A UFO finished

I couldn't decide on what to work on yesterday so I dug out this tote bag that I started almost two years ago. I first saw it at a retreat in Springfield, MO two years ago. They called it a "Barbara Bag". Since my name is Barbara, I just had to make it. It's made from a large square of quilted fabric, bind the edges, then sew two seams, fold the corners in, add the handle and you have a bag. That's just a quick explanation of how it was made but wasn't hard. I really wasn't pleased with the commercial yellow and white gingham binding so that's why it sat unfinished for so long. Since I'm going to the retreat in Springfield again this year, I decided to finish it. It's pretty large, the tiles it is laying on are 12 inches square. It sure can hold a lot, good for shopping.



I made the second Ozark Puzzle block, also for the retreat. This time it is batik with a black background. I really like how it came out but it sure was hard for me to sew. As I'm getting older, it's getting harder and harder to work with black and I really like how it makes the colors pop.

Today was the day we took my aunt out to lunch. She so looks forward to our day out and we enjoy being with her. I sure hope that if I live to be her age, 89 in September, that I'll be as active and alert as she is. She still lives alone although she does have house cleaning and yard help.

My neighbor brought over a handbag that she had bought at a garage sale a couple of years ago to see if we could take it apart and make a pattern from it since she liked it so much. It turns out that I had the pattern for it. If I remember right, it's called "Mary's Bag". I've probably had that pattern over 12 years. I bought it at the AQS show in Paducah that long ago. I've always wanted to make it up and just never got around to it. Now, it's going to get done. We are going to go shopping for fabric in two weeks and then make them together. She is just getting into quilting and is so excited about it.

This evening about 8:30, Howard got a call that a good friend of his had had a heart attack and was in the hospital. He took off to go see how he is and also to close up his office. He was at work when it happened and he left his computer on and lots of stuff on his desk that needs to be taken care of and put in a safe. He works in a high security area so certain procedures have to be followed. I have no idea what time he will be home but in the meantime, I'll sure be praying for his friend and his wife. I've been through this twice with Howard and I know how scary it is for the wife and family.

Our realtor called this morning and he has had two different people call him from out of state that they are going to be here over the holiday weekend and want to see the house. We live close to a large lake that is very popular for vacations so we get a lot of out of state people here during the holidays and summer. I'm not holding my breath, but maybe one of them is the one. Better go and make sure things are spiffed up and looking good.

They're at it again

Last year, one of our chickens decided to use one of the folding chairs on the front porch as her nest. She actually hatched three sets of eggs during the summer. We tried to move the eggs to a nesting box that we sat in the corner, just under the chair. No good. She just laid more eggs in the chair. This year we've been good about folding up the chairs at night. But, last week we forgot them for a couple of days. This year we have different chickens due to a raid by a couple of hawks. But, they also like the folding chairs. We decided to just let them have their way and make their nest there if they wanted to. The interesting thing about it is that apparently at least two different hens are laying eggs in the same place. If you look closely, there is at least two different size eggs in the chair. To me, it seems to be three different size eggs. As of this afternoon, there is 10 eggs. They won't start sitting and hatching until they have an uneven number of eggs, somewhere between 11 and 17. I just wonder which hen will sit on them or if they will take turns? It's going to be interesting. I'll try to get pictures later.



I did manage to get some sewing done during the past couple of days. The Happy Block theme for June on Block Central is "The Pond", whatever you would find in or around a pond. I just happened to have some scraps of a fabric with turtles on it left from a quilt I made for a grandson about nine years ago. It was just perfect for the center of the block as we really do have turtles in our small pond. Now to just put them in a safe place until the drawing in July.



I'm going to be going to a retreat in August and we always make blocks for a raffle. We will be making four or five different blocks. The retreat leader picks out the pattern for them. This one is Ozark Puzzle and can be found on www.quilterscache.com It's a large block with a lot of pieces but it's real easy to put together. We will be making two of these. Both will use batiks but one with a white background and the other with a black background. I've got the first one made and have the fabric chosen for the second one but it will have to wait for a really good day as these old eyes don't like sewing on black very much.

Around the house has been very interesting the past few days. On Sunday, Howard was bending over to pick up a shirt and heard a pop and couldn't straighten up for a little bit. His back went out. This happens every year or so and usually clears up after three or four days of rest and heat. He's been walking around crooked and spending lots of time laying on top of the electric blanket with it turned on, a giant heating pad. He seems to be a tiny bit better but if he isn't a whole lot better tomorrow I'm going to try to get him to go see the doctor. He keeps telling me that he's fine but I can tell by the look on his face and the way he's walking that he isn't. We are supposed to go to my granddaughter's graduation this weekend and I'm not sure he can take the 4 1/2 hour ride there, sitting through it, and the return ride home. Will have to wait and see how it goes. The seats in his new truck are heated so he could turn his seat on and use it like a heating pad. That just might work.

Mystery Quilt Update

I decided to document my progress on Bonnie Hunter's Orange Crush Mystery. It's a way of keeping myself on track and also to see my progress. So, I got all of the parts out it it's storage bag and took these pictures.



This first picture is of Part 2. They are all in neat stacks, waiting on the next instructions that will, hopefully, tell me how they are to be used.

This is what I made in Part 3. They look like I took some of Part 2 and split them in half. Maybe that's how they are going to be used, I wonder?????

This is Part 4. It was made using the large stack of four-patch squares from Part 1 and some yardage. As you can see from the colors of my star points and from the scraps in the other parts of this mystery, the name "Orange Crush" sure won't fit my quilt. I think I'm going to call it "Blueberry Crumble". I'm not completely sure of that as I don't know exactly what fabrics I'm going to use in the rest of the clues for this quilt. I know that in the fabric requirements, another color of yardage and an accent color fabric are used and I haven't chosen them yet. I'm just pulling the fabrics from my stash as I need them. So it is a true mystery.

Today was the day to take my aunt out to lunch. We go once a week to the same restaurant, Webb's Country Cafe in Cumberland Gap, TN. It's a chance for her to get out and see some of her friends. We have never been there without seeing at least one of her many friends. We look forward to our days out together and have fun. Since Howard has retired, he has joined us several times. I think that I'm really appreciating the little pleasures in life a lot more as I grow older and one of those pleasures is spending time with her.

A good day sewing

Today was a busy day but a good day. Howard had to be away most of the day on business so I was home along. I spent it doing laundry, five loads of laundry. How does two people have so much laundry in a week. Like my mother used to say, we're either the dirtiest or the cleanest people in town. Oh well, won't have to do it again for at least a week.

In between the loads of laundry, I sewed. I was determined to get the latest part of the Orange Crush mystery quilt finished. The first three parts were very scrappy and I didn't even make a dint in my box of scraps. For this part, you have to have yardage. From the colors I choose, I think I'll call my quilt, Blueberry Crumble. I don't think it will have much orange at all in it. Now, it's all safely stored in a two gallon zip loc bag, just waiting for the next step.

I also did the blocks for the Block Party Surprise swap on Block Central. The top block is the alternate block for the month, Mississippi.

The lower block is the main block, Frolic Variation. I'm not real sure I like my color choices in this one but I do like the contrast in the top block. I just joined this swap this week and it's a different type swap, you keep your own blocks. Each month a different person chooses the main and alternate blocks. You have a month to make one of the blocks and post a photo of it. You decide when you have enough blocks to make a quilt. I think I may try to make some of the previous blocks as they are so pretty.

I probably won't get any sewing done tomorrow. I'll be taking my aunt out to lunch and then spending a couple of hours visiting with her. She will be 89 in September and still lives alone. She does have someone to do the yard and a lady that comes in every two weeks to clean house for her. Otherwise, she's on her own. I'm the closest relative to her, about 35 minutes away. Her daughters both live a good 4 hours away. We have a good time on our days out and we both look forward to it.

I think that on Friday, I'll spend some time straightening up the sewing room so I will have space to work without having to move "stuff" out of the way. I need to get busy on the graduation quilt for Allison. She is going to be graduating early sometime this summer. So, I need to get it done now instead of next year. She wants the Eleanor Burns Sunbonnet Sue quilt done in the 30's fabrics. I have all of the pieces traced onto the fusible interfacing. I just need to get my fabrics cut and ready to sew. Looks like I've got my sewing all planned out for the next several weeks.

Gift for Mom

Where has the week gone? It seems like it was just last Sunday and here it is Friday already. Between trying to clean out the kitchen pantry and cabinets and doctor appointments, the time has flown by. Here is a photo of some of the sewing I got done this past week. It's not much, but I'm sure proud of it. It's a pillowcase for my mom for Mother's Day. She had previously told my brother and I that she didn't want us going out and buying anything for her. All she wanted to do was to go to the new Longhorn's for dinner. So, we're taking her there Saturday evening. But, I just had to do something personal for her. Into my stash I went and I found a large enough scrap of the pansy print fabric for the border/hem of a pillowcase. Then I found the yellow that just matches the yellow in the print. I was on a roll. I really like how it came out and she may actually use it instead of putting it back to save "for good". By the way, her first name is "Pansy" so I think it's a very special pillowcase.




I'm thinking that I may make pillowcases as Christmas gifts this year. About three years ago, I gave each of the 12 grandkids a travel size pillow and two pillowcases for it. They all seemed to like them. So, I may make them both a regular size and a travel size pillowcase this year. May even put their name or initial on the hem. Will have to think on that but with the embroidery capability on my machine, it wouldn't be hard to do. I may have just planned out my summer and fall sewing projects for the rest of the year.

On a non-quilting note, Howard (my DH) called his supervisor at the supermarket and officially retired. He's been off since the last week of March due to the surgery on his wrist and hand so they are used to him not being around. And, he was 65 last August so it's time. He told me that after the summer, he might look for something a couple of days a week to have something to do besides yard work. He thinks we will have all of the "to do" projects around the house finished by then and he doesn't want to just sit around. We'll see what he really does. It's going to be interesting.

Christine's Graduation Quilt

This past Tuesday, I finished the last stitches on the binding of the quilt I'm making for my son's youngest daughter, Christine. She will be graduating from Osborne High School in Marietta, GA around the first of June. She collects Rubber Ducks and wanted them to be in her quilt if I could work it out. I lucked out, I had bought three yards of the duck fabric on the front of the quilt last June on the shop hop here in east Tennessee. I knew she liked ducks and was hoping I could use it. If not, I would just keep it to make for some other deserving young child. I pulled the yellow and the two blues from my stash. I had had them for over a year, almost two. They worked out very well. The pattern is "Warm Wishes" from Quiltmaker magazine. That is a great pattern and so quick to make up.


Here is a close up of the upper corner of the quilt. I'm not sure why the yellow has such a greenish tint to it as it is a lovely butter yellow, almost the color of the ducks on the back of the quilt. I turned each square of ducks upside down so either end of the quilt could be the top, at least from the front. It finished at 66 X 90 inches. A very good size to take off to college this fall.

This is the fabric on the back. It is a current fabric, "Rubber Ducky Bubble" by Michael Miller. No one in my area had it so I had to order it online. I found it at my favorite online store, The Fat Quarter Shop. I ordered seven yards to make the back with only one seam down the middle. So, after trimming it after the quilting was finished, I have a lot of it. The small strips from the sides will go into the scrap bin and the very large piece from the one end will probably be used to make a matching pillow case to go with the quilt.

Now, all I have to do is make the label for the back and I don't want to do that until I know the date of the graduation ceremony. There are so many schools in the Marietta area that they hold the graduations over three or four days and two or three ceremonies at each location each day. For her oldest sister, they decided to hold it on the football field. Bad decision. It came a thunder storm with a downpour of rain that rivaled a tropical storm. They had to quickly move it into the gym and only parents could attend, no siblings or grandparents, aunts or uncles. It was a mess. I hope it's different this year.

Anyway, the quilt is finished.

June Happy Block

The winners for May were drawn Friday and it wasn't me but that's ok. I'm having so much fun making these blocks and the winners are going to each get 56 blocks this time for the Asian theme blocks. The theme for June is "Summer" using tropical colors and only minimal prints in the fabrics. I went to my stash and started pulling out fabrics and ended up with this block. For this month, the block can be made with more than the normal two colors. I decided that I would use five as I just liked the way they went together. As usual, I made six for the drawing and an extra two to go in my growing collection of Happy blocks. One of these days, I'll put them together into a Happy Block quilt that reflects all of the themes for the months I've been taking part in the swap.

Sally, my next door neighbor, and I went to a quilt show in Sparta, TN yesterday. We had a great time. It's about two hours away from here so we made a day of it. On the way, we stopped at Loose Threads, a quilt shop in Harriman, TN. I had to pick up my Singer Featherweight that I had previously left for servicing. Sally is very new to quilting and is working on her very first quilt. She was so excited by all of the fabric in the shop. In our small town we have two choices, Wal-mart and a very small quilt shop that has been open for a year and has a very limited fabric selection.

Back to the quilt show, it's put on by the local quilt guild in Sparta every two years. It's a small, exhibition only, show at the local civic center. While it was a very small show, the quilts were as good as any at any other show. Several were just stunning. Once again, it was so much fun to watch Sally's face as she walked between the rows of quilts. After stopping for a late lunch in Cookeville, we came on home. Sally did get fabric to make some placemats and a seat pad for the antique bench that sits just inside her breakfast room door. I'm going to help her with the pattern and figuring out the size to cut the fabric strips. I love to teach beginners how to quilt and to see their excitement when they finish a new project.

Reversible Tablerunner

This table runner is the result of trying out the block from a quilt pattern in the current issue of Fabric Trends. If you go to www.fabrictrends.com you can see photos of the quilts in this issue. The quilt is "Opposites Attract" shown in blue and lime green. I wanted to see if I could do it with strip piecing using only two fabrics. In the pattern, they cut out each square and rectangle individualy as they were using several different prints in the same color and placing them in the blocks randomly. I used two FQ's and was able to make five blocks. I didn't want to have another batch of orphan blocks so I sewed them into a row, layered they with a scrap of batting and a remnant I've had for over four years just waiting for the right project. Originally, I had planned on making the red checks into an apron for Howard (my DH) but it wasn't quite enough. I think this works out very well. I can use either side on the table. I'm looking forward to using the check side with those red plastic plates and cups for a cookout this summer.

For those that asked about the center fabrics in the Asian Happy Blocks, it's "Tuscan Wildflowers" by Robert Kaufman. Two weeks ago, my fav LQS still had it. I'll be going there tomorrow and can check on it if anyone would like.

Thanks to all for the warm welcome to this quilt blogging community. I've a lot to learn, but I'm getting there.