Quilting time ..

We all want more time.  More time to __________.  But there are only so many hours in the day. And sometimes they just slip into a crack and I don't know where they've gone.  When I get up, I plan a small agenda in my head.  First come the animals. Then I will ___________.  And during that plan, I somehow look up and I've lost 4 hours and I still haven't had breakfast!  Mind you I most likely spent a lot more time with the animals. I am owned by a flock of chickens, 2 horses, 4 dogs and 1 cat.  They are pretty demanding some days.  Today's it after 2pm.  I have completed a long list of things, but I haven't gotten back to this quilt yet.  I have planned the borders, gotten my dimensions to where I want them (I use EQ 7 to help with this) .. and now I have to run to town.  So quilt will take a back seat til later I'm afraid.

Every day I plan quilting time. It might be 20 minutes, it could be 2 hours. But sometimes neither of that happens.

When I plan a quilt project, I know it will be time intensive. But the end result is satisfying to me. I work hard at it, it's square, and the pattern jumps out to you and becomes a treasure for the person I've created it for.  When I first started quilting, my first quilt was a log cabin.  I still love log cabins.  You can change just one thing and it becomes totally different.  This log cabin pattern uses 3 variations, a light, a normal 1/2 light and 1/2 dark, and a dark.  This quilt was started for my sister's 25th wedding anniversary.  We started planning it in 2006  (and must I mention that I've been planning it for a couple more?) 

 I spent 72+ hours on pressing, cutting strips, to piecing all the blocks, squaring half of the blocks AND making the first HALF of the quilt. 

Beginning a log cabin quilt is fun -- all the little pieces .. but you build all of them as you go.  I needed 16 light, 16 1/2 dark/light and 16 dark.

 I treated myself to a 3 day mini-vacay in Branson -- a room all to myself, swim every morning, had small meals .. and just sewed to my heart's content.  AND I had a whirlpool bath ... one night after swimming sewing and general mayhem, I put too much bubbles in !

Here are all the blocks with the pattern so you can see what it will look like.  Now .. time to assemble rows !

I really liked how this was coming along .. but it really does take some time to get this far.  I have 72 blocks that need to go in rows and sewn with an even seam.

The other night I couldn't sleep -- so I worked on the 2nd half ... so I've already got 72 hours in, now add another 6 ... and this is what I got .. wow .. now I'm excited !  And of course, not getting much sleep.

Then I worked on my numbers, adding borders, drawing out how it will really look ... and this doesn't even count making the back !

So all told now, I've got 85 hours just to this point. And where am I?  I have a center of a quilt complete. I have designed borders to go around this quilt that will make the dimensions 104x110 to allow  snuggling, drape and 'give me some covers plez'  LOL 

Now I have to complete the BACK of this quilt. One answer to the back is a wide back fabric that comes in wide dimensions.  I figured that I needed NINE yards of fabric to do the back.  And of course wide backs also come in an assortment of prints and can blend with your top, or not.  I will be using all my leftover fabrics to make an offset log cabin block that will make this quilt reversible when it is quilted.  It will be colorful and different. 

This is the start of it.  Now remember, my quilt top will be 104x110.  So this has to be 12" larger than the top.  So I've got some more squares to sew on. I'm going to recheck my numbers first before adding the next colors.  I have dark blue, 2 colors of green, 2 colors of purple, and 2 reds.  I think I'm set !

And I have enough of the green border I will add to the top for the binding .. this is one GIANT quilt ..

Now if someone asks how much this quilt costs:  priceless.  But if I had to give an estimate after supplies, quilting and thread costs .. hmmm... will have to do the math ! 

Til next time .. I'm going back to the sewing room ...

Dee

Family ties become heartstrings in life ...

We all look forward to fall after a summer here in Arkansas. Seasons here are different; a nice fall, a short winter, a quick spring, then the 100 degree days of summer. And it seems we cannot wait for the hint of fall to come. Now that it is here, we get rain that we desperately need and the trees turn vibrant shades to remind us that another year is winding down.

We also look around to touch and reach to our families as holidays approach. We (the parents) are aging. We have lost, or are losing, our grandparents and parents. We now see our children that were once small children around the 'kids table' now hosting dinners, or raising their own children that will someday take their places at the kids table. Or our children are so far away that we are not able to see them on a regular basis or invite them over for dinner to make noise around our house. Phone calls, email, Skype, texts, all replace that personal touch of having the now grown children around.

This September I was able to take an extended trip to South Carolina, Connecticut and Massachusetts.  Our first stop was Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. My niece and her longtime boyfriend got married on the beach -- it was wonderful to see my sisters and their families. 



Sisters n bride: L-R Sherry, Kim (bride), Me, Holly



Every one is so grown up! My niece and her now husband have a 3 year old daughter and a 3 month old baby girl who was born in August with a heart defect. The baby has been in the pediatric cardiac unit since birth and 2 days after the wedding, the call came that a heart was available, so the family disappeared like right now! It was for a good reason, but I didn't get enough time with my sisters.  Oh well ... I made a trip to the local quilt shop ;>  I found some awesome fabric by Deb Strain in a layer cake that will become a quilt for the newest niece, Starr. She is now 3 1/2 months old, recovering well from the heart transplant and her mom has just started getting to hold her the past few weeks. She will need a quilt to grow with (what I do best !)

The next stop was Connecticut to visit with my partner's son and wife who just had their first child in August, our first grandson.  Since last spring I have been planning, sewing, quilting. I am learning how to use my embroidery module and made burp cloths, a quilt to match the nursery, a second quilt designed by Grampa, more burp cloths for the niece's daughter in the hospital ... and now we got to meet him !  He is absolutely adorable by the way!

Now the best part -- saving it for last. My daughter moved to Cape Cod back in 2005, we moved from Virginia to Arkansas in 2007. I got to see her for a few days in February 2007, but that seems like soooo long ago.  We talk quite a bit, but nothing is better than some mom-daughter days. The stay in Connecticut was 3 hours from her, so we drove to Cape Cod to visit. She surprised me by talking my son into driving up from Virginia (he is stationed @ Quantico) and I got to see BOTH my kids!  Can you hear me whoop from there ?  I was the happiest momma on the planet !

I miss family dinners, holidays with lots of family running around, both big little and in-between, talking, eating, planning, catching up.. or planning something for a birthday .. it was so ingrained in me for so long. Now I resort to the hope that I can keep the strings of my family in my heart and never let go. 

Til next time .. I'll be in my sewing room ...

Dee

I love teaching quilting classes ...

I have loved quilts and quilting for as long as I can remember. I made my first quilt when I was 12 years old. I collected fabrics from everyone I could think of in my family or neighborhood that sewed and had scraps. I painstakingly made 3" squares of wools, brocades, silks, polyester screen prints, knits, you name it, it was in there. I made rows and rows of 3" squares, and then put them together. And it was the ugliest darn thing you could ever imagine. But I have turned my love of this age old tradition into something else. I really enjoy passing on how to create something warm and wonderful from a few scraps or a few yards of fabric into something amazing.  And with teaching classes, I meet new people, turn others into addicts such as myself, and we laugh ... a LOT !

This weekend was the last class for Quilting 101 and my Lonestar classes. In Quilt 101, I use basic blocks made up of rectangles, squares and triangles, and I am so thankful we now have tools that make quilting easier in our modern world. My ladies in Quilt 101 were a varied group, and one woman and her sister had learned under the careful tutelage of their grandmother. For the last class they brought show and tell for the last class and I'm so sorry I didn't look for my camera before they left! They were an inspiration to all of us.

This is a sample of a few blocks put together on the diagonal that may become a table runner after adding some setting triangles.  Blocks here are 9 patch, log cabin, monkey wrench, friendship star and shoofly.

As you can see, everybody is busy !  There is always pressing, cutting, squaring, sewing !

My Lonestar ladies' stars all turned out awesome -- each one very different ...

We have Bonnie and Peggy, on the left; Bonnie's star has roses (top Left), Peggy has a holiday red and green (bottom Left). Then we have Karen and Carolyn; Carolyn's star is a red and green holiday but with a bright flair, and Karen's chose a darker holiday theme with a tint of fall colorings .. Bonnie and Peggy each chose to add more borders, yet all of them are wonderful !  Great job ladies !

Next classes will begin the 2nd week of October or thereabouts .. gotta get something going before Christmas !  Until next time ... sew on ....

Dee

The mental 'to do' list is really multi tasking ... but

I attempt to do one thing at a time. First thing upon rising, animals come first. Yesterday morning it was checking the chicken coop to make sure there were still live chickens! This is where the term 'pecking order' comes from. There were a few 'peckings' going on, but that was to be expected.  Thing I, one of my original hens, lost her eye in a carry off by the neighbor's dog. So she was the first target of the new hens. She's won out now. For the most part, the integration of 5 new hens into the flock was successful. So now my flock is up to 13, with one Sr. Rooster, and 1 Jr. Rooster.  With the addition of the new hens, I wondered just how quickly they would adapt to their new environment and start to lay eggs again. Well, the answer is immediately.  I got 6 eggs before early afternoon. I usually let the flock free range around the property during daylight hours so I let MY hens out and let the newbies explore the outdoor coop yard. My usual introduction might be to let them stay locked up and watch thru the pen, but I left the door ajar in case they wanted to do any cautious exploring.  One lil red hen tried.  And of course these hens don't know me and what happens during a day, so I started to introduce my whistle and treats when called. They're not quite sure of it, but they are noticing what everyone else does. At dusk, it's roosting time, and Sr Rooster calls everyone to fly up to the roost. These 5 are confused to say the least. They can hop, they can jump, but they sure as heck do not know what it means to get UP. They were in poor shape from multiple roosters, so having just one Sr. Rooster may be ok for now. You will notice silver streaks on their backs and wing areas -- that is an antibiotic spray that will reduce the fly attacks and help them heal.  Now they will have the chance to eat, play, chase bugs and grow some feathers. Another day of my animal caretaker routine, but I get fresh eggs. One of these days I'm going to have to try this neat recipe I have for an 8 egg custard ice cream .. maybe just once ;-D

Grandchildren are blessings

I have a lot of friends and family with grandchildren. Even my sister with her three children has 17 total.  My partner and I have four children between us, 2 sons and 2 daughters. His son Chris and wife Kim just had the first grandchild, a boy. Parker Christopher Burt was born on Saturday, August 20th. So this is 'our' first. We will be taking a trip to meet our new grandchild in September, with a sidetrip for a wedding for my niece in Mrytle Beach, SC and another to see my daughter on Cape Cod. This will be the first 'family' visit in quite a while.
My quilting is a passion, and of course, memories are made to remember with a quilt. I planned a quilt for Parker when we first learned of his coming.  It is in a sailboat theme to match his room. Grampa Doug wanted me to make a sports quilt, which will be sent to the quilter next week, and of course, a few burp cloths. I am embroidering Parker's name and/or other sayings on diapers with decorative stitching. I am new to embroidery, but it is something that has intrigued me for a very long time.