Grocery Totes

I needed a break from the yellow, yellow, yellow.

So when another Blogger pointed me to Lazy Girl Designs [not Lazy Gal, Tonya] for a free tote pattern, "With Love Tote Bag", off I went to see if it was as easy as she said. Well, it is. You need just one yard of fabric to make a tote, a lining and the handles. Of course, you could change something around to your own style.

I made one. According to all the instructions. Looks fine, but quilting fabric is a little flimsy for this application.

I made a second one [of a better, heavier fabric] with two minor changes.

I made a third one because #2 was so perfect for a grocery tote [Vegetable Fabric!], that I wanted to make another--so I could HAVE two, or I could give one away, or at least I would finish up that fabric!

I would say the second and third only took about 30 minutes each.

So a completely different project for today; and they are all completed. Wow, when has that ever happened? Haha, I can list this as a One Project A Month completion!

Sara

Gratitudes:

Leftover rhubarb crisp

Charlie gone to Chicago with pals to see the Tigers/White Sox

Painting progress in the swimmers' bathroom

AAA came in 15 minutes when my car wouldn't start

Double Delight done, done DONE

Yesterday afternoon I finished the extra quilting that I thought my Double Delight needed to balance what Catherine Martin had done. Then I washed it, and put it in the dryer. When I get to that point with any quilt, I think it is DONE. I can mark it down as finished in May, on the very last day! [Counts for One-Project-A-Month plan.]

I have shown this before, but here it is washed and dried, with all the bumpiness of the quilting really showing up.

And today I started the "Quilt-along" offered by Dana at http://oldredbarnco.blogspot.com/ .

Step 1 was choosing your fabric--and after thinking hard about GREEN, I decided on yellow. When I looked into my Yellow Box, I saw a lot of orangey/goldish fabrics I would be glad to use up--so THAT's the kind of yellow I am using. My idea is a summer quilt--maybe with all the yellows: "Summer Sun."

I cut some 2.5" strips as directed in Step 2, and sewed some together. I could see by the Sample that this was going to be a Rail Fence quilt. But I don't have the new fabric she is planning for, so I wasn't able to cut Width-of-Fabric strips. I wasn't going to cut my strips from my scraps until I knew how long they had to be.

Today Step 3 gave me that information, and her particular plan is not going to work for me. I have changed the plan to a FIVE rail block instead of six rails, therefore I am making my blocks 10.5" instead of 12.5". I think this will still work out to a twin sized quilt. I can make something over 50 blocks, so that will make a 60" x 90" center section.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Quiet, rainiy day, good for sewing

Leftovers made dinner easy

More iris in bloom

Third Finish for April

Just finished the binding, labelling and hanging sleeve at 5:30 pm. on "Mountain Majesties in Blue". This was another idea from Bonnie Hunter, but my blocks were quite a bit smaller than hers. This measures 39" x 59". The fabrics were from a "blue" Fat Eighth exchange in February of last year. This February I finished the blocks and borders and began the quilting, but lost my energy. Today I went to work on it with a vengeance becaue I wanted one more finish this month! So I plugged away at the quilting for most of the afternoon.

Now it is time to decide if we are going to a Garlic Mustard "Pull" at our new Nature Park. It is scheduled, but it has been raining most of the day. Just stopped, but the trees will be dripping! May be a sea of mud, and we will all go home at once.

Sara

Orange Crush on the BED!

Yea! I finished the binding and label on Bonnie Hunter's "Orange Crush", and though it hasn't been washed yet, I put it on the bed so we can try it out tonight. [No, I didn't spill a bottle of pop on the bed.]

Here is a look at the quilting on the border again. Wide as the bottom border is, it is all tucked under the mattress right now.

This quilt feels heavier than the Double Delight. It can't have MORE pieces, can it? Maybe the fabric and/or batting is heavier. I do know that it is longer and wider.

Sara

Mosaic Tiles gone to Kathie

At a lunch party I gave the Mosiac Tiles quilt to my friend Kathie for her birthday. This quilt is the result of the New Year's mystery.

And here is the back, pieced out of the left-overs and stash. I would call this a "Nap quilt" as it is a little small for a twin bed.

And here is a Liberated Star (or wonky) I made last night.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Happy Birthday to Kathie!

Made brioche dough for the second time

Getting diningroom cleared up for Easter dinner

Doors in the Squares

Today I finished the companion baby quilt to the one in the previous post. This time colored squares and black "doors". What I had available for batting was fluffier/taller than I usually have/use, but there it was and I needed a batting. So this has ended up a little stiff, even after washing. The backing is this fun print that looks rather African.

Because we are going to Florida for the whole month of March, I am going to count this as my "March" UFO completion, in case I don't even take a UFO with me. So May Britt, this is my OPAM finish for March!

And just for fun, here are some wildlife photos.

Deer, right on the driveway, about 50 feet from the house. They don't seem to be interested in using the bench!

And then here is the view I got coming out of the den, walking toward the kitchen.

Nutsy, Zeke's stuffed squirrel, which has the same coloration as said dog. How he ended upright I don't know. Right in the area where Zeke is usually lying so that we can't move anywhere without his knowledge. Zeke? He was downstairs with Charlie getting ready for Obama's speech to Congress.

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Sara

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Gratitudes:

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Lunch with Bob Miller in Holland, MI

Dutch butter crisp pastries

Doctor now approves of my blood pressure

Doors out of the Darkness

Today I pulled out this top from last year and got it completely layered, pinned, quilted, l;abelled and bound before 2:00. I call it "Doors out of the Darkness", and I made a top of the opposite coloration at the same time. Another UFO or WISP (Work In Slow Progress).

I quilted wavy parallel lines in the blocks, then various rough circles in the border. [I had had only two of the dots of circles for the corners.]

Oh, and I used a bright red polka dot for the backing so it wouldn't be too dark for a baby, since this will go in our Guild's collection for the Neonatal Unit at our regional hospital.

May Britt, this is my UFO/WISP finish for February! Now I need to make another finish for March, since we are going to Florida for that whole month.

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Sara

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Gratitudes:

Warm house while the snow blows outdoors

Opera on the radio Saturday afternoons

Charlie has the tax info ready for our CPA

My oldest UFO

Now I really want to thank May Britt for challenging me to finish one WISP (work in slow progress) each month in 2009. I have finished my OLDEST UFO.

This quilt was started when my husband was in seminary, and he graduated in 1974. So this is at least 35 years old. I knew next to nothing about quilting, having no instruction, but some sewing skills. I had made a quilt of LARGE blocks for my daughter, and then I saw a photo of a "Thousand Pyramids" quilt. I began taking apart the clothes that my children had outgrown and cutting a few triangles from each using a cardboard template I had made. These piled up for quite a while.

Then I began sewing them into rows. At some point I didn't want to wait any longer to start quilting BY HAND, so I layered what I had and began. My "Plan" was that I would eventually add some MORE rows (how?), and then borders. Really there wasn't much of a plan because I didn't know what was necessary. "Just do the next thing." Not a bad motto when in deep trouble, but not what could really be called a Plan!

I stopped quilting at some point with most of it done, but not all. I was making other quilting projects, and learning more. I didn't know how I was going to finish this quilt. So it languished, went to the bottom of several piles, was moved from home to home, and finally in this house, has been resting on the guest bed in my sewing room for about 8 years.


Several times I have thought about getting it finished, but I couldn't face the task of adding batting and backing for the borders. (Or any additional rows, for which I have some cut triangle pieces).

For the last several nights I have slept in this bed because Charlie has a dreadful cold and I'm avoiding his germs (I hope!). As I was falling asleep last night it suddenly crossed my mind that I could simply BIND the quilt and call it quits. After all there are lots of old quilts that just end with the binding (and this is an OLD quilt to me). What a release that would be, to not keep thinking that there were onerous steps that HAD to be completed.

So today I did it. I even chose two leftover bindings from my Bindings Box and used them rather than making "new" binding. To me it seemed fitting to use something old for this task.

Now that it is done, I counted the triangles, and including the half-triangles there are 350, not really 1000. So I'm calling it the "350 Triangles Quilt", measurements 49" X 64". And DONE. Halleluia!

Sara

Gratitudes:

Fun new linens for our bed (yellow & orange with big polka dots)
A warmer day, so I chopped some ice on the front steps
Out tonight to dinner and a play

WISPs

"WISP" , which means "Work In Slow Progress", is what May Britt and Khris are challenging us to complete...one per month for 2009.

I've joined in because I was so motivated by Finn's challenge to work on UFOs [a less gentle name]the last four months of the year. I would like to get through a lot more of them in 2009.

Here's the little icon you can put on your sidebar if you join in. And register your interest with them at http://tagalongteddies.blogspot.com/2009/01/gobsmacked.html .

I'm continuing my Slow Progress on Double Delight with Clue 2. I think I have 40 of 120 blocks made and squared up.