More blocks finished...........

A few blocks a week might not seem like much to some folks, but I am more than pleased at the progress I am making. What with work, family obligations, etc., I think that I am putting out a fair amount of work. And anyway, it is about enjoying it. But I think that I will enjoy it more when I "catch up", and I am within 4 blocks of being at what I consider my "catch up" point. Then I can begin to finish UFOs, and maybe even start a new project, again.

Last night I finished the second Thimbleberries block for this year. It had way too many pieces and it is not perfect., but the fabrics are nice.

Another block that I finished this week was the last basket block from the Red Hen Fabrics BOM for 2006. These blocks are wonderful and were a real joy to make. They now join my numerous sets of blocks waiting to become quilts. I do have the setting fabrics, and they are lovely.I have also spent some more time on the baby 4 patch and should finish the handquilting this w/e without fail. Then I will just need to bind it, so perhaps it will be a finish for March. I will obviously not get three UFO finishes for March, but that is okay, since I have gotten all of these blocks done. Perhaps two finishes a month is a little too ambitious in my situation. We will see.

Thought I would share another flower picture with you. This is one of my African violets, and I don't know the name of it, but I love the color, with the little purple specks in it. I have perfect lighting for growing violets, and with violets, that is what it is all about.

I hope to get a little stitching done this w/e, but probably not much. Tomorrow will be spent going to grandchildren's ballgames..........soccer and baseball. And then I have to clean and cook some for next week.................

Have a great w/e!

Moving right along

I continue to make progress on my BOM commitments. It has been hard work trying to catch up, but the stack is growing smaller, and that is a good feeling. Of course, the stacks of blocks are growing larger, and that is a whole other issue unto itself. I will address that once all of these individual blocks are caught up.

The March Little Quilts SS block is one of my favorites. I love the colors and the pattern. Don't know what the name of this block is, and they didn't provide it. I can just see it in monotones as a way to use up stash, as in Judy's March Stash Challenge.

I had decided not to participate in the Little Quilts Applique SS Blocks this time. I didn't need another applique project. But after they said that there would be a setting to combine the pieced and appliqued blocks, I reconsidered. I am fusing and machine buttonhole stitching them. I truly don't have time for another hand or invisible machine applique project, but machine buttonholing I can do. Thought they turned out pretty well.

The first day of Spring here has been incredible. The temperature was 80 degrees with plenty of sunshine. Thought I would share a photo of my pansy bed before it got too warm and the heat did them in. At this rate, it won't be long!

Welcome Spring

I love being able to go out to the yard and pick flowers for the house. The camellias and daffodils are always among the first flowers blooming each Spring.

On a stitching note, I have gotten a bit more done on the handquilting of the 4 patch baby quilt......it really won't take too much longer to finish the quilting.

I have also been hard at work on the Thangles sets. I am now up to date on both sets..............7 blocks made this week. The blocks on the left are 6 months of blocks from Little Quilts (I am making one per month); the blocks on the right are from Heritage quilts, and are three months worth of blocks (I am making two per month). Obviously, the program at LQs started before the other one. Both are quite different, but are the same size, using the same patterns. I like them both.

I have got to get busy on my rug hooking over the w/e, as I have my class in Athens on Monday. I have been so busy trying to catch up on my quilting, that I have neglected my rugs.

So many projects, so little time. If only I were rich and didn't need to work for a living!!!

Off to bed........

Happy Birthday Debbie

Tonight we celebrated quilting buddy Debbie's birthday and presented her with her quilt. She seemed really pleased and surprised. And it was lots of fun to get to know some of my new quilting friends a little better. I have been asked to join their informal group, "The Pitifuls"....so named because when they first started quilting they were "so pitiful". Let me tell you, that is not the case anymore!

Today I made it part of the way through the Stashbusters WebRing. Looks like there are several new members and lots of really great stitching going on. Welcome, everyone. I haven't been on the WebRing very long, but there are lots of nice folks who encourage you with great feedback. Makes you want to finish lots of projects.......and start some more too :-)

I have decided to keep up with what I am doing each month.........this is the idea of someone else on the WebRing, I just can't remember who right now. Anyway, I thought it was a great idea. I think that it will help me to appreciate that I am making progress.

Today I spent my 15 minutes.........plus a tiny bit........and made some of the components for more of my Thangles blocks. Part of this I did while waiting for DH to finish getting ready for work this morning, and the rest tonight before going to the birthday celebration. Those few minutes really did amount to good progress.

Good night!!

Where does the time go?

It has been almost a week since I posted.........or accomplished very much. Life just gets in the way..........and more often than I would like! At any rate, DH is now much better and will probably be able to avoid surgery and go back to work tomorrow. A very good thing.

I had thought that I would finish handquilting the baby quilt last week, but it just wasn't to be. I am still plugging away, but had to stop and play catch up on a couple of things.

Tonight was the second meeting for Thimbleberries at my LQS for this year.........I missed the first. I don't get into their extra projects as a rule, but I do usually like the big quilts. I particularly liked the fabric line this year, and chose the light and bright version. I got my first blocks done for tonight............

Last Saturday was SS at Little Quilts in Marietta, and I picked up my SS block and my Thangles block. I have fallen behind two blocks on the Thangles blocks, but it won't take long to catch up. Here are the four I have done so far. I really like the fabric selection for this project.

Hopefully I will be able to catch up and keep up with these BOM type projects so that they will not become UFOs for next year! It all sounds simple enough.........a block commitment here and there.........but it is amazing how quickly you can fall behind and become overwhelmed. I will strive not to go there.

Tomorrow night is going to be so much fun. A group of us quilting friends have gotten together and made a group quilt........chickens and roosters...........for a friend of ours who is having a birthday, and is generally in need of some special TLC. We are going to meet at her house and surprise her with it. She is going to be so overwhelmed!!! I will try to take some photos to share.

Off to try to finish one more Thangles block.............

I am plugging away at this one...............

and hopefully it will soon be done. It is a 4-patch baby quilt, started sometime in the 80s, way too much handquilting for a baby quilt, and poly batting no less. You live and you learn. At any rate, I am determined to finish it and cross it off my UFO list. It has been good practice for handquilting, and will work nicely on the baby bed that DGs use when they come to visit. And if it gets messed up, no great loss. Hopefully I can get the handquilting finished this week and perhaps bind and label it this w/e. Then I can chalk it up as another finish!!

Had to miss my Hooking Group tonight because DH really needed me at home. He is a little better, but still can't bear weight. Tomorrow after I get off work, we will go for his MRI. We anticipate that it will be a torn meniscus and he will end up with arthroscopic surgery..........again.

DD#2 and DGD came over to eat dinner with us, as they were alone tonight. DGD is growing like a weed, pulling up on everything. She will be walking before we know it.

Thanks to all of you who are reading my Blog.......this is really more fun than I had ever expected. Thanks, too, for the compliments on the blended quilt...........it is a favorite for me. I have to admit, I did not chose the fabrics........it was a kit. But, it was perfect for my house. It is unusual to find fabrics that are just right in a kit, but this one was IT.

Off to handquilt!

Could it really be Sunday night????

I guess so, but I don't know where the weekend has gone. The house is clean, and that is a plus. I seem to be obsessed with organizing the past couple of weeks. Some crazy way of dealing with my grief?? Who knows..........but I am getting lots of things cleaned up and out.

On a very positive note, I finished my "Hidden Meadows" blended quilt. It is 54" x 68", and I machine pieced and quilted it. I am pleased with the way it turned out, and even happier to be able to remove it from my UFO list. I would really like to finish 3 UFOs for March since I only finished one in February.

DH has been having some knee pain the past week or so, and on Saturday morning as he was leaving to go volunteer at the genalogical library, his knee gave way with him and he ended up on the outside steps. The DSILs were both unavailable, and I wasn't able to budge him........he is 6'5", 275#. Had to run to the local pharmacy and buy some crutches, and we finally got him in the house. He hasn't been able to bear weight on the leg at all, so it looks like we will be seeing Ortho tomorrow, and probably ending up with an MRI and arthroscopic surgery. He has been a good patient.

Nothing else exciting in this household this w/e..............

TGIF

This has been a long week, and I am truly glad that it is Friday. I have a busy w/e planned, but hope to fit in some time for stitching.

I want to thank everyone for the nice comments on my Blog and for the warm welcomes to the Stashbuster Web Ring. I am really having fun with this.......it is almost like "Dear Diary", but you get to share with your friends. Tonight I made a sweep through the web ring, and maybe I will be ready to do comments by the next time!

I made the first block for this year's Second Saturday Sampler Quilt at Little Quilts in Marietta tonight. It is a simple block, but all the while I was making it, I kept thinking what a great scrap quilt it would make. Also did the machine part of the binding and made the label for my pink & brown blended lap quilt. Hopefully I can finish it up this w/e and have another UFO finish.

My DD#2 brought me this photo of her and DGD today. It is so cute that I couldn't resist sharing it. I made the little jumper that DGD has on back before Christmas.

And, since I have not included my other two grandchildren in my blog, I thought this was a good time to do it!

Think it is time to hit the hay for now!

I succumbed

The temptation was just too great, but in reality, I wasn't really that bad. Today was the start of the Greater Atlanta Shop Hop, and our LQS here in Newnan was a part of it for the first time. I am not going to any other shops, but out of a sense of loyalty , I felt that I should support my LQS. I won a nice door prize.........several patterns, small pieces of the special shop hop fabric and a box of beading thread.

Then I found a very nice book (they are my weakness, even more than fabric), "Quilts to Treasure" by Betty Neff. In it is a great, scrappy pattern perfect for using up some of the CW repro fabric I have........the name of it is "Settler's Star". And on the 40% off rack was some great border and setting fabric! Like I said, not really so bad, huh?

For some reason, for the first time in many years, I have had the urge to do some cross stitch. I found a special pattern from some of my favorite designers, Blackbird Designs, called "Moonlit Garden". I ordered it, along with the GA threads, and have started it. I am really having fun stitching it..........even though I DID NOT need another project. I will finish this one, I am sure, because I really like it and it is a nice change of pace. Also, it is not too large.

"Applied" to join the Stashbusters webring today. I love going from blog to blog, enjoying everyone's work, so I thought that it would be fun to belong to the webring.

Finished my Primitive Baskets rug and gifted it to my sister. Haven't posted it yet, so I will add that final thing for today.

I'm back.............

Lost my mother on January 28th..........thought I was ready, but, of course, I wasn't. She was 95 on January 4th and she asked for a red car. Wish I could've given it to her, and wish she could have driven it. She adored her latest great granddaughter. I loved her dearly and miss her terribly. Enough said, other than that is why I haven't blogged lately.

My hooking group gave me a lovely miniature magnolia tree in memory of my mom, and I planted it this past w/e by my favorite birdhouse. It is outside my kitchen window, near my birdfeeders, and I can easily see it. I think that it will be a comfort to me.

I worked with my quilt guild a couple of weeks ago to complete 18 charity snuggle quilts for the children at the battered women's shelter. It was nice to be sewing again. I also donated my Chiclets Quilt top, which I had so much fun making. So, that at least gives me a finish for February. I am nearly finished with my Blended Quilt, too.........only lack sewing on the binding. I have to admit, the Stashbusters Group on Yahoo really helps to keep me on track. I truly am thinking about my UFOs and using what I have more than I ever have previously. I like that!

My dear friend and I made a couple of the Home of the Brave blocks each when I saw her in January. They turned out really well, and I definitely want to make more. Maybe even enough between us for a whole quilt top. My LQS is also having a day set aside to work on these blocks, so I will also participate in that. I haven't focused much on charity quilting in the past. I am surprised and pleased at how good I feel when I participate in these activities. It is good, and I need good. It lightens my heart a bit.

Will stop for tonight, but it is nice to start getting back into the swing of things.

Another UFO Finished

Finished UFO #2 today...........it was started in 1994! It is a classic "what in the world was I thinking" quilt............one that you would never dream of making today and shows your growth in quilting. I won the blocks (which were all different sizes) in a guild block exchange back in '94, bought the setting fabric at Walmart, used a 100% cotton batting and started trying to handquilt it.......end of story until this month. When going through my UFOs I rediscovered it, deemed it a perfect medium to on which to practice free motion machine quilting, and set to work. It will be a donation quilt for the local battered women's shelter, which is our guild's outreach. And I learned allot while working on it.

As you can see from the photos, I had plenty of help on this baby!

Since you have met our schnauzers, I thought it was time for Poppy to make her entrance into the blog, too. Poppy, our rescue dog, is 1/2 schihtzu, 1/2 lab........quite a strange mix. But, what a sweet girl she is, and a quilt-loving, lazy bones, too.

Back to stitching now..........don't want to lose my momentum.

Happy Birthday

Well, it's a day late, but yesterday was DD#1's 36th birthday. How can that be? Boy, I am really getting old, and so is she!!! We will actually celebrate her birthday on Sunday with a family dinner. This is a recent photo.

I have not accomplished any stitching or hooking since Monday. I just haven't been able to get motivated. My sister is here from Alabama until tomorrow, and then Sunday is birthday dinner, so I doubt that I will accomplish a great deal over the w/e...........maybe tomorrow night?

Tomorrow my sister and I will go to the LQS to try to chose setting fabric for some fan blocks (18 of them) that she inherited from a friend who has passed away. I will put it together for her and then she will have it quilted. I will probably just set it on point and add borders. Should be pretty easy...........and I can shop for fabric vicariously and still not break my "no buy". Not bad, huh?

That is about it for tonight..............

Tuesday night

Yesterday was a glorious day full of rug hooking, friends and hospitality. I desperately needed it, as the past couple of months have been particularly difficult for me due to the declining health of my mother. I worked on my Persian folk rug at my class, and my teacher praised the border!!! I was quite pleased with myself :-) At the afternoon hooking I got most of the first part of the binding on the Primitive Baskets Rug. So, along with a fine time, I also accomplished allot. Roxie is hiding under the Persian rug, but you can get a glimpse of the border design.

DD#2 called tonight to say that DGD has learned to crawl!! What a smart baby, and what a little charmer she is. This is a photo of her at Christmas in her smocked dress that I made.

I am not feeling very productive tonight....I have tomorrow night's dinner in the crockpot, ready to turn on in the morning. That is going to be the extent of what I get done. I think I am going to sit and veg for

awhile. Some nights are just like that.

Sunday night

Where does the w/e go............laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning, visiting my mother at the nursing home, preparing food for the coming week. I accomplish allot, but there is just never enough time.



This afternoon DH and I rode through part of the county that was hit by a tornado last week. It was extremely devastating, and one of our friends had considerable damage to her property. Thankfully she and her animals are safe. In fact, despite all of the property damage, no one was hurt.



Tomorrow is my monthly all day rug hooking day. Two friends and I will leave at 7:45 a.m. and drive the 2 hr. drive to Athens for a 4 hr. class with Eric Sandberg, a nationally known teacher. We are working on wide cut Persians, and mine is an Azerian, which is a folk story rug. Afterwards we will go to our Hooking Guild for an afternoon and evening of hooking along with a pot luck dinner. We won't get home until around 10 p.m. It is a great day, and I always look forward to it. I will work on binding my sister's rug at the Guild hooking time. I should have finished it by Christmas, but life got in the way. I am posting a photo of the rug, "Primitive Baskets" by Karen Kahle. She is one of my favorite hookers and designers. This rug was lots of fun to hook, and I busted stash doing it...........all of the wool, which is mostly #8 cut, is leftover from previous projects!



Off to bed now.

Second Saturday Night

I am on quilting overload after today. This was the last day of the BOM program for two quiltshops........and I was doing two versions of the BOM at one of them. I have setting options and fabrics whirling around my head like a tornado!!! Now I have decisions to make. Actually, one was already made, as the Basket quilt at Red Hen only had one version made up, and I had preordered the finishing kit on that one..........an allowed purchase, of course. The only other fabric I bought was for the BOM blocks, so I remain "No Buy". I don't quite know which settings I will chose for the other two sets of blocks, but I bought two patterns which I will probably end up using. It should be fairly easy to decide on setting and border fabrics for the traditional blocks, but the blended will be a challenge. I will post the blocks at some point.

My only other purchases (and I made a trip to JoAnn's) were for snaps and batting. I did get a free fat quarter at Red Hen for taking my internet coupon in.

Didn't get to spend as long with my dear friend as I would have liked, but I was able to get a photo of us together with the wonderful quilt that she made and hand quilted for me as my Christmas gift this year. I love it!!! She used a batting by Mountain Mist called Cream Rose. The quilt is so soft..........like snuggling under a cloud.

Rascal, my little male schnauzer, and one of our three dogs, was sitting on my ottoman tonight looking way too sweet, so I am going to be compelled to include his photo. Gotta love those doggies.

I am not much in the mood to stitch tonight, so maybe I will just putter in my sewing room and clean a bit......or do a bit more sorting. That can always prove interesting........

Here I go.............

After debating the issue in my mind for several months, I have finally decided to try my hand at blogging. Do I have enough time to be consistent........probably not. But I will never know unless I give it a try.

Having joined the Stashbusters group @ Yahoo a few months ago in order to try to get a push at finishing up my UFO quilt and other needlecraft projects, I noticed that lots of quilters were blogging. In fact, I can hardly get through the posts on Stashbusters, because I am voraciously perusing the blogs created by all of these gals. Talk about inspiration! Not only that, you really get to "know"some of the people through their blogs. People that don't even know I am "in their lives"..........guess you might call that voyeurism????

Anyway, here I go with my own blog, devoted to those things that interest me most on any given day, and particularly to my needlework and quilting.

I have finished my first quilt UFO of the year, and am feeling quite pleased with myself, even though it is only a little doll quilt. I participated in the Jo's Little Women Club at my LQS last year.......finishing several sweet little tops, but only getting a couple quilted. This is one of those, Jo's Humble 9-Plaid Doll Quilt, and it is one of my favorites. It is quite simple and afforded me an opportunity to practice my machine quilting, using a crosshatch design.

Tomorrow is one of my favorite days of the month........Second Saturday! I get to go up to Marietta and spend the day with my very dear friend. We will hit our two favorite quilt shops.

I am finishing up the monthly BOM programs at both. Since I am a part of the No Buy program on Stashbusters, I will be shopping with that in mind. The finishing kit for one of the BOMs has already been purchased, and I will pick that up with a clear conscience, as it is allowable. I also need a batting for another UFO that I want to get finished. Will let you know if I am able to keep my spending in check!