Cecilia Marie's Quilt Done

Cecilia's is ready in time for the shower tomorrow.  She isn't due until March, but I don't get to see that branch of the family very often so it will be nice to delver it in person.

The back isn't super girly, but I was with Marcy my DGDIL and she assured me that she thought the plaid was cozy.  I added the panel down the center with pink angel bears to make it more girly, and as Marcy said, I think it is cozy.   It is from another flannel sheet set that was on sale at Target.  The twin top sheet was enough for this quilt and baby Landon's too.  His is basted and ready to quilt so it will be done soon.   His father had told Marcy that they expected to be home from the hospital yesterday, but now they are hoping for today.  Poor little guy.  I'm sure his parents must be stressed and exhausted.

It's a little hard to put everything that I would like to on the label with the embroidery machine, but hopefully this will suffice.

ALS - Piece by Piece and Shopping for Mystery

My mother passed away April 10, 2008 from ALS - Lou Gehrig's disease.   I got an email from the ALS Association that the ALS - Piece by Piece exhibit was going to be in a nearby city, about 40 miles away, today. 

    The ALS Association Florida Chapter invites you to experience our Piece by Piece Tribute Display in remembrance of those lives taken by this dreaded disease. This exhibit features hundreds of mannequins, each shrouded with individual epitaphs, symbolizing a fellow Floridian whose life has been stolen from their loved ones. Its purpose is to pay tribute and evoke personal reflection on the devastating numbers of those currently suffering. We hope you can share this powerful experience with us this week as the display visits both Tarpon Springs and Ocala.

Ocala Town SquareNovember 1110 E. Silver Springs Blvd. Ocala, FL 12pm - 6pm

Tarpon Springs Veterans Tribute Weekend Craig Park November 13 - 14 5 Library Ln. Tarpon Springs, FL Sat:10am - 9pm; Sun: 11am - 5pm

Ocala Town SquareNovember 1110 E. Silver Springs Blvd.
Ocala, FL
12pm - 6pm

Tarpon Springs Veterans Tribute Weekend
Craig Park
November 13 - 14
5 Library Ln.
Tarpon Springs, FL
Sat:10am - 9pm; Sun: 11am - 5pm

 DH and I were able to go and it was very moving and so sad.

Ocala is famous for being good for horses and these beautiful pieces of art were all around the town square where the Piece to Piece exhibit was displayed.

I got a bit of DH in this one.  I also got another with more of him, but he was bending over and from the rear, so I figured I might be in the doghouse if I shared it, lol.

Bonnie Hunter's new mystery is starting this month, first clue on the 19th I believe, and I plan to go with her colors.   There are at least two quilt stores in Ocala so I thought I'd visit the one that was a dealer for Berninas.   Next time I'll visit the other one, it carries longarms and even though I'm not in the market I'd like to look.  The new mystery is called Roll Roll Cotton Boll and her colors (and mine) are going to be chocolate browns, double pinks and raspberries, grassy greens, neutrals and red.  These fabrics were my purchase, and they were half price.  I love sale fabrics even if they aren't the latest, they are new to me and I like the price.

Table Toppers

 My pumpkin table topper is done.  Supposed to have leaves and stems, but I left them off, I think I like it a lot anyway though.   I decided to make it reversible so that after November I can just flip it over for Christmas so I made a pieced back and then I had enough of that left to make a small runner.   With me things always seem to mushroom, I guess I'm one of those if a little is good more is better type of people.                                                                          

Next up is two fleece blankets and two flannel pillowcases for my niece.  Every time that I think I'm catching up I think of more things that I need to do, I'm really on a finish it up kick right now.  I have my two Paintbox quilts, my monster Iowa (Carolina) Christmas, I've decided that I need to do a quilt from my leaders and enders 16 patches for someone who was kind enough to admire my blog (lol), and it goes on and on.   I also feel that I 'need' to do Bonnie Hunter's new mystery.   Why don't I feel like my list is getting shorter, even though I know it is?

One More On the Pile

I hate this new blogger so far, just saying.   (I already hated it, but I really hate it now, as it just took away all except the first sentence of my post.  Do you think it can read?)
Anyway, to repeat what I was saying!
Yesterday in my sewing room (which is supposed to be getting neater and better with everything that is finished and out of here, but instead seems to be getting worse) I got tired of leftover batting pieces falling down every time the closet door is opened.    I decided that maybe I needed to do another quilt to use up the batting.  I racked my brain for an easy to finish up project and thought of the quilt center that my granddaughter had made.  I called my daughter and asked her if she thought that Tabitha (who works 2 jobs) would be happy, sad or mad if I finished it for her.  She guessed happy so I added the final border, butted batting and stitched, and made the binding and backing (another Target sheet bargain).  I like the sound of butted batting, it's kind of catchy.   One of the really good and unselfish quilters who shares patterns and tutorials says that she only uses 2 pieces of batting pieced and this one probably has a dozen, but I think that it will be ok, if not I guess I'll make myself feel better by telling myself that finished is better than perfect, hopefully Tabitha will agree, too.   First it was four in progress and one was finished and now it's back to four again.   It was nice to work with some girly fabrics though.

Three Day Baby Quilt

I got up early this morning (as usual) and worked on my deviation quilt and finished it up, except for a label. Three days is a record for me, even for a small quilt. Now that I've overcome my fear of basting and decided that I just needed to bite the bullet, I can actually finish things. It is 40 by48, and I wish that I'd made it a bit longer, but I guess that it will be ok for him until he is 3 or 4, unless he is a really big toddler. Not bad for a slacker and about 13 and a half hours, lol.

Deviating Again and Grandson's Band

My oldest grandson (25) mentioned that his new girlfriend's baby is turning one year old the middle of the month, so I got the urge to make a quilt for the little fellow. I used what I already had completely, and it may be a hodgepodge, but it is colorful and will be cuddly. I was kind of doubtful about using the sock monkey fabric as it has a pink background, but they are masculine looking monkeys, so I hope that his mom is ok with it. My grandson is supposed to check and make sure that he doesn't already have bunches of blankets and quilts, and if the answer is yes this one will be his. If he does, then I'll save it for another young lad (my FIL was English and that's what he called DH occasionally). It is 40" x 48". I got the idea from a baby quilt on about.com, only they used 4 1/2 inch squares, and I wanted it bigger so I used 6 1/2 inch squares. It is a very easy one, and I figure I have about 11 hours into it now and it is basted and ready to quilt. I'm hoping that with quilting, label and binding (which is already made) that maybe I can finish it in a total of 15 hours. Not bad for a quilt from start to finish if I can do it.


I only had my cell phone camera with me, so these pictures are really bad, but 2 of these are my grandsons. They had a "gig" last night at a local restaurant/bar, and we went to see them. It was from 11 pm to 1 am, and we got home about 2 am. It's been a long time since DH and I were out at that hour, lol. They did really well and we were very proud of them. The one with the curly dark brown hair is 17 (playing guitar) and the one with curly red hair is 22 (also playing guitar). They both did a little singing also, and the 17 year old played a little drum.

A Stack of Quilts

I like pictures of stacks of quilts, and so I stacked the last 7 finishes up and carried them to the back porch hoping for better light. Unfortunately, it was overcast, but it is still nice not to have the yellow tinge to everything.
My house really is yellow.

Three Finishes

The pictures are pretty poor, but I finished these yesterday.
















Above is my Carolina (Crossroads) Straightaway from Bonnie Hunter's first mystery. I started it with everyone else, only made one of the two blocks and finished the top on October 11, 2008. It's been a long time, lol.


















My Burger Queen mystery from Stashbuster forum took even longer to get to, the top was finished August 15, 2008















This little Strip Twist, also from Bonnie Hunter, not quite so bad, July 6, 2009. My fuse box is going to be looking good, lol.

A Little Progress

Three basted and ready to be quilted.
The top little quilt is backed with my Ikea fabric. I used it on all five big boy quilts, I must have bought a ton of it, lol. The stripe has also been used several times. I got clearance oxford cloth sheets on sale at Lands End, wish they'd have more on clearance. The dark blue is flannel and should be cozy and warm. I'm anxious to get them quilted and done, a little less closet clutter.

Getting Ready for the Next Three

The next three finished tops didn't have backs or bindings ready yet, so today I got that done.
I have my version of Bonnie Hunter's Carolina Crossroads, I call it Carolina Straightaway since I only made one of the two blocks. Then there is a very small Strip Twist, also Bonnie Hunter's pattern, for over the fuse box in my family room, and last the Burger Queen mystery from Stashbuster forum, I apologize, I don't recall whose it was. I couldn't decide if I liked the top picture with flash better, or the bottom picture with no flash. Someone else posed that question on their blog, and I couldn't decide on theirs either. I can't remember who, I seem to have a lot of the can't remembers today.
Now it's back to basting and hopefully in a week or so I'll have three more finishes.













The only other top that I have made is my huge Iowa (Carolina) Christmas, and it is finished except for the border blocks sewn together and sewn on. I was going to send it out, but since money is a bit scarce am thinking I need to do it myself. Since it is already ginormous, I'm thinking of skipping the border and using those blocks to make another quilt. I have a Juki that is a bit bigger than a normal DSM, but it seems like leaving off the extra border might make it a little more doable. Anyone done a huge quilt on such a machine and have any opinions.
Hope you're having a nice weekend.

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.

Still Basting and Socializing with Family

Haven't gotten much done lately, but I did get these two basted. The bottom is the last of the big boy quilts, this one is for my 17 year old grandson Caleb, and it is just like the one for my great nephew Dakota. The top one is the back of my Christmas lap quilt which was supposed to be a "Strip Road" from Cyberquilters 4-C-Bees, generously shared by Benita Skinner. Unfortunately, due to lazyness and poor color choices mine has turned out to be "Unstrip Road", I still think I will like it ok when it is finished. Sometimes you just have to think positive, lol. Unless it just seems like someone else should have it, this one if for DH and I.Below are my two nine patches from Crazy Mom Quilts quiltalong. They are little kid sized and there is a boy one and a girl one, not for sure yet who they are for. (I have enough nine patches left to make another adult sized lap quilt, and will either do it with light brown sashing or white.) They are next in line for basting and all ready for me to get to them. Bindings are done for all four quilts, so hopefully they'll go quickly. Still thinking positive.
After that I'll go ahead and make bindings and backs for the other tops I have done and hopefully finish them and then it's on to making or finishing tops. That and getting my sewing room more organized and cleaned are the goals I'm working toward.
As for socializing, one of my great nieces was visiting from Iowa and DH and I had a pleasant evening having her and 2 of my grandsons over for dinner and as the kids would say, hanging out. My DD's fiance's daughter has been here also, and yesterday we took her and two grandson's (1 different and 1 the same as above) to a movie. We saw Grownups, which I thought would be silly, but it was surprisingly enjoyable. Before the movie we all met DD, 2 more DGS's (one of which brought a friend), and 1 DGD at a Chinese restaurant for lunch. It was a lot of fun and so nice to be together with family. There is going to be a wedding the first of next year, but we already consider DD's fiance's 2 daughters to be our grandchildren, too.