Design wall Monday Oct 3

There isn't anything new on my design wall, but there are all kinds of walls to see over at Judy's Patchwork Times I do have pictures of the almost finished Batman quilt. All it needs now is to be bound, which is this afternoon's job, and then run through the washer and dryer. I've used a thicker batt than I usually do, because it was a request that the quilt be "thick and soft", just the way my son likes them.  I designed an overall meander pantograph just for this quilt, using the fight words from the Batman series of the 60's and also from the comic books. The words show up quite nicely on the solid colour sections of the quilt using a Rainbows variegated black to white thread. I think Noel is going to like this, a lot. It was a lot of fun to do. After I get this done, I think I'm going to play with crumb blocks. I don't think I'll be able to get many more done for the next 3 weeks, due to the coming cataract surgery on Wednesday on the right eye, and then the left eye on the 19th. I am looking forward to being able to see again, without the shadows and ghosts around everything. That is the thought I am trying to hold onto, when I start to think of the scary thought of someone coming at my eyes with a laser, or whatever it is that they use. But, I know both in my head and in my heart that God is in control, and I will trust Him to guide the surgeons hands.

Design Wall Monday Sept 12

There isn't anything too terribly exciting on my wall today. The backing for the Batman quilt is done. I managed to use up the last of the fat quarters that came in the collection, and some of the leftovers from cutting the pieces for the top.

We were on vacation for a few days and over the weekend, so not a lot of sewing got done. We went up to see Noel and Laurie and Avery and had a wonderful time. He's smiling and laughing and cooing and is just soooo cute. I took a couple of videos of him, thinking I could upload them onto my blog. Unfortunately, it seems like it isn't that simple. There seems to be some converting over to youtube videos, and for the life of me, I can't seem to figure out how to do that. It's probably something simple that I'm missing, But, for now, no videos. But I do have a picture on Noel and Avery chillin' at the campsite.
While we were there we did another spot of baby sitting, and can you believe it, but this Grammie forgot her camera at the campsite. I couldn't! There was so much I wanted to photograph, and I forgot the camera.  grrrrr. I was so mad at myself. Oh well. This trip out to the campsite made for 4 all together for Avery. Three with us, and one with Becca and Matt. He loves being outside, and is fascinated with watching the leaves blow in the breeze. I think we may have a potential camper here. They came out for supper on Saturday. Scott cooked up some Atlantic salmon over the fire, and then we had some rice and salad. Pretty classy food for camping out. It was really tasty. I'm hoping to get one more camping trip in over our Thanksgiving weekend, in early October. But that will totally depend on the weather. Early October can be gorgeous, especially up there with all the fall colours. If not, we'll stay with Noel and Laurie.

There are lots of pictures of quilts that are a lot more exciting than mine over at Judy's Patchwork Times Go take a look, if you have a few minutes.

Design Wall Monday Sept 5

Ah bliss........ this is the first of 11 days off. There is going to be blog surfing, and quilting, and sewing, and best of all, a trip to visit Noel and Laurie and Avery later this week, and time spent outdoors at the campground, cooking burgers over a fire, and marshmallows, and watching and listening to the waves on the shore. It is going to be soooo good.
On a quilty note, I think I have found my "go to" pattern for fast, easy but effective quilts. This Batman quilt was cut out Wednesday night. It has been sewn in the hours before work on the last 3 days. The blocks are all finished, and just need to be sewn together. I am going to use the leftovers from the top and the fat quarters packs to piece the back. And the back will probably take longer to make than the top did. I am sure that Noel is going to love it. It's a good thing I know that he doesn't read my blog. And now, I'm going to make myself another coffee, and surf some design walls over at Judy's Patchwork Times. And then, it will be sewing and quilting time. I want to see if I can't get a little bit more done on Shakespeare, and then get Batman all sewn together. Then the questing is, do I start on Batman's back, do I work on Roll roll cotton boll, or do I start something else new. Ah temptation, even though I had made myself a mental promise not to start anything new until I finished step 4 of RRCB. Hmmmmmmmm....... Oh, I know.... I'll work on stuff I already have going until we leave to go see the kids, and then work on new stuff when we get back. That sounds like a good deal. I wonder if I'll keep it. LOL.

Stash Report Week 36

I have more stash used up this week. I finished the Rose Log Cabin and started a new project. I'm making a Batman themed quilt for my son, using the Big Quilt pattern from Maple Island quilts I had ordered 2 Batman themed fabrics from The Fat Quarter shop I'm using the red, navy and black solids where the black fabric is shown in this picture, and the Batman prints are going into the large fabric sections. I found out when I was cutting though, that I didn't have enough of the solids in the fat quarters that came with the fat quarter packs to do the whole quilt. I had wanted the quilt to be 3 squares wide and 4 squares long, which would be 4 squares from each solid fabric. I had enough for 3 squares from each. That meant I had to find something in stash to make up the 4th. I discovered that I do not do solids, not a one. I do prints and textureds, but not solids. One of the many things I love about my husband is his willingness to give his opinions on what I am working on, when I ask him. I had this green fabric in my stash, the same greens as are in the batman fabrics.
I wanted his opinion if I could get away with mixing a textured fabric in with the solids. Now, to understand my husband, he is an abstract artist, among his many hats, and he never gives just a yes or no. He looked at the fabric in question, gave a yes, and then went on to give his reason pointing out that the shapes in the green fabric, picked up and mirrored the Batman logo shapes in the fabrics. And once I looked, and I mean really looked, I could sort of see what he meant. So to cut short a very long story, the green is going in. Now, after all that, on to the numbers for this past week:

Used this week:                     3.6 yards
Used this year:                     95.6 yards
Purchased this week:                   0 yards
Purchased this year:              121.5 yards
Balance:                                  25.9 more yards in than out.

I'm almost up to 100 yards used. Wow!! When I started this stash report thing out of curiosity, I had no idea that I could use that much fabric in only 8 months. And now, I'm off to use more fabric before I go in to work this afternoon. To see how much others are using and buying, check out Judy's Patchwork Times