Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Quick hello

Hi all! Just popping in to say hello. Last week was a doozy. My MIL, SIL and her hubby all arrived from Oregon on Thursday ( so full house for me) in order to attend a family wedding on Saturday. The wedding on Saturday was very nice, but a loooong day. The ceremony was at 2pm, about an hour from our house. Then the reception was about  45 minutes from th church and started at 5pm. It was too far to go back home so everyone headed toward the reception with the vague idea of stopping for coffee or something. Luck was on our side and somehow about 20 of us ended up at the IHOP (pancake house) near the reception location enmass. We kept them busy for a while. Lots of noise and laughter.
Sunday the in laws wanted to organize a get together for the whole bunch, cause I guess all day Saturdy was not enough togetherness. LOL. So we hosted an inpromptu party at our house. Now of course that is the day tht we finally got HOT weather. Our air conditioning was kind of weak at best,but we were pretty comfy as we didn't need to cook.
Yesterday the air conditioner was not even pretending to work. The hubby called a repair guy who said he could get here around 7 pm. The in laws left for the airport around 5 pm and we retired to the lower level ofthe house because it always stays a lot cooler. The repairman called around 9:30pm and the hubby very politely said yes we would greatly appreciate it if he could still come out. He did at 10 pm. In 30 minutes we had some cool air on the way (and our money on the way off with the repairman). Sadly his opinion was that we need a new air conditioner and furnace, but he thought we might make it through the summer. I love warm weather, but I need it cool to sleep. So we will see how long we can get by.
I did do some sewing at work so I will take some photos on Wed and post those.
Happy quilting everyone.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

New bag

I had planned to try and make a bag every month to use as gifts when the holidays roll around. I have been managing to get some done in between other projects. This is a pattern that I pulled out of a magazine a while ago. I bought the fabric because I thought it was cute. I finally put them both together and made this. It will go to my sister. I think I will add a button or a pin on the flap. What do you think? There is a magnetic snap under the flap, so a button would just be decorative. I think it needs something.

I am working on a small quilt for the shop as a sample. The log cabin blocks are now rows. I cut out and fused the BOM from the store. I also gave in and started the Snowbound BOM. It is just so cute that I had to get started. I have the first 4 blocks ready to do the hand work. Today I printed the pattern for block 5. I hope to get 2 blocks done per month so that I can catch up.  I also started to put my swap blocks together.
BTW I still haven't been able to find a part for my quilting frame. :( So this is how it looks now. I better come up with a plan B


My cough  went away for a few days and then came back full force. I had to start antibiotics, a steroid inhaler, nasal spray and ear drops. The diagnosis is bronchitis. I have been kind of just hanging out at home sewing a little and resting a little.

Happy stitching everyone!

Saturday, May 1, 2010

April finishes

I actually fnished a couple of things in April, well sort of anyway.  I took a wool mat class with Karen Witt a couple of months ago. It is done. It was a lot of fun to do. The flowers were a little tricky to get cut out, but the rest was easy. I just did the french knots in the centers and then stitched on the backing, which is a homespun.



The BOM wool project is up to date. I have been finishing my blocks each month, but not putting them together. I marked them the other day and got the first six stitched together. There are three more blocks then a  top and bottom border as well as a vine that goes up over part of the center blocks.

I finished the log cabin blocks I was working on. I have them up on the design wall now so next time you see them, they might be a top. I originally planned to use these fabics for a baby log cabin quilt. I might use it for that, or I might just use it as a table topper. Either way it was a good exerience for me doing a log cabin.  Next time I will plan my dark and lights better. ( I wasted a little due to not thinking things thru). I will keep the scraps for my next scrap project.



Speaking of scrap projects.... I have finished all the pieces for Katie's scrap challenge and have pressed them all. Now I just need to get them sewn together . I am gonna try, time is ticking.










I had to work yesterday, but I left home early and got my swap blocks in the mail. Just barely on time, but they are on the way. I have all the fabric pulled and pressed for the next set, so hopefully I'll be ready before the last second. LOL.

Happy stitching.