ALL CAUGHT UP WITH PROJECTS AND I'M OFF ON AN ADVENTURE

I have been working really hard over the last week getting projects all caught up.  The house and dog sitter is taken care of and husband and I are off for a Mississippi River Boat cruise from Memphis  to Nashville.  There is a stop in Paducah too and we plan to go to the National Quilt Museum.  So will not be back for the 2 weeks.

Early this past week I got the last of my BOM May's Garden Party Down Under vase and flower block completed.

I joined it with the March and April blocks.

And now have all five months completed.

Last week I appliquéd the upper white petal on my Alex Anderson neutral quilt project.  I was not happy with it, as there was no contrast and it just sort of faded away.  It was suggest by one of the ladies that replied on my blog that I might try doing the stitching in a darker cooler.  So I  un-sewed the blanket stitching and appliquéd with a light grey thread.  Much better!

So I have one of the three appliquéd rows complete.

The Dot Quilt came back from the quilter early this past week.  The binding is on and that project is finished.  It is just 48" square, so I put a hanging sleeve that matches the backing on it I can keep it or give it away as a quilt or wall hanging.  

DESIGN WALL MONDAY 

MID WEEK MAKERS

  
   

 

NEUTRAL PETALS AND GARDEN PARTY PROGRESS

I have been able to get things pretty much caught up this week.  I am ready on Wednesday to turn over the guild treasurer's job to the new elected treasurer.  Plus husband and I  are planning to leave for a 11 day vacation on a Mississippi Riverboat trip as well.  I am thinking a well deserved get away.  House and dog sitters all arranged and we are ready to go.

I have been cutting out blossoms for my Alex Anderson neutral quilt project.  There are 240 of these little guys so I trace, fuse and cut out a few every evening.  

I have 2 on so far of 21 that will be on three of the panels between the four pieces rows.  Not very happy with the first one as the white petal doesn't show very well, but have decided it is too complicated to un-sew and un-fuse it.  Will have to see if I can live with it as I move along adding the rest of them.  Once the whole quilt is finished and quilted it probably will not even bother me.  Well I hope so!

I got the first of two May BOM blocks completed on the Garden Party Down Under project.  My goal this week is to get the second one done before we leave on our trip.  

It is now sewn on to the row with its other two block.  This project I am really pleased with.  So hopefully this week I can finish up the second block and get it sewn onto its other two blocks for the second row completion.  

My youngest daughter, the one with all the chickens, ducks, and peacocks has the perfect morning coffee companion.  She said they sit out on the patio every morning and have a quiet conversation.  Nice to have a friend to talk to.  

      

DESIGN WALL MONDAY

MID WEEK MAKERS

FLOWER POTS, KAFFE FASSET FABRIC AND DOG BEDS

 This past week has been completely free of projects that require meeting instruction deadlines.  I did take some time to completely clean my sewing room, things had gotten really pretty bad in there.  Unfortunately in doing so I discovered a project that some time ago I stashed away under the cutting table that caught my attention.  

A whole box of Kaffe Fassett fabrics and it did look like a few other similar prints.  

The pattern was tucked in there as well, and even some already prepared appliqué pieces for the long panel on the left side.  However, once I started digging around in the box I realized that somewhere along the line I had pulled out a good deal of Fassett fabrics and used them in other projects.  The only cure for this kind of problem is a trip to the local quilt store.

I happen to be very lucky, as my local quilt store had two full shelving units of Fassett fabric.  A 1/3 yard of each got me out of there without too much damage.

Lucky me I had included the background in the box.  I 'm not sure if it will be enough for the entire quilt, but Grunge fabric is another item that the shop carries in abundance.  Plus this pattern would lend itself to mixing backgrounds.  

The only other project I did try to get caught up with was blocks 7 and 8 of my Camden Station.  Plus I have the appliqué fusible pieces cut for the 9th block ready to apply to the fabrics.  However, that will be set aside for a while.  Tomorrow my Garden Party BOM instructions go online so it is back to the grindstone with that project.  

 

The only cuteness this week so far from our oldest daughter, new parents of a puppy, so we get lots of pictures.  Loki now 15 weeks old and a good 50 pounds plus is getting along really well with his sister Liza.  They have decided that the king size bed is just the place to spend nap time.  Seems that they also believe that the bed is much more comfortable and things are looking like it could get really crowded once daughter and husband also want to sleep there.  Liza currently weighs in at about 120 pounds, but Loki is expected top out at a good 200.  Hmmm, wonder who gets to win this bedtime battle. 

DESIGN WALL MONDAY   

MID WEEK MAKERS

 

GAREN PARTY, TEDDY BEAR, AND IRONING BOARDS

Things are somewhat back to a normal pace at last.  My guild's quilt show was very successful and I nearly have the finances of it closed down and can turn the treasury position over to the next lady.  I have had several great days in the sewing room catching up with a couple projects.

I finished my BOM Garden Party Down Under April instructions upper two blocks.  I am very pleased with how it came out as well as the lower March blocks. 

My Teddy Bear quilt came back from the quilter.  I got him bound and got his smiling mouth sewn on.

Last year I desperately looking for a quilter's ironing board.  I found one, but the reviews were really poor.  They are pricey and I sure didn't want to invest in something that had issues.  At the quilt show I purchased some bobbins for my two Bernina sewing machines and discovered they gave me the wrong size.  So I called them and they agreed to exchange them, so we took off for a 40 minute trip to their store.  Got the bobbins exchanged but eyed this ironing board in the shop.  It is made by Singer and did not have the issues that the previous brand had with all the complaints.  They also gave me a 20% discount on it for having to travel 40 minute each way to exchange the bobbins.  I am really happy, already tried it out and love it.    

Loki our oldest daughter's new puppy has discovered the wonderful world of toys.  This one didn't last very long, back to the pet store. 

DESIGN WALL MONDAY

MID WEEK MAKERS 

  

 

BITS AND PIECES IN THE SEWING ROOM

The quilt show is over, and it was a roaring success.  I spent a good part of last week getting the quilt show finances and report to the guild together.  Then my house had to be put to right.  So a couple days were spent getting at least the kitchen, living room, and dining rooms cleaned up.  Things had been let go.  Dust bunnies had become full grown dust rabbits.

My March BOM instructions of Garden Party Down Under had not been started so I did get busy and begin working on it.  I have a ways to go to finish this block up. 

I also am working on a neutral quilt project with Alex Anderson's class on line.  I need 32 of these little guys.  

I am trying to get the 7th block started on the Camden Station piece.  Have some work to do on this one.  But it is a start.

So I managed to get all 32 of the neutral blocks done and now working on getting them laid out in 4 rows.  Lots of moving them here and there to find a nice lay out.  As you can see the design wall is one jumble of Bits and Pieces. 

Taking a break this Sunday with a family BBQ to celebrate our grandson Noah's 16th birthday.

DESIGN WALL MONDAY

MID WEEK MAKERS

 
 

 

 
  

QUILT SHOW, LANDSCAPE, AND LIFE BACK TO A NORMAL PACE

A day late getting back to my blog, but back to a normal life as well.  The quilt show is over and it was a roaring success.  

The Opportunity Quilt raffle at the end of the very busy Saturday and Sunday show.  Someone won this beautiful quilt.

This is just half of our boutique.  There was a great variety of runners, quilts, and other hand made items for sale.  Guild members over the last couple years contributed to over 100 table runners and numerous other quilted items.

The basket raffle was a huge success.  There were 39 baskets with all sorts of handmade items.  The gift card tree basket overflowed with raffle tickets.

Alex Anderson was our featured guest along with her husband representing The Quilt Show and Alex also has been doing online quilt shows by Facebook and U-tube three times a week.  

This is my current project that Alex Anderson is offering.  I started this project with her on Monday the 4th of this month.  

I was able to get my little 4 patch pieces complete all 64 of them before the craziness of the quilt show engaphed me.

Now on to this weeks 64 half square triangles that will be joined with all those little 4 patches.  Alex will be giving instructions on these this Monday the 11th. 

Life truly is going to be back to normal.  The landscape project also is over.  That green lawn is artificial turf.  No watering required.  Maintenance for the most part free.  Just have to blow the leaves off the rocks and lawn now and again.  This is the front yard of our home. 

And the side yard done as well.  In another week we will be able to park the cars on the driveway again.  I can breathe again now and get back to a nice steady pace and a lot more time in the sewing room.

DESIGN WALL MONDAY

MID WEEK MAKERS

 
 

  

  

BEARS, NEUTRAL BLOOMS, CEMENT AND DOGS

It would be nice if things could slow down a bit around here.  Alas until after next week that is not going to happen.  My guild's quilt show is the 9th and 10th of this month.  I am the treasurer, so have a lot of prep to do for the show of the cash boxes and banking of the proceeds.  It seems I run from one meeting to another almost daily.

We still have a major landscape remodel in our front and side yards on top of everything else needing attention.

I finished up my Teddy Bear quilt top this past week.  It is off at the quilter's, but when I put this picture up this morning I realized he doesn't have a mouth.  Will have to quilt that on when I get him back.  I chickened out doing the blue and green borders using 4 patches finished at 4 inches square.  So ended up cutting the strips instead.  

Alex Anderson has a new project going on this week.  I love neutral quilts and her classes on U-Tube or Facebook are fun.  I ordered the kit from The Quilt Show rather than trying to pick through my stash.

The fabric arrived last week.  It was so pretty in its little bag and bow I have not pulled out the pieces to look at them yet.  

An update on our landscape progress.  We have a driveway and walkway this past week.  All should be finished with the landscape portion this week too.

And an update on my daughter's new puppy Loki.  Here he is with his big sister Liza.  She says they are getting along really nicely, and enjoy laying out in the sun on the deck in the afternoons together.  

DESIGN WALL MONDAY

MID WEEK MAKERS