Signs of Spring!

The first daffodils are blooming. Our temps have been in the 60s and near 70. So nice.

These are the crumbs and I'm thinking of setting them together like Chinese Coins and maybe calling it Stacked Crumbs. I have laid a white sheet on top of the bed then the light purple and then the stacks of crumb blocks which are not sewn together yet.

I had been rising last week at 6am and sewing for an hour or so on strings then crumbs (the trimmings from the strings) blocks. A total of 32 11" string blocksand 20 9" crumb blocks. I used 16 string blocks with a border to make one small string quilt for C.A.S.A. I forgot to take a photo before I delivered it to Kraz-z Quilters on Wednesday.

This picture was taken at Kraz-z Quilters meeting last summer.

I got the Pieces Parts quilt quilted. I just need to trim the threads and batting; prepare the binding and sew it on. I quilted a customer quilt and it was picked up this week. And Thursday I was invited to go to Post Oak to visit the Post Oak Quilters. I always enjoy visiting with them. Thank you, Ladies.
Friday I washed and hung clothes out. It was a beautiful day. Very breezy but beautiful.

This is Mickey and the Purple 4 Patch Stacked Posies I made for her. She added the pink and off white outer borders. She will bind it with a dark purple. It is on our frames at Kraz-z Quilters right now. Mickey has marked it so nicely and it will be so pretty. I will try to remember to take my

I said I had been rising at 6am and sewing. It just wasn't happening this week. No energy.  I've got more machine quilting this week. Then I will start sewing the strings and crumb blocks together.

Blessings,

Something Quilty

A post with quilty stuff and quilts--it's about time! I have received two gifts from two special people. The first came right before I left to go on retreat and I totally forgot to post a picture.




Connie W from Cootie Bug 2 held a PIF several months ago and I entered and here is her gift. Isn't it adorable?



AND Patricia who has been reading my blog since it's beginning sent me these wonderful strings and crumbs. The colors are so pretty. I have one of those fabrics, Patricia. The blue with the dark. And check out the one that says Welcome to Grandma's that I positioned in the middle.


And I promised quilts! Here is the Time Travel quilt. All it needs is quilting. Yay!



And here is the latest. I found this fabric and used it to demo 4 Patch Stacked Posies earlier in the summer. I saw Geta's quilt and used her tutorial. I need a name folks. I'm thinking Floating Flowers at Midnight or something. I need help.



Blessings,

It's Finished to Quilt top stage

I got the blocks sewn together a week or so ago and then Saturday at Paradise Piecemakers I got the borders cut and sewn on. This one will be tied or quilted and donated to C.A.S.A. in our area for a child they have been assigned.




And another for C.A.S.A. I pieced these blocks a year or two ago and they got put away. I got the backing pieced, too. Yay. If you're interested in the block pattern--I think I found it at allabout.com. I think. When I have some time I will look back and check on that. I looked and found it. Look here. I didn't have enough of the stripe fabric to follow the pattern exactly.


And may I introduce our new residents. Aren't they pretty? One boy and three girls. Yes, Donna, he is still a boy. Don't know how long.








What our grass looks like after all the rain we've had. God is so good.

Blessings,

Still Busy

No Swine flu here. Praise God! All the schools have reopened.

Pictures of DD's house.

Donna, if you're reading this--you would love her house!

This is the cabinet in her bathroom. Click on the picture to enlarge to see the glass knobs.

DD moved this weekend into their BIGGER house. I went Friday to help do some cleaning before the move. The house had been empty for awhile so lots of cobwebs and dust. I volunteered to clean her bedroom. Did I mention that this house is bigger? Oh yeah! They are going to enjoy it so much. Her regular housekeeper came in the afternoon and cleaned the kids bedrooms, bathrooms, and kitchen. DD took on the living room, dining room and breakfast area. Then I did the laundry area. I wanted to share some photos. This is an old home with glass door knobs, wood floors, a huge pantry, pocket doors, and a beautiful cabinet in her bathroom. And she has all new cabinets in her kitchen! They moved from a little house and she loves to organize so she is going to be so happy. There is so much storage!

Saturday we planted our garden! Yay! There was preparation--not yay. We have those pesky sunflowers. I pulled all them up by the roots while DH tilled. Then he marked the rows and dug the holes for the tomatoes. We have planted a total of 42 tomatoes, twelve hills of squash, six hills of cucumbers, five rows of blackeyed peas, three rows of okra, five rows of green beans and I still have to pick up some pepper plants. DH wanted to know what army I was going to feed. Well, there are people out of jobs and some people we know have opened a food pantry at a biker church. Ya'll do me a favor will you? In July and August remind me why I wanted to plant all this will you? I have a canner, jars, freezers, and hopefully time and God willing we will all eat good. AND get this! It rained in the wee hours of Sunday morning. God is so good. AND it rained again this morning. DITTO! It's been a long time since we planted a garden and didn't have to water to get it up. God is so good. The muscles? Yes, the muscles are sore. You know the ones used to squat and bend over. DH was sore too. Just keep moving, just keep moving, just keep moving. Remember Dory in Finding Nemo? Except she said--"Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, etc."

Sunday we took a hog to the butcher for a customer. The wildflowers were so pretty. Sorry I forgot my camera. Ya'll please say a prayer for our butcher, please. He is having some health issues.

Some quilting stuff--

My basket for Saturday for Wise County Quilt Guild. I used Lite Steam a Seam 2 to fuse the flowers and basket. I machine appliqued the basket before fusing the flowers in place. My first! I have appliqued before using interfacing and turning and hand applique. This took some small sharp scissors.

The fabric I used to cut appliques from. (P.S. I have this for sale on the bolt.)


Below are blocks from part of my presentation at the April meeting of guild.

You can find the free tutorial here.




A close-up.

This is the fabric I used for the 4 Patch Stacked Posies.

Blessings,

Setting for 4PSP or any square Tutorial

Okay, here goes. I used this setting for the navy 4 Patch Stacked Posies quilt although I used a different method for it. The navy or Rose 4PSP was done in such a way that the block edges were on the bias. I wanted to do another and not have the bias edge. I figured how to do it with a lot of help online. Thanks to The Quilters' Cache Square in a Square --tried and true method and About.com: Quilting's handy chart for converting decimals to fractions for quilters. Using the instructions from the The Quilters' Cache Square in a Square; I measured my four patch and then with the helpful chart from About.com: Quilting I used my calculator and found what size to cut my squares and now I will show you what I did.

My four patches are 6" and I determined I needed 5 1/8" squares and then I decided how big a triangle I wanted and cut 3" squares for those. For each block you will need two large squares and four small squares.

Draw a line with a pencil on the wrong side of fabric as shown.

With right sides together pin a small square in the corner of a large square lining up the edges
with the line in the direction shown.

Sew directly on the line.

I learned this next tip from Bonnie H. at Quiltville. I lined my just sewn line up on the 1/2" mark left of my needle and then sewed another line. You could also draw a line if you wish.

You see both sewn lines? Good.


Repeat the process for the opposite corner.

Now using your rotary cutter and mat cut down the middle between the sewn lines. You should have 1/4" seam allowances for both pieces.

Press seam allowances toward green triangles.

Place your ruler down the center and cut from corner to corner. Repeat with other large and small squares.

Here's your bonus half-square triangles! You can use them to make a border or pinwheels--they're a bonus!

Now take and pin with right sides together one sewn triangle to your four patch or square. You can use the point of the triangle to line up with the seam in your four patch or finger press your square in half.

Sew both sewn triangles on opposite corners; press seams toward triangles.

Trim off dog ears.

Pin one of the remaining sewn triangles to one side of your four patch. Matching the point on the seam on the right side doesn't work for me doing this side. I don't know why! Pin leaving about the same amount of little dog ears on each side. Sew. Repeat with other side.


Press toward sewn triangles.

Square up. I allowed a 1/4" seam allowance.

And here they are as they will be sewn together.

Hope it makes sense. Let me know if you have questions. This is my first tutorial so comments are welcome--good or bad.

Blessings,

My Favorite Quilt

I don't meet or make many quilts that I don't like or love for that matter. LOL But in choosing a favorite I would have to say that this 4 Patch Stacked Posies is my favorite. I absolutely love the kaldeiscope effect of these quilts. I first saw a quilt made from this pattern at Judy L's blog and fell in love. Sorry it was on her old blog and now I can't show you the picture of the quilt she made. One Saturday at Paradise Piecemakers a couple of years ago someone had brought in a fabric stash of a quilter who had died. She had started making curtains from this fabric. One curtain was partially made. I fell in love with it and brought it home. I took the seams apart and pressed it; stacked it and whacked it.

I've since made many more and continue to spread the addiction. Yes, it is habit forming! AND I have discovered so many ways of setting the blocks together! So fun.

Park City Girl is hosting a Quilt Festival and today is the last day to enter! So hurry on over and read how to enter your favorite quilt and register for prizes. It is going to be fun to visit all the sites and see all the quilts.

Blessings,

It's Done

Yup, the Rose 4 Patch Stacked Posies is now a quilt top. I finished it up last night. I was doing a happy dance last night! This is a gift for someone and once it is presented I will take more pictures.

Also be sure and check out Blog of the Week in the sidebar. Some neat stuff.

Blessings and happy quilting,

Busy Week

Happy Valentines! We loaded pigs to take to auction on Tuesday before daylight. Then Tuesday afternoon DGS Mac had a program at school that I was invited to. It was a musical with percussion instruments and he had a speaking part. He did good. I got pictures. Wanna see? I knew you would!




This one was after the program and they
had already taken up the thingy a ma jiggys.



Afterward I got to check both DGS and DGD out of school early (lucky me with parental permission, of course) and we went to Dairy Queen for a treat and visited while their mom was still teaching. Then we met mom at their house and visited. While we were talking it came a hail storm. Nothing big -- marble size at the most. And the sun was shining! I knew we were forecast for bad weather later that evening so I gave my goodbye hugs and kisses and headed home. We didn't get any bad weather just rain and some wind. But Colleyville in the DFW area and areas near the Red River and Oklahoma just across the Red River from us did receive some really bad weather.

Then Wednesday as you know I have Kraz-z Quilters. I made lasagna (Stouffer's lasagna --Stouffer's did all the work) and salad and we quilted and quilted. Then Thursday I loaded up my quilting notions and went to Post Oak. I had a lovely time with the Busy Bees of Post Oak and a wonderful meal. Folks, this is the real thing. An old time quilting bee! Thanks, ladies.

Needless to say you didn't have to rock me to sleep either night. And I have been sewing rows on the Navy 4 Patch Stacked Posies as I have time per Wanda at Exuberant Color's method to save time. I think I'm going to like this. Since it is chained together, nothing gets separated and it's easy to pin the next step.



I'll get you a picture of my crumb blocks later. I have a total of 63 now. I love quilting! 8 )


Blessings,

Fabric Shopping

Myself and three others from Kraz-z Quilters went to Graham yesterday to Frances' Fabrics. She was having a sale! We had a blast and didn't hurt our pocketbooks too hard. We mainly were searching for things we needed to finish projects. BUT it sure was tempting! We were good girls, though. All except Dixie! I'm ratting her out. She found this beautiful brown floral and just had to have some. I don't blame her. I did the same thing Thursday. I went in to grab some toilet paper and see if our local Duckwall's had the ink cartridges my printer takes and just HAD to look at the fabric. Bad mistake or good fortune? I found this beautiful large print floral that will make a beautiful 4 Patch Stacked Posies. Do you agree? Good fortune, right? My guild is wanting me to do a workshop on the 4PSP after one of our meetings so there you have it. I can demo this fabric and not have to use from the bolts I sell so there will be more to sell. ; )

I found the top two at Duckwall's and the bottom two at Frances' Fabrics. I wasn't happy with the fabric I had chosen for the sashing for the Star BOM so I found this Moda Marble at Frances'. The green is a one yard piece I will use for binding on Time Travel.

AND there are neat little shops on the square in Graham. We ate at our favorite place The Magnolia Tea Room. I had what they call the Magnolia Duet-a half sandwich and small cup of soup. The sandwich was turkey with provolone cheese, lettuce and cilantro mayo. The soup was Chicken Tortilla with fire roasted tomatoes. Very good! They also sell antiques and have a florist shop. I found these small bowls there. I was wanting some more small bowls for dessert. Since our family is growing.




We had talked about going to Denton to Linda's Quilt Shop on Super Bowl Sunday but as a group it wasn't working for everyone. She is opening at 8am and has 43% off. So tempting to make another trip!

Blessings,

Hello 2009!

And a Happy New Year to you. My sister and BIL arrived and we really enjoyed their visit. They called to say they made it home(Florida) safe on Friday. We always have warm weather when they visit. I always ask them if they prayed for warm weather. It was 82 degrees here yesterday and today it got up to 42 degrees with a brisk north wind. What a difference a day makes!

What have I been up to since my last post you might ask? You might ask, right? It really doesn't matter 'cause I'm gonna tell you anyway. LOL Let's see our plans were foiled to go to San Angelo for Christmas. DH got called out Christmas Eve and then had to work Friday after. We had to get another 2 tons of feed that weekend. I tell you those pigs EAT. We've got 14 on a self-feeder that should be butcher ready the end of March if they gain as expected. I will try and get pictures sometime. We got all that done and DGD wanted to come spend some time with us. We got her on Saturday morning and then DS#2 called and asked if we could keep DGS Mason that night so they could go out. Sure! I got up Sunday morning and started sneezing my head off. If I sneezed once I sneezed a hundred times. Not really but it really felt like it. DH helped with the DGKs as best he could. DGS Mason went home Sunday afternoon late and DGD Aimee and I went to bed early. I cleaned house on Monday in anticipation of my sister and BIL's visit. I ran out of energy and finished the next day. Don't worry--I am feeling 100% better now! It has been two years since I've seen my sister. We really enjoyed their visit. DGD Aimee went home the same day they arrived when her mommy & daddy came for dinner. I felt like I cheated her from crafty fun since I had so much to do.

My sister got to go to my Kraz-z Quilters meeting and watch us hand quilt. We finished the one on the frame and put another one on before we left. She had never been a part of putting a quilt in a frame before. THEN we went shopping! When we visited them in 2004 she took me shopping at some nice shops in Florida. We are two years apart in age and spent most of our growing up years together. When we married our lives took us in different directions. We haven't been able to spend much time together over the years.

While we were out my sneaky BIL, my SNEAKY BIL installed a light kit on the guest room ceiling fan. Imagine my surprise when he flipped the switch! AND he went shopping (in addition to Christmas gifts) and got us a griddle. I've always used the same cast iron griddle that we inherited from Larry's grandmother. I have upgraded, folks! I love it.

I took down the Christmas tree and all the decorations put away on Saturday after we went to Weatherford to pick up our pork. I washed the bed linens on guest bed and hung on the line (82 degrees). I took advantage of the warm weather and washed some other things and hung on the line. We knew we had a cold front coming with a possibility of freezing weather so I washed up all the laundry. My wash water runs outside and freezes in really cold weather. I know sounds primitive doesn't it? But I love living in the country. Today DH wanted to go to Cabela's to look at reloading equipment. He got a 7mm rifle with his bonus check. He's wanting to get into target shooting. Long distance shooting. He's always been a really good shot. After we left there I wanted to go to Sam's to stock up on staples. With our beef, venison, pork, and now with today's items purchased I shouldn't have to buy much except eggs, milk, and fresh produce. We can get iced in (as long as we have power) and can eat real fine.

We had some of the bacon this morning. Thick cut, very little fat, like eating ham! Cooked it up on the griddle BIL surprised us with. Eggs over easy, thick cut bacon, whole wheat toast with my Apricot Zucchini Jam. It doesn't get any better than this!

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you! I decided I wanted to give the Pink 4 Patch Stacked Posies quilt to my sister. She was thrilled. I'm glad she liked it. Tomorrow, I plan on balancing the checkbook and sewing the Star BOM#10 block and posting a picture.

Blessings,

It's humming

Before

After


I'm not sure it's singing but it's humming. I like it better anyway. Ladies, what do you think?
The first picture was taken with my camera and the second with another camera. The second photo's colors are more true.

All I've got to do now is sew them all together; decide on borders; sew them and then I'll be done. Don't nobody set a stopwatch you hear?

Blessings and Merry Christmas,

Guild meeting today and I have a question

We had a wonderful WCQG meeting today and a really neat program. Jacque Hencell brought a

trunk show called "If Quilts Could Talk". She was a very good speaker. I just wished her quilt holders would have held her quilts straight and a little longer. Jacque gave us permission to take pictures. She also sells vintage embroidery patterns. I will post pictures of the ones I bought on another post.

Now for my question. I decided to go ahead and post a picture of this project because the one receiving it doesn't know they are receiving it so it's okay. I need your input please. I thought setting these blocks this way was a good idea orignally. This afternoon after laying it out; I'm not so sure. What do you think? Leave it. Use one color. Or change it entirely? This layout will have the focus fabric as an outer border and maybe another smaller inner border if ya'll think it needs it.

Thanks for your advice.

Blessings,