Saturday, February 28, 2009

It's quilted....

Are you tired of seeing these wonky stars yet?


I promised to show my other projects as soon as I'm finished with this quilt. I want to get this out to Tia by Tuesday morning.


It took me forever to load this puppy onto the quilting frame on Thursday. Frankly, it's been so long since the last time I did it that I simply forgot how to do it. lol By the time it's loaded, it was all I could handle.
Friday morning came around, I got it quilted in lick-i-ty-split right before I headed out to work. Gee, good thing I still remembered how to do loops and stars. :-)
And this morning, I got the binding on. I will stitch down the binding to the back later tonight.
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On the home front, we are without water today. We discovered that there's a leak in the water heater a couple of days ago, so Mr. Handyman (aka John) turned off the water this morning to see if he can fix it. Meanwhile, the laundry and dishes will have to wait. :-)
Anyway, my task for now is to check into the warranty 'cause shouldn't water heater last for at least 10 years or more? This is a new home and we've been here for only seven years. Arghghgh... the joy of home ownership.
Hope you have a great weekend!

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Star in a Star

I was inspired when I visited the Bushfire Project Flickr Group the other night. It occurred to me then why not finish off Bushfire Stars into a quilt since I enjoy the whole process of quilting from the beginning to end. Plus, Dolly has been neglected for the last 3 months. Oi vay, will she forgive me and still work like a champ?


So off I went that night and pulled out some half-yards and larger pieces of scrap fabrics. The result ... a Star in a Star backing for Bushfire Stars top.




The plan is to quilt loops and stars all over. I'm excited to get this quilt done... off I go to load it on Dolly. :-)

Happy Stitching!


Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Mother Superior

Have you heard of Superior Threads - Mother Superior's Blog? It's Bob's birthday and they are celebrating with a big giveaway... go join the fun!

Monday, February 23, 2009

Bushfire Stars Flimsy

How was your weekend?

My weekend slipped by way too quickly. Saturday morning was filled with errands, dropped of the Spring totebag (see last post) down at the quilt shop in the afternoon... of course I did a little bit of shopping too *U* ... and babysat my cutie and youngest nephew, James, in the evening. Then Sunday was a work day. So I didn't get to work on the Bushfire Quilt Project until after dinner.

All I had to do to finish it off were to make two more side borders and attached them with those four 6" wonky stars that were made from last weekend.

TA DA....

I like how this top came together so nicely. It's made from scraps fabrics and the background fabric came from my stash. To "tame" the bias edges, I stay-stiched all the way around the border. This will be heading to Tia soon.



Thursday, February 19, 2009

Spring Bag and weather


I took a break from making the quilt top for the Bushfire Quilt Project to finish this project. You had a peek of it from the other day.... it's my Spring flowers bag.

BTW, I have two scrappy side borders sewn on that Wonky Stars top... hoping to finish the other two sides during the weekend.

Anyway, there are some interests in needle turned applique using my favorite applique method, which is the back-basting method, down at the quilt shop. So I drew up a couple simple flowers for beginner applique class which I'm hoping to set up class schedules with Pagen (owner) soon.

If you have been following my blog, you know by now that I like to try and use a variety of quilting techniques. One of my favorite is hand applique. I L-O-V-E applique quilts. So I'm hoping that this applique class will take off and get more people into applique.




The students will learn the basics of applique and work up two flower blocks. Then, they can use their favorite tote bag pattern to turn the blocks into one to carry their supplies in ... or whatever else they like to use the blocks for.


Here's the other side of the bag.


Note: A single flower and lots of buds on my plum tree. :-) Will spring be here soon?






It was absolutely a gorgeous day today.... around 75 degrees. The news mentioned that it happened to be the warmest day since Feb. 4th, and I believe it. For the last two weeks I have been soooo cold! We had a couple storm systems came in during the last two weeks. It brought a lot of rain .. . and cold temperatures... like in the 30s. I know what you're thinking for those of you back East... that it's not that cold. But for Southern California.... it IS COLD.


I took this photo for Diane. She had sent me a message earlier in the week asking about the rain 'cause she's still waiting for it in Nevada. I hope you get some rain in your area by now, Diane. You can't really see it in the pix, but it was raining hard that morning. That's the view right outside my front door.

And the same view after the rain....

I love it after the rain! The air is clean and fresh... no smog! For the last few days when I stepped out my front door, I am greeted by the beautiful snow-capped mountain.


Take a closer look...




And this next one is for Mrs. G. .... she commented that I'm a big tease for showing you a peek of the bag. Why YES I am, Mrs. G! *LOL* and I will continue to tease you since it's great fun. Tee hee
Here's another peek of another project....






Aw gee... I am chatty tonight! It's way past my bedtime, so now I bid you a good night. :-)








New Blogger

Please welcome Judith! She is a new blogger and is having a giveaway. Do drop by her blog to said hi and that I sent ya.



Have a wonderful day!

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Wonky Stars Top

Just a quick post...

I made six more wonky stars last night for the total of 18 star blocks. Then set 16 of them together for the center and added a 2" yellow border. My plan is to piece more of my scrap fabrics to make up the outside border. Tia wanted to make her quilt size at 60" x 60", so I'm sticking close to that size. My quilt top will finished around 64" x 64".

I also worked on another project last night... here's a peek...

Saturday, February 14, 2009

6 more blocks


Happy Valentine's Day!



Valentine's Day is rather low-key this year. I picked up some candies and little things for the kiddos, then maybe we'll go see a movie later... that's all our plan for the big day.... boring huh? John got hit by the flu bug hard the last few days and is still sick and achy all over, so I'm not expecting him to be out and about anytime soon. But that's OK... this will give me a chance to work more on the Bushfire Quilt Project (see post below).



So far I have 12 wonky stars done. I have 6 more cut and ready to sew last night, but I had stay up too late the night before and after a busy day at work, I was exhausted! Mr. Sandman visited me around 8pm.... oh, my life is soo exciting! LOL


These blocks are really fun and quick to make up. What a great way to use up scraps! The only thing is my scraps basket still looks the same as when I started. lol Look who decided to pose with the blocks.... my doxie girl.

Have a loving Valentine's Day!!

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Bushfire Quilt Project



As you may know by now about the devastating fires that swept through Victoria, Australia last weekend that took many lives and properties. My heart goes out to the people who have lost their homes and their loved ones, also pets and livestocks.


I wanted to help and so have joined the Bushfire Quilt Project headed by Tia of Camp Follower Bags. Tia has set up a Flickr group... take a look if you're interested in helping out. All she asked for is for us to make a couple blocks of wonky stars, then in turn, she will finish them into quilts to donate to the bushfire victims. Sounds easy enough....


I pulled out one light fabric and some scraps yesterday.... the result.... 6 blocks done. These stars are quick and easy.
It's Bonnie's Maverick Stars pattern but at 12-1/2" unfinished blocks.

I made up 6 more blocks tonight and thinking maybe do six more blocks tomorrow night. Instead of sending blocks to Tia, my plan is to send a finished top.

Friday, February 6, 2009

Pillow and Class

This red and white Cathedral Windows pillow is my first finish for February (can't believe that we're already in Feb!). It's perfect for Valentine.... don't you think? This pillow was a lot of fun to make what with the polka dots and rick-rac. Unfortunately, I don't have the pillow here at the house; it is residing at the quilt shop as a class sample. I might have to make a couple more just to have them here.



Talk about class, I had another Cathedral Windows class yesterday. What a fun day it was! This group of students was hilarious! They had me laughing all the time. Apparently, they all knew each other, and most of them are in the Wednesday Friendship Group at the shop. It's so great to have a chance to meet them all.

I'm usually not very good at remembering people's name, but this time I think I did. So here goes ... starting from left (Sue, Pam, Nancy) ... back table (Ron, Arlene, Tonya is hidden)... Diana at the iron station... then Lora is behind Chris who is in that pretty blue shirt.



Yes, I had a man taking my class! That's Ron and his wife, Arlene, they make a great team. There's Tonya, in the red shirt, who also brought along a member of her family... who you will see toward the end of the post.





This is Lora. Instead of making a pillow, she's making a table topper with her Layer Cake.




Here are Chris's and Diana's. They used the same Layer Cake but look how different their pillow tops look!



Here are Arlene's and Sue's pillow tops. They also used the same collection, Fig & Plum, which I'm in love with at the moment.




Lastly, here's Tonya with her baby girl! Tonya used scrappy Christmas fabrics... you can't tell from the picture, but she has sparkly fabric for the "windows".... and her pillow top came out so cute! Even cuter is that baby; she was so good! Look at her go for it... she's a doll!


I truly enjoyed teaching and hope you like seeing my class photos.



Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Twist top done!

The weather has been gorgeous here in Southern California (sorry to those back East who still having the cold winter weather). It's perfect to go out and take a photo of my Strip Twist top that I got done yesterday.


I love the plaid and turquoise borders that Sweetie Pie had picked out for me! I think she has an eye for colors.... now if I can get her interested in quilting....

That one yard of turquoise fabric was just the right amount to do a 5" border. I had about 1" strip leftover and little bit of scraps to go into my scraps basket. What a great way to use up my stash! :-D

While I was out in the yard, I couldn't help but take a few flowers pix that are blooming my neglected garden. I'm not going to show you my weeds covered garden... OK? .... don't want to shock you! Thank goodness for hardy plants and photo cropping and editing! LOL

This Calla Lily is beginning to fade, but I still love the look of it.

Pink verbena...


Pink miniature roses...


... and of course, my cute little doxies.... on the hunt....


... for some little creatures... what's lurking in that groundcover?



Have a wonderful day!



Sunday, February 1, 2009

Super Bowl Twist




I visited Bonnie's blog this morning and saw that she is doing another Super Bowl quilt. This time it's with her Strip Twist pattern.



Well, since I didn't really have any plan to work on any particular project today, I thought I pulled out my Strip Twist to work on too.

A couple of months back I had an unexpected free day, so I decided to spend the day stripping. :-) My scraps basket was full with 2 1/2" strips. I just started sewing dark and light strips together until there were none left. Then after that day, I continued to sew here and there until the center of Strip Twist is done. I never did get a chance to post about it because of the Holidays and life got a bit busy.
So here it is.... with Sweetie Pie's help, the border fabrics are chosen. Fingers crossed... I only have one yard of that turquoise fabric to work with.

Hmmm.... I think someone is hungry! I'll get to the borders right after feeding the animals and.... family.

Happy Sewing!