July finish

Charlie took the two grandkids who are with us to the Harry Potter movie this afternoon, and I used that time to finish the fold-over-from-the-back binding on this 9-patch quilt. It has no batting, but a flannel backing. Another light weight quilt for the summer.

Then "Uncle Pete" and "Aunt Lynne" came over for dinner and a hot game of UNO.

They were joined at the table by President Obama, who just watched.

Next timre we will not seat the two kids next to each other. They did not take well to each others "bad" cards.

Charlie had to draw and draw and draw to get the right card to play.

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Sara

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Gratitudes:

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Grandpa helps me with grandparenting (morning walk)

Grandpa helps me with grandparenting (movie)

Grandpa helps me with grandparenting (plays UNO)

"Arrows" quilt top

I finished sewing the blocks together yesterday. It seems a little narrow for a twin bed. Today I added an old red stripe fabric as the first border to this 9-patch and hourglass top. Now that I can look at it from a distance, I see alot of "arrows".

And here is the current selection for the outer border, a navy blue with tan stars.

I am hung up at the moment about whether to add that border NOW, or try doing some quilting first, and then add the border later.

Really I have just run out of oomph.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Everything ready for the reception after the Womens' Chorus concert tomorrow

Symphony tonight

Have learned some of the Spanish!

9-patch progress

The 9-patch and hourglass blocks blocks are done, or nearly done. I know I'll be under a few when I get to the end of putting them together. BUT I started the sewing together of the rows, and it's going pretty quickly.

These are all the "same" row, and there will be a different row in between each of them that has the oppposite 9-patch (four dark instead of five). I'm planning 17 rows of 11 blocks (4.5" finished) each.

I need a rather "thoughtless" project because I am listening to the last Womens' Chorus rehearsal on my MP3 player all the time. I hope that if I listen enough times I will pick up the Finnish and Polish language words that I need to go along with the notes that I already know. Plus I never studied Spanish. I've got the Arabic, and we are allowed to use our music for the Japanese. Concert this Saturday with 14 pieces. Woy, yoy! (That's Polish.)

Sara

Gratitudes:

Charlie is back from his retreat

MP3 player

"Am I Kin to Sorrow", words by Edna St. Vincent Millay

Sew-In Mystery progress

Our SpoolSpinners Bee had a Sew-In today. Everyone worked on their own projects, but several of us worked on our monthly blocks for the "Your Way Mystery". These are the 6.5" blocks I made today, my wonky shoofly blocks. [Everyone chose their own block and fabrics, so these are going to be quite different quilts at the end.]

Eight of us worked away in the church meeting room from 10 until about 4. Naturally there was lots of chatter and commentary on each other's projects. A good time.


And here is my stack of 9-patches and hourglass blocks growing day by day. The challenge is to make ONE a day, but I am so far making four of each since my method makes two at a time, and I am working on reducing my pile of 6" and 6.5" squares. This gets twice as many used up.

After supper I got on the mowing tractor and did the lawn around the house for the first time this season. I did not go out to the meadow and do the paths because they are running in water still from all the rain recently. At this time of the year it is fun to mow and view the landscape at the same time. Our "bocce court" is just as bumpy as always.

Sara

Gratitudes:
Chocolate
Charlie had the mower ready to go
sewing progress

Camera Found

Charlie found my camera on a table where he stacks the books he is currently reading. Did I put it there?

So here are a few of those projects from the last days:

These are four of the orphan blocks I sized UP with green and blue logs, and I think they will have a lot of white around them for a summer quilt. Made three more last night, so now I have 9, and that's all there's goinig to be! This qualifies as a "project improv".

And this is the layout I am thinking will use up a lot of 6.5" scrap squares once I have made them into 9-patches and hourglass blocks. This will be a form of Leaders and Enders as I work on other things.

Today I hope to make the binding and put it on the Orange Crush quilt. And make a label.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Slept under the Double Delight quilt last night and the warmth was perfect.

Finally a UFO finish!

Here's what I had.

I went to a quilting retreat in 2005, and one of the exchanges involved making several black and white nine-patches with a colored center. When we were together, we were instructed to sign each white patch and then cut the nine-patch into quarters. It was these quarters which we exchanged, ending up with the signature of each other Retreater.

These blocks sat in a stack for a couple of years, and then just to "solidify the stack" I sewed them together. So now I have had this piece for a year or so.

I'm not going to see these people again. It was a one time thing, far from home.

Today I decided to cut it into strips, eliminating the signatures, and then see what I could do with the strips. Maybe I would just throw them away, or maybe not.

The strips laid nicely together, and then I remembered that our Guild will be collectiing doll quilts in November for the Santa Claus Girls. This could be a DOLL quilt, for a very with-it child. One strip wasn't quite the same, but I used it anyway! Just a little whacky.

With the wild and crazy border fabric, I sized it up to 21"x22". Bound and quilted at home this afternoon. So Finn, I finished the first of 5 UFOs I said I'd do before Dec. 31.

Now I just have to buy a with-it doll to match!

Sara

Gratitudes:

Good meeting with photos of our wished for Nature Park
High hopes that the millage will pass on Nov. 4
Sunshine on the fall foliage today

Twin sized charity quilts

Once I was in an exchange of nine-patches and they have languished in a box with other orphans. I put it together a month ago and now it is back from the long-armer, ready to go to Pine Ridge reservation to help keep someone warm this winter. I got the scrap binding on this afternoon.

And here is the back, made of fabrics I was ready to toss.

There is another one I hope to finish the binding tonight. I got the binding made during the end of "La Boheme" on NPR. Charlie is making dinner (Saturday night regular event) so I can go and work some more right now.

________________________Later

Got it done and took this photo on the deck stairs after dinner. Based on Bonnie's Scrappy Bargello, but more strips to make it bigger to make it twin/bunk size. The border is Railroad tracks fabric

(ALL of yesterday's rhubard crisp was et at the potluck. None to bring home. But I had made a tiny one as well and we just had it as a late snack tonight.)

Sara

Carolina leftovers

After much thought I finally realized that the Carolina Crossroads blocks were nine-patches. So I made BIG nine-patches to set between the "Ring" blocks I had put together with leftovers a couple of days ago.

So now I'm looking at it and not too thrilled. I hope getting the RIGHT borders on it will make a terrific difference. It is pretty dark, so I started with a 3/4" light mini-border. It's all sewn. And now I'm kind of stuck for what comes next. This will be a baby or neonatal quilt, so not very much bigger. The big nine-patches are looking HUGE to me.

Therefore I laid it aside and did "thoughtless sewing" for the rest of the afternoon and evening. That is, I put more pieces onto Confetti blocks. And I spent time reading other quilter's blogs.

Sara

Gratitudes:

warm sewing room on a wintry day

classical music on WBLU

sharp cheddar cheese

Another little top

Yes, I am working on the Carolina Crossroads leftovers! Yesterday I put together the five big "Ring" blocks from Bonnie's mystery. They can be combined as a large 9-patch, but I don't know yet what to use as the alternate patch. Still thinking on that one.

Today I finished this one to use up the 18 nine-patches with 5 light squares. It is 26 inches square. I made the binding from the rest of he border fabric. I should be able to quilt this on my home machine. This could be a neo-natal quilt, or if I do a GREAT job finishing it, I could put it in the Small Quilt Auction at the Guild show next October.

Healthy Habits: Low on the exercise this week. Bad weather cancelled exercise classes. Weight loss in the past month = 1.5 lbs. Well, it's not good, but it's better than going in the other direction!

Sara

Gratitudes:

anniversary reception all planned

new-to-me Mary Balogh novel

Charlie cooked steak for dinner

Leftovers from Carolina Crossroads

For some unknown reason I looked in my box of 3.5 inch patches, and there was a pile of 9-patches!

I usually have at least three little quilts for donation to the Neonatal Unit at our regional hospital when the Guild collects them in March. So I have had it in mind that I should make a few that size. I finished putting this top together yesterday.

Today I have been worrying about the LEFTOVERS from the Caolina Crossroads quilt. I had about 20 rail fences that I decided had too dark a center rail. I had about. . .Oh, another 20 9-patches with the accent corner, which I decided was too LIGHT a yellow. And then I had a few dark cornered 9-patches, and a whole lot of little squares and little strips of three squares.

So, entirely out of keeping with my normal prqactice of piling the new projects on top of the old projects, I felt that this pile of leftovers has to be HANDLED.

I sewed a lot of little things together so that they made whole 9-patches. However, the yellow "accent" squares were migrating around because there were so many of them.

Now I have counted them:

20 rail fences, 20 9-patches with dark corners, 40 9-patches with the accent corner, and maybe another accent (or two) in the block. I have put everything else away into the drawers. Tomorrow I will have to devise something with these blocks. Those railfence blocks are really dark. I could make 5 of Bonnie's Ring blocks, and still have a lots of 9-patches leftover. I can't think about it any more right now. I'm DONE.

Swimming today. Steps: 2838

Sara

Gratitudes:

Hot shower in the locker room

Afternoon nap

Dinner at new friends'