Sunday, May 31, 2009

May Finished Projects

Wow, how did it become the last day of May already? I had to complete a couple projects just to be able to say that I finished some things this month. It's not that I haven't been busy, I just don't seem to have much to show for the month.

Heres a table runner that I quilted today. I assembeled it at Ross camp in March and sandwiched it and quilted it just in the ditch. The idea for the table runner is from Jinny Beyer's placemat pattern.



I think the fabric is Moda's Bistro line.


My second finish today includes three sports pillows for Andrew. This was a panel that I purchase at Alco in March 2008. It's a good thing it doesn't take me this long to finish most things.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

A Bittersweet Finish

I finished piecing this quilt and then quilted it and put the binding on for a mom in the area who lost her son 2 1/2 years ago, shortly after he joined the military. They picked out the fabrics and pattern together while he was home on leave after basic training. She started on the quilt and several months later he was killed. It was just too difficult for her to finish it, but she wanted it finished. There were four rows completed and most of the rest of the blocks had been made.

I was certainly happy to do this for her and I hope it brings her comfort. The batting is warm & natural and I used Eggshell PermaCore thread, the quilting is a loopy meander with a wonky sort of star in each of the star blocks, as was pictured with the pattern.

We had a nice chat while she was here and when she left the house last night, she said that she hoped that I never got to join her club. That would be the Gold Star Mothers organization for mother who have lost one or more children in the military.



Kathleen, my prayers are with you!

Monday, May 25, 2009

My Little Helper!


Elizabeth didn't seem to mind keeping me company while I was getting a little stitching done yesterday. We had a wonderful time watching her this weekend and I still hear her chattering away occassionally. Of course, I really don't, but I think I do!

Stashbusting Report #21

May 18-24, 2009

Fabric Added This Week - 4 yards (wide backing - for the border and backing of the horseshoe quilt)
Fabric Added Year to Date - 100.75 yards

Fabric Used This Week - 4.75 yards
Fabric Used Year to Date - 145 yards

YEAR TO DATE NET TOTAL: 44.25 yards

Saturday, May 23, 2009

A Couple of Easy Ones!

This one is for a neighbor (yes, I do have lots of good neighbors), who has hosted a horseshoe tournament for many years. This year's tournament, the 20th, is at Julie and Jim's house. One of their friends ordered it for her and supplied me with the photos. The sashing fabric is horseshoes.



I can't wait to see the photos of when they present it to Delores and George. I won't be there to see it in person because we have the pleasure of watching Miss Elizabeth this weekend. Shhhh, she's finally asleep.

This is a t-shirt quilt that Mary Helen made for her grandson for graduation. I've never seen one put together this way, but it was fun to quilt.





And the back (which was a sheet and quilted up beautifully:

Update on the Dogs/Neighbors

Thanks so much everyone for your comments. I really appreciate the suggestions. I spoke with the owner of the house and he assured me that the fence would be fixed and the barking would be under control.

As of today, the fence still isn't fixed and the barking has subsided a bit, but Dan came in this morning and said the guy was yelling at the dogs, "Shut that hole in your face!" I'm sure the dogs understood exactly what he said.

Oh well, at least I have lots of quilting to do....

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Watching My Back!

FYI: This has absolutely nothing to do with quilting....
Guess I better be watching my back after a little altercation with some neighbors this evening. Our back yard has a partial privacy fence that we installed a few years ago and about 20 feet of one that was installed by the neighbors many years ago. There are renters in the house now and they have 4 dogs. Not just any dogs, mind you, but ones that bark each and every time we walk outside our back or side doors. Every morning they high-tail it to the fence and bark, bark, bark as I get in my car to go to work. They jump on the older sections of the fence and the wood has split and they are able to get their heads through the open spaces.

So, about this evening....we were planting in the garden and the dogs were barking. One of the ladies in the house started yelling at the dogs. They were almost through the fence and I went to get something to put on our side so they couldn't get through. Dan went to the garage and brought out a little horn. He blasted the horn and the neighbor guy came out of the house and here's our conversation:
He: I'm sick of that F-ing horn.
Me: I'm sick of your dogs barking.
He: Tell that old man to stick that F-ing horn. (Now, mind you, Dan is only 55...hardly an Old Man!)
He: Don't F... with me cause I know people.
Me: Do your people have dogs, too? (I probably shouldn't have said that, but oh well)
He: Don't think I'm kidding, I mean it.

So, I took that as a threat and calmly came into the house and called the police. An officer came and talked with us for a bit and then went around the block to visit the neighbors. He suggested that in the future, don't say anything to them, just make a phone call, so that's what I'll do from now on.

It just really irritates me that we can't spend time in our back yard without having the constant distraction of the barking dogs.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Stashbusting Weeks #19 & 20


May 4-17, 2009

Fabric Added This Week - 0 yards
Fabric Added Year to Date - 96.75 yards

Fabric Used This Week - 7.75 yards
Fabric Used Year to Date - 140.25 yards

YEAR TO DATE NET TOTAL: 43.5 yards

Sunday, May 17, 2009

MQS Summary

What a wonderful time I had at MQS. My first class was with Lisa Coker and she did a sampler on black showing different ideas for the blocks. I won this class sample and then purchased some bright green thread so that I can finish the quilt.

I also bought a book from her. I really enjoyed this class and think that I will actually be able to do some of these designs. Thanks so much Lisa!



My next class was Design-a-Rama, with Kim Brunner, and she showed 3 levels of quilting for lots of blocks....another great class! Hopefully, I will be more willing to quilt from the front of my machine now.

Thursday evening was the Showcase and Audacious Auction and I won this Vera Bradley purse kit.



Friday morning was Threadology with Dr. Bob from Superior Threads. What a great class!!! I learned so much about thread and what to do when I can't get a particular kind to run smoothly. He tied us all up with thread several times during the program. So of course, I bought some new needles and prewound bobbins.

Friday afternoon was Wiggle Room with Sally Terry and then the banquet on Friday evening. David Taylor was the speaker and what a great performer he is, in addition to his quilting talent. Bag patterns, thread and zippers were given out at the banquet.

I did buy a couple things that I thought Mabel might need....some zippers and a horizontal spool holder for when I use a spool rather than a cone of thread.


We caught an early flight home on Saturday and I arrived home none too soon as poor Dan has been suffering with a bad back for several days and could sure use some help around here.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Greetings From MQS

If you've missed me, it's because I'm at the Machine Quilters Showcase in Kansas City. The quilts are unbelievable and the classes are wonderful. I won a class sample that I can't wait to get home and finish. I feel like a sponge, absorbing all this new information.

See you soon!

Monday, May 11, 2009

Relay For Life Log Cabin

Peggy and her co-workers made this beautiful log cabin quilt and she decided on the Stars and Loops pantograph. I used camel PermaCore thread and Hobbs 80/20 batting and she was very happy with the finished product. I can't wait until our guild meeting on the 20th, so I can buy some tickets and who knows, maybe I will win this beautiful quilt.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Busy Quilting Day

Friday I finished up Carole's Turning twenty quilt and finally got some photos yesterday.



Judy came to quilt her patriotic quilt for the Relay For Life. She chose the Stars and Loops pantograph, Warm and White batting and camel PermaCore thread. I hope she gets lots of donations for this cute quilt.




Later in the afternoon Peggy came by with her beautiful Relay For Life quilt and we loaded it and I got a few passes done on it, using the same pantograph.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Ahhh, Back to Mabel!



This little break from quilting has been way too long. It was good to get a quilt loaded tonight and I got quite a bit finished. It's a Turning Twenty that Carole made and the backing is not one I've quilted on before. I believe that it's a woven flannel, if there is such a thing. It sure is soft!

More Sweat Treats, of course!
I actually got 2 of them finished tonight and no I didn't take a bite out of the ice cream bar. The drawing I had didn't include a missing bite, but I thought it would be cute!

Sweet Treat of the day



Not quite as adorable as the last ones, but it'll certainly do.

OH yea, I bought some fabric last night. Alco is having a 40% off sale on all their $3.99 fabric this week.



Not all of this was bought last night, but I bought seven quarter yards and a one yard piece of the brown dots to make this one for Elizabeth. Hopefully, I can get some blocks prepped to work on in the evenings at MQS.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

More Sweet Treats....and TP

Here's another one that I made last night:


OK, now on to a more serious matter.
We usually use Charmin Toilet Tissue around here, but one of my purchases at Kmart included a 6 pack of Quilted Northern. Now being a quilter, how could I pass that up with $2.00 off. So, I put the first roll on Sunday evening and each an every time I have looked at the roll I have thought, "Gee, it sure seems narrower!" So this morning before work I finally got out 2 rolls....one Charmin and one Quilted Northern and guess what? The quilting must take up some of the tissue width because it is almost 1/4 inch narrower than the Charmin. It's kind of like the ketchup and pancake syrup bottles that have gotten skinnier lately. The price hasn't gone down, but the bottles are smaller. It's really hard to get a good photo because the Northern roll is much bigger around, but look!


Edit: Well here you go: Proof!

Monday, May 4, 2009

Cute, Cute, Cute!

Now isn’t this cute? I can’t tell you too much about it, but I have a vision and I’m very excited about it.



Another form of cute, or handsome might be a better word for this one. This is my grandson Matt, who is growing up so quickly. I don’t very often post photos of him, but just had to show you this one. Of course, he’s taller than his Nana now and such a big help to his mom with the little ones.



I'm not sure if this is cute yet or not. It's only 19 of the 60 blocks that will make up this memory quilt for a group that has been having a Horseshoe Tournament for 20 years. You get the idea

I Need a New Printer!


I have an Epson 4450 All-In-One Printer that is only a year old. It works great, but the ink is sending me into the poor-house. The Cartridges are separate and I really like that, but they don't seem to hold very much. Last week I was printing photos for the Horseshoe Quilt and printed 12 sheets of 4 photos each. I changed the Cyan cartridge at the very beginning. Several sheets into it, I replaced the Black, several sheets later, it was the Magenta, and before I was finished, I replaced the Yellow. I bought more Printed Treasures sheets and did 4 more sheets and I'm stuck now because I am out of Cyan and Magenta already. Now, granted, printing photos uses more ink than a text page, but this is ridiculous.

I ordered some knock-off cartridges last year and they don't work in it, so I'm spending $13 for a black cartridge and $9 for each color one, for a total of $40 to print less than 20 pages. Hmmmm, that's just way too much!!

Any recommendations? Do you have a Kodak printer? I've been seeing their advertisements regarding cheaper ink, so maybe that's the way to go. Whatever I decide, I need to do it quickly, as I cannot print anything with an empty cartridge.

Stashbusting Week #18



April 27-May 3, 2009

Fabric Added This Week - 3.5 yards (I needed it, Yep, I did)
Fabric Added Year to Date - 96.75 yards

Fabric Used This Week - 3.375 yards
Fabric Used Year to Date - 132.5 yards

YEAR TO DATE NET TOTAL: 35.75 yards

Sunday, May 3, 2009

K-Mart Double Coupons



K-Mart is having another Super Double Coupon Event, however, here in Lafayette, they aren't tripling the 75 cent and less ones, they are just doubling all coupons up to $2.
Great deals I got today include V-8 Fusion that was $3.99 (yikes - pricey), but I had a $2 coupon which they doubled, so it was FREE! Some of my other free items include the salad dressing, BBQ sauce, DR Pepper, Quakes, J&J first aid tape. The sale price before coupons for my items was just over $60 and after coupons I paid $15.40. Nice huh?

All the baby items are for an upcoming baby shower which I am co-hosting in June and the candy is for my candy dish at work. Someone dropped a $5 bill in it on Thursday last week, so I guess that means they want more candy. It's nice when I can get a bag of the good stuff for less than a buck.

Julie went with me and it was so much fun to do this with her. She got over $80 worth of stuff for $41 and that included 4 packages of swimmers diapers. She had lots of coupons that I don't have since I don't usually get the Indy Star. Maybe I'll have to start getting it again.....