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I was afraid i might need more days in October to finish the UFO challenge for this month.... #6. i just finished it yesterday. in the interests of time, it was quilted with Baptist Fan boards from Quiltazoid. there was no time for custom quilting.
I am kind of glad this year is about over....only 2 more challenges to go...and my last 2 are simple ones....thankfully.
This one started out with this idea...just a page pulled out of a magazine somewhere.
I had several blocks paper pieced....but not the fabrics that i used for all of it. i realized early on that this original pattern wasn't going to happen if it was to be done by the end of the month.
i had these corners....when you put them together they actually don't join to properly make a circle. unless that was operator error...it's possible.
I only had 2 of these star blocks done...so 6 more of those to do.
The black in one of these corner blocks doesn't match the others. i found the black fabric that i used originally....AFTER i finished the fourth block with a diferent black. i was NOT going to re-do it. it is what it is. you might not notice if i didn't point it out. 3 blocks have dots and one block is plain black.
Did not have any of the log cabin blocks made....but they go together fairly easily and quickly. by this point i realized i better call it done or it would never get finished.
Many little other paper pieced blocks had to be assembled. i sure like paper piecing but it is time consuming.
I had to add the rows of red and gray/brown lattice to make the size match up with the corner blocks.
Those stars seem to take forever....there are 8 sections for each one.
It wound up being about 77" square...not a bad size but not anywhere near queen size. but i am ok with that. i hung onto the pattern. i still might go back and revisit that one day and make it as the pattern shows. i still like it.
This is the back.
Don't you love my bright yellow binding? LOL i thought it needed it to tie back to the yellow in the middle.
I was anxious every month that Judy pulled a number....i knew this one was going to be a bear to finish. i pulled it out about 3 months ago and worked a few blocks when i could....and good thing, too, or it still might not be finished.
November and December are gonna be a breeze....nothing elaborate like this. thank you, Judy, for pushing us to finish those UFOs. Dare i try 2 UFOs a month for 2013? we'll see...
Later
I scored some free mulch last summer when i was at the Duck. my neighbor had cut down a couple huge trees and was cutting the wood up to sell for firewood. in using his chain saw, he made a lot of mulch. he said i could have all i wanted. which was only fair....since he was using my parking area in front of my garage to cut it all up.
This is one little section on the left side of the stairs going into the studio. i plan on adding more plants there, too.
This is a bed out in the front, closer to the street. in the middle is a butterfly bush. on either side are flowering trees that are currently just sticks. all the 6x6 pieces around the edge came from some steps that were at the farm....in the back. i took them out and repurposed the wood for this bed. have some concrete stepping stones piled on each end....waiting for those other beds to get more plants and finished ...then they will go around there.
This little section is on the left of the steps, too. there is a jog there that i hope to fill with flowers eventually. then i won't have to fight trying to get the mower in there. i put some contac paper on the windows in the basement and see that the sun is curling it up.... guess that wasn't as good an idea as it seemed at the time. i need to make those curtains i've been thinking about for about 5 years. hahahahahaa
This is the right side of the steps. it is the only side that got finished. lots of different flowers, a birdbath, some stepping stones painted by my niece, a rosebush and some honeysuckle on the fence. i trimmed up the rosebushes today, too. they were about 8 foot tall....i cut them down to about 4. they put out a lot of roses each year. they were planted by my Uncle Johnny years ago when we first moved out here. the rosebushes came from his yard....there are 2 of them....one on either side.
A little flowering bush that got planted a couple years ago. couldn't tell you any more what kind it is. it hasn't died....but it grows very slowly.
In front of the little shed are more flowering bushes that the deer love to eat. the 3 in the back are so small because the deer seem to like them best and eat them down every spring. they may never get a chance to grow.
And my tree is here on the left of the steps, too. some day it will be surrounded by flowers when i get that bed all finished.
It took me 2 days to get all the weeds and grass pulled and the mulch laid out. it is 3-4" deep, so hope that keeps the weeds down next spring. i still have more mulch to pick up at the Duck...perhaps the next time i go down there. he finally cleaned up all the branches and the tree cutting business. i could get maybe 2 or 3 more bags of mulch.
Now my gardens at the studio are ready for winter. let it snow....well, maybe...
Later
It's been a while, hasn't it? bad blogger...hahahaha i have been in the studio in little chunks at a time....3 hours or so. but working on a dozen different things. Also doing some outside work before it gets too awfully cold. things on the crafty front include:
The last of the bugs in jars:
Butterfly
Snail
Ladybug
Ants
Now, when will those blocks become a quilt? who knows...hopefully soon.
Also have 1 more candy in jars
Gumdrops
And i found some cute cartoonish vet blocks. i'm gonna make a wallhanging for our vet.
Hi, Fritz
Lampshade...if you have a dog....it's a good guess that he/she has worn one of these at one time or another...ours has. they are so pitiful. hahahaha
Nice, kitty, kitty... what kitty want want to go to the vet if he was a dog? LOL
Say ahhhh!
This is not going to be easy
This won't hurt a bit
Then there is a small quilt that is for our quilt group. it's our challenge for Christmas...to embellish it. my first challenge was to get the top together. but i am almost there. finish the red border and 1 more border then the fun begins.
Close up of blocks....Marilea, don't look....not pressed yet. LOL
Then there is my UFO Challenge quilt for this month. Ooyyyy...hardly any of this was done. i did many paper pieced blocks. the center didn't become what i envisioned at first...but there really isn't time. so i am faking it and putting together what i have. i surely hope this will be done by the end of the month. i haven't missed a monthly challenge yet for this year or last. cross your fingers .... X
I need 20 more of these log cabin blocks for the top and bottom border....then another couple borders. i'm trying to get about queen size but don't think that will happen. after the log cabins i'm at 60 inches square. it MIGHT make 90 inches.
And, lastly, trying to get this customer quilt done so i can get mine on there when it is ready to go. I have all the SID done...now need to outline the leaves and fill in that background. i have a plan...just need to execute.
Here is a closeup of a leave.
Whooo....sometimes i make myself tired. LOL
Waiting for the studio to warm up some before i start the longarm. it doesn't like the cold and it was 57 degrees in here this morning. after the furnace cycles me up to about 67 degrees i can quilt. in the meantime, i'll embroider another vet block or two and see if i can finish up the borders on that fir tree.
Talk to you....
Later
Yesterday we went to an estate sale auction a few miles away. my goodness....what a lot of crap...er, i mean stuff. LOL
Little old people sent to live in nursing home by children. all their possessions sold to the public. the house didn't look large from the front....but it went on and on in the back.....seemed like there were 15 rooms. the poor house was in sad shape, too.
There were about a dozen antique furniture pieces that brought a couple hundred dollars each. and there were many, many clocks of various kinds. they were pretty cool and brought a few bucks.
The yard was full of beds, many tables, many more chairs, riding lawn mower, 3 large trailers FULL of bric-a-brac.....a lot of which was ready for the trash barrel in my opinion. nevertheless....someone took most of it home.
I scored...
Nine of these brown glass jars with lids. this is the smallest one. there are 4 different sizes, at least 2 of each size. i promptly dropped the lid from a large one when i got it home and broke it...dang! i guess that jar will be a flower vase. hahaha
These were on the trailers with boxes of other stuff. the auctioneer was having trouble with anyone even bidding a dollar on boxes of stuff....so they kept adding things to it...in the hopes of selling it all. unfortunately, they added my bottles to a pile of crap and i had to bid on it all to get them. i scored them for $4.50....along with about 4 boxes of junk. i just took the jars and told them i didn't want any of the rest. he said you have to take it all....i told him to just auction it again...i didn't want it. so they added another box to the growing pile and auctioned all the rest of it off again. hahahahaha i was not bringing all that junk home.
I did score 2 old, heavy leather chairs. the other chair is a rocker...same style and look. they will have to be reupholstered and refinished but are very nice. even comfy. i got both chairs for $11...had to fight a lady for them....she stopped at $10...good for me. i was prepared to go about 20 or so.
And we got a small 2 door frigerator for hubby's office. .... only $30
I was surprised it went that inexpensively. i was prepared to spend $50. it's about 3 foot tall and works fine. i don't think i've ever seen a small one like that with a separate freezer. it's a Kenmore.
And they had a nice cedar chest that i coveted. it had a trim around the top that was very nice. i thought of putting a cushion on the top of it and it would be great seating with storage underneath. but there were lots of folks interested in it and it went for $60...more than i wanted to spend.
Other things surprised me....a large...about 15" tall cast iron bell went for $100....2 guys were fighting over it. a gorgeous blue and white chandelier...rather large went for a few bucks, too.
All in all a fun time. they sold food there, too, so we had lunch while we waited for our stuff to be sold. we seem to be getting into the auction mode and go every week now. the country's answer to flea markets. hahahahaha
Later
3 buckets, 4....5,6,7, 8 buckets of sticks. we had a dead tree cut down a couple months ago and it is my job to break up all the branches and put them in buckets for fire starters in hubby's wood stove. so this morning i went out for a couple hours and filled 8 buckets.
This is the before picture
This is the after picture.
I got all the stuff in the front. probably 2 more mornings of work to get the rest. i'll count it as exercise. hahahahaha
Now that i did a little job....i can go play in the studio till...
Later
This top was in a box because i didn't put the last border on one side. how lame is that? so the other day i got it out and finished the border. granted, it is not quilted yet....but it is out of the UFO box and into the 'to be quilted' cabinet. that is some progress, no?
I like the small Sues around the edges. some are babies and some are little girls. it's like her lifes story.
Now it's probably #12 or so in the to be quilted cabinet. but at least it is closer to being finished. i started out going to make 12 individual calendar girls to hang monthly in the studio. but i already have a santa and a snowman monthly calendar thing going on so just put them all together. who knows what will happen to Sue when it is quilted.
But she will get finished...
Later
The embroidery machine has been humming....sometimes when i should have been quilting....ssshh! don't tell..ok?
I have a couple more bugs done
The worm
The bee...that feisty fellow is trying to tip the jar and get out. LOL
And because I couldn't stand to wait till the bugs are done to start the candy in jars....i have done a couple candy, too.
On the candy canes I forgot not to embroider the holes in the jar...dang it.
And the licorice sticks. i wish they would have printed this closer together...packed....instead of the black background showing...but it is what it is. still cute.
I have been changing the size of the jars to make the quilt more interesting.
Still have some bugs to do and lots of candy. then we start the veggies in the canning jars. a whole new obsession. hahahahahahahaha
Looking for me?...i'll be at the embroidery machine...till...
Later
