I've Got the Crud

I've got it again....I didn't feel good last week, I had a cough, chest congestion and a sore throat - but now my head is all stopped up, my ribs are sore from coughing and my nose is red from blowing it. Yuck... I didn't go to work today and slept in. I have done nothing but sleep and watch TV. (I am taking a Z-Pak but it doesn't seem to be working yet. I thought this was a sinus infection cause my face hurts too. ) I tried to sew on a binding and I couldn't even do that. My head hurts too much to get my eyes to focus...I hate to be sick, I have too much sewing to do. Forget work, I want to sew! Maybe I'll feel better tomorrow and I'll finish that binding.

I've Been Tagged

I've been tagged by Sue R. at Northwinds Quilting and yes, I will play.

THE RULES:
Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.
Post THE RULES on your blog.
Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog.
Tag 7 people and link to them.
Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

1. I have a very obsessive compulsive streak in me. I have to stop myself from alphabetizing and sorting everything. I won't get anything else done if I don't stop myself!

2. I can play the flute, piccolo and saxophone. I was in the band from 3rd grade through college and I used to play in the church orchestra when we had one.

3. I love to sit outside and listen to the birds chirp and the wind blow. I also like to look at the stars and watch for falling stars...My husband sees them all the time, I have only seen one.

4. I have a purse fetish...I love purses and I buy alot of them and make alot of them but end up usually carrying the same one. You see the purse has to be just so, so, and you don't know that all your stuff will be in the right place until you put all your stuff in it. I have one that is perfect and I go back to it alot. I'm not as bad with shoes but almost.

5. I hate to shop....My husband LOVES to shop. So, I send him to whatever store with a list and he does nearly all the shopping for us. (Except at Christmas, I have to do that and he does all the wrapping. ) Thank God for the internet, now there I can shop!

6. I do not like to go to weddings. I absolutely hate to go to weddings....Why? who knows.... I'm ok once I'm there but I'd rather go to the dentist and have 6 teeth pulled than to go to a wedding. I don't care who's getting married. I know it's a joyful occasion and they want to share the joyfulness with me but can't I just send a present and they show me pictures?

7. I'm a list person. I have lists for everything. This is just one more list for me! I hope you don't think I'm too strange from this list....hmmmm, maybe I should write a different list!

Now, who can I tag?

The rest of my blocks

More Blocks

This red, white and blue with the Eagle in the corner is my favorite....

More Civil War Blocks

I am putting a 1 1/2" sashing and 1 1/2" cornerstones. I think the book calls for 2 or 2 1/2" but I like it better this size.

More Civil War Blocks

A few more blocks....

Civil War Blocks

Here are the blocks I have done so far...I had a few more done than I thought. I will be adding more as I get them done. I think I have 42 done now. I am trying to do them in the colors that are in the book. I didn't start out that way but found it easier to do that than pick different colors...Anyway, here are my blocks.

Buggy Barn Stars=Autumn Stars

Yeah!!!! I finally finished that quilt top that's been hanging around for about 3 (?) years. I'm not sure how long it's been....2 or 3. Anyway, I received about 9 of the blocks from a drawing in my small group and I made the other blocks to finish the top. Of course, I had to go out and buy more fabric at the time to finish it up. I made the blocks, then had to make more for the sashing. I put this away for awhile cause I didn't like the border in the pattern. I did not want to make more points to go around it. I found some fabric in my stash yesterday and it told me it wanted to be the border fabric around the stars and I said ok....I put some brown fabric (also from my stash) for a small inner border and the autumn fabric for the outer border and now the top is complete....I like this top better now than I did. I had really lost interest in it because I am not a yellow person, but when I saw that fabric yesterday I just knew it had to go on this little quilt. I had forgotten about this fabric. I had no project in mind when I bought it, I just liked it and had to have it. I must have bought 3 yards. I even have enough for binding...now to get it quilted. The name of the quilt will be Autumn Stars.

Carolina Crossroads

I also joined another group last night. The mystery quilters that are doing the Carolina Crossroads Quilt from Bonnie Hunter's website, Quiltville. I have been working on my Carolina Crossroads from the start but it has been slow going. I have seen all the other quilts and it is no mystery to me anymore but I do love the quilt. I just haven't had enough time to work on it. I am still on step 4. I had to put it off to work on Christmas quilts and the Bargello Quilt. Hopefully, I can work on it Saturday night. I have my small group meeting tonight and will show them my Bargello Quilt. I've told them about Bonnie's site several times but after showing my top, I'm sure several of the ladies will be checking the site out tomorrow. I have to work Friday night and Saturday at the LQS. We are getting ready for the Dallas Quilt Show in March. We have a work day Sunday at the shop too but I really want to work on this quilt.....can you hear me whine?...Sunday is volunteer so I think I will skip it and work on my CC....we'll see how it plays out.

Civil War Diary Quilt

Last night I joined a webring for the Civil War Diary Quilt. I have several of the blocks done from last year when I did a sit n sew at the LQS. These blocks are fun to do but very labor intensive. I joined the web group in the hopes of being motivated to get all of the blocks done for the quilt. I will post pictures of the blocks I've done later. I have approximately 26 blocks made and after joining this group, I have decided to do at least 1 block per week. I am setting it low right now because I have several other projects that need to be worked on also. I can always do more blocks but I have decided I am not going to stress myself out this year. Last year, I was doing 26 blocks each month. These blocks were exchanges and not all were easy blocks. I stayed caught up and did other projects too but I really got stressed over the holidays trying to get everything done. I decided that I would never do that again. I love quilting and sewing and crafting and I always want to enjoy myself. I did not start quilting to be stressed out over it. I started quilting because it was so relaxing! Hah! Not last year....anyway, I am going to do my projects and enjoy the journey. Can you tell I mean that? I really want to get this quilt done. I love the blocks and have really enjoyed the book. I am not going to let this turn into a UFO for future generations to finish.

A Fininshed Quilt - Baby Bricks

I had to go to an Executive Board Meeting last night for my guild. While I sat there I was able to finish putting the binding on this small quilt. The pattern for this is called Bricks. I used some fat quarters I liked to make this quilt. I'm not sure if I'll keep this around for the grandkids or if I'll give it to the guild for Community Service. I enjoyed this little quilt. I hand quilted this one.

Sorting and Finishing a UFO

I've been doing so much cleaning and sorting lately. While going through my fabric I ran across some blocks that had not been put together. I decided I needed a break from sorting and decided to sew these blocks together. It didn't take long and the top was together. I call this one Confetti and I'll quilt this one on the machine pretty soon. I think it turned out pretty cute. Should I put a border on it? Hmmm, I'll have to think on this one.

More Sorting and a new heighth for my cutting table

My sweet husband called me at work Monday and told me to meet him at Home Depot or as my grandson calls it "Man Land". I just figured he wanted me to look at something and get my opinion on something for his garage or whatever. Much to my surprise, he had me looking at short legs for my cutting table. He picked out some earlier but they were too long and he wanted my opinion before he exchanged them. I picked out the same ones he had in mind. We bought them and headed home. He unbolted my table legs so he could screw the new legs onto the bottom of them. He had to take them off so he could drill into the bottom. These legs came with a screw already in them but had to be replaced because it was not a wood screw....Whatever....He replaced the screw with a longer wood screw and screwed the short leg onto the bottom of the existing leg and Hoala, the table heighth is just right! Here are some pictures of the new short legs on the bottom. I don't think they look bad at all. I can stain them and I don't think anybody would really notice. I don't care whether they are the same color or not. It has raised my cutting table up to where I need it and that's what I cared about. I think we spent $16.00 for the new short legs versus $250.00 for that new table we were looking at buying. Besides that, I love this table. We paid $10.00 for it from my husband's company when they were buying new office furniture. I bought two of these and alot of other tables too and these are my favorite. I love the big drawers that they have. These are oversize and have plenty of room for whatever I want. The other desk is also in my sewing room but I'm keeping it as is. I use that as a desk (go figure) for my scrap booking and bill paying, etc. I am getting off track here. It didn't take Don but maybe 30 minutes to fix my table. Very easy, I think I could have done it but I won't tell him that. Here are some pix....

After we got my table back in place, I had to move things around. I was able to store the plastic containers that I had bought the other day under the table now....

Sorting and Cleaning Up

I hate to do it but it has to be done. I am sorting through and trying to get my sewing room more organized. I hate to have it where I can't find things. I bought another 3 drawer file (the clear plastic kind) to put my scrap strips in. I'm going through now and cutting up all leftovers from projects. I'm doing this from Bonnie's (Quiltville) scrap users instructions...I do like that. The scrap "users" instead of scrap savers system...Anyway, I'm trying to get it together. I'm not going to do this all at once. I'm going to do it like she suggested and just cut and sort for about 15 minutes each time I sew. Before long, I will have all my sorting done. I worked in my sewing room for 2 hours today and made a good start.
I bought some lifters for my cutting table to bring it up to the height it should be but I don't like them and I'm taking them back. Don (my sweet husband) said he will make some lifters for the legs of my table and install them this week....oh boy, that will help alot. I'll take some pictures once it's done. I told him that I don't care what they look like, I'm the only one that will see them. *VBS*
He made me a big board for Christmas and I love that. I had to move this around to just the right spot. I'll get it just like I want before too long. More later....

My grandkids

These are my grandchildren, Brandon is 4, and Alayna will be 3 tomorrow. Happy Birthday, Alayna.

Strawberry Shortcake Cake

Isn't this a cute cake. My DIL made this and she did a great job. She just followed the directions. She's never taken lessons or anything. Pretty good, huh? Good job, Carrie....

Alayna's Birthday Party

This was Alayna's Birthday Party. She is my granddaughter and her birthday is tomorrow. My sweet DIL had a Strawberry Shortcake birthday party and cookout for her. It is so wonderful to have kids in your life. It's good to hear their laughter.

Alayna's birthday pictures

Bargello with borders

Ok, I decided not to do a braided border. I decided to just add a small inner border (1 1/2" cut) and an outer border of 4 1/2". I didn't want to take the time to make the braid. I will make another bargello and do a braid around it. I don't think I have enough fabric to do the braid with the fabric I have and I do not want to hunt for it...I do like the way the quilt has turned out and since I added the borders, my DH has changed his mind and now says he likes it. Here's a photo with the borders added....
I already know how I'm going to quilt this and I'll have to wait until next week to do that...I'm not sure I can handle waiting but with a little bit of sewing on other projects, maybe it won't drive me too crazy....

ASG Meeting Last Night

I went to my ASG (American Sewing Guild) meeting last night at Joann's. It was a cold, rainy night but we had a good turnout. There was a lot of show and tell during the evening. Jan had baby blankets, Mary had baby burp pads made from diapers that she embroidered (very cute), Marilyn showed a real cute bag she made from scraps and embroidery work , Sandy showed embroidered pillowcases for her grandkids and a fabric book she made, Linda M. showed pillowcases also but for small pillows or travel pillows. She showed us how to make them and have them enclosed. I am going to make these and put pictures up to show. I showed a scrap quilt I was binding and I showed my bargello quilt. Everyone seemed to like it and were surprised it went together so quickly. (I told them it was made during the Super Bowl game.) I also told them about my blog and promised I would send them my blog address so they could look at it. It was a fun meeting and a good time was had by all.
Before the meeting, I did stop by two LQS on the way to the meeting to get a small dab of fabric for the borders for my bargello. Neither shop had the fabric. I'm going to have to go to another shop today to get the fabric. This just goes to show that I should have done this scrappy so I wouldn't have to drive to a special shop for the fabric....Live and learn. I'll take another picture of the finished quilt with borders as soon as I get them on...

My Unscrappy Bargello

I used 2 Jelly Rolls of Chelsea Boutique by Moda to do my Bargello. I will add an inner border then decide what kind of outer border I want. I'm kicking around a braid border or piano key border but I don't want it to take away from the bargello. I might just audition the border and see. I will take another picture showing what I decided. I made this during the Super Bowl and finished adding the last 6 rows tonight. I really enjoyed making this but don't think it would be good for my group....Too many seams to match for beginners...Still looking for a quick and easy group quilt to do for a disaster quilt. More later.

Bargello Bowl and Scrapbooking

I went Saturday and spent the day with my friends doing scrapbooking. I'm not sure if I want to spend so much time on this. It's fun but it also takes away time for quilting. I'm going to try it for a while and see if it grows on me.... especially since so many of my friends are doing it. Some of it was fun and it doesn't hurt to get my pictures together either. I spent so much time at her house that I did not get to the quilt store for my directions. I'll have to go by and do that this week... I want to put that quilt together and finish it. I'm ready to see it on my bed....

Yesterday, I had all my scrappy strips cut for the Bargello Bowl and decided not to use them. I pulled out of my stash two Jelly Rows. I had another pattern picked out for these but decided against it and didn't know what I was going to do with these. Saturday night, I was up in my sewing room and I saw these and the light bulb went off. I could use these for the Bargello quilt! I started sewing yesterday about 3:00. I stopped and watched some of the Super Bowl hoopla and cooked a late lunch, early dinner for me and my DH and anybody else that turned up. I thought my kids and grandkids were coming but they had unexpected company.

It was nice to sew without too many interruptions. I went back to sewing and I'm almost finished with the top. I have 8 strips ready to sew on and it will be done. I'm going to have to buy a small amount of fabric to do an inner border. I'm thinking about doing a braided border or piano key border...I haven't made up my mind. I'll put pictures up later today when I sew the last 8 rows on. My plans are to sew after work today to finish up this part of the top...Hopefully, DH doesn't have plans for me tonight....

Ready for Bargello Bowl and working on Scrapbooks

Ok, I've cut enough 2 1/2" inch strips to make a small size quilt or lap quilt. I'm going to try this out and see if I like it. I'm ready for the big game on Sunday and the sewing....



If I like this and think it's easy enough, I'll show it to my guild and see if they want to do one for our disaster quilt. They wanted something easy and quick for beginner level quilters.

(I still can't believe they call it that! The first time I heard someone say a quilt was a disaster quilt, I looked at the quilt and said, "that quilt isn't all that bad, I don't think it's a disaster at all." Everybody just laughed at me....Boy, was my face red when they told me that this was what they called it because they always had a quilt ready for when disasters strike. )



I'm going to the LQS tomorrow for finishing directions for the BOM. I have my border fabrics and all my blocks are done but I have no directions for putting the quilt together or cutting instructions. I want to get these and see if I want to put the quilt together like the pattern says. I'll go by there first thing in the morning then go to a friends house for a Creative Memories workshop.



I pulled out some of my pictures and I'll see what suggestions Sandy has for these. She's a friend of mine in my sewing group and she's hosting a Creative Memories day at her house. I've never been to one but sounds like it might be fun. I have never been a big picture taker and or scrapbooker but my friends are there and I have some free time. I'm going to go over there and see how I like it. Who knows, maybe I can make some quilting albums or something. We shall see....I did get my camera out and charge up the batteries ready for fun!