PICTURE OF FOOTBALL QUILT/MATCHING PILLOWCASES

Here is the picture of my grandsons quilt i finished and delivered....i am glad to have it done and gone....

and the pillowcases to match below

while quilting it i found i had quilted a couple huge wrinkles in the back....it took almost a day of ripping and smoothing and i finally got it ok....the back fabric was soft and easy to wrinkle....i am thinking maybe i could use spray starch on  the next back to see if that will help keep wrinkles at a minimum....i hope so....

i am having a lot of trouble with my left knee today...the arthritis has kicked up....i must have been up and down a lot the last few days and scooting my chair while sewing irritating my leg....i hope tylenol and my pain med will take the pain away enough for me to get to the store...got a few things i need that cant wait.....more later....

SHERBET QUILT IS ALMOST DONE!

i decided to start with something bright and cheery today...its clouding up so maybe it will rain some and cool down....as long as its hot i am contented to be inside where it is cool....i found these flowers in the garage along with some others and decided they might look nice on the deck even though they arent fresh....i have a bad habit of forgetting to water plants outside...my kids say i put them in 'dry dock' lol...

i am making progress on the 'sherbet' quilt...working on the border now...

got almost one side done last night and now the markings are gone for around the corner so will have to mark that and the next side...it moves pretty fast when i get started...i think it will be a 'striking' quilt when finished...i may put it up for sale at the festival but being its hand quilted i would price it higher....

i need to quit sewing for a bit and start putting fabric back in the cabinet...i have all the pastel and brights i used in the sherbet quilt still out and fabric from several of the runners too....2 piles on the machine arm makes it hard to sew and  piles behind the little ironing board makes it hard to press things and god forbid if i had to press a large piece of fabric....and i guess i will just have to gather all the scrap i have accumulated of late and just put in a bag for now as my scrap box is overflowing....i feel another string quilt coming on lol....

ok i either have to find something in the freezer for my supper or get out in the heat and go eat somewhere....i am leaning toward the latter lol....no cooking...its a good thing! lol....more later.....

PROGRESS ON THE 'SHERBET' COLORS QUILT

It sure is hot here in Illinois this week but then its the middle of July...from now through August we can expect this...i have seen it as hot as 114 degrees actual...it was so hot then that my husband had to carry our dog across the patio to the grass to do his business, just too hot for his little paws...almost too hot for everybody...i hope we dont see it that hot here again but this year of extremes who knows!

I put together the 'sherbet' quilt this week and now decided to hand quilt it....and i am almost done with the center of it....i got out a stencil that would fit the block and decided it had too much detail so i didn't mark a lot of the lines and found it created a 'wonky heart' design....i like it very much i will have to make a note to do that or later i might wonder where i found that idea lol...i am still deciding on the border...its 4 inches and i have a scollop design stencil i may use ....

Yah i am dragging my feet on pictures again but later today if i get bored with the quilt i will wind up the camera and come in and post again today or wait til tomorrow....geez i am so lazy lol....i will blame it on the weather lol....

Well back to the quilting....maybe i can get the center (20 blocks) done today....onward....more later....

STARTED A NEW QUILT

Today i started what i call a 'sherbet' quilt....well its not sherbet ice cream just a lot of colors you might find in sherbet...

I made one of these about 3 years ago and gave it away right away at a baby shower and it was a hit with all that saw it...i have posted here before....

well while back i started cutting strips and cutting big triangles after 2 strips were sewed together creating color combos...well last night about midnight i got started again and just kep puttin blocks together and i got enough done to make another baby quilt....

this past week i made another runner


it too is based on the scrappy quilts using various strips....i didn't have as many blues as i did the browns, oranges etc...

my granddaughter was here for a bit this afternoon and we kind of discussed our strategy for the fall festival sale we are planning on....it should be interesting to say the least....

i will have more pictures when i get the 'sherbet' quilt done...should be this week...just got to remember all i need a picture of......oh its fun to get old!!!!....more later!

PROGRESS IS MADE ON MODERN MAZE QUILT

Back when i was making the pastel 'maze' quilts i thought somewhere in time i would make one that was made with batiks with the same principle....so about a year ago i started drawing up a new pattern for one....you have seen the block in earlier posts and i have been working on it now and then....

i am almost done with the top...

i have been putting together sections in 9 square blocks (3x3) and have 2 more sections to go....i think i have enough 6 inch blocks to finish...then decide if it will be another row of 3 wider and longer....

here is a closeup of a 9 square section.

before i do that though i want to work on my grandsons quilt i started before my health problem....i have the back, gotta wash/iron it yet then sandwich and i can quilt....i hope i can do a good job on it on my little machine....then also quilt those pinwheel runners too....

yesterday i mostly spent in the kitchen trying to cook things that didn't have salt...that is one losing battle...i have doc appointment next wednesday so i thought cook reg but watch the salt very carefully and see if i am doing ok at the docs....i havent cooked with salt for years...my down fall is eating out!...i will have to get used to using unsalted products as i find them....i keep forgetting i can season them later with salt substitute....

a very good salt substitute is called "no salt"....i swear by it!

time for lunch so gotta run...more later....

A HEART ATTACK IS SLOWING ME DOWN!

If i was missed this past week i had a good reason, not a happy one though the outcome so far turned out better than expected....i had a heart attack!...my lungs was filling with fluid smothering the heart....i think i had all the tests in the hospital before they were through....i came home today with lots of instruction and lots of bp meds....so it will take some getting used to and a lot of trial and error....i dont mind telling you it will be a hard thing to do...

I am so tired and they took my arthritis meds away because of the health risk so now my arthritis is really kicking up a fuss....i can hardly move without pain....so lots to get used to there too...

sewing may have to take a back seat or i might not be able to do as much as i have in the past...but i will do as much as possible...i have so much to do!....

that is it in a nutshell about me for now so i have to wear a new groove in my life...is it too late to teach old dogs new tricks?? guess we will find out....more later....

QUILTER CACHE INSPIRED RUNNER

In the midst of all the other sewing i have been doing i found time to make a new runner....

It was inspired by Quilters Cache...i dont know why i went there, lord knows i have enough ideas to work out of my head but its always nice to find a new idea, right??...lol....its not entirely like the one they had pictured but similar....and i think their blocks were bigger in the center and i wanted triangles around the pinwheel...that is light yellow sashes around the pinwheel and a funky color green triangles...glad that one is used up...i still wonder why i bought it....that will need machine quilting this week sometime...

its such a very dreary day today i think the rest of the day will be spent putting blocks in therows of the gfg quilts and see if i can get a row done on each of them....got leftovers for supper so no cooking this evening, good time to just keep on sewing and forget the weather...now if the tv will co-operate and have something decent to watch while doing this lol....

by the time i get all that done i will probably have some sore fingers so maybe the rest of the week i can get caught up on the machine quilting...hope so.....more later...

GRANDSON'S "FOOTBALL" QUILT

First i have to say what a wild and not so nice a week this past one was....the flooding in the midwest, here included, the explosions in Boston and Texas...it makes a person sit up and take notice what is going on around them...i know i am more alert of my surroundings...just hope this next week and beyond is more safe for all of us....

while sitting here drinking my coffee reading some of the blogs i thought i better get some pictures taken...so here is my grandsons quilt with the final red border on it...i made up all the black blocks as much fabric as i had...

i would have liked 1 more row on the sides but it didn't work out....then i ran out of red fabric...then my order came with red in it for another project and it worked for the quilt so added another border...it still isn't as big as i would have liked it...but he can wrap up in it anyway....

i got out his pillowcases that match it and you can see a closeup of the football print...

i had planned on giving all the grandkids pillowcases but some were dragging feet about what they wanted so i still hadn't given those i had done to them....this is going to work out well...he will have a quilt and cases to take with him when he goes off to college this fall...

the sun is out today and it looks like a really nice day so i think i will get out and shop a little...didn't go to the store other night as i planned so more groceries to get....getting tired of the same ole, same ole meals here so i think another good idea is to make out menus for this next week and follow them...i got out more in the winter than i thought so didn't use a lot of the stock i gathered for bad weather so i should use it now...

going to cut the backing ready to piece for grandsons quilt later today too and then wash the pieces...i would rather iron 2 smaller pieces than 1 big one...have to piece it anyway as the quilt is 50x 72 then i can pin ready for quilting....trying to get brave enough to machine this one....trying to do a bigger one each time till i get comfortable doing large quilts by machine...oh i wish i had a longarm!....

i was dreaming while relaxing last night....about building an oversized 1 car garage up close to the house and making it into a sewing studio....i could  do that there is enough room and with a few short steps from the house even...oh that would be so nice...my sewing room is small and its jam packed...i am sure you all know about that in your world too.....well off to do whatever....more later....



FORGET SEWING, NEEDING AN "ARK"

YES forget sewing and start building an ark....we got 6+ inches of rain in a 24 hr period and now no one can get in or out of town as water is over the roadsand bridges that lead out of town....i havent seen the water that high since 1979....and those bridges are high off fields below...there are a few creeks that run into the spoon river and it can really go on a rampage....in fact i dont know when we got this much rain in the same time period before...and its not over yet....more rain is forcast today and tonight at least 2-3 more inches....then friday its to get colder and  "snow"???? geez whats next!!!!

i have water in the basement....i knew i would have ...it seeps in around the blocks at the base of the floor and runs to the drain when we get a lot of rain...i havent been down to look yet how bad and just hope no one put things back on the floor....i usually keep things off the floor because of that....am not looking forward to going down the steps as they are hard for me to navigate with my bad arthritis and i dont want to fall....

i worked on the modern quilt today trying to keep my mind off the basement and started putting the blocks together and trying to decide just how big to make this quilt...its looking good so far...

i should go to the store after supplies but the milk man and bread guy probably didn't make it so shelves will be empty and that is what i need lol...i could make some french bread it dont use milk  but i dont have a cow so am out of luck in that dept. i can cook around no milk though so no problem...got hamburger out but no ideas yet what to cook later...i'm more interested in sewing lol.....

schools are all closed all over the county today some are trying to clean up...others because they are rural and cant get to the students....bet the kids are happy! lol....

oh yea! its starting to rain again....well its 'backstroke' to the kitchen for me.....more later.....

SO MANY QUILTS -SO LITTLE TIME!!

Right now i have so many quilts going...i am beginning to feel bogged down....i know, its my own fault lol...but i can explain lol....

i have the snowball quilt you saw in last post but i was looking in the cabinet and found the fabric that was left from the pillowcases i made my grandson...i guess i havent taken a pic of those yet...

anyway i only had about 1 yard of the fabric left so i made blocks out of it alternating with red and blue to make it go farther....ran out of red and didn't think it was going to be big enough for him but i had ordered red for another project and it matched what i ran out of so after i wash it i can put the last border on it...will get pics when i get that border on....

then i got out the blocks of the modern quilt i have been working on all year now and then....

this is a pic i had in the archives but i have almost 70 blocks now and will make quite a few more before i decide just how big it will be....its going to be very striking in color....the pic dont do it justice....will try to get a better one later....

i have the backs for all the quilts now except the modern one so i can get going....and i also have 15 new blocks for the gfg quilts and will start again setting them in rows....

had a good after surgery checkup at the eye docs other day....i never went back for the check up when i was suppose to so he gave me a lecture lol....and i promised to go sooner than 5 years lol....i know i shouldn't take it lightly as i have had eye problems in the past and still have one that will go out of this world with me....

i got steel in my eye years ago and had to have rust scraped from the cornea dead center and it created a shadow that i see when i move my eyes and the new lens from cataract  surgery makes it more prominent to see...

rain, rain all week so i guess i will be sewing more maybe i can get caught up with the pics to show ya....more later....

WORKING ON ANOTHER UFO AND THE GFG'S

I got out another ufo recently and started looking it over and decided to make it bigger at the request of my daughter....

when i am finished it will be bed size...it is a snowball quilt made with mostly floral calico prints that i have had forever it seems...so when i went to make it bigger i dug everywhere i might find the same pieces to use that are in the quilt...and luckily i found just what i needed...

i have to sew the side and the bottom onto the main part yet .

there are squares of this print in the quilt and i have just enough to make a good size border around...

when i ordered the backing i was crossing my fingers that it would be something i liked....the name was 'ivory crinkle texture' something so i was worried it really would be crinkled and not smooth but when i t came i was very happy...it was just a hint of patterned ivory and the texture was great and the color was close to the color of the center of the blocks...

daily working on the gfg quilts is taking time from the other quilts but i do have to keep working on them if i am to get them done...i did 6 more blocks ready to add to rows this week so far....when i get to ten more i will post a pic of them too...you will get pretty tired of hearing about those quilts before i get them done i am thinking lol.....something different next time...maybe....more later...

MORE WORK ON FLOWER GARDEN QUILTS

Ever since i got the blue quilt done i worked on a few of the other quilts that i have started as i posted before but i went back all last week working more and more on the Grandmothers Flower Garden quilts...working on 2 at a time is a lot slower getting somewhere believe me!...

When i started the very first row at the beginning i didn't think to add the white around the outside half way before putting the block in the row so now i had to go back and add the white ones this week as i wanted to work on the the next row from this end...

I sure am glad i figured out to add the white to the blocks before i put them into rows now because to finish the top row i had to wrestle all the quilt to work on it putting the white on later....late last night i finished with all the little white ones so now i can start putting blocks in the row...those go faster being they are almost done when i do that....the above is a good tip for working on these using this method!...

And i have been making more blocks...doing some in various stages...today i basted several blocks and clipped them back to work on them further when the mood hits me....yesterday i finished some that you see in the picture below...

 that now just need the white around half way before they are placed in a row...i have almost the 7th row done on 1 quilt and now that i have the white across the top and i can add the 7th row to this quilt...yay! i am over half way on both of them....i havent been stopping to take out the basting after they are put in rows lately so one day i will just have to sit at the table and work on that before it is too big a job....

Thursday this week is the quilt ladies meeting again for the month so i will be showing the blue quilt and maybe a couple 4 patch and 9 patch runners to show they can be just as effective as an elaborate  block quilt with the use of nice color combos....i hope i can get them to see that lol...

i am going to keep working on the gfg quilts this week too now that i am on a roll with them...and for now back to work on them after i get the dishes done....more later....

FINISHED QUILT PICTURE AND STORY

I finally got the camera wound up today...i shouldn't wait so long to take the pics for the blog as i can forget things that i have done for a week when i skip around working on things....

the first one is the finished blue quilt with the detail picture of the quilting...it doesn't show up on the big pic of the whole quilt...i had bought the backing fabric about 2 years ago when i first started this quilt...

there is a story with this quilt....it started out as a 9 patch with white as the other color....after i got the quilt top finished i hated it....so i tore it up into blocks and packaged it up....then a couple years later i tore it up back to squares and started over adding the blue for 4 patches....it was a good idea because i think all the colors worked well.... 

my daughter was here last week and she held this quilt in her lap for a long time...i do think she wants it lol....she has had an interest in it from the beginning and she is a big lover of blue...lol

over the week end we got more snow...i dont think i have ever seen it snow for 3 days like it did this time....thank god it was almost a rain for part of it at times to keep the totals from accumulating more than it did....this morning i went out and shoveled off my back walk before anyone walked on it making it easier to shovel....now the sun is out so it should melt some today....got to make a trip to town to pick up meds this week so trying to get the snow out of my way so i dont fall...

today i had dinner brought in so i am about to go enjoy it...i made a big bowl of potato salad yesterday to have as something quick to go along with my meal to make cooking easier this week while i am sewing....good idea i think!...

i will have more things to talk about tomorrow or the next day depending on how busy i get....lately i am busier than usual or extra slow lol...see you later with more....

2 FINISHES

I

the fold back part is the pretty back ....i found this fabric and knew i had to use it as the back....it goes with the quilt so good..i may have quilted it too close i think...another ufo off my list...

this is the very last quilt made with the old courthouse step blocks i made a very long time ago...this was one of the first blocks i made when i really got into quilting big time....i must have made a thousand of them cause i sure have  made a lot of small quilts with them....guess i should have made a big bed quilt from them...but i thought i had them all done then found more...

here is the 'mini square' quilt i showed in another post all done now with a dark ruby red binding....it will go to my daughter as i mentioned before..

Well its off to quilt on the blue quilt...and hang up the 3rd load i have in the dryer....and make sense of my day....more later....

TABLE TOPPER FINISHED AND CURRENT QUILT DETAIL

I finally got going on the camera again....here is a closeup of the stitching on the blue quilt i have in the frame....the thread is navy and it is quilted on the diagonal ....its taking a little getting used to standing out like it is but i am getting used to it....

i have 3 light blue rows done so far...the quilting in the dark squares is jus outlining the squares on the inside of the square so the quilt is quilted pretty close....i have a small problem i noticed today...i have a wrinkle in the area of the back that i am working on that will require me to be very careful to work out....

here is a small blue table topper that i finished recently during our first snowstorm...it had been waiting to be done for quite awhile....i am glad to get it off my table....

today i worked more on the quilt in the frame for most of the day stopping long enough to get a meatloaf ready to bake...this time its a big one....i am used to making mini meatloaves so i dont have leftovers but i think meatloaf sandwiches will taste good for a change...i also got a  bowl of bake beans in the oven too....i will add a big lettuce salad and call it supper...haha and i might as well make enough salad for tomorrow cause i will be having the same thing tomorrow lol and the next day lol...

we have about 16 inches of snow on the ground right now and rain coming the last part of the week....it may cause some flooding around the area as it will start to melt all that snow....just hope i dont end up with water in the basement...there is mud everywhere so the ground isn't froze either....

i have more pictures to post so keep watching for more and of course i am always working on something...cant stand to have my hands idle anymore....so many things so little time!!!! lol....more later....