More UFO's finished...

What a weekend, it is only Saturday though, still have tomorrow to work on my UFO's. I have finished 3 UFO's that I began a while back. The first one I worked on is the burgandy and cream colored quilt. I began this quilt about 5 years ago when we lived in IL. I just got bored with it, didn't really know what I wanted to do with it so I put it away. Today I picked it up, placed it on my design wall and away I went a'sewin' I had 4 rows already pieced so why did I not finish the other 4 rows?? Who knows?!

The next quilt I worked on was a Delictable Mountain design. I was on a kick that year to make several of that design because the block was easy to make and fast! I had been trying to finish that one for several years, but was not inspired enough to finish it. Now I know that I am going to do some fancy longarm quilting to take away from the bright yellow/orange.

And last but not least was the blue, white and yellow quilt! That was a block of the month that I was involved in way down in Mississippi! I got frustrated with that quilt also, could not get the blocks to line up at all. I worked with it tonight and walla! She is done! Phew, what a weekend. I think I will take it easy tomorrow.

Oh I even ended my day by remembering to put the pork roast in the marinade! YIPEE, we have Sunday dinner already prepared! Life is good!

Till tomorrow or the next time we meet....Nancy

Heather's Baby shower gift

I can't believe I made this! LOL I began making a quilt and had two rows completed. But I just could not shake the feeling that this is not the right gift, let's do something different! Something that no one else would expect from me. So, I began reading my new McCall's Quilting magazine and there was the pattern!! Page 12 as a matter of fact (April 2009 issue)

I've already called Heather and sent her a picture of the bag! I can't attend the baby shower that is tomorrow, I have to attend a longarm quilting meeting instead that I had already rsvp'd to. So, here is a picture of the bag!

I began working on the bag this morning at around 9am and finished it around 4:15pm this afternoon. Wow, took me longer than I expected, but I am very proud that I made this!

I wonder what else I could make now....

Totally forgot to mention...

I totally forgot to mention that I sent one of my favorite quilts down to my sister's to be auctioned off. They are hosting an auction to raise money for a family that needs assistance in medical bills/procedures. I'm hoping all is a success for them!! The picture I have loaded was not taken in my house, this at Canterbury Village for a recent quilt show. I did not have a picture of the quilt in my house.

I also made my sister's family pillowcases. They loved them. Oh and I can't forget that I made my sister a set of cozy coasters. I plan on making her a couple more to go in her bedroom to match the quilt I made for her over a year ago. Ok, I think that is all for now.

Taking life 0ne-stitch-at-a-time

Nancy

Longing for creating

This week has gone by so fast, yet not fast enough. I'm ready for the weekend to arrive so that I can go sew. I am suppose to attend two events this weekend, but thinking about staying home. One is the longarm meeting that takes all day, so no sewing again...I was unable to sew this past weekend. The second is my friend's baby shower. Which I need time to work on her baby quilt. While working on the quilt last night I discovered that 4 solid blocks were cut 1/4inch too small. I will have to cut 4 more blocks, that might mean I have to go to the quilt shop and purchase another yard of the monkey fabric...hmmm, darn have to go to the quilt shop again?! what is a girl to do?!
Tuesday was very busy day. We were gone all day to our homeschool co-op then stayed for the tryouts for Fiddler on the Roof. That was an all day event! They had over 60 kids show up for trying out. Son Joe landed the lead of Tyveha (spelling-father in the play), Chris and Steve are in the play also. Steve's role is probably going to be Sasha. Chris might attempt to play the mandelan (spelling?). He has a choice of other roles, but the mandelan he is showing an interest in.
Today we are taking our birds to the local vet for their trimming of their claws, filing beaks and trimming their wings. Then we get to head to the church for more Fiddler on the Roof. I am hoping that today's meeting will not be very long. We also have to go to Praise Band practice tonight at our church. Phew, I'm tired from thinking about our errands today, much to be done! Oh yes, I have to take Chris to get his worker permit signed at the local high school.
When my schedule fills up I tend to want to cancel everything! I hate the cold weather and I just want to hybernate! Till later....

Still quilting

It is Thursday, January 22. Today I have a couple of friends coming over and we heading out to lunch. I can't wait! It has been a long time since I have joined friends for lunch. On Tuesday, I quilted 3 quilts for friends. My wrist was in a lot of pain so I had to take a break from from driving the longarm machine. I began quilting at 9am and was finished by 4pm. I'm happy to have gotten those quilts completed and they are on their way to their rightful owners! Now I have 2 others to quilt, they are small, but she wants very dense quilting so I will begin those next week. These two quilts will go back to my friend in Mississippi.

But as for today, I'm going to enjoy my day out to lunch, and the weekend is mine! Maybe I will clean the house...nah, what was I thinking! Who wants to clean when there is quilting to be done?

I began working on my mystery quilt the other night. Oh this is a bright and deep colored quilt! I chose a different color background fabric. Most quilters choose a "safe" color for background fabric. That is either a white, cream or black fabric. I chose a vivid magenta fabric and the blocks are all bold purples, vibrant blues, oranges, pinks and chartreuse (lime green). My goal is to work on a few blocks at a time, no rush. I may change my mind though, I may get so engrossed in it this weekend that I will have all of it completed. I have to give my friend, Diantha S from Mississippi, credit for the quilt block. It has a nice "spin" to it. Great job Diantha!

Till the next time, good day!

Nancy

Today is a new day

Ah, another weekend has come and gone. It is Monday morning and I am ready to get my day started. This weekend though was a sewing weekend. I had originally planned on working on Bonnie Hunter's DD (double delight) Mystery Quilt, but changed my mind. I just could not focus on the quilt piecing. Instead I began working on a couple of my UFO's (UnFinished Objects). So I put the DD quilt pieces away and pulled out my brown snowball blocks that I had pieced well over a year ago. I think it was a year ago? Oh well, the quilt top is now pieced! As soon as I finished that quilt I moved on to another quilt UFO. This one took me slightly longer than a day to work on, but alas she is finished also. Both of these quilt tops get moved from the UFO quilt top page to the must be quilted on the longarm machine and bound list!

The blue quilt is going to my next door neighbor. They are so wonderful!! The husband, Steve, comes over and plows our driveway when the snow gets too deep. Yes, we have 4 teenage boys that can do this job, but when we are busy (not at home)the task does not get accomplished. Of course you can guess that the boys are absolutely thrilled when we pull into our driveway and someone has mysteriously plowed our driveway!!! This quilt is a surprise to them, I hope they like it.

The brown and orange quilt has no home, I just wanted to make it. It is not large enough to cover up with, so it will have to go into the "hang it on the wall" category. I don't have a room for it to hang in either, hmmm what shall I do then?

My next step it to figure out which UFO to work on. After I quilt Ian's T-shirt quilt I will put these quilts on the machine. This way I can mark two quilts completely done! Aunt Chris, as we call her, will bind them for me! Yipee! I hate that job!! LOL

Till the next time,

good day!

another good morning

Good morning again, it is Wednesday morning, a very cold blustery bitterly cold Wednesday morning. The temps are in the single digits here in Michigan. We are all wishing to be down south where it is much warmer!

I decided the other night to put one of my own quilts on the longarm machine. For the past 4-5months I've been working on others' projects. I have to admit, it felt wonderful to put one of my own quilts on the longarm machine. I did not quilt anything spectacular on the quilt, just feather vines in the light background areas. It made the quilt look much much better.

Today, no sewing, no quilting. Today is our home school co-op IEW day. 5 teenage boys come over here to join my own 4 teenage boys in a history, geography, literature, writing class. We do this once a week. I love giving these boys essays! Homework!! Ahhhhhh! Today though is a special IEW day, we are going to watch the dvd "To Kill A Mockingbird". I had assigned the book to the boys in early December. Everyone of the boys has read the book so now we are going to have a movie day. Then comes the homework assignment...the dreaded ESSAY....

Back to quilting, I'm hoping to finish Dawn's quilt by tomorrow night. I have several other quilts that need to go on the machine so I can begin working on my own quilts. I have a pattern that I would like to get published. So I have to be able to concentrate on the yardage requirements. Make sure no one else has made this pattern, I don't want copyright issues. And then I have another quilt that I have found that I would like to make and see if I can adapt it to easier piecing methods. The blue, green and cream colored quilt pictured is the one I want to publish. I will post a few more pictures of the quilts I have been working on since fall.

Good morning

Good morning, day one of blogging. This past weekend I made a decision to finish all those UFO's. I have way too many unfinished objects, quilts that is. What a tease it is to visit the local quilt shops, I can't stay focused on finishing my other projects! LOL Well my list of UFO's was rather long. So last night I started on my first UFO. I put a quilt on the longarm machine that pieced over 2 years ago.

One of my best quilting buddies and I took a class together at the Nashville AQS quilt show. The teacher was Scott Murkin. I believe my friend finished piecing hers that very week after we arrived home. I did not finish mine, as you can tell for quite some time. But now she is finished! Ok, confession time, I still have to bind the quilt. I will post pictures after I charge my camera battery.

Back to my list of UFO's. This list is way too long. I have Mystery Quilts that I need to finish, BOM (block of the month) that need to be finished, and just regular quilt patterns that I started and got bored with. Plus all the quilt tops that are already pieced that are waiting patiently to be quilted.

My life does not only involve quilting, but quilting is my passion. I am also a homeschooling mom to 4 boys. We have 5 children, but the oldest, Kate, has graduated. I miss Kate! I wish she would move back home. The boys, wow, they are so much fun! I have been homeschooling for 18+years, I've lost count...I think I may need to retire! LOL

Our oldest son will graduate this year. I am now in the planning stages for this. When you homeschool you get to plan the actual graduation ceremony along with the open house. This is going to be a very busy year.

That is all for now...till tomorrow...good day!