I'd rather be cruising!

Three things to be happy about:
(1) your favorite old quilt
(2) an ample supply
(3) Andy Griffith show reruns

The arctic blast they promised really came through Monday night, like the Orient express!  Water main break at Reagan airport, cracked rail on the Metro system, electrical failure in at least one school, and the list goes on!  Yesterday morning I had frost on my storm windows, first time that's happened as far as I can remember.  I noticed it was only on the wall where I have a space heater though... maybe that triggered it?

Anyway we reached a high of 12 degrees, supposedly the highest temperature in this area.

I'd rather be cruising!!!  The Caribbean would feel mighty fine right now.

I keep telling myself "November and December went by like a flash, surely to goodness January and February will do the same thing," especially since February is a short month!


Yesterday I laid out another "10" block for the anniversary swap ... this one isn't fused down because I need to look at it for a bit longer.

This is my take on a recently released movie which I haven't seen (and don't intend to).

I'm thinking of making the movie "screen" a little taller ... maybe the border could be a wee bit narrower?  No, maybe not...

The family could be moved down a little more if the screen is taller.

The words don't need to be any larger... this block needs something else but I don't know what!  Any suggestions???

That's it for now, gotta dig through some more fabric!  Stay warm, sew forth and sew on til later  :o)

Running around, another 10

Three things to be happy about:
(1) monkey bread
(2) King's Hawaiian bread
(3) Great Harvest Cinnamon Blast bread!!

I had two medical appointments yesterday morning, I was so relieved we didn't have chancy road conditions or weather!

By the time I swung by AC Moore to get a new non-holiday wreath for my front door (they're having a 30% sale but the savings weren't anything to write home about), popped into Giant supermarket for a few items, ran into Costco to make a return and into Target just for the heck of it  - most of the day was shot in the big toe.

I did manage to do another 10th anniversary block though!  One idea I had was for a church, and I thought of all the little pieces I'd need to fuse on for the window, the door, the steeple, yadda yadda yadda.  Then I thought "hey wait a minute, I can minimalize this and it'll work!"  More detail I didn't need to get bogged down into!

Now, I think anyone looking at this would HAVE to think "church," right?...

It's a 10!

It's fused but not sewn down yet, I'm saving all that til after my creative juices stop running for this project.  I'll probably do 3 different designs... we'll see!

That's all for now, have a great Tuesday, stay warm, stay home if you can, sew forth and sew on...

I knew I could do it...

Three things to be happy about:
(1) hanging new calendars
(2) refilling your mechanical pencil
(3) finding a workable solution


I'm really having an interesting time with the 10th anniversary blocks for my bee's block exchange!  I keep having ideas pop into my head, but I figure I better get what I've already prepped onto fabric so I don't get bogged down in the details.  April will be here before I know it!

I like this little hat lady, I think she's so chic!  I'm making her in different color ways so no two people will have exactly the same block in their collection.  I don't know about my fellow bee members, but I don't want a quilt that looks exactly like everybody else's.  I think that's what they call a "kit."  Just saying...

Somehow I only managed to get just this one done yesterday, other things got in the way of my quilting fun.  The pieces are fused down but not stitched, little bits of fusible around the edges worked just fine.  I don't like the way I placed the number but it'll have to stay put, that baby is FUSED!

I'd been having HUGE problems downloading my photos because the PC would only read the memory card sporadically, if at all.  I used the USB cable that came with the camera, but for some reason it gobbled up the camera's batteries - honestly, I put 2 fresh batteries in that camera and it drained them dry!

Saturday I went to Wheaton Plaza for something and I found the perfection solution at Radio Shack - a USB digital card reader!  I just insert my memory card into the little gadget and it works like a charm.

Gee it feels great to solve a problem!

More later, sew forth and sew on til then...

Silent Sunday

My view of Thursday night's snow storm on my street, from my front door ...

Finishing up, messing up

Three things to be happy about:
(1) a brand-new year
(2) cozy firesides
(3) surveying the horizon

If you survey the horizon here, there's snow a-coming!  As I type this the weather wizards are calling for a monster winter storm with wind and below freezing temperatures.  At least 2 inches in this area, enough to shovel.

I did finish putting on the two inner borders of "the quilt" and it looks really nice!

I slept under it last night just because I could.

I did a pretty good job of aligning the red cross pieces; my next and final step will be to add one more outer border, probably in red.

The red inner border is 2 inches, maybe I'll make the final outer border 3" just to set it off a bit.  After that, it's off to the quilter (eventually)!

I mentioned before that my bee is doing a 10th anniversary block swap... I managed to mess up two blocks today, including this (potentially) nice looking lady in the red hat!

You're probably wondering "What's wrong with it..."

Well, nothing actually!  Except I don't have an applique pressing sheet and I got the bright idea to put the pieces on a piece of deli paper to fuse them together, then I was going to move it to my background and stitch it down ... piece of cake, right?

Well, what do they say about the best-laid plans???

The fusible stuck FAST to the deli paper and I couldn't pull it off - what a mess!  Back to the drawing board for this one... although I probably COULD just dot some glue to the back in strategic places and stitch it down... hmm....

Then there's this one - I just plain ole don't like it!  The pattern in the fabric is too too large for the size of the piece.

I may need to go with either a solid fabric or something with a very small pattern, which I probably don't have because I've always bought large flamboyant patterns. Don't ask me why, that's when I was a young and foolish quilter fabric buyer!

For the design I have in mind a piece of African fabric would be great, but hardly any of that comes in a small pattern - everything is either large or larger!

The swap isn't supposed to be a secret one, so I think it should be okay to share my progress with you.  The blocks will be swapped at the April meeting, so we'll have time to finish the quilts for the center's community day in June.

That's it for now, I hope you didn't get snowed in too badly in your part of the world.  Stay safe and warm, sew forth and sew on til later...

Happy New Year 2014

Happy New Year, everyone!

Enjoy every minute!

My New Year's wish for you:

I wish you enough time to quilt as you may
And also much joy as you piece and appliqué;
Creative license as you try new patterns (or old)
And the joy of accomplishment as your creation unfolds.

I wish you encouragement when you make a boo-boo
(a mistake is just another point of view)
The ability to sew that "scant" quarter inch Or the cleverness to readjust it in a pinch.
I wish you the best tools, and room to store them all
And enough layout space on your design wall.
Real plans to use all the stuff you bring home and real plans to finish what you've partially sewn.

Above all, I hope 2014 sends
A really blessed year for all my quilty friends!