Design Wall-Week 22

This has been a pretty exciting week. Not one stitch has been sewn, nothing is on the design wall. But I don't care because I have a new grandson! I may not have been sewing but I have been knitting. Hats, my grands need new hats. It all started when I made oldest granddaughter Ashlee (Happy 15th Birthday Ash) a new beret. I can't show you yet because she hasn't seen it.

This little princess is Miss Clella, Leland's sister. She has a new job besides being big sister. She is Gramma's hat model. And hat models do not like it when you try to take their picture when they are having cereal and milk. They also do not want to take off big brother's hat while having cereal and milk.

After making Ashlee's beret, I wanted more hat yarn. We went yarn shopping at Craft Warehouse but I didn't find the kind of yarn I was looking for to use on a different pattern. But I did find some James C. Brett Marble Chunky acrylic yarn. (Link is just to show you a picture) This is a really nice, soft, smooshy yarn and makes a very nice hat, as you can see on the model. I used a free pattern from Red Heart called Gotcha Covered. I have enough yarn left to make a hat for Jonah when it's his turn.

This cute pink hat is called Robin's Egg Blue and is a free free pattern from Rachel Iufer . I used smaller needles and made fewer rows. The yarn is called Sensations Angel Hair, an acrylic, wool, nylon blend and the color is posy. It is very soft and I think she likes it. I have enough left for Jaelynn a little hat.

I have Amanda's hat on the needles now. It's called The Amanda Hat (How could I resist that one!) and I found it on Ravelry which lead me to Sleepy Eyes Knitting for the pattern. Taylor's will be the same yarn as Amanda's and the same pattern as Clella's unless I find a pattern I like better.

Before buying any more hat yarn, I need to check with Ian, Ashton, Orien and Big Taylor--what if they don't want Gramma to make them hats. Oh, that will make me sad!!! That's OK, I know my girls like them. I better get knitting! I don't want my babes to have cold ears.......

Lots of other quilters do have things on their design wall. Go on over to Judy L's at Patchwork Times and see what's happening.

Welcome To The Family Leland

Leland Ernest joined our family October 29 at 10:31 am. He weighed in at 6 lbs. 12 oz. and is 19" tall. Isn't he gorgeous??? I think he is! His parents are Crystal and Mike and has a big brother Elliot and a big sister Clella. We think he is pretty special. His Poppy has already decided to call him Little Ernie......Poppy's name is Ernie, he is quite proud.

I had to borrow this picture from his parents...I'll be taking a few of my own today when I go to their home to help out. I think I will tackle the job of baby holding. Or block stacking. Or snack making. Or just being there to hug....which is a tough job in itself. Yip, I have a hard life!

Quilting? Not today--I'm needed other places today.

Design Wall-Week 22 and Retreat Report

Today my design wall holds the completed center of the Rectangle String Quilt from Mary Quilts. I spent 4 days at a local quilt retreat. I love going there and sewing for hours at a time and never having to worry about anything other that what I am doing.

My goal for the weekend was to do my BOMs first and then get busy trying to empty my string bin. I finished the Rectangle quilt and the gray centered quilt. I posted photos to my small online group last night and was offered border fabric from a dear friend that wants to help with the charity quilts. How fabulous is that??? I accepted her offer and she will bring me fabric in a couple weeks. Until then, I think I am going to use something I have for these quilts and then at the next retreat--pretty spoiled aren't I??--I am going to continue to work on emptying out that string bin and will use her fabric for those quilts.

These blocks are for a new BOM group. The theme for the year is stars, one traditionally pieced and one paper pieced. I am using black background and only stash fabric for the stars. I think it will be very striking when it's finished.

This is my view of the sewing room. This wonderful lady is Barbara. My table mate was working on a One Block Wonder. I haven't been too interested in making one of those until I sat there and watched as she worked on hers. OMG! I am going to find some fabric for my own. 3 other gals brought theirs, one was complete, one ready for borders and one still in progress. They were each amazing and to watch as Sonya made progress on hers---ohhhhh, I need to have one too. I am such a follower!

Today I am going to try to create some kind of order in my sewing room. I don't think I have to go anywhere today.......I sure hope not. I am still recouping from the weekend.

If you have a bin full of strings and strips and you need some inspiration to use them, go to the HeartStrings Quilt Project and inspiration will overtake you. If you don't want to make a string quilt, think about giving your strings to someone that will use them. You can contact the HeartStrings group through their website or contact your local quilt guild and ask if they would like your string quilts. Quilts are needed everywhere.

Go on over to Patchwork Times and take a peek at Judy's design wall and then check on everyone else. I love Monday!

Design Wall-Week 21

Design Wall Monday is here again. I thought I was only going to have my 6 Sister's Choice blocks on the wall. This morning though, I decided I need to figure out what I want to take to retreat this weekend! It is fast approaching.

I've spent quite a bit of time this week emptying out my scrap baskets. (I can't say I don't know how they get so full so fast because I d0 know how it happens...I procrastinate!) My string box is overflowing and so is my bag. I decided I would make a couple string quilts while retreating. I have some cheap-o thin fabric that makes great foundation so I got that out and cut the size I need to make Mary's Rectangle Strings quilt. After I cut my center strips, I had to make a couple (that turned into 8) sample blocks. When it was time to trim them to size, I struggled with my square ruler. After trimming one block, I told myself I needed a 6 1/2" x 9 1/2" ruler.....didn't have one that exact size so I created a template, layed my 6 1/2" wide ruler on it and marked my lines on that one. Much easier for me to use.

Fast forward a few hours...Hubby comes home from hunting and we have dinner. I bake him some chocolate chip cookies while he reads the paper. He goes to bed, I am getting ready to go to bed. I went into the sewing room to make sure the I turned off the iron...I did so I turned it back on. I sat down and made 6 more blocks! At this rate, I will have to have more foundations to take to the retreat because this quilt will be done!

Go on over to Patchwork Times and check what everyone else is working on. Check back here in a day or so and see my completed top. LOL Because you know I'm going to keep working on it!!!

Floral Freeze Frame

My Freeze Frame Top is finished!! This is the latest Quilt For An Hour project from Judy L at Patchwork Times. Today she posted a Mr. Linky Box post for us to upload our completed top photos.

Go to Patchwork Times, look around, get to know Judy. She has awesome quilt patterns, fabulous recipes and stories that make you laugh and make you think. Her quilting is fabulous. I have coffee with Judy every morning!

A little note about my top. See the 2nd to the last border??? The instructions state to use the same background fabric used in the center--mine was a cream on cream floral print. I thought I had enough for the outer borders.......I didn't measure, I started cutting. Whoopsie, I was 2 pieces shy. So I cut my other background fabric and it looks great.

Now to complete the backing. I'm taking my leftover fat quarters and maybe some others to make my back. This should be finished in now time.

I'm Done, I Think

I think I might be done with the summer garden harvest! I spent all day yesterday processing this 49 pound pumpkin, the last of 3 from our garden. The chickens liked the others and after discovering this, I put a cage around this guy.

First thing to do was get hubby to set this thing on the counter, then I pushed it over the sink so I could give it a good scrubbing. I sure love my Moen faucet with the pullout. Makes pumpkin scrubbing easy.

Then I had to get out the big knife and hammer. I didn't have to use the hammer at all. It cut pretty easy, it was just cumbersome. After all was finished, I ended up with 17 2-cup packages and 3 1/2 quarts of juice from straining the pulp. Most went into the freezer. The scraps went to the chickens.....they sure do like pumpkin. They proved that by pecking 3 others. Next year, the pumpkin patch will have a fence around it!

Today I am going to bake cupcake/muffins and maybe custard. We'll see. After yesterday, I'd rather sew.

Design Wall-Week 20 and Other Things

What an exciting week! I had such good intentions and a couple of them actually happened.

My design wall this week looks almost the same as last week. Very little progress was made but any progress counts for me. I put 2 more borders on my Quilt For An Hour but here it is still waiting for the final 2 borders. Hopefully today they will get put on-that's the plan anyhow. Then I am going to take all the fat quarters I cut for this top and use them to make the back. My plan is to continue the Quilt For An Hour project so I can have this quilted and bound before my retreat next week. I did add another Sister's Choice block for my leader and ender project.

On Wednesday, son in law Mike came over and we finally put up the tile backsplash. He has me scheduled in for Thursday and next Tuesday for grout and finishing. (With his family, a full time job and his own business, my projects have to be scheduled in and I'm fine with that.) It took us a good share of the day to get both walls tiled and that included the mandatory trip to Home Depot. It sure took me a long time to get started and now I can't believe I allowed myself to live with no tile for so darn long!!!

So during the tile project, I hurt my feet. I'm not used to standing on my tippy toes and stretching for long periods of time and the tops of my feet rebelled. I don't blame them, there is a lot of me to be on those toes. If you've ever had shin splints, that's what it felt like on my feet. So I took most of Thursday with my feet elevated with ice. I had to have something productive to do so I got out my Monkey Sock project that I started in February (and promptly put away) and decided I was going to learn to do lace. It really is simple if I just follow directions and count out loud so I don't confuse myself. I am such a slow knitter, especially when I can't just knit round and round. So now, it's just a few rows at a time, I am anxious to get these socks done so I can start the next pair.

We had a fabulous Grandchild weekend. Friday was Party at Gramma and Poppy's. 3 Grands spent the night...what fun we had. The 2 little ones absolutely adore their cousin TayTay. She couldn't do anything that one of them isn't right there with her.

Sunday we went to blustery, cold Camas to watch #14, Ian, play football. Not being a football fan, I had a hard time concentrating on the game but Poppy loved it. I think I should probably get interested in it, as I think he is going to be playing for a while. I was paying attention when he scored a touchdown.......Go Jets!!!

After the game, we went to Jenny's house for some fabulous Taco Soup. I was so darn good and it warmed me all the way through!!! She made a pumpkin roll too and I had to have my piece before leaving her house. Her spoiled rotten dad filled up on soup so she gave him 2 slices to bring home--one for later and one for breakfast. The man had them both last night and there wasn't even a crumb left in the bag. Now he wants me to make another.........not today, there isn't room on my list for that.

Now head over to Judy L's Patchwork Times and see what everyone else has on their design wall. I love Design Wall Monday!!! Thanks Judy.

Design Wall-Week 19

19 weeks of Design Wall Monday. I think when I have a minute, I'm going to go back and see if I've made any progress.

This week's wall has my Freeze Frame, Quilt For An Hour from The Fabulous Judy L of Patchwork Times. (Instructions can be found on Judy L's website.) Today is Hour 11 that adds the next border. (edited to add that I finally read the directions and I'll be adding 2 borders today--easy peezy) I am really loving the borders. I'm glad today is a simple day, I have fabric for a new bathrobe and I want to cut that out sometime today.

Beside Freeze Frame is my newest leader/ender project ala Bonnie at Quiltville. My second photo is my little flannel design wall that sits behind my machine. I started using 2 1/2" squares, sewing them together, turn them into 4 patches and 9 patches.

Then I started cruising blogland. That is how I found Pam's Quilting and Stuff by Knitoid, I started reading, going to older posts, reading, more older posts until I found this post of her fabulous Quilting Studio Tour. After wiping the drool from my face, I continued on until I found this post with a UFO that was screaming at me to make it. It will work perfect with my 4 and 9 patches that I've been making with no purpose. So I emailed Pam, asked if she minded if I copy her and she doesn't care, told me the name of the blocks and I went to work, I had to make a few blocks--just to be sure.

I feel lucky to have "met" so many wonderful friends via the internet. I always think of how much my Gramma Maple would have loved the internet. I can see her cruising blogland and making sweet comments to all of her new friends. So why don't you cruise on over to Patchwork Times and see a sneak peek at the next Quilt For An Hour and see what my friends are working on.

Just Stuff

Meet Louie. He is the newest member of our family. We adopted him Saturday. Lacey, the stinker, brought him over to visit while we were all working on filling the woodshed. She "didn't want to leave him home all alone".

Lacey is pretty smart. She took this little guy in when the owner couldn't keep him anymore. She had asked a couple times if I wanted to take him but I have Tony who is still a wild thing and didn't want another. Then I see him. How could I not fall madly in love with him!!! Darn you Lacey, thanks! He is just the right fit for our family. DJ, the big dog, is really happy to have him around. Tony has someone to play with and will leave him be. Tony thinks he is a new toy!

The baby quilt is ready for the longarm. It turned out larger than I thought it would. I think my little great niece will like it.

I have some flannel that I intended to use for the back but now I have to go get some purple or pink. My original border fabric is now back in the stash. I think this is the perfect border for these blocks.

My next baby quilt is started and the next one is in the planning stages. I think I should just make up a stockpile so I am always prepared. Nah, that isn't any fun. I'll just wait until the pressure is on then I'll make a quilt.

The little chickens are starting to lay eggs. How eggciting! I kind of feel like a dork getting all excited over eggs but I don't care. I embrace my dorkiness.

Design Wall-Week 18

Week 18 brings a baby quilt to my design wall. I'm cheating and posting on Sunday evening instead of Monday. I want to be ready for my Quilt For An Hour.

My niece's baby is due to arrive any day now. And guess who is late with the baby quilt. Yeah, that would be me. The worst part is, this baby's sister is over 2 and is still waiting for her quilt. I have that one ready to quilt and this one will be ready to quilt soon.

My friend gave me a stack of 6" squares, so I paired them up and made magic 9 patches with them, put them into a baggie and put them away. One day, while searching for something else, I ran across them. I've had this plan in my head since that day. Today I got them out, trimmed them up and here we are. I'm still thinking about the border fabric. I have others to audition before my final decision. The backing is a bright yellow flannel with green, pink and purple splotches on it. Soft and cuddly.

Here are instructions for the nine patches using 2 squares of fabric. I can't remember on who's site I learned to do this. It was years ago and I want to say it was Billie Lauder but I can't find it on the www anymore.

Go visit Judy L at Patchwork Times and see what other quilters have on their design wall. I love Mondays. Again, thanks Judy for keeping this going.

I Can't Believe I'm Doing This!

I can't believe I'm doing this! I'm posting a picture of part of my stash. This is the most organized part, there is no way I will show you the rest. Not right now. I've been in the process of getting my sewing room like I want it for a very long time. On Friday, Crystal and Mike brought me a stack of totes to borrow so I could sort things the way I want them, get them out of the room, rearrange the way I want it and then fill it back up again.

Just in time for me, Judy L is having a Show Us Your Stash! challenge. There are lots of links to quilter's stashes. Of course I had to go look and I clicked on gardenpat's link. Let me tell you right now, I am so stinking jealous of her organization that I want to go in my room right this minute and pull everything out and start over. I've only looked at 3 stash links so far and I'm afraid to look at the rest of them. But I will! I need all the inspiration I can get right now.

But not today, we are going to work outside. Today is the last nice day for a week or so. The rain is returning to the Pacific Northwest. I'm kind of happy about that but kind of sad too. I want to be stuck in the house with no garden chores to do.

Today we will work again on the firewood. Yesterday, Doug, Lacey, Jonah and Elliot worked like demons. The boys-Jonah, 5 and Elliot, 3 1/2-learned to run the splitter with Poppy. Up and down the lever moved. Soon they knew when to push up and when to push down. Doug ran the chainsaw and the ax, while Lacey stacked it in the woodshed. I helped but felt very inadequate so I cooked lunch. Crystal took pictures for me and was our water girl until it was time to take the little ones home for naps. I think I should have been in charge of naps, I could have shown them how it's done.

So I'm hoping to get a big start on my room tomorrow. That's after I post what's on my design wall and do my quilt for an hour. There's a new club around the quilting world and I'm proud to be a member. I am a Judy L Junkie!

It's The Simple Things

What makes me happy? I love simple things. Yesterday, I repaired a stuffed snake for a cute little 5 year old. He called me to say thank you. I was giddy all evening. The little voice on the phone "Thank you for fixing my snake. He's beautiful."

This morning I completed Hour 5 of the Quilt For An Hour project that Judy L. has going on right now. I'm calling this my I'm not starting anything new project. I already know how I'm going to quilt this. And the best part, everything is from my stash. That makes me happy.

The other day, I looked out my window and saw my chickens all flocked around the chairs we sit in (after cleaning) to watch the garden grow. I'm always happy when I collect the eggs and say thank you to the girls for their hard work.

There are oodles of other things that make me happy. These are just drops in my happiness bucket. What makes you happy?