Design Wall Monday, Sept. 30, 2013

Well, today turned out a little differently than I had planned first thing this morning. I had a sewing day planned. I was going to put the last border on Orca Bay, and then lay it out on the lawn for pictures. But, sometime around noon, my husband had the weather network on, saw how beautiful it is supposed to be for the next few days, and suggested a day trip out to the Pinery Provincial Park to scope out and choose a campsite. I very enthusiastically agreed and off we went, and found a lovely campsite that we have booked for the next 4 days. We'll go up Tuesday morning, and come back Saturday. It's supposed to be warm and sunny all those days, and then turn wet and cooler Sunday.
So, all this means that, instead of a design wall, or a design lawn, I have a design ironing board.

I'm planning one more border for this, of about 4 inches, in the red.
Then, the other plan I had for today, was to start working on another UFO. I couldn't decide if I wanted to work on

Great Granny Squares,

Thanksgiving Leaves or

Meteor Showers.

So, I took my indecision, and texted Gail and asked her to choose one for me. This was before Scott turned on the Weather Network which prompted the impulsive trip to the Pinery. Her choice was Great Granny Squares. I was all prepared to go searching for it and start working on it, after I got those other borders sewn on.

Plan B for the next 4 days is to take the Thanksgiving leaves with me while camping. The only reason this one is going with me is because it as all together in one tote. I don't have to go looking for anything in order to work on it. (I really need to do this with all of my projects. It makes life so much easier) However, I will pull out the Great Granny Squares when we get home, and assign it as the next to be worked on until finished project. And somehow, it seems rather appropriate to take a project with fall leaf colours out camping in the fall leaf coloured campground. Although, truth be told, the leaves are just at the very beginning of changing. Everything out there is still mostly green, except for the sumac and the poison ivy, which are turning bright red. I had also hoped to be taking some new wool and a new sweater pattern called Pinery with me. But the new wool hasn't arrived yet, and that's probably a good thing. This way I will be forced to finish a couple of things before starting something else. Highly sensible, but no where near as much fun.
And now, I'm going to finish getting my sewing and knitting stuff together for leaving tomorrow, after I link up to Judy's Design Wall Monday.

Stash Report week 39, 2013

This day has just flown by. I've spent it partly in the kitchen, using some of the tomatoes I canned earlier this summer for spaghetti sauce, and partly at the computer, blog surfing, and partly at the sewing machine putting borders onto Orca Bay. The last of the pieced borders is done and ready to go on. Then there will be 2 more borders added to it. It's going to be going to a new home for Christmas, and they need it for a bigger bed. The last of the pieced borders will go on tonight, or at least that's the plan. The other borders will go on in the next day or two. There will be progress pictures, maybe on the design lawn again, tomorrow. It's been warm enough today to have the windows open, and it's been lightly raining on and off. I love the sound of the rain in the leaves in the trees.

Used this week:                                           2.8 yards
Used this year:                                          104.45 yards
Added this week:                                          0 yards
Added this year:                                         163.55 yards
Balance:                                                        59.1 more yards in than out.

Yep, I think, to answer last week's question about whether I can get under 50 yards as a balance, that it is definitely do-able, as long as I don't rashly punch any buttons and order anything in the next little while. And, since Orca Bay should be finished this week, I need to think about which one should go on the finish list next.
I'm linking up to Judy's Stash Report.

On the needles.

This post was supposed to have been written yesterday. I had every intention of writing it yesterday. But, it was a gorgeous day outside, and I wanted to take advantage of it. So, I sat outside and knitted. I told myself that I'd do this after I came in from outside. When I came in, it was time for something to eat, so I said to myself, I'll write it after I have something to eat, after all, who can think when they are hungry. Then the pieces for the border of Orca Bay caught my eye, and I said to myself, I'll write the past after I do a few of the border sections. Next thing I knew, all the border pieces were done, which is great, and it was 11:30 at night. And this is how days go by without anything getting written here. So, today, before I do anything else, I will write this post.

 In my knitting, I am focusing on working on Dreambird. I did end up having to go out and buy another 50 gram skein of the grey for the feathers. I will keep going until I run out of either the pink or the grey. It's going faster now that I'm really familiar with the pattern, and there are too many hours invested in this thing to quit now, when it is over halfway done.

These pieces of a quilt to the left here are the culprits that distracted me last night, the border units for Orca Bay. Today, in addition to doing another feather or 2 on Dreambird, I'm going to start sewing these together and getting the borders onto that quilt.
I'm linking up to Judy's On the needles one day late.

A couple of customer quilts

I've been really remiss lately in sharing completed customer quilts. Some of them, I've even missed getting pictures. But I can share a couple here. Maureen brought me this lovely sampler to do.

 I did a light custom on it, with continuous curves in the piecing.

 Here's a close up of the center area. I just noticed that it is upside down. The stars in the center are inside hearts.

 Here's a closer view of the applique corners. The applique was stitched in the ditch and then echoed. This is a lovely quilt. It was a pleasure working on it.

 The other one I have to show right now, is Gail's Nine Patch Mystery, made from a pattern that I designed, from the guild's swap and mystery last year. This is the third one of these I've done. I love how they are all the same pattern, but they all look so different.

This is a closer view of the quilting. I used a pantograph called Fossil by Lorien quilting. I love the borders on Gail's version of this quilt, and the way she put left over nine patches in the corners of the borders.

Design Wall Monday, Sept. 23, 2013

Well, it really isn't a design wall. It's more like a design lawn? The lighting was good, and it was dry and sunny, so I got the pictures I wanted outside. Here is the Road to Brenham quilt in all it's wonderful finished-ness.

 I really enjoyed making this quilt. The instructions were clear, and in small enough doses to be able to finish each step in one day. I started this quilt around August 12th, and finished it yesterday, September 22. That's the fastest I've done a quilt in a long time, without getting sidetracked and putting it aside and starting something new. I think I like it. I wonder if I'll keep this up, finishing something before starting something else?




                                                                            Also on the design lawn this afternoon, is my version of Bonnie Hunter's Orca Bay. This one is going to get its borders on and finished in the next month. And I even know where the pieces are for the triangle borders, as well as the rest of the fabrics I need for finishing this one.
Unfortunately, this is as far as I've gotten today. Some very kind and generous person shared their cold germs with me about a week ago, and it's still hanging on and making me feel ready wrung out, with no energy. Even worse, it seems to be scrambling my thought processes. My brain feels like it's made of mush, not a great way to feel when using  sharp and pointy instruments, so I've spent today knitting. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.
I'm linking up to Judy's Design Wall Monday. I must say that I've spent a lot of time browsing the fun eye candy over there today.

Stash Report, week 38, 2013

I spent today finishing up this quilt. It is now done, with all nine borders added. I'll get a better picture of it tomorrow, when it's light out, and I can either hang it from the deck or spread it out on the grass. There simply isn't the space down here to spread it out, let alone good enough light to take a picture with. It feels god to have this done. This quilt generated the usage numbers this past week. For this coming week, I think I am going to dig out a UFO, and get it's borders made and on. Pics of it tomorrow as well.







Used this week:                               1.6 yards
Used this year:                             101.65 yards
Added this week:                              0 yards
Added this year:                           163.55 yards
Balance:                                         61.9 more yards in than out. I wonder if I can get that number down to 50 before the end of the year? I wonder if I should make that a goal?
I'm linking up to Judy's Stash Report

Dreambird Progress

I haven't made a lot more progress, but some. I'm up to 7 feathers. I have no idea how many more feathers I'll get out of this yarn. The ball of grey seems to be going down fast, but it might get twice as big as this. And, I suppose if I have lots of the fuschia left, I could always go get another ball or 2 of the grey, and use whatever is left for socks. The bigger this gets, the more I'm liking it.
I made the mistake yesterday of clicking on a link while reading this post , which makes it all Judy's fault. I ended up buying 12 skeins of this yarn, 6 each of 2 different colours, a green and a rusty red. I have plans for this yarn, because, it's impossible to look at yarn without looking at patterns. I have 2 sweaters that I really want to do. One is called Pinery, which is appropriate, since it is named after the park we go camping at a lot. We might be going there at the end of the month. If the yarn is here by then, wouldn't it be cool to be working on a sweater called Pinery at the Pinery? The second sweater is called Central Park Hoodie. I'm beginning to think I'm getting as bad with too many knitting projects as I am with quilting projects. I have a really bad case of start-itis. I need to get some finishes to go with it.

On the finish subject, I did get border number 1 onto Road to Brenham. Only 8 more to go.
I'm linking up to Judy's Dreambird Progress Report

Design Wall Monday on Tuesday

I was so intent yesterday on getting more work done on my Road to Brenham quilt, that I ended up not writing a post about it. So, this morning, I took what I have done and put it on the wall up in my studio. I am ready to start sewing on borders.
WOOHOO!! I really like the way this one is turning out. Tonight, I start cutting and sewing on the borders..... all 9 of them..... yep, that's right, nine different borders. But when it is done, I think this quilt is going to sing! The final instructions were issued on the 14th, just 3 days ago, so I've actually managed to catch up, and then keep up with this one.
I'm linking up, even though I'm late, to Judy's Design Wall Monday.

Stash Report, Week 37, 3013

A little more out this week, and nothing added, although it was a very close thing. I had 4 yards actually in my hands and ready to pay for, but then I decided against it. They were fun, they were cute, they were pink little girl stuff. But I shook myself in time. I have lots of pink, little girl stuff already, and no little girls around that need them. I'm kinda kicking myself now, though, because they were cute and fun and pink and only $4.00 a yard. Oh well..... the good news is that I've broken the 100 yards used mark.

Used this week:                         .8 yards
Used this year:                      100.05 yards
Added this week:                      0 yards
Added this year:                    163.55 yards
Balance:                                   63.5 more yards in than out.

I've been relaxing and enjoying my stitching and my computer all afternoon. I have a lot more done on My Tweets
It doesn't look any different from this original

picture, but all that is left to stitch down now is the birds' bodies and wings, and the leaves on the left side branch. Of course, as last week, I still have to do the flower centers' circles, not my favourite thing to do, which is why they aren't done yet, and the bird top knots and beaks, which are very small and fiddly, which is why they aren't done yet. Maybe by next week they will be, and if I use the incentive of saying that they will be so I can post a new picture, maybe that will help get them done, and I'm looking forward to getting this one done so I can start on block 10. Another week or 2 should finish this one.
I'm linking up to Judy's Stash Report and Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching

Saturday News...

I had a really fun day today. I had planned on sewing all day today, and that's exactly what I did. But instead of sewing here all by myself, I went over to Gail's. For someone who, just a couple of years ago, was a solitary quilter, I'm turning into quite the social butterfly. My portable sewing room, aka laundry basket, was still mostly packed from the last time I was over at Gail's, so I just grabbed it and my sewing machine, and off I went. I've been working on Lazy Sunday Mystery, and I can now say that the center of the quilt top is finished. It involved a lot of getting sections turned wrong, and ripping, blocks turned wrong, and ripping, blocks in the wrong spot, and ripping, (I hate days like that), but it is now finally done. Next step... the borders. It would make sense to keep going and get the borders finished and sewn onto it, now that I've gotten this far, wouldn't it? I wonder if I will.... This makes 2 quilt tops that I now have ready and waiting for their borders.

And I have to share something about my husband, something really good. For years he's been saying that he wants to paint, but while he was working, he just didn't have the time, or the energy, or the mind set to be able to do it. Then, shortly after he finished working, we got involved in the renovations for our apartment, and then the packing and getting our other house ready to sell. Then there was the moving, and unpacking, and settling in, and finishing up the details around here. Well, a couple of months ago, he finally decided that it was time, he was ready to start what he's wanted to do for so long, with FABULOUS results.

 Here he is sitting in front of a project that he is working on for Matt and Becca for their living room. He is so talented, and I'm so proud of him, and so happy for him that he is spending his days doing something he loves. There is a lot of elements that he still wants to put into this painting. This is a commission by Matt and Becca who wanted a painting that they could look at and go to their get away place in their imaginations. There is going to be a cabin, and a dock, and a canoe in it somewhere.

And then, there is my talented son, who is a carpenter. He sent me some pictures of some podiums the theater he works for asked him to build. I'm blowing my family's horn tonight. I wish I had kept the picture of a theater set he built last year. I don't know what play it was for, but it involved 3 separate floors that were shaped like clockwork cogs, that rotated and the gears all went into the other. I have an idea in the back of my head to design the perfect sewing table/cutting table/ironing area designed for quilters, custom fitted for their height, and then he could build them and sell them. But he'd have to have his own place and work shop for that, so that would be a while in the future yet. Anyway, that's it for anything new around here. I have a few customer quilts to show, but they deserve their own posts, so I'll do that later this week, Tuesday maybe.

On the Needles..

Today has been an in the kitchen day. I wanted to do up some more peaches for the winter. There are now thirteen pints and 2 quarts of peaches to add to the growing supply of canned goods in the cold room. It feels so good to be doing this. The ones that I did up a few weeks ago tasted so good, that I simply had to do some more. They taste so much better than the commercially canned peaches, for a whole lot less money.

I haven't gotten a whole lot further on the Dreambird shawl that is currently on my knitting needles..... 2 more feathers done. Now that I can see more of it, I'm starting to like the way it's looking. And I think this is what I'm going to be working on for the rest of the evening. Scott picked up the newest Star Trek movie yesterday, so I think we'll sit and watch it tonight, and I'll knit.
I'm linking up to Judy's On the Needles.

Design Wall Monday Sept. 9, 1013

I have, or should I say, had, Road to Brenham, on my design wall. This picture was taken yesterday. It is now almost sewn together into rows. I was hoping to be able to do some more work on it today, but the bushel of tomatoes that was sitting waiting for processing won the draw on what I was going to do today. I had thought that I'd maybe be able to do some sewing in between batches of tomatoes, but the batches sort of just ran one into the other.







But, I now have 13 quarts of tomatoes to add to the shelves of my cold storage room.

And then there's this pot of salsa that is in the process of cooking down. I've never made salsa before, so I did some online research, and found a recipe for Mild salsa. I've also never used jalapeno peppers before, so when the recipe said 4 or 5 for a mild salsa, what did I know. I've tasted it, and I'm not too sure I'd classify it as mild, but then I very rarely ever cook anything that remotely classifies as spicy. And yes, I used gloves when cutting it up, and I cleared out all the membranes and all the seeds, since I've been told that those add to the heat.

I'm linking up to Judy's Design wall Monday, and then I think I'm going to put my feet up and knit until the salsa is ready to be bottled up.

Stash report, week 36, 2013 and Sunday Stitching.

I've been steadily working away at the Road to Brenham quilt along. I'm up to step 11 now. Considering step 13 is released tomorrow, I'm not too far behind now. Judy gives her steps in small bites, so it's fairly easy to get caught back up again, which I like. I'm hoping to get steps 11 and 12 done tonight. This means a small bit of yardage out for that, plus I have 60 Scrappy Irish Chain blocks that I've been working on as leaders and enders for the last year or 2 finished, so I can count those too.

Used this week:                      5.25 yards
Used this year:                     99.25 yards
Added this week:                   2.8 yards
Added this year:               163.55 yards
Balance:                               64.3 more yards in than out.

My next leaders and enders will be to do the alternate blocks for the Irish Chain, and that is going to involve some cutting into fabrics, so I'll be able to count that when I do it, maybe later this week, which means I might hit the 100 yard used mark by the end of this week.
I've done a little bit of hand stitching the last little while, working on My Tweets block #9. I actually sat out in the yard for 45 minutes or so this afternoon, before getting chased inside by the wasps, and got a little bit more done.

The stitching down of the applique pieces is about halfway done. I still need to add the flower centers yet, and the top knots and beaks for the birds.
I'm linking up to Judy's Stash Report and Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching.

Saturday News

I've been away from the blog for a couple of weeks. We took a week for vacation, and after we got home last Tuesday, I've been really busy up in the studio. I've had a couple of quilts come in that have really tight deadlines. Maureen is coming to pick hers up tomorrow, although hers didn't have a deadline, other than I had to finish it before I could work on the others. I'll post some pictures of it, once she sees it.
While we were away, up at Awenda Provincial Park, we got to spend some time with our son and grandson. Our son, Noel, was in between his summer theater job, and his winter theater job, so he came to stay with us for a few days. It was wonderful to see him, and spend some time with him. I'm not sure he thought it was quite so wonderful. He was sleeping in a 2 man tent, during several quite rainy days and nights. He showed up in the trailer one morning, shortly after 7 am, saying he'd been "damped out" of the tent. Nothing was soaking wet, but everything was damp.

While we were away, I got lots of chances to do some hand work, both stitching and knitting.
 This is Avery's Bunny Balaclava, so far. I think I'm up to where the decreases for shaping the top of the head start. I like the amount of coverage this one gives for over the face to keep him warm.

 This is my Dreambird I have 2 1/2 feathers done. It's been pretty slow going, due to the need to count closely, so I need to be focused while working on it. I wasn't too sure about the colours, and how they were working together when I finished the first feather, but now that I see it here, it is starting to grow on me.

 And I made some progress on the Road to Brenham quilt along I finished step 6 last night. Judy posted step 12 today, so I'm halfway there. I'm hoping to spend most of today working on this and maybe get close to being caught up. However, I want to go out and see if I can pick up a bushel of tomatoes, so maybe I'd best get moving and get the day started, especially considering it's almost noon. I'm going to link up to Judy's Dreambird progress post where everyone is way ahead of where I am, and they look so pretty.