BOMs and Saturday Samplers

 

Busy Busy this weed trying to keep up with my ever growing new projects.  I said only FOUR Sat. samplers, BOMs, quilt alongs, mysteries, etc. at one time.  Had my 4, then just couldn’t resist doing the Quiltmaker mystery.  the clues are only every other month. What could be the harm.  Then there is Michele Foster’s A4AII fixing to start.  This is her 4th year in a row doing a Quilt Along.  I’ve participated in the past 3. Doesn’t seem right not to do this one too.  I said participated because I only completed the first top.  The last 2 are still waiting for the borders to be put on.  One the borders are done and the other, the border blocks are made, just not sewn in to a border row.  I hear my guild is doing a mystery this year too.  We had so much fun with last years.  So that makes me up to SEVEN!  At least it’s not TWELVE!  That’s how many I had going on at one time last year.  And of course one of my New Year’s resolutions is to FINISH all of them.  Think I still have 5 to go.  No wonder I never get any UFOs finished.  I’m too busy trying to keep my current and not so current projects from becoming UFOs.  No more UFOs.  Finish all my current projects. 

So….What I have been doing this week.  Current projects.

Vacation Time by Pat Sloan February block.

Pickleweeds Quilt shop Saturday Sampler and Tiny Stitches Saturday Sampler for February. Glad to see a little more color in the Pickleweeds block.  That purple or what ever it is isn’t a very pleasing color.

Threads of Time block 1.  This is the new BOM I started this month.  There are 4 blocks in different colors and 40 flying geese to make each month.  They are 8” finished blocks.  I’m still working on the flying geese. I nearly have them half made.  Doing them as my leaders and enders.  I’m now working on the QM Mystery.  lots of work there.  I’ve finished one section and am working on the other two.  They are basically the same with the exception of one fabric.  I’ve got that part of the section done. 

My Trip To The Grocery Store

 

Grocery shopping is definitely not my most favorite thing to do. But someone has to do it and that would be me. Everything went fine until I got to the check out and than the gripy old lady in me came out.  The nice check out girl hung my bottled cokes over the edge of the buggy.  Then the bag guy showed up to help. 1st mistake, he decides to take the bottles off the sides of the buggy and set them in the buggy where my groceries need to go.  That got him a dirty look from me.  Then he puts the bagged lettuce and spinach in the bottom of a cooler bag and then shrugs his shoulders and pushes the orange juice that I got out of the cooler aside.  I had to tell him I wanted the juice in that cooler bag, making him have to repack the bag putting the juice, milk, and canned biscuits in.  So he thinks he’s through.  I have to ask/tell him to put the lettuce and spinach in on top of the other stuff.  This just did not make me feel like a nice sweet person.  I have yet to figure out how to politely refuse the offer to carry my groceries out to my truck.  I can do that.  I have a nice buggy to push them out in.  When I get home I have to carry the bags into the house without assistance, so why do I need help with the easy part?!

On a happier note, I have been working on my block of the months  and mystery quilts.

The Pickleweeds Quilt Shop Saturday Sampler block 2. Done in time to go Saturday and get this months bock and start a BOM that they have going on.  It is a rather ambitious project.  Think there are at least 2 blocks every month and 40 flying geese to make.  I’ll know more Saturday.  It was the colors that hooked us.

July blocks for the Vice Versa BOM.  These are the last of the blocks, now just have to get around to getting them into a quilt top.  The second block is the  Jan. Vacation Time BOM block that Pat Sloan is doing for 2015.  I just printed out the Feb. block this morning. 

The Bonnie Hunter Grand Illusion mystery quilt is on the frame waiting for me to find time to quilt it.  I see it is still a mystery, all covered up.  I have a cat who likes to get on my quilts while on the frame. That freed up my design wall for the M is for Mystery BOM.

All the rows are put together, now to sew the rows into a top.  The bottom 2 rows are pinned together and waiting for me. Hope to make this next week’s project.

My poor design wall is falling apart.  I have more sheets of insulation to make a new one.  I’m just feel that is a project to procrastinate over for as long as possible.

New Year’s Resolutions and Word for the Year

 

New Year’s resolutions, I remember two of them, the usual, exercise and loose weight.  What were the rest of them?  I’m sure I have them wrote down somewhere incase I want to check to see if I’m accomplishing any of them.  I have been pretty good about getting on the tread mill so far, but no luck with loosing weight yet.  My word for the year is “focus”  I sure need to concentrate on that.  It is a good word for me, but “speed” would be an equally good one.  There is never enough hours in the day.  I’ve slowed down so much I only get about 1/3 done that I need/want to do. 

But I have accomplished a few things.  Keeping up with my blog hasn’t been one of them.  I’m still doing the Saturday Sampler from Tiny Stitches and enjoying it.

These are the blocks for October and December.  Seems I was so happy to have finished November and January blocks that I forgot to take pictures, but they are also finished. Now hints are being dropped for the new one starting in June.  Paisleys she says!  How mean I say!  I love paisleys, in fact I’m trying to finish up a quilt top that has paisley prints. No pictures though.  Anyway, starting a new SS in June wasn’t on our agenda, guess it is now.  We just started a new SS at Pickleweeds Quilt shop in Douglasville, an hours trip between the 2 shops. At least we can do both on the same Saturday. Unfortunately we have to leave at 7:00 a.m. to be to the first one by 8:00 a.m. in order to be back home in a timely manner.

This is the first block for Pickleweeds SS.  the 2nd block is done, but of course absent minded me didn’t take a picture, unless I forgot to down load it from my email. 

I have finished a few tops from last years SS, BOMs & Quilt A longs.

The first is Purple Sage which I’ve renamed Purple Haze,  The second one it Retro Kitchen, which I’m naming Grandma’s Kitchen. My granddaughter says that is me in the center block.  Guess the gray hair was the give-a-way. I did get one of them fancy designer Kitchen aid mixers.  Only mine is red. I’ve used it once so far.

This is the Globetrotting BOM. Haven’t decided on a name for it yet.  I’m planning to do Pat’s Vacation Time BOM for 2015. Think I’ve made the January block. 

I’m still working on several other 2014 projects.  Maybe I will complete them by July.

These are the Oct, Nov and Dec Aurifil Blocks. There is a really cute setting for these blocks, but will probably finish some of the easier ones first.

This is Delightful Stars with the first 3 borders on.  The blocks for the fourth border are pieced, just need to get them sewn together and on the quilt.

Right now I’m working on this:

The Grand Illusion Mystery by Bonnie Hunter, parts 2 & 3.   Actually I’m a lot farther along than this. In fact I’m working on the borders.  Borders seem to be my hang up. Have 3 quilt tops that all they need are borders.

Yes, we had a lovely Christmas at our daughter’s house this year!  So odd, but so nice not to have all the cooking and clean up to do.  We put up a live tree this year.  That was because dear daughter ran off with our artificial one.

 

We had to go buy an Angel for the tree top too. Again, ours seemed to be atop  another tree.  Lydia wanted the doll on top of their tree instead of the star her Mom was planning on.  Think I will get some more garland next year. This was a fir tree and I would like to get another if I’m in the mood this year.

We ( Jean, Nancy & I) went to Tiny Stitches Grand Re-opening (they moved to the building next door to the strip mall they were in).  These hot pads was one of the demos they were doing.  I made these for my daughter to use at Christmas. I also made more, 2 for me and 2 for Christine. They are easy enough to make.  I plan to make some for Thanksgiving. Well, I need to make placemats and a table runner too, for that matter.

Dora, Brittney & I went to Sam’s Club yesterday.  We don’t go often so it is an adventure.  Hope I got some good deals because I sure did some damage to the wallet. 

Slowly Making Progress

 

 

If I get any slower, I will be standing still.  Some days it seems like I’m doing that now.  I am seeing a little progress in getting caught up on my current sewing projects.  I’m glad to see some of them reaching a conclusion. 

The EVQG Mystery Top is completed.  Yeah!  I’m quite pleased with the way it turned out.  I did scrappy with a color scheme.  The pattern is  from the Nov. 2007 McCall’s Quick Quilts magazine.  I haven’t looked to see if I have that magazine or not.  Sure would like to see what the original quilt looked like.

All the Purple Sage blocks are made.

It will be an on-point setting.  I’m impatiently waiting on the finishing directions to be posted. I had hoped they would be ready today.  The blocks are on my design wall and I would like to finish the top before moving on to something else.  The last thing I want to do is take them down this close to the end, so my hands are tied as far as working on something else.  No room on the design wall for any other projects. 

 

The four patch blocks for the 2nd border on the Delightful stars top are all made. Just have to sew them together, but would like to but them on the design wall to try to get an even distribution of color.

Here it is with the 1st plain border.  I want to get the 4-patch border on before deciding what color to use for the other pieced border.  I’m not doing it scrappy.  That was just a little too much for my mind to grasp.  Just couldn’t see it turning out well.  I’ve really enjoyed this quilt a-long and hope Michelle will do another one next year. This is the 3rd one of her quilt a-longs that I have done.

 

Almost forgot to take a picture of the September Saturday Sampler block when I finished it this afternoon.

I’m ready to go get the October block.