Done, done, done

The dresses are done, 100% complete. See me doing a happy dance around the room. WOOHOO!!!!! The napkins are done, 80 of them. Becca helped, which is a really good thing. And I must confess to getting awfully tired of that particular shade of blue. But, they are so pretty. They look much better on, than hanging up, of course. The chair flowers are almost done. I would have gotten them finished yesterday, but I ran out of ribbon, and discovered that the new stuff I bought was the wrong size, so back to Michael's craft store I go today.  The alterations on my dress are done. And, other than packaging the fudge up for the favours, everything is done, with 2 weeks to spare. WOW. So, the only major thing we have left to do for this wedding, is figuring out timelines, and who is doing what and when. Oh, and I forgot the programs have yet to be done, printed and assembled,but Becca is doing those, so they don't really count on my to do list. Other than, I'll end up helping with the assembly. After this weekend, I'm officially on holidays for around 3 weeks, maybe more. And best of all, Susan arrives from the Edmonton area in 12 days. See me doing another happy dance around the room. A wedding and seeing my best friend all at the same time, ah, bliss. Becca has her last fitting this afternoon, at 2, so, I think I'm going to use the time before leaving to sew some more of OBW together. 4 rows done,  17 to go.

Design wall Monday May 24

The One Block Wonder is still residing on my wall. I've been playing and rearranging the blocks, and I think this is going to be the final layout. I've discovered, in the process of doing this quilt, that I am a symmetry nut, and the non-symmetrical nature of this quilt was kinda getting to me. But, I am happy with the balance of it now, with blacks on opposing corners, and browns on the others, with the pinks and blues going through the centre. It is going to have black half hexies at the top and bottom, and triangles at the sides to bring it to straight edges. It gas been a challenge, and fun to do. I had to work this past weekend, and midway through last night's shift, my energy level crashed. I felt like I hit the wall and bounced off to land flat on my back. So, today is going to be a day off. We got all the napkins for the wedding done last week, and all of the other major stuff is done as well. The stores are closed for the holiday here, so I couldn't go out to pick up stuff we need if I wanted to. SO, I have decided that today is mine to do with as I please. The weather is gorgeous, full sun and just a gentle breeze, so i just might bring my sewing machine out into the yard and play. Maybe even start sewing the OBW together. Or, since I received a whole pile, 21 yards worth, of fat quarters in the mail from Thousands of Bolts, (they were having a sale. Who can pass up fat quarters for just over a dollar a piece? Not me! It's for my retirement savings plan), maybe I'll play with something new. It'll take another cup of coffee to decide.

A lot happening

There's a lot happening here, and not much blogging going on. The bridesmaids dresses are done, except for hems on 2 of them. Yippee!!!!!!! What a relief!!!!! And 3 weeks to spare. However, Becca got this idea, and I confess it's a good one, to use the leftover fabric from the dresses, and there is a lot of it, to make decorative napkins for the tables. 80 of them, 14 inches square, all needing to be cut and hemmed, so they can be tucked into the wine glasses and give a lovely splash of colour on the tables. We got 22 of them done yesterday, 58 to go. Yikes. But, after this, the only sewing I have left to do is to alter my dress. I have to take up the shoulders in it. The hardest part of that is likely to be taking it apart, especially the lace part of it. The limo company needs the itinerary and timeline by the end of the week, which Becca and I will have to nail down while making napkins this afternoon. Nicole is coming this afternoon to be measured for her hem, and maybe we'll draft her to cut ribbon for the chair flower arrangements. The ladies at the church gave Rebecca a lovely shower last evening. I was astounded by the amount of love in the room, all directed at my daughter. WHile we were there, I got a chance to finally try out the flower arrangement that will be on the aisle chairs, and it works, so there are those to do. They are very simple, tho, so won't take long to do. But, sitting here typing is not getting any of this done, so, off I go to make another cup of coffee, and back to more napkins.

Design wall Monday May 10

On my design wall today is my One Block Wonder. I purchased the fabric on Thursday, and finished making all the hexis yesterday. I had to work 3-11 over the weekend, and wanted something fun to do before going in. Also, with all the wedding stuff for my daughter happening, I just needed a fast and fun quilt break, since there had been no quilty stuff going on for almost 2 weeks. I was having major withdrawal symptoms. But, Andrea is coming for a fitting of her bridesmaid dress this afternoon, so it will be back at it again. But, in the meantime, I can play with the arrangement of the blocks. I had a dentist appointment this morning, with that wonderful stuff called nitrous oxide. I was seeing spinning lights that reminded me of these blocks during it, so I think I'll name this quilt "Nitrous Oxide Dreams" (giggle) The arrangement isn't quite what I want, yet, and I can see one that is obviously out of place, but I'm having fun doing it, and it is like nothing I've done before. Go over to Judy's Patchwork Times and see what others are up to.

It's all Diane's fault

I went over to Len's Mills, a large fabric store and outlet. I went to get some boning to finish off the bridesmaids' dresses. That's all I went in for. But, I've been watching Diane's One block wonder journey

and badly wanting to start one of my own. They look sooooooo pretty, and, after ordering and reading the book, not all that difficult to do. The last few times I've been in Len's Mills, there has been this fabric that I fell in love with, but managed to resist buying. My resistance was weak today, and it talked me into taking it home. Diane's voice was in my ear saying, "this would be a cool fabric for a One Block Wonder", and she talked me into it, so, you see, it's all Diane's fault. (giggle) It is going to be  a challenge when it comes to arranging the whole thing. I probably should have started with an easier fabric. The book recommends fabric with no more than 3 colours, and this one has 4, if you don't count the black. But, it is just sooooo pretty. I bought enough to be able to do a border of it as well as piecing. All the strips are cut, and all the triangles are cut, so now all I have to do is sew. I have to work 3-11 this weekend, so I'm thinking I'll take the hand sewing on the dresses to work with me, and I'll play with this quilt before going in to work. Samantha's dress is 90% done, and would have been completely done, except, when she tries it on a week ago, it needed to be taken in at the sides, so I took it in. Then, she tried it on last night, and it ended up that I had to take out what I took in. I'm not sure how I messed that up. Andrea's is at least 50% done, and is ready for another fitting. Nicole's is 25% done, and I still have 5 weeks left. No problem. (help)

Wedding quilt

Today was Rebecca's wedding shower, so I finally get to post the pictures of their quilt. The theme for this quilt is based on their favourite things. Three of the squares areMcKenna Ryan' Out and About series patterns. The beagle is an adaptation of a stained glass pattern by http://chantalstainedglass.50megs.com/. The rest are silhouettes that I designed from pictures of Rebecca and Matt, or from free images of the internet. In between all the blocks are fabrics, cut into 3 inch squares, also representing their favourite things. Shopping for these fabrics was almost as fun as doing the quilt itself. Most of them came from http://www.equilter.com/ .There are a lot of pictures here, since it is hard to see the whole thing at once. Both Becca and Matt were very pleased with the quilt. I think I saw a tear or 2 in my daughter's eyes. I know there were in mine. We had a good time at the shower, and then were able to have dinner and a good visit with Noel and Laurie, as well as with Matt and Becca. I have decided one of the best things about having adult children, is when they cook for Mom and Dad. We had a wonderful barbeque over at Matt's apartment, and Matt and Becca did all the cooking. Scott and I, and Noel and Laurie, got to relax, watch them be host and hostess. Steaks, and baked potatoes, and grilled sweet peppers, and cole slaw. Yummmmm. We got to rummage through their gifts, always a good time, and help decide what could go where. I love being a parent, and I love being able to love my  children by marriage. God is good.