Skirts for Granddaughter

Our oldest granddaughter turns seven next week and I found this cute fabric with seven written all over it. So----I made a skirt for her. The white one is a remake of a dress my daughter wore many years ago and since she doesn't have a daughter, I remade this dress into a skirt for Samantha. I hope that she likes them. I did try to update the skirt with some rainbow ric rack in a rainbow color. I used the free pattern on http://www.dana-made-it.com/

Finally!

Got this quilt bound and got hubby to hang it over the stairs! That's a big process in and of itself. I started this in January as a Claudia's Quilt Shoppe challenge. http://www.claudiasquiltshoppe.com/patterns72BedazzledMystery.htm I didn't complete the whole pattern as that would have made it too big. I used up some from my stash and didn't need to buy a bit of new fabric.

Can't wait until tomorrow to start a new challenge, this one from a different website. I've got three sets of fabric laid out and can't decide--maybe I'll do all three--three hours a day rather than an hour a day. http://www.patchworktimes.com/tag/quilt-for-an-hour/page/2/

Til tomorrow!

Fall Decorating

I love autumn and love to decorate for it, but over the years I have really simplified the decorating. Last year I wanted some "ghost" pumpkins and couldn't find any, so we grew some. They took up lots of garden, and we won't do it again, but wouldn't you know it---there are ghost pumpkins at the grocery store this year! Who would have thought.

All in all, this seems rather nuts when my sister is cleaning up after flooding in Atlanta. The devestation that Mother Nature dishes out and then add the insult of stupid city planning and then it's the people in the heart of the cities that get to bear the brunt of it all. Not unlike Katrina, only just less published since it wasn't a hurricane or an "instant" catastraphe--it has been hurtful to many.

Two Boy Tops and Two Girl Tops from Crumbs

Started with some scraps

from the surfer fabric

and a fat quarter of

daisy fabric and my last

order from fabric.com and

these are the resulting tops. I

have two left to complete,

but I was "crumbed" out.

In a word--they are addictive!

Waste Not Want Not Blocks

I started these blocks as an exchange, but after trading one time, I decided not to. To me, it's not worth the postage to exchange and then get some blocks that can't be used. So I just started making 2 1/2 inch four squares and 4 1/2 inch HST's and saving them. Yesterday, I started placing some together and they're going to look great. Sometimes I'm a bit "challenged" at doing a scrappy quilt, but I think I'm going to like it. I put most in with a beige/off white background, but some have a white background and all in all I think it will work. I've got 8 big 4 square blocks made and they are safely folded on a hanger waiting for me to finish more. The challenge is to make many different scraps and I do tend to have way too many "fall" colors. Don't have many blues or reds, but I'll just keep saving and piecing and one day it will be ready to make into a quilt top.

Hubby's Home

Yesterday afternoon I cleaned up my sewing area--when we had our carpets cleaned I moved my machine to the kitchen island and have really like having it there. I can catch snatches of time which is perfect for a blog and a new challenge I found this morning:
http://www.patchworktimes.com/tag/quilt-for-an-hour/page/2/

While he was away, I finished 4 tops and have the crumbs assembled for 2 more. Since he had the camera, I'll get some shots of them soon. I got into my waste not want not blocks and started assembling the blocks and I got 8 big blocks of about 16" squares put together. I'm not sure how to finish them, so for now they're hanging on a hanger in my closet that is getting too crowded with tops that need to be quilted!

Later...I have lots to share, but need to find the camera!!

BQ for Grandson

A quilt top for Chandler. Two rows left and the blocks are made, I just need to add them and then this will be ready to quilt. I have some time left at a quilting place and I'll call them tomorrow and see if they are still accepting workers at their machines. When he was here this summer, he picked out what he wanted--he loved some fabric I had and we picked a pattern that would work with what he wanted. He's really into surfing. This is a surfin' quilt top! Had to pick out an entire row last night as I'd assembled it wrong. UGH! This will be a comforter type top for a queen size bed.

Stars and Strings

This is the end of the birthday blocks I have from a swap. I made some simple stars to put with them and added the two borders. Now, I've put everything away so that the carpet cleaners can come and do their magic tomorrow!

I do love lavender. I had let my stash run out of it and I picked some up to go with the stars. I used a little more of a dusty lavender than the two blocks I had, but they worked in nicely I think. There's orange in the black strip and it picks up the orange from the two blocks in the middle.

Now, I need to start on a BQ quilt for my oldest grandson.

Crumbs and Things

After a short span of sleeplessness, I began making

"crumbs". I had purchased a bag of scraps from Roberta at UniqueSpools and in it was the fence fabric and the words fabric (corn, apples, eggs etc.). I didn't know how to use it and in that restlessness, I remembered some "egg" fabric I purchased at a quilt show. I also had some beaters--hence now I have some crumbs that I'm going to either make into teatowels, aprons, or hot pads or a combination of all. I may make them for Christmas or even my Etsy.com shop. We'll see.

I just ordered some vintage fabrics and hopefully the bright yellow will work with this. If not, I'll be doing some real shopping---UGH!

Sewing Rooms--mine needs some help

While going through my emails this morning, I found a picture of a sewing room that has been cleaned up. This looked like something I could do with what I have and without expending some cash to do it. I have more tubs than shelf space. But this got me thinking. I'm thinking I need to make labels for the tubs and put an inventory on the outside as I'm always looking through them. Need some time to formulate a "how to" in my mind.

It seems that our sewing rooms get a bit messy! This photo looked like something I could possibly do, but not today! I've got carpet cleaners coming tomorrow and a few things to clean up and finish up before then.

http://crossroadsquilts.wordpress.com/2009/09/01/september-1st-and-what-i-am-working-on/

Green Tomato Mincemeat

This morning I awoke and couldn't go back to sleep. I remembered making green tomato mincemeat while in my 20's. My FIL loved mincemeat and we had some green tomatoes, so I made some and canned it. I looked through my recipes, but I think in our many moves, I threw out my old canning book. Found this recipe online http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1627,159191-253198,00.html

I'm going to make some green tomato mincemeat and save it for Thanksgiving. By then I should be off the hcg low calorie diet and onto the phase 4 (maintaining) so I can enjoy an occasional piece of that pie! As I remember it was glorious--especially when I replaced the suet with equal weight of butter. (I must have some DNA similar to Julia Childs *grin*). I also used it in some soft sugar cookies with some of the mincemeat in them. Wish I had a picture to share. But go here for a picture of a pie made with it and another recipe:
http://joiedevivreanamateurgourmetsguide.blogspot.com/2009/01/green-tomato-mincemeat.html

....Now to pick some green tomatoes and buy all the ingredients!!!

Warm pleasant September Saturdays and Soccer! They just seem to go together don't they? We took advantage of the carefree aspect of being retired and just took a short trip to watch a granddaughter play soccer. It was fun to watch her "come alive" during the second half and she made three goals!

Heartstrings Top Completed

I really thought I'd use up all my country colors by making this quilt top. I still have PLENTY left. I think for now I'll put them away and make something else. I love the restfulness of these colors when combined with the tan and the off white. I'll be sending this to Mary Johnson of the Heartstrings yahoo group and she will quilt it for donation. Finished size is 54" x 72"

Stars and Strings

A couple of years ago when joining an online group called "Quilted with Love", I joined a swap that was to make stars out of blue with a tan background. Of course I made more than I needed. I kept looking for a fabric that would go with what I picked and never found just what I wanted. They've sat in a drawer for 2 years.

Then I got some stars from a birthday block swap and added them to the stash and since I've been in a "stringing" mood lately, I made some 9 1/2" blocks from strings.

The quilt top measures 55 1/2 inches by 75 inches with 5 squares across and 7 down. There's a 2 inch and a 4 inch border to complete the top.

Ten Tops Ready to Mail for Sunshine

This makes ten tops ready to go to Bev. There are some others that have been previously blogged that are in the box.

Quilt Tops to Sunshine

Quilt tops that are ready to be boxed and sent to Bev in Alaska for her to quilt for either WAS or WTIL






























Happy Blocks with a combination of strip piecing to make the remainder of some happy blocks into a top.













Disappearing Nine Patch

















Happy blocks using froggie centers.






Now, many of my scraps and partially started blocks are into tops and ready to go!

This quilt was finished yesterday as well as another that I just have to sew together. There's still some batik left! Oh, how to use it all up???

A View From Our Backyard

This view greeted us this morning as we looked out our door. It's a hawk and at first I was quite surprised that it had perched on our fence. In the background are seagulls and some black birds that I'm not sure of the name.

Here it is as it took flight.

Heartstrings in Progress

These fun blocks are representative of my wanting to use some batik I had that is not truly a batik, but I bought yards and yards because it was about $2 a yard if I remember. I got the brainstorm to combine it with the skateboarder fabric that I originally bought for my grandson. This is leftover and I was trying to find a way to use it too. Voila~~a combination. I'm going to make it into a quilt top that will include the big sqares, 3 across and 4 down. I won't be able to work on it today or for the next few days. So keep tuned as to how it turns out.

Heartstrings top completed

This colorful quilt top started as a challenge to make some diamond strings. As I got into the making of them, I decided that my strings may not fit with others as they all had some sunflowers in them so I sewed them together and now have this top.

We received word this weekend that a friend and former colleague of my husband, passed away. We'll be leaving to go to the funeral and stay a couple of nights.