My Crazy Dog

See those two blurs of light?  Those are that crazy dogs eyes as she was shaking the quilt she just drug off my bed!  What got into her, I have no idea.  Crazy hound dog.

It's been a real Monday today.  Don't know if I will get upstairs to sew or not tonight.  Really just want to crawl in bed, but it's too early for that.  It got hot and humid here again.  I am very ready for Fall.

The Real Star

Okay, here's the first 9 inch wonky star block for next years swap!  The background fabric came from Miller's in Arthur and is a cream color with a little white pattern on it.  I bought enough of it to make some of the 3 inch blocks for the cornerstones with it, too.  Not sure what I'll do with the little blocks I already made, but I'm sure they will find a good home.

Made homemade pizza for dinner tonight.  Nick came over to watch some t.v.  Just having a relaxing and lazy Sunday.

Amish Day

Went to Arthur today with Mary, Marla and Marla's niece Kathy.  Had a great time visiting the different shops.  We bought the fabric for the background of our Paducah swap blocks next April.  Of course, there was a bit more stash enhancement for all of us. 

Here's some pics of the buggies and horses.  It is just so peaceful there.

Snack Time

I was hungry for a snack last night, so I popped some popcorn.  Haven't had that for a while and really enjoyed it!  Had enough to bring a little for a snack at work today, too.

Going to Arthur tomorrow morning!  Whee!

Tell Me More, Tell Me More...

Yes, more itsy bitsy wonky star blocks!  I fixed the one I had the piece turned around in, then sewed up three more blocks!  I have 21 of them made so far.  Going to need quite a few if I want to use them for cornerstones, so I'll just keep making them and throwing them in a pile.

Take a look at that one in the middle.  I used a really cute white fabric with red dots and hearts on it for one of the star points.  Unfortunately, it just doesn't look like it will work for a star point.  It blends in too much with the white background and you can see the other material behind it.  I'm finding I need to use darker and dark medium scraps for the star points for them to show up.  Oh, well, it's my quilt and I can do what I want with it, right?  :)

Still sewing these little guys on the 401.  She's a real beauty, let me tell you!  Sissy has become my favorite machine at the moment.

This Saturday we are meeting in Arthur to pick out background fabric for our 9" wonky star block swap at the quilt show in April.  That should be fun.

Enjoying the View

I think Miss Addy likes having the windows open!

My Secret Addiction

Well, maybe not so secret...  haha.  I just love making these little bitty star blocks!

Not the greatest pictures in the world, but you get the idea.  Oh!  I see a mistake in the one up top!  hahahahaha  Seriously, just as I am typing this I see that I have sewn the one piece in upside down!  Just have to unsew a bit and fix that when I get home today.

Those top three were made Sunday afternoon during a few stolen moments between all the running and cooking and working on flooring.  The bottom two were made last night after work.  I probably would have made more, but Nick called and was stopping by, so I went downstairs and visited with him for a bit.  By the time he left it was after 10 and I was ready for bed!  He brought me Dairy Queen.  What a good son.  :)

Trying to get back in the groove after a week off.  Monday wasn't horrible, but I was glad when it was over.  Tonight Bonnie Hunter is having Quiltcam, so that will be something to look forward to.

20 Minutes on Gemma

Today is the last day of our vacation.  Yesterday we went to visit family and didn't get home until late, so no sewing was done.  This morning we went out to breakfast.  When we got home I put together 4 pans of lasagna.  Yes, 4.  Two were small ones and were veggie only for Nick.  One is to take to Hanna's tonight and the other is to have here at home so Ev can take some to work through the week.

After putting the lasagna's together, I went downstairs and sewed for about 20 minutes on Gemma.  There's no hurry on getting this top done, but I would like to make some progress on it daily if I can.

Quilt Repair Needed

My hand quilted trip around the world quilt, finished in 2006, right before an ice storm that knocked out power for five days:

I don't hand quilt much at all anymore.  This is my favorite quilt to use when sitting on the couch on a cool evening.  I quilted different designs in different colored squares.  Hearts in the red and pink squares, stars in the black squares, etc.

My dog Addy:

Looks innocent, right?

Hmpf.

Well, it isn't called patchwork for nothing, right?  haha.  I just don't get too excited about things like this.  It wouldn't do any good if I did!

The After Picture

Not the best picture in the world, but you get the idea.  There are shelves behind the table I need to clear off.  I'm happy with it.

So Very Close

I got very close to sewing today, however, the kitchen floor took over.  It seems like that floor has taken over my life...  haha.  I wake up in the middle of the night with an idea on how to do a problem area, and of course have to wake up hubby and tell him, then he tells me he is sleeping and not thinking about the floor until morning.  Am I babbling?  Yes, I am. 

There is an end in sight.  We only have one more board and piece of trim to put down and it will be finished.   But it is almost 9 p.m. and I don't think either one of us is going to suggest to the other that we finish it tonight.  In fact, we are probably both praying the other does not suggest it!

Tomorrow we have plans, so that means no sewing then either.  I actually got more sewing done the week before vacation than the week of vacation!  Agh!

I'm hoping to power sew on Sunday.  We shall see what happens....

Bunnies

There seem to be a lot of rabbits in our area this year.  This little guy wasn't afraid of me at all, just sat there and ate grass while I took his pic.  I just wish they wouldn't make their nests inside of our fence where the dog can get at them.  This one was outside the fence, thankfully.

I did more sewing on Gemma today.  It was only for about 40 minutes, but I did get one pass finished.  It really is true, that practice makes perfect.  Not that I'm perfect, but I see improvement in quilting this design, just from doing it one day.

I would have sewn more, but my mom and stepdad stopped by.  They were driving through on their way home.  We visited here for a while, then drove to Johanna's for a bit.  When we got home we did some more work on the floor.  It is still not completely done.  There is a bit of baseboard and trim that needs to be finished.  Ev says it should only take an hour or two.  I really hope so because I am pretty tired of messing with it.

Fun Quilting

I am having fun quilting this design on the first nursing home quilt of the year.  It does take longer to do this design than I thought it would, but that's okay.  I only was able to quilt for about 45 minutes today because we were still working on the kitchen floor. 

We are getting real close to getting the floor finished.  Right now, though, my stove is disconnected because we had to move it to do the floor underneath it.  There is a flex hose that connects the gas to the stove, but caution dictates that once the stove is moved, the hose should be replaced in case it was kinked.  I'm not arguing with the experts.  Besides, that way I don't have to cook!  Hahaha.

Here's what the floor is looking like tonight:

Tomorrow we should be able to finish things up.  I hope so, anyway.  In the morning, just in case the stove isn't hooked back up by dinner time, I'm going to put something in the crockpot.

Quilting Blogs

I am not fond of ads or badges on my blog, but recently I added one for Quilter Blogs on the left side.  Just a click on this badge will take you to a cornucopia of quilting blogs!  Hope everyone enjoys the link.  But don't forget to come back and visit me here!  :)

Baby Quilts

Here is one of the baby quilts that I did for Sherri.  She just wanted a simple loopy loop quilting on them.  I used a white cotton thread from Connecting Threads and a size 18 needle.  Didn't have any thread breakage during quilting, which was a great thing!  I only had a little bit of thread issues when first starting to pull the thread up from the bottom.  The bobbin thread would break.  It would get caught in the hook assembly.  However, if I blew it out with the air compressor before putting the bobbin in, this problem was avoided.  Good deal!  Here's the other baby quilt I did for Sherri.  I love her choices of fabrics, especially for the backings.

The During Picture

This is the new flooring.  We got that much done last night and have really made a lot of progress today.  Tomorrow we will finish up the flooring part and maybe get to the trim.  Either way, I'm glad we are getting it done.  The next project will be to do something with the walls.  We are thinking of a log cabin look.  Seriously.  That won't happen for a while, though.  Need to recover from the floor... Haha.

The Before Pictures

We started working on our kitchen floor.  Here is what it looked like before:

The refrigerator that was in the house when we moved in had a motor overheat and scorched an area over there in the top corner.  A couple of dogs, when they were pups, liked to chew on the floor. 

After starting and restarting a few times, we finally have a few rows of the new laminate flooring down.  I'm wondering if a week of vacation is going to be long enough...

Playful Work

Had some fun finishing the second baby top for a customer today.  I've got them both done and ready to go to the customer.

And since I was on a roll, I went ahead and loaded the first nursing home quilt.

It's basted and ready for quilting.  Not sure if I will be doing any quilting tonight, but it's ready when I am.  Want to put some of the designs I saw on whirlsnswirlsquilting videos.

Day One of Vacation!

At least for me it is, Dear Hubby had to work this afternoon.  Soon he will be done and then we are both on vacation for a week.  Ahhhh, bliss....

Just finished a customer's baby quilt on Gemma and have one more to do for her.  So happy that I was asked to quilt these tops.  Really made me feel good.  Thank you, friends, who made this happen.

Johanna and Johnathon were here to swim for a little while today.  Glad to see them using the pool.  When he was ready to get out of the pool, Johnathon wanted a milkshake!  So, of course I made him a milkshake.  He's a great kid.

We plan to start on the kitchen floor Monday.  As much as I'm dreading the work, I know it will look nice when it's finished.  Moving appliances is not on my list of fun things to do.

Chalk It Up

No matter what I do, this picture insists on being upside down!  Computers!  Agh!

You get the idea, though.  I have a box of regular old chalk and I also have a chalk marker that takes the tiny sticks of chalk.  These are going to be put to use on one of the nursing home tops.  I'm taking a page out of whirlsnswirls video tutorials on youtube and marking a grid on the quilt top.  She demonstrated making a clamshell pattern this way and I really liked it.  I dug out that old marking tool and also bought a box of chalk at the dollar store.  Ready to try it out!

And when did chalk start coming in boxes of 6 sticks instead of 12?  Guess it's been a while since I bought any.

Up to Bat

I went upstairs last night to seam together the batting for a nursing home quilt.  I just ran a wide zig zag across the seam.  I was going to use the machine downstairs by the longarm, however I haven't even plugged it in yet, so it was just easier to run the batting pieces upstairs and sew them there.

I had to laugh, though, because both the 401 and my old Kenmore had single needle hole throat plates on them.  Either machine I picked, I was going to have to change out the throat plate.  Ended up using the Kenmore because I know her zig zag is trustworthy.  Not that the 401's isn't, I just haven't used it yet.

And of course, while I was upstairs I sewed some more on the wonky star blocks.  I finished one of the 9" blocks and started another.  I am so addicted!

Early Morning Sewing

This wonky star block is going to finish at 9", not 3".  I wanted to make a few sample blocks of the larger wonky stars.  Since it was in my head, rolling around, bouncing off my brain, I just had to get up this morning and make one.  I ran out of time, but at least all the pieces are done.

Yesterday when I got home from work I was pretty tired.  Took a little nap and when I got up I was so refreshed I was able to get a lot done.  Made bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches for dinner.  The bacon was slab bacon and came from IGA over in Staunton.  I swear, that was the best bacon I have tasted in a very long time.  It didn't shrivel up to nothing and cooked real even.

After making sandwiches I went upstairs for over an hour and made more 3" wonky star blocks.  They are starting to add up!  And they are really cute.

Also went downstairs and rearranged just a bit so I can use the Western machine if I want to.  I may be piecing some batting together for the nursing home quilt.  Found some long strips that just weren't quite wide enough on their own, but will be fine in one of the tops if I piece them together.  I use the same batting all the time, pretty much, so I know the strips are all the same type.  Need to get started on that.

Honeysuckle

When I walked out the door this morning to go to work, the smell of honeysuckle caught my attention.  We have some vines growing by the front porch that generally are a nuissance, but I do love the smell of the flowers.  I even bought some soap recently that smells like honeysuckle.

Sewed about an hour last night on Sissy.  Made four more tiny wonky star blocks.  If I don't have enough of them to use for cornerstones, I may just take 9 of them and turn them into blocks that will fit with the others we will be making.  I'm still hoping I have the energy to keep going and make enough for cornerstones, though

We are planning a trip to Arthur in a couple weeks!  Whee!  Going to get our background fabric for the 9" wonky star blocks.  Can't wait to get started on those!

Tried to watch Bonnie Hunter on Quiltcam last night, but my computer was being finicky.  I could hear her just fine, so that was okay, I guess.  Usually I would watch her on the big t.v. in the front room, through the Boxee media player, but Boxee met an untimely demise when the modem got hit by lightening.  Ah well....  I tried to hook the t.v. up to the computer but it was quite a pain in the rear.  It all worked out, though, because instead of just sitting in front of the t.v. and watching, I took the laptop upstairs and sewed while I listened.

Scraptastic

Oh the things that make me happy are so simple...  I rediscovered a bin of scraps this morning that I had forgotten existed.  Some of these were gifted to me, so it's like Christmas!  I'm going to play in them while making wonky star blocks.  Sigh.  Life is good.

So Hooked

I am so hooked on making these little wonky star blocks!  They are like candy, or potato chips - I just can't stop with one!  This morning before work I went upstairs, just to check and see if I had some chalk to mark a top if I wanted to.  Well, there was Sissy, giving me that come here look, and I couldn't resist - I had to sit down and put together a little block, even though I only had 15 minutes before I had to be out the door!  I think I may need to redo the bottom center star piece because the point will get lost in the seam allowance, but that's okay.

Going to have to get with the gals and see when we can go to Arthur.  We would like to get the background material for the bigger wonky star blocks at Miller's.  Hoping it will be soon.

Been sewing on Sissy and I find that when I'm not holding the material, the feed dogs want to pull it unevenly towards the left.  I need to clean out that area real well and oil it good.  That should help.

Crazy Backing

I have the backing pieced for the red four patch strip top.  It's a piece of fabric with huge shells and ladies swimming on it, pieces together with fabric with big flowers on it.  Just a bit loud, don't you think?  haha.

The backing is going to be real close in size to the top and I'm a little concerned about that.  Wavering between putting another strip of material on the backing for good measure or just taking my chances.

Hoping to get it all loaded on Gemma tonight.  I have named the domestic machine in the basement J.T., so if I have to add a piece to the back, I may try sewing on J.T.  If nothing else, I can play with the machine while Gemma is warming up.

Blue Cheese Turkey Sandwiches

I did not think this recipe up, but here's my variation of the sandwich:

Turkey breast, sliced - it's ten times better if it comes straight off a baked turkey bird, but if you absolutely must do it, you can use sliced turkey from the deli

Crumbled blue cheese

Red onion, sliced and sauteed until tender

Good bread - we use the everything topping french bread from Wal Mart

Butter the outsides of the bread.  Put one piece of bread, butter side down into a hot skillet or griddle.  Place turkey, blue cheese, and onions on bread, then top with other slice of bread.  It's much easier to assemble the sandwiches on the griddle or in the pan.  Brown on each side.  Enjoy!

And for those members of the family that don't like blue cheese, you can always substitute a less risque cheese for the blue cheese.  But it won't be as tasty... at least not in my opinion!

I have what's left of the turkey breast in the fridge, along with the drippings from the pan when I baked it.  One night this week I might make turkey and gravy for supper.  Depends on how I feel.  Still not sure what is happening with my job because of the budget crisis in our fair state.  I may or may not be laid off in a couple weeks, even though I am not employed by the state.  Our monies are from the feds and just pass through the state, however even these monies are being held up by the lack of state budget.

JJ2 Top Done

Last night I finished the second Jimmy John top done in batiks.  It's hard to see in the picture above, but there is a dark purple border all around it.  I like it!

Here's a close up of the borders.

Still planning to quilt a couple nursing home tops with the design I want to do on the Jimmy John tops.  I need the practice.

Yesterday Nick was over for a bit, so he and Ev moved the sewing machine that I got last week from the garage to the basement.  This is the old Western in the very nice cabinet with all the drawers.  As soon as I had it in place, I put all my longarm thread in the drawers.  It looks much less messy in that area now.  I may even do more rearranging before it's all done.  Just thinking about it at this point.

Itsy Bitsy Pieces

Tiny three inch wonky star block!  I was just playing around on Sissy and decided to try out the wonky star pattern.  Mary, Marla, and I are going to make nine inch wonky star blocks for our Paducah 2016 swap.  I am considering making a bunch of these three inch blocks to use as cornerstones.  Not making any promises because I would have to make a LOT of these itsy bitsy blocks.  Going to have to watch the star points though.  Don't want to lose them in the seam when I put them in the sashing.

The only other three inch blocks I have done in any quantity are the spool blocks that were leader enders.  I have a bucket of them to press, then need to put them into a quilt top.  Don't even know how many I have done, but I got tired of making them, so whatever is there, that's it!

I have a turkey breast defrosting in the sink.  Going to bake it this evening and make those blue cheese sandwiches for dinner that Ev likes.  Well, we all like them.... hee hee.

Patching Patchwork

Our quilt on the bed needed some love.  It's been washed and used for a few years and is starting to show some wear.  The purple fabric in this one block in particular is fraying badly.  The one square had completely come apart and the batting was even gone in that area.  I replaced it with this patch and put some batting in there, too.  With all the colors in this quilt, it doesn't matter that it doesn't match.  In fact, it just gives it more character!  haha

I did the repair on the 401, now named "Sissy".  She did a good job, I think.

Looks Like Work

We picked up the flooring for the kitchen yesterday.  It's all stacked up and ready for us to get busy!  Next week we have vacation, so I think that will be when we put it down.  Fun, fun, fun! haha.  I really don't mind, in fact I like being able to say we did the work ourselves.

Testing It Out

Didn't do much sewing last night, but I did get to test out the 401 finally.  When I plugged her in and started to sew she was really sluggish.  My first thought was, oh no, what have I got here....  But then I realized I had the stitch knobs in the wrong position for straight stitching.  I corrected that, then took a deep breath and started to sew again.  This time, she sewed quite a bit faster.  By the time I was done playing, about half an hour of sewing, she was really booking along!  I am pleased.  I think once she gets used on a regular basis, the speed will not be an issue.

This morning, before work, I stopped at Wal Mart and hit up the school supplies aisle.  I had already been there once since they put school supplies out for the new year, but I really wanted to get a couple more pencil boxes.

These are a great size to put machine feet or bobbin in, and keep with each individual machine.

Not that I want to go back to those school days, but I do miss shopping for school supplies for the kids.  So much neat stuff to choose from!

Center of Top Finished

I know it seems like the same picture, but honest, it's not!  All of the white panels and strip set panels are sewn together for the second Jimmy John top.  Going to put a small border of the white all the way around it, then a larger border of the dark purple.

Nick and I went to Edwardsville last night and had dinner then shopped at Kohl's for some slacks and shirts for him.  We found a couple pair of slacks, but really would have liked to have found a few more.  We did make a haul on the shirts, though.  He got some bright colors, which I think he looks very good in, if I do say so myself!

I have not sewed on the 401 yet...  The suspense is killing me!  haha.  I appreciate everyone's advice and comments about the machine and her bobbins and light.  Will take all of it into consideration.  The more I read about the 401, the happier I am that I got it.  I may not need that 301 after all...

Sandy came over to my office this morning before she started work (she works in the building across the parking lot).  She told me about a yard sale happening tomorrow that advertised lots of fabric and another that advertised sewing machines.  sigh.  Going to have to pass on them this time.  I might run out to the the fabric one Saturday morning if I feel like it, but really, I do not need any more fabric.  Need and Want are two seperate things.... ahhh well.

Ev drove me to work this morning since Nick has my car while his is in the shop.  I wonder how long it will take Ev to notice that I shovelled all that rock out of the bed of his truck?  hee hee.  Johanna is going to pick me up after work and drive me home.  I hope she doesn't forget!

Retreat Follow Up - Part 2

I'm saying this is a follow up to the retreat because I put together the strip sets while there.  Last night I put a few more panels together.  I'm getting real close to having the top finished.  Still haven't decided on the final border, though.

I have this wild idea to move everything out of my sewing room and into Johanna's old room, then clean the floor real good and move stuff back in.  Want to rearrange the room.  It would be a lot of work, though.  ugh.  If I'm going to do that, I would need to have a couple quilt backs done and take them, along with the tops, downstairs.  That way I could quilt on Gemma while the rearranging and cleaning was happening upstairs.  I hold no illusions that I could do it all in one day.  My attention span sometimes rivals that of a tse tse fly... haha.   Oh, look, a squirrel....  haha.  But seriously, it would be a big job and I know it would take more than one day to do it.  If I decide to do that, I'll have to take before and after pictures.

Retreat Follow Up - Part 1

Sandy has really made progress on her quilt from the retreat!  It's a Christmas throw and is very pretty.  This was a kit that she bought on Saturday morning when she and Sheri went to the quilt shop in Shelbyville.  Not sure how Sheri is doing on her kit.  They bought the same one and both started on them during retreat.

Sandy's is almost completely quilted.  The border is all that's left to be quilted and then she will just have to bind it.  I kept teasing her to make sure the blocks were turned correctly.  One of them says "ho ho ho" and I told her to make sure it didn't come out saying "oh oh oh"!  All the blocks are perfect, of course.  I love the way this quilt is done up.  It looks like there are arrows of light shooting out from the large square in the center.

Great job, Sandy!

Victory!

A victory for me - I was able to get the last knob to break free on the 401!  Now, all the parts that are supposed to move, move.  That makes me happy.

To celebrate, I stopped at Wal Mart this morning and bought a few extra bobbins.

The 401 takes Class 66 bobbins and only had one with the machine.  There were a few class 15 bobbins thrown in the box, but I knew they weren't the right ones for it.  Most of my other machines take class 15, so I have tons of those, but I didn't have any class 66.  A dozen should be enough, don't you think?  haha.

Tonight I have plans with Nick, so I'm not sure if I will get to sew or not.  I'm ready to turn on the 401 and see how she sews.  Thinking of naming her Sissy, because she is the big sister to the 301 and featherweight.  May just go with Sis, because my daughter is being a funny girl and telling me that "Sissy" reminds her of the movie Carrie and that the machine may be possessed....  haha.  Going to wait until I sew on her to see if the name fits or not.  I know, so silly, right?  haha.

Loosey Goosey

I'm trying to loosen up the levers on the 401 that control the type of stitch it sews.  When I first tried to move them, they felt glued in place!

See the big beige knob and the red lever?  The beige knob and the cream one behind it control the stitch pattern.  One pushes in and turns and the other pulls forward and turns.  The little red lever pushes down and moves side to side.  When I got the machine, none of them moved.

I oiled the dickens out of them and wiggled them the tiniest bit.  Then I let the machine sit for a day.

The first one to break free was the little red lever.  I have the top cover off and can really get the oil right where it needs to go, so that helps, I'm sure.  The red lever is moving smoothly now, just the way it is supposed to.

I had to wait another day for the next victory.  Last night I was able to get the knob that pulls forward and turns to move.  It's all oiled up and moves really well.

Hoping that tonight the final knob will move and I can give her a test run.  Even if the knob doesn't move, I can still sew on her because the position she is stuck in is a straight stitch.

There was a nice box of accessories included with the machine.  Only one part was missing, and that was a cam/pattern disk.  I put a bid in for one on Ebay last night.  It was only .99 cents, so I really hope I get it.  There are a lot of other cams available, but I at least want the one that originally should have been with the machine.

Here's a pic from the first page of the manual.  The caption under the sketch says it all:

That cracked me up!  I'm still wanting that 301, but for now, this one makes me happy!  I am so lucky my hubby doesn't mind when the herd grows...  haha.

Loving These Colors

Some sewing got done last night.  This is the second Jimmy John quilt with batik fabrics.  I've gotten a couple of the pieced rows and neutral rows put together.  I just love the fabrics and their rich colors.  Not sure what I'll be using for the outer border, but may use the same dark purple that I used on the first Jimmy John.

I made the chicken in cream sauce pasta dish for dinner again.  It is so good!  I think it's the cream cheese that really makes the sauce special.  When I made it last night I made a couple additions.  I added about a cup of shredded zucchini I had leftover from when I made the chocolate cake and I added a little chopped celery that was leftover from the potato salad.  You couldn't taste the zucchini at all, so basically it just added a bit of moisture, and the celery was a good addition.  The dish would be fine with or without it.

Creative or Messy

My friend Marla told me about whirlsnswirlsquilting videos on you tube.  The gal is doing 100 designs in 100 days.  I have not seen all of them (don't think she is done yet) but last night I decided to start from the very beginning.  This was the design from the first video.  Correction, this was my interpretation of the design from the first video...  haha.  I believe it was called spiky grass.  When I finished the design I thought, wow, is that ever a mess.  Then I looked at it again.  It's not a mess.  In fact, I think it would be a good design to use in a border, or in a large space.

Between theinboxjaunt blog and whirlsnswirlsquilting videos, I am doodling more and getting all kinds of new ideas for quilting those tops!  whee!

Size It Up

Put a three inch border on the Paducah 2015 top.  I laid it out on our bed, but I think it needs to be a little larger, especially on the sides.  Going to put a 5 or 6 inch dark blue border on it next.