Exuberant Color

Older Kaffe fabric.........

2012-02-28T05:00:00.000-06:00

This is one of the older more unusual Kaffe Fassett fabrics. You get many different designs in one cut, or if you are cutting small pieces, just a variety of prints all from one fabric.

I have used this last one in the pink/red colorway in one quilt here. I have both of these prints in several colors and hope to work them into more quilts. These are 6.5" squares and the stripe in this last one is a 5" repeat so you could easily have squares (or other shapes) of just one print.

An update on turning off word verification: I have had about 20 spam comments but Blogger has caught all but one and put them in my spam folder for me to delete. If they start showing up on my blog I'll have to go to moderated comments which means your comment won't show up until I allow it to.

The one that didn't make the cut........

2012-02-27T05:00:00.000-06:00

This is the first table runner top that I made. I decided it was too busy with the strip piecing and that it wouldn't make a good gift. Then I made the one I showed yesterday. I will finish this one for myself because it's not too busy for me. I think the bride liked my gift to her yesterday. I gave her a box of Color Catcher sheets too because I wish I had something like that when I was first married and just learning to do laundry.

I had a couple other things I needed to do first though. Today is church sewing circle so I had to cut 10 receiving blankets and sew the neckbands on 23 little gowns. We make 4 sizes for the preemies and provide a full layette of gown, knitted hat and afghan, receiving blanket and satin heart. It is hard to find places that sell preemie clothes so we are happy to help. Our leader told as the last meeting that there is a request we do this for full term babies now. We asked why (since clothing is easily available for purchase in that size) and she said because parents are showing up with no clothes for their baby to go home in. Now when I had my kids I had the impression babies came with no clothes and I had to provide them. Now I guess some people think the babies are born with their first clothing. Am I out of touch? Do hospitals provide complete handmade layettes for every baby born there?

I rarely watch the whole Academy Award show because I haven't seen any or maybe only one of the films. I really don't even know a lot of actors names. Last night however I had 3 blocks left to quilt on this quilt and I knew it would take about 2 hours or more so I watched it and finished the quilting. Now I have to decide if I'm going to go back and quilt down the center of the widest strips.

Gifts.......

2012-02-26T05:00:00.000-06:00

I have a wedding shower to go to today. I went to her registry and it looks like her kitchen is red, or at least has red accents so I made a table runner and 2 mug rugs. I hope she likes them. I have a red kitchen. I wonder why I don't make something like this for myself.

A little winter.....

2012-02-25T05:00:00.000-06:00

This is what we woke up to yesterday morning. It was a heavy wet snow so it piled up on everything. The little juncos come to my forsythia bush for shelter between bites at the feeder.

The snow melted off the areas where it was plowed or shoveled but there is still some on the grass. Today is supposed to be in the 20s and then in the 40s tomorrow. What a strange winter we are having.

On the quilting front, I quilted 6 more blocks of the quilt I showed 2 days ago, 4 blocks to go.

Comparision of daylight vs. night....

2012-02-24T10:32:00.001-06:00

The top one is daylight today, the bottom one is flourescent lights last night. Daylight emphasizes the pink and the lights, the green.

Another finish....is this title getting to be old news?

2012-02-24T05:00:00.000-06:00

The name of this piece is 'Jumbled Library 2' and I finally made the decision on the binding fabric. I wanted it to be a neutral color and very narrow. The batik I chose goes from taupe brown to purple and has a little blue squiggly line in it. We didn't have any sun yesterday so I took this photo under fluorescent lights in my studio and it is pretty true for color. I will take another photo though when we get a sunny day. It finished at 28" x 29.5".

I took this photo back in 2008 when I had just finished sewing #2 top and on the right is 'Jumbled Library 1' which I finished in January 2007. My daughter owns it so it is already in North Carolina. Here is the post where I talked about #1 and showed all of the individual strip pieced sections that went into it.

Next in line.......

2012-02-23T05:00:00.000-06:00

This quilt was next in line to be quilted. I basted it in May last year. I pieced it in Feb, 2010. In case you missed all the layouts I tried, you can check them out here, here, and the final layout here. The main thing that keeps me from finishing them when I make them is that I can't decide how I'm going to quilt them. I finally decided that I will ditch quilt this on every seam. First I ditch quilted between the blocks and then I quilted 6 blocks of the 16 last night.

I am using Superior brand Rainbows thread. You won't see the quilting from a distance but when you get close you will see the pretty multicolor thread. I see a bit of lint from the batting on the black fabric too. I'll have to take a lint roller to this one when I'm done quilting.

Finishing # 5 and 6

2012-02-22T05:00:00.000-06:00

Crooked Cobblestones 5 and 6 were partially completed on design walls for the last few weeks. I needed to make more blocks to finish them so this is what the work table looked like yesterday.

I have sewn #5 together. I was trying to make smaller ones but couldn't decide if I liked them. That is when I went on to make #7, 8, and 9. Number 9 is still waiting to be quilted.

I still need at least one more block for this one and I can see at least one that I need to flip for a better value flow. I may still change out a couple blocks but I need to make more blocks to do that so I have at least one more day at this. Then it will be time to tackle the machine quilting on one of the larger pieces in line for quilting.

Official portraits.......

2012-02-21T05:00:00.000-06:00

It was a nice sunny day yesterday so I set up a design wall in the living room and had the east light from the picture window lighting my quilts. This is Crooked Cobblestones 7. It is 20" x 24". You can really get a good look at all of the batiks now.

This is Crooked Cobblestones 8. It is 19.25" x 24". I sewed on some labels by hand yesterday. I don't usually label my quilts but for the show in June they need to be all labeled for easier identification if for no other reason. I will have 38 pieces in the show so I have a lot more printing and hand sewing to do.

Questions about printer fabric.....

2012-02-20T11:35:00.000-06:00

There were lots of questions about printer fabric this morning. It is called Inkjet printable fabric (not label fabric). You can use if for any photos you want to print, also labels that you type into a word document. You will have to find the one you like best through trial and error. My favorite may not be your favorite. I have ordered another brand that I had never heard of but it was recommended by a reader. EQ also makes printer fabric and I hear it is good but I think the most expensive. The one on the front of the pile prints with the most vivid colors but is the stiffest and hard to sew through by hand. The middle one is OK, not as vivid but OK. The bottom one prints OK but it was almost impossible to get the paper backing off in one piece or even 4 pieces. Then I experimented and found that if I ironed the paper side with a warm iron it peeled off in one piece (not in their directions however). All three are rinsed in water to get the excess ink off and/or to make them colorfast.

I scanned real leaves and printed them on printer fabric for this piece.

On this Journal Quilt for September 2008 I printed a photo I had taken.

Labels and binding......

2012-02-20T05:00:00.000-06:00

This photo shows the label fabric drying on the counter. This brand says to hold it under running water for 1-2 minutes and then lay flat to dry for colorfastness and excess ink being rinsed away. I designed these labels in Word instead of the label program and was able to get 6 on one piece of fabric.

Then I used 2 of the labels and finished the binding on both of these small crooked cobblestone quilts. I will take their official portraits today. I didn't want to take my blocks off the design wall last night so I could use the wall for photography.

2012-02-19T05:00:00.000-06:00

Here are some of the quilts started in my class yesterday. It is the Stack and Slash pattern. There will be 2 of these child size quilts from one student. The one with the big "I" in the top left corner was a mistake in piecing but her name starts with I so she put it in there for the photo.

I couldn't get my camera to catch the beauty of this purple and red one. It is a little deeper toned than the photo. She got the top sewn together but in that photo the color is even farther off.

I finished my blocks in class and then put it on my design wall at home. I had the floral print in10 of the blocks so it had to touch from block to block in a few places. I don't think that is a bad thing though.

I sewed the orange top together last night but didn't get it pressed yet. This is closer to the real color but a little pale. I have found orange almost as hard to photograph as red.

Last block, binding, bloom......

2012-02-18T05:00:00.000-06:00

I cut the final block out of the large print and then rearranged the blocks again. I'm pretty sure this is the final layout and I'll sew it later tonight. I have an all day class to teach today.

I started hand sewing the binding on one of the small crooked cobblestone wallhangings. I have to print a label before I can finish the bottom edge.

This is the very last bloom of the season. I think I will re pot some of the plants that are crowded. I bought the soil mix that is prepared especially for cactus.

Not a stitch was made..........

2012-02-17T05:00:00.000-06:00

I am a second shift person now. I used to be a morning person and got right into projects. Now I spend the morning reading blogs, reading the newspaper and my mail, picking up and putting away (all the stuff on the table and counter tops) and running errands. I rarely start sewing before 1 p.m. and many days not until after 4. Yesterday I knew I had a 1 p.m embroidery club meeting to go to, then visit Dad and at 7 a computer club meeting. When I got home I watched "The Mentalist" and read magazines. I should be ready to work on some projects today and it will all look fresh and exciting.

I turned off the word verification on my blog for comments. The 2 word new version is ridiculously hard to figure out. If I end up with spamm*ers I may have to go to moderated comments.

Just one more block.......

2012-02-16T05:00:00.000-06:00

I made 4 more 16 patches and 3 more tiny 16 patches and cut one more square of the large print. I could take the easy way out right now and add one more square of the large print. But then I could make some more tiny 16 patches like I originally planned. It is an odd size, 40" x 64" right now. I might add borders to make it a little larger. I'm ready to move on now that I know what it looks like. You know, the attention span of a 4 year old.....

I finished sewing the sample for my crosses class. I added 4 more rows on after class to make it square, 18" square. It will make a nice table mat. It might be fun to add a lot of straight line quilting to this one too.

Fun day.....

2012-02-15T05:00:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was the first time I had taught the crosses quilt class so I was happy that it went well. I love playing at a design wall so it was fun to watch 4 students as they played. They all got to the sewing part too. I wasn't sure how long it would take for them to design so it was hard to decide how long the class should be.

I didn't do much when I got home. I guess I could say I took the rest of the day off. While I watched 3 hours of TV last night I sorted through my batik scraps for a bunch to send to my niece in Arkansas. She has a die cutter and a long arm too. I wish I lived closer to her because I think we would have a lot to talk about.

View in the morning.......

2012-02-14T05:00:00.000-06:00

As I walked into my studio yesterday morning I saw the beauty of the quilting as the light from the window came across the quilt.

I thought I only had 3 strips left to quilt but as I looked I kept finding more so I started marking them with pins. There were 5 more in the center too.

The quilting is all done now and this is my view from my chair. There are 2 or 3 tiny little spots that I chose not to quilt. Now I have to block it, trim and bind it.

First though I am teaching my crosses quilt class today. I cut some pieces to play with last night to refresh my memory. I cut these from 2" strips so this may become a table runner.

A lot of quilting, a little orange......

2012-02-13T05:00:00.000-06:00

I spent 2.5 hours Saturday night and 3 hours last night and I'm down to just 3 little strips that still need quilting. I'm using rayon embroidery thread for the quilting so the shine from the overhead lights makes it look white in some places but it really is colors matching the fabrics. I may have to wet this one to block it but I'll try steam first.

I cut the 8.5" squares from the large print so I could do a trial layout and see what I need to add to make the quilt a little larger. There are 2 blocks of each combination except the printed tiny checkerboard of which there are 4. I realized right away I wanted more of that in there. I have only pieced one small checkerboard with 1.5" strips so far but I will do at least 5 more so there will be 3 spots with 4 patches created with them and the large print. I have one more set of strips not sewn yet and I'll look through my fabrics to see if there are any more oranges hiding.

Today is church sewing circle so I cut out 8 little gowns from flannel yesterday and packed my bag. I have a couple errands to do as long as I'm that far from home too. It is supposed to snow toward the end of the day so I hope I get home before that starts.

A little more orange......

2012-02-12T05:00:00.000-06:00

I have added 4 more blocks to the mix and opened up the large print to see more of it in the layout. I don't think I want that much of it showing and I only have a little over a half yard. I can get 5 squares out of one strip of 8.5" so I can only have 10 squares total in the quilt.

Here is an alternate fabric that I tried for the plain squares. I like the contrast but there is too much brown in the print. Dark orange is rust which goes into brown and I don't want to go there. I want the quilt to remind me of orange juice.

This is one of the best parts of a new project: seeds for more original art. Some of it will make its way into crooked cobblestones, the rest - more fun.

Here is the yellow quilt I made in 2009. I still haven't taken a better photo of it.

I made this red quilt in 2007 from triangles I cut in the late 1990s, mostly calico type prints. It is another that I need a better photo of. I need to put something gray next to it so the camera can read the color right. Then I will crop the gray out of the photo. I guess you can see my favorite side of the color wheel, the warm colors. I have blues, turquoises and greens cut but don't have enough of any of them yet to start the quilts. I am making the one color quilts all lap size.

Orange progress and quilting.....

2012-02-11T05:00:00.000-06:00

I put the large design batik on the wall and then put the blocks I have made so far on top of it to see if I like it. I'm going to have to look at this for a couple days. I have enough strip piecing to make 2 blocks alike of each combination and I have about 6 more combinations to sew yet.

I looked through all of my regular quilting fabrics and only came up with 2 that might work with the batiks. The rest of them had too much yellow or leaned too far toward red orange.

This is the next quilt in line for quilting. You may recognize it as 'my second favorite' on my right side bar of the blog.

I decided I wanted to quilt close lines with matching thread in each of the pieces. I started out with dark rose thread and quilted all of the pieces of that color, then went to a green with a hint of blue and did all of those, then orange, and finally light pink. I have a long way to go on this one. I quilted for 2.5 hours while I watched TV and am about 1/4 of the way done.

Starting a new idea...........

2012-02-10T05:00:00.000-06:00

Did anyone have a bet on how long it would be before I started a new project? I had to squeeze one in. I pressed a whole stack of orange batiks to get them ready to cut about a week ago. I couldn't wait any longer so I cut 2.5" strips and I'm starting my orange quilt. I want to do a series of one color quilts and did the yellow one a couple years ago. This one will be 16 patches and a few plain squares from one of the larger patterned batiks. I also cut some 1.5" strips so there may be a few mini 16 patches thrown in too. The design will develop as I work on it.

While I'm at it I cut a second strip to cut squares and rectangles for my trays. This is the first group of 16 that I cut. I laid them out like a colorwash and like it so well I might have to sew a couple blocks like this.

3 in a row........

2012-02-09T05:00:00.000-06:00

The lighting isn't the best in the basement but I wanted to see all three of the finished Crooked Cobblestone quilts in one photo for comparison. They are in the order that I made them from left to right. They have 3 distinctly different personalities. Working in series is a quest for the best one I can make. Each one has something that I didn't feel was perfect so I made another. I love all three of them but there will probably be another some day, or maybe 2 or 3 more.

I finished the quilting on the 2 small ones the last 2 nights but I haven't done the binding on them yet. Again, I just needed to see them all together in one photo for a comparison. They cover a 9.5' area on three 4' design walls. On this one I stood back farther to get them all in and the color is different. I need to get some good daylight photos for really true color.

Basting, quilting.....

2012-02-08T05:00:00.000-06:00

When I got home from the QOV sew-in and the errands on the way home, I spray basted the 3 small crooked cobblestone pieces and got 1 and 1/2 quilted while I watched TV last night. I also chose a backing for another quilt and got it pressed so it is ready. I have many errands I need to run this morning so I hope it will be quilting time in the afternoon.

If there is anyone in my area (Sandwich IL) that is interested in my color class on a Saturday in March, email me with the link on my right sidebar. I have 2 more kits left so I can take 2 more students.

2 bindings......

2012-02-07T05:00:00.000-06:00

The first binding I finished was on Crooked Cobblestones 1, which I should have finished in January. I'm glad I decided on binding instead of facing. This is 2 down and 12 yet to finish before the first of June. I also printed 4 more labels, 2 of them for quilts that are done and just needed the label.

This close up shows the binding better, the same fabric that is on the back of the quilt. I like the way the color changes so it isn't real noticeable that there is a binding.

The second binding is on the QOV #3 so I could get it washed and ready to take to the sew in today.

Layout trial......

2012-02-06T05:00:00.000-06:00

I made a few more black and white wedges but I won't sew them onto the other pieces until I have them all made. I can see I need the distribution of the black and white to change positions more in the wedges. This will look a lot different when it is sewn because I don't have the pieces lined up nice and tight right now. It is kind of boring with just red/orange/yellow in it but it is my trial piece using wedges that were already made and leftover from another project.

I just can't get enough of these beautiful blooms.

One more quilted.....

2012-02-05T05:00:00.000-06:00

I quilted the third QOV quilt made from the kits that I cut. Our sew-in is on Tuesday so I want to be able to deliver the quilts. I trimmed the edges but haven't cut the binding yet.

I need to make 30 more of the black and white wedges before I can continue on that project. I am using up all of the left over strip piecing from a Strips n Curves quilt made several years ago and adding 2 chunks onto it. I'm still looking for my bag of black and white scraps. I hate to cut off yardage when I know there are a bunch of scraps somewhere in my house.

Another discovery in the basement....

2012-02-04T05:00:00.000-06:00

Many years ago I saw this quilt made up at a quilt show and I just knew I had to make, but I never did. I think we've all fallen into that trap a time or two. This package contains 48 block segments for paper piecing and another package has the border papers. The date on the pattern is 1996 so I'm guessing that is roughly the time period that I bought the pattern.

I started slicing 4.5" strips off all of my batiks right after I bought it to use with the pattern. All of these fall into the time period of 1991 to 1998. If you weren't into quiltmaking yet at that time you may have never seen most of these as patterns in batiks usually aren't repeated. That is about 9.5 yards of batiks in the photo. You can click on the photo for a closer view. Some stores had the older batiks in stock longer because they didn't sell as fast as other quilting cottons. It took quite a few years for them to become popular. I don't know if I'll ever make the pattern but I think it's likely that I will use more recent batiks if I do.

One more bloom! And another bud! The little Postit note on a toothpick says it bloomed in Nov and Dec. Now I can add Jan. and Feb. to the label. I labeled each plant as to color and time of blooming so I can see if they bloom in the same order next year.

Playing with a new idea..........

2012-02-03T05:00:00.000-06:00

This is a pile of leftover Kaleidoscope wedges from a demo I did with the last class. I dug them out because I wondered if they would work on a project I wanted to start. One of the blogs I read is nifty quilts. Click here and go see what she has on her design wall and then I'll explain where these wedges come into the picture.

I have the same book as she has so I could go to it to see the inspiration quilt. I emailed her and asked if she was strip piecing and cutting wedges. I knew most people doing this pattern are piecing it one strip at a time on paper like she said she is doing. I figured if you need 8 wedges alike why not strip piece it, cut it with a Kaleidoscope ruler and add it on all in one chunk. She encouraged me to write a blog post about my idea.

I photocopied it in black and white so I could draw the seam lines with a red pen to see how the pattern evolves. Then since my wedges were already made I had to work backwards for the measurement of the center piece between 2 wedges. I cut a square I thought would be a finished size and and cut it corner to corner both directions (for 4 triangles) and then drew the center piece in and added the seam allowances and then cut it out.

I have it almost right. I went to the basement and got my black and white leftover scraps from a Strips n Curves quilt and pieced onto them and then cut out the shape. I need a tiny bit more seam allowance so that means it's a little too small. I will probably just make a small quilt from the wedges I have and use a totally different group of fabrics if I make the real quilt. The planning and figuring out is the fun (and sometimes frustrating) part.

After a finish.......

2012-02-02T05:00:00.000-06:00

I always have trouble getting started on anything else after I have finished a project. Maybe that's why I don't finish so many of them. It's like the day after a party, the house is clean and I can't figure out what to do the next day. What I'm saying is that I really didn't do much yesterday, some errands, some paperwork, some calculations on a pattern and a lot of wandering around. I could have worked on the binding on Crooked Cobblestones 1 which I didn't get done for my January finishes, but then I have 28 more days this month to do it for a February finish so it wasn't calling my name either.

The photo is my fabrics all paired a few days ago for my Stack and Slash quilt that I need to get started on. Maybe today........

A finish and a recap of January........

2012-02-01T05:00:00.000-06:00

Here is the official portrait of Crooked Cobblestones 3, finally finished. It was started in 2009 and finished in 2012.

I did go back to the label program and made a new label. I had used my last piece of the really nice printer fabric and had to use a different brand that I don't care for. The photo is washed out on this brand and was so vivid on the other one. The first piece of it I put in the printer jammed and was ruined, and the second piece had smudges from the printer on 2 of the labels so 2 sheets = 2 labels instead of the 8 I should have had.

Here is my recap of January. I quilted 5 quilts, gifted the flannel quilt, and started the warm/cool zig zag and 3 small crooked cobblestone pieces. I also made 3 mugrugs, worked 3 days at stores, and taught one class. Now if I can just keep this up I might make some headway on the 52 quilt tops hanging on hangers. And of course I'll start a few projects.....

Still hand stitching......

2012-01-31T05:00:00.000-06:00

I worked at the hand stitching of the binding on Crooked Cobblestones 3 but didn't quite finish it. I wanted to sew the label into the seam allowance before the binding was totally done. I have an HP label program where I designed my labels. Since these quilts will be displayed at an art gallery I didn't get too wordy on the labels. I said I designed the wall art but didn't say I made them. In hindsight I wonder if I needed to say I made them too.

I could see a pink glow on the house across the street (east) from me so I grabbed my camera and looked out the west window. I didn't see very many pretty sunsets when there were 7 trees in the way but now I have a view.

I have had several comments and emails asking about my crooked cobblestones. I label each of my posts (at the bottom) and there is a Label List on my right sidebar. Cobblestone Series is on the list so if you click on it you will be directed to all of the posts that show how I make the blocks, trim them, and design with them, and yes, they are my original design, but I'm sharing it with you.

A binding day...

2012-01-30T05:00:00.000-06:00

I wanted to get the binding done on the 2 QOV quilts so I could wash them yesterday. I cut the 9 kits using my own blue stash, about half have my red stash in them, and I provided borders, backings, batting and quilting. The tops were pieced by other ladies in our Batavia, IL group.

I did the bindings all by machine. I forgot sew the label into the binding on the second one so I had to hand sew it on all 4 sides.

This is the backing fabric on the first crooked cobblestone piece. I trimmed away the excess and decided that 2 of the pieces were large enough to use for facings.

I had planned to do a facing but thought I should check to see if it would work as a binding and I think it looks OK. It needed to be a piece that is quite multicolor so it didn't create an obvious edge. Luckily I have enough of that fabric left to make the hanging sleeve and the rest of the binding.

I decided on the same print as the border but in a different colorway, with a dark gray background, as binding on this one. I got 2 sides hand sewn last night.

In the groove.......

2012-01-29T05:00:00.000-06:00

As long as I was already in the routine of quilting cobblestones, I stuck with it and got this one quilted yesterday. I will put a binding on this one but I'm thinking maybe just facings on the ones I showed yesterday. I think I will get the edge finishes and hanging sleeves on them right away and they can qualify as January finishes.

Finishing......

2012-01-28T05:00:00.000-06:00

I finished the quilting on the large piece yesterday. You may have seen this on my sidebar as my current favorite. I had a small repair I needed to do on one block and I laid it aside for months. The repair took 15 minutes; the roadblock in my brain couldn't see that. This piece is about 36" x 47" and the small ones which I made 2 days ago are around 20" x 24". This large one is Crooked Cobblestones 1. Number 2 is finished and was shown here. I started quilting on number 3 which is the largest last night. It is shown here when I was spray basting it. The fourth large one is a cross which had some construction problems. I fixed that last night too so it is ready to baste and quilt. You can see from this post that I let it hang on a hanger for almost 3 years before I fixed it. I guess the promise of a show of my quilts is finally getting me in gear.

3 small pieces..........

2012-01-27T05:00:00.000-06:00

My goal yesterday was to make 3 small cobblestone quilt tops. The widest is 22.5" and the narrowest 19". They are all about 24" tall. I should have moved them down the design wall so the top would have had better lighting. Next time... Now I can use 3 more small pieces of batting.

I feel so refreshed after working with these blocks, almost like I have been to a retreat for 2 days.

A few more blocks.......

2012-01-26T05:00:00.000-06:00

I saw all of those sorted scraps laying there and couldn't help myself. I made 27 more crooked cobblestones. I haven't pressed or trimmed them yet. Now I have hidden the bin with the pieces in it so I can't make any more. They are so relaxing, soothing, stress relieving, well, you get the picture, but I have other things I need to be doing.

Crooked Cobblestones day......

2012-01-25T11:02:00.001-06:00

The Internet was back on this morning but I had errands to run before I could post. I posted the last one from my smart phone. It takes pretty good photos. I made 39 new crooked cobblestone blocks yesterday and got them trimmed last night.

A couple of my readers insist that I must be very organized to get so much done. I am organized to a point but have a lot of clutter and "where on earth is that ....." in my life. I will explain my organization for the cobblestone blocks. I keep all of the small pieces appropriate for them in one container, stacked flat so they don't get wrinkled. I throw things in that container for months and then one day I sit down to make more blocks. I organize the pieces by size to lay by my machine as I'm assembling the blocks.

When I'm done making blocks I usually organize all of the scraps that are left, again by size, and then bag them in the bin so only the new pieces thrown in will have to be sorted later.

All of the pieces that are appropriate for centers of new blocks are bagged separately. Each of these piles is about 2.5" tall so that's a lot more cobblestones!

I keep yardage on shelves usually divided loosely by color, quarter yards or less go onto a separate shelf unit so if I need a small piece quickly I can search through that so I'm a little bit organized. I don't stuff fabric all wrinkled into a bag or container and then have to spend hours ironing it. I try to stack the small pieces flat and ready to use at a minute's notice. This is how I get quickly into a new project.

You can see photos of my stash if you go to my Label list on the sidebar and click on Stash. You will have to go back into older posts to see all of it.

Phone connection but no internet

2012-01-24T23:34:00.001-06:00

At 11 p.m. there was no internet but I could hear my phone receiving emails. Something to do with solar flares? I will post in the morning.

Two down, many to go..........

2012-01-24T05:00:00.000-06:00

I got two of the QOV quilts quilted, one with meandering and stars, and one with loop-de-loop. I will bind both of them with the blue stripe that is on the back of both and on the border of one of them.

After all of that quilting I needed to reward myself with some playtime. I got out the box with the leftover crooked cobblestones and put them on the design wall to see how many I need to make to fill in. I want to make some smaller pieces like the larger ones that will be in my show.

Batting and borders.....

2012-01-23T05:00:00.000-06:00

Some of the tops have been turned in from the QOV kits I cut in Oct. I said I would cut the borders and sew them on. Both of these will have the blue stripe on the back because it is 60" wide so it doesn't need to be pieced. One has the blue stripe as the border and the other has the stars and stripes.

This one has the stars and stripes for the border and the backing. I still have enough of the print to border a couple more. I also cut batting for 4 of the 14 quilts that I need to finish for my show in June. It looks like it is time to finish something now.

A mug and a rug.......

2012-01-22T05:00:00.000-06:00

I worked all day at the sewing machine store yesterday. I thought we wouldn't be busy with 7" of snow on the ground, but we were very busy. Everyone must have had cabin fever and needed to run all of their errands. In the evening I finished one more mug rug. All of the pieces of patchwork were done previously and were stacked in a drawer.

This is the cute mug my grandson's girlfriend gave me for Christmas. Isn't that cute with a little zebra in the bottom? You can't use it with a drink that needs to be stirred though. I will be using it for decoration so it won't matter.

After I finished the mug rug I opened a king size batt to let it relax before I cut it into the 4 quilt shapes I need today.

Snow day.......

2012-01-21T05:00:00.000-06:00

This was taken about 2 p.m. yesterday when there was about 4" on the ground. The snow started around 10 a.m. and stopped around 8:30 at night. I measured 7" in my yard but I shoveled over 4" twice off the sidewalk.

The cacti bloom is fully opened now. I just love this color. There is one more bud that I thought was going to dry up but it looks a little larger today. Maybe I'll get one more bloom.....

I had 2 guys at my house early yesterday morning putting the expanding foam in 2 cracks in my basement walls. I have been meaning to fix them for a long time and decided this was a good time. One crack was there when we moved in 39 years ago and had been repaired at least once but the rain still leaked in if we had a downpour all day or 2 days of heavy rain. Now I have a 10 year guarantee of no leaks. After they left I ran a bunch of errands before the snow got too heavy. I chose some backings for a few quilts tops and then made these 2 little mug rugs. I couldn't decide if I should quilt the same way as the strip piecing or across it so I did one of each.

Warm/cool zig zag.....

2012-01-20T05:00:00.000-06:00

I needed this top finished for a sample in my color class yesterday to show warm/cool as one type of contrast, the other being light/dark. It is 60" x 72" right now so I have to decide if it needs a border or if it is a lap quilt just the way it is.

I only took photos of one part of my color class. I had 9 students so there was plenty to do. I had them divide the 100 squares into colors with oddball fabrics like zebra stripes laying on the sidelines. I had them fill out an evaluation sheet so I could see where I can make improvements when I teach this the next time. I passed out the evalutation sheets at the beginning so they already knew what the questions were. My pet peeve is getting an evaluation sheet thrust at me at the end of a class when I'm tired and packing to go home. I would rather know what things the teacher wants to be evaluated on before the class begins. Then it is easy to fill it out with speed at the end of the class.

Several people have left me questions in the comments and I have NO WAY to respond to you. I do not reply in my own comment section normally. I have an email link on my right sidebar and if you have a google account, please enable your email address in your profile if you want a reply. I answer ALL emails.

Cactus blooming again...........

2012-01-19T05:00:00.000-06:00

The last buds usually dry up and fall off so I was really thrilled to get one more bloom. This particular plant had its first blooms in November so I was really surprised it had such a long blooming period.

I got the kits all done for today's class and sewed the warm/cool zig zag top yesterday. We're in for the coldest day so far this winter and then Friday, more snow, maybe the big storm this time.

Cutting, and more cutting.......

2012-01-18T05:00:00.000-06:00

I used the equilateral triangle die on my Studio cutter to make wedges for color wheels for my class.

I have 64 of the 100 pieces cut for the kits for Thursday's class. I spent about 2 hours working on the handout sheet also. I will need to cut for a few more hours to get done. I am cutting a 2.5" strip which yields 16 squares. First the fabric has to be spritzed with water and pressed to get the fold marks out so it is a slow process. Luckily I like cutting strips with a rotary cutter.

Lots of 2.5" squares.....

2012-01-17T05:00:00.000-06:00

The weather cooperated this year and my art quilters were here yesterday. Last year we cancelled many times because of the weather. After they left, and after my nap, I started working on some kits for a class I'm giving on Thursday. It is an informal explanation of how to use color. I can never remember the terms for all of the combinations because the way it was explained to me in a one room schoolhouse when I was little was the rainbow, the order of the colors in the rainbow, which directly relates to the color wheel. We also used our little 7 color paintboxes and learned to mix colors to make other colors. I guess they don't do that in school any more.

I am giving each of my students 100 squares of fabric that they will use for several exercises. I only have 20 cut so far so there is a lot more cutting to do today. I'll also get my trays of squares out that I use for my colorwash wallhangings that I design one square at a time. I'm sure there are a lot that I can use in these kits.

Lots of things.....

2012-01-16T05:00:00.000-06:00

I spent the day yesterday finishing the clean up of the basement, shoveling the last snow/ice residue off the driveway and sewing the squares for the last 4 rows of the new zig zag quilt. I stacked and numbered the rows and put them aside until after my art quilters leave today. Oh, yes, and I baked 2 batches of cookies too.

Color.......

2012-01-15T05:00:00.000-06:00

I came home from the final day of Quilter's Heart sale with some thread, 70% off. I don't usually buy Gutermann thread and they have some really nice weird colors that I don't have in my collection. It seems I'm always needing a color a little lighter or darker than what I have on hand so I hope now I have what I need in every situation.

Since I grew up in the era of Roy Rogers and Gene Autry, I have always had a soft spot for cowboy print fabrics. There were 2 yards left on the bolt so it came home with me too.

I really enjoyed all of the comments yesterday and it looks like we have a lot of quilters ready to use their stash. Of course it will create more scraps but I no longer will feel guilty if I don't use them. From now I on I will be sorting them in 3 size groups in the bins that I emptied when I put my fabric out on the shelf units in my basement. Several people already spoke up to purchase my scraps too. This doesn't mean I won't make any scrap quilts, they will just be selected scraps and the rest will go.

Unwind time.....

2012-01-14T05:00:00.000-06:00

We had a really busy day at the quilt shop yesterday. When I got home I didn't feel like getting into a big project so I made a list of all the quilts I need to finish for my quilt show in June and then figured the sizes of batting that I needed to cut and determined which brand I am going to use on each. I haven't used Warm and Natural for a long time but I remembered that I liked it in wallhangings. It has a polypropylene sheet that the cotton is punched through so it is firmer and hangs straighter than the Hobbs 80/20 that I like in lap and bed quilts. When I had all of that figured out I went through my drawer of presewn patchwork and found a few that were good sizes for mug rugs. One more day working at the quilt shop today.

I have been thinking about the current obsessive trend that we have to use up all of our scraps. I think I'm leaning toward cutting into my yardage so I can use the good, favorite stuff in my lifetime. I remember the question we used to ask "Are you leaving all of the good stuff for your husband's next wife when you are gone?" and that helps me to remember I purchased the great fabric because I wanted to use it. I think in 2012 I will concentrate on cutting into yardage and maybe bag up the scraps and sell them.

We finally got some snow......

2012-01-13T05:00:00.000-06:00

We normally have had 14" of snow by this time in the winter. We have only had bare covering twice before this storm this year. I shoveled 4" off the sidewalk and porch at 5 p.m. and there was another 2" on the porch when I took this photo. It was still snowing at 11 p.m. but the 10 o'clock weather radar showed it would end soon.

I always leave the sedum flower heads so I have a snow mushroom patch.

I left one hydrangea bloom in the front flower bed too.
Sorry for the lack of color today. I have been cleaning up the basement in anticipation of my art quilters coming on Monday. Since I'm working at the $3 a yard sale at Quilter's Heart today and tomorrow, I decided I had better start sorting out the clutter and clean off the tables yesterday.

Photo browse fixed

2012-01-12T05:00:00.000-06:00

The browse button was back when I went to load photos this time. I wonder where it was the night before? This is the quilt that I need to have off the wall by next Monday. I got a few more triangles sewn into squares since I took the photo. Even if I don't get the rows sewn, I can have stacks of rows ready to sew later. Well we just had 2 days over 50 degrees and snow predicted for today. They are saying less snow now than they did in the beginning but it sounds like it will be in excess of 3" anyway. I have enough supplies to stay home so I hope to watch it from inside.

Friday and Saturday this week the Quilter's Heart quilt shop will be open for one final sale, $3 a yard for fabric and 70% off most other things (no batting) so I will be working both days.

My quilt show in NC in June will be at my daughter's mosaic gallery. She is one of 5 owners of the gallery and the only one that has a working studio at the gallery. There is a first Friday crawl every month and that is always the opening of the new show of the month. She and I chose 38 of my quilts as possibilities to hang. The show may hang for most of the month but I will only be there the first week.

A few triangles.......

2012-01-11T05:00:00.000-06:00

Since Blogger won't let me add any new photos I retrieved this one from Picasa albums. I gave this quilt to the college girl yesterday and she loved it. She and I share a love of zebras and she gave me a zebra mug. Yesterday was a busy day taking Dad for a blood test and he was grumpy, having my low gas light come on while headed there so we made a detour to the gas station after the blood test. Then some helpers came over and moved some bookcases to my basement which I filled afterwards. Last night I sewed some of the triangle squares on the newest zig zag quilt that is on the design wall. I need it all sewn and off the design wall by next Monday.

Miscellaneous

2012-01-10T05:00:00.000-06:00

Nothing new, just the same photo but I wanted to tell you I chose the name 'Square Dance' from all of the suggestions by my readers. I did laundry, ran errands and lots of other miscellany yesterday. One of the things I did was count how many quilts need to be finished for my show in June. 14 of the ones my daughter and I chose are only tops so I have a lot of quilting to do. A few need hanging sleeves too since they weren't originally intended to be wall hangings. I will make them strong enough for hanging but easy to remove if they sell.

You have all been waiting.......

2012-01-09T05:00:00.000-06:00

to see what I look like. Here I am with my grandson Zach who was visiting over the weekend with my daughter. We had a great time and they left this morning. Zach is a filmaker who made the video of my daughter's mosaic gallery opening in Charlotte, NC which I posted previously. In case you missed the video here is a link. Upcoming news: my quilt show in June in Charlotte, NC. More details later. If you would like to meet me I'll be attending the show for the first week with a posibility of teaching a class.

Finished...........

2012-01-08T05:00:00.000-06:00

I finished the binding yesterday morning before we went out for lunch. My company loves to eat out at all of the local restaurants when they come back to visit, and since I don't like to cook this works out great. I thought about naming this one Happy Rings but I'm not sure. I know its official pattern name is Target Log Cabin but I wanted to give it another name and I'm not good at making up the names.

My granddaughter's wedding was last night and I lasted until 11 p.m at the reception with the extremely loud music. You can't tell me they need it that loud for dancing. But I'm just an old fogey.......

A little repair........

2012-01-07T05:00:00.000-06:00

Yesterday morning about 3 hours before company was supposed to arrive I noticed a puddle on the bathroom floor. The 59 year chrome drain pipe had rotted through and was flakes of metal. Luckily my plumber was available and got here at 10:30 and by 11a.m. I had a new plastic drain pipe. I can order a new chrome one if I want later, but I needed it fixed right now! Since then all has gone smooth, company is here, a family gathering last night. I learned how to inflate an air mattress........

And I thought I was holding the camera straight....

2012-01-06T05:00:00.000-06:00

I'll try again tomorrow for a nice straight photo. I put the binding on this one yesterday all by machine. I used a brushed Moda huge block plaid with stripes running through it. It picked up all of the colors in the quilt and it was another piece I was trying to use up. I have one more side of hand finished binding to do on the other quilt and then I'll have 2 finishes in the first week of 2012. It would be nice if I could keep up that pace, but I kind of doubt it will happen. Company arrives midday today.

Binding..........

2012-01-05T05:00:00.000-06:00

I mostly did cleaning yesterday but I sat down several times and did a little hand stitching on this binding. Even though the binding looks like blue, it is the new purple coloration of this classic Kaffe print. I figured out the way to get purple to show properly and that is putting something gray in the shot for the camera to read. I remembered that after I had taken this and loaded it in my computer. Next time......

2 gold rings..........

2012-01-04T05:00:00.000-06:00

The rings arrived in the mail yesterday from one of my readers and I finished the pillow. I looked up ring bearer pillows on the internet to see how to put the ribbons on and only found 2 with ruffles. All of the rest were just square and a lot had wide ribbon or contrasting fabric wrapped around them. Maybe I should have looked them up before I started on this. I made this one from the bride's mother's dress so I wanted to use the ruffle from the skirt. I hope they are happy with it.

I haven't had as many birds this year as previous years and I think this might be why. I saw something big swoop across the back yard and then it landed in the tree. The hawk had his back to me for quite awhile.

I was in the other room for about 15 minutes and when I came back into the kitchen he had turned around and faced me. He was watching the Junkos cleaning up the seed that the squirrels spill. I don't know how long he was there altogether but he didn't seem to be in a hurry for a meal, or he was waiting for some bigger birds.

I spent most of the day yesterday cleaning out the guest room closet and moving summer clothes to a storage spot. When the guy came to put the pump on my heating system and I had to move everything in front of the little trapdoors, a lot of the stuff went in that closet. Today I need to vacuum the house since I'll have company staying with me for 3 days later this week.

Flannel quilt.......

2012-01-03T05:00:00.000-06:00

I sewed the borders onto the flannel quilt and pieced the back and that is as far as I thought I was going to go on this flannel quilt yesterday. Then I remembered the last piece on my old roll of batting was just the right size for this so I decided to load it on the longarm.

While I was looking at it I decided it was only going to be 5 passes over the quilt so why not go ahead and quilt it.

I had a long enough piece of the red print for the back but just a little short on the one I had used for side borders so I pieced on some of the other border fabric.

I did fairly large meandering so it quilted up fast.

On January 1st I took all of the triangles I cut over a month ago and designed this zigzag top. The triangles are 6" finished so this will be about 60" x 72". It is the project I'll work on between other things but I only have 2 weeks to get it sewn and off the wall before my friends will need the wall space.

2011 in review.....

2012-01-02T05:00:00.000-06:00

I'll start with the total successes, the finished quilts. 17 in all, 3 done totally on domestic machine, 2 partially done on domestic and all the rest done on the longarm. The are not to scale as Picasa3 scrambles them into different spots until you are happy with it and some of the large ones are small photos.

This group is the quilts started in 2011 but not finished. Some are completed tops, some are waiting for borders. I sold 3 of them as tops so there are 19 that I need to finish. Add that to all of the ones from previous years that aren't finished and I'm still close to 50. After I made the collage I went to the basement and quilted one of them, bottom row, second from the left.

I will choose the binding today and sew it on. I hope this year I can get the bindings done soon after the quilting and not end up with a pile like I had last year.

H is for happy...........

2012-01-01T05:00:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year!

Happy I got the binding finished in 2011.

I named this one "H- I give it 5 Stars".

My binding choice worked out so well.

I can guarantee you that I want to start something new today.........

Resolutions - no...........just a loosely constructed list of want-to-dos.

Binding choices........

2011-12-31T05:00:00.000-06:00

I found 3 fabrics that I like as binding for the H quilt.

I think all 3 of them work but I think I'll go with the third choice so it blends into the quilt instead of making a statement of its own. It's hard to believe this is the last day of 2011. I need to do a collage of finishes but it may have to wait til Monday because I need to get this binding done today and it will probably take me until midnite to do it.

I needed a change....

2011-12-30T05:00:00.000-06:00

My poor embroidery machine has been neglected for a couple months so I embroidered a couple squares for a quilt. Dad wasn't doing well when I visited him and that makes for a down day. He didn't recognize me and was having some kind of problem with his legs. He was really out of it the whole time I was there. It is ups and downs all the time, a really good day and then a horrible day. I hope I'm not just seeing a preview of what I'll be like in my old age.

On the quilting scene, I got another 2 rows of H's ditch quilted so I can put the binding on now and I will call it a finish for 2011 even though I'll probably have a few more H's left to quilt around.

What a day.......

2011-12-29T05:00:00.000-06:00

I started out the day putting away Christmas decorations, then going 3 places trying to find fake rings to put on a ring bearer's pillow and not finding them. (A reader is going to get some for me and mail them to me. Yay!!!) I came home at lunch time and walked into the living room and saw these dark stripes on the carpet. It was the vacuuming marks but why were they so dark? I touched it and it was wet. My first thought was that I had over watered a plant but there weren't any plants near this. Then I went over to the little door to the hot water pipes and one of the bleeders was leaking. This is almost 4 weeks after I got the new pump installed and he told me to check the bleeders for a couple days and then put the covers back on.

The 2 little pointy things are the bleeders, one for each direction of the line at this point. The one on the right was leaking. I called the plumbing and heating guy and luckily he was in my town working and was able to get here in about a half hour. He ended up having to put a plug on it because he couldn't get the style bleeder he needed at the hardware store. The good news is there is no more leak; the bad news is that all of the water was rusty and I have permanent stains in my carpet. I have been wanting to tear out the carpeting and put in bamboo floors. Maybe this is a sign that it is time.

I had an electrician coming at 3 to hang new lights in the basement and replace a ballast in my main floor studio. While I waited for him I was looking through all of my button boxes for something to use for the rings on the ring bearer pillow and I came across this token. I looked it up on the internet and it is an early 1900s slot machine token. My grandpa must have given it to me when I was a kid. Nice find but still no rings.

While the electrician was here I made the ring bearer's pillow out of my DIL's wedding dress for my granddaughter's wedding in January.

The lights on the left are the new lights, 2 four foot fixtures with the new skinny bulbs in them. I'm so glad I covered my quilting machine! I have needed more light here for 3 years and finally I had it done.

A little ditch quilting......

2011-12-28T05:00:00.001-06:00

The only sewing I did yesterday was to ditch quilt a few more H's. I felt like I was getting a migraine so I was working a little slow all day. The weather is changing today so it may still develop but I hope it doesn't.

I made a trip to the house where the Quilts of Valor donated fabrics are and chose selections for Take 5 quilt kits. I choose the fabrics and another lady does the cutting with her Studio die cutter. These are the kits that people take home to work on so we like to have a bunch ready all the time.

Flannel quilt decisions.....

2011-12-27T05:00:00.000-06:00

I chose the narrow border, the wide border and sewed the piano key yardage which I sliced into 5" strips. I was using up all of the leftovers so I couldn't make it any wider. I have a few strips leftover which I'll sew into a smaller section to sew in at a couple random spots in the wide border. The narrow border will go all around the triangle section and also at the outside edge of the piano key border. I had only intended on putting the wide border on the 2 sides but I may change my mind and put it all the way around. I like to design as I go. If I knew exactly what it was going to look like I wouldn't have any incentive to make it. The triangle section is 54" x 60" so my decision on the border will based on the size I decide it should end up plus the visual appeal. Part of the backing will be the same print as the wide border but with a red background.

Kringla recipes.....

2011-12-26T11:18:00.002-06:00

Several people asked for my recipes so I took a photo of the 2 together for you. On the second one it says put under broiler until light brown but in the new gas ovens the broiler isn't separate any more and the heat is at the top so they brown in the oven.

Still blooming.....

2011-12-26T09:50:00.002-06:00

I still had one Christmas cactus blooming even though they started blooming in October. I guess this is a good reason to have more than one plant; continuous blooming for 3 months. There are a few more buds but the last ones on each plant usually dry up.

The other Kringlas........

2011-12-26T05:00:00.000-06:00

This may look like the same photo I posted a couple days ago, but this is the well behaved recipe where they actually look like they are supposed to. This dough is so much easier to work with. This one has egg in it and the other doesn't so I don't know if that is the magic ingredient. I like both as far as taste goes so I guess in the future my decision will be whether I want to make the easy one or the difficult one.

Today I'm having lunch with a friend at a fairly new restaurant in town that I haven't been to yet. It is our November birthdays and Christmas combined lunch. Then I need to work on the latest flannel quilt and finish quilting the H quilt.

Merry Christmas!!

2011-12-25T05:00:00.000-06:00

Baking again.......

2011-12-24T05:00:00.000-06:00

My husband was Norwegian so I had to learn to bake some of his favorites. This is Kringla. Mine aren't pretty or dainty, just big fat wonderful tasty things. I was in the family almost 50 years before I found out there are 2 family recipes and they are totally different. I always wondered why mine didn't taste like my sister-in-law's. Then I found out I had my mother-in-law's recipe and she had an aunt's recipe. I still haven't tried the other recipe even though I have it. Some day....

I baked 2/3 of the recipe last night and will bake the rest this morning.

I finished my flannel pillowcases and got most of the center of the triangles flannel quilt sewn. Yesterday was my day to visit Dad and he was in good spirits. He always asks me what my brother is doing and asks my brother what I am doing so we know he still knows who we are.

A few more gifts......

2011-12-23T05:00:00.000-06:00

I gave flannel pillowcases to all of the family 2 years ago. I figure they might be showing some wear by now and maybe they would like a new one. There is a duplicate of the light blue and of the green check that I haven't pressed yet. There are 2 more to be sewn and then I'll have more than enough. I used my tutorial that you can find here. I am trying to use up that flannel that doesn't seem to have a group it fits into.

Center panel.....

2011-12-22T05:00:00.000-06:00

I finished pressing the seams on the triangle squares and designed the center panel for this flannel quilt. I thought about doing a zig zag but I really like this simple layout. Today I will piece the piano key border fabric and decide what fabric will be the first border. I made 2 batches of Chex mix and delivered some Christmas gifts yesterday, 2 of them mug rugs chosen by the recipient. I still have a little more baking to do. The house is clean and the party isn't at my house so I'm all set there. Counting down, just a few more days.....

Planning ahead........

2011-12-21T05:00:00.000-06:00

This is my next selection for a stack and slash quilt. I will use the floral print more often than the rest of the fabrics. I may wait until after Christmas to start this one.

Yesterday my blogger friend was travelling through this area again so we went to lunch. She was also looking for a fabric with a certain color group for a quilt she is making so I let her look through my fabric stacks and she found a couple possibilities. She also had the fun of looking through my mug rugs for the one she would take home. After she left I had fun rearranging the fabrics on one shelf. I love grouping and restacking the fabric, very therapeutic.

Sewing, pressing......

2011-12-20T05:00:00.000-06:00

First I'll show the formal portrait of denim/flannel/corduroy number 2. I sewed the binding on last night and then washed and dried it. I should add to the discussion yesterday about the 6" shrinkage. That is both the amount that it pulls in from the quilting and then the shrinkage from washing. This one came out 58" x 73" so about the same amount of shrinkage. This type of quilting allows for a lot of puffing up which means it is pulling in from the sides and therefore becomes smaller. If I took it out of the dryer partially dried, laid it flat and smoothed it out to dry it would be larger.

All of the flannel triangles are sewn into squares but less than half have been pressed.

I mailed this journal cover to its new owner yesterday. It is made from the leftovers of the striped diamond quilt shown in progress here.

I showed the stash of flannel plaid strips in Sept. 2010. I just ran across them again and decided to use the 1.5" ones (top container) and make as many squares as I could. They are 8" so this would make a nice center for a baby quilt.

Mug rug collage and portraits.......

2011-12-19T05:00:00.000-06:00

I think I am done making mug rugs for a few days so I decided to make a collage so I can see all of them at one time. It is nice that there isn't just one size for them so I could use a lot of different size patchwork pieces. A few people mentioned giving a mug with the mug rug and then the recipient can see the intended use. A couple people mentioned that they can be used as candle mats too.

Batting scrap uses: dusting cloths, mug rugs, doll quilts, preemie quilts...........I might actually use up all of the batting scraps that I create.

I took the formal portraits of my last 2 finishes. This flannel quilt ended up 60" x 69".

The denim/corduroy/flannel quilt has been washed and ended up 58" x 74". It shrunk 6" in both directions even though all of the top fabrics had been prewashed.

Finishing, cutting.......

2011-12-18T05:00:00.000-06:00

I finished the 2 mug rugs that were just waiting for backings.

Staged view and formal portrait.

This is one of the larger ones, 10 and 1/4" x 8 and 3/4".

I think it will be nice to have a stack of these for guests to choose one to take home.

I should have used black thread on the mug rug too. I never thought of it as a matched set until they were done. Isn't hindsight wonderful?

I have been making the mug rugs with patchwork that is playtime fun and leftovers from other piecing. Here are 2 drawers still full of pieces to play with.

We woke up to this yesterday morning but it is almost all gone already. It is supposed to be in the 40s for 2 days so it will all be gone.

The first snow that sticks on the bushes makes me run for the camera.

I use my Studio die cutter several days a week. Last night I cut 6" finished triangles from flannel left over from another quilt.

This is the variety. I have several pieces that go with these that I can use for borders. I will do a piano keys border too. This will be another fast quilt.

Back to the big projects.......

2011-12-17T05:00:00.000-06:00

I baked my third batch of spritz cookies, the green ones, and then decided to do some quilting. I had loaded this quilt the night before so I had it done by 1 p.m.

I just like large meandering on flannel quilts. All of the fabrics in this quilt are top quality and feel like suede. I'm not sure if I'll wash this one since it has the softer batting in it.

It has the orange print on the back and for binding. I make single binding when I use flannel. Double binding would be too heavy with this weight of flannel.

Late in the afternoon I decided to load this quilt and get it done too.

It has the same curvy crosshatch quilting that the first denim/corduroy/flannel one has. I didn't have any problem quilting this one since I did the zig zag stitch over the seams that are pressed open first. I used variegated black/white thread for both of these quilts and medium beige for the bobbins of both.

contest.....

2011-12-16T10:02:00.001-06:00

I entered this quilt in Quilting Gallery's Christmas quilt contest. If you would like to vote for me go here. Or if you like another one better, there are 67 entered, then vote for it. I finished this quilt in 2009 so this is its 3rd Christmas draped over a chair in my living room.

A finish, more mug rugs.....

2011-12-16T05:00:00.000-06:00

I did the last 3 rows of quilting, cut and sewed on the binding and then washed and dried this blue jeans, corduroy and flannel quilt.

I use Hobbs 80/20 batting and this roll was a little bit firm so it needed to be washed to soften it. I buy the batting on the 30 yard roll and there is just one piece 80" x 96" left on it. I bought a new roll and it is much softer.

There was a larger piece of patchwork made from all of the lighter colors so it was enough for 2 mug rugs. These are 10 and 1/2" x 8 and 1/2".

This was a good place to use one of the larger Kaffe prints. I decided to use it for the binding too, mostly because I didn't feel like looking for another coordinating print.

One of my readers suggested slicing off the edge finish that I didn't like on this mug rug and then applying binding. Why didn't I think of that? Now it is presentable. I should have taken a photo of it with it's matching journal cover. This one is 9 and 1/2" x 6 and 3/4".

And then there were 12.......I think I can stop now. No, wait, I have 2 more cut waiting for backing choices............

Mug rugs.......

2011-12-15T05:00:00.000-06:00

I looked up several tutorials to come up with an average size for a mug rug but it looks like anything goes. This one was made from these leftovers. This one is 8" x 5 and 3/4"

I don't drink coffee and rarely drink any hot drink so I might use mine for my chili mug.

By the end of the day I had made 10 mug rugs. One was a disaster so I learned what not to do. It's on the bottom of the pile in the last photo on this post.

I had enough of the braid patchwork from many, many years ago to make 3 mug rugs. They are 9 and 1/8" x 6 and 3/4". The fused hearts are cut with my Studio cutter with a Go die and adaptor.

I guess this can be considered 2 pairs of mug rugs. They aren't exactly the same piecing but have matching binding.

I wanted to try this diagonal striped Kaffe print as a binding but it seems a little busy.

Here are all 10 of them. The bottom one is the disaster. I tried the method of folding the backing around to the front for a binding but it is wobbly looking. I thought I had taken a photo of it but I guess I didn't. I used the same purple, black, and white patchwork as I used on the journal cover the day before.

Two posts today, first one my winnings......

2011-12-15T04:30:00.000-06:00

I was the winner on one of the days of Frieda Anderson's giveaways. You still have time to get in on this over at http://friestyle.blogspot.com/

I think there is one more day. This is what it looked like when I took it out of the mailing envelope.

Here it is after I untied that yummy 'ribbon' and slipped it out of the plastic bag.

After I untied the second 'ribbon' I got to this!!!!

The 'ribbons' are pretty exciting too though aren't they? More scrap pieces to use in my projects.....

Thanks Frieda!!

Small projects...........

2011-12-14T05:00:00.000-06:00

I needed some instant gratification projects after all of the big quilts I have been working on. I finished 3 journal covers.

I stitched a few horizontal lines with gold metallic thread on this one. Next I'm going to make some mug rugs. Everybody is making them but if you don't know what they are, do a search and you will find all kinds of tutorials and photos. I found that there isn't any standard size for them. I should be able to use more of my batting scraps for them, the scraps too small for the Swifter.

Cross rows..........

2011-12-13T05:00:00.000-06:00

It was a busy day yesterday, getting 5 pillowcases partially sewn for the church group, doing laundry and grocery shopping in the morning. After lunch was the sewing group with the going away party during it, and errands all the way home. When I got home I filled the bird feeders and did another load of laundry. I was too tired to stick with my quilting very long but I got 6 cross rows on this quilt. This is the one I had so much trouble with here. The really heavy denim seams wanted to poke up when I was quilting so I knew I couldn't do the cross rows very easily on the long arm. I'm doing them on my straight stitch Babylock machine. I'll just do a few rows every day until it is done.

Party preparations......

2011-12-12T05:00:00.000-06:00

Today is sewing circle at church and one of the ladies is moving away. I made some treats for our little going away party. I usually use Nestle's chocolate chips in the fudge but the last time they wouldn't melt completely so this time I used Ghiradelli brand and they melted like they are supposed to. You will have to take my word for it but it is melt in your mouth perfect.

Zig Zag done.......

2011-12-11T05:00:00.000-06:00

I decided I needed to finish this top yesterday. If you have ever worked with corduroy you know it makes little fuzzy goobers all over the place. Then add denim which likes to ravel and flannel that has a lot of lint, and you have one dirty work area. This reminds me why I don't work with these fabrics all the time and why I like my quilting cottons so much.

The zig zag is holding the seams nice and flat so I am expecting it to be easier to quilt than the one I did last month. Now I have switch gears and get some little projects done.

More recycled jeans.........

2011-12-10T05:00:00.000-06:00

This is the layout for the next recycled jeans and flannel and corduroy scraps quilt. There are scraps from 3 flannel shirts that I made about 15 years ago. The corduroy scraps are from clothes for my granddaughters. This quilt is all about recycling instead of dumping in a landfill. I know people who throw away big chunks of fabric. I can't do it. I love the flannel and denim together. I was a farm girl with 2 brothers. That is what we wore as children. Actually it's still my favorite wardrobe around the house in the winter.

Since I had trouble with the last quilt like this, I decided to take time to open the seams and zig zag over them with gray thread before I sew the cross seams. I will also open and zig zag over the cross seams. This should make it easier to quilt.

It seems that almost everyone thought the quilt yesterday should have 3 borders. That is probably what I will do but I'll hang it all on a design wall so I can double check and make sure I like my choices of fabric.

Border options....

2011-12-09T05:00:00.000-06:00

I started out with 2 borders options, pink narrow, blue wide.

Then I tried 3 because I didn't like the pink inner border next to that pink corner.

Or I could just back it with blue and bind it in pink and call it finished. Or bind it in a darker blue.

I sat at the car dealer's for 2 hours yesterday and then the tech guy comes in and says they have to tear the dash apart to put in a replacement part for the switch for the blower. He says another 2 hours. I was sure that with an 8:30 appointment I would be free by 11. I kept repeating 'another 2 hours' and he kept saying yes. Amazingly in 45 min. my van was ready. He put 2 guys on the job and they got it done quicker. I guess if I was running the place that is what I would do all the time to keep people from waiting so long. I left there and went to a party at the quilt shop, then met a friend halfway between our houses to deliver her serger that had been repaired, shopped at Target and came home. No sewing........

Trying layouts

2011-12-08T05:00:00.000-06:00

Last night I finally got around to making the rest of the blocks for the stack and slash pattern. My first layout was with every block in exactly the same position with all of the seams from block to block matching.

For the next layout I flipped every other block 1/2 turn. I wasn't happy with the distribution of the pink so I swapped a few more squares in different places for layout 3.

The top is all sewn together now and staystitched around the perimeter so ends of seams won't pop before I get around to quilting it. It ended up 54" x 68" so it's a large lap quilt.

I woke up yesterday with a burning migraine. After breakfast I took 3 Advil and about a half hour later, Dad's caregiver called and said Dad needed to go to the Dr. and that I should meet them there. We waited in the exam room almost an hour because they were working us in between other appointments. He was prescribed an antibiotic. After a trip to the pharmacy and then to the assisted living place to drop off the prescription I returned home, almost noon by then. Today my van has to go to the dealer's to fix the heater (only blows out at face level, not at feet) and an oil change and to turn off the low tire light that comes on the first cold day that my car sits outside (every year). It is something to do with the air pressure in the tires. I hope tomorrow is a more productive day.

Fat quarters.............

2011-12-07T05:00:00.000-06:00

I wanted to make another stack and slash quilt so I pulled out a stack of batik fat quarters. I rarely buy them. I was quilting for over 20 years when they were invented and I prefer full width fabrics to work with. What I have found out is that not all fat quarters are equal. Some are scissor cut very sloppily down the fold line and barely measure 21" wide. Others are torn, some are cut very neatly with a rotary cutter. I had to alter my cutting measurements slightly to get the pieces I needed from the fat quarters. I have 17 blocks sewn and now will go to my full width yardage shelves for the rest of the fabrics that I need.

Recycling military uniforms for gifts......

2011-12-06T05:00:00.000-06:00

The daughter of one of my art quilters is retiring from military service and she asked her mom to make 3 pillows out of her old uniforms. Louise came over and we loaded the wording into my embroidery machine memory and I sewed out 3 of them for her.

She decided that the front of the shirts would make great pillow backs. That way she could just unbutton them and insert the pillow form. I think it is a wonderful use of the uniforms.

This is the bali-pop quilt top she completed at my house yesterday.

I am hoping for a couple relaxing days now. It has been a busy time period again. I need to get the blower on the heater in my van fixed soon too, more appointments, more waiting.

Blocks sewn together....waiting for border choices...

2011-12-05T05:00:00.000-06:00

I finished the baking, cleaning and then sewed the blocks together into a top. I will add 2 borders. Our school colors are orange and black so I have seen this combination for 52 years living in this town. This is a soft orange and quite pretty. The diagonal layout is automatic if you place the 3 center squares in the same sequence (small-medium-large) and repeat it. Then the next row the small is moved one spot to the right (offset by one block) and it will automatically create a diagonal layout. My secondary pattern is the black and white alternating so I had to have 7 black and 7 white for each size center square. Did I ever mention I love math?

More orange, black, and white............

2011-12-04T05:00:00.000-06:00

We were pretty busy for the last day of business at the quilt shop so the time went fast. I worked on some more blocks when I got home. I decided on a diagonal layout of the sizes of center squares. I need to cut some more light strips to go with the largest squares for 3 more blocks. I also need dark strips for one medium size center block. When I cut all of it Friday I was just cutting random sizes from all of the fabrics. I figured I might need to special cut the last ones. After I piece them I need to rearrange it a little so there aren't so many alike in the same area. I think I will put a 2" orange border on first and then one of the black or white fabrics.

Today I will finish straightening the basement and bake the second batch of cookies for the art quilters who are coming tomorrow.

A new project......

2011-12-03T05:00:00.000-06:00

I cut enough pieces for 42 blocks while the heating repair was happening so I sewed a few last night. I don't know if I'll leave it random or place each size of center square on a diagonal pattern. I have 4", 5" and 6" centers and the blocks are 10" finished. I'll be working today at Quilter's Heart, her last day of business.

Here is the gigantic old pump that worked for 58 years with a 12.5" ruler next to it.

That little aqua thing is the new pump. I can actually get back in that space now without dodging a pump. I told you my boiler was huge.......I wasn't kidding! The new one which I will probably get in April will be about a fourth of that size.

Too tired........

2011-12-02T05:00:00.000-06:00

I worked 2 hours at the quilt shop yesterday morning and then went to embroidery club. She had a lot of neat ideas for gifts to make. I was too tired to sew when I got home so I just went down to the basement pulled the fabric for my next quilt. These are all flannel fabrics. I have made 2 black and white flannel quilts in previous years so all of the pieces in the bottom of the photo are leftovers. The pieces at the top are big enough for backing and borders. I just got the orange flannel on equilter's Thanksgiving week sale. I think the orange print looks great with the black and whites. This will be a really simple pieced quilt, either rail fence or bordered squares most likely.

I baked peanut butter cookies last night in preparation for my art quilters on Monday. The peanut butter cookies stay fresh for up to a week but I only like chocolate chip cookies the day they are baked and the following day. After that they taste stale to me so I'll wait and bake that batch Sunday evening.

Today is the big day that I will be invaded by plumbing and heating guys. I hope it goes well.

And one more.......

2011-12-01T05:00:00.000-06:00

I took a few breaks from moving things to hand sew the binding on this one. That makes 5 totally finished in 17 days, 1 more quilted but binding not done, and one partially quilted. I need to get a better photo of this one. The light source is on the right edge of this one and I need to have it evenly lit for it's final photo.

This is the back. The large print is one of my favorites and I have it on the back of another quilt too.

I have orange cactus blossoms now. If I'm lucky all 9 buds will bloom.

This is the plant you can see in the background of the orange flower. The plants have bloomed in groups, first the deep pink ones, then the white ones and now I have 3 plants with red blossoms.

There is one plant left to bloom. Maybe it will wait for Christmas.

The repair of my pump on the hot water heating system will take place on Friday. I have been able to keep the old pump working by oiling it when it complains. I have always kiddingly said that I have a boiler big enough to heat a grade school and that's why my gas bills are so high. Now I found out that I really do have one more than twice the size I need. I will replace the boiler after heating season is over so maybe next year I'll have more efficient heating. The farmers who built this house in 1953 put the best of everything into it but it was overkill to put in a boiler that large.

Binding done and the fun (NOT) begins........

2011-11-30T05:00:00.000-06:00

The photo didn't turn out very good so I'll try again today. This is a quilt I have been working on for over 3 years for the sewing machine store. It is finally finished and ready to take for show and tell to their embroidery club tomorrow. I finished hand sewing the binding last night.

The fun, or not so much fun really starts today. I have a hot water heat system in my house, original in this 1953 house and it has never needed repair until recently. The last couple years the pump has made some pretty loud thumps as it froze up but I was always able to get it going again by oiling it. The problem is that the oil is leaking out to the floor and it finally is so bad I needed to do something about it. Since there is no shut off valve they have to bleed the entire line, opening little doors on the baseboard heat IN EVERY ROOM. OMG do I have a lot of stuff to move so they can get to them.........................

Another top finished, more blocks made.....

2011-11-29T05:00:00.000-06:00

I finally got brave enough to sew the top and bottom borders. I had to take in about 6 seams to make the border fit. I don't think it is obvious that some of the 9 patches are narrower. I really like how it turned out and am glad I put the border on. I need to choose a backing right away and get the seam sewn in it and then it is more likely to get finished.

I made 2 more blocks and decided this one will be square. I see I didn't get the top right block positioned right, but it was late at night and I didn't want to go back down to the basement to take another photo. I will look for setting triangle fabric today and audition a few.

Binding again.......

2011-11-28T05:00:00.000-06:00

I needed to clean off a table in the basement yesterday so while it was clean I cut another binding. I really like this one with my backing fabrics as well as the top fabrics. I got it sewn on after I took the photo. Then I went up to my main floor studio and worked on the binding on the ABC quilt. I have a little more than 2 1/2 sides done now. My goal is to have it done by Thursday when we have embroidery club. The members of the club have seen the top minus the bottom row of blocks before so now they will get to see it finished.

This afternoon is church sewing circle so I will take the 6 pillowcases I worked on yesterday for their last seams to be sewn.