Sewing A Bit

I have been sewing a bit on the bags, but really I'm itching to be sewing on the Paducah 2016 top!  Hope to get the bags all done tonight and then move on to fun stuff.

Also hoping the AccuQuilt cutter goes on sale next week so I can buy it online.  I really want to tame my stash by getting a lot of it cut into strips.  This years nursing home quilts are all going to be strip quilts, but not just any old strips.  I'm going to try and make them have graduated color schemes, and maybe even some machine applique' over the strips.

Stormy Night

Had some thunderstorms last night that were pretty loud.  I went to bed early, before 9, so I was sound asleep at 10:30 when this really loud clap of thunder happened.  It woke me and the dog up!  Addy jumped, but didn't get too excited, just laid right back down.  I was listening for hail, which thankfully we didn't have at our house.  My weather alert radio went off a couple times, but the worst of it seemed to be going north of us.

When Ev got home from work he said he could hear the storm from inside the building, so that tells you it was very loud.  The factory he works in is extremely loud.

I cut the squares and finished the one side of the blocks for the corn toss bags.  I even sewed around 5 bags, so I have a pretty good start.  Hope to get the sewing part done on them tonight and then get them filled and sewn shut tomorrow.  Plan to go and get more corn to fill them with today.

Bean Bag Frenzy

The above picture is not of my bean bags, but you get the idea.

Actually, my bags are 'corn bags' if you want to get technical, since they are filled with corn and not beans.

I'm glad they are filled with corn.

I received a call from the guy who bought two sets earlier in the year.  He would like another two sets.  Someone left them out in the rain.  Hence the reason I am happy they are filled with corn.

He would like them by next Tuesday, but I'm going to try and get them done by Friday.  I will need to pick up another bag of corn to fill them with.

Flamingo Row

One of the restaurants we really enjoyed was Flamingo Row in Paducah.  Here's the three of us in our matching shirts outside the restaurant.

I would love to have matching shirts every year.  Need to ask Mary where she ordered them from.

The food at Flamingo Row was Caribean themed.  It was very good!  The decor inside was really interesting.

I loved the way the walls had all these different boards with different colors and designs.

Even the salt and pepper shakers were cheerful!  I wonder how many of these walk out of the restaurant in someone's purse?  haha.  But what a cute idea that is.

Two Tomato Plants

I realize you can't see them very well, but in that large brown pot there are two tomato plants.  I wanted to take a picture and put in up on the blog so I can reference it later when the plants are bigger and (hopefully) full of cherry tomatoes!

I may put a pepper plant or two in a big pot.  Just doing a bit of container gardening.  Can't really do much more, because Addy would run all over it.

Flower Power

See that pieced flower in a pot?  That was part of what I did in my class.  There are supposed to be three flowers in pots, but we ran out of time.  The technique is pretty easy once you get the hang of it (just like everything else!).  I want to make a few more and put a wall hanging together.  Next time the background will be a light material.  Oh, and it's supposed to have leaves on it, too.  Will add those next time.

It cracked me up.  I took my Paducah 2015 quilt to the hotel and put it on my bed (see it in the pic?).  When we left the room for the day and came back, housekeeping made my bed with my own quilt on it!  Just some little silly thing, but it made me smile.

Goodies From The Show

One trip to Hancock's of Paducah netted me this bag of fabric.  I have some yardage off the bolt, but my real finds were the precuts.  I have several packages that were on sale for $20 each.  Some are 2 1/2" strips and some are 6" strips.  I've got some quilts in mind that they will go into.

Didn't do any sewing last night, but I did go upstairs and put a few things away from my trip.  Still have some organizing to do up there.

Celebrity Sighting

Look, look!  It's me and Dusty Farrell, famous quilter!  Oh, and notice my tee shirt?  It has a picture of an old machine on it and says "partner's in crime".  Mary bought one for each of us gal's to wear.  I had more comments on that shirt!

Back to Dusty.  He sure is a talented guy.  He works with Nolting machines and can make them do amazing things.  It was a pleasure to meet you, Dusty!  Hope you got some sleep after the show ended.

Wound Up

See my new toy?  It's an industrial bobbin winder for my sewing room.  I'm really excited about this.  I had ordered it before we went to Paducah and it arrived while I was gone.

I have a bobbin winder in the basement for the longarm, and I have that little plastic thing that came from the fabric store.  Most of my old machines will wind their own bobbins, but they don't wind them to my satisfaction.  I want a rock hard, evenly wound bobbin.

This dude does that.

You might wonder why I want the bobbins to be like that.  If they are evenly wound and rock hard they will keep better tension and will hold more thread (hence less times I have to change the bobbin).

Swap Side By Side

Remember the Wonky Star Blocks I had been making?  Well, after finishing up 48 of them, Mary and I swapped out half of our blocks to each other and started sewing.  We had to go to Hancock's of Paducah on Wednesday afternoon to get our sashing and cornerstone material for the top.  She chose a tan with a little red in it for the sashing and a pretty red for the cornerstones.  I chose a blue for the sashing and a gold for the cornerstones.  Marla did not participate this year because she had a lot going on, including moving from house to house.

Here's what Mary's top looked like when we were ready to leave on Saturday morning.  She had all the rows sewn together!

I, on the other hand, did not get quite that far.

I learned not to cut material at 6 a.m.  I merrily cut all my sashing strips to the wrong size!  Argh!  I used what I had not cut to get this far, then had to go back to Hancock's of Paducah (what a sacrifice that was... hahahahahahahaha) to get more material.  I do have all the rows of blocks and sashings sewn together, so it's just a matter of whipping them through the machine and adding a border.

Mary did get her border sewn on once she got home.  This is what the top looks like finished.

Isn't it interesting how using different sashing and cornerstones produces a totally different look?

We joked about her getting her top finished and me not getting mine done.  So of course I really have to get busy and finish mine soon!

We are thinking of doing a 'square in a square' block for next years swap.

Home From Paducah

See my quilt square hanging by my front door?  I think it's so cute, and it is so appropriate, since it's a Bear Claw block and my hubby's nick name is 'Bear'!

I bought the hanging in Paducah at the Quilt Show.  We had an absolutely fantastic time this year!  Mary, Marla and I all went down there on Wednesday afternoon and stayed until Saturday morning.  This quilt square is one of the many things I bought while there (shhhhh, don't tell hubby.... hahaha).  One of the things I wanted to get was an Accu Cutter, but they didn't have the one I wanted at the show, so I will just have to wait until it goes on sale again and buy it then.

More to come about the show in later posts.  Still catching my breath from it all.

My New Table

New to me, anyway.  I love this table!  Johanna and Ben had it in their previous house, but they don't have a use for it where they are at now.  It has a very large leaf that extends it even more than this.  Last night they brought the table and chairs over and I think I actually dreamed about making a table cloth for it!

Red And Blue Bags

My hubby took a call from one of his friends asking for a set of bags for the corn toss game.  I heard him on the phone saying, "yeah, I will get them to you in a day or two".  Hmmm, was he going to be sewing them?  hahahaha

At any rate, they are finished and ready to go.  Just a few more bucks for the Paducah fund!

Lost And Found

This calico kitty has a checkered past!  Darling Daughter's boyfriend found her living in the shed where he worked at the beginning of last winter.  He brought her home to live in their garage with the rest of the kitties.  She got along okay with them, for the most part.

Well a couple weeks ago she disappeared.  They thought she took a walk in the woods and got caught by a coyote or something.  She seems to be old and maybe even a little deaf.

Last week, she showed up at my office door!  I work in town, over 6 miles from their house!  She was pretty thin and favoring one paw, but other than that, seemed healthy.

Here she is back at home and getting some love.

Bag It

Another set of bags for the corn toss game in progress!  On Friday I received an order for a set of bags that I finished up over the weekend, and on Sunday night I received another order!  Hey, at $20 a set, I'll take it!

I ordered some more duck canvas in a couple other colors.  Two of the colors I ordered were the local high school colors, so I may put an ad in the local paper advertising them.

Just one more work day and I'll be going to Paducah!

My Helper

Shadow cat kept me company in the sewing room this weekend!

Saturday Sewing

Spent some time today quilting this for a dear friend.

Bloomington Square

That sounds like a good name to me for this quilt.  I started making it in Bloomington, and the base of the top is all squares.  Hence, Bloomington Square.  I like it.  Still planning to do some raw edge applique' on it right on the longarm.

There are 18 rows of 18 blocks.  I have sewn 5 rows together so far.  Just wanted to do some sewing last night, so I grabbed this project.  It's easy sewing and since I'm pretty excited about Paducah, I don't want to start anything I have to concentrate on too much.

A Nice Surprise

See what my darling hubby brought up to my work today?  I'm so lucky!

Lazy Critters

It was difficult to get out of bed this morning because my two critters were all snuggled up and cozy!  Addy obviously has no shame whatsoever, and Shadow was just surveying her kingdom.  I can almost hear her thoughts "yes, everything I see is mine..."  Maybe I need to get out more...

Can you see at least three different quilts on the bed?  It wasn't really that cold, and there actually is a fourth one underneath it all.  Ev was a bit cold and was weighed down with quilts.  I was a bit warm, so I just grabbed the red scrappy one and used it instead of all the others.  Hey, whatever works, right?

The Paducah 2015 quilt was washed last night.  I put some Oxi Clean in with it and all of the watermarks came out!  That made me happy.

Paducah 2015 Quilt Is Done!

The binding and label are on the Paducah 2015 quilt!  It's all done, with a few days to spare.  I still need to get it in the washer to try and get rid of some of the water stains, but that's not a big deal.  Will throw it in tonight when I get home.

I am so pleased with how it turned out.  As I was putting the binding on, the quilt felt so soft and comfortable as I handled it.  I can't wait to get it on my bed!

Going to take it to Paducah next week so the gals can see it.  And of course it will have to be put on my bed in the hotel room... :)

Pizza Times Two

Oh my goodness, I'm so glad I tried something new.  Last night for dinner I made homemade pizzas.  Now, I've made them before, so that part isn't new, but see that top pizza?  It's a taco pizza, and that's something I haven't made before.  I had leftover seasoned taco meat, so I figured, why not?  My plan was to make one traditional pizza, the one on the bottom, and then mix it up a bit and make a taco pizza.

I'm sure there are many ways to make a taco pizza, but here is what I did.  I used the same pizza crust mix I usually make.  For the toppings, I added a spread on a small amount of tomato sauce, then mixed about half a cup of salsa in with the leftover taco meat and spread that on the crust.  I sprinkled on sliced black olives and chopped tomatoes, then topped it with a mix of cheddar, monterey jack and colby cheeses.  Baked it just like a tradition pizza.

Some people use a layer of refried beans instead of tomato sauce, but I thought hubby probably wouldn't be too keen on that.

The second pizza was pepperoni, sausage, and tomato.  I even used up some leftover sausage on it, so it was 'clean out the fridge' night at our house!

Tonight Johanna and her crew are coming over for meatloaf.  We will have meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, glazed carrots, and salad for dinner.  The meatloaf mixture is all ready to go into the pan and the potatoes are peeled and ready to cook.  I was peeling potatoes this morning before work!

Only Eight More Days!

It seems like it took forever to get here, but now it's next week!  Paducah, here we come!

I have been gathering my sewing supplies for my class, and a few other goodies I don't want to forget.

Getting the 2015 swap quilt finished is a big deal to me.  I've kind of got it in my head that I have to have last year's quilt finished before starting the next year's.  Plus, I want to take it with me to show it off!  haha.

And just in case my two travel partners are reading, I have a couple of surprises for you too!  hee hee hee!

I Can Bind For Miles And Miles...

At least that's what it felt like, miles and miles of binding, while I was putting the strips together!

When I stopped for the night I just put everything on the table.  I hadn't gone up to the sewing room with the intention of starting the binding, but one thing led to another and before I knew it, there was one side of binding sewn on the back of the quilt!

After cutting the quilt to size, I had a strip of the baking material about 20" wide and 100" long.  It was the very last fold that was on the bold of fabric and it had quite a bit of watermark damage.  I really didn't want to throw this back into the stash, but I couldn't make myself throw it away.  In the end, I cut it into four pieces to make dish towels with.  Last night I put a small hem on two of the pieces before I started working on the quilt.  I could have just used the serger, but that would have meant dragging it to the other table and plugging it in and all, so in the end I opted for making a little folded hem.  

Label Up

The baby quilt I made from the New Year's Eve Mystery is completely finished.  I put the binding and label on it Saturday night.

The label was one from a panel of labels I bought from Missouri Star.  They are a bit big, but I really like the colors in the border.

So Saturday night around 8 I decided to go upstairs and choose a label to put on the, at that time unbound, quilt.  Well, once I decided on a label I went ahead and wrote out the verse.  It says:

With a butterfly kiss, and a ladybug hug, sleep tight little one, like a bug in a rug!

I found this on a blog somewhere and thought it was very cute.  Anyway, once the label was ready, those leftover strips of dotted fabric waved at me and told me they wanted to be the binding.  Who am I to argue with talking fabric?  :)  haha

After it was said and done, the quilt ended up bound and labelled!  Makes me a happy camper, that's for sure.  I do need to hit the label with a hot iron, just to set the pigma pen, I think.

Save The Last Pass For Me...

This was the king size 2015 Paducah Swap quilt right before I made the last pass with Gemma.  I am very happy with how the quilting turned out.  It's off the frame and waiting for binding!  Wheee!

King Quilting

Here is the Paducah 2015 quilt on Gemma.  Just doing a simple clamshell design.

The Quilt Road I Have Travelled

I was looking back through old blog posts to see when and where I went to quilt shows.  I'm just including the big ones (all AQS) here.

August of 2007 was the first AQS show I attended.  Donna and I went to Nashville, TN.  The show was at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and it was amazing.  We stayed in a condo her sister had rented for her.  Donna's sister was in the travel industry at the time.  She has since passed away, so I'm sure that memory is very special to Donna also.  During the stay at the condo I worked on a quilt I named "Tennessee August".  It was very hot during that trip.

In April of 2008 I attended my first show in Paducah, KY.  We stayed in Marion, IL because we could not find a hotel any closer.

In April of 2009 I again went to Paducah.  This time we stayed at a Catholic Retreat Center in Golconda, IL, in a cabin.  Golconda is also an hour away from Paducah.  I worked on a wall hanging I named "Joseph's Tulips" during our stay.

I didn't go to the show in 2010 and believe me, around that time in April I was quite crabby!

In 2011 I was back in Paducah in April.  This time there was a flood and there was water everywhere!  We again stayed in Golconda, at the same cabins.

2012 was another year that I missed.  This time I didn't go because we were preparing the basement for the arrival of Gemma, my Nolting longarm machine.  It was an easy sacrifice to make.

2013 was the last year that Donna accompanied me to Paducah.  This was her 5th quilt show trip with me and we stayed in Marion, IL again.  This was the year we went to see Alex Anderson and Libby Lehman.  Libby had a massive stroke right after that performance.  Thankfully, she has made amazing strides in her recovery.  We saw them at the Carson Center.  I really like that venue.

2014 Mary, Marla and I headed to Paducah in April.  We stayed in Metropolis, IL, just 7 minutes away from Paducah.  This was the closest I had ever been able to stay when going to that show, and it was great.  This was Mary's first time in Paducah.  We each made blocks to exchange and put together a quilt top from them.  The blocks only had to be the same size, there were no set colors or patterns.  This was the first year I saw Ricky Tims perform (again at the Carson Center).

Last year, 2015, Mary and Marla again accompanied me to Paducah in April.  We stayed in Metropolis again, and we also did another block swap.  It was a simple 16 patch block, with no color restrictions, all to finish at 12".  That top is on Gemma right now, ready to be quilted.  We saw Ricky Tims again during that trip.

So that's my road trip to AQS diary so far.  In less than two weeks the next entry will be made!  I can hardly wait!

Fun Choices

While in Paducah, I will be attending a workshop.  The supply list for the class includes several fabrics for the project.  Last night I went upstairs and picked out some material.  I wasn't able to narrow it down completely, so I'll probably take extra with me and decide when I am in class.

Getting Ready

14 days!  Just two more weeks and we will be heading to Paducah!  I pulled out my badge holder/bag and put my new name badge in it.  I love all my little pins on it from past shows.  Although, it does make it a little heavy around my neck.  Haha.

I still need to get all the supplies needed for my class sorted out.  The hardest part will be deciding what fabrics to use in the project.  But it will also be fun at the same time.

Didn't do any sewing last night.  Nick and Olivia wanted to look at a rental house and wanted me to come with them, so I did that.  Didn't get home until almost 8.  And that's the time one of my shows comes on, so there wasn't going to be any sewing.  Maybe tonight I can at least get the quilt loaded on Gemma.  I've decided to do a simple clamshell pattern for the quilting.  The blocks are 3" square and I think it would look nice.  I did that pattern on one of the nursing home quilts last year and really liked it.  Plus, it goes quickly.

Spring?

I have my little Spring banner out.  I thought maybe it would remind the weather that it is April.  It has been cold here in the mornings and overnight!  Like freezing temps!  Brrr!

And yes, we need to do some yard work.  We got most of the grass mowed over the weekend, but this section didn't get taken care of yet.  So it looks messy.

The backing for the Paducah Swap 2015 was cut and pieced together last night.  I am using the remainder of a bolt of fabric, also from Miller's in Arthur, that I had in my stash.  It's a tiny blue print on white.  Unfortunately it also has some watermarks on it (these were from when the material was stored at the store, not from where I stored it, which was why I was able to purchase it on the cheap).  I am confident that the watermarks will come out with a good soaking in Oxy Clean.  And even if all they do is fade, I'll still be happy.  It's a scrap quilt and it's going to get used and washed a LOT.

I took the backing and draped it over the frame last night.  It's huge.  The quilt is for my king size bed, so it has to be pretty big.

Green Shirtings Quilt Done

I finished the green shirting quilt yesterday.  It ended up being approximately 64"x72".  I mistakenly had called it a 9 patch, and it is obviously not.  Oops.

This quilt top was put together quite a while ago.  I like the way the two fabrics in each type of 16 patch block go together.  The stripes in the white fabric match the colors in the plaids.

The quilting is just a simple loopy meander.  I needed to get it done quickly.

I washed the top after I put the binding on it.  There were some faint water marks on the backing material that I wanted to try and get out.  For the most part they are gone and I think I would be the only one who would notice them, only because I knew they were there.

The quilt is going to a resident in a nursing home, so will have many washings in the future!

I had to piece this material to get a large enough back.  This is about the last of that print.  I bought a bolt of it from Miller's in Arthur a few years ago.  It is the same print I have on the back of my quilt on my bed.  I got a very good deal on that bolt of fabric!

Lasagna x 3

This picture only shows the process for making two of the three lasagna.  Over the weekend I made one for us to eat Saturday, one to freeze for Ev while I'm in Paducah, and another veggie lasagna for Nick and Olivia.  This was when I was making the meat ones.  I had some very good sausage that I fried up, and also had some good ground chuck to put in with them.

The veggie lasagna had some frozen mixed vegetables and some fresh spinach.

I even sent it to Nick's in a disposable pan.  That way I don't have to worry about getting my dishes back!  haha.

They froze it to make later in the week.  Nick had a tooth pulled Saturday afternoon and wasn't in any kind of shape to eat spicy food.  He's doing fine now.

Sunday I put a roast in the crock pot for Italian Beef.  We haven't eaten any of it yet.  I'm going to freeze a container of that for when I'm gone, too.  The lasagna, beef, and a pan of breakfast burritos I froze a couple weeks ago should be enough for Ev while I'm away.

Can't Sleep? Go Sew!

That's what I did last night.  I went to bed and was laying there, tossing and turning, and I said to myself, "self, if you can't sleep within the next 5 minutes, or at least feel like you're getting there, then you are going back upstairs to sew".  And that's exactly what I did.  I sewed until about 11 p.m. and got quite a bit accomplished.

I have the potholders done, the bags sewn and ready to be filled, and the backing for the green 9 patch plaid pieced together.  I even got up early enough this morning to load the backing onto Gemma before I went to work!

Donna would say I'm gearing up into hyper mode.  She always did say I kind of cycled up and down with my quilting energy.  Personally, it works for me, so I see nothing wrong with it.  hahaha.

Strange Things That Worm Their Way Into My Brain

Isn't that a catchy title?  hahaha.  So I was innocently thinking about an ad I heard on the radio station last night.  The local station was advertising for a part time announcer and I mentioned it to my currently unemployed son.  Then I got to thinking that I hope the gig isn't for the wee hours of the morning, just because that's a difficult time for anybody to go to work and all.  After that, I remembered that years ago the radio station used to sign off at a certain late hour, and then start back up early in the morning.  I wonder if it still does that?

I kind of doubt it, but it would not completely surprise me if it does because this is still a rural community.  Do you remember when the television stopped airing shows around midnight?  Our kids would look at us like we lost our marbles if we told them that used to happen.  Or maybe not.  My kids sometimes think I was around when the wheel was invented.  haha