Back from Wisconsin!!

Arrived safely home from our too quick trip to Wisconsin. Spent two days at MT. Olympus water park which was lots of fun and the weather was terrific! Went to Sparta and spent time with former neighbors, spent not nearly enough time at favorite quilt store, Quilt Corner, (actually spent more than time at Quilt Corner, as one can imagine!!) met with friends and was able to go to the farewell party for our favorite pastor who is leaving for another congregation. On the drive home (20 hrs split into two days) I received a phone call from my formerly pregnant niece. Yes, that's right, FORMERLY pregnant niece She wasn't due until September 4th!! They were camping in Maine when her water broke! She was airlifted to Bangor, Maine where she delivered a 3 lb 7 oz, 17" long boy!! He is doing pretty well, considering he is 9 1/2 weeks early! He has a feeding tube, and is on a respirator, but they may be able to remove that in a day or so. What a shock to us all! They live in Massachusetts, so it was an 8 hr trip for my brother and SIL to run up there and see them, they may be able to move the baby to a closer NICU in a couple of weeks, but we'll have to play it by ear until then. I finished binding the Charity Kitty quilt on the way to Wisconsin, but noticed that the stitches on the last two feathers I had done on the border were very loose and the stitching on the back was all loopy - I remember being at the very end of the bobbin, but didn't notice any difference in the feel of it. So I did not present it to the Cat Shelter, I ripped out the stitches and then pinned it back on to the machine and did the feathers again. It took longer to pin it on than it did to do the feathers Crazy! I will just have to send it to them, but it still counts as my charity project completed for this month as well as 8 1/3 yds out for stash reduction! I have not updated my stash in, you know how it is, lots of laundry to catch up on, Twilight Saga marathon movie session to attend, dusty house to clean! Actually I have not been able to bring my self to count it all up, and one of the kits doesn't count, as I will wrap it up as a birthday present for myself. Here are a few pictures of all of my yummy new goodies!! The bolt of fabric I purchased at a reduced cost and is for QOV backings - does that count?? Oh well, all things considering - I am very happy with the amount of finishes I have for such a busy month! Happy Quilting!!

Packing!

I'm finishing up packing for Wisconsin, last night I finished quilting the kitty quilt, and this morning I sewed the binding together and on to the quilt, so I will bind it as we drive. Well, when it's DH's turn to drive and I am not sleeping! It's usually a 22 hr drive, this year we plan on stopping somewhere along the way instead of our usual marathon drive. The kids are pretty good about it, they each have their electronic devices, snacks and their pillows to keep them entertained! I have been so good this year, most of the fabric I have purchased is also in the fabric out column or well on its way. So needless to say, I am really anticipating doing some serious damage at my friends quilt store! I will TRY to keep in mind specific projects and not just go crazy . . . or not!! I do need a few backings, and while that adds up, it also goes out quickly too! Here are some photos of the kitty quilt. It is going to be given to the Associated Society Animal Protection (ASAP) Cat Shelter in Sparta WI, for their annual fall fund drive, intended as one of the raffle prizes. It is a wonderful no-kill shelter from where we adopted two of our kitties, Samantha and Hermione. I will have to add their pictures and stories to my side bar sometime soon. Samantha has an amazing story, and she is a very special and amazing kitty! I made a quilt quite similar to this one for a neighbor who always watched our kitties when we went on vacation, and they would never accept any kind of payment. I had tons of fabric left over and always had in mind to make this quilt for the shelter, and so now it's done! O.K. well, it will be once it's bound. I still have enough fabric left over to make another one - an even bigger one I think. This one is 62" X 67", I use 5 oz poly to make it nice and thick, and provide alot of definition during the quilting. I hope they like it! Well, better finish up, I'll be back late on the 28th, just in time to enjoy Twilight, The Eclipse! Happy

Quilting!

Baby quilt bound!

I finished binding the baby quilt on Friday night. I helped my niece make it last summer when she came to visit, she had never made a quilt before, but she is very creative and crafty and did very well! Her husband is an artist, and he designed the pantograph pattern that I used. Unfortunately, the thread she chose doesn't show that quilting very well, but I will quilt the panto using dark thread on muslin so you can see it. It is really pretty, I will have to ask him to come up with a name for it. He sent me the design on a 8 1/2 X 11" paper and then I enlarged it and taped it together and brought it to office max and had it run off until it was really long. I look forward to doing it on a large quilt! I should have had my head on straight and mailed the quilt to my niece on Saturday, but didn't even think of it until the post office had closed. Very busy getting ready for our upcoming trip to Wisconsin, surprised DD and on last day of school we went to the local spa and we each had a pedicure! It felt great and was alot of fun! She was especially thrilled since she and her DD were going to a Father/Daughter Cotillion the following evening. While they went to that DS and I watched movies together. I pinned on the kitty quilt and then went to pin on the backing and realized that the backing was WAY too small - what was I thinking? So I had to go back to the LQS and picked up two more yards, I'll have extra but I can make a pillowcase or a bag of some kind. We went to the beach today, DH's choice, then came home and had steak, scallops, burgers and other yummy foods to celebrate Father's day. We leave Wednesday morning, so I'll be quilting the kitty quilt first think in the morning. Ooops, it is morning!! I have a feeling it's going to be a crazy next couple of days!

Poodle Door Doodle!!

Here it is! I was able to get a picture of DD & her Favorite teacher with the Poodle Door Doodle!

My DH & DS asked what the Giraffe thingy was - wall hanging ??? I said "well, it can be, but it also can be hung over a door knob" So once the Poodle one was done, the name Poodle Door Doodle just came to me! So I changed the Giraffe thingy to Giraffe door doodle on my list of finishes. I think it sounds better! DD's teacher was very impressed that she sewed it herself, on the back I had her do a little label with her name and date. I finished binding the Citrus Lucky Star quilt last night - another finish and there's 7 1/8 yds gone from my stash!! I was so thrilled to not have bought an inch of fabric for this quilt. For the binding I used leftover green from the scooby dooby doo quilt that was my first finish this year. I quilted the baby quilt yesterday and sewed the binding on, tonight I will start binding it. Only three more days left of school, and they are half days at that! Need to pin on the kitty quilt so I can get my charity project for the month done! Not bad for 1/2 month left! Happy quilting!

Hot & Muggy = Progress!

Another very muggy weekend! We arose early to get to the Farmer's Market before all the good seafood was gone, we were all set and I was just getting into the car when it became very difficult to breathe! Ran back inside for the inhaler and after a few minutes we set off again! Once we were in Historic Yorktown and along the beach breathing became much easier and we enjoyed looking at all the booths of goodies & fresh produce. We weren't too late and were able to get 2 bags of small clams (100 total), some beautiful salmon, fresh corn & lots of fresh veggies!

Once we arrived home I stayed inside for most of the weekend and got lots done. DD made her teacher her gift, which I forgot to photograph!! She brought the gift in today, but I will join them this afternoon for their party so I'll take pictures then. She did a great job and was thrilled and how quickly it went together. She sews such a nice straight seam, but small projects work best for her, cause then she's off bouncing on to something else! I was able to finish completely a set of six place mats! I had this waiting around for at least 3 years now, and it also completes my goal of one Christmas present a month, as it is going to my brother's youngest daughter, since she has her own place now and she loves coffee about as much as I do! I'm going to use the leftover fabric to make oven mitts and then I'll put them all in a basket with a tin of my yummy mocha slices (chocolate/coffee cookies) and that will make a lovely Christmas present. YAY!! We'll now I'd like to get the older niece's baby quilt quilted before DD's party. Happy Monday!!

June Finish!

My first June finish was unexpected and unplanned, but very cute & fast! My daughter had picked up a poodle embroidery iron-on applique to give to her teacher (who collects pink poodle things) and was pondering what to do with it when I suggested a simple little wall hanging. She couldn't envision my idea, so we just let it go. The next day I went to the LQS for a backing for the kitty charity quilt and saw the giraffe fabric and some pink polka dotted fabric. I bought 2 3/4 yds backing and 1/4 yd each of the giraffe and pink polka dotted fabric. I would have bought fat quarters, but this shop doesn't "do" FQs!! I am proud of myself for only getting 1/4 yd of each!! That night whilst DD was sleeping I whipped up the Giraffe thingy and hung it on her door knob! She noticed it immediately the next morning and loved it!! (did I mention she LOVES giraffes?) I showed her the polka dot for the poodle and she loves the idea so we'll work on that later on this evening. Last weekend I got so much accomplished! It was soooooo hot and humid that it really bothered my asthma so I stayed inside and sewed!! I finished quilting the citrus lucky stars, so my binding pile is really starting to stack up on the couch! I finished piecing the kitty charity quilt and it's waiting to be quilted, I finished enlarging my nephew's beautiful long arm pantograph pattern and I am going to long arm the quilt my niece & I made last summer. Lastly, I've found a way for my next lucky stars quilt to also be leaders and enders. It's all cut and organized, in a bin next to my machine and I've been getting blocks done as I go along with other projects! (Photo below) I have the finished blocks pinned to the QOV batting box, convenient little holder that turned out to be! Well, I want to get DD started on her poodle project, I want it to have been done by her, not her Mom!! Hope you have a productive & fun weekend!!

QOV is quilted

The latest guild QOV is quilted and the binding is sewn on, now its next to my spot on the couch ready to be sewn down! Can't remember the last time we watched TV though, we've been so busy! Last night we went to an 18th entury play at Kimball Theatre in Colonial Williamsburg - What FUN!! When watching 18th century plays, the audience members are verbal participants, and it's loud, boisterous and great fun! My 10 yr old DD especially enjoyed it, she was deeply enthralled and just loved every moment. It was a comedy and the actors were outstanding. We'll be sure to keep an eye out for the next play! Anyway, here's a picture of the guild QOV, I quilted this design that my friend Crystal, in Wisconsin, showed me a couple of years back. I used donated fluffy poly for the batting, and since the seams on this quilt were quite bulky, this design worked nicely and took advantage of the depth that the poly provided! Also included are a couple of sneak peeks of what I'm working on. These two projects are on opposite sides of the spectrum regarding level of difficulty and swiftness of completion! The kitty fabric project is for a charity raffle and is fast and easy as can be! The brown paisley, flowery fabric is a wedding present and very time consuming! I just started cutting out the kitty project on Tuesday, and I've been working on the wedding project since May 17th! We'll see how they go - I've tried not to start too much at once this year, perhaps the secret to my current success, but I can only stand to work on the wedding project a little bit at a time! Well, I need to run some errands before the kiddles come home from school, Have a great weekend!

More May Finishes

This past weekend was busy, but I was able to complete all of my monthly goals! (Just barely) ;)

I found the fabric and the idea for my Christmas present goal when I found the fabric for the backing of my Citrus Lucky Stars! It was in the same small plastic tote, all the fabrics were together to make my sister a butterfly pillowcase! I have already made her the snowman pillow, so I will just use the pillowcase as wrapping paper! I have a little bit of the fabric left and would like to make a notebook cover as well, but I couldn't find my sample or the directions. As for the charity project, I know I had already quilted and bound 2 guild QOVs, but sometimes I feel as though it doesn't count as much since I do it those EVERY month, so I try to do a different charity project each month. I was in a bind time wise, so from my STASH . . , I made two pillowcases for the American Patchwork & Quilting 1 million pillowcase challenge!! Later on this week, I'll drop those off to my local quiltshop who is also participating. The challenge there will be to drop them off and then leave empty handed! I was so good AGAIN this month - most of the bindings I am doing for QOV are coming from my stash, and between DD's summer quilt, the pillowcases and putting together two sewing kits for my church kit drive (which was 3 1/2 yds each kit) I had a grand total of 17 5/6 yds going out and NO fabric coming in !!! YAY!!

We had a great holiday weekend, went to the beach Sunday and spent memorial day at Colonial Williamsburg, always an enjoyable time there! Well, I have a QOV pinned on the longarm, and then as a treat I will quilt the Citrus Lucky Stars! Next post I'll give you a hint as to my longterm project, one that is getting closer to the deadline than I care to think! Happy Quilting!