Orca Bay and other happenings

Step 7 has come out and I almost finished the first half of it when I ran out of thread. Don't know why I didn't think to pack another spool and my sidewinder. I bought more thread today, a type I haven't used before and found it winds the bobbin too loose and then I end up with a tension problem that makes what I am sewing scrunch up. So here I am with no car and no idea when dh will be back.  And can't keep up. Can it get any worse??

Guess I am just going to read till I finish that book. That will be three books read in a week. Over 500 pages each.  Bought myself a Kindle. Think it will come in very handy.

We got some snow last night. It was so pretty waking up to the bright blue sky and white yard. Going back to reality tomorrow is going to be rotten since all we get there is rain and gloomy skies.

OB step 6

While checking email today I learned Bonnie gave us a great early Christmas gift. Step 6. I was able to get all the pieces cut out and two of the blocks assembled.  I will work on them tomorrow and Saturday morning before heading to family. I think I would like this quilt if I had used a black instead of brown. We'll see how I like it when we have the finished product.

Step 5

Well, step 5 for OB is complete. Dh is so sweet. He took dd out so I could finish without interuption.

Now I can work on the last of Christmas preparations. Wish I didn't have to work this week but vacation doesn't start till Friday.

A finish

I am finally done done with roll roll cotton boll. I finished the binding last night. I have been quilting for about 16 years. Wow, I feel old! In all that time I have not been happy with my bindings. After reading Bonnie's tips on binding I discovered I have been doing it wrong all these years. Of course nobody who received one has said anything but I realized how much better and easier it went together when done correctly. Just goes to show your never too old to learn. The picture of the front came out kinda fuzzy. Not sure why. But the back side where you can see the quilt motiff (sp) showed up nicely. The pattern was called Brenda's tulips. That was meant to be since that's my name.

After a Christmas party tomorrow, I am sending little one to grandma's house for the weekend. Hopefully I can really devote that time to step 5. All the presents are wrapped, food for party is done. husband has to sleep during the day so it should be easy to do.

I took gifts to my dil today. My son has to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. I remember those days. When they are able to come here we will be visiting other family. So will miss them greatly.

Dh did a nice thing for me the other day. He brought the tv from our bedroom and put it where I can see it from my cutting table and connected it to the dish. Now I can see it no matter what action I am taking on a quilt. While this may seem like a random act of kindness on his part, he is having to make up for ruining my Christmas surprise. I gave him only ONE rule for Christmas. DON'T go in the closet in the guest bedroom.
Well, the dish installer came out a couple days ago and dh opened the closet and voila! There was the gift I had not wrapped. I was going to set it up after having him called away. GRRR. Since there was no need to keep it stored I brought it out and set it up and we are using it every day. Next year I will leave all gifts at work where we have a room to use for just such occasions.

Tomorrow is step 5 for OB can't wait to get home from work and begin this step.

Step 4: Complete

Friday after work I had a quilt retreat here at home. The family went out of town for the weekend and I sewed until about 2:00am Friday and Saturday. By this afternoon I was done with that step.

 I'm not sure how I miss counted but when it comes to the red string blocks I made a whole lot extra. I use the create a sheet of fabric with many strips and then cut them down method. Lots of waste? Yeah, probably but I now have many leftover triangles and three extra sheets of red strips that I can cut to almost any size string blocks.  Now I can finish the binding on a Christmas quilt.That should be a relaxing couple of nights in front of the tv and fire. There have been some really good Christmas shows on tv lately.

Sewing along

I just finished sewing the binding on rrcb for my folks for Christmas. I get a free weekend to work on OB and stictch up the binding in the evenings. With Christmas I'm not sure I'll be able to keep up for a couple of weeks. Here's hoping for good internet service. To avoid the problem I've been hearing about seam allowances and using different machines I am just lugging along the machine that I know where the seam allowance is. Tomorrow morning won't come soon enough unless you are trying to sleep in.

OB Step 3

WooHoo!! Step 3 is done and I was able to catch up and get step 2 done. Now I can go back to the binding on a Christmas gift until Friday.

I was even able to get one of the trees and some of the decorations up today. Amazing. Might even work on getting the rest of the house decorated tomorrow. Then I can also work on another Christmas gift quilt. As I write this I realize just how busy I am. Besides the interfering thing called work I have to continue to feed the family and clean the house.Thank you Bonnie! http://quiltville.blogspot.com/

OB Step 2

I am under way with the cute little blue string blocks. I did find I cut most of the strings too short. But cut some more and now have these 4 blocks done. Only 70 to go.

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2011/11/mystery-monday-link-up.html

Step 2

Now that we are back from Thanksgiving it's time to get back to business. Step 2 for OB mystery. 3.5 in string blocks in blue. I'm sure they will be so cute when done. Due to the lateness of getting home and having to feed the troops all I could do was get out the blues and cut to size. I'll begin sewing tomorrow. Unfortunately, this little thing called work keeps getting in the way of all day sewing. But that is what feeds my quilting habit so I can't complain too much. Just a little. I found some blue strips that I had left over from when I made a quilt for my sister for Christmas about 12 years ago. Time to get it out of here. Hopefully I will have a picture of these blocks before it gets too late tomorrow. Dd decided to throw an attitude problem tonight when told to clean up and get ready for a bath. Seems I have a 6 yr old going on 16. Ds was NEVER this difficult at this age. We are going to have so much fun when she gets older. I can see it now.

Half way there

I just pressed and trimmed 121 of the hourglass blocks. Not my favorite but I'm sure they will look good in the quilt when the time comes.

A finish!

Sure took me long enough but I finally finished my last baby quilt. The binding wasn't nearly as nice as I wanted it but it is now a functional quilt.

Now I can get back to Orca Bay Mystery. And those ever so fun qst's. At least the fixing them part. I will be done before Thanksgiving. But I won't be in computer range so I won't be able to start step 2 until Sunday night. That will be the most difficult part. Maybe the library will be open and I can use the computer there. Hmmm. Back at it.

OB Oopps

I just found half of my qst's were sewn wrong. I am now to the stage of ripping out the wrong seam. Already have them sewn properly. What a huge delay. That on top of a headache and turning on a burner that had a loaf of bread sitting on it is not making for a good day. And then I get to go to work tomorrow. Yeah.

Orca Bay progress

I now have all of my hst's cut. Now to sew the little buggers together. I have already done one as a test to chack my seam allowance. All's good there. Just have to remember to rotate the neutrals and the browns so I don't sew them all the same and then have to rip out half of them.

Dh took Miss M out for the day. Just me and the fabric and Sirius radio all day. Hoping for the same tomorrow.

Home repairs

This past weekend we found the vinyl had finally been installed in the bathroom, laundry room and kitchen. So I spent my time on finishing the kitchen. I put the baseboard trim on. DH installed the lower cabinets and counter and sink. Now there does come a time when men need to put down their tools and step away.  We had water coming out of the top of the faucet when the water was connected. Not sure how that happened since it wasn't broke when it was taken out. Then it began spraying under the new to me cabinets and my new floor (in an area that the water could go under the vinyl) ARGGG!! 

He promised to call a plumber on Monday. Until then no kitchen sink. We brought back in the fridge and microwave and called it good. Then I will paint all the cabinets to match and the kitchen will be done. We head back for Thanksgiving and I hope to put the trim around the floor in the laundry room, connect the washer/dryer and think about painting the bathroom and putting in the floor trim there too. Then all I have to do is wait for the money tree to grow in the backyard and I can get the carpeted areas finished. But that tree died in the first rain sooo..... Looks like sometime next spring for carpet. But at least we won't fall thru. I looked in a realty book today on the drive home and saw the most beautiful sunset shown in one of the listings. Way better than showing the house that's for sale. Made me want to change my color choices for Orca Bay. But I don't have any of those pinks and purples.  In trying to pull fabrics for about two to three quilts that I am working on I have learned what I am sorely missing. OOhhh a reason to go shopping. Darn money tree anyway. Maybe I should take the lottery tickets DH left here and see if I, ahem, I mean he, won anything. Until the next adventure.

layout dilema

I have the main blocks for my son's quilt and just can't figure out how I want it to look. I thought about putting sashing around the blocks, alternating a plain block with the pieced block or just running the blocks back to back. If I knew what I wanted to do I could move forward on it. I will have a nice long weekend to think about it. Of course it won't be here but I will think about it. I need to find somewhere in my house that gets good light that I can put up a design wall. So many questions so few answers.

Orca Bay quilt

As women are allowed I changed my mind on the fabrics that I have chosen for Bonnie's Orca Bay mystery quilt. I have seen many wonderful color choices others have made and may have to try some of them myself. Here are my new fabric choices.

Come on November 18th!! Can't wait to start this mystery.

I went up to our dream home for a quick overnight visit to drop off flooring for the kitchen so the contractor would have it to install and learned that not only had my contractor not finished the job they they were supposed to have finished two weeks ago they even "left the light on for me" No wonder the electric bill is high this month first they leave the heat on (found it set at 70)and now lights. 

Saw the aftermath of some slippery conditions on my drive back to the wet, I mean west, side of the state. there were two cars that had rolled over in ditches and one that was nose down an embankment. Hope everyone was okay. Thankfully the road was only wet as I travelled thru.

My wonderful cold has now added a cough. Ugghh!! Which makes for a sore throat (in case I didn't already have one) Don't ya just love winter?? With any luck at all no one else in my family will get it.

Mystery quilt 2011

Yay, Bonnie Hunter's new mystery quilt is about to begin. Today the color scheme she is using and a rough estimate on the yardage was posted.  Now I have to not so patiently wait until the 18th when the first clue comes out. It won't be as scrappy as most but thats okay. The fun is just doing it.Here is my color scheme. The only difference is Bonnie used black and I think I am going to go with brown.



Miss M enjoyed trick or treating downtown yesterday afternoon. She was so cute as Snow White. Thankfully we had sun. Would've been too much to ask for less wind and a little warmer but it could've been worse.

contractors and remodeling

I spent the last weekend not working on a quilt but instead, I was tearing out the kitchen cabinets, sink and counter with my nephew. He loved the chance to break things and not get in trouble. Now all I have to do is get my flooring contractor to finish repairing most of my floors and installing new vinyl in two rooms to my satisfaction (not that I'm that picky) and I'll be a happy camper. Next weekend I am taking my neice and little miss M to grandma's house and make applesauce and apple butter and can some for apple pies.  Might even go clamming for dinner that night. Note to self; always tell dh when storing things in the oven. He just turned it on without looking inside and when the beeper told him it was up to temp. he opened it only to discover I had a metal mixing bowl full of apples inside. Had to throw out several apples. Live and learn.

sewing along

So far today I have completed eleven more blocks for ds quilt. I am now up to 19. The next time I sit down I will have completed 33 blocks. Since I am not working with a quilt from a book or magazine I really don't know how many blocks or worse yet how many pieces I need to cut. My lqs is loving me right now. looks like I will be going back for more fabric. I tried to buy it one yard at a time but I have run out.  An option might be to not use the same block throughout but I don't know what would work on this. Thoughts?? This was a great way to spend a somewhat cloudy day. I did finish (okay I still have to bind it) the last baby quilt that I made. This was for a girl and came together very fast. Some of the design on the purple stripped blocks look like bugs got on the quilt but that is not the case. They are actually rainbows.

Next weekend I am going to be putting three kids, four if you count the one I married, just kidding dear, to work. Plus one that will just be in the way. There is painting in two bedrooms and the hallway, tearing out the kitchen sink, counter and cabinets as well as bring in the appliances from the garage to be done. Then I get to pay for the work to the floors that was done. And arrange for him to come back and do more. Where is the lottery fairy when you need one?  Miss M gets her new brace Wednesday. This time the dr. better get it right!

Hello winter

Seems we don't get to have a fall this year. Skipped right into winter. Great time for quilting. I am still cutting away at my fabric. So it will be more of an anniversary present than a Christmas present.

I am getting excited about Bonnie Hunter's new mystery quilt. The fun begins next month. We got a little hint on her blog of how many colors will be needed. So it is time I get to looking thru my stash and see what colors I am going to choose.

DH decided to come home sick today. Of course it was the first full day of rain so someone had to do it. Hopefully M doesn't come down with it or worse yet me.

progress

You know how sometimes you just have to walk away? I had that with my sewing machine Saturday. Today I tried it again and found that it still wasn't going to work. Took me about 30 minutes to think about ripping the thread from the top and rethreading  the machine. I fired it up and Voila! Success. Don't know why I didn't think of that sooner. But, I immediately got my blocks out and started sewing. The pattern is coming together nicely. I was going to make it scrappy but I like the looks of the fabric so it will be back to my lqs tomorrow for more. Now all I have to do is figure out how much fabric I need and how many blocks it will take to make this a king sized quilt. Sounds like too much math for me.

antique tile block

Here is a block from the quilt I am making for ds and his wife. I really like how it looks. I am planning on alternating the red and black in the corners and see if I like it.

Next quilt

I am now begining a quilt for my son and his wife. Hopefully I will be able to have it done by Christmas. I am using Bonnie Hunter's Antique Tile blocks to create this in their favorite colors. If not then it will definitely be a surprise as a gift for another time.

Sad day

Yesterday was a sad day for me. I learned that my husband's allergies may be made worse by my cat. It looks like I have to find her another home.  I have had her for five years but been married to him for 10 so he wins out. I'm sure I'll cry when she goes. But his health is more important.

A finish!!

Last Sunday I finished the baby quilt. Sure took me long enough.

Now I have another one to make. This time for a girl. I only have until October so I should get started now.

My son got married yesterday to a lovely girl he has known since high school. I wish them both the best and pray for the kind of marriage that I now have.


Here is a photo of the happy couple. And my favorite flower girl.

So when do I work on another quilt? I have to work during the week and then little M's birthday is Saturday so family gathering then and she has to go back in for surgery to her left ankle. Maybe when I go to the sunny side of the state I will pack up my sewing machine and supplies and work on it while M sleeps at night. Fun times.

Finally binding

I am finally sitting down and finishing the baby quilt. I have two more sides of the binding to do and I can wrap it up and get it to the babys parents. Then I find out another person I work with is expecting a baby in October. So I have pulled fabrics from my stash and will begin working on it next. This family knows its a girl so I didn't have to go shopping for anything. That's always nice. The quilt is a simple rail fence quilt.TTFN

getting motivated

I started my day at 7:30 this morning by going to work. It never ceases to amaze me at how rude some people are. It is sunny and warm here today. Finally! I am having a hard time getting motivated to keep working on the baby quilt I am almost done with. The sun, breeze, cold drink and a good book keep calling to me. And I'm tired. I guess the quilt will win out. I can have it down to the binding in front of the tv tonight if I keep moving. So back at it.

updates

I can't belive how time flies. I got the baby quilt to the sandwich stage last weekend. Quilt and bind and it will be ready to reveal to the new parents. It's called Little Buggies by Michelle Crawford. I didn't have enough bug fabric but this worked. The bedroom is shared with a three year old brother who has a Buzz Lightyear theme from the movie Toy Story, for those with no kids in their lives.

We did find our vacation property. As a bonus to myself I am going to it next weekend and painting then hopefully starting to lay out the new flooring. After I get things cleaned up and installed I will have a wonderful place to go and quilt without being disturbed by pets for kids. I am looking so very forward to that day.

DD is going in for a new brace today. We'll see if it will support her ankle or not. Couldn't be any worse than the one the doctor ordered for her four months ago.

I will try to keep up with posting. It's hard to get too interested in computers when I am on them at work most of the day. But it is fun to show off so I will try to keep up. As far as the Bonnie Hunter quilt I stopped working on it to work on the baby quilt so now that I am done I need to get back in the groove of that quilt.
Till next time...

starting new

I am still cutting fabric for my Bonnie Hunter quilt. But a co worker and his wife are having a baby in June so I am switching gears to do a baby quilt. maybe then I can keep going on the other. We have been searching for vacation property but haven't quite found the "right one" So that is keeping me busy on weekends. But I must focus on the baby quilt. It is cute in the chosen fabric in the picture but I shopped my own stash for this one so I only have to shop in a store for part of the border. If it ever stops raining here I might be able to go outside and start to prepare my garden for the year. Back to the "cutting board"

How time flies!

After many weeks of not working on my quilt, I have started back in cutting fabrics. When you need over 1,200 little 2 inch squares it gets more difficult to keep going. I'd say I would keep working all three days of this weekend but a certain little girl keeps growing and needing longer dresses for school. Dress code requires below the knee dresses or skirts.  When that isn't the style it is hard to find. We were without a computer for several days last week. We upgraded our service and changed providers. For some reason that confused our router so we had to get a new one. Well I guess I had better get back to cutting. Since it won't cut itself. OOhhhh there's a new invention. Or has it already been created?? Till next time.

decisions, decisions

After spending alot of time looking at my fabric stash  and decided I would make bonnie's Nine in the Middle Quilt instead of the Happy Scrappy Irish. It is going to be alot of work but I'm sure I will like the outcome.                         

Organizing the chaos

Today I am cutting down a box of scraps that were gifted to me. It's amazing at just how long that can take.
I am using some of Bonnie Hunter's scrap system. I know many of her quilts take lots and lots of 2" squares so most of the scraps are going to the size. The larger pieces may stay as big scraps. Never know when that piece of fabric needs to be used in bigger size. Here is a picture of my cutting area with the fabric I am working on. It doesn't look like much but it seems like it when making those small squares. I already have a quilt in mind for them. The Scrappy Irish Chain. Only takes a little over 1,000 2" squares. Some in my family think I'm nuts for cutting fabric into little pieces only to sew it back together. But they won't turn down a quilt when completed. Guess I have to feed the little one. Seems she has to eat every day.

Ray Stevens - Come to the USA

Now what to do

Now that the mystery quilt is done I have been thinking about what to do next. I am begining to go through a box of scraps that was gifted to me. I am cutting as many as possible down to 2 inch squares to start another Bonnie quilt. I would like to try making one completely from my own stash without having to buy any fabric for the quilt. We'll see.

mystery quilt no more

Last night I was able to finish my Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt. I love the pattern. Now I feel lost. Guess I will have to find another quilt to make.

It did flood here yesterday. Dh went out and snapped some pictures of the area. Glad I didn't have to go out for any reason yesterday or today. Some of the roads were closed. Even one near us. Thankfully we are high enough to not worry about our house flooding.

chugging along

I now have my pieced borders pieced. Just need that "right" shade of green to do the inner border and I will be able to put on the borders and get it done. The weather has been nasty and my daughter has been quietly watching tv today sooo, I had the perfect conditions to work under.  Here's hoping it doesn't flood. At least not too badly.

It's a girl

My dear SIL had her daughter this afternoon. We are excited to see her pictures. Welcome to the world Chelsea. 

It looks like a nice huge storm is headed our way that will dump LOTS of rain and of course it wouldn't be a local storm if it wasn't raining sideways. So, cue the wind. Probably have some flooding over the weekend too. I really hope not as I don't want to work on this holiday weekend. I have some serious quilting to finish up.

That is my goal. Get the borders done and work on cleaning up my stash pile so there is some semblence of order.  I just got Bonnie Hunters Adventures in Leaders & Enders book in the mail today. I was so excited. There are so many quilts to choose from I don't know where to start.

Success

Yeahhhh!!! I finally finished step 7 on the Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt. One more step to go and the top will be complete. I love the look of this quilt. Next step are the borders. Guess I know what I'm doing this weekend.

Took dd to her dr. appointment in Portland today. Not sure what to think of the info.  Little one just keeps growing and some parts aren't keeping up. The weather going over was just typical Oregon winter. LOTS of rain and wind. I'm surprised we haven't heard about flood warnings. Well we did see a warning sign but we don't live where the flooding was. Looking forward to a long weekend.

January 10, 2011

I am no sports fan but I feel the need to cheer on the Ducks in tonights game in Arizona. Go Ducks!! Now that I've done that, back to quilting. I started putting the top together on rrcb (roll roll cotton boll) quilt last night. I got so excited to see it come together. It really is a beautiful quilt. But as I got about five rows sewn together I noticed the seams got further and further away from each other. I am now about half way thru ripping out the seams of each block so I can trim them down to size. After doing this they fit the quilt perfectly. Needless to say I was not impressed and I looked like my thread stash threw up on my sweater.  I asked dh what he thought of the quilt. His answer was "its too girly" I think due to the pink in it. gotta love him though. He is great in supporting my fabric (quilt) habit or is it enables it??

Lazy Day

I am continuing my progress on a mystery quilt by Bonnie Hunter. It's called Roll Roll Cotton Boll. This has been my first mystery quilt and won't be my last. It will size out at a queen size quilt.  I have been enjoying keeping up. While it isn't a race to the finish it is a quest for  me to see if I can complete the steps in the weeks time before the next step comes up. So far I have been able to accomplish this. Even with Christmas festivities. But, the holidays are over and that means back to work. For some reason my dd's school has chosen to return on the 4th. Unlike all other schools in the area and most of the state.