Zipping along...

Well, I've been to see the acupuncturist twice now and I do admit I'm feeling much better after the second treatment. I've been able to get some more sewing done this past week and I'm in a better mood. I finished putting together the Sew Unique Pieced and Appliqued block of the months from last year. I like the bird one better than the pieced one. I like all of the flying geese in the borders of it. There are 12 birds in it - all of them are supposed to be native to NC. I don't know enough about birds to verify it though. I did machine applique on this quilt because I didn't know how to do hand applique when I started it.


You probably can't tell from the picture but it's a little wrinkled in the center. That's because I soaked it after sewing the center together and it shrank quite a bit. I had some recalculating to do in order to get my border math to work out. I need to think carefully about my quilting design in order to hide those spots.

This is the pieced top. Earlier I mentioned I was going to try a different layout. But the fabrics are so different, I just though it looked too busy. So I went back to a simple layout. I think I'm going to quickly quilt this one and donate it to a wounded soldier. The colors are darker which I think of as more masculine and the size is right. My quilting bee is traveling to Ft Bragg in September to deliver a bunch of quilts to the soldiers. I have 2 ready and I need to get this one quilted and bound by then as well.


Last weekend we pet sit my mother-in-law's golden retriever. He's a pretty old guy and very mellow. His name is Winston. I just love his sweet disposition. My husband wasn't quite so enamored when he peed on the floor twice. He's potty trained; I just think he was suffering from a little separation anxiety. After the first day, he didn't have any more accidents and Dennis was able to see how sweet he really is.


You can see he's pretty big too. Surprisingly our youngest dog, Gabriel, became very clingy while he was here. She didn't like us sharing our attention with him. Of course, she's an attention hog anyway (but loveable). Whenever we would give all the dogs a bone, she would wait until he was distracted and then steal his from him. I'd give it back to him and within another 5 minutes she had managed to steal it again. She's quick that way.

Well, this weekend I want to continue to work on my Scraps to Challenge quilt top and make a purse for my SS's August package. It looks like she's going to remain in the hospital for another 12-16 weeks, so please add her to your prayers.

In the grind...

I just got back from my Wednesday quilting bee. I always have a great time chatting and sewing and today was no different. And Tamah made a wonderful blueberry pound cake. Yummm! I didn't get much stitching done, but I'm trying to take it easy so that's ok. I did learn about a book from Carol Armstrong called Butterflies and Blooms that I think I'll need to order. It has great applique frogs, turtles, butterflies and insects.

I've been busy grinding away on little things. I made some 9-patch blocks for a charity quilt. I'm also going to applique 4 flower blocks but I'm waiting on the background for those.


Sometimes it's nice doing some semi-mindless sewing. I also cut out and sewed together about 200 flying geese units. I need 62 for one border and 92 for another. The extras I'll just save for some other project. I still need to press them all. I used the one-seam flying geese method for making them. I also finished assembling the center of the same quilt. It will have 3 borders - 2 of which are the flying geese.


There are 12 birds in this quilt, all of them native to North Carolina I believe. This was the block of the month for 2008 by Sew Unique. I also found some time to 'put up' my temporary design wall again. ( It's really just 4 c-clamps, 4 1x2 boards and some batting.) However, I wanted to lay out the blocks for another BOM so I could see if my design and placement will work. I'm not sure about it though. There are so many very different colors in this quilt. It might just be one I put together to say it's done and not because I love it.


To me, it's not very cohesive. I know there will be black sashing in between the rows as well, but I don't think that will make too much difference. What do you think?

I'm going to leave you with a picture of our cat Moses. She mostly keeps to herself until she wants attention and then she demands it. My parents refer to her as our fake cat because she hides whenever anyone visits.


I'm expecting a package in the mail and I'll have to share the contents with you next time. Until later, have a blessed day!

Back in the groove of things

Well, I have lots more pictures to show of some new fabric I got in yesterday. First of all, I received a package from HOP (Hancocks of Paducah) that contains some more of the Williamsburg Heritage collection from Windham. And it was all on clearance! How great is that? This pretty much rounds out my collection. I realize there are a few more prints that I don't have, but that's ok. I have plenty to make a beautiful quilt. I have yet to pick out the pattern to use this on. I want it to be something that will showcase the beautiful colors.


I also ordered 1.5 yards of a Marcus Bros. Strip It fabric. It contains 18 different 2.5" strips of black and white fabrics. I still need to cut it apart and place it in my 'noodle' drawer. Can't you just imagine it in a B&W quilt with a pop of color (maybe red). That's definitely on my todo list for the future. I tried to fold the fabric so you can get a peak of all the different strips that run the length of the fabric.


Now on to my purchases from Whittle's fabrics. Someone from the HGTV Quilting & Needlework Forum introduced me to this online store and I'm SO glad they did. You can't believe their prices. Most fabrics are $3.50 to $4 per yard and they're the same fabrics you would get in quilt shops. They can sell out quickly though so shop early for best selection. They just added the Mocha Meringue collection from Marcus Brothers. The fabrics are a blend of greys, browns and blacks. They're just beautiful and the feel of the fabric is like silk.



This collection also includes several batiks in these colors. Aren't they wonderful?


Ok, enough about my growing fabric collection... I've managed to complete a few things this morning. I finished the November and December blocks for the BOM from Sew Unique. All 12 of the blocks have a different bird in them and when placed together look like a winter tree full of birds. It's a different looking BOM and I really like it.




I've designed my own borders for this quilt that necessitate my making at least 150 flying geese units in 2 sizes. I use the one-seam flying geese method to make them and it goes pretty fast. However, I have some other projects I need to work on before starting those.

Like new sofa pillows. My husband and I found a curtain panel that we really liked and I'm making some pillows for the living room furniture out of them. Here's the first one I finished.


There's quite a bit of glare to the picture, but you can get the general idea. I going to make a few more in this fabric and a couple in another silk fabric I have. I thought about adding trim to these, but I think that would frou frou up the living room too much. In any case, my husband has just walked in to take me to the bookstore and for a bite to eat, so until later...