STRINGS ARE MAKING ME A LITTLE BUGGY

For the last two days I have been making 'string strips' for a border of one of my new quilts....

I haven't measured to see if I have enough made but it looks like I should have.....

I only worked out of my little basket that I keep close by to add anything under 1 1/2 inches wide...this picture doesn't show it overflowing...that is why I started making them this week...because the scraps weren't going in the basket anymore lol and I couldn't stand it...now the basket pretty much looks like the picture...almost empty....so glad I didn't have to get out the big box that has more scrap in it...that is always a huge mess if I get it out....

I will have more pics later more little stuff has been made and I have a quilt to show that you haven't seen yet ...it too needs borders ...in fact these strings is part of the border for it....

It turned off cold this week and I had to turn on the furnace...I didn't think I would keep it going but its cold outside and there is no sense of me freezing...my arthritis gives me enough trouble....

well I am off to bed its been a long long day and I am really tired.....till next time....more later....

THESE ARE WAITING FOR BORDERS

This is what I have been doing the last few days....

on 1 quilt I added the rest of the loose blocks to it...the hour glass one and I posted about the butterflies on my roses quilt...well its waiting for a border as is the hour glass one and my 'poe' quilt is also waiting for a border and then we come to the modern quilt with all the browns and oranges and reds....it too is waiting for a border if I put one on it....I have a lot of strips cut of the pieces of that quilt so might add thin border dark one and a piano keys of the leftovers....have to decide on that....as you can see I have been working up a storm....

With all that I got my back outta whack so am letting it rest for a couple days....it was warm in the sewing room so I had the fan on too and me in a cool draft is not a good idea...my arthritis really squawks at that....but then I could use a couple days off from sewing...the kitchen needs attention...

About the mess on the sewing table...well I am working on it...I have put blocks away that have bags already started and have cut squares and triangles of various scraps and I got the brainy idea for another quilt I could see in the scrap with the 1 1/2 strips ..

so I started a boomerang quilt....if no one in the family wants it I will probably look around for a charity to give it too later....with the help of my box of 2 inch strips I am sure I can find another 4 rows to complete the center....more on this later....

As you can tell I go from one to another without a second thought to taking pictures to record the events but eventually I get them taken...just know my blog is important and if anyone can get help reading it it makes it worth while....more later.....

ANOTHER NEW QUILT THIS TIME FROM A UFO

I needed something to do last night while watching the Emmys so I drug out my clothes basket of quilting blocks packaged up.....while rummaging through it I found a quilt I started years ago....

 

 

the more I worked on it the less I liked it....the blocks were just too big for the size the quilt was going to be.... and I just plain didn't like the layout...so I put it back and basically forgot about it till last night....

 

I sat there tearing this quilt apart trying to think of how I could use the triangle squares and 4 patches without tearing them apart too...well before I went to bed I thought of something....its a wonder I slept lol....so this morning I went in and started sewing a new block design using them....this is what I came up with.....

 

I must say I do like it better....I am going to call it 'Butterflies on my roses' quilt lol....I used to have rose bushes that color and the dark looks like butterflies lol....I have enough of all the colors to make a big quilt if I want so we will see just how this evolves but the scale of the blocks will be better I think than a huge 24 inch block.....

 

My basket of blocks????.....I had to get a bigger basket this time as the smaller one was overflowing ....

 

well I did sort it out and found some scrap material to use in my upcoming scrap quilts so that eliminated 2 bags in there ....trying to figure out how to use the bag of  odd blocks for things....ok time to figure out my supper now after all this....more later.....

SOME SMALL SCRAPPY THINGS DONE

I did get a couple little things machine quilted yesterday...nothing glamorous , some mug rugs

I intend to give away as a gift later this month to a friend...I gave her one I was experimenting with long time ago and she said she used it all the time...so I think its time I made her a new one and some extra lol....

 and  I made a bigger snack mat and a potholder....all were from that messy scrap pile on my sewing table with a couple extra colors added....I had some off  size oblong pieces that were too small for other blocks so I put them end to end for the snack mat and potholder...turned out ok....I might use up some of the other colors too...

Lately I have been on the lookout for some small items to make for Christmas....I am not doing too well in that department....more on this later....

My granddaughter was here yesterday and she had opinions on the baby quilts I am making...most of the time we agree on things but yesterday she made me rethink color so I changed my mind about a border on one of them...more on this later too.....

Today my thoughts are on tomorrow...our quilt meeting is then and I am going to take the Grandmothers flower garden quilt for show and tell as well as the last three quilts I made...I don't think I showed them yet either....while at the meeting I will be working on taking out the basting and looking over the back of the Grandmothers Garden quilt for loopy loops and hexes that might be sewn too loose....don't want the seams to spread when stretched in the hoop....

Well its about time I got to work for today....its moving fast and I am soooo slow soooo more later......

DETAIL OF BORDERS ON MINI GRANDMOTHERS FLOWER GARDEN QUILT

I am almost done with the mini floral grandmothers flower garden quilt top....I finally have pictures to show you....I made sure I got some before I completely finished the top to show the border sequence I have been working on...

 

Those of you that have been following me may remember I am making several flower garden quilts for my family...here is the latest one

When I got toward the end of all the rows I thought it would look nicer to add a border around for a more finished look and this is the result...I don't have the closest end at the bottom of the picture finished but I have close ups of how I am doing the border...

In this picture 2 of the ends are tricky...the first thing was to make sure the back and forth of the design would be even...so that meant I had to add 1 white hex to fill in before I added the blue....on the right edge of picture a white hex has been added already...that made the see saw effect across the row...

In this picture you can see how I added the blue and the outer row of white...I sewed hexes together matching the see saw effect...I thought it would take me forever to do this but actually it went pretty fast...The points and 1/2 of the white hexes will be trimmed off to make straight when the binding goes on....

 

On the side rows all you do with them is fill in with a partial block which will make them even then sew hexes end to end with each other and sew to quilt....

 

When this part of the quilt is finished I will have to check the backside for Loopy-loops and take the basting out...then I can quilt....

 

Today I hope to get some more fabric washed and ironed to use right away in 2 small quilts and I want to make some mug rugs sometime this week....I am always doing something if not I get very bored lol.....more later....

ELABORATE QUILTING ON FINISHED QUILT

Sunday is suppose to be a day of rest but right now I am deciding whether to sew most of the day or leave and take a drive and eat dinner out somewhere...the weather is nice so far but the ever looming threat of rain is in the forecast...

I did wind up the camera this morning and took the picture of the finished quilt I did for my granddaughter...she wanted a scrap of fabric that had fairies on it made into a quilt...the picture is a little off color..that is robins egg blue....not lavender....

yeah it was a challenge considering I only had about a fat quarter to work with....so there were a lot of sashes and borders which meant a lot of  blank space to deal with...well I decided to get elaborate with my quilting....

I had a nice big feather border stencil but it had no nice corner with it so I tried designing one but I could not do it justice so I found a shell block stencil that worked really good I think...its the most elaborate hand quilting I have done in a long time...

Other sewing I have been doing is the flannel receiving blankets I told you about in last post...I did 3 of them...I haven't made up the rest of the leftover fabric but they will be lap pads I think...I will be sending them away to a family member soon along with some other things...

I have more to tell ya about but not right now..it was a very productive week and into the weekend so keep looking more is coming...I am lovin' this sewing streak!.....more later.....

PASTEL BABY QUILT IS FINISHED

I finished the binding on the small baby quilt I machine quilted this week....again I was up late but I wanted to get it finished....I even got the label sewn in it and the irish chain quilt..

I love these pastel modern type quilts...they look so fresh in design and soft and sweet....its a pleasure to work on them....the picture shows it a little brighter than it really is...

I have a chore to do today that has been long overdue....My little ironing board that sits next to me when I am sewing needs a new cover...

I was going to fix it earlier in the week but could not find my electric staple gun....I thought it must be in the basement but rather than risk falling down the stairs I waited till help came along....Last night my son came and he found it in the basement...so now I am in business when I get to it...hopefully today...That little ironing board is becoming an antique lol....I made it in the 60's for use on vacations ..that was before motels thought to put ironing boards in the rooms....it has been many miles and ironed many miles of fabric...

MORE ON MY CHALLENGE SCRAPPY QUILT

The holiday weekend is over and I spent most of it sewing on the challenge quilt..here it sits in 4 panels so far....I debated on how big to make it but have decided on twin size...here is a pic of the top so far....

I had to order fabric for the borders and the back as I never seem to have the bigger yardages on hand...the smaller border will be a deep red and the bigger outside border will be a blue like some of them in the quilt top....this quilt will be about 65x75 when finished....

I think I am going to machine quilt this one....I don't think all those seams and me would get along hand quilting....I must say this quilt is turning out better than I thought it would but I had enough variety to make it a pretty one....

Today is half over already...I seem to be staying up later at night but then I cant get started in the morning so I have to try to change that as I am losing time lol....today though I want to get out my daughters quilt and add the 2 rows on side and bottom...

 then wash up the back that I purchased about 6 months ago for it....with those 2 extra rows I hope I have enough yardage to use what I planned for the back...not sure there will be a border on this one...will have to measure again to be sure....this quilt is the 'sister' to the one I made for my other daughter...other one was blues and reds...this one is softer in color with more greens, pinks and lavenders..

Got more pictures to take and if I wind up the machine I might do some more machine quilting while I wait for the fabric to come....I got really behind from being in hosp. and recouping....so now its try to catch up time.....more later....

MAKING A NEW 'CHALLENGE QUILT'

Finally I am posting....I have been busy with stuff here at home trying to get caught up with stuff I need to do that I haven't taken time to post much....

This past week I had a water line break in the basement...thank god I was home or I would have had a flood down there....a lot of water sprayed all over as it is....plumber will have to come back to fix...he didn't have time that day to do the repair...I am glad he didn't have to have the water shut off all over the house just the line to the downstairs sink....

I have been working on string strips again trying not to let the scrap stuff get to far ahead of me....and I started a new quilt of stars and 9 patch...the original pattern for the block is in Quilters Cache....I made it for a challenge while back...here is that one in archives...I love this pattern....

 

 

Speaking of challenges I joined another challenge of sorts....the online quilt group I belong to posted a pattern for a 'scrap basket' quilt....and I am going great guns on it right now....here are some of the panels I have put together so far....I need 25 in all...

 

I have to put it aside today at least till I get the flowers fixed for the cemetery...Memorial day crept up on me again this year....I guess because I was raised with the holiday being the 30th weekend not before that ....so confusing sometimes lol...

 

My 'Dewey' blocks are put aside for the time being....and I dug out the 4 patches I had and putting a ivory triangle around each side to put them on point for a good size quilt....I have about half the blocks done for that....

 

I need to take more pics...I finally finished the small childs quilt I was hand quilting....don't know why I didn't finish before only took me 2 hrs to finish quilting and couple more to bind....grrr...lol....

 

Well this catches me up for now and just maybe I can get the camera wound up again sometime this week...I know there is more to show....

MINI GRANDMOTHERS FLOWER GARDEN PICTURE

It has been a busy week for me...I had errands to run, more than usual plus I went shopping one day with my daughter and now I am tired and need a couple days to recoup lol....but it was a good time to be out...no snow or rain just sun mixed with warm and cool breezes lol....

I finally got a picture of the mini grandmothers flower garden quilt I have been working on....

I have about 7 more rows to add and maybe I might add a row wider...more on that later....I haven't decided if I want to put a plain border on it and applique a vine or not...I haven't done much applique so far so it could end up a challenge...

I always have something lined up to work on whether I am home or visiting with my family....

now is no exception lol....there are several different posies ready for  half of the white that goes around each one ready to work on...there are some small ones and some large flowers too....I forgot to add that I am making another one with the big flowers....that will be the 3rd one...before I am done with hexes I think every immediate family member will get one someday lol....

While back I ordered small yardage of fabric I thought I would like and I do and have waited for it to go on sale....

I have a favorite block from quilter cache that I seem to like its star pattern and a 9 patch combo....I have made several runners with the pattern and now I want to make a full quilt using this fabric as the color surrounding the stars which will be blues and purples with very light gray background....I have all the fabric except more yardage of this...as of today I have that now...so any time I can get started on a new quilt top....like I really need to lol...the picture doesn't do the fabric justice but it wont be left whole anyway...the biggest piece will be 3 1/2 inches big so it wont look like this when finished..

Hopefully I am getting back into my sewing now so I can get a lot more done...I really got behind this winter.....got lots of ideas for future project too to work out of my head...happy sewing and more later......

HOME FROM HOSPITAL--SURGERY

Well here I am again....since I was here last I was taken to emergency at the hospital and had abdominal reconstructive surgery.....I am home now but I am very rocky and sooooo tired...but I am functioning day to day....

It seems this problem has been with me most of my life but decided to shut down my body now after all these years....I am very happy there was no cancer...I was very scared that was what they were going to find....

While recouping in the hospital I did a little hand sewing making some hex posies when I felt like it....I forgot to put a thimble in my little portable bag of sewing so had to let up so as not to get my fingers too sore....

So I am thinking it may be a few weeks yet before I do much sewing while I am getting back on my feet again....might be sooner...right now just taking things a day at a time...

Thank you all for understanding......more later...

SMALL GFG BLOCKS ARE MAKING A NICE QUILT

This is what I have been doing while being sick and tv time...I am now on row 7 with 10 in a row of various colors some leftover from the gfg quilts for the girls....I will make it 17 rows long before I am done....I think the quilt will be about 72x90 with a border on it....

 

I still have my stack of the colors I want to use for these on the sewing table...most of the time neatly stacked if I can keep them that way...I hope to use up a lot of the florals I have collected over the years...the white you see here is what I am using for the connecting of the posies...

 

If I don't use all of the colors by the time I get tired of making gfg quilts I think I will use them with some blenders and make either road to Oklahoma quilt or a pinwheel quilt....but more on that if it materializes....pun lol...

 

I am feeling better but not all sure it was the flu that hit me...I think I need to see the doc about my innards ....I am subject to bouts of gastritis....just hope it isn't going to serious but for now its sew, sew, sew....more later....