Speed Bumps *#@$

Yesterday, after I posted I went back into my sewing studio to continue working on the cuddle quilt and when I looked at my design wall I noticed a problem...grrrr! Look closely at the photo and you can see that some of the center 4 patches have pink in the upper left position and some have white.

This block has 5 pink and white 4-patches and the 4 patch in the center should be oriented in the same position. I guess I just turned the blocks around willy nilly so that I could nest the seams. I didn't even think about the orientation. As you can see in the photo, I had joined quite a few blocks together. I probably could have taken a short cut and just let it be but I didn't like that the diagonal chains would be all messed up. So...out came the seam ripper. By the time I finished with it yesterday, I had sewn together quite a bit of the top. I just need to finish up the last three sections. Wouldn't you know it....I ran out of pink and white 4-patches.

I haven't spent any time in my sewing studio today because I just got back from visiting with my sister Glenda. She lives just over 80 km away and it takes me about 1.5 hours to drive each way. While I was there she and I picked some plums from her very pregnant trees. I wanted to take photos but I forgot to take my camera with me.

Look at all of the plums I got - they are gorgeous - fresh and organic.

Almost There!

Upper section has the extra pieces added to the outer edges.

I have been working on a cuddle quilt for the wife of my husband's cousin. Unfortunately, she is battling cancer and I thought that it just might make her feel a bit better to receive a quilt. I had asked her what colours she would like and she said pink and blue. I think I chose a a cute block pattern and I really like where it is going.

As I was making the blocks and setting them on the design wall I decided that I needed to add a little extra row to finish them off. I think it does make a difference and I think I like it much better this way.

Of course, that meant that I needed to cut and make a whole slew of extra 4 patches and 'triangle in a square' pieces. But I think it was definitely worth the effort! I have all of the blocks made except I still need to add the extra section to the rest of the outer edges and that won't take too long. I hope to have this top finished and ready for quilting over the next couple days.

Off the Frame

Thank you so much to Angela for suggesting the oak leaf/acorn quilting design. I didn't quite have that design but I did have a maple leaf panto called Maple Syrup and the quilt looks fabulous! I knew someone would be able to help me if I just put it out there!!

After I wrote my post I did get out the whiteboard and I thought I might like this design but honestly, Angela's idea was so much better. I got a few rows quilted in the morning and I had it pretty close to being finished but thunderstorms rolled in and I turned off the machine and unplugged it - just in case. Even though it is plugged into a surge protector I just don't want to risk it!

backing fabric

While the storm was working itself out I made a big pot of spaghetti sauce and turned it into two huge pans of lasagna. My guys were very happy about dinner. I froze one pan and we will definitely be having lasagna leftovers for a few days.

Maple Syrup panto

Once the storm passed I headed back into the studio and finished off the last 20" or so of quilting. The quilt is approx 59" x 72" and I quilted it with brown thread. Of course, I was admiring it the whole time I was working on it - my sister did such a great job with the design. I have trimmed and squared the top for my sister so all she has to do is add her binding and label.

Molly and Peanut wanted to model the quilt!

On the Frame

My sister Cheryl is making a quilt for our great nephew Xavier and she has asked me to quilt it for her. I tried to get her to commit to a particular pattern either free-hand or panto and all she would say is 'do whatever you want'.

I got the top loaded on the frame last night and I am ready to go but I just don't know how to quilt it. I wish it was easy for me but the quilt just does not magically tell me what and how to do it. Some quilters just know exactly how they want the quilt to look and they have the imagination and skill to make the magic happen. It doesn't have to be fancy or complicated but I do want to make it look like it was done well and not really sloppy. I think I will pull out my whiteboard and play around a little bit this morning and see what happens. Hopefully, I will figure something out quickly because I need it finished for tomorrow morning.

Thank you to all of you for your words of sympathy on the loss of my brother-in-law. I do appreciate all of your kind thoughts.

Sad News

My sister Glenda lost her husband yesterday....Herb had a stroke last week and even though it was a very serious event it seemed that he would be able to survive it although he would never fully recover.

Herb had a good and full life and he had participated in many activities from bow hunting, to fishing, to flying airplanes. He loved his vegetable garden and he especially loved his dog Pepper. He and my sister were together more than 30 years. They raised three beautiful children together and they grew into wonderful, responsible and caring adults. My sister and their children Amanda, Norman and Kim are all heartbroken and we are heartbroken for them.

Red Day

I was such a lazy dazy today and I didn't get out of bed until just after 9 am. That is really out of character for me because I am usually a very early riser. I was dreaming that I had slept for more than 12 hours and when I got up I quickly checked the clock. I didn't really sleep for 12 hours but pretty close....just about 10.5 hours!!! Wow...that is unbelievable...I had two nights sleep in one!

After a relaxing, slow start to my day I had the luxury of heading into my sewing studio and I decided to work on some of the latest Rainbow Scrap Challenge Sampler blocks. I made all three, Nonsense, Starz and Stripes.

I guess I decided to sew on the wild side because I did choose a somewhat flamboyant fabric for the background of Nonsense and I chose an animal print for the Starz block. I am really happy with my blocks and I just love that the sampler has included a string block - what could be better!

Pop on over to socrappy's and check out the links. You will see some great ideas to use up your scraps!

Round Robin

It has taken me so many tries to figure out what I needed to do for my round on this quilt but I have finally figured out something that I like. I must have at least 3 different borders partially made but they just weren't doing anything for me and the quilt wasn't too happy with them either! I was starting to feel a bit panicked that I wasn't going to come up with a design I like but happily I did. I first added a narrow 1" light border and then a 1.5" darker striped border. For the final border of my round I used a variety of blue, brown and red squares with the same neutral background that I used for the narrow inner border. The quilt top is now 45" square.

This is what the quilt top looked like when I received it from Cheryl after she did her handiwork on her latest round. I will be delivering this top to my sister today so I hope she has mine all ready to swap but somehow I doubt it. I think if I deliver this to her it will put a fire under her %@#$ and she will get mine done likkety-split.