Whew................

I hope everyone out there had a glorious holiday.............

Lem and I spent the holiday going up and down stairs........ We have a lot more of that in our future.

I am only in hour 4 on my Hour a Day Quilt.

I am still in week 3 of the Block a Week Quilt.

I haven't done clue 4 in the Orange Crush Quilt.

Very little time for stitching right now. I am supposed to finish clearing out 1/4 of the basement in the month of May.... I just might make it.

I did get one dog bed made and taken to the animal shelter. Two more are stuffed and ready for to be sewn up.

I did get some machine quilting done. Then ran out of thread. The Janome is on the second floor and the Duchess is in the basement. I piece on one floor and stitch all else up two flight. Lots of exercise with this set up.

Quiltathon and Stash Report

Sunday morning Lem and I enjoyed a lovely breakfast. Lu came by and ate with us. It was good to visit with her. She has been gone for three weekends and I have missed seeing her.


We had discussed moving the furniture upstairs............. I know you are tired of hearing about this project but it has loomed large in my mind for some time.


I finally worked up enough courage to begin. I emptied every drawer in the dresser and bureau into boxes. I still have to sort through them. With the drawers empty we moved them upstairs.

At last that task is done.

I had planned to put just the chair and the small tv upstairs but when I saw all that lovely clean space I decided to put my Janome up there. Since that was in the basement, it had to be taken up two flights of stairs but now it is done and I have it all set up to learn how to machine quilt there.

This is a built in cabinet just inside the door to the sewing room.




The fabric on the chair is from Peg. I am going to stitch it up for pet beds for the animal shelter. The girls have been giving me fabric scraps for some time now and I want to get those beds stuffed and all those bags of scraps gone where they will do some good. The quilt rack behind the chair holds the quilts that are pinned and ready to quilt.



Here is the quilting area. The box beside the table holds tops ready to layer. There are three more boxes to move upstairs to add to that one.




The TV and DVD/VHS player. There is no cable up here and we will not be adding it at this time. I can watch movies however and that works for me. I also brought the cd player upstairs with my cd collection. I am good to go.





Bureau in the other bedroom...........

Bed with clean linens and my finished quilts on the foot of the bed. I might have to move them because of the sunshine. I sure don't want them faded.



Now for the stitching portion of the Quiltathon and the Stash Report.........

Week three block for the Peach Quilt...........

And the Green quilt. I am not really pleased with the green block and I might remake it. If I do this one will go in BOB.

And all the setting blocks are done for the Peach Quilt..........


I like this fabric and I just might use it in my hour a day quilt.

Quiltathon Saturday

Today started out with rain........... Lem had helped me load the car last night so all I had to do was dress and go.

I cannot sew on Friday mornings because we meet for breakfast and this morning I slept too late to go downstairs for a stitch or two. No problem, I can sew at the center. That really isn't machine piecing but I suppose missing another day will not hurt.

Rachel showed up at 8:00 and we loaded her car with things for her yard sale. We are slowly getting rid of extra stuff......... I sure hope I remember this and am more careful with purchases in the future....

We had a grand morning with just a few people there at nine. One by one as life permitted they came............... Nancy tutors a second grader in reading. Peg had out of town visitors and had to wait for them to leave. Eleanor had a meeting at church. Joan is not in the picture. She sells baked goods at the farmers market and Saturday was their first day of the season.

It was Judy's birthday (really her birthday is in June but I thought it was in May so I planned her celebration. We just celebrated early.) I couldn't find party hats but I did find some fancy sunglasses..........


We sure do have a grand time when we get together. Nancy brought soup and Barbara baked the cake. Judy and Jean bring the coffee and paper stuff.........



Friday afternoon I put together a bracelet and earrings for Judy. We wanted to have something for her to keep to remember the day. Hmmmm that is another finish fore me this year.

Barbara worked on borders for this quilt............

Jean put together this Smart Handbag. She even put tabs on the sides so she can change the handle to match her cover. Here it is with no cover.

Dee was working on a baby quilt.

Nancy was putting together her quilt.

Peg was going over the directions for this months block for The Quilted Village.

All in all it was a wonderful day to celebrate the Quiltathon.

This Weekend Is the Quiltathon

This is the weekend that Judy is sponsoring a QUILTATHON. I just adore these events and aren't I the lucky one. This is also the weekend for the Saturday Sewing Society so I have already scheduled all day Saturday to stitch...........

I am trying to decide what to take to work on. I really should take that dratted quilt I am tying for someone else. It has fluffy poly batting and I feel like I have marshmellow fluff on my lap. Add to that I am not sure just what I am doing and it really is a dreaded task. I should take it and do at least an hour or two on it.

I also should take the feathered star I started in January........ What was I thinking? I looked at the pattern and said "oh, nothing to this.... I wonder what all the fuss is about?" Well, I found out in spades......................... Yes, if I can find it I will add that to my basket.......... I will be hand sewing tomorrow. I cannot talk and concentrate at the same time and I find that if I take the sewing machine I spend a lot of time dancing with Mr. Seam Ripper.........

Trees.......

Yes, I must have a thing for trees. This small garden space is outside the restaurant where the Breakfast Club meets........... It is one of the first signs of spring .

While on the other side of the parking lot is a local market that becomes a garden this time of year. The glorious days of summer are on the way...........

And thanks to AJ I discovered that while I was downstairs merrily stitching the setting blocks, Week Three had been posted.........Silly me..... I am pleased to report that all the parts for the setting blocks are made and I have actually assembled 3 blocks........ Tomorrow I better get started on the blocks for week three.

Just A Couple of Things

Last night I did desk work for about an hour. That meant I did not get to stitch till around 9:00 so I got very little hand work done last night. I did go to bed with the laundry done and the kitchen cleaned and the sink shining ( Flylady friends will understand that.) I really don't understand where all the paper comes from or why I procrastinate so to dispose of it properly.

The crew showed up this morning to install the carpet upstairs..... They are also going to move the bed for me. I am anxious to get that done so that I can move on to the next room.

Early this morning I got the strips sewn together and then sub-cut for the setting blocks in the Block a Week quilts.......... I also got the four patches put together and ready for the green quilt.


This project seems to be going along well. As soon as I get the setting blocks made I will work on step four of Orange Crush and after that I need to make the 10 swap blocks for the Nifty Fifty swap.

Every evening Lem and I watch Judge Judy............. And while we are watching I work on a ubiquitous sock. At last I have finished a pair........... So it took 5 months to get a pair made but I did have my arm in a cast 3 of those 5. I am still rejoicing in a finish. They are thin on the ground this year.

My Apologies to Candace

I must apologize to Candace....... I put in the wrong name yesterday. Thank goodness Amanda queried me about it.......... What was I thinking.................. Please forgive me Candace....



Here are the two green blocks I made for my Block A Week quilt............

I also cut out the pieces for the setting blocks...........

Thank you Amanda for a quilt that goes together with such speed..................

Off to a Good Start

If you went to Candace's blog you found several bag tutorials......... I liked everyone of them.

How good it is to have such creative friends................

When I complained about my quilts being too strong Candace also recommended that I put a neutral color in them to give the eye a place to rest. That seems to be an excellent recommendation. If I had chosen the lighter yellow instead of the darker one, perhaps this quilt would look more pleasing to the eye. However, IT WILL BE WARM.............. Hasn't that been my mantra lately.


So we can add this finished top to my "Top a Month" list............. I got all the rows put together and then measured for the borders........... I am always interested to know just how far off I am when the quilt gives the finished length of the borders as well as the width. Even with all those little blocks to sew together, I was right on target with the correct size. This means that the Duchess must have the correct seam allowance set for stitching...........VBG





Here is my week two block from Amanda at Crazy Mom Quilts....


Kira at Sew, Craft, Create had the idea of doing two of them........... And weren't the bags of green fabric that Peg gave me just begging to be used............... Okay so I am doing two of them . I got the green block cut out and partially put together this morning also but not finished so no picture................. I will also need to make the green block for week one. These are going to be wonderful quilts........... Now I wonder if I should dig through my Grab Bag fabric for the third one..... HMMMMM...............

One Picture Left Out

I forgot to post the picture of the bathroom upstairs.............

I really am kerflempt of late...............

Saturday

Well, the upstairs is almost done. Only carpet left............... Two bedrooms upstairs.......

The first two pictures are the room on the right..........




The next three are the bedroom on the left.

The next step is to get carpet installed. Then I can stage those rooms. Except after we get the guest room furniture moved upstairs, we will have to use that room for a few weeks while the master bedroom is painted...............

I did get the bed uncovered in the guest room so that when the carpet is installed we can get that moved.

There is still a long way to go and the timetable is moving forward.......

Now I am tying the quilt for Kathy. I will be glad to have that obligation off my plate and move on to other things.

Saturday

Cold and dreary and raining here............

Lem and I slept late so I never got downstairs to sew this morning. I just started in on clearing the guest room. They should have the rooms upstairs completed this weekend and we will be ready to moved the furniture upstairs. I have to uncover the bed first........

This is really getting to be depressing. Seems like the more I do the less it appears that I have done anything.

Well, off to clear more.

A Surprise

Lem messaged me at work yesterday telling me that I had gotten a package in the mail. Wasn't I surprised to see such a cheerful box on the counter when i got home......


What could it be? There was even a kind note included.



Oh how lovely, a pincushion from Amanda. I won the drawing she had with her last Block a Week Quilt and here it is. Now I need to find some great pins to put in it.

Thank you Amanda.........................

Another Tree

This tree is in the park beside the library...... Wouldn't that be a pleasant spot to sit with a book and a cup of tea. I must do that this summer. The Methodist Church is in the background.

This is definitely New England.......



And I got a picture of the Rhododendrons there.

Curves after work yesterday and the library afterward........ Last night I finally finished stitching the fabric on the shawl Lu started. I still have to run the ends but I should be able to get that done tonight. That will give me one more item to mark off my list of promises.

STASH REPORT

I am always late with my stash report. I rarely turn on the computer on Sunday. That is already such a busy day for me so I do my report on Monday morning instead.

Instead of keeping track of yardage, I am reducing the projects on hand........ I did begin the Block of the Week with Crazy Mom Quilts and instead of buying fabric, I searched for something on hand. I found this box of fabrics that I had been "Saving" for another quilt project. I was never really happy with the choices I had made for that particular design and I always am half way looking for something. Yesterday I made the decision to use it for my Crazy Mom quilt. I am thinking I will use part of it for my Hour A Day quilt also. That will be using what is already on hand.



The project I am working on now is the Triple Irish Chain. I have decided to name this quilt "Kate Ryan"............ After all it is an Irish Chain....

I got all five strip sets made. I took my time, pressing every strip. Then placing the strip to be added on top of it and pressing it yet again. Then I sprayed the strip with my Mary Ellen's Starch Alternative and pressed yet again..... Pressed.. not ironed.......

I made sure I stitched from the opposite end each time. I am pleased with the outcome. It is going together nicely.

Here are the blocks I did manage to finish....... Once again I have used colors that are too strong. I need to work on this.

Let the Games Begin

As much as I am not going to enjoy this, the time has come. According to my calendar I am supposed to clear out 1/4 of the cellar in May.

Saturday I will begin. Rachel is coming to the house on Saturday at noon to remove a car full of whatever I have. She does a yard sale each year for Habitat for Humanity. That is a wonderful organization and I find it easier to give the items to her and let her dispose of them. I get to emotionally attached to my STUFF.

The plan is to start bringing totes and rolling carts upstairs tomorrow. The living room will suffer for a few weeks while I sort and pack and donate but it must be done.

This will greatly interfere in my stitching time but I keep reminding myself how much better it will be when this is all done.