August Goal Results!

I did not reach my entire goal, but I am satisfied with what I got accomplished. I am still working on the Double Delight. I am going to finish that quilt if it kills me. LOL It is those rolling star blocks. I love the way they look, but really don't enjoy making them. I know quilting is all about having fun, but I just can't give up on this one. I have seen several of them finished and they are beautiful! I hope to spend at least a couple of hours a week working on it. I am almost ready to start sewing the blocks together.

I did finish the 2 hand quilting projects that I had started. Here is Harbor Town. I really like it. Here is the center of it.

I just love the way the lighthouse turned out.

Here is the back, although you can't really see the quilting.I also finished the D9P (Disappearing Nine Patch). This is just a lap size quilt, so it shouldn't have taken so long to quilt, but I kept putting it on the back burner for other projects. It is completely done now, though, even washed. (grin)Here is a closeup of one of the corners. Please excuse my pictures. I am not a good photographer, even though I love to take pictures.
I used a green cotton sheet for the backing. It really helps the quilting to stand out. I have used flat sheets for the backing on most of my bedsize quilts. I have never had any problems. I already shared pictures of the Green Star Quilt Along and Froggy Went a Courtin', so I won't post them again. I also have most of the applique done on the Birds and Blooms, but haven't taken a picture of it lately. So as you can see, I really was busy this past month. Now I am working on quilting Noah's Ark Quilt. I also want to start some new projects. I have several pictures to share, but will divide them up over the next few days. I think I would blog more often if it didn't take so long to upload pictures. I guess I should start bringing my handwork over to the computer to work on while the pictures are uploading. Hmm, never thought of doing that before. LOL

I now have all 12 of the Quilter's Garden blocks done. I'm ready to start putting it together. Here is block #3 called Bleeding Heart. Here is block # 4 called Cactus Flower. Well, that is it for tonight. It is September 1st. Dare I set another goal? Why not? (grin) This time my goal will be to make at least 15 posts on my blog this month. If I make the posts shorter with less pictures, I think I can do it. Tomorrow, I plan to tell you about our one day vacation. Kevin took me to Jamesport (Missouri's largest Amish community) last Friday. I had lots of fun, but I'll share that tomorrow. Everyone have a good night. Thanks for visiting.

I have a goal!

Good afternoon,

I know it has been 2 weeks since I posted, but I have been busy and didn't really have much to blog about. Now I have come up with a plan. Several quilters in blogland are trying to finish up things in August. (Big sigh!) I have so many projects to finish. After reading Bren's blog about how she continued on with her Basket Case quilt even though she had lots of problems with it, I decided I needed to finish some of these tops. Bren's Basket Case is beautiful, by the way. You should go to her blog and check it out.

So my goal for August is to get the 4 quilts (5 if I count Birds and Blooms) done to flimsy stage. I also have 2 quilts that I am hand quilting at the moment. I want to get them complete, bindings and all. I might even try to throw in a couple of shirts for Kevin. Nope, still haven't made his shirts. LOL I know this sounds like a lot, but I don't plan to let myself start another project till I have these done. So to be accountable, I am posting about it here. I will try to keep you all updated on my progress, but if I spend time on the computer, I don't have time for quilting. LOL

First I want to finish to flimsy stage the Frog quilt. I have half the blocks done and the rest of it cut out, so hope to have it pieced by tomorrow. This is a baby quilt, so not real big. There are 12 blocks in it. The blocks measure 10 inches square finished.

Next up is my Green Star Quilt Along quilt. It was a quilt along on Amanda Jean's blog a long time ago. All that I need to do for this one is put the borders on it. It is large, queen size I think. I really love how this one looks. Just need to get those borders on it.

I have Double Delight cut out, but need to get it finished. It was a mystery quilt by Bonnie Hunter. I love the way everyone elses turned out, but hate trimming. Half of the blocks have lots of trimming. I have all of the double 9-patch blocks done, but the square in a square blocks still need lots of work. These are the 2 basic blocks for this quilt. I didn't go scrappy as Bonnie did. I think it will be really pretty once it is finished. I just need to bite the bullet and get those square in a square blocks done.I started A Quilter's Garden over a year ago. It is a Thimbleberries' pattern. I have the flower blocks all cut out and 4 of them done. That is all, so this one will take the most time. Here is what it should look like, except with my fabric choices, of course.
Of course, I will continue to work on the Birds and Blooms quilt. I have the bottom applique done, so just 3 more sides of applique, then I can make and put on the border with all those HST's (half square triangles). LOL I have a new ruler for those, that is supposed to make it much easier. I hope so.
I am quite a bit over half done on the Disappearing Nine Patch. I had planned to have this one done in May. That didn't happen, so it got put on hold while I worked on other projects. It is wrinkled because it has been sort of folded beside my rocker, patiently waiting for me to get back to it. LOL Can you believe that I am having trouble figuring out which color thread I used to quilt it. Why didn't I put the thread I was using with the quilt? Hmmm, it is either white or off white. I am over half done on Harbor Town. This one has been lots of fun for me. It is basically just straight stitching. Well, there you have it. Do you think I can get all of these done in August? Maybe I am just spitting in the wind, but I thought I would be more apt to work on these if I posted about them. LOL We do have alot going on right now, but I still have lots of free time while Kevin is at work. If I don't meet my goal this month, I will just continue on in September. I definitely have plenty of handquilting to keep me busy this winter. (grin) As I said, I will try to keep you updated, but it will probably be smaller posts with less pictures. Uploading pictures on here takes a long time.

Thank you to everyone who wished us happy anniversary. We had a good time. Also thank you for visiting my blog. Please come again. Have a good day.

I've Been Busy!

Hello everyone,

I have meant to do a post on my blog for a couple of days, but it just hasn't worked out. I have been working feverishly on projects. It has to get warm here soon, doesn't it? I know I will be outside a lot then, so I want to get as far along on projects as I can. We had snow again this past Sunday, but it didn't last. The worst part of the day was the wind gusts. We just hunkered down inside and tried to stay warm. So far, April has had nastier weather for us than March had. Still no garden planted. They are calling for more rain to come in tomorrow. If it misses us, we might actually be able to get something planted this Saturday. (grin) Our oldest daughter is cooking for Easter. It is nice to have grown daughters to take over the family gatherings once in a while. (grin) I should get to see the grandbabies. That will be wonderful. I haven't seen them for over 2 months. I need to get some grandma time in. LOL

Now, on to what I have been doing. I finished the Peter Rabbit challenge quilt, but you will have to wait till Easter to see it. I will also post the links to the other 4 ladies who participated in it. I went very simple, but I think it turned out cute. I finished the binding this morning. Yesterday, I basted my niece, Amy's graduation quilt (the disappearing nine patch). It took me pretty much all afternoon. I finally got tired of basting with thread and finished it up with pins. I hope I don't regret that, but my back was killing me. I hope to start quilting on it soon. I got it all basted, folded it up and laid it on my bed. I turned away to do something and turned back to find this.

Doesn't Aeris look nice and comfy? LOL She beat Callie to it. Lately she has been more trouble than Callie. Here she is laying on top of the bag my dh carries to work. He has to change clothes before he comes home. Isn't she cute?I finished the blanket stitches around the running beagles last night while watching Biggest Loser. I love that show, but didn't care much for last night's episode. I guess I really don't care for the game play. I also don't care for Ron. I just think he is too bossy. Oh well, it is a game, after all. I am surprised that they all weren't sick after all of the junk that they ate during that temptation. Anyway, I will share a couple of pictures of the running dogs. Here is one of the lighter dogs. As soon as Kevin left for work, I got it out and decided to get it sandwiched. Since this will be a wall quilt and not receive a lot of wear/washing, I decided to use leftover pieces of batting in it. I used my walking foot and a wide zigzag stitch to sew the pieces together. I just butted them up end to end and sewed. It should work ok for this project and I used up some of my batting pieces. (grin)I now have it all sandwiched and pin basted. As soon as I get off here, I plan to get started quilting it. I marked the quilting lines last night, but they don't show up in the picture. It should quilt up quickly. I am so excited! I won a $25 gift certificate to Amazon from Cheryl. I love books as much as I love quilting. Thank you so much Cheryl for the generous gift. Well, these quilts aren't going to quilt themselves. LOL Everyone have a great day. Thank you for visiting. Please come again. I hope to post again tomorrow, so until then, take care.

Happy April!

Can you believe this is the first day of April already? This year is just flying by. It is still cold here today. The weather people say we have a couple more weeks of up and down weather. Supposed to be lots more rain coming in. I can handle the rain, just not more snow. Looks like the garden will be late in getting planted this year. I will eventually get it planted.

I worked on several projects yesterday. I got another block quilted on my Peter Rabbit Challenge. I got all of the square in a square blocks done for the froggy quilt and the first step of the pinwheels done. I finished the borders on the disappearing nine patch for Amy. I even started the embroidery on Kevin's beagle quilt. I decided that I would machine applique the beagle and running dogs. After about 4 inches on one of the running dogs, I just felt it wasn't working for me. Oh goodness, have you ever had to rip out a machine blanket stitch? It is not something I would want to ever do again. Took me about 30 minutes for 4 inches. Then last night while watching Biggest Loser, I started doing a hand blanket stitch around the main beagle, only to figure out after another 4 inches that I was doing it backwards. Yep, the thread that is supposed to go along the edge of the fabric was about an eighth an inch inside the fabric. Ok, more ripping. Lets just say my ripper and I were very close yesterday. LOL I am using black DMC floss to do the blanket stitch. Then I second guessed myself and thought I should have used floss to match each piece, but you know what? I was not ripping out again, so black it is. (grin) Here is what the center looks like so far.

It isn't like I don't have lots of floss to choose from. I have 3 cases full, plus a bunch in a sack that won't fit in my trays. I guess I need to get back into counted cross stitch, but I keep telling myself the floss will keep. I have most of them neatly wrapped around bobbins and stored in cases. (grin) I started out making counted cross stitch samplers that had the names and marriage dates of our kids. Well, I have 3 daughters married and am 2 samplers behind. I also started out making birth announcements for the grandkids in counted cross stitch. I have 4 grandkids and I'm 2 behind on those. (embarrassed sigh) Maybe I should concentrate on cross stitch this summer while it is too hot to have a quilt in my lap. Hmmm, probably not, since I enjoy quilting more. LOL Plus cross stitch projects just move so slowly. I get bored before I can get them finished. Well, on to important stuff. (grin) I finished the borders on the disappearing nine patch for Amy. I know you are dying to know which fabric I picked. I took some leftover pink fabric and made little 4-patches for the corners. I hope I have enough of the green for the binding. It turned out 57 inches by 67 inches. That should be big enough for Amy to curl up under. Here is a closeup of one of the corners. This is all of the pink and pink paisley fabric that I have left. Is this cutting it close or what? LOL
Well, I think I will get back to work on the beagle quilt. I can only work on it while Kevin is at work. I also know myself well enough that I need to get it done while I am in the mood. If another project pops into my head, I will be off and running with it. LOL That is why I have so many projects going at once. If I decided Ihad to finish everything I had started before I could start another project, I wouldn't be able to work on anything new for a couple of years. LOL Everyone have a great day. Thanks for visiting and please come back again.

It's Friday!

Good morning everyone,

I love Fridays, because that means the weekend is almost here. This weekend will probably be pretty slow since we are supposed to have snow coming in. Everything was just getting so nice and green, now I guess it will be white for a few days. They say we are on the north edge of the storm and should only get 2-4 inches. Hope they are right. It is about 25* here and the wind is really howling, so it feels much colder. At least when it is nasty outside I can work all weekend on my quilting without feeling guilty. (grin) Dh will probably watch movies while I sew and quilt. I was so glad to get back to Internet Explorer 7. I won't be doing any more upgrades any time soon, let me tell you! LOL I did not get as much done yesterday as I hoped, so maybe I can make up for it this weekend. I want to try to get the top pieced for the disappearing nine patch today. Here are a couple of the fabrics I have pulled for the borders.

Once I get the center put together, I will see if these play nice with it. LOL If not, I have lots of different fabrics I can pull for my stash to try. Here is more of a closeup of the darker border fabric.

Here is a closeup of the lighter border fabric. I think I will put a narrow border of the green around it first, then go with a flowery border. Do any of you like either one of these? I will have to see when I get things together. They might be too much pink, but I kind of like quilts with just a few colors in them. Of course, I also like quilts with lots of colors. LOL In fact, I don't think I have ever seen a quilt that I didn't like.LOL

I was in Wal Mart last week and noticed that they had gotten in a bunch of pretty fabric. Now I know I do not need more fabric, but since the south Wal Mart has taken their fabric all out, I figure it will just be a matter of time till the north one does too. We don't have a quilting store near us. We have Wal Mart, Hobby Lobby, and JoAnn's. So when I get the opportunity to get something to stock up, I do. My hubby is so good about not saying anything when I come in carrying a bag full of fabric. LOL Here is what I brought home with me last weekend. Another view of the pretty fabric. Some of this will probably become aprons or purses. Not sure yet, but I sure liked everything I brought home. I have my Peter Rabbit challenge about half quilted. I am about 3/4 done with the quilting on the Savannah Star quilt. I really need to get started on the quilting for the beagle quilt. I want to have that done by May 9th. My mom's birthday is May 26th. She has strongly hinted that she wants a rooster quilt. I haven't even started that yet. I am trying to do some block of the month quilts. I guess it is a good thing that our weather will be nasty this weekend. Maybe I can catch up on some of this. LOL

Well, my dh will be leaving for work soon, so I need to get off here and help him get around. Everyone have a nice day. If you are in the path of the winter storms, stay safe. Thank you for visiting and please come again. By the way, since I am back to IE7, I can once again get my pictures where I want them. (grin)

Disappearing Nine Patch and IE8

Hello everyone,

It has been cold and windy here, so I guess winter just wasn't ready to let go yet. In fact, they are calling for snow this weekend. I really hope they are wrong. I guess I will have to wait and see. (grin) It dawned on me yesterday that I have a niece graduating high school at the end of May. I will need a gift for her, so I decided to make a disappearing nine patch lap quilt for her. I found some pretty pink paisley-like fabric, some pink with tiny green specks fabric and some green fabric, all in my stash. I have all of the nine patches made and 5 of them cut. Now I need to cut the rest of them and lay them out in a pleasing manner, then sew them together. I also have some pretty pink, beige, and green floral fabric that I think will look fabulous as a border. Just hope I have enough of it. Since I want to make this all out of my stash, I will make do with what I have. I actually have several pinkish floral fabrics, so I know I will find something. LOL Here are the first 4 nine patches.

I had several pictures planned, but may not post them since blogger is uploading so incredibly slow. I have other things to do today. LOL I will try again. I took the nine patches and cut them in half both ways. Ok, this morning I updated to Internet Explorer 8. I so wish I had not done that. I have had nothing but trouble since. I can not even count the number of times I tried to move the above picture before it finally worked. When my dh gets home, I am going to see if he can help me figure out how to get IE7 back. I am hating this newer version. You know what they say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. My dh said it was my decision whether I upgraded to 8 or not, but I know he probably wouldn't have. Now if I can just get my old one back, I will be happy and content. I am going to try once more to add a picture and if I have problems, this will be it for today. I had several pictures to share, but this is just making me too frustrated.

Now that I have all of the 9 patches cut in half twice, I need to decide how to arrange them. I have 2 or 3 different arrangements or I can just mix it all up. LOLThis is the first one.

I got the picture to go where I wanted, but it wasn't easy and is so slow. Boy, I hope I can get 7 back. Here is the 2nd arrangement. Ok, that is it for me today. It is just taking too long to get the pictures uploaded, then where I want them to be. Sorry to cut this short, but I have other things to do. Everyone have a good day. Hopefully if I can get rid of IE8, I will be back tomorrow. Thanks for visiting.