Monday, January 28, 2008

It's been a long, quilty week-end



Friday, I didn't have to work because it was the end of the semester and a grading day. Then, there was the usual week-end. I decided to try and get some quilts finished before I started on some more that I wanted to do.
This first one is from a challenge from an on-line quilting group. I was given some blocks and got to add whatever other fabrics that I wanted to, to make a charity quilt. I used a bunch of orphan blocks and bits and pieces sewn together to make this one, using the Crazy Curves templates. It reminds me of a crazy quilt, but way easier to put together. It's about 36" square. I had just enough binding scraps from other projects to bind this up.
The pink and green one looks like hollyhock flowers. Someone sent me the top to see if I could make it into a charity quilt. It seems to be a paper-piecing project. Now, it's a nice, warm quilt. I used yellow binding to try and bring out the yellow of the flower centers.
The center part of this little pink quilt of squares was sent to me to use in a charity quilt, so I sewed the seams that needed a little reinforcement, added some borders from my stash (purple looks nice with pink, I think), and used the pink ribbon fabric that was also donated, to round out the top. It's a lot of pink, but I think someone, probably a little girl, will be very happy with it. The very middle square is a super soft fabric, like minkee, and the backing and binding is pink flannel. If it wasn't so pink, I think I'd keep it around just to pet. :o)

Last year I swapped some polka dot blocks. I think they are a fun fabric, good for all ages. Also, last year, a co-worker and his wife had a baby boy. He's the freshman football coach, so I thought and thought how to make a quilt for the baby. I finally decided that I didn't want to make a regular "baby" quilt, I wanted to make one for their son. He loves football and she is so bubbly and up-beat that I decided to combine those 2 design elements and make this top. It's more toddler size, but since he's already 9 or 10 months old, I think the parents will still like it that I am celebrating the birth of their son. It's not quilted yet, but at least the top is done and the borders are added. It's big enough that it's worth the effort to load it onto the Grace Quilting Machine... barely. :o)
Lastly, I finished the quilt for my niece. She's expecting her 3rd baby in March. Her 2 kids are 8 and almost 3. I had the oldest over to help me match up the fabrics for this quilt. (You've met Memorie before, in a previous blog.) That way, she can say that she helped make the baby quilt for her little sister. She's not very interested in quilting, but she's very interested in helping me, so we did it for the fun factor. I thought it was done, but then found out that mom really was hoping for something with Paddington Bear on it. Of course, the nice aunt that I am, had to go buy just a smidge' of Paddington Bear fabric to add to the quilt. That's why there's the top (bottom?) border of light fabric. And even though I think it looks kinda' weird, she's going to love it. I love this pattern. I think it's a interesting way to make an "I Spy" quilt.
Now, I'm off to the store. I need about a yard and a half more Elvis fabric to make the rest of the blocks that I need. I got 60 blocks cut and pieced yesterday, but I'd prefer to have 72. My mom loves Elvis, so I think she needs an Elvis quilt, don't you? :o)

Thursday, January 24, 2008

3's about me that people may not know


3's about me that people may not know.

3 jobs I have had in my life:

  1. Clown
  2. Cauliflower harvester
  3. Turkey eviscerator
3 movies I could watch over and over:
  1. Big
  2. Back to the Future (1, 2 and 3)
  3. Shrek (1, 2 and 3)

3 Places I lived:

3 State Capitols
  1. Salem, Oregon
  2. Carson City, Nevada
  3. Denver, Colorado
3 Shows I watch:

  1. House
  2. American Idol
  3. Two and a Half Men

3 Places I've been:

  1. Denali NP in Alaska
  2. Crater Lake NP in Oregon
  3. Yellowstone NP in Wyoming

3 Places I'd rather be:
  1. Arizona, visiting family
  2. Alaska, exploring with Rick
  3. on a Harley, exploring the countryside
3 Things I'd rather be doing right now:
  1. playing with kids (that are in a good mood)
  2. quilting on my machine, in a clean garage (that I didn't have to clean out, again)
  3. finishing up a quilt top

3 Things I am looking forward to this year:
  1. Quitting smoking
  2. Getting all my quilting UFOs finished
  3. Buying my own Harley

Monday, January 21, 2008

The camo nursery set is finished...



Can you see it? If not, that's because it's camoflauged. lol
I made these for my niece Brandi, down in Arizona. She's expecting a boy and she and her husband really wanted a camo theme, so she sent the fabric to me, and I've been trying to sew it up into something cool. I hope she likes it. There is:
  • a camo comforter
  • a diaper stacker
  • a changing table pad cover
  • a pillowcase, for propping the baby
  • a covered basket, and
  • a non-camo, very nice, large flannel receiving blanket to use as a swaddling cloth


Just in case you couldn't see what they were, I thought I'd make it just a touch easier...I labeled the pieces. OK, I can't really see them either, but believe me, they really are here. :o)

Saturday, January 19, 2008

January is time for a new start

It's January and we are trying to organize the house so that it's more usable. I bought 2 new lamps and my nephew here is building one of them. The 2 grand-toddlers "helped" build the other one that's just like it. I also fixed 3 lamps that were either broken or needed bulbs. Only one had to be de-commissioned. I would've said "thrown out", but we kept the base and stand parts of it to use to hang a coat on for drying. Now, I'd say that we have almost enough lamps. I still need one by my bed, but that can wait until I find just the right one. I did look at the thrift store, but instead of a lamp, I found 2 nice pieces of fabric; almost 3 yards for $1.10. I also found a cotton blanket for $2.99. It will be an excellent batting for a baby quilt that I'm working on. And the leftovers will probably be enough for about a dozen hot pads. I know, nobody actually needs a dozen hot pads, but I'm thinking that I will make some for gifts.
Tomorrow, I think we will put together some more shelves we got. We were going to do that today, but the lure of the Harley-Davidson store won out. Rick and I went and looked at, and compared motorcycles. I'm still not sure exactly which one I want to get right now, but I did get more information so that I can think about it. This is the one that I really want, I'm just deciding if we can afford the payment. Here's a picture so that you can know what I'm drooling over. :o)

P.S. - The blanket was cotton and king-size and my daughter snagged it for her bed. Since it was so big and nice, I let her. Guess I'll have to use regular batting now, huh?

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Instead of a movie...



my nephew and I went to a free concert last night. One of the guys that I work with is in a band and they were playing at an all-ages venue, so I took my nephew to see his first live band.
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.channel&ChannelID=42380062 This is the link, if you want to see who they are.

I think it was much more memorable than going to a movie. We thought about going to see the new VeggieTales movie, but his mom wanted to take him, so we found something else to do. I think he'll have twice as much fun this way. :o) The bass player had his 14 year old son sit in for a couple of songs and that was exciting. My nephew is 11 and has played the cello, so the upright bass was something that he could relate to.
I absolutely love Veggie Tales and the Silly Song that this movie is based on is a family favorite, so I have confidence that eventually I will see it. :o)

Friday, January 11, 2008

How *do* you put pics in one at a time???

I've been trying to figure out how to add photos into the middle of the text. Either there's not a lot of info out there to explain this, or I can't find it, but I'm going to try again.
First, there's a picture of Ben Wren and their friend Marshall hanging out together on New Year's day morning.

Then, we have the picture from today. Both of the kids are highly intrigued by boxes. If there is a closed box in the house, they MUST open it to see what's inside. The box they found today had a sandbox in it that they got for Christmas from one set of their great-grandparents. They opened the box, got the parts out and were attempting to put it together before they were found. They were working so hard that they even earned some of Grandpa's "work" potato chips...the kind he uses to take to work in his lunch box. They were so proud of themselves.
They did tell me, though, that there is no sand in it yet. They will do more work after I go and buy some. :o)

And guess what? I figured it out. Click and drag works on photos, too. Yay!