Step 6 photo

Found a cable that will work with my camera so I am adding my step 6 picture.

The bottom triangle really isn't that washed out in color. With the lighting and flash it looks like a neutral. But it isn't.

I went to a repair shop in hopes of getting my machine working properly again. The guy was able to get the screw back into its place. Note to self; DONT TOUCH that particular screw! Without doing a complete service on it, which it probably needs, he couldn't help with the lack of backstitching. So I am going to drop it off on our way home Monday and limp along on the little Pixie that I bought for my neice to use when she is at my house.

Now to find a charging cable for my laptop. It somehow ended up under the mechanism of my recliner and it damaged the wires. I checked at Office Max and they said they had one that "might" work. It was only $70. No thank you. I will keep looking. Found one online for under $7 Glad I checked before I tried to buy anything.

M decided to help shovel snow in the driveway. She was so cute trying. It was 13 inches in the driveway so she didn't do much. But it was fun to watch.

 

The sun is out and my battery on this computer is about to die so I will pull my machine out of the bag and set it up to work on the quilt that I am sending to Connecticut.

step 6

I was able to finish this step while the family was out playing in the snow. They aren't busy like Bonnie's but I am using what I have.  When I get a cable I will upload my picture of this step.   Tomorrow I will work on quilting a twin quilt for first responders in Connecticut.

This week has just not been our week. Starting Christmas Eve we had problems. We got to our vacation home and dh unloaded the truck at the garage. When he went to start it to put it in the garage. Wouldn't start. Of course we had to wait till the day after Christmas to fix it. It was a clogged fuel filter. This prevented us from continuing on to Boise for Christmas with family. While here I shoveled the driveway entrance so we didn't have to take a running start to get through the snow. While doing this the snow plow was driving by. He saw me out there and proceeded to rebuild the burm that I had just cleared. How rude was that?! We have 13 inches of snow on our property.  Then this morning we had no water. A part on the pump froze. Guess that would happen when it's only 19 degrees outside.  We set out a heater and tada, we had water again.

Last night I took apart my machine so I could clean out the lint. Now I have a screw that won't go back in and I can't back stitch. I hope that's because of the screw. I'll have to take it in and get it taken care of.

Step 5

After a bad night of sleep I woke up and began to put the second wing on my sitting turkey and when I got to only 5 left I noticed that I sewed them on wrong. It was just in keeping with my morning. So I put on some old Christmas cartoons and sat with M while I ripped out all of those seams. I made them right and got them finished.

Dh has been working on fixing the leaking water heater and I am finishing up the wrappng of gifts and packing.  Vacation couldn't come soon enough.

Superhero husband is cooking dinner for us tonight. I have such a wonderful hubby. Not only will he cook, he cleans too. Dishes, his own laundry and anything else I ask him to do ie vacuum.

Easy St. step 4 and crazy winter

I got step 4 finished before bed tonight. Since I didn't do anything more than cut out for that step on Friday, didn't touch it Saturday, I did pretty good.

Saturday I took my sister out so we could finish up our Christmas shopping. I wanted to head east. About 30 miles out of town there was packed snow. Not a problem as we were at the summit. But an overturned truck on the road and apparently a bus that tried to go around and then got stuck closed the road. So, we turned around and headed another direction. She got lucky with being able to find everything she was looking for. Me on the other hand, not so much. Now I have to pay more to "shop local" .

Tonight the wind is just howling. Sounded like the roof was going to fly off. Wonder how much damage I'll find in the morning.

For all of you quilters that are going to find some down time after Christmas there has been a call for 150 quilts for the victims, first responders and dispatchers in Newtown Connecticut. Below is a post from their facebook page:

"For those of you contacting me about quilts for families in Newton, here is an address to mail them to:Newtown ECC Dispatch Supervisor 3 Main Street Newtown CT 06470 Make mention of 911 CARES so they know you are part of our "family of support" Share this post and PLEASE respect their request for no phone calls for a few days until things quiet down a bit.
**I know it is Christmas and the holiday season, but I am going to say right out of the gate we need to get at least 150 quilts to the victims families, teachers, police officers and yes, communications department.

Can you help?

Back to the grind tomorrow. Hope we don't loose power due to the storm. I'd hate to be late for work.

Easy St. #3

I finished my step 3 today. I cut it out Friday and decided to go out and get some shopping done. So today was all about sewing. M got to watch some movies while I sewed.

I chose red in place of Bonnie's aquas. and yellow for her green.

After yesterday's shopping I stayed up late and got everything wrapped. I am so on top of that. But when you have little nosey eyes that has to happen.

I appreciate that Bonnie is making it easier to keep up with the mystery and the holidays. It has allowed me to not have to put it off until after the holidays.

Step 2 done

I got my flying geese done. I need to trim them up but at least they are one piece.

 Now I can get back to my block of the month that I am sadly a bit behind in. But first I need to head to bed for the night.

I spent last night cutting out my geese parts for step 2. I even got the extra bricks cut for a later step. Now to sew them into geese.

Just got home after taking M out to a late breakfast. She is off to a skate party in a couple of hours then maybe we will go downtown for the Christmas festival.

It all depends on whether or not its raining when she gets home. DH is taking her to the skate party and will stay with her so, that is my time to sew in piece. no spelling boo boo there.

I am using Bonnie's color for this step. The purple anyway. I just don't have any black on white. I do have whites on black but that wouldn't work.

Now if this headache would just go away I'll be great. M is watching Bambi so, I am going to start sewing.

I finished a comfort quilt that I will send off to New York tomorrow. Got the house clean and the family is on their way home. It's a beautiful sunny day here. We get one more then the rain comes back.

As I finished the foursies for Easy Street, I rethought my color choices. I went thru my stash and reconsidered the browns.  So I pulled out purple.  Turns out I like it better than I did the brown.

It will be interesting to see how this turns out and whether I like the colors in the end. Now on to binding a comfort quilt that is going to head to someone in NY.

The mystery begins

Step one for Bonnie's mystery "Easy Street" Came out today. I love the little foursies that is step one.

After the family left today I got started on them and finished 100. Now I am going back to cutting more. Somehow I managed to misread the instructions. I only cut and sewed 100 of them.

Thanksgiving went well. There was almost no leftovers. That was nice. I did miss my ds and his wife.  He had to work so couldn't join us. But he thinks he'll get Christmas off.

 Since it has been raining hard here all day it is great for sewing in front of a Law and Order marathon in front of the fire.

I completely avoided Black Friday shoppers and traffic. Didn't go out for any reason. Time to get back at it and put another log on the fire.

finish

Yesterday we drove up to our vacation home. It took an extra two hours! We were stopped on the highway for completely unknown reasons for about half an hour, in the snow. When we got going again nobody would go faster than 35 mph the rest of the drive nor would they pull over. Just rude. It was midnight before we got in. Our yard had a little over a foot of snow in it had fallen within the previous 24 hours.


I finished my chemo quilt and turned it in today. I then used the gift certificate they give you to buy more neutrals in preparation for the mystery. Now I am going to turn my efforts to my quilt for Aurora and send off a couple of others for those in NY. Busy busy.

As for the fabrics for the upcoming mystery, I am going with the green, red, brown and yellow. That is what I have in my stash so that's what I'm using.

fabric choices

Tonight I am choosing my fabrics for Bonnie's mystery quilt "Easy Street". I am going with Red, yellow, brown and neutral but I don't know if I want to use a green or blue for the constant in this one. Ideas?? Here are the choices.

Here is the blue. I know its a little dark but I took this picture really late last night.

Here it is with the green. I kinda want to lean towards the green but I do like the blue also. decisions, decisions. I was up until about 1:30 AM today pulling fabrics.

Today I took my sis out, don't panic, Christmas shopping. Yep got done with the younger kids gifts and only need to work on the adults. Thankfully, not as many of those. This will make for a more relaxed Christmas season without all the crowds which I hate! Since I started pulling out fabrics for Easy Street last night and was out shopping all day today I didn't work on my quilt for Colorado. So tomorrow I am going to whip out the quilt then work on the chemo quilt that I will hopefully have done by Friday. Then I can go shopping next week for more fabric.

A star is born

Last night was my premier for what is called a sizzle reel for a new show concept called Animal House. Think Extreme Home Makeover for animal shelters and you get the idea. Sadly our dog shelter is a few tuff sheds built at the county landfill.

As the first shelter to benefit from the show if/when it gets picked up by a network it will be a real blessing. The night was full of political candidates. We had a great turnout and lots of fun.
Now we just wait and see.

I am getting a warm and cozy flannel quilt ready to be quited tonight for the Aurora Emergency responder (and victims) quilt drive.Hopefully I can get that shipped out early next week. Then I can do the same on my chemo quilt for our hospital. Then I can maybe get back to Midnight Flight, if  and I mean a big if, it isn't time for Bonnie's mystery quilt called Easy Street. Hope it lives up to its name.

They just don't build halloween costumes like they used to. M went as a princess this year and by the time we got home it had ripped out. To the point we had to throw it away. She was happy with her candy haul. I was just glad that we had good dry weather to be out in. Right to the end.

Tomorrow begins the holiday shopping. I am going out with my sis all day kid free. I have such a super hero husband. He is staying home with M and my neice.

Well I should get back to work. Literally, just home for a quick lunch break.

Secret quilter surprise

Dh sent me a message today while I was at work telling me I had a package.  I was excited to get home and open it but seems he picked up the mail and didn't come home until two hours after I did. I wasted no time in opening that package.
My secret quilter was so generous to me. She sent a really fun seam ripper with thread catchers on the ends. beats me trying to pick at all those little bitty pieces. A handle for my rulers, some tacky craft glue. This is perfect as I am working on a project that required this glue. Her esp skills are amazing. Also some wonderful fabrics and spool of the most lovely shade of blue thread and spool sock. I have just the quilt for that thread. And a wonderful glittery picture to decorate for M to work on. When she is done making it pretty we are going to hang it in her room.

 

For some reason the flash on my camera wouldn't work. This is much prettier in person.

I didn't do any work on Midnight Flight yesterday or today. Yesterday I chose to clean out some kitchen cupboards. You know the always messy plastic container cupboard. It's now organized. That is until dh does dishes and tries to put them away. Same goes for the broiler and cupcake pans. Since he wasn't home I even packed up lots of coffee cups, plastic cups, I mean really, how many 32 ounce cups from taco time does one household need?? And other kitchen items. looks so much better now.

Now that winter has arrived it is time to buckle down and get sewing with a nice fire nearby and a Bones marathon.  

quilt help needed

We have all heard of the horrible shooting in Aurora Colorado. There is a group that has started on facebook that is making quilts for the victims and the families of those lost.   It is Aurora Colorado Emergency Responder Quilts.

Please, if you were looking for a group to make and donate lap quilts to consider checking them out. I will be sending my Midnight Flight  quilt out as soon as possible.

Their site says they sent out 83 quilts in short order, for the first responders. Now they are looking to comfort the victims. Lets show our support and start donating today.

I have sent a message to them via facebook. As soon as I hear back I will post info here.

They are asking for the quilt to be 45x45 or a little bigger and gender neutral.

For sending a quilt for in injured victim send to :
Victim Services
c/o Carol O'Shea
15001 E. Alameda Pkwy
Aurora, CO 80012

Be sure to mark the box " quilt for surviving wounded"

If you want to send a quilt for a family member who lost someone in this tragedy contact the facebook contact and they will send out that info to you in a pm.

So frustrated

I have my sister and niece here for a creative weekend. Sis is scrapbooking and my niece is working on her own quilt.

I have been working on my Midnight Flight. This is where it gets frustrating. I was so happy to see I have about a dozen blocks done. Then looked at the first one I did and saw that ALL of the rest of them were put together backwards!!!

The correct version:

And here is the backwards version:

The black triangles are facing the wrong way. I think it still looks great so I am just going to finish it this way and be done with it. Much like Bonnie, I won't be making another one of these. It is just way too easy to get the pieces backwards and not catch it in time. You could say I did more frogging than sewing. My niece had the same problem. She found she sewed a strip of sashing upside down.

Guess I should check on dinner and get back to the machine.

The big disappointment

Today I found out that the sign ups for Quiltmaker Block Party in Portland Oregon was open. I was so excited. I started the sign up process and saw that ALL of Bonnie's classes were sold out. Looks like it only took seven days. I was looking so forward to signing up for all of Bonnie's classes. Not happening this year. I sure hope she will do it again. I am already asking around for the other two visits she has here in Oregon next year. I'm not going to miss all of her classes. I can't afford to head east for a class. And after Bonnie's experience with a damaged sewing machine while flying I'm not up to that type of problem.

getting there

I made good progress last weekend on my midnight flight.  With having to go get M from grandma's house its hard to
get anything done. Definitely need to focus this weekend.

Sunday I moved all of the furniture in M's room. Wow, were my muscles sore on Monday. Then I got asked to move a bed. I guess if you keep working the muscles they stop hurting and get used to being used. Right?? That's what I keep telling myself.

It was embarassing to have to go to my lqs and ask for a translation on a section of my bom. But now I know what the sashing requirements are and I can go forward to nearly finish it.

My new to me car is working out fine. It is fun to drive. Don't much care for the lag in pick up and go but as long as I'm not in a hurry I'll be fine.

bonus summer

Today I was able to leave town for work purposes. It took almost my whole day but I loved it. No traffic problems and it was a hot summer day. almost 90 degrees outside. Tomorrow is supposed to be the same. The good thing for me is I don't work in an office.

Last weekend I took my midnight flight parts and my bom parts went with me to our vacation home. I didn't take my machine to do any sewing because I wasn't there long enough. DH is taking M away for the weekend so I should be able to get more sewing in.

 I got the rest of the fabric I am going to need for the bom.  I cut the block parts out for block 8 but the next step has me confused. I don't know how to read the instructions. They don't make sense. I am going to take the book to my lqs and ask them what they think it means.

Why do car dealers whine soo much? I got a new to me car two weeks ago and when I told the dealer that the moulding around the windshield was coming off. He started to whine about how big of a hit he took selling it to me at the price I
paid.  I took it to the local glass repair shop and they fixed it for $10. I can see how that would bankrupt him.

Missing tools and doctors

When I travel to my vacation home I pack up my fabric and tools and sew the time away. Usually. There is nothing more annoying than to get where I am 5 hours away from all of my supplies and find I forgot something. After sewing two little
blocks into one I pulled out my squares and prepared to mark them for the hst's that they will become. Only to find I forgot the marking pencil. Neither of the two quilt shops here had the one I forgot. I had to go with one that needs a sharpener and then the lead keeps breaking. Frustrating!!

M is doing well after her surgery Friday. She had a little more pain this time around than she did last year but I think the doctor did more to her.  Thankfully the pain didn't last. She will be back in school on Monday. Could be back now but no need to rush things.

Now I have my sis in surgery. I keep telling the family only one person at a time. She should be home by the end of the day. We are just praying that the doctor gets it all this time and the tests come back negative.

Well, I guess my break is over and I should get back to those hst's. They won't finish themselves.
But how cool would that be??

Back to School time

We finished up school shopping and then M decided to try cutting her own hair. Needless to say there is no fixing it.

 

Friday she went into Shriner's for her yearly surgery. It went well, she did have more pain than last year. But she is handling it pretty good.

 

I will get to do some sewing this week while I am home with M.  More to do on Midnight Flight.  Dh is doing yard work

today. So nice to have such a handy man around.

 

I went out and got myself a newer car. I will take it to the dealer to determine why it sounds like rain on a skylight when it is windy outside.  But I really like to drive it. Fun little suv. Time to get on with my day.

progress

M and dh are finishing up their trip. I have had the fun of working all week. Someone has to work in this family. lol.
While the family was away, I got to play. I did lots of sewing and ironing. Thankfully before the extreme heat hits. Its suposed to be in the 90's here on the coast. This is the coolest part of the state in the summer. Which is most annoying if you have to drive anywhere. Lots of tourist traffic.  We just aren't used to this kind of hot weather.

Here is a shot of what I have been working on.  I have  finished working on these blocks (for now) Now I can get my twosies into a 4 patch. Lots of little blocks. Midnight Flight is moving along.

I had the displeasure of spending 30 minutes waiting in line today at Safeway. The pharmacy. I so wanted to smack the people who knew there was a huge line and chose to argue with the pharmacy staff. Time to call it a night.

This weekend is all about cutting out fabric for Midnight Flight. With dh out golfing and M glued to cartoons I could cut undisturbed. 

A couple of days ago I had to go to the dentist and took M with me. She must love our dentist now. As they were finishing up with me they brought out a Krispy Creme for her. Wow! I guess that as long as they don't work on her teeth she'll keep going back. Think this is their way to ensure job security?

Back to the cutting.

back to reality

Unfortunately I had to leave the beautiful weather in Sisters to come home. And it was raining.
I thought it was summer. Maybe someday.

Dh tore down our fence while there was sun and now have no privacy on the patio and since its raining he has stopped working on it. 

Now that I am back I will drag out the fabric and resume cutting for Midnight Flight. Bonnie will
be in Portland Oregon next March so I am getting ready now. I have a problem with not getting things done till the last minute. Guess I work better under stress.

Caught up

I finally got caught up on my boms.

block 5

block 6

block 7

While I didn't stitch up the curtains I did get them cut to fit both windows and hung

 so they  will keep out the light for the next visitor. For now they work. I will get to

 it next time.

Sisters Oregon quilt show

This morning started very early. We left the house at 6:00am to head into Sisters for
breakfast and then the show. We got there at 7:00.  I thought that was a bit early but there was no traffic backup to be found and we found a good parking space. I don't recommend getting there any later. Unless you like sitting on the road in traffic. Got our breakfast and watched as the firefighters were hanging the quilts.

As a fund raiser there were calendars for sale titled The men behind the quilts

Let your mind imagine with that title. But I didn't buy one.

I was able to find one of those machine seam guages like the one Bonnie Hunter

showed on her site.

And now for some eye candy.

I wonder where this can be found.

We left at 10:30 and OMG! the traffic was nearly stopped coming into Sisters from Bend for

at least a mile out. Not quite that bad coming in from Redmond but still bad. I'm soo glad that we got here as early as we did.  We were there and gone before it got too hot or crowded. This was

my first time to this show and now that I've been, it won't be my last.

There was a quilt from one of the Quiltville gals who made Orca Bay on display. I showed a photo

to my friends of my Tillamook (Orca) Bay but it was great to show them  one in person.

I will have to think about putting one of my quilts in the show next year. One of Bonnie's designs for sure.

Well, back to my bom. I have June and July to sew together and then work on cutting a curtain panel down to fit two windows. Then I can relax and maybe just read a book.

Crazy critter and beautiful day

Today I had a bird land on the my work truck and it wouldn't fly off. I pulled out of the parking space and headed to the road. All the while it dug in and hung on. As I was merging into traffic
it started sucking in the bugs but once I hit 30 mph it decided that was too much for it and it
flew off. I wonder if it would've perched on the steering wheel if I had the window down. Wish I'd had a video camera instead.  Of course I drive an animal control truck so not sure what it
really wanted.

I am now in LaPine and can't wait for the Sisters quilt show this weekend.

If I'm lucky I will see Bonnie during the show. Got the battery charged up on

my camera and my comfy shoes. I'm so ready.

another flimsy done!

I am just cruising along getting caught up on my quilts lately. Within two days of dropping off my ds & ddil's quilt with my wonderful quilter, I got a call saying it was ready to be picked up. talk about turn around! Now I can spend all next week working on putting the binding on it. It turned out great. I chose a red thread for the quilting and love the way it stands out on the white blocks. I am going to bind it in the black fabric that is in the quilt. Here is a close up of the stitching. How apropriate that there are hearts in it.

Then today I got my Nine in the middle quilt to flimsy stage. Which for me is done.

It may sit in a drawer for awhile but when the right time comes it will be ready.

I had a family free week to work on these. Next weekend it will be off to the Sisters quilt show! 

What will I do with all that free time? What else, start another quilt.

Mission accomplished!!

WooHoo, I finally finished ds & ddil's anniversary quilt last night. I was up till midnight getting the pieced backing done so I could get it to my quilter today. I thought I would never see this day. Because I was up soo late I was really dragging at work this morning.  Here are pics of the flimsy as it sat on the floor.

Here's the top of the quilt.  And then with M's

help I got the back put together. No she didn't stay up that late. I had to do most of it by myself. Here's the back. Which I kinda liked the way it turned out. Thanks to this large use of my red stash I may have to restock my supply soon. Ooo, shopping trip.

Hopefully, I will get it back and be able to get the binding done before their anniversay on the 16th instead of after. Have I mentioned that binding is my least favorite part of the quilt making process?? I am starting to get arthritis in my thumbs so that type of work is getting harder for me to do.

Now I get to focus on the other projects that I have sort of neglected. Bonnie's Nines in the Middle is almost to row stage so I am pulling that back out and my block of the month quilt is only two months behind and they will be sending out July's block next week. Boy how time  flies. Then I can get back to cutting for Midnight Flight.

After such a wonderful day yesterday the rain did its part to come back. If my "garden" consisted of anything more than weeds I would appreciate the rain but weeds is what I am growing this year.

Summer begins

Well, almost summer. The weather here hasn't caught up to the calendar. M got pink eye on the last day of school. What a way to start summer break.

My car decided to fall apart. Isn't that what they do when they are paid for?? Almost $950 later it is running again. Hopefully for a very long time.

I will never understand the rudeness of some people. My last shopping trip to Winco made me understand why people go crazy. That is one store I may never go back to. The 10 minutes waiting in the parking lot for the dingy woman in front of me to move should've been my sign to just drive home.  But no, I had to go inside.  Stress level went thru the roof!

I have been plugging along on ds's quilt.  Maybe for their anniversary. If not well there will be Christmas.

slow progress

For some reason I just can't get motivated to keep moving on ds and ddil's quilt. I do have a time limit as their 1st anniversary is in July. Not sure what my problem is.

I have been making progress on my Nine's in the middle quilt though. I have five blocks assemblede. It is coming together fast and easy. Wish the other one was. Here's a peak on this one.

Last weekend I went to our retreat home and this was all I was able to do. I spent the rest of my time reading. But on the up side, the installers finally finished putting in the carpet and the correct metal strips.

I stopped at my favorite lqs in Bend to use my gift certificate and found these cute little fabric knots. They are a great size if you are doing applique or scrappy quilt, which thanks to Bonnie Hunter I am now a huge fan of. Maybe that's the problem with my motivation on my son's quilt.

Dd came home with a note saying she finished all of the work for her grade level (and then some) so she didn't need to come to school again until Thursday when they have rehearsal for the graduation/end of year gathering. Um,  since we don't get a refund for her not attending school this week they can find something for her to do.

Guess I had better get back at ds's quilt.

Sewing weekend

With two sickies in the house I have had a great sewing weekend. Made some real progress with the quilt I am working on for my ds and his wife. Here is the results.

I'm wondering about running a dark strip between the rows. Don't know how that would look or if I want to do it. Probably not.

With any luck at all we should have ou new carpet installed Thursday. I have my doubts but thats what they tell us.  

Still here

Wow, its been awhile since I checked in. I have been keeping busy with a memory quilt for a friend and then did a chemo quilt.

Last week I went to our vacation home because we were supposed to get carpet installed. Well you know what they say about the best laid plans. I ended up having to rent a nail gun to finish what dh had started.
The carpet was put on hold until tomorrow. I was able to work on two bom's.

My lqs is doing a bom and I saw the samples of the blocks and the color schemes they were offering as well as announcing a mystery. I wasn't so interested in doing the mystery so I chose the Christmas color scheme. I must say I like it.  Wonder if I will keep this one or not. It took me about two days to catch up. This is definitely my speed. Here are my blocks:  This is block one.

this is block 2

and number 3

and number 4 for April.

There are 8 big blocks like these and then some small stars and other small accents. It is called "Simply Adventurous block of the month" for those interested in doing this. I got it from BJ's Quilts in Bend, OR. They do mail each months fabrics for a $5 fee and $25 sign up cost. Their other color scheme is jewel tones. They were very pretty.

I am still working on the quilt for my ds and dil. Since they moved into their own place they ended up with a smaller bed.  Which is good for me. I may have enough blocks done already and only need to start piecing them together. Hopefully I can get it finished before their first anniversary. Hard to believe they have been married for almost a year. Time sure does fly! Unless you are helping with homework.

M is only in first grade and I already dread the rest of her school career. There is a reason I am not a teacher. I don't have the patience for it. But she is a fast learner so it shouldn't be too bad.