How Does My Garden Grow?

Right now it seems to be doing pretty good. The cucumber seeds have started to sprout. We have lots of tomato plants and a few pepper plants. The carrots came up, but they need weeding. I also have hanging baskets and pots of flowers on the front porch.

Now if I can just remember to keep them watered! My rose bushes are loaded with buds and a few have bloomed. More Iris have bloomed too.

I finally finished the purse I started at quilt camp a couple of weeks ago.

It is a little busy, but I love it. I like this pattern too. I may make some more purses from this pattern. This is the Bow Tucks pattern I bought when we did the shop hop.

Next week is the North Georgia Shop Hop. Sandra and I are planning on going. I've been practicing using the GPS system I bought right after I got my new to me truck. Sometimes it gives messed up directions though. It had me going out of my way to get home from Burnt Hickory grocery. When I went to City Muffler yesterday it was determined I should turn right to go over to main street, when the street I was on also went to the street the muffler shop is on. When I come home it announces I have reached my destination and it is on the right, which just happens to be the backyard of the house on the corner of my street. My house is on the left. Hope it won't get us too lost when we are trying to find the quilt shops. I'm taking back up directions from Map Quest, although I've heard they aren't always accurate either.

Today I've been working on the EVQG challenge project. That required a little too much thinking. Guess I'll see if it turns out right when I get done with it.

A Week of Catching Up

There sure was a lot to catch up on this week, after spending all last week at quilt camp. Think I'm finally caught up on laundry and housework. Of course that didn't leave much time for quilting, but I did finish the tote bags from the April issue of McCall's Quilting magazine.

The bags turned out a little bigger than I expected. I think a small quilt will fit in them. I think it is the shape, wide and short, that makes them seem so big. I'm used to totes that are tall and narrow.

The kitties are doing fine growing like little weeds. They are a week old.

They are so sweet now. I dread when they get old enough to run around. Hope it won't be hard to find homes for them. Guess I should be glad there is only four of them.

This is the proud mama who is just a kitten herself. She is just barely a year old. Having the kittens seems to have calmed her down some.

Spring Is In The Air

It's time to plant the garden. Paul set out tomato plants and I put in some cucumber seeds last week-end. This week-end we'll probably put in some corn and greens. There are more tomato plants in the greenhouse. We really need a new greenhouse. He planted potatoes and onion sets last month, along with carrot seeds. They all seem to be doing fine. We had to cover them up a couple of nights because of the frost. A week or so ago, Paul set out some pepper plants that he started from seed, but they aren't growing very much. We might do better to get some plants and set out.



I had several Iris bloom at the same time.

The other Iris haven't bloomed yet. Our dog wood didn't do well. The flowers were brownish, but the one across the street was pretty.

I wish this was in my front yard. At least it is right across the street and I can still enjoy looking at it.


The two tote bags I've been working on are finished. Yeah!, another one off the to-do list. Eight down and nine to go. Next, I'm going to finish the purse I started at quilt camp. Then I'll get back to my list. I really need to start quilting some of the quilts on that list, but I'm in a piecing mood. I'll probably finish the Strip Twist top first. It is on the design wall and some of the blocks fell down while I was vacuuming the studio yesterday. So finishing it sounds like a good idea.

Fun Week

Quilt camp is over. It is always sad to pack up on Friday and leave, but there will be others. Besides, all that sitting and sewing wears me out. I didn't get a lot done this time, but I did learn to make Cathedral Windows using a sewing machine, which I forgot to take a picture of. One thing I did learn, it will take practice to get them right. The class was on Thursday morning and I missed it and had to play catch up.

My Kittie, Georgie, decided to have her kittens and wanted me close. I don't think she quite understood what was happening. After the first one made an appearance, her instincts kicked in and she was fine. She had four cute little kittens, two black and white and two gray and white. When the second one was born, before mommy got it cleaned up good, Meako, one of out dogs, snatched it. I thought she was just curious and was going to sniff it to see what it was, and before I new it she had the kitten in her mouth. Dora hollered at her and she dropped it. The kitten is fine. I don't know what her intentions were, but at least she was gentle and didn't bite down and hurt the kitten. I have to keep a close eye on the two dogs and my other cat to make sure they don't harm the babies. I'll have to remember to get some pictures of them. The birth delayed me getting to quilt camp on time. It was after lunch by the time I arrived.

Friday we did the purse class. So now I have a purse about 1/3 the way finished. I'll work on it along with the two tote bags I've been working on. The project I took with me to work on in between classes didn't get finished either. I traced all the applique pieces and made the background.

This is the background minus the borders. I did manage to get the two side borders on.

I did take a few pictures of some of the other quilter's projects.

This is Rae"s Christmas table topper. For some reason I really like the two Christmas themed toppers. I think they turned out the best.

This is Helen's table topper made from Retro fabrics.

Another quilter was working on one too, but she only got hers half done when she had to leave. I didn't think to take a picture. I still haven't gotten a picture of mine yet, either.

Here are some of the other projects the ladies were working on.

Marybeth was working on this top made from last years 6" batik exchange. Laying on top of it is a chevron top that she was also working on.

This is Leslie's Square in a Square top that she started in a class a couple of weeks ago.

This is a quilt that Celeste was marking her quilting design on. She does beautiful machine quilting using her Bernina.

This is Jan's Blooming Nine Patch. this picture doesn't show it off very well.

This one shows off the fabrics a bit better.

This is just the cutest! Sandie was working on a "Tigger" quilt. I can't wait to see it when she finishes.

Quilt Camp

Two days of quilt camp and I just did get my table topper top completed. We got off to a bad start. The member that was supposed to teach the class had to make an emergency trip out of town, so another member was going to teach the class. She had made the quilt from a pattern she bought that called for 1-1/2" strips and a 12" ruler. The table topper we were making called for 2" strips and a 15" ruler. We couldn't figure out how to make it with the 15" ruler and use all 8 strips in the strip set. Another member showed up and figured out how to make it using a bigger ruler. So we finally got started and got half the top done. The next day one of the members brought her top that she made at a previous class and the mystery was solved how to do it with the 15" ruler. It turned out that only 7 of the eight strips were used. Of course, we were already committed to the new method. Our tops came out a little bigger.

This is Bobby's (on the right) Christmas table topper.

This is Sallyann's green and gold to match her kitchen and dining room.

Some of the other ladies are still working on theirs.

Sallyann also finished up another top she was working on.

Truck Sold, I Hope

Why the guy wants that truck, I don't know. He came and looked at it last night and is here now with a roll back to take it. It needs some work and won't make the trip to somewhere south of Atlanta. It is a 1986 Chevy truck in rough shape. I'm just glad someone was willing to buy it. I'm tired of paying for insurance and tags for a truck that is just sitting in the yard. My husband already has one project truck and doesn't want another one to fix. At least his truck runs and he drives it everyday. Plus my old truck is sitting in the yard needing a new engine.


Quilt camp starts tomorrow. The table topper class is on Monday, so that should give me plenty of time to make it before the next class on Thursday. Guess I should get my stuff rounded up and loaded today, so I don't have to do it in the morning. I'd like to get an early start.



I've been working on the tote bags in the April issue of McCall's Quilting. I've not gotten very far. I'm using Moda Charm packs.




This one is from a "Hello Betty" charm pack by Chloe's Closet.



















These charms are from the "Swanky" fabric line by Chez Moi. It will probably be next week before I get them finished, unless I decide to finish them at quilt camp.


















Nearly all of the Strip Twist blocks are made. All that work and I only ended up with 36 blocks. Think I will only need 28 for the twin size quilt. I'm hope I can figure out how to get another smaller community service quilt out of the left over blocks.

Lazy Wednesday

The strip sets are made for the table topper. The fabrics were prettier before I cut them into strips. Guess they will do.

I decided to use the batik fabrics. Hope the finished product will look better than the strip sets do.

This is the picture of our house that I'm going to use for the AQG challenge quilt.

This picture would look much better if my azaleas were already in front of the addition and blooming. Makes me wish we would have moved them last fall. I need to treat fabric with bubble jet so I can print this picture on fabric. It won't take long to make the quilt, it is just a small wall hanging with very simple borders.


This is another lazy day when I can't make up my mind what I want to do. I should quilt the log cabin quilt. I hate to start a new project that I can't finish by this week-end, but I'm anxious to pick out and arrange the charms for the tote bags I want to make using them. I also need to pick fabrics for the EVQG challenge project and get started on it. Then there is the deviled eggs I need to make for my bee meeting tomorrow. We're having a birthday dinner for Sandra. We do birthday dinners for all our members, all 5 of us. So it's not like I don't have plenty to keep me occupied.


Yesterday I took my winning lottery ticket and got the free ticket that I won. The man in front of me asked for a lottery ticket and the clerk pulled off the wrong one. I don't know what made me ask for that ticket, but I did. It turned out to be worth $48, my free ticket is a $2 winner. That turned out to be a good lottery day for me. Of course I won't think about all the times I bought tickets that weren't winners.

Preparing For Quilt Camp

Quilt camp isn't until the 13th, but figured I'd better start rounding up what I need for the classes and find a project to work on. There are three classes this time. We are going to learn how to make a cathedral windows quilt. I've got my squares cut and my 2-1/'' charm collection ready for the class.

The class is on Thursday. I'm just doing a small project to learn how.

On Friday there will be a purse class. The pattern we are using is Bow Tucks.

These are the fabrics I picked to use. I love brown and turquoise together and Hobby Lobby has some co-ordinating prints that I liked.

The other class is a table topper class and I'm having trouble picking eight fabrics to use for it. At first I thought I'd try using some of the paisleys I've been collecting and add some other fabrics.

I couldn't come up with a pleasing combination of fabrics. Guess I just don't have the right fabrics in my stash to go with the two paisleys I picked to use. So then I thought I'd go the opposite direction with some bright, fun fabrics.

Well, they are bright and fun, but I have no earthly idea what I would do with it once is was made. Think I'd best save these for a child's quilt. So then I thought about all the Kaffe Fassett fabrics I bought during shop hop. I got more then enough extra fabric in case I decided to make a queen size quilt.

I think there is too much contrast between the lights and darks and not enough mediums to look good. Love the fabrics though. So then I decided to see what I could come up with from my batik stash.

I think the two lightest fabrics are hand dyes. I'm going to have to make up my mind soon. I need to cut 2" strips and have the strip sets made before the class. I'm not sure what day the class is, so need to get them made this week. I had an easier time picking a project to take to work on. I just grabbed a wall hanging kit that was laying around.

I've had this kit for a few years. Don't even remember where or why I got it. Maybe it was on sale.


The log cabin quilt is on the frame finally. Maybe I will manage to get it quilted this week, or maybe not. I may decided to make tote bags instead. Then again, I might drag out my entire stash, determined to find the perfect fabric combination to make the table topper.

Spring is Here

And my garden is over run with weeds as usual. The Azaleas are blooming

We're planning to move them. Hope they don't die. They've been there for years and do really well. We want to put them in front of the addition, not to far from where they are now.

One lonely tulip came up. I planted the bulbs years ago. I was surprised to see it make an appearance.

I went to town yesterday an bought more than I should have. I got the new Bissell Versus bare floor vacuum. Hope it works as good as the ads show it does. I also bought a MP3 player that is WMA compatible, but I couldn't down load my audio books to it. I take it that not all WMA formats are audio book compatible. Said it was the wrong format. There was another one that cost more that is supposed to be compatible for audio books. Guess I should have gotten that one. The on-line library now has books that are MP3 compatible, but I already have an MP3 player and didn't need another one. Besides, the selection is limited. I have a 1 GB Zen Stone, but it only holds two books. It doesn't have a screen and I wanted one that did.

Of course I had to go to Hobby Lobby. I used my 40% off coupon to buy fusible fleece for a purse. Couldn't resist buying some fabric. Got lining for the purse, two paisleys for my collection, and a polka dot and a stripe for a Turning Twenty quilt. While we were doing the shop hop, Jean mentioned that she thought polka dots and stripes would make a pretty turning twenty quilt and next thing it became a challenge for the four of us to each make one before next shop hop. I only need about four more fat quarters to make a queen size quilt.

I found an electric knife at Fred's for $10. Now what excuse can I come up with to delay making the bolster? I'm really not in the mood right now. I still haven't gotten the log cabin quilt on the frame. Maybe today. I'd also like to get started on the challenge quilts for my guilds. They will be due before I know it, besides they are on my to-do list.

Another Rainy Day

Hopefully it will be pretty tomorrow when I go to town. Think it is supposed to rain again on Sunday. Paul is worried about his potatoes rotting in the ground from all the rain. Some of them have come up, so those should be ok.

My to-do list is getting shorter. I finished two more projects. That's 6 done and 11 more to go.

Finally, the log cabin top is done.

Maybe I can get it on the frame today. I say maybe, because I'm sure not getting much accomplished so far today. I also made pillow covers to co-ordinate with the quilt.

These aren't fancy, just quick and easy to make. I want to make a bolster so the bed can be used as a sofa when not being used as a bed. Some how I missed putting that on my to-do list. hmmm....does that mean I can get out of making it? Well, I can at least put it off for awhile, like until I get an electric knife to cut the foam. I thought I would use foam I already have, rather than buying a chunk the right size.