stuff

Quite the title to start a blog post, huh?  I couldn’t come up with some ‘catchy’ title, because really, this post might not be that interesting but something I wanted to say.

Yahoo groups – do you belong to any?  just a couple? a lot?  and I’m curious – what draws you in to the group?  The reason I’m asking is, first – I think at one time I belonged to about 20 groups.  Discovered that I was just deleting most of the email notifications without even looking, so cleaned up my groups.  Still belonged to about 5 (I know – lot of ‘clean up’), this morning I cleaned up some more and now I am down to 3 – one being QFC which I help moderate   okay.. so  second – because I help moderate the QFC (Quilters for Comfort – see tabs across the top), we have people who are listed as ‘members’ of our group and I’m sure that many of them have joined for some reason or another and no longer bother to read the posts.  I have to admit here I feel the same way about my blog – I’d rather have 5 who I know care enough or maybe I should say interested enough to read, than many who just follow because of a give-away (something I’ve never done!) and never come back.  Oh well, enough of that.

On a personal note, I have 2 more quilts to get quilted than it’s the binding and getting sent out – hope I have them done and in the mail by Friday afternoon!

My granddaughter, Kari (now 18!) informed me yesterday that she picked out her dress pattern for prom.  Last I’d heard, she was thinking of NOT going.  Prom is March 23rd and that does not leave me much time to get this dress done.  I’m off with my son & his family for our annual trek to Disneyland Mar. 15 – 19.  So…. Kari & I have a date for Sunday to go prom dress fabric shopping and hope this dress isn’t too complicated.  She chose a strapless dress – not something I’m too excited about.  She’s quite ‘chesty’ and I’m thinking she’ll end up being uncomfortable once it’s done – but what do I know?!

Katie who some day may actually post pictures of something interesting

Best Intentions…

People have wondered why I don’t make lists.   Grocery lists, to-do lists, misc shopping lists….  Why would I?  I had my weekend planned (well sort of).  I quilted one more quilt, got another on the frame and 1/3 quilted.  Figured I would come home after my g-sons’ football game and finish that quilt and get another on the frame.  Instead… my 9 yr. old GS has his ‘white baby’ which is a crocheted afghan he’s had since he was a baby.  It’s his favorite and very well loved.  It’s also in tatters.  So “please grandma, can you fix it?”  Now what’s more important?  Getting the quilt that’s waiting, done or doing something for a GS?  For me there really is no question, I’m doing my best to try and repair what I can of his afghan!  Got home, pulled out a yarn needle and some nice soft white yarn and started on his “baby”.  I know it won’t be perfect, but he’ll love that it’s intact for a bit longer.  His dad was the same and still has ‘his baby’.  Some things you simply can’t put aside until ‘later’!!

I have dear friends who are headed to Seattle in a couple weeks.  He has Leukemia and will be undergoing a stem cell transplant.  His donor is from the ‘donor registry'.  Surprisingly, he did not have a family member that was a possible donor.  I am unable to be a donor due to having hepatitis as a child.  My hubby wasn’t a candidate due to a respiratory health issue.  I bring this up because I hope all that are able, are listed as donors.  Something so small, can make such a huge difference in someone’s life.  Anyway, they could be gone for as long 6 months and I will not only be praying and worrying about them, I will be missing them.  So today we will get together for a nice dinner and a game of dominos. 

On that note, I really need to get myself busy.  A house to straighten up, a meal to cook and a ‘baby’ to work on

Katie

MIA

I’ve been MIA for about 10 days.  Long story short, I was in northern AZ helping a SIL who underwent 2 kidney surgeries in less than 48 hours.  It’s good to be home!  I told her I think from now on when I go to help her, I’ll be taking a sewing machine and projects to work on!  We anticipated a 4 day stay…… Ah, well, I’m just glad we’re close enough to be able to help when it’s needed.

We traveled home in this today:

So glad hubby was driving!  I did enjoy the view, but also very glad I don’t live in snow country!  I think being a desert rat suits me just fine…..

I still have 7 quilts to get quilted, bound, labeled and sent off to IL for the QFC group – hope to be able to work on those the rest of the week.  Won’t be doing much more than free motion meander as I really NEED to get them done and sent out.

Hope everyone is staying warm and safe…

Katie

Happy Super Bowl Sunday

And that's not my team!  I made this for a friend.  He had the SF 49er's Logo patch and wanted me to make this banner for his 'club'.  Once I gave it to him I told him I was tempted to put a patch on the back that said "Go Ravens!"
So this was just a little something I did this week.  I made this using canvas.  I was concerned that felt would sag eventually.  I fused the letters and was going to leave it at that but then decided I'd go ahead and do a small zig zag stitch around the letters.  First I went around the logo patch - first big mistake.  Trying to manipulate that stiff patch (about 14" wide) though the throat space of my domestic machine was not fun.  Then as I was stitching around the letters, other letters started falling off!  Another note to self - use heavier fusible.  Then the letters started to fray as I stitched around them - they got a bit of a hair cut after I was done with that!  Anyway, a few lessons learned on this one and my friend was happy with his banner (even if I'm not rooting for his team :-)  )
Hope you all are having a SUPER day (couldn't help myself).  I'll be heading to my son's to celebrate my granddaughter's third B-day and, Yes, watch the Super Bowl!

Katie 

Today I will….

Finish up another quilt top.  Two more quilt tops to finish assembling and then I will have 8 stacked up to get quilted.  I really don’t know why I don’t just quilt them as I finish the tops, but I don’t.  Once I get at least four done, then I’ll think about quilting.  I had my four ready then got embroidered blocks from one of the ladies at QFC to assemble into a quilt.  Decided to get those tops done, then I got two more sets of embroidered blocks along with cute fabric from another lady from QFC.   So I will get those quilt tops made up and start a quilting marathon!

Aren’t these just the cutest cows.  I don’t know where the designs came from so I apologize for not being able to give credit to the digitizer.  I wanted this to be a happy quilt and therefore all the color!  I’ve had the dot fabric in my stash in quite awhile and I liked the way it played with the tie dyed fabric.

Another set of designs that I don’t know who the digitizer is.  I have to admit to not having a clue as how to set these blocks or what fabrics to use.  My left-handed friend (you know who you are   ) had sent me some fabric collections from Collecting Threads a while back and I was able to use some of those in this quilt.  The red border seems to be screaming in these pictures, but it actually helped pull some of the red from the other fabrics.  I have been determined to use as much from my stash as I possibly can and thankfully, it’s working.  I see my stash starting to whittle down a bit!

This quilt was made by my granddaughter, Kari.   She had pulled the fabrics and made the 4-patch blocks.  It was my job to embroider the designs for her.  I’d started the filled designs and didn’t really care for them.  I was working on the RW set when she came to work on the quilt.  She decided that what I had was enough and she’d use what was there.   We were a little short of the orange border fabric but managed to make it work with the alternating of the skinny borders.  And again I have to apologize for not knowing who the digitizer is of the designs.  When I first started machine embroidery, I would rename files so it was easier to locate specific themes.  I did finally realize that I needed to start keeping the digitizer’s name intact even when renaming files….  

On Facebook, someone issued a “pay it forward” challenge.  The first 5 people who commented on her post would received something hand made from her if they in turn put the same post on their ‘wall’.  The lady I commented to is a terrific artist (and also my son’s MIL) and there was no way I was going to pass up the possibility of something created by her.  We have until the end of 2013 to “pay it forward”.  This is what I’ve done so far:

A mug rug for my neighbor who loves anything Shabby Chic, pink and coffee.

An e-reader pouch for my granddaughter, Kaitlin.  I had made her a wallet using this fabric and she wanted something to slip her e-reader in made with the same fabric.

So there you have it for now.  Have a great day and please stay warm.  It seems to be cold all over the country!

Katie

Quilt Alongs

I will start with a picture before I go into my subject of this blog post.

Another quilt top finish for QFC.  The designs are Barnyard Toile from Emblibrary.  I usually use 10 embroidered design squares in charity quilt but this set was of 8.  By doing the Snowball block with the design squares, it left me all those HST’s.  So…. I made use of them!  And once again, I utilized the fabric I had on hand.  I had hoped to make a mitered corner border but was short fabric and I had already sewn the two strips together so the yellow accent border just extended – it is now a design element   I am slowly using up some older fabrics that I have, some fabrics that were given to me and just simply clearing out the excess that I really want to go away.

Okay, so on to QAL’s or “Quilt Alongs”…. As I read the blogs there are quite a few of these QAL’s.   Several that I’d like to join,  but I don’t.  Why?  well, I know me.  If these were swaps, I’d be all over them!  Then I have a commitment to someone other than myself.  I know I have to make a block (or several) and send them out and I wouldn’t want to disappoint another person.  But if it’s for me, I can ‘put if off’ until later and then later, then a few months have passed and then …. well you get the idea.  And then there are the mysteries.  I think the most popular mysteries are the ones that Bonnie Hunter does.  I have downloaded the ‘clues’ for the past few years and have yet to do one.  I get really intimidated when I read something like ‘make 300 flying geese’…..  And of course, in Bonnie’s mysteries, the fabrics are scraps.  Now you’d think with my love / hate relationship with scraps I’d have plenty.  So far – nope!   Anyway…. Maybe someday I’ll actually pull out the directions and make a ‘mystery’ quilt.  Oh, and another thing (while I’m thinking about it), I really appreciate the time that Bonnie puts into creating her mysteries.  I know she’s a busy lady but I sure wish she would release the mystery AFTER the holidays.  I think that might be another reason why I shy away from them – the timing.  In order to play along with the others who are doing it, I’d have to work on they clues while still trying to get my Christmas projects done… Okay, enough of that.

I am curious, though – do you join in on the QAL’s?  and if so, what is the most enticing reason you join? 

Hope you all have a really nice weekend.  Thank goodness the temps are finally getting back to normal here in AZ.  My grandsons are playing football again, so my Saturdays will be spent in Tucson watching little guys play football and I’ll love every minute of it.

Katie

Jan 15, 2013

What?  A date for a title?  I couldn’t think of anything catchy this morning, so the date won

 

In my last post I showed a picture of swap blocks, the one set was not correct.  Here’s the correct version:

Note the smaller center triangles are the same fabric as the outer larger triangles.  I liked both versions….

Here are some blocks for a quilt for QFC:

I had an idea working in my brain that didn’t work.  I’d thought about taking the square in a square blocks and the dog print fabric and making 12” 4 patch blocks, then it dawned on me, I’d have to have double the number of embroidered square in a square blocks.  So I reverted to my favorite block setting, the Attic Windows.

These designs are from Ace Points and I love this little dog with the lady bug.

I wanted a larger quilt than what I had.  And I was determined to use what I had on hand – so here is the finished top:

The dog fabric is a one way print and I had a narrow long piece of it.  So it worked for the side borders and I used the other blue I had in the blocks for the top & bottom borders as it was ‘just enough’!

I’m working on another animal quilt for QFC.  It will be farm animals as I have some fabric that was given to me that depicts farm.  It’s another one way print – something that, if I was purchasing, I’d try to avoid!

So until next time…Hope all are healthy and staying warm,

Katie