Finished Nine Patch

My nine patch from Crazy Mom Quilt's quiltalong is finished and will be delivered today. It has its flaws, but I hope that she likes it, it will be a surprise. It is the last of the three that I had to do, and some time in the future I may do another, as DH said he thinks it is one of his favorites that I have made, and they are certainly easy enough.
Sorry again for the terrible lighting. I need to make an effort to take them outside, or at least in my sewing room, the lighting is better there.

Misc.

My grandson was having a boys night out with his brothers, playing cards and watching fights, so DH and I got to have a visit from his wife and their baby, our great-granddaughter.

As you can see, she is a cutie, and is 8 months old already. She didn't smile at me once while I had the camera and was taking pictures, but she was all smiley most of the time while they visited.


















This morning I got to see my son and my youngest granddaughter. We took a class together at a nursery making a hanging cone basket. I didn't get a picture yet, but will try to include one in my next post. It is hanging in a tree in my backyard. Unfortunately, it tipped over in the car on the way home and we need to take the car to the carwash and use their vacumn.
I have the top done for my Crazy Mom Quilts white quiltalong quilt, now on to the borders and then a back and binding to make, and then my "favorite" basting. DH was kind enough to hold it up for me.



















I ordered some thread from J Hittle, they have very good prices, also got the bobbin holder from them, the bobbins and scissors are from Allbrands, and the fabric is from Hancock's of Paducah. My last 2 orders from Hancock's have been complete, maybe they have a better inventory system now, used to be if I got half I was lucky. It was a fun mail week. Nothing else coming now, although I am using up all my Kona Snow for the nine patch quilt, and may order a small stock of it if I find a bargain.

Nine Patches

I've made a good start on my nine patch, cut all the sashings and have them sewn on one side of each block. I'm anxious to get this one done, I think if it's half as pretty as Crazy Mom Quilt's versions, it'll be a pretty one.

P.S. I mailed my packages on Saturday the cheapest way not priority mail and I was surprised to get a call from my brother that he received his package Monday and on Wednesday I heard from the lady who received the package in Pennsylvania that she received hers. I got a text and then when the kids got home from day care a call and many thanks from them all. I think that they really liked the quilts and were happy to receive them. My brother probably won't open his until September when the birthday girls have their get together.

Taking a Break From This Project

Here are the blocks for my 4 manly quilts. As you can see there isn't much to them, but it still seemed like a job, lol. There are 45 different fabrics and just about every color, so either they will look scrappy or chaotic, I'm hoping for scrappy.
A family friend has done a very nice thing for us, so I thought how can I say thank you? I'm sure that you can guess what I came up with. I was trying to think how I could make a quilt quickly and I decided to use my nine patch blocks and finish up my last nine patch quiltalong quilt from Crazy Mom Quilts. I think this time I'll go with her original colors and use the white sashing. There are blocks in every color, so hopefully she will have a place for it, it should go with something, lol. She has 3 homes so I think there should be some place to use it.

Four Finishes (Makes 11 for 2010)

They say done is better than perfect, and I'm not real proud, but I am happy. I always knew that I didn't have artistic talent, but after doing several meandered quilts, I'm starting to think that I'm not even a good scribbler, lol. It's ok though, the recipients of these quilts won't care. The top quilt is the "last" of the big boy quilts, and is for Caleb, who loves music, thus the music border. He plays in a rock band, both guitar and drums.





























The pink and blue nine patch quilts are from Crazy Mom Quilts quiltalong, now 2 out of 3 are done, better late than never, at least that's what I tell myself.















This is my "Unstrip Road" front and back, and it is for DH and I, probably. I hope to finish my Iowa "Carolina" Christmas before the holidays also, but if I don't I'll at least have one Christmas quilt.



























PS. They aren't washed yet, so they will improve after they are, and the soft crinkles will hide a multitude of sins. That's what my MIL used to say about curls, and I think it's true for my quilts, too.

Second Nine Patch

This is the second of my Crazy Mom Quilts nine patch tops. Here is my first one. Just one more to go, a bigger one with the original plan of white sashing. That one I think will stay at my house.

Getting back to normal

DH has been out of the hospital now for a week, and getting a bit stronger each day. Thank you for the prayers and good wishes, I know that it helped me, and I'm sure that it helped him also. It will be a slow process for him to get completely back to normal, as he has several ongoing health issues, but things are going in a generally upward path. I was hoping to make it to Quiltfest in Jacksonville this weekend, but maybe next year.My daughter's fiance is also an Ernie, as is DH, and he is going through his own health issues right now. He is having more tests today, and I would ask for prayers on his behalf also. Thank you very much.









The strange picture above is what it is like to wake up in Florida for much of the year. Many mornings due to the air-conditioning inside, and the humidity outside, it is a few hours before we can see out of the windows due to the condensation. The other morning there was an odd looking little path, I took a closer look to see what had made the marks on the window, and I could see the path of a little (probably) tree frog as he made his way around my sliding glass door. Now I'm worried to go out that he may fall on my head. Thank goodness DH is improving, as he has volunteered to go out first, just in case, and I'm going to take him up on it. I'm not afraid of small frogs, but I don't want any on my head. If you look closely, I think you'll see some little frog bodies in the trail.
As you can see below, I have managed to do a little sewing. This is the first of three, of my nine patch tops. Now the other small one, and a larger one to do. My basting and quilting of my other six children's quilts is on hold as I have to get a table to set up on the porch to spray baste. Now that DH is recuperating from pneumonia, it won't work to do it on the dining room table and then clean up the sticky, it will need to be done outside.

More Shopping

Here's my finished bindings, they look much neater now than draped all over my sewing room like icicles hanging down. I got this cute little container at Office Depot a couple of months ago just because it was cute, and it holds all my bindings perfectly. Hopefully not for long though, as they need to be on my kids quilts in progress.










Robin's Egg Blue and Candy Pink arrived yesterday from Fabric Depot and they are pretty in person, too. I just hope that the blue is boyish enough. I got 5 yards of each so that I will have leftovers after I use it for sashings on my boy and girl Nine Patches.










I was looking for fabrics for hostess presents for a trip that has now been cancelled when I saw these Christmas Stockings and fabrics at Connecting Threads. I thought that the stockings were very cute and aspire to make some for gifts (hopefully, for this year, but I make no promises). The new fabrics are only on the bottom row and the thread is just to keep the fabric from falling down. The top row, I already had.










Lazy Girl Fabric Pouches were what I finally came up with for hostess gifts, and I got a fat quarter bundle, again from Connecting Threads.










This entire box is the bundle, and the little zipper pulls are made from horn. Our trip has been cancelled for now, but maybe in the spring we will go, so I still plan to make the pouches. The fat quarters were on clearance, too. I always love a bargain, but my fathers advice comes back to me, that you can go broke saving money.
Yesterday was a run around day. I got a haircut, DH went to the opthomologist, and we had our favorite handyman come to fix the toilet, which has been running. My husband had tried to fix it by replacing a part, but the tank needed to be taken off for this particular fix. In the process, a 20 year old plastic piece fell apart and Mr. handyman is coming back this morning. It is funny how we get spoiled. I grew up with a one bathroom house and a family of five and we managed. Now I am used to my own bathroom and sharing one with DH seems like a sacrifice. Our house is small, and our bathrooms are small, but it is a luxury to have the two, which I have quickly become accustomed to. It makes me a little ashamed though to be so spoiled.
For you who celebrate the holiday, have a good and safe one. Everyone else, have a nice weekend.

More Nine Patches

I have been making nine patches like a maniac for the past couple of days. I needed 70 for the Crazy Mom Quilts sew along, and I had those done a week or two ago. Then I got to thinking, which isn't always a good thing. Why do I want a twin sized quilt when I don't have any twin beds or know anyone who does who needs a quilt, maybe I should do two lap quilts instead. I figured it out, and I needed 26 more nine patches. I know some ladies have nice big stashes and could probably get 96 strips of any one color at a moment's notice, but I had to dig. I thought I had used all my resources when I got the first 70, but I was able to come up with what I thought was 26 (I counted wrong, it was 24)

Then I found out that my oldest grandson and his girlfriend from Pennsylvania are giving being together another try. They had visited back about February and we fell in love with her two children, they were 2 and 3, and quite amusing and loveable, as are most little children. I got to thinking again. Maybe, I should make 1 adult lap quilt and two children's quilts. I figured it out, and I needed about 22 more nine patches (my math wasn't too good, as I ended up with 2 extras). If you notice in this last batch there are lots of plaids, mostly brown. I had to start robbing from fabrics that I had put aside for some quilts, and these came from some I'm planning for my brothers.

The original quilts have white sashing, and I love the look of it, but Rhonda from Doxie's on my Quilt got me thinking about Kona Robin's Egg Blue, so I thought that that would be good for the sashing for the little boy, Ethan's quilt. And so why not a pretty Candy Pink Kona for his sister, Savanna.

Next on the agenda is to do some housework and then get the 6 children's quilts spray basted, quilted, bound and sent off.

Miscellaneous

My niece and her children are safely back in Iowa and had a very nice vacation, I hope. A couple of the kids told me they can't wait until next year when they can come back, so I think that they enjoyed themselves. The last day they had to get up at 2:30 AM to catch their 6:00 AM flight, so I'll bet it felt really good to get home.

Rebecca read my blog post and the remarks about her home and she sent me this email:

"Dear Candace. I just got back from my dad's and was finally able to look at this email. You have no idea how you and your friends have made me feel. I have tears in my eyes!! Thank you so much for giving me this gift of kind words. Love, Becky Rebecca (either one is fine)"

She made my day with her kind words.

I forwarded the kind and complimentary posts about my brother's ruler rack to him and he was also touched, but told me that if I sent anymore he would get a big head.

The picture above is of the last blocks out of the seventy required for the Crazy Mom Quilts sew along. Yeah! Now, it needs to go back in the box until I get the 6 quilts finished for my grandson and nieces and nephews.

PS I was glad to see when my niece was here that she had brought the little girl quilts with her and the kids were using them. It warmed my heart.

Detour

I've given up on my good intentions on the quilts. My brother is coming and will need the bed (I use the bed to lay out the spray basted quilts) and since I know that I couldn't finish 6 quilts in time, I decided to put them aside until after my niece's and my brothers visit and resume later. My niece will be here from tomorrow until next Thursday, and my brother will be here for the week-end. I'm doubly excited about my brothers visit as he is bringing me a goody. For one of his tables he had made a drawer that he wasn't happy with and I asked him rather than demolish it if he could put some notches in it and then I could use it for ruler storage. He got busy on it and improved on my idea with some additional supports down the middle and a super dooper hanging system, and he is bringing it with him. It is mahogany and even though it was originally a drawer and most of it was more roughly finished than the front of the drawer, I'm sure knowing him that it will be beyond my expectations. It will be so nice to get the rulers off my cutting-ironing table.In the meantime, I decided to work on my way behind Crazy Mom Quilts Nine Patch blocks. The 4 rows on the left are the ones I did yesterday, out of the material from the boys quilts. In each yard there was enough for the blocks for their quilts and one or two 2 1/2 inch strips. I now have 32 of the 70 blocks done, and hope to get more done today. They will be some crazy nine patches, florals and geometrics and camo, etc.

Nine Patches

DH has several skin cancers on his arms and so we have been going back and forth to the doctors, about 25 miles each way. In between the doctor and the holidays and just not doing much, I have started my One-A-Day nine patch quilt along with Crazy Mom Quilts. I am supposed to have 70 blocks done, and have 12 done so I am again holding up the end. They are 6 inch blocks, and to be sashed with white.

The other little quilt is leftover blocks from my Strip Twist from Bonnie Hunter. I decided to make a little quilt to put over the breaker box in my family room, but if the new baby coming in the family is a girl, I may finish it as a small baby quilt.

I heard from my niece this morning that she received the baby quilt and 2 little girl quilts that I sent and she seemed happy with them. They live in Iowa and had gotten about 7 inches of rain which caused her cellar to flood so had other things to deal with. The babies were in day care so the rest of the family could clean up without too much extra "help". She has 4 older children, the oldest two teenagers, and she said they were wondering if I sent some for them too. I felt kind of bad that I didn't, but it took me long enough to get these done. Maybe a little later.