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.

home alone

I was lucky enough to have a family free weekend. Dh took M to our vacation home for the weekend. While I  had a Law & Order marathon and fabric cutting blitz. One of two plastic totes is now empty as I cut my scraps into usable sizes.Thanks to Bonnie Hunter's scrap organizing system. While doing this I cut enough bricks for my midnight flight quilt. Not to mention I slept great!!

new block and improvements

I finally found my cords that will allow me to download pictures. I spent this past weekend adding much needed vertical storage. I put up a couple of shelves. I wanted two sets on each wall but I had the wrong stuff and I couldn't find anymore. That I wanted.

I then put up a pegboard. I know some people paint them to blend in but I couldn't find the paint that I used on the walls.

I also got to thinking about where I wanted my rulers that they wouldn't get in my way. So it dawned on me to use what I thought of as wasted space. Turned out to be valuable space close to my cutting table and much more organized and out of sight when not in use.I have a wall of closet space except for behind these two doors. The wall these are mounted to is the back of a closet that is in the bathroom.

I have lived here for seven years and just now thouht to use this.

I finished Bonnie Hunter's Midnight Flight block in Quiltmaker's 100 blocks book. I did a LOT of ripping on this block but I do like it. I changed it just a little. I don't have any orangy yellow so I made the little orangy squares red. I really like the way it looks. I am going to make it into a quilt. But I have learned I will have to be VERY careful or else I'll be ripping out a lot of stitches.

Now I will get back to cutting up my scraps into usable sizes. I have almost emptied one big bin of scraps. When done that will leave me with one more to go. This made me very happy to see the progress.

Happenings

Today is the start of my four day weekend. Yea!! I probably won't be doing any quilting but I will be stopping by my lqs in Bend to turn in a chemo quilt. That shop will sell the top and back fabric for $25 for you to sandwich and quilt as you want and then bind. Once done you return it for a $25 gift card. The quilt goes to the local hospital for chemo patients. Thought that was a great way to give back. So I will turn it in tomorrow and maybe do another one. If you don't want to buy their fabric all it takes it two chunks of 2 yards of good quality fabric. So they will stand up to many washes in hot water. I am starting on the binding tonight so I should have it done before bedtime. Happy Presidents Day to all.

Tillamook Bay aka Orca Bay is done!!

I am now done with Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt. I sat down and plugged along tonight and am now finished.  Well it's a flimsy. But for me that is done. Now it's time for me to head to bed.