we got. After that we have been having a 4-5 hour thunder storm.. Since I was gone all morning and it has rained all afternoon/evening so no sewing was going on here today.

This is what I am supposed to be working on today. I joined Bonnie Hunter's Double Delight New Year's Eve Mystery Quilt and have been so very slow in getting it started. I was already two days behind by the time I had chosen my fabrics: it is very hard for me to choose when I don't know where I am going. As of now, 4 days in, I have gotten half of the first day's fabric's cut and nothing sewn. But I am not concerned, I will just plod along until I get it all done: can't have any UFO's now can we?

And this is my UFO from Christmas week: the beginning of my Black and White Challenge. All the blocks are done and I started putting them on the wall but I am not sure how I want to arrange them. I do have some ideas for embellishment and will keep working on it. Meanwhile I have also joined a UFO completion group (see WISP?UFO in sidebar) I will be posting when UFO's are completed once I figure out how. Click on the gadget to learn more.

DH teaches part time now and school starts Monday. Once again I will know when I have time to sew and when he will want to spend time with me. I love that he likes to be with me but I also love to have "me" time. How nice it is to have that balance.