April So Far

 

 

So far I’m keeping up with all my monthly projects, although it isn’t leaving me much time for my other projects I need to get finished.

This is the quilt I made for our Bee’s Community Service  project.  It will be given to a young lady for her birthday in June.  Hope she will like it.

 

My Saturday Sampler blocks for April:

The one on the left is from Pickleweeds Quilt shop and on the right is the block from Tiny Stitches. I so enjoy doing the Saturday Samplers.  I guess it would be nice if I actually finished the quilt tops.  I don’t think I’ve finished any of the ones I’ve done the last several years.

 

I’m also having fun making the blocks for Pat Sloan’s “Vacation Time” BOM.

My April block.  Think an entire quilt of this block would be really nice.  There is another baby quilt that I’d like to make.  Don’t know if this block would work well in a quilt 3 blocks wide x 4 blocks long plus borders.  But it would be so cute done in boy colors with a dinosaur featured in the center of each friendship star. 

March

 

 

March is gone and I’m happy to say I got all the BOMs, Saturday Samplers and Quilt a longs finished before the month ended.  Now on to April.  I’m now up to 8 on going projects.  Whatever happened to that New Year’s Resolution of only 4 projects!?  I still have several of last year’s projects to finish, numerous UFO’s and short term projects to finish.

March blocks:

 

The first picture is Michele Foster’s A4AII Lessons 1 & 2. I think  I will like the fabrics I picked.  The second block is Pat Sloan's Vacation Time for March.

 

The March Saturday Sampler blocks from Pickleweed’s and Tiny Stitches.

 

These are the 2nd months blocks for the Threads of Time BOM.

 

The guild I belong to is making a raffle quilt in fall colors.  It will be raffled off at next year’s quilt show.  The pattern they are using is “Star Dance”.  This is the block I made for it.

 

I managed to get the diaper bags made in time for the baby shower.

The ladies loved their bags.

So far I’m keeping up with April.  Hope I have time to finish the two elephant quilts and get them quilted. 

Mischievous Chickens

 

Some how the chickens managed to escape their coop/pen last Friday.  Guess the door wasn’t latched good.  We didn’t know they were out and they had a field day pulling up the onions in our garden.  Once my husband is finished planting the garden, he will put a low fence around it to discourage the chickens from getting in it.  Usually he lets them out and watches them so they don’t go where they aren’t supposed to. 

Saturday Jean Nancy and I went to Atlanta to pick up a sewing machine Jean had left at sewingmachine.com to be repaired.  Saw a Juki Exceed 400 that I wouldn’t mind having, but think it is just a little too wide to fit in the table I would want to put it in.  It would replace my Pfaff and Bernina. It had the the features I like from both of those machines in one. 

We were only a couple of miles from the IKEA store so we went there.  That was my first time!  It was a fun experience.  A lot of walking.  We ate lunch at their cafeteria. Just wish they weren’t located in Atlanta.  I don’t much enjoy driving in Atlanta.  Guess it is because I don’t know my way around.  They had a lot of nice stuff.

 

They had a nice selection of bathroom wall cabinets and vanity tops.  I really would like a bathroom redo.  Lots of inspiration to be found at IKEA.

A gray cart like this one (this was the display) is what I ended up buying.  It comes in turquoise, and beige also.  The turquoise was pretty and the beige was just too blaa,  I also bought magazine holders. a book, a light and dishtowels.  Next time I would like to get another cart and some more magazine holders. I’m going to use the cart to hold my Vacation Time with Pat Sloan BOM, A4AII, and the guild Mystery fabrics and blocks.  I haven’t put it together yet.

Friday Paul and I went to Harbor Freight and Sam’s Club in Rome, GA.  I found a cart similar to the gray one in turquoise so got it for my daughter.  She wanted one and I wasn’t sure we would get to IKEA Saturday.  Also saw this larger cart so got it for me to hold my quilting projects.

Here it is before and after I filled it up.  It helps to condense my projects so I can find them easier.  I still have more scattered around the studio.  As I finish projects, I can add others.  Of course my goal is to have an empty cart that I don’t know what to do with.  But that won’t be any time soon.

Wednesday, I also was in Rome at the library to see the quilt show.  Afterwards we went to the Stitchery quilt shop and ate lunch at Mellow Mushroom.  We stopped by Hobby Lobby before heading home.

I’ve been so busy gallivanting around that I haven’t had much time to tend to my sewing.  I have 2 diaper bags I need to have done by Sunday afternoon. 

I worked on them yesterday and got the outside shells done.  This is the front and back views.  The front has two small pockets; one is zippered.  The back has one large pocket with a magnetic snap closure. I still have the lining and inside pockets, plus the top zipper closing to do.  They aren’t hard to make, just a lot of pockets and zippers and parts to put together. The pattern is the “Professional Tote” by  Creative Thimble.

Bulloch Hall

 

Sandra and I went to the Bulloch Hall Quilt Guild quilt show at Bulloch Hall in Roswell, Ga.  Bulloch Hall is the childhood home of Theodore Roosevelt’s Mother.  I enjoy touring historic homes, so really enjoyed the trip.

Front of house and the formal garden.  Didn’t see any vegetable garden. 

The old well and service area.

 

 

The kitchen area in the basement.  The 4th picture is the root cellar. They did their cooking in the fireplace,

 

The 1st picture is the dining room.

Front stairs to the second floor.  The narrow stairs goes to the 1st landing and the wider stairs go to the 2nd floor.  The back stairs also went to the 1st landing.

The bedrooms.  I like that narrow child's bed.  It is long enough to sleep an older child.  There sure isn’t any room to turn over in it.

 

Attic stairs and attic.  It is not a good picture of the 1st quilt 2nd row, but I thought the colors were interesting.  Got some inspiration for colors from several of the quilts.

We did a house block Saturday Sampler a couple of years ago.  I liked this quilt for setting ideas.  Needless to say, I haven’t done anything with my blocks yet.

It Snowed!

 

It wasn’t last week, cause I was at quilt camp, although we did have a few flurries one day.  Think it was the last week of February, but not the 27th.  Guess it was earlier in the week.

 

The first picture is the view from my front porch.  Second picture is the view out my quilting studio window at my sewing machine.  We had just enough snow to close schools and delay openings. 

 

My Azaleas are a little late on the blooming thing.

It has bloomed out even more now.  It has both red speckled blooms and white blooms.

 

Finished my M for whatever top,  I keep wanting to call it M for Murder, but think it is Mystery.  Guess I read too many murder mysteries.

This quilt turned out way longer than I needed.  I knew when I started that it would be, but had to wait till it was time to put the blocks into a top to adjust it.  Well, by then I was in get ‘er done mode and wasn’t thinking, just following the instructions.  I spent the first day of quilt camp taking the bottom row out and putting the borders back.  I’m much happier with it now. I didn’t take a new picture of the shorter version.  This quilt when I get it quilted will go on the guest bed.  It’s new name is “Where Did My Paisley Go?”. The beautiful paisley fabrics are what attracted me to this BOM and they got cut up. Bummer.

I also worked on at Quilt camp:

This is Aiming For Accuracy from the 2013 Quilt A Long, hosted and designed by Michele Foster at the Quilting Gallery. This was her 2nd quilt a long.  I finally got around to getting the borders on it.  Another UFO top bites the dust.

 

This is “Delightful Stars”,  Michele’s 2014 Quilt A Long top. It also just needed borders.  So glad both of these tops are finally done.  Her 2015 Quilt A Long, A4AII, is in progress now. Instructions for the 1st two blocks came out on the 7th.  I have to wait a little to get started on it.  Have two diaper bags to make for a double baby shower at the end of the month.  Then I need to get my two Saturday Samplers done for the 1st Saturday of April.

Some Finishes

 

Feelin’ good.  Got some projects finished.  Every project done takes a weight off my shoulders. It will be a long time before they feel weightless!  Hopefully I’m headed in that direction.

First finish:

Bonnie Hunter’s latest mystery “Grand Illusions”.  I’ve named my version “Karate Stars”  My lovely granddaughter, Lydia wanted in on the picture.

This is the back of the quilt.  I had a large piece of one of the blues I wanted to get out of my stash, so decided on a pieced back.  Also kept me from having so many left overs to cut up into usable pieces. I’m going to try to make it a habit to piece more backs, especially since I’m running out of large pieces to use for backs.

Next project done:

Not quite my style, but I wore it last night when I took Lydia to her ballet class.  I was so layered up due to the cold, that it didn’t show.  I bought this iron on chrystal motif several years ago to put on a T-shirt for my daughter.  She was into the skull and crossbones thing at the time, but not the bling.  So it never got done.  Came across it Saturday while looking for something else and decided to do something with it, just to be done with it. Another weight off my shoulders. If worse comes to worse, I can always donate it to Goodwill.  Maybe someone would come along that liked it.

Jammin’ jars.  A nice little Sunday afternoon project.  They just need to have fat quarters put in them and then two of them will be part of my Christmas in March gifts to friends.  We are just slow about getting our projects done for gift giving.  There is just too much else going on at the Holidays.  They were fun to do and am considering making them for Christmas for bee members, depending on what we decide to do for our Christmas exchange.  We have been doing fat quarters and this would be great packaging.

This week I’m working on finishing the M for Murder Mystery BOM.  

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.