More Round Robin. I am done with the fence. I plan to add a bunny in a corner from the FQs pictured. Probably the pink. Will add a flower on the opposite corner. Might add a bird at top center with a small ribbon in it's beak. Stay tuned!

Sneak Peek My first round robin. Here is what I have done so far.....

Mesquite Quilt Show Loot I didn'y buy fabric as I am on No Buy. But let me tell you I actually felt a little down thinking of all the things I had at home that I really needed to get done. Curbed my appetite! So here is what I did buy. Some templates, pins, bobbins, a batt and a "tool box". I did buy one tote pattern. This will help me use up some of the pre-quilted fabric I accumulated one year.

Yes there is a DVD there too. I bought these patterns several years ago. I could never remember all the tips given to make the item. I broke down and bought the DVD. No more excuses!

High Five! Here is my first post on the new computer! So much better! Check this out... He is 7 months old and we taught him this trick in just 2 days.

New Toys. Hubby bought me a new computer last Sunday. I spent most evenings on conference calls and did not feel like setting it up and managing those calls as well. Saturday a.m. I planned to get up and get to it but we had a service repairman that came to work on the equipment that supports our internet. I didn't want to be working on the computer in the middle of that. As soon as he left I set the new machine up and started loading the software. I got the internet connectivity going and downloaded several pieces of software. It went pretty well. Now I have to download data from the old machine that I want to save and move it over. Less urgency to get that done.

The other new toy is a floor model Ott lamp. I have the table top model. I bought another using my 40% off coupon as there was not much to choose from. I went to a bigger store and they had the floor lamp for $100. That was better than using the 40% coupon. I set it up pretty easily and think it will be great. I found some reviews from people that complain it is too short. I just need it to shine light over my shoulder while I am seated. I am sure it will be great for that!

And yes, I promised to take more pictures. Haven't tried that out yet with the new computer.....I know I know. Cut me some slack. Another weekend of conference calls. I want my evenings and weekends back!

Tree of life. This tree is in my front yard. When dh and I bought the house in 1986 his mother would come to visit quite often. She bought us three trees. They all looked like sticks in the ground. I can't remember if she paid $5 or $15 for each of them. One of them died but the other two just flourished. The other is a Bradford Pear and is in the back yard. This is a red oak.

His mother died suddenly and unexpectedly in 1989. It was a shock but I must tell you that through this tree I feel she is still with us. It has grown big and strong. It produces a lot of acorns and we are always pulling up saplings from the yard. I should share these with the neighborhood as many people have scrub trees that have begun to die off.

We talk about moving all the time and one thing that dh and I always agree on. We will take acorns and saplings with us so that his mom can continue to be with us.

My Quilting Assistant. Here is my quilting assistant, Rascal. Hubby rescued him from a pound in Tulsa, OK. Hubby saw him on a website and arranged for someone to drive that dog down to Texas. He went and met the lady in Sherman, TX and happily drove him home. I am not sure what hubby saw in this dog but he sure wanted him. He even looked just like his sister and we considered adopting both of them. We were told that he was a mix of Australian Shepherd and Jack Russell Terrier. By his appearance we thought the Jack Russell size would be a heavy influence and he would be our little dog. We already owned one Australian Chow mix and three purebred Australian Shepherds. These dogs were right around the 50 pound mark and I had been used to smaller dogs. I was so happy to have a little dog again.

When he arrived we gave the kids strict orders to not hold him all the time. Every time I went to sit or lie down I had that dog in my arms or on my chest. I was reminded and teased regularly what a hypocrite I was. Yes I know, but I couldn't help it. I am not quite sure when or how it happened but this tiny little boy grew to be our biggest dog. He hovers around 70 pounds. How did a 50 pound breed and a 30 pound breed yield a 70 pound dog. Shouldn't I have gotten an average and not a breed plus breed weight?? Sheesh. Rascal has been with us for about 5 years. I had not spent much time sewing when he arrived but really got back to my sewing and sewing room last summer. I noticed that whenever I went in there that Rascal would jump on the couch and peak through the french door to watch. He sure was interested in what I was doing in there. This progressed to him standing at the door and "knocking" on it and crying to be let in. It just became habit to call and let him in immediately rather than hearing him cry and having to stop what I was doing to let him in.

He has been "locked out" so much that this year he doesn't even cry. He just works on that door handle or door edge until he gets it open and lets himself in. He has lovingly become known as Mom's quilting dog. His door opening ability was amusing up until several weeks ago when he was "helping" me by holding the floor down. One of my other dogs decided to sit at the door and whine because she felt she needed to be in the sewing room as well. I chose to ignore her pleas and called to the family asking them to distract her. Next thing I know Rascal jumped up and opened the door to let her in. I could not believe it. I will just have to tolerate all this company I suppose. Even though he gets up and down and wraps himself around my legs everytime I move I still love his company and his help. I did not think I could love a big dog as much as I love him!

Totes and more totes! I had a busy productive weekend. I had finished one tote earlier this week and finished two more over the weekend. This was in spite of working all through the weekend. When I finished up the totes I picked up my round robin I need to add a round to and continued sketching out the design. I really spend a lot of time planning before cutting. I even practiced sewing some ribbon onto fabric to see what I would be facing. It was easy. Now to quit putting off actually doing the row!

Good news! As you have seen I am not good about posting pictures. There is a reason for this. My computer is so slow. It takes forever to upload the pics from my camera to my computer then edit and load to my blog. It makes me nuts. It also locks up my computer and I cannot do much else. Well, dh and I went out and bought a new computer for me. I have to time moving over to the new machine but will do that this week. You should see more pictures from me soon!

Hope you had a quilty weekend!

What can you do with 30 minutes? I am not sure if I accomplished a lot or a little. This is mainly an observation. I do know that regardless of what I accomplished it had to be done to make progress.

• setup the ironing board
• pressed the already cut 4 strips for one tote
• trimmed and pressed another 4 previously cut 4 strips for another tote
• trimmed and pressed the fusible webbing (already cut to width) to all 8 strips
• put away the project and ironing board

Is that a lot? I don't know. I was surprised it took me that long but I also piddle along the way. I am sure the dogs had to go out at least once and I was called over to look at something on the tv.

Stashbuster Topic of the Week. Are you a hand, machine or send out to be quilted quilter. For the most part I am a machine quilter. I sent out a King size quilt this year to be quilted as I knew that it would be too hard for me to quilt by machine myself. I have dabbled in hand quilting. I felt so frustrated as it seemed to be too slow. I decided to pick it out and was amazed at what I had accomplished in the short time I spent! What an eye opener! So mostly I am a machiner with basic skills and I am working on branching out into free motion.

Quilty Weekend. I am an all or nothing kind of girl. I am always seeking balance. I think I managed that well over the weekend. I kept up with chores, decluttering, sewing and relaxing. Stress free fun. I finished a totebag that I have been working on and cut out two more of another pattern of my own. I washed some fabric for other projects and frogged an RR that I am working on.

While I was working on these projects I thought how easy it would be to just pull out a UFO and work on it for a few minutes in between steps. Even within my quilting I need balance! I made a list of projects that I need to accomplish in the near term and was please with my progress against that list.

Sorry no pics...the tote is a gift but I will add it later this week.

Carpet is out of the way. Now down to business! Let me tell you, I worked my fanny off and got all the carpet I planned to get out of here, OUT! I was then able to get back to sewing. I took Friday off so I had a four day weekend. I had a list and accomplished most of it errand/chore wise. Most importantly I got back to sewing.

I am in a round robin and had to make my center. This was due April 30th but somehow I had May 30th in my head. I finished it Saturday and then went to work on the person behind me on the list. I added three of the four borders and ran out of fabric. I meant to make sure I had the FGQ turned in the right direction before I cut but alas, I did not. I spent several hours sketching and watching TV. I have a loose idea of what I want but can't seem to get anything on paper. It will come.

I have a totebag pattern that I have been wanting to make. It is a gift so no pictures yet. I read and re-read this pattern and thought, no problem. Then I started putting it together and it isn't quite as straighforward as I had imagined. Luckily the shop where I bought the pattern has a sample. I will call or pop by and take a look. I hope it is not as I think it will be as I would have chosen a different fabric. I used a solid and would have preferred a small print. No panicking yet....we will see.... I also drafted out my pattern for my gift bag tote that I like to make. I started cutting fabric as well. Another gift as well. I have two different ones I am making of that pattern.

Did I tell you I won a doorprize at the new LQS? It was exciting! I didn't even know what the prize was. I just threw my name and number in the pot as I was directed to. LOL. A totebag, rotary cutter, saftey pins, seam ripper, charm pack, a little pouch and a small mat. All nice stuff! I am keeping the tote and fabric and gave dd the rest.

You might get a giggle out of this so thought I would share. As you know I have been pulling up carpet and pad and hauling it to the curb pretty much by myself. This is a lot of work. Hubby has started fussing at me about overdoing expecially since this last batch was huge and it really wore me out!

Last night he went to our room to watch tv. I got my knife and crawled under his desk to start cutting the next batch to go out Friday and I hear his voice asking "What are you doing?" I said, "Oh nothing. I am just picking up some trash under here." I am hiding the fact that I am cutting carpet up. It is almost like a disease. I am driven to get it done! I have three patches left to get. The one I cut last night and another small patch I plan to get tonight and then one big one I will get Thursday night. All in time for the poor trash man on Friday! Then my mind can stop working this over! For those serious quilters please sit down.....I actually prefer doing this right now over quilting!

Busy, Busy Weekend I had lots of plans this past weekend and usually I don't get them all done. Because there was so much to do I planned to get some things done Friday night that normally get's done Saturday or Sunday.

Friday night hubby and I made the Walmart grocery run. I have three things that I usually prefer to buy elsewhere. Bagels, bread and beef. I can get them there but like the quality I get at the grocery near my house. I was up a little later than usual piddling. Not sure doing what though....

Saturday I got up and met my FlyLady group. It was just one other lady and her family and I brought my dh and dd. We meet at Paneras and I had a bagel. Boy they are good! I bought a bakers dozen to have for the week. My son thinks they are a big hit too! I will have to hide some if I want them during the week for breakfast. We ran by Home Depot afterwards and looked at flooring. They have a vinyl out that looks like wood. Hubby seemed to like it and we took some samples with us. I felt like we had agreed on it and we even measured to know how much to buy. By Sunday night he was already back peddaling. Sigh...this is why nothing gets finished. I took dd and dh home and then set out to my friends house. A lady opened a quilt store across the street from her house. We visited a little and she showed me all the improvements her dh had made around the house. Then we went to the new store. Cute, small but nice inventory. A good start. We asked about a sit and sew. The store owner suggested we pick a date and time and get all our friends together and schedule it. This idea has possibilities! The other store in that town had moved to the downtown area so my friend and I ran over there too. I love when shops are in the old buildings. Lots of nice architectural features. They had a few samples I was interested in but were sold out of the patterns. That was a cheap visit for me. We went back to my friends house and I finished my iced tea, said my goodbyes and left. When I got home I got cleaned up and dh and I went to the Wildflower festival in Richardson. Hubby wanted to see Foghat and Grand Funk Railroad. We wandered around the vendor tents and bought a few things, got some food and went and watched Foghat. They played more than an hour and hubby's knee could not take it any longer. He decided he needed to leave and miss the other group.

Sunday I knew I had to work off and on throughout the day. I have some sewing things I need to get done but needed interfacing. I decided to make another Walmart run for that stuff then run by Albertson's to get the rest of my groceries. Hubby decided he wanted to go too and my hour errand turned into several hours. I pointed out to him that I had a call I needed to be on by 12:30 so we finished up quickly and went home. The call was quick so we watched a movie. I had to OP on #quiltchat then we watched another movie. When that was over I decided it was time to pull up more carpet. Hubby wasn't happy but I told him I only wanted to move the couches and get those parts done. It didn't take too long and we had that area all cleaned up and put back toghether. I made dinner and decided to get my sewing done. I drafted an applique pattern while watching the second movie earlier that day so spent time cutting pieces and prep'ing them.

All in all I got a LOT done. Getting that carpet up is consuming me right now. I have plans to get up a few more sections tonight so they can go out in the trash tomorrow. I will have as much as I can do, for now, done this week and then I will get back to more sewing!

Three Wishes. I have seen some people posting a certain number of things that no one else would know about them or weird things about themselves. I share this with you and if you choose to blog this topic please let me know.

You know the stories and jokes about finding a genie in a bottle and getting three wishes. There is always money involved in these. I have thought about this for a very long time and have three wishes that do not involve money. I challenge you to come up with three non-monetary wishes.

1) It's a Wonderful Life Wish I wish I could see how I have touched and affected other peoples lives. If you have seen the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" you will understand this. George decides he is better of dead and decides to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge. In the process an angel, Clarence, jumps in the river and is drowning. George does jump in but to save Clarence. George tells Clarence that his life has not meant anything. Clarence takes George back for a review of his life showing him how wrong he is. My favorite movie!

2) Communication I wish that I could read, speak, write and understand all languages of the world. I love talking, helping and getting to know people. This is just such an amazing concept to me. I love language. I speak French, have studied Spanish and am trying to improve and also know several little phrases of many languages.

3) Eye of the beholder This wish sounds a little vain. You have to really understand my point to get this one. It isn't about vanity. I wish that all men saw me as the most beautiful woman they had ever seen. But, I want to know the one or ones that see me as I really am. Get that? There isn't much point to this other than knowing those people that see me and accept me as I am.

That's it. I think if I could do #2 money would never be an issue for me. What do you think ;).

No Quilting! I have had other things I wanted to accomplish and been devoting my time to that. It was my Birthday Saturday so did some fun things but most importantly to me I have pulled up my dining room carpet! It is so old and nasty and I just could not take it anymore. My family fussed at me for doing it on my birthday but 1) it had to be done 2) no one else is going to do it 3) it made me happy to finally have it done!

My dining and living rooms are one room and I was going to pull up my living room carpet on Mother's Day. I got a grip on myself and decided to not do it that day. Instead I lazed about and watched movies, then did some decluttering and cleaning and ended the day with a roll in the stash and pulling fabric for some new *SHOCK not UFOs* projects. The fabric is all laundered so now back to my sewing soon.

Tonight I am going home to make a few cuts in that living room carpet so that I can get the kids to pull up one strip each. Then I will get hubby to pull up a section for me too. This will make a big dent in that room. Note: I am minimally moving furniture for now and when I am ready to put new flooring down will get the rest that is under the really heavy furniture. My goal is to pull up all that I plan to for now before Thursday night. That way the trash man can take this away Friday. Yeah!

Stashbuster Topic of the Week. Do you follow a pattern or do you make it up as you go along? I am one of those people that follows a pattern to the T. Anytime I have tried to make up something I have anguished over it. I think I am concerned that it will not be "right". I am not sure where that feeling comes from. I have made several objects, not quilts, where I have had to make things up as I went. Let me tell you I drove my poor friends crazy asking them if what I was doing ok. I see some lovely quilts and I know I could mimick what I see. When it comes right down to it, though, I seek out and purchase the pattern and use it....I want it be to be right after all.

My Dream Quilt. When I sent this question out my mind was a blank. I am not sure when I had that lightbulb moment but realized I do have a dream quilt. I want to make a Crazy Quilt. I think the first time I saw a Crazy Quilt in person was when I was a kid camping with my family and family friends. They had utility quilts that were tied. I remember they were super heavy and can only imagine what was inside. I hated those things as they smelled bad and I hated getting near them.

My next encounter was a much happier one. My mother and I went to the "1890 House" in Cortland, NY. I had been born and raised there but never been to this house. It is now a museum. We looked at the architecture and antiquities throughout the house. We climbed the stairs and entered a dark bedroom. On the bed was the most beautiful crazy quilt I had ever seen. This quilt is what I think of when a crazy quilt comes up in conversation. It was made of beautiful velvets and satins in dark colors and had a lot of embellishments. I was already quilting by this time and have been collecting doodads for my dream crazy quilt ever since.

I DID IT!! The peach and blue ninepatch is completely quilted. I even picked out a few more rows that I was not satisfied with. I also put the last row of quilting in the baby Irish chain quilt. Now to just trim the batting and backing and bind these two. I plan to get the trimming done on both tonight if possible. Then I can pin them to be ready to sew by the weekend.

I can see that quilting and binding 5 more by the end of June is unrealistic for me. Except for the 12 Days quilt the rest are big quilts and will take time to get quilted. I'll have to see how it goes but try to relax about my lofty goals.

Weekend Accomplishments. More unmet goals. I had intended to finish quilting my ninepatch and the baby irish chain. I quilted the ninepatch to the 3/4 point Friday night. I had started out with a few issues but resolved them by unthreading and rethreading the machine. This included removing and replacing the bobbin. I actually think I had the bobbin in backwards. This caused there not to be enough tension to balance the top thread tension. It was quilting like a dream after this. I got to the 3/4 point and decided since it was late to finish Saturday.

I got up Saturday morning and got some household chores done. I felt very tired not too long after that. I decided to go ahead and nap a bit. I woke up with a really bad migraine and to my shock I had a nose bleed. I have never had one and it worried me. I called the neighbor since dh was away. He told me ice pack and lay my head back so that is what I did. I was worthless the rest of the day. I had to OP in #quiltchat that night and did that but went to bed right after.

Sunday I got up and did more chores, grocery store run, caught up on my recorded shows. By this time I had to OP again then cooked dinner. After dinner and a little more tv I sewed some more. I decided to frog a few rows which took a long time. I sewed for an hour and have about another hour to go. This excites me since I will then have two UFOs to bind and can report as finished!

I have a lot of new things that I have to work on. I was going to push ahead on UFOs but decided to take a small break and work on new things as a reward. Hey I am half way through my UFOs after only a little over 4 months. Yeah!

Reflections on April. What did I accomplish this month? I finished my King size log cabin and got it sent off in time for momma's birthday. She loved it! I also got the quilting done on a baby quilt with the exception of one round for the border. I managed to get half way through the nine patch on point quilt. The one thing that I am overlooking here that isn't quite as tangible is that I am getting to know my new sewing machine. I have used different feet and stiches. I have had to play with the tension and work through some issues that seem to be a thread issue. I have done simple straight seams, sewn down a binding and progressed to simple quilting. I plan to progress to free motion quilting next and feel up to that challenge! All in all not a bad month!

Success! My quilt kept calling me last night so I answered the call. I decided to sew for a few minutes while dd finished her homework (at 10:00 p.m.!). The first thing I did was to pull out the last few rows of quilting. I didn't like the tension. I quilted a few rows and ripped a few rows. I kept fiddling with the tension to get the thread to not lay on the back. Suddenly I had the reverse problem. The stitches from the back were pulling to the front. What had changed?? I adjusted the upper tension down, eventually to zero. I stitched and ripped and stitched.

I finally got the tension where I could accept it. I quilted the last row (for this direction) and looked up at my machine. The machine was unthreaded and I couldn't even see the sulky coming from the spool. I took the spool off and looked it over. I could not find the end. I ran my fingernail over the thread repeatedly turning the spool. I eventually found the end. It appears that the thread had gotten caught in the way it was wound. I wonder if I didn't have the end that was first wrapped on the spool and it was coming off ok for awhile then just could not unspool any longer.

I rethreaded my machine and checked the back of my quilt. I had a wonky row and picked it out. I then quilted that row again and it went beautifully. Here I am almost 2 hours after starting and I have resolved my tension issue (I hope) and have gotten to the half way point in my quilting. Yeah!

I hope to get back to it tonight to quilt just a few rows so I can be sure that my tension issue really is resolved. I can't stay up until midnight as I am just too tired in the morning. Let's hope this quilt is all quilted by the weekend then I can bind it and the baby quilt. Keep your fingers crossed!

**** A few people have commented about me being hard on myself. I think it is frustration. I set goals to accomplish things and when I don't meet them I am disappointed. I guess I shouldn't be. None of the remaining UFOs have a timeline on them. I have an aggressive goal to have these all done by the end of June. I have new projects that I want/need to do. I may let the June date slip a little and work on other things a little to give me a fresh view.

Weekend of bent and broken needles. I had every intention to come home Friday night and jump right into quilting on the 9 patch. But about mid afternoon I started feeling queasy. I had a migraine coming on and no matter what I did I could not ward it off. I limped home and fell into bed. I lay down for an hour or so and started feeling well enough to get up and make dinner. In fact I think hubby had already grilled the meat so I just had to reheat that and make sides. I cannot even remember at this point if I went into my sewing room to sew that night.

Saturday I got up and we all got ready to go to the Real Texas Festival here in town. They now gate up all the vendors and carnival rides so that you have to pay $8 a person to get to these people when they used to be lined up in old downtown and you had free access. We had gotten free tickets so no big deal for us. The crowd wasn't that big but we got there when it first opened. I am sure the younger crowd showed later that evening for the music. I quilted half of the top in the first direction. There were some rough spots but all in all it was manageable. I went back later that night and that is when the trouble began. I was hitting the bumps in the seams and first broke a needle trying to work through that. Not a minute after changing that needle I bent the new one. In spite of all the trouble I kept going. I got to a point where I decided it best to stop. I noticed the tension was loose on the last two rows so I picked those out and called it quits.

Sunday I got up again with the intent to sew. I had lots of things to accomplish and knew my time would be split. I mananged to work a few hours on calls that I was required to be on and got groceries. I even cooked dinner. And no, I didn't make it to the sewing room!

So much for 2 more finishes this month!

Stash Storage. I have been ogling and coveting everyones stash storage solutions. I came across this cabinet and am very tempted to buy it. I am actually wanting two. Tell me what you think. The frame is composite with oak veneer. The doors are solid oak. It is 48" x 26" by 9.25". 5 shelves, only 1 of which is not adjustable.

Please comment!

Weekend Accomplishments. This past weekend was the stashbuster retreat weekend. I quilted the baby Irish Chain top and am trimming up the thread tails so I can quilt the border. I also managed to baste my peach and blue nine patch top as well. Last night I began quilting it and after two passes ran into some trouble. I think it is the monofilament I am using. I had bought this thread a very long time ago and think that the quality isn't as good as the newer monofilaments. I will find my sulky and try that. It has a much better feel to it than the other and will probably work better.

I am now working on UFOs that had been made by other people. If you read previous posts you will see that I usually talk about why the UFO became a UFO. Let me start with the baby quilt. I bought this top off ebay. As it turns out it was a friend of mine selling it. She had quilted about half of it by hand therefore it was obviously all basted. She had pieced a cotton batt together for it. It has a muslin backing. The colors in it are nice and I just could not really see a reason for her to have given up on it. I picked out the hand quilting and started machine quilting it. I quilted it across the diagonal of the squares. The quilting went well but as I got further into it I could see where points were not matching and the quilting design was a little wiggly trying to follow the lines. I don't think these things took away from the quilt at all. The hand quilting would have been fine and whomever received that quilt from my friend would have loved it. I don't think there were any glaring errors that would warrant it being abandoned. So now I will finish it. I didn't have any particular person in mind when I bought this quilt. Since I have been on my crusade to finish my UFOs I learned that a friend of mine is expecting a baby. And of all days he is due on my birthday! I think I get the message!! I will gift the quilt to my friend and her new baby!

The peach and blue ninepatch on point. I bought this completed top from an antique store back when I was a new quilter. I picked it up from an antique store in Garland, TX that was near a quilt shop I frequented. I remember at the time I was wanting to get some tops that I could quilt and possibly some tops that might need a little restoration. I have 4 of these tops. 2 need no repair, 1 needs a small amount of repair and the last needs a lot of repair. It needs so much repair that I am not even counting it as a UFO. I am currently planning to practice restoration techniques on it only. But as I sit here typing this I am thinking I may have to cut it down a bit and finish it too. But I digress.

I quilted the first row of quilting in the ditch. It went fine and I was encouraged. **Note to self, roll that quilt better so that it is easier to handle please. The second row did not go as well. The points were not aligned and my walking foot would not walk over the seams as there was a big bump at the points. Then the monofilament was not cooperating either. I may just use a peach cotton/poly on top but will give the sulky a shot. I plan to stitch in the ditch on this entire top which will echo the quilting design in the plain peach squares between the 9 patches. Having handled this top a lot in the past two days I noticed that the creator was using every bit of scrap whe could find. There are 4 different blues in the top. The main blue seems to be a knif of some sort. One square even has a small print on it. A few of the nine patches were reversed in the color arrangement with the blue being predominant rather than the peach. The solid peach squares are all cut from a single piece but several of the nine patch peach squares were pieced from scraps. This quilter really had to draw on her resources to finish this top. I think I would have given up on it too. But after being so resourceful why stop there? Did the quilter pass away to the great quilting frame in the sky? There was no history with that quilt so that story is lost. I will label this quilt and credit the area where I purchased it and preserve some portion of it's history.

My Favorite Quilt Store. This is a hard question for me since I have been avoiding the stores since I am "no buy". I was also away from quilting a bit and got out of the habit. Let me tell you that I love all quilt stores. They all have a personality of their own. I like to look at all shops just to see what kind of character a store has. I also like just the "right" level of customer service as well. When I go into these shops I love when you are greeted with a warm "Hello, how are you today? Is there anything special you are looking for?" I don't like to be hovered over but if I turn to look for someone to help me I like that I don't have to play "Hide and Seek" to get that help.

With this said I will mention a few stores that I frequent. Quiltmakers in Dallas, Texas. Quilt Country in Lewisville, Texas and The Carriage House Quilt Shoppe in Plano, TX. They each have their own personality. They all have a nice selection of fabric, books and patterns. Each has a little something that no one else has.

Momma Got Her Quilt and in record time too! I mailed it on Monday at 1:00 p.m. and just talked to her about 10:30 a.m today and she had it. Less than 48 hours. Wow! She really likes it she said. First comment was that she was going to put it away until the fall. It is because she wants to use the lighter colored one I gave her last year. I told her she had to sleep under if for a week before she put it away!

This quilt was originally intended for some friends of ours that divorced. I had it pieced with the exception of the borders before it became a UFO. When I went to work on my UFOs again I had to choose a new recipient and Mom was the only one I knew that had a King size bed and that I wanted to give a quilt to. She and I discussed whether she liked the colors. She said she did. I happily finished it knowing it would be a birthday gift for her and hoping she would forget she was getting it. She did!

The hand quilting in the baby quilt is all ripped out now. Now for that swatching tonight to get my quilting plan in place!

The Baby Irish Chain. I sat down to decide how to quilt this quilt. I unfolded it and to my surprise found that it had been half way hand quilted. I had purchased this quilt from ebay for $17.50 a few years ago. I knew that I would not finish hand quilting it so went to work ripping the hand stitches out. The quilting was not that fine so it is coming out quickly. I hope to complete the ripping tonight and will then make a swatch of some of the specialty stitches so that I can make a decision on how to proceed.

12 Days of Christmas. I pulled this quilt top out and looked at a piece of white fabric that I had already cut. I am not sure what I had intended to use it for but it wasn't large enough for the backing. I took the bolt of 60" wide bleached muslin and cut a piece and threw it into the washer with my load of wash. It is sitting in the dryer waiting for me to pull it and press it so I can baste the quilt. I am planning on stippling the blocks and may put some specialty stitches in and around the sashing.

Wow, two more finishes this month sure would be nice! If possible I will even squeeze in the 9 patch that I have everything ready for.

What am I going to work on next. Hmmm.... Well I have your votes and you voted on the 12 Days of Christmas. I have that topped now and just have to baste it then quilt it. I am thinking about stippling it but have to play on the new machine first to get some practice. The next item you voted on was the Denim and Flannel log cabin. That one is done. Then came the Baby Irish Chain. That one will go very quickly so while I fiddle with getting the back together for the 12 Days and get it basted I think I will quilt up that baby quilt real quick.

My buddy DrBeth-MD sent me a great quilt last year. She had quilted it using specialty stitches on her machine. I have to look at the stitches on my machine and choose one. I may go with a combination of specialty and straight stitching. You know I am a planner! Of course I will make a test swatch first to make sure I have my tension right. Then I have to choose my thread color! LOL! Yes I am a mess! She warned me it will take lots of thread. That will be a consideration as well. I did get my free cone of Sulky variegated thread when I bought my machine. I'll look to see if it matches the fabrics.

Another finish!! This was my oldest UFO that I made. I have others that are older which I purchased. This is my first pieced back as well. My friend Beth quilted it and I just finished binding it. It will go into the wash shortly then get wrapped and shipped off. You know my mother never reads my blog unless I ask her to so now she will without being asked! This is her birthday present for her birthday on the 21st this month. Happy Birthday Momma!!

Stashbuster Topic of the Week. How did I become a quilter? What was my first project and where is it? I did not inherit quilting from my ancestors. Both of my grandmothers worked and had large families. I am not sure if their mother's quilted either. I went home to visit my parents in the late 1980's. While I was there my mother took me to my Aunt's house. She and my cousin showed me a quilt they had made using Eleanor Burn's Quilt in a Day Log Cabin. They showed me how they used a blanket as the batting. I was hooked. Up to that point I had sewn clothing and pillows.

In 1988 or 1989 I went on vacation with my parents and husband to Myrtle Beach, SC. The guys went and did their thing and Mom and I went and did ours. We happened across a fabric store. We went in and I found Eleanor Burns book and I bought the fabric to make my mom a blue and mauve Queen size log cabin. I sort of read the book and sort of followed the directions. having sewn clothing I used my standard 5/8" seam. Oops. Needless to say her quilt wasn't quite big enough. I quilted it in the ditch using batting and not a blanket and sent it off to her. She still has the quilt but it is in her basement with seams that have started pulling apart. She is a washaholic and washed it to death. I never think to get it from her to see if it can be saved. I will have to try to remember to do that.

You know I made myself a Log Cabin as well and still hadn't read those directions closely. I also used a 5/8" seam on that one as well. I finally read the directions closely to see the error of my ways! Now I read the heck out of directions to make sure I don't repeat that mistake!

Reflections on March. I forgot that I planned to reflect on the previous month each month. So here we are a third of the way through the new month and I just remembered! I didn't think I accomplished much but here goes!

• Topped my 12 Days of Christmas quilt
• Topped my floral Irish Chain quilt
• Finished my denim and log cabin....ummm...hot pad
• Got my King Log Cabin back from the quilter (currently binding)

So all in all not bad. I am now down to 8 UFOs from 10 at the start if the year.

I got Tagged. Well I am honored to have been tagged by Leigh to name my 5 favorite or inspirational sites. Honored because she named me as one of her 5 favorites!

Please note this is in random order. And I will whine like all others when I say that it was hard to choose just five. I quickly listed 8.

I adore Triller. She is a cat that blogs with the help of her Mum Cat. She and Chelsea have some great adventures. Mum Cat is quite the artist and Triller shows off her work all the time.

Mary has the most beautiful quilts. She is very prolific and shows great pictures. She is a large part of Heartstrings and has exchanged emails with me many times to help me see why a quilt speaks to me. She is very generous with her time in many ways.

Darlene has this huge stack of UFOs. She amazes me. They don't stop her from starting new things either! I want to be more like Darlene but momma keeps asking when I am going to finish all my other stuff. She has been doing all these great little projects with charm packs. I STALK Darlene's blog and I am not afraid to admit it. I can't wait to see what new goodies she has to post.

Lisa just did an amazing quilt that she painted and then did some extremely detailed quilting on. She does such a variety of work. I like to see what she has done lately....it let's me know what is possible and inspires me to try new things.

Beth in MD is my bud. She encourages me herself. We laugh all the time as we discover one more thing we have in common. Are you keeping a list Beth? She cheers my every little accomplishment and cyber hugs me when I need it. She really helped me get through a tough year last year! Her blog is great. She has lots of lists. I push her to add more to that completed list all the time! ;) She is the Queen of UFOs in #quiltchat but I wonder if Darlene could unseat her....hmmm...watch out Beth!

So those are my 5 but I am not going to stop.....

Sharon does amazing miniatures work. She and I chat a couple times a week and she recently blogged about Blog Pressure. Gee, could that be me?!?! Sharon has lots of lovely work and shares it most generously with all. She is a sweet gal!

Beth is an inspiration to me. I was a soccer mom, now a tennis mom and will soon be a golf mom. She helps kids with chess tournaments. Any person that spends one minute helping a child is #1 in my book. I know there are many kids out there lost...not getting that "thing" they need. I had many teachers that helped me with that "thing" that I needed at the moment. Beth, I am sure there are many kids out there that will remember you for a long, long time!

Bonnie at quiltville has a great website in addition to her blog. She makes the greatest quilts and gives out her free designs. She has lots of tips about organizing your scraps. Her site is a great read. Read Bonnie's blog from March 31 and April 1, 2007. Here is proof to the world that no good deed goes unturned. She has been so generous and when she needed help it came to her ten fold. Bonnie, you are a treasure!

There are so many blogs out there that I love. I picked those that came to mind immediately. I am sure I will be remorseful that I didn't pick this one or that. There are so many that inspire me.

Please be gentle! This is my sewing room and overflow area. To add to the misery we are trying to remodel which came to a screeching halt. This room is about 9 x 10. I really need to just haul it all out and setup the basics. My table, storage shelves, etc. The problem is there really isn't any place to haul it to. I am trying to figure out how to accomplish this now. I really want to finish the UFOs I am working on instead of stopping and cleaning up. I know this will be beneficial in the long run. So should you choose to leave a comment please be encouraging! I need it!

Stashbuster Topic of the Week. What kind of quilter am I? Well I must admit I picked this topic myself because my own answer makes me giggle. Yes, I laugh at my own jokes. I am a STRIPPER!!!!!!!! Thank you Eleanor Burns and Donna Poster! You did this to me! LOL!!

Okay, okay, calm down. This has nothing to do with my clothes....well except those old jeans I am planning to cut into strips. My favorite quilts are all done in the strip method. I like fast and easy.....hmmmm.....no, I won't comment on that. Even when I am looking at other patterns NOT done in a strip method I try to see if I can use that technique to speed it up a bit. I machine piece and I machine quilt. I do have plans to try some hand piecing, Cathedral Windows, and some hand quilting in the future though. But fast and by machine is my prefered method.

The other characteristic I have to comment on is that I do tend to lean toward the more traditional patterns. The majority of my quilts have been log cabins, irish chains, rail fences. There are a few more "modern" pieces in my history though.

We have a finish! I took a class to learn a quilt as you go process. The quilt was to be a denim and flannel log cabin. When I took the class I enjoyed all the techinques shared and the other tips I learned. When I dug this UFO out I had fully intended to make a throw quilt out of it. As I studied the block I realized the amount of work that would go into doing that. I was not really big on lots of hand work. I cut my plan back to just make 3 more blocks and make a table topper. Even doing that did not excite me. So the block and I had a little chat. It told me "Just bind me, I want to be a hot pad." So there you have it. My second UFO finish of the year.

Next up? I will be binding my King Log Cabin that I got back from my friend a few weeks back. Onward!

I picked up my new machines Friday afternoon. I called ahead to make sure they knew I was coming. I picked up DD and then went to the store. They had everything ready and the sales lady was demo'ing to another lady so we loaded the machines while she finished up. She knew what I needed to see and called us over when she got to that point in her demo. We just needed to see winding bobbins and threading the machines. She was great. Showed us what we wanted to see and a little more. I bought extra bobbins for DD and me. I know how I am and use lots of them. DD suggested I just pull all the thread off the bobbin instead of the spares. I do that when I am at the end of the bobbin but not when it is full. I am happy with the extras.

DD and I headed to Starbucks and talked a little then went home. I went into my quilt chat room and everyone asked if I had sewn yet. They ribbed me since everything was still out in the car. I finally left the room and brought it all in. I loaded it on the dining table since I was not prepared to set it up in my sewing room yet. I had to finish my current project on my old machine. I didn't want to relearn on the new one. When I finished I folded the old machine down into the cabinet.

It was a strange feeling to put this machine away since I knew it was because my primary machine was now taking a backseat to the new one. I am happy to have the new machine but I have history with the old one. My mother bought this machine when I was very young. She can't remember exactly when. I have many memories of mom using this machine. Sometime before I married she bought a newer machine with fancy stitches on it. When I married and was getting ready to move she told me I could take her old machine. I remember it sitting in my apartment and then moving to the house. I can't recall how much I used it but about 4 years later I became interested in quilting and really put it to work. It has been a very good machine. I just want to do all sorts of new techniques and this machine doesn't have specialty stitches and is hard to fit for new feet. Both my mother and husband are pressuring me about what I plan to do with it. My plan of course is to keep it. It is funny since I also have MIL's machine, never have used it and he hasn't pressured me to get rid of that one.

So the new machine. I played with it for a little while Saturday night to get the tension set and try the different stitches. I feel like I have a decent feel for the machine now. The next day I pieced a backing which required a simple straight stitch. Next I sewed a binding onto a UFO, again a straight stitch but used my 1/4" foot and sewed through several thicknesses. So far so good. When I finish my hand sewing on that binding I will then bind another UFO on the machine. To do this I definately need to get the machine setup in a better place than what I have now.

Progress:

I did sew last night. I have 2.5 colors done. Have other committments tonight but will try to get through the green. Half way through the three blocks on the green and it is a fast sew. The block can be seen here.

Puppy Update:

The dogs, except for a light cough for Augie and Pepper, seem to be well now. I have read that the cough just takes time to go away. We are giving them cough syrup twice a day when we remember. Usually if they are coughing a lot we remember, otherwise.... So nice to see our little girl Pepper barking and playing again.

A little bit stuck. Shifting gears is one of the hardest things for me to do. I was wailing away at the UFOs but knew I had to stop on those to work on some swap blocks that need embroidery on them. I don't want to stop working on my UFOs.... So I pull out the blocks and start the embroidery. I have conversations in my head that go something like this..... "I wonder if I should just wait until I get my new machine. It is better equiped for this sort of work. No I better do it I need to get these out to the ladies. I have been promising them for over a month now. " Then the interruptions of conference calls for work taken from home. I have to keep motivating myself to get back in there.

I have four thread colors to do and was planning to do at least one a day. I did almost two the first day then none the next two days. Come on girl get back in there! Tonight I don't know of anything that will interrupt my sewing time. Someone made some suggestions to me so I will make a practice piece real quick to see how it goes. If that works out well I will try to get through the third color tonight.

When these are done I have some other items I have been promising. A pair of fleece socks and two ear flap hats (knit). Weather is getting too warm for these but I should just get them out of the way. The socks I can get out of the way in about an hour or so. The hats I can work on in front of tv when I want to watch my shows and can't sew anyhow. Am I your classic procrastinator? :D

My Buy Week at the Dallas Quilt Show.

The fabric plan:
- Daisy fabric
- Fuschia fabric
- Coordinates from Dick and Jane Fabric Line
- Backing for Irish Chain Quilt
- Backing for the 12 Days of Christmas quilt
- Vintage fabric to restore the Seven Sisters top

The fabric reality:
- Daisy fabric
- Fuschia fabric
- Coordinates from Dick and Jane Fabric Line
- Backing for Irish Chain Quilt
- Vintage fabric to restore the Seven Sisters top
- Fabric for dd to make a brights quilt including backing
- Fabric for dd to make a gerber daisy quilt including the backing
- Sanctuary Jelly roll
- Green marbled fabric with gold dragonflies for a gift

- Hummingbird fabric

I went to the Dallas show on Friday and spent the entire day there visiting every vendor. I thought I would be able to find at least one vendor with Christmas fabric. If it was there I didn't find it. I even test drove a Husqavarna sewing machine and the fabric mover. The sales people were very high pressure and the person showing me the machine had several issues. The machine was not selling itself to me. I also test drove a Janome 4900QC. I went for the purpose of looking at the Janome JEM and asked about the next machine up. I sewed a little and asked some questions. I liked the machine and decided to talk to dh about it. I am glad that I did as I recalled the discussions on the 6500 and 6600 models. When I left that day I had made all my planned purchases with the exception of the 12 Days backing and the vintage fabric for my restoration project.

I went back to the show the next day. This time I took dd and met up with some friends from quiltchat. That day my goal was to photograph all the quilts I liked. I did that, saw the Alzheimers exhibit and saw a special exhibit of gorgeous quilts that were purchased at garage sales, antique stores and even found in the trash. DD and I had something to drink so she could rest. 12 yo's don't like all that walking at a quilt show. We went back to the Janome dealer so that I could ask about the other two models and made a decision. I had almost talked myselk out of buying a new machine. I asked for a comparison between the 4900 and the 6500. Then a comparison of the 6500 and the 6600. I decided the extra for the 6600 was not worth it to me. I test drove the 6500 and asked lots of questions. I sat and thought a bit and asked if they would "give" me a rolling bag for the machine. They would not agree to it. She agreed to give me a spool of YLI thread. I saw the owner and asked him if he would give me the bag. After a little negotiation we agreed to $100, less than his cost. I was psyched. While the gal was writing up my order I asked her about a good starter machine for my dd. She pointed out the Hello Kitty machine. I didn't want that. She pointed out two Jem's. I was looking at one I think was the Gold and she said for the money she would get the Platinum 720, so I did. I told dd this would be her primary machine but my class machine when I took one. She agreed. They asked me to swing by the shop to pick up the machines since I was local. I get them this Saturday since the Jem won't be in until Friday. I am really excited!

It’s official. All my UFOs are now at the top stage. Not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. I got my King size Log Cabin back from the longarmer today. I will bind that next since it is a gift for someone’s birthday in April.

I am off to the Dallas show tomorrow and Saturday. Plan to meet up with old friends and some new. I will be using this as my buy week and have several planned fabric purchases. Will show you the loot when I am done!

Another UFO topped! I added the borders tonight. The weekend was crazy with internet and tv service messed up for 24 hours. I did manage to sash it and just got the borders on. Next step on the UFOs is to add borders to the Irish Chain. My goal is by Thursday to have that topped!

Stashbuster WEBRING Topic of the Week.

What is your oldest UFO? The oldest UFO that I made with my own two hands is my King size log cabin. I have purchased 4 tops that are from the 70's or before, 3 of which I plan to quilt. They are the "oldest" but not of my doing ;).

Why did it become a UFO? When I stopped working on this quilt it lacked the borders. I can't specifically recall why I put it down. I am sure something else came along. Then the intended recipients divorced. There was no urgency to get back to it at that point. I didn't know anyone else with a king bed!

What are my plans to finish it? I sent it off to be quilted by my friend Beth in MD. She finished quilting it last night and is sending it back so I can bind it and send it to someone for a birthday present.

How many UFOs do you have? I have 9. 4 I purchased from someone else. 2 I made just last year. With the addition of borders to two tops all my UFOs will be in the quilting stage.

Found a fix. One of my 12 Days swap blocks was 1/2" too small. I had to find a solution and had an idea to add fabric to two sides to give an attic window effect. I started searching for a fabric to use and saw the scraps from my Rail Fence I quilted in December. It was a great coordinate. I layed it next to the block and decided to just frame the block with it. There will be a very narrow border that will give it a picture frame effect. I planned to sew it last night but was too tired. Hope to add it tonight and get my pressing done. Then I can finish the top for the quilt! Then onto my search for a backing! Pictures tomorrow. I promise.

Augie, the puppy is hardly sneezing now. He is almost well. Pepper feels better but is still coughing and sneezing. I am hoping she will turn the corner on that in the next few days. We are losing sleep as her fits wake us up and keep us up several times a night. Now Jack is hurting. He cries getting up and down or if someone bumps into him. We are giving him aspirin and watching to see if a vet visit is in order. Hard to watch him get older!

A very productive weekend! I went to JoAnn's to buy more cotton thread. They were having a 50% off sale on thread for two days. The first store I went to did not have the grey I wanted so I went to a second store Friday night. They didn't have the grey but had a neutral. As I was checking out with my thread I saw a flier on the counter. It had 2 coupons, one for 50% off a cut of fabric and one for 40% off any regular priced item. I took it with me and started calculating my backing needs for my remaining UFOs. I intended to go back and shop for backings on Saturday since that was the expiration date on the coupons.

Saturday I got up and went about my day. I took the last two dogs to the vet. 1 ear infection and 1 well dog. Both got their vaccines so no return visits for them. I got my chores under way and then ended back in bed with a sore back and heating pad. When I got up everyone was hungry so I took care of feeding them. I can't really recall what I did the rest of the day but did wait until just before 8 to go back to JoAnns. They close at 9. I got up there and found a backing for my Simple Simon. I had navy in mind and found a nice navy with tan paisley. Very old fashioned looking. Just what I wanted! I had a fall leaf pattern in mind for the backing of my Chain of Events. I looked but this is the wrong time of year for that fabric. Hubby found an orange that had an all over leaf pattern. I went with that but am not sure I will stay with it. I found a great green for my Irish Chain but needed 9 yards and they only had 6. I was tempted to buy it and then try to find the other 3 yards I needed at another store. I decided not to risk trying to match dye lots. So I have two more backings now and only need two more.

Sunday I got up and finally put cutter to fabric. I have all my borders cut for my Irish Chain. I will have to piece them then cut them to length once I press the top. I also cut the sashing for my 12 Days top after squaring up my blocks. These blocks are from an exchange and one of them is 12 inches square when the rest are 12.5. I couldn't cut them all to 12" since some were pieced and it wouldn't have worked. I am thinking of trimming the 12" block even further and adding 2 strips to give it an attic windows effect. Of course now I have to find the fabric to do it with first. And people want to know why I have UFOs?? In spite of this teeny setback I did add sashing to the blocks that were correctly sized and have two of the three rows pieced together. I have started sewing the long sashing strips to these rows as well and have one more I can add before I have to deal with that naughty block. I could have sewn that one on but the kids were clamoring for my attention so I shut down for the night.

Doggy update: Two healthy dogs. 1 with an ear infection but he has meds. I give drops twice a day and he is somewhat cooperative about this since he gets a nice long rub on his ears which then leads to the rest of him. 2 have been wormed. Vet says we will have to redose in 4 months so I guess I can count them as healthy. 2 have kennel cough and have finished their antibiotics. The puppy still has a snotty nose so he gets another course of antibiotics. We have not seen Pepper's nose run but we can hear the congestion rattling in her head. She hardly eats and was up coughing all night. The vet considered giving her a steroid shot the first visit but due to the other dogs in the house was hesitant to do so. Now that he has seen all of them and knows what we are dealing with he is giving her a shot this afternoon along with another course of antibiotics. The steroids should help her bounce back quickly. We hope so. I have never felt so sorry for a dog before. Not sleeping or eating well. Mpre to come!

Favorite Tool and Reflections on January and February. I am not sure that I have a favorite tool but I do love tools. I hate marking things because I can never get the markings out easily or it doesn't mark very well and wastes my time and frustrates me. I am not sure if someone referred me to this but I bought a chacoliner. It looks like a little lipstick tube and has either white, pink or blue chalk in it. It is also refillable. I bought the white and have used it to mark my crazy quilt stocking and then my peacock quilt. The markings stay there just fine even when they are sewn over and then they simply wash or wipe away. I highly recommend you check one out if you need a better marking tool.

Reflections. I saw Kim mention her accomplishments from the previous month and loved that idea. I plan to do this each month going forward. On the finishing front. I managed to finish my Peacock quilt and keep it for myself. I got my King size log cabin sent off to be quilted. I hope to see it in the next week or so to bind it and send it off to the recipient for her birthday. I did buy fabric but it is the backing for two of my quilts that need quilting. I am part of the "No Buy" challenge on the stashbuster yahoogroup and these are legal buys. I also managed to get the center of my Floral Irish Chain quilt pieced. I had hoped for several finishes in the month of February but it just was not meant to be. Progress was definitely made in that direction!

WIP Wednesday. Yeah! I am in synch with WIP day!! When I started this quilt I really expected it to read maroon. It reads green....how did that happen? Oh well, I still love it! This is my Irish Chain center. I am going to see what I can do with the borders to pop the lavendar and maroon. This is an indoor pic so it doesnt show the true color. I will take an outdoor pic once I add the borders.

If you are interested go to my UFOs link and look at the pic of the two blocks that make up this quilt and see what color you thought it would read.

More dog stuff. More quilt stuff. I had to take the kids to the dentist yesterday for cleanings. DD has a cavity and DS needs more sealants. I didn't have any issues! Kids both need braces but they need to brush better before I make that investment. Time will tell on that front.

Because I was home early for dental appointments I decided to catch up other dogs on their annual vaccines. I took Pepper first since she developed a cough. I knew what was coming. Kennel cough. I was right. She is older and was given a stronger 1x a day antibiotic. She feels so bad and isn't eating. I think she will feel better by tomorrow. She has been cuddling up to me a lot since this all started. Usually dh is her favorite but I guess momma's love reaches all corners of the world including the doggy one. I also took our eldest since I did not want him to get sick and hoped to prevent illness. Of course he woke up not wanting to eat then vomited later in the day. By the time I got home he acted a little better. Took him to the vet. No temp, no cough so he got vaccines. He ate last night and a little this a.m. We are watching him.

I decided to take two more since the vet had cancellations on his book. Took Spencer and Sunny since they are both pretty easy to handle. Last time we took them they both had whip worms. The vet tested them for these worms again and yep they still have them. This didn't prevent vaccines so they are current and both have meds to take. Don't faint here but there are two more dogs to go. I thought about taking them up as well but was just too tired to even think about that. They are scheduled for Saturday a.m. So far I have 4 out of 5 dogs on meds with two more to go. Pray for wellness for these two.

DD helped me with all this dog transport so she and I ran to Starbucks for a pastry and coffee. Nice relaxing time with her. She is 12 and told me she enjoyed spending the time with me. It was nice to hear her say that. I have said those words to her before and hope she is sincere and not just saying that to make me happy.

On the quilting front. I sewed the 8 pinned strips into 4 sets. Then I sewed the 4 sets into 2 sets and have those 2 pinned together. I will sew them tonight and then pin and sew the 9th strip and will have a center! Pics will be posted tomorrow for the WIP Wednesday on Quilt Studio WEBRING. Again not the finishes I had hoped for but definitely great progress. It will take me a couple days to figure out what to do with borders so hope to have the top together by this weekend!

What a weekend! Both good and bad. I started the weekend off working away on my Irish chain quilt. I decided to finish all the cutting Friday night so that I could get up in the morning and finish pinning and sewing the blocks together. I woke up to a puppy that did not want to eat. I didn't mention that he has been coughing all week and had a snotty nose when we got him. We knew he probably had kennel cough but for some reason thought he had been treated. What we realized was they gave him the vaccine but no antibiotics. Oh well, what can you expect from the SPCA. They are trying to get these dogs adopted. I asked dh what he thought and he said yes call the vet. Of course the vet is booked so I described the issue and name dropped. We have been with this vet for 21 years and he has all new staff so they didn't know who I was. The vet said come now. 1/2 pound weight loss and 103 temperature. Vet gave him a shot of antibiotics and a weeks worth of pills and told us to hope it isn't Distemper. Great. Of course, now we have to worry about the rest of our crew being ill. The former baby has been hacking and gagging so we are sure she has it now too. Let me just say Augie acted somewhat better yesterday a.m. and by the night was quite active. He was up and attem and eating pretty well this morning so we are relieved.

Back to the quilt. I sewed off and on all day Saturday and managed to finish my blocks. I did have a few pieces that I had to still cut. Somehow I miscalculated. Typical! Sunday I got up and started pinning and sewing the blocks together. I now have 9 long strips sewn. I pinned 8 of them in pairs to sew and decided to sew just one together to see how it looks. I think it is coming along great! When the entire center is sewn I will show a pic. Hope that will be tonight!

Oh yes. Augie found his way into my sewing room yesterday and peed on my floor. He is banned from the room until he is older. I told the "official" quilting dog he is not to allow Augie back until Augie learned the proper quilting dog protocol!

I got my 15 in tonight. I have been so tired this week. I think it is all the mental work at the office writing peoples appraisals. I have 2 more to go. Will be glad to have those behind me.

When I finally got done milling around I sat and pinned block pieces together. I am at the point that I either have to cut or sew. I decided pinning was safest tonight since I was so tired. If I am tired again tomorrow then I will sew. I am working on my Irish Chain and have only made crib size before. This one is queen size and requires 99 blocks. I have half of the blocks done. Just need to keep plugging away. Should be able to get the top together this weekend then will top my 12 Days quilt. Once that is done I will have one project in the piecing stage and 8 in the quilting stage. Doesn't look like I will get all those finishes I had hoped for but I am going to get as far as I can on those I had hoped to finish.

Next month is the Dallas quilt show. I need to buy 4 backings and some vintage fabric to restore my 7 Sisters top. I plan to use my "Buy" week at the show so need to get some ideas of amounts for various quilts. Will make the call when I am there! But know at least I can buy my legal B's!

Puppy is doing great! He hangs all over my daughter and loves dh and I. He doesn't spend too much time with ds and ds' nose is a little bent about this. I told ds the pup is still getting adjusted and to just keep playing with him!

Stashbuster retreat took place this past weekend. What that means is you have a sew-in and leave the family to attend to themselves as though you are away at a retreat. I had some lofty goals to accomplish and was pleased with my progress. I did not get everything done but I know I am too aggressive on my goals.

I subcut my strips for my Irish Chain for the most part. One block set is completely pieced now with the exception of a single block. I have those pieces ready to stitch to complete that grouping. For the second block set (25 patch ugh!) I have a lot of the subcutting done and have pieces pinned together to start sewing. I will cut and sew throughout the week as the mood strikes me.

The 12 days top. Well, I thought about it. I had planned to use a green print for the sashing but would have to fussy cut it to make sure not to lop the trees off. I may use the red swirly fabric as the sashing. Will have to audition that one and decide. I don't want to lose the swirly effect either! Ok let go of the perfectionism!

I know this news will get out sooner or later. There is a new addition to the family. Augie was adopted from the SPCA Sunday. He and hubby bonded immediately. They were so cute playing together. He is an Australian Cattle Dog/Border Collie mix. He will fit in with all the others. He already has a pile of new toys and a warm spot in my daughters bed. He slept all night and no mess! That is great for a 2 month old. He feels right at home but the rest of the herd is bent out of shape right now. They will adjust when they figure out he is staying and that he is a fun, interactive toy! Pictures tonight!

I spent this past week getting my strips sets for my Floral Irish Chain sewn and pressed. They are done! I took a break and worked on a fleece blanket for my dd for her Valentines present. It was one of the Tinkerbell ones that were sold at Walmart, Hobby Lobby and other stores. I found one half price at Hobby Lobby and snatched it up since Tinkerbell was hard to find. She and I worked on it together to sew an inner border on the layers of fleece. I helped her trim the fleece then I started fringing it. I tried to show her how to do it but she was afraid she would ruin it. I finished it up the next night and she is thrilled!

Tonight and tomorrow I will be back to my Irish Chain subcutting the strips and sewing them into blocks. I may go ahead and put the 12 days top together since it should be pretty easy and I will then be able to find a backing and get it ready to baste.

Once I get the King Log Cabin back from being quilted I am going to bind it right away. At this time I should have 3 quilts ready to quilt and will get those quilted so that I can post 4 more finishes this month! That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

My first finish of 2007! Yes. I finished the peacock today. I was sewing the binding down last night and the machine started acting a little funny but I persevered. I turned the last corner and ran out of purple thread. I don’t mean the bobbin. I was completely out! To add insult to injury I turned the quilt over and saw that my tension was a mess. I would have to re-sew everything I had just done. I was so mad. I went to bed and planned to run to the store in the morning to buy more.

As soon as I got home I sewed a test piece to make sure the tension was ok. When I had that adjusted I sewed the binding down. As I was coming to the end I found a piece where I didn’t enclose the edge properly the first time. I was able to easily fix that. I was so happy when the last stitch went in. I threw it in the washer then the dryer. As soon as it finished I hung it on the neighbor’s fence and took new pictures.

I hope you like it! It was quite an effort!

I am still here! I took my peacock quilt to work and trimmed it up so that I could bind it. I have a hard time doing this at home for my larger quilts. There has not been one more stitch this week though. I have spent my time planning this week. Working to figure out what I will work on next. I am aiming for 5 finishes this month. I think I can make it. I have 2 bindings to do. I have one top to sash the blocks for then layer baste and quilt. I have another top that is ready to baste and pin and then one ready to quilt. I would have to buy a backing for one of these. The last three are smallish and should go quickly.

I like to have several things to bind at once. I get my rhythm going and then can get through them quickly. I hand sew the mitered corners then quilt the binding down all around (I self bind).

If I meet this goal this month I will be half way through my list of UFOs. Wow! I do plan to finish them all this year, 10 in all. Have been impatient for a finish. They are drawing near!

Why Did My Peacock Quilt Become a UFO? I made this quilt because Donna Poster needed quilts to be models in her book. I wanted a quilt in a book. Shoot, who doesn't. I picked the colors and she approved them. Mind you that I was still fairly new to quilting. I had been using white thread for everything and this quilt was no different. Note the dark color of the quilt top in the picture. There are lots of setin points on this quilt and my white thread showed. Seams were pulling a little loose. I got the top done fairly easily but could not get it quilted in time. It is in her book but it is only basted. She never said anything about this. I am sure she was not pleased with me. Sorry Donna!

Before I started quilting it I spent time hand sewing some of the really bad set in points to try to improve them. Now I did start quilting this quilt. I was doing stitch in the ditch and it just killed me. When I went back and picked it out I was amazed at how much I had accomplished. I had to twist it this way and that and that was a lot of maneuvering. This time I am doing straight lines. I found two designs that would look good but preferred the one I settled on. It took a lot of hours to get done but I got it quilted.

Why did I stop? Wrong color thread, badly sewn set in points, really hard to quilt. When I decided to just finish it I even ran out of thread in the right color. You have got to be kidding me! I often wonder if this hobby is meant for me. Amazingly I found another small spool in the right color and completed the quilting.

I had planned to just stop with one row of quilting to go on the border. It was getting late. I had to go to bed since I had to go to work in the a.m. When I came to the planned stopping point I set my jaw and said "This is ridiculuous. Just finish!" So I did. Now to bind it and this baby exits UFOdom!

Coming down the home stretch! I quilted a lot last weekend on my peacock quilt and planned to finish it. I over did it and only completed the center. My shoulders ached from leaning over my machine so much. This weekend I planned to finish it and completed quilting the borders. Now to trim the batting and bind it. It is nice to see the quilt getting finished. I need to set less aggressive goals or I will burn myself out. This weekend was better though as I took more frequent breaks.

I will take a picture of the quilting and post it tomorrow. I am a straight line girl. I quilted this quilt on point using the squares as a guide and came out with a square in a square pattern. I then stitched in the ditch on the 2 narrow borders, down the center of the 2nd border and copied this whole pattern to the last border. To me, it gives a Frank Lloyd Wright stain glass feel. Very structural, architectural feeling. I love it. This one is mine and will grace my bed soon! You can find this quilt top in the link "My Pictures" in the UFO album. Enjoy!