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!

WIP Wednesday I have seen posts on other blogs that are in the Quilt Studio webring that post a picture of their WIP on Wednesday. I heard there is an e-mail reminder but haven't seen it yet. Here goes. I actually have 2 WIPs but this one hasn't been posted about much. This is my Floral Irish Chain that I made 2 blocks for to see how the colors went together. I just pressed the fabric again this past weekend as it was sitting idle for many years and have begun cutting my strips. I work on this one when I need to take a break from sitting at the machine.

Take a Poll. I am currently finishing up 3 different UFOs. They are the King Log Cabin which I will have to bind when it comes back from the quilters, the Peacock which needs to have the borders quilted then also be bound and finally my Floral Irish Chain which I am currently cutting the rest of the strips for. I thought it would be fun to get input on which item to work on next. The 7 Sisters quilt is not listed on the poll as I need to find some vintage fabric to repair it and will not be able to do that until March when I go to the Dallas Quilt show. Feel free to pencil it in the comments as your vote if you are so inclined!

Focusing on my priorities. I joined a group on yahoo last year dedicated to finishing UFOs and using up stash by not buying more. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stashbuster/?yguid=192166788 . Last year I managed 3 finishes and many new, and completed, projects. As a natural progression I quite buying new fabric unless it was to complete a UFO or work on that new project for the most part. I set a goal this year to finish all my UFOs. There are 10 of them in all. I have one out being quilted by a friend now and another that I have about 3/4 quilted.

There have been so many temptations this year already. I have been asked to join in swaps and challenges but really feel the need to stay focused. There have been two new mystery quilts that I turned my back on. I have a couple items that I plan to start this year so I am not concerned about burning out on my UFOs. My plan isn't quite THAT strict. So now when you see me with my blinders on you will know it is me trying to avoid temptation!

A Knifty Knitted Shawl and some swooze logic. I inherited some yarn from my mother-in-law when she passed away. I held onto it for many years and finally accepted that I would not use the majority of it. I sent most off to a lady that knits for charity. There were several skeins of this white nubby yarn. I now know it as boucle. I was really intrigued with this yarn and was determined to find something to make with it. I happened upon these 4 round looms. I don't remember how they caught my eye but I was intrigued and decided I would make something on them with the yarn I was saving. I knitted myself a hat and matching scarf and was quite pleased with how it turned out. There are two little pamphlets that were put out by Provocraft for the looms. One of them had a shawl in it that I was just intrigued with. It called for knitting on every other peg and was done on the biggest loom. I went to work and finished the first panel. I decided that it wasn't wide enough so I made a second narrower panel and sewed it to the first then added fringe. The first one I made was in a green and now happily resides in Maryland. My co-worked saw it and really liked it. I hunted for just the right yarn and color for her and whipped another one out in a week. I presented it to her for her birthday last year. Here it is along with the happy recipient.

I started out with a few skeins of yarn that I wanted to make into something special. Now I have huge bags of yarn for my Knifty Knitters and have bought more looms in different gauges.

The thread thread. The topic of what type of thread came up on the stashbuster yahoogroup. I had been taught to use cotton covered polyester. People reported their quilts coming apart at the seams or the thread melting when they have used this thread. They said the thread being stronger than the fabric is what causes the issue for the seam coming apart. The melting was from a too hot iron melting the polyester. YIKES!! I was in the middle of piecing the backing for my Log Cabin. I froze in fear. What do I do?? THIS is exactly why I have UFOs. I decided to complete the backing and buy a good cotton thread. The main issue seamed to be with piecing only. People still quilted with the cotton covered polyester.

I discussed this topic in quiltchat with my friends. They are the ones that shared a little info about it being ok to quilt with the poly. That gave me the confidence to continue on with the Peacock. Discussion on this topic has been ongoing and my plan has been confirmed by everyone. Some say use up the poly in your piecing, some say switch over to all cotton. I plan to piece with cotton and quilt with poly to use it up.

This experience shows that it is good to continue your education in quilting. There are new products on the market. People learn about new techniques and methods. I have not taken a class in at least 10 years. Ask lots of questions! When someone mentions a new thread or tool ask them how they like it why they like it. You get the idea. I hope to create quilts that hold together a lot longer now! I have only heard of my first quilt (made in 1989) falling apart at the seams. I attributed it to my mother being a wash-a-holic. I will have to ask around about other quilts to determine their fate. I own a few of my early quilts and have not seen an issue. May your quilts hold together forever!

I am on a roll!! Yesterday I finished the backing on the Log Cabin and decided to keep forging ahead. I took the time to clean and oil my machine and put away several things that were on and around my machine. While I was at it I put my walking foot on the machine and tightened it with a screw driver. Usually I just hand tighten it, it wiggles loose, starts to fall off and I break needles. I have been quilting and it hasn't loosened at all. I even quilted a few lines on my Peacock quilt. Click on the "My Pictures" link and look in the UFO folder. This finishing business is very addicting! I hope it lasts until all my UFOs are done and onto future projects!

Today I had grand plans to sew and work around the house all day. I got hooked by the TV for a little while and then dh needed help packing. Next he wanted me to go to the store with him. That ate up 3 hours then I OPed for an hour. I was a little frustrated that I hadn't even sewn yet. When I finally got to sew I quilted quite a bit. I had hoped to get half way through the quilt then hoped for a quarter of the way through. I accomplished neither but still made fair progress. I plan to sew on it every chance I get this week so I can finish it this weekend. My name is launching toward the top of that UFO challengers list. I do NOT want to be queen.

I will report my progress through the week. Hugs y'all!!!

All hail the King. The king log cabin quilt that is. When I put it down it only lacked the borders. I cut those and sewed them on without too much trouble. It just took several days to complete as I had limited time to work on it. While I was working on this someone mentioned pieced backings on the yahoogroup stashbuster. When I saw how much fabric I had left over from making the top I decided I would make a pieced backing for this quilt. I cut 20.5" blocks from the dark fabrics and searched my stash for a light to use since I did not have any of that left. I cut blocks from that as well. To make the most of the fabric I had I did cut a few 10.5" x 20.5" wide pieces that I then pieced into a 20.5" block.









I spent several nights piecing the blocks into rows and then sewed all the rows into a 120" square backing. That is 10 feet square! That is huge. I had quite a few logistical problems working on this quilt. No good place or way to press the seams or lay it out for a picture! I had planned to hang it outside on our fence this morning. By the time I found the string to hang it from and got everything together it had started to rain. I decided I would just throw it on my queen size bed and snap a few pictures. They are not the best but you will get the idea.

The quilt top and backing is all boxed up now and ready to be sent off to my friend Beth in MD. She has agreed to quilt it for me. I just cannot imagine quilting this one myself!

I have already pulled out my next 2 UFOs to work on. One is the Peacock. Go to my links and click on "my pictures". You will see it there in the UFO folder. I hope to have it quilted in the next 2 weeks. I need to get it done to avoid being Queen of the UFO challengers! I also pulled out the Lavendar and Green Irish Chain. I need to cut most of the pieces for that quilt. I thought it would be good to stand and cut when I got tired of sitting and sewing.

Why does a project become a UFO? I know why I stopped quilting in general for awhile. My kids came along and I spent all my time with them. Like I tell my kids, you have to choose how you want to spend your time as there is not enough time to do everything. The kids are at the age where they can entertain themselves and happily do so. They still want me to spend time with them and I do but they don't want every minute any longer.

I have a goal to try and "sew" 15 minutes a day. This just means work on a project. It may be pulling fabrics, ironing, cutting or actual sewing. I kept myself from sewing for so long because I felt I had so many other things to do. I was not allowing myself to sew until this things were donw. I got to the point where I never sewed and I never got all these other things done. So when I say I make it a goal to sew....I make it a goal to give myself permission to sew everyday. It has worked wonderfully for me so far.

My current project? My King size Log Cabin. The main portion of the top was done and only lacked the borders. I started cutting those this past weekend and finally totally finished the top last night. Why did I stop working on this one? I think it might be because it was so large and hard to handle. Then again the people this was intended for did get a divorce. I look at other unfinished projects and realize it is probably that something shinier and more interesting came along. This all seems to point back to me not having the discipline to finish what I start. That is probably the reason I have the UFOs I do have.

When I worked on the King Log Cabin in short sessions it seemed much more maneagable. If I grew tired of fiddling with it I could stop as I had my 15 in. If I felt like continuing I could. In fact, last night while sewing on the first two sides of the final border I decided I would cut the last two sides and stop. After I cut them I decided I would just pin them on and leave the last seams for the next session. Then I decided I was this close why not just sew them on real quick. There I have it, a completed top! I plan to piece the backing...hope to finish that by the weekend so I can mail the whole thing off to be quilted!

I believe there are angels among us... I got an e-mail from a friend of mine asking me if I had gotten her Christmas card. To be honest with you, all my cards and my other mail was sitting around here in stacks, unopened. Too much to deal with these past few weeks. When I got home from work I looked for her card. I opened a few others that I had received while looking for hers. I had originally intended to open all the cards on Christmas day with my family. I don't know why I didn't do that now. Inside was a check. She got a Christmas bonus and decided to send it to me. Why did she do that? She knew about my husband losing his job but I didn't mention any money troubles. I make decent money but because we both got a new car this past year that made it just too tight on one income alone. I have done everything I can think of to trim back. Refinanced the cars. Keep the thermostat turned down a little bit. Cut way back on the extras like eating out and movies, etc. I even lowered my 401K savings to just the amount my company matches. I have even easily plowed through the majority of my emergency fund to pay the medical bills. That pesky little item that insurance wouldn't cover but you are still responsible for. I have to call everyone looking for money now and play let's make a deal. Will they write it off? If not, will they take $5 or $10 until it is paid off. Even at that amount with the number of people that we owe, it will be tough. How do people that make even less than me make it? I understand the one paycheck from homelessness concept. We are not that close but I can envision it. This is why financial carefulness is one of my goals this year. I can't afford to be careless.

"May I Help You Sir?" I laugh. The man behind the counter looks up and says "I am sorry ma'am. Can I help you?" I remember the first time this happened. I felt offended and got a little huffy. Each time this has happened since then I have become more and more amused. I spend a few minutes trying to analyze why they think I am a man. I have short hair but I am not flat chested. I am 6' tall. Who knows. I think today the man saw that my "middle" was about the right height for a man and didn't see a purse dangling on my side. Another time the pizza kid behind the counter didn't have his contacts on and squinted real hard and apologized. I think I like to laugh now since it tortures them a bit.

On this topic I have another funny story. I moved from NY to TX and had my license transferred. I might have had it renewed one time before this incident but can't recall. I go down to the DMV to renew my license. I just happened to notice that somewhere along the way that my license says M for male. I am 8 months pregnant and the following conversation ensues.
Me: Hi. I need to have my license renewed and by the way I noticed that it is incorrectly marked as male. Can you fix that for me.

DMV Lady: I will have to verify with Austin. (State Capitol)

Me: I laugh and say OK.

DMV Lady leaves and goes into a back room. A few minutes later she comes back and eyes me nervously. She says that she could not reach anyone.

Me: What do you need to verify? I am 8 months pregnant. You can call my doctor. She can confirm that I am female.

DMV Lady: Nervous pause....

Me: We can step into the ladies room and I can show you that I am a woman.

DMV Lady: Nervous pause....she asks me to wait just a minute, she has to call Austin. Off she goes into the back room.

Me: I am feeling evily proud of myself about now but also a little frustrated.

DMV Lady comes back out flustered and nervous. She explains that she couldn't reach anyone and says she doesn't like to change these types of things without verifying but agrees to do so.

Me: I offer to show her that I am in fact a female. I also ask why it is such a big deal.

DMV Lady goes on to explain, in a whisper at this point, that there are quite a few men that come in dressed as women and want to have female on their license.

I look at her and say hmmmm...that is interesting.

DMV Lady: Please step to the line and look at this mark on the camera. She snaps the photo. She processes the renewal.

I happily walk out with my new license and sex change. What a riot!