Happy Halloween - 10/31/14

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! -

Once again -

Along with Maxine™ -

I’m going to celebrate this year -

With some festive bobbing –


I’m not wearing my bra today either - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

Design Wall Monday - 10/27/14

DESIGN WALL MONDAY -
Check out all of us who link up with Judy L. -
At Patchwork Times on Mondays.
We have some awesome stuff on our walls!
Well, THEY do - ME - not so much sometimes - ;))
===

IT'S A FLIMSY!! -

IT'S A FLIMSY!! -

Easy Street Detour Around The World -

Is FINALLY a FLIMSY!! - ;))

TA DAH!! - ;))

This puppy is HUGE!! - ;))

The bed in the photo is King-size -

And the quilt top has a nice "drop" on both sides - ;))

It started out as EASY STREET -

Bonnie Hunter's 2012 Mystery Quilt Easy Street - HERE -

But I switched out her colors and chose my own - ;))

Then I took a slight DETOUR when I swapped some colors mid-mystery -

Most of the CHOCOLATE bits would have been RASPBERRY -

If I had stayed with my original substitutions -

And that would have been WAY TOO MUCH raspberry for me - ;))

Then I added my own AROUND THE WORLD border -

So I call my version -

EASY STREET DETOUR AROUND THE WORLD - ;))

Of all of the Bonnie Hunter patterns and mysteries that I have made -

And I LOVE her patterns -

I think that this one is my FAVORITE!! - ;))

It has enough variety in the blocks to make it interesting -

It's relatively easy -

And it has a TON of little bitty pieces - ;))

I also like the "on point" setting -

And I like how the blocks blend into one another -

They don't end where you think they do - ;))

It took me a LONG time because I'm a S-L-O-W P-O-K-E Quilter -

And it did get tedious at times -

BUT -

I think that I will DEFINITELY make this one again!! - ;))

Thanks, Bonnie!! - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

TUSAL - 10/23/14

Once again I have joined a bunch of other stitchers -

In Daffycat’s TUSAL - HERE -

It's a Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long - ;))

To play the game -

I have to fill my glass container -

With saved thread clippings -

Or ORTS - Old Ratty Threads -

Fabric trimmings -

Stitching cast-offs -

And then -

On (or about) the New Moon -

Take a picture of the ORTS in my jar -

Post it to my blog -

With a link back to her TUSAL post - HERE -

Label the Totally Useless posts with “TUSAL” -

And then visit her blog and comment on her ORT report for that month's TUSAL - ;))

It's EASY -

It's TOTALLY USELESS -

And -

It's FUN!! - ;))

This year I decided NOT to empty my jar each time -

Maybe a year-to-date accumulation of ORTs -

Will make it look like actually DID something - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

QJ - Harmonic Convergence (#2)

QUILT JOURNAL - HARMONIC CONVERGENCE (#2)

Machine Pieced
Machine Quilted
Lap Size - 45" x 60"
Started - December 1, 2007
Completed - December 22, 2007

Made for "my favorite sister-in-law"

Pattern - Harmonic Convergence
Ricky Tims' Convergence Quilts (c) 2003

With Border Layout - from Pg 36 -
Blue-Green Convergence -
By Lynn Koolish - Berkeley, CA
36” x 36”, 2001

I wanted to make a quilt for my sister-in-law similar to the one that I had made for my sister - ;))

I only needed 4 fabrics so I found a light and dark yellow/gold batik and a light and dark purple/green colored batik. I also got a dark green batik for the tiny inner border. Hopefully it would go with her family room or office furnishings - ;))

I used a "soft curves" technique by Alex Anderson for quilting the center portion and quilted a grid in the border - ;))

I challenged myself to complete it before Christmas - and I did - barely. I finished the binding and sewing on the label on Saturday, December 22, 2007. We left on Sunday, December 23, 2007 to spend Christmas with her and her family - ;))



QJ - 2007

P.S. - The label says "my favorite sister-in-law" - the joke is that she's my "only" sister-in-law - ;))

QJ - Crazy Quilt

QUILT JOURNAL - CRAZY QUILT

Machine Pieced
Machine Quilted
Long Twin - 75 x 90
Started - December 11, 2005
Completed - Piecing the top - January 1, 2006
Completed - Quilting/Binding & Label - November 2, 2007

Made for Nephew #2 -

Pattern - Big, Fat Comforter -
Stack the Deck! Crazy Quilts in 4 Easy Steps -
Pg. 38-40 - by Karla Alexander (c) 2002

When we went to my sister-in-law’s home for Thanksgiving 2005, our nephew asked me to show him how to quilt so he could make one long enough for him - he's 6'4". I took the bait and said, "Oh, I'll make you one!" - ;))

By Christmas 2005, I had decided on the pattern and fabric. I chose to make 30 blocks set 5 across and 6 down, so I needed 30 fabrics - I chose 10 blue, 10 brown, and 10 yellow fat quarters. (The technique was quite clever - it guaranteed that no fabric would appear in the same block twice - organized chaos.) I gave him the completed blocks for Christmas and immediately took them back to make the actual quilt - ;))

It took me forever to decide on how to piece the back and then how I wanted to quilt it - it was HUGE!!! In the meantime, he got married - ;))

By Halloween 2007, it had been two years and I still had not finished the quilt although I had somehow managed to finish the back and baste it with a fusible batting. I had to get going - Christmas 2007 was fast approaching - ;))

I finally decided to use my new favorite quilt pattern - Alex Anderson's soft curved lines - and set up my machine on the kitchen table - ;))

Within a week, I had it quilted, bound, and labeled. I have always said that I could paint the bathroom in a day, but that it would take me six months to decide what color to paint it - once I decide, I'm ok - it's just that I can't usually decide - too many choices!!!!! - ;))



QJ - 2007

Design Wall Monday - 10/13/14

DESIGN WALL MONDAY -
Check out all of us who link up with Judy L. -
At Patchwork Times on Mondays.
We have some awesome stuff on our walls!
Well, THEY do - ME - not so much sometimes - ;))
===

No big surprise here -

My design wall in the hallway is the same as last week - ;))

I spent most of the week re-arranging stuff -

Trying to get myself organized -

Because I can't find anything -

And my scraps are OUT OF CONTROL -

And LOOK what I found - ;))

This poor thing has been buried for YEARS -

I first worked on it back HERE -

And you can tell by the date on the post -

That it has been a while - ;))

So - with any luck -

This puppy will be done by this time next week -

But don't hold me to it -

Life has a way of getting in my way - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

QJ - Giant Christmas Stocking - Pre-Printed Panel

QUILT JOURNAL - GIANT CHRISTMAS STOCKING - PRE-PRINTED PANEL

Wholecloth Pre-printed Panel
Christmas Stocking
Completed - October 13, 2007

I found a GIANT pre-printed panel of a Christmas stocking -

A “Front” and a “Back” - ;))

I cut them apart and quilted them first to a red/burgundy fleece -

And then backed each of them separately -

To make both a LEFT and a RIGHT facing stocking - ;))

I used the RIGHT facing one to package the quilt that I made for my sister-in-law for Christmas -

And kept the LEFT facing one for myself - ;))

It was the perfect size for the quilt and it's reuseable! - ;))

The photos above may not show you how BIG this is -
But THIS one might - ;))

QJ - 2007

QJ - Storybook Quilt

QUILT JOURNAL - STORYBOOK QUILT

Pre-printed Book Panel - "Julie's Journey"
Machine Pieced
Machine Quilted
Twin Quilt
40" x 57"
Started - January 1998
Gave to Granddaughter #1 - Saturday - June 23, 2007

Made for Granddaughter #1 -

I took a preprinted panel that was intended for a child's fabric book and cut apart the pages. I then set the pages as blocks with sashing and borders - using pink gingham and a pretty "medium blue" with little daisies. She was 3 years old at the time - someday she would be able to read the story - ;))

I quilted it "in the ditch", but it always seemed to need either more quilting in the blocks - or to be tied - or something! - ;))

I held onto it for a long time - "to do" - ;))

I finally gave it to her when my daughter said that she would use it to show her how to tie a quilt - because she wanted to learn how to quilt! - ;))



QJ - 2007

BOB's Tuesday Toast - 10/7/14

Here’s to "lucky" days -

May we all have one every once in a while - ;))

===

If you read my blog yesterday -

You know that I was NOT looking forward to the day -

And my appointment with the orthopedic surgeon -

About my knee - ;((

BUT -

I am a VERY lucky lady - ;))

The chip was in the middle -

And the tears have healed nicely -

SOOOO -

My knee is stable -

And NO surgery is required -

YAY!! - ;))

I really like my doctors -

But I don't like my doctor appointments - ;((

They scare me -

For some reason -



But then again - it's probably just me - ;))

Design Wall Monday - 10/6/14

DESIGN WALL MONDAY -
Check out all of us who link up with Judy L. -
At Patchwork Times on Mondays.
We have some awesome stuff on our walls!
Well, THEY do - ME - not so much sometimes - ;))
===

On my design wall this week -

EASY STREET DETOUR AROUND THE WORLD -

My version of Easy Street - HERE - ;))

Yeah, I know -

It's the same as last week -

And I still need to get the left side together - ;))

I didn't mess with it much this past week -

I spent most of my time trying to psyche myself up -

For an appointment today with an orthopedic surgeon -

For a "consult" on my knee - ;((

I smashed it HARD back in January - HERE -

And due to "circumstances" -

Couldn't even think about having x-rays/MRI/surgery back then -

So I finally got around to having an x-ray taken -

And it seems that the x-ray had some "irregularities" -

And the follow-up MRI was "abnormal" - ;((

I apparently tore some stuff and chipped my tibia - ;((

SOOOO -

Some of my questions today for the orthopedic surgeon -
(And the probable answers- )

Have the tears healed themselves by now? -
(More than likely - but they probably need to be "cleaned up" - )

How big is the chip? -
(Big enough to become a problem if not dealt with - )

Should it be removed? -
(Probably - you ARE talking to a surgeon - and that's what they do - surgery - )

Will he be able to do whatever he needs to do using a "minimally invasive" technique? -
(Sure hope so - )

Or are we talking full-blown knee surgery? -
(Sure hope not - )

How long will the recovery take? -
(The shorter the better obviously - )

Outpatient surgery - and a couple of days of taking it easy? -
(Oh, please say this one - )

Or a couple of days in the hospital and six months of physical therapy? -
(OH, CRAP!! - )

And will I be able to SEW while I recuperate? -
(Probably won't feel like it - even if I could - )

I am so NOT looking forward to this day -

Or his answers - ;((

Wish me luck - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

Are YOU a Left-Handed Quilter?? -

Yesterday I played around with my blog a little -

Instead of sewing like a good girl - ;))

I couldn't help it -

I'm getting bored with my design wall -

And don't have the energy to get up off my chair -

To dig out something else to work on -

Soooooooo -

I messed around with my blog -

Because I can - ;))

You may (or may not) have noticed the NEW column on the LEFT side -

I figured it was a GREAT place to list LEFT-HANDED QUILTERS - ;))

I deleted the LEFTIES page/tab at the top of my blog -

And took the LEFT-HANDED blogs that had been listed on that page -

And added them to a BLOG LIST on the LEFT sidebar - ;))

It should be a fast and easy way for us LEFT-HANDED QUILTERS -

To find OTHER LEFT-HANDED QUILTERS and their BLOGS -

SO -

Are YOU a Left-Handed Quilter?? - ;))

If you ARE - are you on the list?? - ;))

If you are NOT on the list - and would like to be -

Grab the BUTTON on the RIGHT sidebar -

And leave me a comment -

I will add you to the list -

As soon as I can - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -