Mystery - Step 2 finished

OMG...97 pinwheels and 4 half pinwheels. I hope that I understood the directions and the bright/bright pinwheels are okay - everyone else did light/dark pinwheels and I'm worried I'll miss the secondary pattern. We'll see. These are obviously "untrimmed' so I'm going to go Netflix and watch some old episode of "Murder, She Wrote" and trim the tails before I start step 3. I just love that show, although something puzzles me..why do her relatives continue to invite her to events and let her come to visit? After all, doesn't it seem like everytime she shows up somewhere someone meets their end???? AFter a while, you'd get a little nervous accepting a holiday or wedding invitation until you learn whether Aunt Jess is showing up. Oh, well.

Shower Curtain

Okay, I've decided to something else with the upstairs bathroom - we painted it almost 6 years ago (never did do the trim), so it's time to paint again anyway.

So, I went to Greenbaum's and with Sylvia's help (I think I tried out all the "new" looking fabric in the place), I settled on Anna Marie Horner prints that I love. The towels we have are yellow, and I don't see replacing those, so this makes sure there is a hint of yellow. I'm thinking we'll paint the walls green - I can't imagine Jerry thinking pink is the way to go.

Back to the mystery. It's 4:30 pacific time and I've only finished 18 pinwheels - need to get to 100. Yep, 100. Need to make dinner and sew, sew, sew.

Mystery - Step 1 finished

All 182 four squares and 8 triangles are completed....whew. On to the next step which is Pinwheels...argh. But I can do this!

My tobacco road is much more akin to Oregon "Alternative" tobacco...we don't grow tobacco out here on the west coast, but we certainly have our share of product that grows well in our region that has been known, on occasion, to subsitute. Therefore, mine is a bit more colorful perhaps, but it should be fun. More tomorrow.

A Hopscotch Birthday

My friend, Shawn, gave me a pattern and a charm pack (Hopscotch)I mixed with white and 30s green I had. A quick trip to the LQS for the border and ...here is the result. Cute, huh? It will make a great table quilt for the kitchen. I am taking my Mega Quilter in - I am still ending up with "skips" in my stitching, which is terribly irritating...and I'm not at all getting the result I want. Hopefully a good cleaning will do the trick.

Messenger Bag

Well, good news and bad news. The good news is that: (a) I like the size..not too big and not too small; (b) I finally mastered gromets (spelling is off, but you understand. Bad news: (a) Once again I'm not smart enough not to use Peltex - oh, eek. Especially with gromets. It gives a nice finish, but nearly impossible to work with; (b) Remembering to put the magnetic snap in before sewing it together (now it won't lay flat). Also, the strap needs to be smaller. I pieced together ideas from 3 or 4 patterns and came up with this - so the first one is a trial anyway, right?

But, Lizzie likes it - so it's hers and I'll make another for myself. I bought some gorgeous Valeri Wells "Sole" fabric that I've been waiting for just the right project - I can see one of these, a wonder wallet, an "Amy Butler" portfolio, and maybe even an Amy Butler business card holder...wouldn't that be a nice set???

Becoming an Amy Butler addict

Okay, I have to admit it - I had a tough time moving away from the romantic florals (I have so much April Cornell and 3 Sisters it's frightening), but I have suddenly found Amy Butler and Tina Givens...and now I can't wait to use all the "old stuff" up and move on to other things.

I found this piece yesterday on the sale rack at a local quilt shop - I just loved it so much that I bought it intending (maybe) to make this pattern at a class given in September here. What do you think?

Typing

Kind of fun - typing speed test.

84 words

Speedtest

Lunchbags

I have been searching for a lunch bag pattern. I had seen this one advertised, but picked it up yesterday from a shop going out of business (60% off makes certain patterns more attractive, doesn't it?). Well, without mentioning patterns names, I have to say that although the idea was cute, the instructions were...well, you know. I made one (which notice it's not posted???) and then did a whole lot of modification to get here. The cute thing is that there are two pockets on each side, and the pattern calls for sewing in the side panels rather than stitching across at the bottom so there is more stability. I'm going to try a few more - I'm thinking they need a ribbon and button on the front for more decoration.

June - BOM

Cathing up slowly..this is June. Tame, and luckily not as green as May.

It's May...

well, I guess I should say "I finished May!" - it's the Block Central BOM that I'm doing with my Mom and my quilt group. I've caught up to May and am going to try to get through full catch-up to August by the time September is posted.

But, it is certainly not May in Oregon...it's due to be 100 degrees today, for the second day in a row. I love when the weather says, "100 degrees. Expect hot". As though 100 degrees would never actually feel hot...e-gads. Anyway, at least there is air conditioning so I can continue to sew...

Star BOM - #2

Here it is - another bright 30s (somehow I've just got to dwindle down these scraps)...the pattern went together slick, but somehow my corners are a little off on the edges - the beauty of sashing, it can hide all this! I just love 30s - the colors all go together and the more contrast the better...makes selection a breeze.

Lizzie's blue ribbon

Lizzie's quilt got a blue ribbon - we're so proud of her...a quilter in the making (do you think she'll expect to "share" fabric? huh...or will it be double the stash?)

Haircuts!

Tonight all bobs! Caroline was the last one with long hair, now that is gone and a bob has entered her style...she loves it and I do too.

Lizzie's quilt camp quilt

Here is her finished product - she is very proud and planning to enter it in my hometown county fair.

Bag challenge

All People Quilt are sponsoring a bag challenge - here is one I made from the same pattern quite a while ago (my competition one will be quite a bit more creative), but here it is in "real life". This was leftovers from a Jelly Roll project - I made the slip-through handle longer than the pattern called for.

Quilt Group!

Our quilt group met this evening. We're (along with Shannon's sister Sally and my mom) doing the Block Central BOM this year. It's fabulous to see how color changes make the blocks look so different - it's wonderful...can't wait until next time!

Debbie in black and white, Jodi in a lovely Asian with green and pink, Shawn in Folklorique (she is convinced is way too busy, I think it will look fabulous), Aj in warm fall colors (she hates the green - don't ask) and Shannnon in fabrics she still isn't really sure about (green floral and plaid that Debbie convinced her to buy)....and all wonderful!

Unfortunately there was a glare in the restaurant, but I think the colors are coming through.

Star BOM - 30s!

So, I saw this link on another blog (let's blame her, shall we?) and could not resist - I have to admit, I just love stars and could see these out of that huge bin of 30s I still have (okay, periodically it shrinks and then - wham! - a quick trip to a couple of local shops and there it is again!). It's not like I'm already doing 4 or 5 mystery/BOM things...oh, yep, I am...plus all those I still have to put together. Oh, well, this is USING fabric...

And, by the way, if any of you represent the "point police"...I think you know what I'm thinking. I liked it when my mother said, "If your friends don't stand 10 feet back to admire your points, you need new friends". Enough said.

But I fell in love with this - there is a link to on the left side for "STAR BOM" if you want to see it, or better yet if you want to join me...

This wasn't the suggested color way, but I love it anyway.

It's a mystery!

My LQS, Greenbaum's, hosts an on-line mystery. This is the second my mom and I have done. (The first one isn't quilted yet, maybe that should be the next one on the machine...) Sylvia from Greenbaum's has posted step one and here is mine. The fabrics are some I picked up called "Scaredy Cat". I had two charm packs, plus a couple of fat quarters and some yardage - I hope it's enough. Sylvia recommends 9 yards, but I can't for the life of me imagine that much fabric in this quilt. I probably have about 5 or 6 total...but here is step 1 - it's only 13.5 inches squared (unfinished, 13 finished) so the pieces are much smaller than they appear. Could be kinda fun. I'm tempted to do a second in 30s scraps at the same time (some day I really need to get rid of my bin of 30s scraps...really!).

coffee fabric

so, road to my LQS and found this for my mother - I hope it's what she was looking for. If not, I'm sure she'll let me know...(lol).

Practice, practice

I'm a little embarrassed by how long I've had these quilt tops (at least a couple of years), but I've been digging out old ones to practice on the quilting machine. It's getting better, still not perfect. I need to expand now and move from free motion to patterns...but at least I have these two finished now (these are firsts as everything else this far has either been disasterous or a small piece to make bags).

Bags from Grandma

Grandma sent the cutest bags (okay, she admitted taking a class and then proceeding to make multiples of the bag, like we all do!) and they just had to take them to school. Although this isn't a great picture of the bags, they are very cute and very well loved!