Am I Brain Washed? I went to Golden D'Or with a friend on Saturday. This is the place where I recently purchased a large amount of fabric. I was very close to finishing my last UFO and had just read on the Stashbuster group to repeat to myself while looking at fabric "I have an obscene amount of fabric. I have an obscene amount of fabric." I didn't mean to have that mantra run through my head. It just sort of popped into my mind and wouldn't go away. At one point I even picked up a bolt of fabric and said...."This is pretty but won't go with anything I am currently working on." My head snapped around looking for the impostor with my same voice. What did she say??!?!?!?!? Ultimately I walked out with 1/2 a yard of lace for my crazy quilt collection at a whopping total of $2.17.

Quilt Kits I made my list of 12 quilts to work on next. In order to be on the list I must already have the fabric and pattern in my possession. It was way to easy to make that list. Last night I went and bagged up the corresponding fabric and material for each project in a 1 or 2 gallon Ziploc bag. I have to admit I am missing 2 pieces of fabric and 1 pattern to finish this task. I was interrupted with math homework. I will find those last two items and the pic you see here will include all of the kits.

UPDATE: SURGERY CANCELED



Total Knee Replacement And the saga continues. DH is at the hospital now waiting to get his knee re-replaced. I am getting kids to school and will be heading back up there. I hope this time goes better.

An Exciting Event

I finished my last UFO. Here is the block I contributed. To see the rest go here. This quilt was quilted by my friend tirane93. If you are interested in her services you can email her from her blog.

Another Tote Finished. Here is another view.




A Gift from Darlene.



Last UFO being bound. I picked it up from the quilter and have machined the binding on. I started tacking it to the back. It will be finished this weekend.

Another Finish This wasn't part of my official UFO count but it could be. I started this last summer.

My TV and DSL were out a few weeks ago. It took several days for the repair people to get here to fix the issue. I decided to check the box to see if there was anything obvious since we had just had a storm. This is what I found. He was eating ants.

Tweaking My Blog I do not usually notice people's tweaks that they make on their blog unless it is a complete overhaul. Since I have only one UFO left to complete I felt it was time to make a WHIMM (works hidden in my mind) or a HSY (haven't started yet) list. I went with HSY since I have the fabric for lot's of quilts purchased to specifically make a pattern. I was able to quickly list a dozen quilts and felt that was a good number to start with. I have three I would like to complete for Christmas gifts so will probably work on those all at the same time. All 12 will be "kitted" this weekend so that I can quickly find my fabric and pattern.

I noticed on the "dashboard" for my blog that I had a follower. I dug around a little bit and learned how to become a follower of other blogs and then to list my own followers. I like the feature so far as I can quickly at a glance see who has updated recently. The only bad thing is some might think I don't like them. I like so many blogs...I am sure my list will grow as my memory brings you to the forefront!

What is your favorite part of my blog? What bugs you about my blog?

Another Finish This was a mystery from apocketfullofmysteries yahoogroup from Labor Day weekend 2006. It was set aside so I could work on other UFOs. I was able to quilt this in about a weeks time.

You can see the link here.

I also managed to take the last few stitches in another UFO. Here is a link of the full quilt.

Machine Quilting After Hand Quilting I spent 2 solid months hand quilting my 7 Sisters. I learned a lot in the process about the technique and myself. I can be persistent. I stayed with this quilt and am so close to a finish. Goal setting was my friend in this case. I learned that I love hand work. I always did my binding by wrapping the back to the front but not anymore. I like the clean look of it sewn on by machine then hand tacked to the back. I am a convert. Now I look for things to work on by hand so that my t.v. time is not wasted completely. I may pull out UFOs from other techniques and get those finished up too. May...

When I sat down to quilt my Chain Events I decided to break it down into sections. I am amazed at how quickly everything went by machine. My free motion skills were still decent and I actually have improved. Amazingly this Queen size quilt is almost done. I decided to continue quilting a few "empty" spots. That will be completed tonight. I also hope to get the binding made and machined on tonight as well. I should easily be able to get the binding tacked down before the weekend is out as well.

Not sure where I am going with this post. I think the one thing is that I am learning to enjoy the process more. In the past if someone suggested I quilt more than I had already I would be upset because I felt I was done and I didn't want to think I wasn't and had to do more. Now I have an attitude of just go do it if it needs to be done. I know I will be glad I did.

Quilty Hugs!

16 Motifs That is how many maple leaf wreaths I had to quilt. 13 down three to go. I plan to finish them tomorrow and then find my fabric for my binding. I am going to repeat my brown in the quilt in the binding.

Once those are done I have a few spots that I have to decide what to do with. Should I quilt something inside the stars in the yellow squares? The other spot is at the point of the 4 patches in the borders. One suggestion I had was to use more of the pattern that I used in the 4 patches. Suggest away please!

Stashbuster Retreat and UFO Progress This past weekend was the stashbuster retreat. I decided to get an RR done and in the mail as my first priority. That went off in the mail on Saturday. I am left with one RR which I have started hand quilting. I am glad I got this piece early. I have 6 weeks to quilt it. It is small and should be doable.

On UFOs. I decided to start quilting my Chain Event. I decided to quilt small portions every day in order to not wreck my neck and shoulders and to allow me time to tend to other things. Saturday I stitched in the ditch around the 9 stars. Sunday I quilted all the 4 patches that surrounded the stars. I stitched an arc along each of the edges of the 4 patches. From the back it looks like a star flower.

I got through that quilting pretty easily so drafted my quilting pattern for the free motion onto Golden Threads paper. I wasn't totally satisfied with how it looked so took my drawing with me to my friend's house. We talked about how it looked and I made a small change to it. I am using nylon thread to quilt. They suggest that you unthread your machine and sew through one design into all your papers to mark the pattern. Somehow with out realizing it the nylon worked it's way into my sewing machine and worked it's way around the arm. I was able to get some out of the works but have to take the machine to the shop to have the rest taken care of. I was really disappointed in myself for allowing that to happen and to not be able to get more quilting done. Live and learn!

August Accomplishments

• finish hand quilting 2 inner borders of 7 Sisters - done
• bind 7 Sisters - done
• bind the 6" round robin - done
• finish my step on 5 round robins at my house or coming to me and mail - 4 of 5 done
• finish 3 totes and mail - made some progress
• knit chemo caps and mail - nope
• 1/2 of quilting done on Chain Event - not listed on my goals

September Goals

• make last repair on 7 Sisters
• finish quilting Chain Event
• bind Chain Event
• bind 12 Days of Christmas
• finish 3 totes and mail
• knit chemo caps and mail

Muffys RR My first attempt at echo quilting.

New Years Eve Challenge I saw this challenge popping up across several blogs and decided to join. I have only 3 UFOs left to finish. I am also going to see if I can start and finish a few other quilts as well. Hope you will join us!

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Kentucky I drove to Kentucky a few weekends ago. When I got home I started to notice a rattling noise in my bumper whenever I closed my back gate. I wondered what it could be and after about the third time I shut that door and heard that rattle it finally dawned on me.

2 years ago I bought a RAV4. My parents came down not too long after. Mom was in the back seat and I heard her say something to the effect of oops! She dropped a handful of coins and they went into the seat. When I lifted the seats and looked under them I could not find any coins. There is a space under the back for storage. I opened that and looked in there. Still no coins. I walked away and never thought about them again.

Then the rattle. I wondered if those coins somehow worked their way down into my bumper. I just didn't think it could be possible. One day I noticed pennies on the ground. Hmmmm... the next time I shut that back door.....no rattle. I think it was that constant vibration of the long road trip to KY. I told mom the story and she thought she dropped more than pennies. She pointed out that the others could have fallen out on the road. Mystery solved....perhaps...

Here is another RR I completed my step on this month. Amy don't look if you want to be surprised!

Corning Glass Works While my kids were in NY with my parents they had an opportunity to take a glass making class. DD made a bead using a torch and glass rods. DS made a flower using balls of glass, a metal rod and an oven. Here are their creations.




Click on the links above for more pics.

7 Sisters Update The binding is done! Yesterday I went to a Sit N' Sew at the local LQS and worked on the repairs that were needed to the top from the dog incident plus some poor sewing. Now that is done except for one little spot that I wanted to use a different color thread on. I can probably take care of that in five minutes. I really want to call this done but have decided I must quilt the setting triangles. I am going to work on this and rotate to other projects as I feel a little burnt out on it.

Did I mention that I had 5 round robins at my house? The first one had a due date of the 15th. All I had to do was baste it. I had that thing for over a month and just piddled away. I got that one done and in the mail on the 23rd. Shame on me! It is done though. I will hide a pic here later. The one I worked on the previous month is here and I did this and this. Tami and Nancy these are spoilers so don't look if you want to be surprised.

The next RR is one that I had already done my step on. One of the gals did three and I didn't want unfinished pieces to go back to her so I got another gal to agree to finish a seond one (she had the last step on one) and send me the third. I have the applique on there. I bound it Friday. Tonight I will add a hanging sleeve and a button. I will add a pic here tonight.

That leaves three pieces. Two have to be written on. Of course the one that I have to only write on I can't decide what to write. I have sent some suggestions off to the owner to see what she thinks. I really do hope that it will be going in the mail tomorrow! The second one I have to write on I have to quilt. I have some ideas but will have to develop them further. The third piece, quilting only, need to develop that plan.

I hope to get all these RR's on the road this week so I can get back to my UFOs. I have one big one to quilt by machine and hope the Labor Day weekend will give me the time to dedicate to that.

Check back for pics tonight!

Kentucky and Back! My kids were with their grandparents for a few weeks in New York. I tried to talk Dad into driving them down to Baltimore as I could get a cheap direct flight. He insisted that we drive and meet halfway. I was ok with this since I would get to see my folks again even if for only a short time. I will save you the drama.

I left on Friday at 4:30 p.m. and took DD's bff with me to help me stay awake for the drive. We stopped in West Memphis for the night then met with everyone around noon the next day in Franklin, KY. Everyone in my folks car was super crabby. Too much time together in close quarters I guess. We all ate lunch together and chatted for a few minutes afterwards. It was so early and I still felt fresh enough to drive so we decided to part company. I drove until I was almost in Little Rock. We stopped, had dinner, went swimming. I left the kids at the pool and showered and climbed into bed with my quilt to work on the binding. Do you know you can't sew with your eyes closed?

We all got up bright and early the next morning and drove home. Got there around 1:30 p.m. 1,400 miles round trip and approximately 22 hours of driving. It was a nice little trip and showed me I could make those long drives. I have been a little sore but not too bad.

Since getting home I have been working on my binding. I just turned the corner to work on the third side. Fell asleep in front of the t.v. trying to get that side at least half way. No go! But I will have this quilt bound by the weekend. I am very pleased at how it is turning out.

Decided and Done I turned the outer border into the binding. It is sewn on and just needs to be tacked down. I think it preserves the authenticity of the top. Thanks to all my consultants!

Decision Time I have the binding and border off now. It didn't take too long. I hand washed and pressed the border fabrric. I can tell why it was so wavy. Two sides are over 10" too long. I can't believe it so am going to remeasure again tomorrow. I have to find a place to lay it all out so I can be sure I am getting a good measurement.

It occurred to me that I could just use the border fabric as the binding instead of sewing the border back on. Thoughts? I am leaning toward putting the binding back on at this point but haven't actually started yet. It could be a real pain since the piece I have to attach it too is already quilted.

I am listening!

Minor Set Back I got home last night and managed to make the binding for my 7 Sisters. I even got it sewn on so I could start the hand work. As I was sewing it I thought the last border was just so unweildly. I thought I would be able to smooth it out but there are just so many tucks in it now. I am going to remove the binding and then the border. I need to remeasure, cut and reattach it. I just think of all the work that went into it and want it to look nice. I must say I am a little disappointed but this is the right thing to do.

Opinions Please. Does this fabric look ok for binding?

Another One Bites the Dust

Note how the details of the center were carried out into the applique borders. This one became a UFO because I was so busy finishing other UFOs. Not too bad as this was just started last year. Less than 1 year old.

Binding In Progress I have 3 of 4 sides bound for my 6" round robin. I decided to use black thread and it has been a total pain! The thread shreds easily. I started cutting it shorter so that it went through the fabric fewer times. This helped some. Not sure why I didn't just choose a different color. What are your experiences? Does black thread misbehave for you?

Pics of a finish tomorrow! Stay tuned.

Check My 7 Sisters Progress I have to piece in some batting as a result of the dog incident then I can finish quilting the last 8 inches. I am almost ready to bind! I hope it will be bound tomorrow! Woohoo!!

Update All the borders are done. Patched the batting in. I also made the binding for my 6" RR which is the next UFO I plan to finish. I hope to bind both of these tomorrow.

I Need an Intervention

Last year I was on "No Buy" on the Stashbuster yahoogroup. The premise is that you only buy needed purchases. The legal "B"s. Backing, borders, binding. Some stretched it a little further and started including background. I was very good while I was on this challenge. They allowed you a 1 week "free" period which I did take advantage of. I had a list and I shopped to it. Otherwise I bought nothing but legal purchases.

This year, after No Buy, I was pretty good about my purchases until I was introduced to the Golden D'Or. That is when I began to fall apart. Golden D'Or is a fabric outlet and they have all sorts of fabrics available. They have tables covered in flat folds of every variety and then there is the Quilters room. This room has nothing but 100% cotton in it.

First there were these purchases. Not all is pictured as I sent quite a good bit of yardage to a friend in Australia. There are some pieces in there targeted specifically to charity quilts. Yardage on bolts is 2.99 for cotton and .99 for flatfolds. The flatfolds are not marked so you have to just try your luck on content.

I told myself I wouldn't go there again until I used up my stash. But then a dreaded email was sent announcing a 30% off sale on everything. A couple of gals decided to make the run and asked if I needed anything. I thought ok maybe just those animal prints I saw. I'll take 1 yard of each. How many could there be? 5 or 6 maybe? There were 15 of them.

Conicidentally I went to meet my sewing group that weekend. The house we meet at is very close to the Golden D'Or. We had to end our sewing meeting early and one of the gals decided to go to Golden D'Or for the last day of the sale. I mentioned that when I tried to go in that direction before that I sort of got twisted around. My friend very generously told me the easy way to get there. I hopped in the car heading for home. When my car saw the exit it just happily drove to Golden D'Or (that's my story and I am sticking to it). Who did I see there? My sewing buddy. I shopped a bit more exuberantly this time. Afterall it was on sale right? I found some great flatfolds with beautiful textures.

So as you can see. I need an intervention. There have been several excursions to Walmart for some other purchases in between all this. I just need to stay out of the stores!

Unconditional Love

My daughter and our dog Augie are a perfect representation of unconditional love. We adopted Augie when he was about 3 months old. Right from the start she carried him everywhere and held him in every way imaginable. Many times we were shrieking to put him down before she dropped him. She would throw him over her shoulder either on the shoulder or hanging way over her back. On her hip, facing front or back. Held like a baby. Picked up right side up or upside down. It doesn't matter how she picks him up, he turns into a rag doll and let's her do whatever she wants to him. They are so close that our son is jealous of the relationship. He does come to our room to sleep most nights but if he is invited to sleep with her, that is where I find him in the morning.

So you see...I am Augie's grandma. Not his momma. She is his momma. And his momma is not here. She is at her grandma's. Augie is here moping and missing her. He doesn't understand where she is. We find him in our laps for love and attention. She calls and bemoans being away from him. Last night she called and begged for a new pic of him and I obliged. While loading that picture I found this one that I took just about 3 weeks ago. She is laying on her belly on a reclining lawn chair with her head towards the foot of the chair and he is sitting on her shoulder without a care in the world or concern that she might dump them both onto the floor. If this isn't love I don't know what is.

The Day Has Come

I had made a personal challenge to only work on my 7 Sisters UFO until I was in the top 10 of the UFO Challenge list on the stashbuster yahoogroup. That day is today. In a little over 2 months time I managed to quilt the blocks, setting triangles, 3 of 4 solid borders and 2 of 4 HST borders. This is a Queen size and my first hand quilting project. I think I have done a pretty good job of it. I estimate another 2 weeks of dedicated work before I can bind this quilt.

It is funny during this journey that my burning desire was to get to top 10 so I could work on something else. Now my burning desire is to get these borders quilted and this quilt bound! I will continue quilting on the top through this week and will then move onto another UFO this weekend as I need a finish to avoid becoming Queen.

July Accomplishments

• Arniepats round robin
• Tami's round robin
• Karrins round robin
• hand quilted through all the side setting triangles of my 7 Sisters and have two sides (2 inner borders) completely hand quilted

August Goals

• finish hand quilting 2 inner borders of 7 Sisters
• bind 7 Sisters
• bind the 6" round robin
• finish my step on 5 round robins at my house or coming to me and mail
• finish 3 totes and mail
• knit chemo caps and mail

Yes I know. A huge list. Remember I am kidless for a few weeks and hubby is gone next weekend so I can do whatever I want to! Yippee!!

Quilting Outside the Box

My parents left Sunday and took both kids with them. They are in Louisiana now with my brother and then will travel on to New York this Sunday. My kids will be home around the 17th or so. It has been very quiet but I am trying to enjoy every minute! I have even made a "play date" for hubby to go do something next weekend so it will be just me and the dogs. Wow! They only want to be fed twice a day, given water when they run out and let in and out for bathroom and other duties. There is the occassional scratching and cuddling required. I can handle that!

So after my parents left I went to my friends house to sit and sew. Originally I was only planning to drop off my 12 Days quilt to be quilted but was invited to sew as well. I like the quilt I just cannot fully develop my quilting plan. I have plenty of ideas for some blocks just not all of them. I turned the quilt and my ideas over to her and she is going to see what sort of plan she can hatch. She and I are also in a Round Robin swap together. She had one ready for me when I arrived and completed her step on a second. So now I have advance time to work on these RR's.

Now to the topic of my post. While I was quilting my 7 Sisters my friend was prepping her square in a square quilt for her long arm. She was having issues with the backing and found she had cut it too small. I tried to help her hold it to see if it was just turned wrongly. No such luck. I started thinking what my solution would be. Cut off and piece the backing so it is wide enough or piece another backing. While these thoughts were running through my mind I heard a rip and looked to see what she was doing. This quilt has no borders and she decided to just tear a row off. I told her in a million years I would not have thought to do that. She admitted to running through the same ideas I had and arrived at this one.

I admire her and others that can "think outside the box". I would go so far as to say that I am usually intimidated by these folks that can work like this. I don't feel dumb but I do feel that I wish I were smarter. We sometimes get so stuck in what we are supposed to do and can't see other options. I do tend to follow directions to a "T" but I am learning to be more flexible in that area as well. My hat's off to you forward thinkers! I admire you all.

Personal Challenge If you remember my personal challenge to work only on my 7 Sisters until I am in the top 10 of the UFO Challenge on Stashbuster I want to update you. As of yesterday all the side setting triangles are quilted, my borders are mended and I am now quilting the borders. I am 14th on the list. It is taking forever to move above me! I do have a fast finish ready to be completed once I reach the top 10. I hope I am there next weekend while hubby is away. :D

Golfing

Here is a little video of us golfing.

Mom and Dad

Vacationing and Quilting

Still enjoying time with my parents here. We have eaten a lot both in and out. My hubby used to be the grill master but I had to try it out since he has a hard time walking in the yard due to his knee. I made some T-bones and they turned out great! I cooked nachos for Dad. He really likes them and was disappointed at the ones he got at the restaurant we went to.

My parents, son and I enjoyed a round of golf at the local par 3 course. I have not played in such a long time. I managed to step in a hole, twist my ankle and fall. Hurt for a good part of the day but by night I was fine. We are going out tomorrow for another round. I will watch out for those holes!

Can't think of much else of note. Just spending time together!

LOOK! I sewed 9 more stitches! Well, a few more than that. I updated the 7 Sisters progress box on the left side of my blog. I finished the side setting triangles on the third side and decided to go around to the fourth side and finish those triangles as well. Only 5 left to go. Maybe I will be done with them before the folks leave.

I will try to post some pics tomorrow of our golf outing.

I asked Mother to send some photos from when I was a baby

The Parents are coming, the Parents are coming!!!

Yes I knew this was coming. They left their house today and will be in Louisiana tomorrow to drop my nephew off at my brother's place. Then Saturday they will be up and on the road to come see me. I can't wait to see them! I can wait for them to see my house. So I am taking tomorrow off to get some cleaning and decluttering in. I am going to focus on the living areas and then if I have extra time I will attend to the sewing room overflow in the foyer. Ah well Mom and Dad...love me....love my mess.

So this means once I leave work today I will be on vacation and returning the 28th. I just hope I get some relaxation in. I hope work doesn't call me. I hope I get to sew my little brains out when my parents are snoozing!!

Lordy, lordy look who's 50??

Happy Birthday Mark! My hubby. Sort of snuck up on you huh? Hope you have a wonderful day.

I am Here! Lot's going on. I am sorry to be so quiet.

I am sewing away on my 7 Sisters. My friend teased that when you hand quilt the updates are rather boring...."Look I sewed 9 more stitches!" Yes, I get it! :p I am finishing up the second side. If I push I can get it done by tomorrow. Then on to the third side. I will be forced to do some repairs.

I will try to take some pics and post them soon. Please take a minute to say hello.

Rotating Projects If you read back on May 29th you will see that I set a challenge for myself. I said I would only work on my 7 Sisters UFO until I was either 10th on the UFO challenge list or I finished the 7 Sisters quilt.

I am 32nd and I am not done yet. I was putting every spare minute into that quilt to the point of burnout. I stopped a little over a week ago to work on round robins. Now that I have gotten the three that I had here out of the way I picked the 7 Sisters back up.

I was pleasantly surprised that I was refreshed and ready to get back into this quilt. I have the side setting triangles done on the next side so will be working on the 2 borders the rest of this week. I should be able to get that done this week then will move around the corner to the next side.

Let's see if I can get this quilt done this month!

Ugly Challenge

Did I ever share this? I took the piece of fabric sent to me and was allowed to add up to three more fabrics. Here is what I made.

Just Need to Baste It and Mail It

Help Me With The Sails.....

Are just outlines ok? Do I need to do a different stitch?

Sadie Helping

I mentioned that whenever I get my 7 Sisters out someone shows up to "help" . Note the dog slobber on the quilt.


When Sadie gets overly rambunctious we do doggy yoga. We lie her on our belly and rub hers.
She does calm down.



Here is some quilty content. Not my 7 Sisters. Karen don't look if you want to be surprised!!

One side completed I have completed one side of my 7 Sisters. I flipped the quilt around to look at the opposite side in preparation to start quilting it. I was not prepared to see that there are quite a few repairs that need to be made first. I have seams coming out, a blown piece of fabric that needs to be replaced and if you remember the dog incident, I have to piece batting back onto the original batt as the dogs tore too deeply when they got ahold of the quilt. I have become quite practiced at this so I will just fix it and go on.

Ok, ok are you buying that plan? I am going to check the three remaining sides and see if there are any that can be quilted right now and quilt that one! So there! If not then I will quilt what I can until I am forced to start fixing! LOL!

Look At What I Won!!

An adorable bag and some FQs from Andrea. Perfect timing. I really need a quilty hug these days. Too much work, too much family stuff.

On the quilting front....I have just one half block to complete on one side of the quilt and then the two border rows and I will have one side done. I plan to bind it once the two borders are quilted all around and then will finish all those setting triangles.

Someone at my house thinks this is her cuddle quilt and doesn't mind lying on it every chance she gets even if she pulls out the batting on the sides a little. I will try to capture a picture of her. She is a mess!

Progress.

This is a closeup of the side setting triangles next to the full blocks and the borders. You can see the quilting I did on the stars. I am then outlining all the setting triangles with 2 rows of quilting and echoing the HST border into the two pnk solid borders. I am not going to quilt the outer border until after it is bound so I don't lose my points. On the HST border I am just running a straight row of quilting along the top and bottom of the row. I like it. I am trying to control the poofiness and am getting better.

One Big Block To Go I am almost half way through the last big block. I think I over did it on my big push to get done with the quilt. I am getting tired of working on it and it has started to become a chore. I just sewed until I was tired and stopped rather than pushing through.

Once I have the big blocks done I will move onto RR's for a little while to get those out the door then go back to the 7 Sisters. This will still be my tv watching quilt. I will take a pic once I have done some quilting on setting triangles and borders.

All or Nothing Kinda Gal Hi all. I am here and have my head down on my 7 Sisters quilt. Are you watching the progress? I just passed the 2/3rds mark. I have every plan to get the big blocks all done this weekend. Wish me luck!

May Accomplishments/June Goals

I had planned the following in May:

• quilt Chain Events by end of May - not one stitch
• get to half way point on quilting 7 Sisters - I made it! I am near the 2/3rds point. Yeah!
• move round robins along a little more quickly - I got several out the door and have 2 at my house now to be done
• put final touches on ugly challenge tote bag - thought about it

June

• finish the 7 Sisters quilting
• find suitable binding for 7 Sisters
• get round robins done on time
• finish 2 small totes from last year

I think that is enough. I will be stitching into the night to get this done! Wish me luck.

7 Sisters Update I have really made some progress. Since Friday night I have finished 3 of the big blocks. When I first started quilting this it was taking me about 35 minutes for each star. I can now quilt on in about 15-20 minutes. Instead of it taking almost four hours I can now finish a block in just over 2. Dang I might finish this thing yet!

I did replace the two diamond pieces the dogs damaged. I will have to mend a few spots but will do those as I come to them.

Spencer Update He has been receiving treatment for three weeks now. I feel as though he has made an improvement. I need to get him to the vet for a weigh-in. He is still bony but nothing compared to what he was like 3 weeks ago!

7 Sisters Update I added details about my 7 Sisters quilt on my side bar. The number of full blocks, half blocks, connector triangles. As I finish quilting a part I will update my side bar. This has been motivating for me. I told Beth that I would not work on any of my other UFOs until I was 10th on the UFO challenger list or higher or it was the end of the 3rd quarter. She did give me permission to finish 2 little totes I have to get done as gifts, which are UFOs, and not consider it a deal breaker. Yes I can hear her giggling all the way from Maryland. I think she knows me a little too well and it will be hard for me to stay away from another finish on something else. This is the only way I am going to make any progress on this quilt. Wish me luck! Go tell Beth to be nice to me too!

My Sweet Boy Turned 15 Today!

Happy Birthday! Momma loves you!

Quilt Holder in Training I didn't notice the bottom of the subject when I took this pic but had a good laugh when I loaded it to the camera. See this post. I had seen my friends dh in her pics and when she quilted my quilt I asked him to please hold my quilts as well.

I then asked my quilt holder to turn the quilt around. Notice my quilting assistant in on the act as well. Smart alecs!!

Mamacrafty's RR

Sweetjessy's RR

The Following Are Actual Events.... No names have been changed as there are no innocent

Let's set the stage. This UFO obsessed person just got a UFO back from the quilter. Trying to decide what to concentrate on...a fast finish or longer term finish.

Me: You know I am in this UFO challenge where there are 100 women that all have to finish a UFO each quarter. As you finish your name moves to the bottom of the list. If your name bubbles up to the top of the list you have 1 week to finish something or you have to pay a fat quarter... You also have to have 1 finish per quarter but I already have that.

dh: okay....

Me: So I am trying to decide what to work on next. I have this big quilt to hand quilt and I wonder if I should just work on that and save the binding for a fast finish...

dh: (blank stare)

Me: What do you think?

dh: All this just over a fat quarter???

Me: Well....yeah....

He just doesn't get it. I went and consulted with my buddy Beth. She thinks I should machine the binding on and save the hand work if I get toward the top of the list. I like that woman! She gets it!!

Kindness of Others My family has been through a lot over the past few years. If you have been reading along you know the stories. Over this time I have experienced several random acts of kindness. One was a gift certificate to equilter from Sharon where I purchased the following:

The next was a kind offer to quilt a UFO for me. I did not act upon this at first but then later accepted the offer. In return I am donating a QOV to the quilter. I know this is dark but the quilting really shows up well that way. Thanks Alycia!

Quilt back

I am truly blessed by the kindness of these friends.

Did You Hear Something? Maybe it was the loud thud of me falling off the wagon. 21 yards later but I am happy. A birthday gift from hubby. 2 quilts and one tote are in plan for this yardage.

Arlington Quilt Show and Saturday Sew In

Pics of the booty I got at the quilt show.

Winnings from the Sew In. I met up with a group of gals from the Quilting with a Passion quilt forum. We played some games and I won some cute notepads and 18 FQs. It was a LOT of fun! Thanks ladies.

May Goals Here we are half way into May and I didn't list my goals. I am sure you know I am on a finishing frenzy. I have already finished two UFOs this month and have my sights set on the next one to finish. I will be working out the quilting plan on my Chain Events quilt and continue to work on the 7 Sisters. I really need to get some serious time in on the 7 Sisters or I am going to be caught as the Queen of UFOs with that one.

• quilt Chain Events by end of May
• get to half way point on quilting 7 Sisters
• move round robins along a little more quickly
• put final touches on ugly challenge tote bag

Another UFO Finished I started this Round Robin last year and it came home to me this year. I counted it as a UFO as it met the criteria of when it had been started, before January 1 of this year. I picked it up from the long armer Friday and sewed the binding on it the same day. I stitched on that binding every spare minute and put the last stitches in it this morning when I got up. This RR represents many firsts for me. First round robin, first time I had done the blanket stitch by hand, paper piecing, machine applique. I know many have bad experiences but I think this one turned out wonderfully. Many thanks to Teresa, Becky, Beth, Jane and Paulette for your work on this RR. I love it!

Friday Vacation Day I took the day off to attend a little quilt show in Arlington, TX where a friend had a few quilts hanging. It was a very small but nice show. It only took about 2 hours to see the quilts and all the vendors. So what is a girl to do when she has the rest of the day to kill? She finds more quilt shopping!

I went to a quilt store near the show. They had some things at the show that were on display but didn't have any inventory with them. I popped in to have a look around. They had a thimble I was looking for and then I picked up a few batik FQs and one other piece of fabric. I was also looking for some 30's fabrics. Someone had told me of another shop that had plenty. I got directions and drove over there. I walked in the store and my mouth fell open. Huge store with lots of inventory. Wide variety. I looked for a very long time in that store. I was easily there for over an hour. I found some 30's FQs and the yardage I needed to bind my 30's feedsack quilt.

Oh, did I mention that while I was at the quilt show I got my 30's round robin back from my friend who quilted it? As soon as I got home I threw a load in the washing machine along with my binding fabric. Before the night was out I had the binding made and machine sewn to the quilt. Now to hand stitch it down. My second finish in May...here we come!

Kids, dogs, husbands and quilts but not necessarily in that order.

My son was the recipient of his school's Lighthouse Award. It is meant for kids that serve as a "light" in their school. It was a nice ceremony. All faculty and staff are allowed to select a student. My son's school nurse chose him. Her reason was because of him coming out of his shell with her. They selected 3 students to give a speech from the 206 recipients. I cried over the first one that spoke. A victim of Katrina with a previously rough life. She had failed school twice and should be a Junior now but is taking classes to complete her Freshman and Sophmore year in one year. Very admirable. Her turnaround is amazing. The second speaker I had mixed feelings about. He was peer pressured into committing a crime and served 1.5 years in jail. He is a Junior and already has two kids. I am probably judging him a little too harshly. I won't say anymore. The third speaker...I could not believe. It was a former co-worker's granddaughter. She is a Junior now and I have known her since her grandmother took custody of her. I do not know her on a deeply personal level but have heard stories and spent some time with her on a few occassions. A very sweet girl. Her mother drank and used drugs while pregnant with this girl. It was such a struggle for her and her grandmother when she was an infant. She has struggled with learning issues but feels she has overcome them. An amazing child. I really like the purpose of the program and think it is good for building self esteem.

We got Spencer's medication yesterday. I gave him his first dose of B12 and antibiotic. Now for the healing to begin. I hope it works and he gets his weight and muscle tone back. He is such a sweetie.

My husband got his latest MELD score. He is now up to a 20. This means he is closer to get a Liver transplant. Of course it depends on who is ahead of him and what comes in as far as a match goes. He is trying to get his knee replacement back in but I am betting that won't happen anytime soon.

I finished!! I put the last stitches in my Double Irish Chain last night and put it right into the wash. When I left this a.m. it was drying. I will take pics when I get home tonight and put them in this post. A little longarm birdy told me I will have my 30's feedsack round robin back Friday. I will just have to bind it. Watch for another finish soon!

Update: I hate the last border....looks like I will be quilting on this some more....sigh....

I Promised Pictures Not what you might have expected but I added a new header on my blog. Those are all my UFOs that I have left. Do you think I should update it by removing the UFOs as they are finished?

I have about half of one side left to finish on my Irish Chain. My son won an award so we are going to the ceremony today. I am working from home so that I can get to school on time. I will be able to stitch on conference calls so I should have another UFO completed today.

Updates on Machine and Spencer I picked up my machine yesterday. I haven't sewn with it yet but plan to this weekend. While I was at the Janome dealer I got a lesson on the rolled hem foot and she showed me how to use a wing needle made for creating a hem stitch. I had never heard of one before. Fascinating. I bought the needle and will be playing with it this weekend.

We got a call from the vet yesterday. I think the news was pretty good. He has a lower intestine infection. He will be on antibiotics for 6 weeks and has to take a B12 shot once a week for 6 weeks. The antibiotic is called tylosin and is actually a horse medicine. The vet had to call the compound phramacy to have it made for a dog. We should have the meds in the next few days. I hope Spencer regains the weight and muscle quickly. I think he is starting to show weakness in his legs now.

On the UFO front...I have the third side of the quilt almost bound. Tonight I will turn that corner and be on my way to a finish. This will put me at the bottom of the Queens list for awhile on the Stashbuster UFO Challenge so I will be concentrating on my 7 Sisters. I need to start making progress on that quilt if I hope to get it done this year! I keep saying by end of June I will have all my UFOs done. I should say, except this one. If I am not careful this quilt is going to get me crowned.