Git 'Er Done ... January

I have joined Judy again this year to finish up some UFOs and quilting. this year instead of calling it a UFO Challenge....it is the Git 'Er Done Challenge. each month you list 4 things you will git dun for that month. my list for January is:

1.  Finish the last 3 fairy applique blocks. these are large 22x30" blocks. it takes a lot of tracing and cutting and fusing. i can do it.

2.  Make selvage binding and put on blue/green selvage quilt. first i have to finish quilting it....should be done tomorrow. 1 more row...maybe a few inches past one row.

3.  Quilt up a top brought to me today by my friend. It is for a special friend of ours....i have about 10 days to get it done.

3.  Quilt my friend, Marquita's quilt. it's a small one so i shouldn't have a problem.

After all that....i shall continue on with my many UFOs. will pull out a few tomorrow and see who gets to be first. 

You can join Judy and I also. go to her blog and read all about it.  www.patchworktimes.com

Make the list .... check

Get busy .....   check ...

tomorrow

Houses....by Aunt Sophie

The Houses quilt top is all pieced and ready to be quilted.

These house blocks were panels that i got in my Aunt Sophie inheritance. i just never could give them up...i thought some day i would make something from them. i cut the large houses into 10" squares and the smaller houses into 7" squares.

First i was going to paper piece house blocks for the border but decided that would take away from the house blocks that were there.

Paper pieced trees. love the turret on this blue house.

So i thought log cabin blocks would be appropriate. and what goes with houses but trees. so it got trees for the corners.

I don't know which house i like best. they are all so cool. but this one has a fabulous porch.

And this one has a great porch, too. plus, it's yellow!

It will join its many cousins in the to-be-quilted cabinet. don't look for that quilting any time soon. LOL

Now i have incentive to finish the quilt i have on the frame. got an email....a quilt is coming in tomorrow that needs to get done ASAP for a friend. so...got to go quilt. talk to ya..

tomorrow

Today and tomorrow

2 more days.... today and tomorrow....then that's it....2012 is done with us. have you done all you wanted to do this year? i think i probably did. i got rid of several hundred yards of fabric and finished up a bunch of UFOs. and lost some weight. and had some fun. what more can you ask for....right?

Someone asked what my goals were for 2013. i have 2 major goals...

1.  Lose 40 more pounds. which is why i joined the gym and am working out 3 days a week. and going to a Zumba class on Saturdays.

2.  See how many of my UFOs i can finish up this year. my goal is 3 a month. and, yes, there are that many....and more. in this regard i am not taking customer quilts for at least a few months to try and get a lot of my UFOs at least all pieced. we'll worry about the quilting part later.

Also, i would like to:

1. get drywall on the ceilings at the Duck. i have to pay someone to do that. if i can get that finished, then i can get the drywall up on the walls.

2. plant a huge garden in the interest of eating healthier and canning a bunch of stuff next year. i plan on buying a pressure canner, too. the summer will be busy.

And my sis and I plan a thrift store extravaganza over several states this spring. there might be a quilt show thrown in the mix, too. gotta have a road trip, right?

2013 will be busy. hope yours is all you want it to be.

I have finished Miss Tiger Lily

Still have to draw some lines on the flowers and her dress to define it some more.

And Miss Orchid.  she is a very exhuberant ballerina. LOL

Don't you wish you could throw your leg up like that?  LOL  I think if i tried that i might hurt something.

Three more fairies to go. still not sure if they will become a quilt or individual wall hangings. am leaning toward a quilt at this point.

And my friend, Judy, in Texas at  www.patchworktimes.com   got me in trouble once again. she showed a pattern that a friend of hers designed and she was going to start. it is called Comfort and Joy. i loved it...had to go order the pattern. and actually ordered a different pattern while i was on that site, too.  Judy, Judy, you get me in so much trouble.  the good kind of trouble. hahaha

The pattern can be found at www.silverthimblequilt.com  there are pages and pages of clear instructions and patterns for the applique. nice pages.....not 1 large page with everything on top of everything else. very clear and understandable. great pattern. go check them out.

The pattern shows it in a lighter version...

And a darker version. i'm doing the darker version.

I have a box of Christmas fabric that was part of a bartering this past summer for quilting. i really didn't know what i was going to do with that Christmas fabric....until this pattern.

So, far, i have cut out the background blocks for the applique. it is a pink dot. had to piece the last piece together...but that is ok. the applique will cover most of anyway.

And i've finished the 3 log cabin blocks. love the little Santa faces in the middles.

And finished the 11 9 patch blocks.

And today will work on the 37 HST units. i have some Thangles paper that i will use for those.

Before the HSTs tie me up for the afternoon, i have to finish the last 2 blocks on the houses quilt. it is very close to being all pieced.

We won't talk about my quilt that is on the frame .... for the last week .... i loaded it...quilted 2 passes...and promptly went on to something else and never went back. sigh!!   hopefully soon.

I also got 2 more blocks embroidered for the Nativity quilt. the one where baby Jesus looks like a monkey. i might traumatize some poor child with that quilt. hahaha

Well, better get to working. hopefully i can show you the houses quilt...

tomorrow

Christmas

Hope everyone's Christmas day was all they hoped it would be...and then some.

There are only 2 of us here....but there was food for 10...and it was not my idea. LOL

Smoked ham and smoked turkey, green bean casserole, cornbread stuffing, gravy, deviled eggs, cranberry sauce, dinner rolls, pecan pie. and we ate some of all of it...groan!!

Jim ready to dig in.

Even Suzy the dog got a few bites of everything.

She rejected the cranberry sauce. how can this dog lick this bowl clean and leave the cranberry bites there like that. LOL

It was a day for napping and jigsaw puzzles and making crumb blocks.

I put together some crumb blocks off and on during the day. so far i have 26 of them. hopefully by the end of 2013 i will have 500...enough to make another crumb quilt.

One of them got a recycled little embroidered candy cane

And the first of 6 fairy blocks got all fused together. this is Miss Daisy. i added a bit of embellishment with some markers on the flowers and her hair. not sure yet whether they will become a quilt or separate wall hangings.

Also played with the dehydrator.

Some apples...i did 3 Honey Crisp apples. dried them for 10 hours the first day and put them in a quart jar. tried one the next day and they were kind of stuck together. still had moisture in them. were soft and chewy and tasty yummy. so dried them another 8 hours. still bendable. i would like them to be crispy and dry...like chips. but got tired of hearing the dehydrator running so took them out. hubby did some research and it said to wrap them in brown paper for a week. so i tried that with half of them. will let you know what happens. they are rolled in a grocery sack and then vacuum sealed. will open in a week and check.

Also dried 3 bananas. i think i like my bananas fresh. these just look so wrong. LOL   i vacuum sealed them and put them in the pantry. am going to try them in a banana bread recipe and see how they are. they, too, are still soft and not crispy...after 8 hours in dehydrator and then 8 hours more the next day. i am not the queen of dehydration....yet. LOL

Today is back to the regularly scheduled program. got up this morning and went to the gym. no one there but me. perhaps gym use doesn't kick in until the new year's resolutions start. hahahaha  but i am starting now. got to start on christmas dinner leftovers now for a day or two. was a slug all christmas day....even took a nap....so back to quilting. talk to you..

tomorrow

Saturday

Today is Zumba class day!  woohoo!!   let's see if i can Zumba....hahahaha

Zumba is a lot of fun. an hour of fast paced moving and shaking. for the first time....i did all right. i made it through the hour without stopping. about halfway through i stopped moving my arms so much and concentrated on the foot moves. i'm a terrible dancer and have no rhythm....so that just makes it more comical. but i did the best i could. i found the most fit person in the room and got behind her and did what she did. an hour later and after much sweating....i was still standing. will go back next Saturday.

I got 5 more pillowcases sewn up...only 1 more to do. here are some of the ones i have finished.

Got 2 rows quilted on a blue/green selvage quilt that i have on the frame. and working on making selvage binding strips.

Finished fusing Miss Daisy. .... pics to follow soon.

And got 1 1/2 Dear Jane blocks quilted before my eyes closed.

Tomorrow a turkey breast is going in the smoker for Christmas. my part is to make the green bean casserole, some dressing and gravy....and perhaps bake a pie.

Other than that...things are a bit slow around here.  More progress...

tomorrow

Some good progress today

Today was stay at home and work out day....so i put my big girl panties on and got after it.  30 minutes on the treadmill started me off. started at 2.5 mph and every five minutes upped the speed and the incline 1 notch. ... at 25 minutes, every minute went down in speed and incline until i was back where i started. then took a water break and wiped sweat and did some arm exercises on the cable machine and a few dozen squats. that should hold me for today.

Got over to the studio and got the binding on my Secession quilt. this was started in January of this year....i actually got it quilted and the binding on in the same year. how about that?

Then quilted up a little wallhanging for our vet. will drop it off at his office tomorrow on my way through town. sorry about the crappy picture. i do wish the camera fairies were nicer to me. 

There were snow flurries today....i so am not a fan of snow. for a while it was tough...large flakes and wind blowing like crazy. thankfully it stopped after about an hour. nothing much stayed on the ground. i think the wind blew it all away. i hope it blows it all to Kansas or somewhere.

Went back to the house about 3 and put together 6 pillowcases for Sandy Hook Elementary. have 11 more to sew up. hope to get most of those done tomorrow. Brenda is making some, too. she tells me she has 7 done already and more on the way....thank you Brenda.  and Sharon has a few done, too. don't i have the best, compassionate friends? will mail them off the end of the month.

My garden seeds came today, too. we might need to plow up more space. i think i will need the garden area plus the old garden area, too. i will be planting: bell peppers, banana peppers, carrots, okra, bushel gourds, watermelon, tomatoes for eating, burpless cucumbers, roma tomatoes for canning, cantaloupe, corn, pole beans, yard long green beans, and cushaw squash. there's going to be a lot of watering going on....then a lot of eating....then a lot of canning....and some playing with the dehydrator. going to be a busy summer.

Got 2 more DJ blocks quilted. Gonna go sit and read for a while. Talk to you...

tomorrow

The first day of fitness

Today was the first day i went to the gym to work out. it's been a few years since i've been in a gym. although i have equipment at home, i've been a bit lax lately in using it. so i figured spending money on a gym membership will help me be accountable.

I started out with 15 minutes on the elliptical machine. i really have to concentrate on that to keep my arms and legs going in the right position and not wind up like a pretzel on the floor. i was about 8 minutes into it when a sweet young thin thing jumped on the machine next to mine and proceeded to ramp it up. she left me in a trail of dust. sigh!  i'll get there.

After that i had to sit for a few minutes and drink some water. one of the employees asked if i was ok. i said...yeah, just have to rest before i die. her answer....you pass out before you die. hahahaha  got back up and did 2 sets each of 5 arm exercises and then did 10 minutes of pedaling a bike. that concluded my first hour at the gym. i was sweating and feeling good about myself. LOL

Have an appointment on friday with a personal trainer who will set up a workout plan for me....designed to accomplish the things i want to accomplish....lose 40 more pounds and get stronger. i hope i live through it.

I finished quilting my quilt that i had on the frame. will get the binding on it tomorrow and show it to you.

We opened another present last night. i got baby oil gel and he got a bottle of Aleve. hahahaha  things we had on our lists.

I made a homemade chicken pot pie for dinner .... along with some cheese garlic biscuits that i added some jalepenos to. it was really good. even the dog got a few bites in the end.

I worked on Miss Daisy...cutting and fusing....probably about 40 percent finished. hope to work on that again tomorrow.

Got 2 1/2 blocks quilted on Dear Jane.

Got a quilt book in the mail and looked at that for a bit. and started to read the dehydrating book that i got. found i might need some accessories for it like mesh screen and leather. got to check those out in the catalog. about midnight i gave it up until...

Tomorrow

Tuesday Travels

Tuesday was a busy day for me. i had a doctor appointment....a follow up on weight loss and blood work. I had gained a few pounds back from the last visit 4 months ago but Tammy said she didn't even care about that. my numbers on my blood work were all good.

Diabeties number down from 5.9 to 5.5
Bad cholesterol number down
Good cholesterol number up
Everything moving in the right direction.

I was pretty happy about that and promised to do better and lose more weight. told her i was going to the gym after talking with her to sign up for the Biggest Loser contest. so she gave me an EKG...pronounced me fit....and sent me on my way with her blessing.

I gave her a quilt for Christmas. she was pretty happy about it and said she would cherish it. she said she has no sewing abilities so it will be precious. i'm glad i surprised her and made her happy.

Then i went over to Cuba to find the new gym location. pretty impressive place...lots of room...all new equipment. i signed up for 4 months. the contest starts Jan 3....so i go in to weigh in and get my pic taken that day. then start working this fat off. pray for me. LOL

While in town stopped at Subway for lunch...there was a coldcut sandwhich on sale for $2. what a deal. and also stopped at the bank, dollar store and grocery store. seems every time i go to town there are a half dozen stops. gas was down to $2.99 a gallon...that was a good thing.

I cut fabric for 14 pillowcases for the kids at Sandy Hook in Newtown, CT. here are just a few of them. going to start sewing them together tonight. that took 14 yds out of the stash.

Got the house blocks all cut to 10". got to figure out how to put them together. there are 12 large ones and 12 small ones. i thought the border should be little house blocks, too. what do you think?

Maybe log cabin blocks for a border.  decisions, decisions

And here are my 6 fairy blocks for the month. i started with Miss Daisy...on the left. the background and oval are fused together and all pieces are cut out of butcher paper. got to iron to fabrics tonight and fuse onto back. lots and lots of pieces.

I was digging through my stash and trying to come up with something to use for the backgrounds and not doing too well. i had blues and greens and a black and didn't think they would play nice in a quilt all together.

So i finally decided to use a green mottled FatBack for the background. then they all will match. why didn't i think of that before i cut all those other pieces up? that took 6 more yards out of the stash

Then i quilted 3 blocks on the Dear Jane quilt. by that time it was midnight and i headed to bed. got to get up in the morning and do my first workout at the gym.  Talk to you..

Tomorrow

Monday meanderings

Ah, Mondays, don't you love them? i do now. when i worked for a living ..... not so much.

I have many projects lined up to do in 2013. is it wrong to start January's projects in December? i think not...i think it is smart. so i had hubby draw my number for January....it was #10. when i went to pull my three #10 projects, i sort of groaned.

10A was 6 applique fairies. why did i leave all those together in one project? but i have already traced the design for the first one. this afternoon i will find background fabrics and get started. i plan on fusing the pieces..making it much simpler and able to be done before the end of January. I have batik fabric packs for them, bought together with the patterns, they will be gorgeous.

10B was 2 panels of Victorian house blocks. some of my old Aunt Sophie stash. i cut the blocks all apart last night. there are 12 large house and 12 small houses. i am thinking i should make 2 quilts with these...the blocks are 10" square so that is doable. just need to find sashing and border fabrics to go with them.

10C  is pieced. it started out with 2 embroidery blocks....

Samuri Sam and ...

Geisha Sue

I found an Asian panel in my stash and some asian fabrics and came up with this. it is about 45"x48". good wallhanging size.

No sense saving this any longer....'for something special'...LOL

Love those bright flowers on the bottom

Having the top pieced counts as a finish for #10C. it's now living in the to-be-quilted cabinet.

I also got another Nativity embroidery block finished....2 of the shepherds. don't you just love the smile on the guy with the crown. LOL   and his present..where did the shepherds find a pretty box and ribbon.

I got the 4 applique blocks done on my quilt that is on the frame. now all i have to do is sashings and last border. hopefully tomorrow.

We have weekly entertainment out here in the country in the form of Monday night auctions right down the road from us. it is just mainly junk stuff that someone is trying to get rid of. nothing too exciting. i did not intend to go....i figured nothing would be happening this close to Christmas. but hubby found out that there would be white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies being baked. and they are awesome. we had asked 2 weeks ago when she would make them again and she said she couldn't find the nuts. so once we found out there were good cookies....she sells them 3 for $1....well, we had to go.

I went to the food window first...as soon as we got there. she was baking cookies there. so i put in an order for 4 dozen. she was a bit surprised but i assured her i wanted that many. so by the end of the night i went home with 4 dozen white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies and 1 dozen cherry bonbons....with marachino cherries inside...and 2 dozen fudgy bonbons...with hersheys kiss inside. now i don't have to make cookies. they are mostly in the freezer. we can take out 2 or 3 when we 'need' a cookie. hahaha

Also came home with 3 jigsaw puzzles for a buck and 4 boxes of Barilla whole wheat pasta shells for $3. i called it a successful night. LOL  we are easily amused.

That is about all that happened on Monday.

On someone's blog i read that Becky at Quilters Corner is making and collecting pillowcases to send to the children at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newton, Ct.  i have 14 cut out that i will send in the next few days. if you would like to send a few also, you can send them to Becky at:

Quilters Corner
312 Danbury Rd.
New Milford, CT  06776

No one should have to bury a child at Christmas time. these kids are going to remember that day for the rest of their lives. as quilters we can show support and love by at least sending a child a pillowcase. hope you can help.

Now...i have to go get busy. Talk to you...

Tomorrow

December 16, 2013 accomplishments

I believe i shall try to use this as my journal and record my accomplishments for the day. i'm starting now so hopefully by the new year it will be a habit...more or less....and i can keep track of what i actually get accomplished.

I got a new book showing how to make cute little pinwheel blocks with a different method....so i made one....and cut out all the fabric i had of this....maybe enough for 28 more blocks. don't remember now exactly how many. but they are all in a box....awaiting their turn to become a baby quilt. thank you, Marilea, for showing us this method and getting the book for me. you rock!! won't this be the yummiest little quilt?

I also want to do some kaleidescope blocks....where the seams sort of disappear and it becomes something else. well, this fabric didn't quite work. i wanted to see if i could use just the hummingbird fabric but i wasn't feeling it. the blue fabric also came from the same fabric...it was the border. but it didn't exactly do what i wanted. but it is a pretty block nonetheless. it will go in the orphan blocks box and reappear some day in a sampler quilt. now...on to different fabrics to try again. i am determined to make this work. but i might have to buy some pretty Paula Nadelstern fabrics to make it happen. but i am trying to see if i can do it with fabrics that i have.

Thought you might get a chuckle out of our Christmas decorations. hahahahaha   there is our tree....about 2 foot tall...with embroidered lace ornaments hanging from it. normally it sits in the studio and in december i bring it over to the house for our decoration. there is no other tree...no garlands...no mistletoe...no deck the halls or no pretty ribbons and bows. LOL

I have given up giving my money to retail stores for Christmas...hence no Christmas paper or ribbon or bows. the brown boxes on the left are Jim's presents. wrapped in brown paper that comes wrapped around my large batting rolls...or in plain brown boxes...sealed with tape.






The white boxes on the right are mine. post office boxes...hahaha....just sealed with tape...to be opened carefully and reused for their original shipping purposes.

We do not buy each other gifts...exactly. we are old enough that we have what we want....if we want something..we go buy it...and who needs another sweater or socks. although i do like those socks with the toes in them and they were on last year's list.   our Christmas tradition is to set a buying budget...this year was $50. we each buy at least 10 things for the other person. and we start by opening 1 gift on December 15 and then 1 gift every day until Christmas...when you get to open whatever might be left. it's a lot of fun.

The first day i got a can of WD40...(it was on my list...pretty handy at the studio)...and jim got 3 bags of small candy bars...food talks to him. the second day i got a bag of Smarties candies (love those things)...and jim got a package of arrow tips that light up when shot...to find them in the dark. ... he was happy.  wonder what tonight will bring. we each make a list of what we might like to find in our presents....it helps in the present deciding.

Other things accomplished yesterday:
..Last night was the last episode of Survivor so i had 2 hours to hand quilt on Dear Jane and got 4 blocks done. i am still on target with quilting at least 2 blocks a day.
..at the studio, i got 13 blocks finished on my quilt that i have on the frame...with the Quiltazoid.
..i started making selvage binding. i really like that idea that i found and think i will make selvage bindings for all my selvage quilts. very cool.
..got a few more lace ornaments embroidered.
..got all the brush burned up that was in the burn pile. finally had a day without wind to get that accomplished. and while i was at it....i raked up 3 trash cans of leaves and 3 cans of sticks that were on the ground from a tree that we had taken down. now all burned up and the side yard is kind of spiffy.

I believe that is all i accomplished yesterday. now to get started on today. will report in..

Later