And we're on our way

Our vacation is a go. Woohoo!!! But the problem with the car was a scary one. We had some work done on it a couple of weeks ago. We were told to take it to a certain garage, because the car was covered under an extended warranty we bought when we bought the car. They did the work that needed to be done, after Scott did a whole lot of arguing with the warranty coverage about what we thought we were covered for, verses what the warranty company said we were covered for. That was certainly an eye opening experience, and one we will never repeat. All kinds of fine print, and exceptions to what was and was not covered. Anyway,  ever since this garage did the work, there had been very strange rubbing noises coming from the front wheel areas. When Scott took it in this morning to be checked at the dealership, rather than the garage we went to for the original work, the mechanic said that the lug nuts that hold the wheels in place had not been tightened. The wheels were gradually working these nuts loose and would shortly have fallen off!!!
So, all is well with the car, and we have decided that we will check in daily with the nursing home where Scott's brother is living, to find out how he is doing. We are on our way to a quiet and relaxing week at Algonquin Park. There will be hikes taken, but only the easy ones, and maybe even a canoe rented for a day or 2. I have my ereader loaded with books, and the Christmas stocking to work on. Hopefully there will be some wireless reception in the area. If not, things will be quiet here on the blog for the next week.

Stash Report Week 27, 2012

I had a big finish this week, therefore I finally has some fabric out to report.

Used this week:                         3 yards
Used this year:                         51.4 yards
Purchased this week:                 0 yards
Purchased this year:                109.25
Balance:                                    57.85 more yards in than out.

Our vacation plans are looking a little shaky today. Our car has started making some very strange noises, so it is going to have to go in for some work. Monday is a holiday here, so everything will be closed, which means it can't go in until Tuesday, which is the day we are supposed to be leaving. And then Scott's brother's health is starting to deteriorate, which means we might need to be home, rather than in a park with no wireless cell phone service, where we can't be contacted. I've been looking forward to this vacation for a long time, so I'm feeling rather sad right now. But I guess, if we end up not able to go, it will mean that I can get some more projects finished. Somehow, at the moment though, that thought isn't helping to cheer me up. (sigh)

Charlene's Patriots and Petticoats

Charlene came to take her quilt home today, so I can write about it, and show pictures of it now. She brought me this quilt to do back in February, and said that she wasn't in any hurry for it, as long as she had it in time for the quilt show in October. It sat until April, while I looked at it and pondered and waited for it to tell me what it wanted, and for me to get up the nerve to start it. .

This quilt is HUGE. It measures something like 98 x 98 inches. The only way I could get a picture of the whole thing was to take it into the back yard, and stand on a chair. And even then, I didn't get the whole thing.

I love the center block of this quilt. The colours are wonderful. I did continuous curves in all of the pieced sections. They are all different, but the use of continuous curves in each gives it continuity.

Here are 3 of the smaller sampler blocks, as well as a view of the borders. There are feathers in the log cabin blocks, and feathers in the background and setting squares.

And a couple of views of the back, which actually show the quilting quite well. I have to say that this is the most challenging quilt I have done so far. I learned a lot doing it, and had a lot of fun with it, as well.

Rose Log Cabin is finished....... Woohoo!!!

 I finally have a finish, and it feels soooooooo good. Rose Log Cabin, designed by Deloa Jones, started, according to this blog in July of 2011. It is now on my bed, because this one is staying right here.

Here's a close up of the center section. I quilted leaf shapes into the dark green areas, and petal shapes into the reds. The beige backgrounds are filled with fern type leaves, and the dark green geese shapes and squares have continuous curves.

I decided to keep the design simple, and put the fern type leaves and curls into the light green background areas as well.

And I also managed to get the matching pillow cases done. I used the fabric from the backing for the main body of the pillow case, the green as the contrast colour, and red as the cuff.

And here's the binding, done with the mock piping technique, again using the red, with the same fabric as the backing and the pillow case for the piping. So, that is 3 out of 5 goals that I set for this week done. Once more...... Woohoo!!!

I'm linking this post up to Amylouwho's Sew and Tell and to Sarah's Can I get a Whoop Whoop?, because I am definitely whoop whooping. I'm also linking to a new Friday linky that I found, hosted by Elizabeth at Pieceful life called Show off Friday

Design Wall Monday, June 25, 2012

I have 3 little New York Beauties on my wall today, using June's colour palette challenge. The top left and bottom right are the last of the NYB sew along blocks. The bottom left is an EQ7 block. And my Heartland Star is still up there on the wall, as well. But since it hasn't changed a bit since June 11th, I didn't bother taking another picture of it.
I'm working again today, then have Tuesday and Wednesday off, and then go back for 4 more. After that, a week's peace and quiet in Algonquin Park's Canisbay Lake campground. We have a campsite reserved right on the lake. I am so very looking forward to it. It's a hydro site, so I could take a sewing machine, if I wanted to.  But, unless the weather forecast is really awful, showing lots of rain for the week, I probably won't. I'll take my ereader, loaded with books, and the Christmas stockings that I'm working on. And the computer, of course. It might be hit and miss for satellite coverage, though. There is a big hole in the coverage map for satellite signals right where Algonquin Park is. If I go into withdrawal, we might have to take a drive to where there are signals to be found. LOL!! We'll probably take at least one day and go exploring the other parks in the area, so I might be able to get something out then.
Anyway, time for something to eat, and maybe an hour or so in front of the quilting machine. Hop on over to Patchwork Times for lots of other design walls to see.

Stash report Week 26, 2012

I has some fabric usage this week!! Yay!! I did 3 full New york Beauty blocks. Figuring 4.5 inches for each of them that adds up to a small amount of .4 yards. It's just a small amount, but it's better than none at all, and it's going in the right direction.

Used this week:                                 .4 yards
Used this year:                                 48.4 yards
Purchased this week:                          0 yards
Purchased this year:                     109.25  yards
Balance:                                           60.85 yards

I am hoping to get a quilt off the machine this coming week, and to get it bound. I also like the idea of making matching pillow cases for quilts, so maybe I'll get that done this week, as well. If I do, my usage numbers will go up. I'm 20 yards behind in usage where I was at this time last year, and I feel like I'm stagnating, and just running in place without getting stuff done. Maybe I need to start writing down goals again, so that I know what I'm working towards, and can see some progress.

Goals for this week:
1.   Finish quilting Rose Log Cabin
2. Bind Rose Log Cabin
3. Make matching pillow cases
4. Do 2 more New York Beauties
5. Do Gail's Swoon table topper

I'm working lots in the next week, so maybe I'll leave it at that. Then, come the end of the week, if I get all, or even part of it done, I'll feel better, like I've accomplished something.

I'm linking up to Judy Laquidara's Patchwork Times stash report linky. Then, I'm going to have something to eat, and maybe get something done on the quilt on the machine.

UFO progress and a customer quilt.

Actually, that should read lack of progress. The UFO for May didn't even get out of its box, and I don't think the one for June is going to get touched, either. (sigh) The good news is that I got April's loaded back onto the machine, and it is now 3/4 finished. It is being quite densely quilted, so it is taking a while to get it done.
Right now I'm kind of in the middle of a bunch of projects, and not close to getting anything done. I always end up feeling so frustrated when that happens, with there being not enough hours in the day to get finished what I want to finish. I want to get this quilt finished. I want to finish the Heartland Star. I want to work on more New York Beauties. I'm really wanting to start a new quilt, a scrappy type one. And I'm really bad at sticking to just one thing at a time until it is finished, since most of my projects are big, and take lots of time. Sometimes I get to the point where there is so much that I want to do that I end up frozen, and not able to do anything, because there are too many choices. I am there now. So, I have decided that I am going to keep working on this Rose Log Cabin quilt until it is finished, binding included. Then I will finish the Heartland Star, or at least get it to flimsy stage, before I start anything new. And there have been 3 customer quilts finished in the last 2 weeks, as well, 2 of them I can't show yet, because they haven't gone home yet.

I can show you one that I did for Gail. She did up a Swoon block as table topper as a gift, that I quilted for her.
I love the colours that she used in this. They are so bright and happy and summery. It has continuous curves in the pieced areas, and feathers in the borders.There is another one of these here waiting to be done, but in earth tones that will go on the machine once I've finished with mine. It will get quilted the same way. And now, if I have any hope at all of getting something done today, I really should get off the computer and get something quilty done.