Quilt top finished

I finished this baby quilt top today. It is 53 x 43 and my backing fabric is only 40 inches wide and not quite 54 inches long so I will have to piece the back. I am not going to piece the batting I will be going out in the morning to get that. I am usually not fast but I really wanted to see this one all  put together.
It seems that no matter how  much rearranging I do when I am putting the blocks up randomly there are always some that are the same fabric side by side. No matter, the rule is..... random is random! These blocks look wonky in the photo  but they are not, Maybe it is  an optical  illusion or maybe it is just my eyes.

When I do a border like this one, I sew the strips to the outside blocks instead of sewing them together and then sewing a long border strip to the quilt it is easier for me to get it right this way. I will quilt in the ditch around the blocks and I will  just run the quilting right to the edge of the quilt.It makes a nice sturdy quilt that will hopefully get a lot of wear and tear.

I have to thank my friend Fran for getting me interested in getting this one started. I had only finished the other two DNP quilts because I had a stack of 9 patch blocks but I was not really interested in the pattern anymore. This is really a good "go to" pattern when you want to do something simple and fast.
I have been thinking that this would be a great pattern to use for our "Caring Quilts" at church. If we  all made 9 patch blocks using 4 inch squares we could make up quilts in no time when we need them.

We had some other blocks that we were going to all make but they are more fussy and take longer and they are smaller and almost nobody makes them. That was one of my not so hot ideas, seemed like a good idea at the time .

Getting sidetracked

This is the room I straightened up 2 days ago.My desk was all  cleaned off all  my fabric was put away,all my rulers were hung up, all  the lamps were where they belong and the floor was  vacuumed. It stayed nice and neat until I  finished quilting the 2 Disappearing Nine Patch quilts for our community quilts projects. 

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After I got them quilted I got the bindings sewed on but the finishing is slow going by hand. I should have done the finishing by machine but I stitched the binding to the front so I need to finish them  by hand.

One of my friends asked me about the DNP  quilts and I went looking for my files in my computer. Although I don't seem to  have the Electric Quilt files in my computer (thanks to my recent problems) I do have the files for the handouts for a DNPclass I taught. I had forgotten about all the different options that I played with in Electric Quilt. Of course that drew my into the playtime mode and I decided that I need to make a baby quilt using this pattern. I have my room all set up for machine quilting which makes it cumbersome to do any amount of rotary cutting. I decided that I will work with it as it is because I can't wait until  I put the room back for cutting and piecing. This is the reason for the colossal mess I have in my room.

Here are the 4 inch squares I cut from about 20 different bright fabrics; only one of them is really a kids fabric. I am going to use the solid yellow as the small square in the blocks and the Kona light fabric that they are laying on for the rectangle patches. After I got all  the squares cut I realized that I could  have strip pieced the center strip of the 9 patch but I am so accustomed to doing it with scrappy squares that I didn't think to do it the easy way.

Here are 4 of the nine patch blocks that I haven't cut into quarters yet and at the right are 2 blocks that I cut and rearranged. I am wondering if I should have used something other than solid yellow for the small squares but it is too late now. I have all 20 nine patch blocks done and I am not going to change anything. If I don't like it at least it will  be a lesson learned.
I still have to press the other 14 blocks and square them up and quarter them so I will  not get this top together tonight, maybe tomorrow.

Progress

I got up early yesterday and put up on my design wall  the 9 patch blocks that I had quartered before I went to bed Monday. This is pretty much the way I sewed them together. I moved a few that had the same fabrics next to each other. I have learned over time that random is random  and sometimes the same fabrics ends up side by side no matter what so I usually don't spend a lot of time anymore rearranging.
After I finished the top and pieced the backing and the batting I layered up this one and 2 more. By then I was really tired and decided to quit for the day. I spent  another hour trying to download a  book for my new Kindle. I have trouble connecting to a wireless network even when I am sitting next to my own computer so I decided to download via the computer and my security program blocked the download and I went round and round with that.I  finally walked into the bedroom with my Kindle and it connected up to someones wifi and my book downloaded. Ahhhhhh technology.

Today I straightened up my sewing room and set it up for machine quilting. I got one of the DNP tops quilted and made the binding for both of them. I don't sew straight lines well unless I mark so here I am marking the lines that go across the blocks. That is an old dull pizza cutter in my hand, it will not cut anything (well maybe it would cut butter).  I really like my Hera marker but couldn't find it so I remembered that last year I  tried this and it worked. It really works very well, no marking to remove, and it makes a crease that holds long enough  to  mark the whole small quilt if you are going to quilt it that day. It might hold  longer but so far I haven't tested  it. I would  not recommend this without thoroughly testing the pizza cutter.

Tackling the UFO's

I Looked through all unfinished things that are taking up space and  there are not so many after all. Well........not compared to what some people have.

There is The BIG UFO WIP that I am  hand quilting  and two more  floral  scrappy quilts ready to layer up.

My Christmas BOM sampler is ready to layer up. I finished piecing the back for it Friday and thought I would get it done when our group at church met Saturday but I forgot my pins. This is the back at the left. I used 5 blocks that I had left after I put the top together. I have one block left that I had framed with red but it didn't fit in the row and it is just going to have to stay  left over out.You can see the top on my December 15 post. The section with the green and the blocks is off to the side to make the back  asymmetrical but you can't see that here. I had an idea that I would make 3 quilts with the sample blocks I made for the quilt every month but after about 3 months I only made one block for a sample every month. I don't know what I would have done with the other 2 quilts if I had made them.

As I was going through everything I found some 12 inch 9 patch blocks that I made for a Disappearing Nine Patch they were all scrappy and I am not sure why I still had some. I thought I was all DNPed out. Anyway I cut up the ones that were dark in the squares that would stay uncut and put together this little 42 inch top for our community quilts lap quilts project. I was ready to stop for the night but I thought I would look for border fabric in my stash and found this blue floral stripe and added it.  Then I looked for backing and found a nice light blue floral and there was one piece that was just the right size,  no piecing. I was sure I would have to piece the batting but I looked on my shelf and had a piece, once again, just the right size. So it is all ready to layer up and quilt. There must be a reason this is working out so well,maybe  someone waiting for this one.

I still  have 12 more large 9 patch floral fabric blocks to cut up. they have the light squares that stay whole so I am putting them in a different quilt this time. Maybe I will do that tomorrow morning.

That's  all the UFOs  I have. That is pretty manageable. I am not counting my Friendship blocks because I have only had them a week and I think I am getting 2 more blocks so I can't do anything with them yet. If we get snowed in I will have plenty to keep me busy.

Now I am afraid to look around in case I find some more.

Not quite back to normal

My computer is up and running but not quite back to normal. I can't find a driver for my older HP Laserjet printer. It is so trouble free and economical  to use that I hate to have to give up on it. My all in one color printer is not so trouble free.

Yesterday was our Friendship block swap group meeting and it was my month to collect my blocks.These are the ones I collected I think I have two more to look forward to. I am not sure yet what I will do with them. My own blocks are not here because I made something with them and gave them away. I am  going to make a couple more blocks and put these up where I can look at them for a while. I really like this block and I think it might be a good one to cut into quarters and  rearrange. 

Monday when I changed out all my Christmas quilts I decided to hang something different in the living room. This was from 1998 when I was making a lot of watercolor/colorwash quilts. I used to hang it in February but the spot I used in our old  apartment is a  little different here and I no longer hang anything there. The one I took down for now is a colorwash in autumn colors and the colors really work better  in the living room but a work of art stands alone and doesn't  have to "go with" everything else in the room. Anyway, that is what someone told me and I am going to go with it and since it is hanging on the wall it is art, right?

BTW thanks to everyone for the nice comments about my Log Cabin Quilt post.  There was a  link to the post in the Electric Quilt newsletter. I had  sent them a link to the post  because at the time I made them I never sent them any pictures of the completed quilts. None of the comments are showing up on my blog but they do show up on my dashboard when I have signed in to Blogger. If you have left a comment and don't see it I want you to know that I have seen it and I thank you.

Computer Problems

I have been having big time computer problems. It doesn't make it easy to fix things when you have a new windows program (Windows 7) that you aren't used to.
Between trying everything I could think of and alternately taking down the Christmas tree when I got too frustrated I didn't accomplish much else today. Well,.... I guess getting the tree down and all the ornaments packed away is a pretty big accomplishment
No photos today because they are all on my computer and I am on Jacks computer. However, the computer is back up and running thanks to Jack's patience and tomorrow I will have pics of my friendship blocks that I got tonight at our group meeting.

Last day of 2010

The sun is out and the snow is almost gone; that is pretty good for northeast Ohio. I hope this is an indication of what the new year will bring. Jack is on his way out the door right now; he is going out for a ride on his motorcycle. It's cold but he has warm riding gear and when the streets are clear he  goes.

Yesterday we had the last of this years family Christmas get togethers.  Most of the family were here for dinner. One granddaughter and 2 of the great grandchildren couldn't come. It was a  nice time even though we were a bit crowded in our apartment. I put my sewing machine away and folded up my sewing  machine table and lowered my cutting table  so the great grand  kids could use my sewing  room for drawing and  playing. They made paper airplanes and the photo below shows them in my bedroom, flying their planes and JUMPING ON MY BED until I caught them at it.

I didn't do very well with the picture taking; there  was  too much going on. I didn't get many good photos so I hope someone else got some.

My DIL thought to take this  picture with my camera just before they left.  This is a "3 generations of John's" picture (father, son and grandson, from the right) . The short person is me. That is Jack  on the end in the plaid shirt. (the one going out today on the bike).

Today I am putting my sewing room back together and restoring all of the things I had to move to make room for the 19  people I figured we might have had. I hope I can find everything. The first thing I am  going to do is get out the quilting hoop and put the BIG UFO  back in the hoop. If I don't do it right away I am afraid I won't do it. I know if I put it away again I will never get back to it. I am going to hand quilt a little bit every day until  it is done. That is my promise to myself.

I am  going to make  a list of all my UFO's and WIP's and keep better track of it all this year than I did last year.  I realize that I made a lot of quilts over the years that I have forgotten about and I don't  have any record of what I did with them. It really isn't of any great importance but I would like to have some idea  of what I have accomplished.

The day after

We had a quiet Christmas Eve; after church we went to our son's house for a light supper and then yesterday we went out to our daughters house for brunch. This year our whole family couldn't all get together on the same day so we are doing it on different days with different people. We were going to have dinner here today but plans are changed because of a cancelled flight so we are postponing dinner together till Thursday (I think it will be Thursday). Over the years we have learned that being flexible works best.

At our son's and daughters houses there are Christmas quilts and things that I have made over the years. I didn't have my camera at  our son's  house but I took pictures yesterday at our daughters house. This blue quilt was the first of a series of about 8 quilts using a pictorial fabric and birds in the air blocks. They were a challenge with all the triangles but fun to make using all the different prints. After 8 quilts I was all triangled out. I still have a  box of pictorial  fabric that I bought for more quilts. I probably will never use them for the same type again.

The tree quilt is about 48 x 60 and too big for any place I had available to hang it at my house. My sister in law needed a large quilt and I helped her with it and worked out the layout and I  made this one myself so I could see if my design worked. My daughter has a good place for it in her family room. I think that the shelf with the little houses is part of the quilt hanging system.

This one block candle mat was from last year.  I made a bunch of small  things with the 3 inch motifs and left overs from a wall hanging I made for myself.  I gave them to a lot of different people but I had forgotten until I saw them this week here and there.

There were other things at our son's house our daughter in law displays all of the things that have been given to them over the years. Our  kids both had the Christmas log cabin quilts out to use during the holidays.It is nice to see that all of the things I gave to my family are being used.

This quilt below is not a Christmas quilt but it was a Christmas present at least 15 years ago for my daughter. It  was one of the first colorwash quilts I made. I used 2 inch squares and hand quilted it. I quilted with metallic thread in a grid pattern in the center where it is light and then I quilted a pattern of vines and leafs from the back with green thread. Metallic thread is  not easy to use for hand quilting but it added a little bit of sparkle to the center. (Bling was not a word at the time I made this).

 After a  couple years I moved on from 2 inch squares for colorwash to 9 patch blocks for colorwash and still have a stack  of trays with piles of 2 inch squares and another stack with 1 1/4 inch squares. I am going to use the little ones for a  couple of 9 x 12 mini quilts for priority quilt donations to the Alzheimer Art Quilt Initiative.   

Merry Christmas 

Over the Hill or just running along the ridge?

Today it is official, I am officially closer to 100 than I am to 50. I don't understand how this happened  so soon. It  seems like  such a short time ago that I was starting Kindergarten. 

I can remember a time, long ago, when I thought that I would arrive at my final age ( whenever that will  be) pretty much intact and not much different in appearance or ability than I ever was.  I also remember when I realized that I was mistaken. Probably about the time I got my first pair of eye glasses. Now when I look in the mirror I see my mother there only she looks older than me.

 I have been blessed with good health with only minor difficulties that go along with aging. I wear glasses but I can still understand what I read and I can see to sew. My hearing isn't what it used to be but I thank God for hearing aids.  I have minor aches and  pains but I can walk without difficulty and I go to the Y 3 or 4 times  a week to exercise. I can eat whatever I want and it doesn't bother me except for what ends up on my hips.  My hair has  been gray/white for about 30 years and now my age finally caught up with my hair. Though my hair no longer supports the  hairstyles I would like but I still have enough to have some style. I am not going to talk about the wrinkles as I don't  see them in dim light without my glasses. There are a lot of things  I don't care much about doing anymore but I can still do most of the things I want to do. So maybe I am not over the hill yet, maybe I am just running  walking along the ridge.

Well, enough about my birthday!   

 I got my room cleaned up last week and I got my shopping finished.

 I spent a couple of days  making these. I made 9 of them and used up most of my fat quarter pack of  Bliss. I love the fabric, it is a nice change from the darker fabric I had  been working  with.

 I am going to put all  my sewing stuff away now for a  few  days, wrap presents, and  get organized for Christmas.Tthe only stitching I  plan  to do is some  hand  quilting on the  BIG UFO that  is  still taking up floor space in my sewing room. It is still in the hoop because we didn't get the Q snap frame out of the locker and it is once again behind  other stuff. Actually the hoop  isn't bad and  doesn't take  up as much room as the frame.

BOM top finished

I finished my BOM of the month sampler quilt top; it measures 57 x 72.  I am pretty happy with it; it came out nice and square and went together easily. The green sashing and border fabric is not so gray green but has more yellow in it giving it a more up to date look. None of the fabrics are Christmas fabric but it is meant to be a Christmas quilt
I know I am not going to quilt it until after Christmas so I put it up on the wall in my sewing room. It almost covers the width  of the design wall space hanging sideways. In the lower left you can see the corner of the shelf over my cutting table on the adjacent wall. I will clean up the sewing room and probably won't tackle any more large projects for a while. I have not done any Christmas shopping except for a book order from Amazon which I am hoping will get here this week.

The snow has stopped for now and we are off to the Y in a few minutes for our much needed exercise. We missed our Monday routine and got busy yesterday and didn't go. When I sit around too much I hurt in lots of different places. 

Tree

Yesterday I never did get back to sewing. After I cleaned up after dinner we got the Christmas ornaments out and Jack disappeared back to his computer and I spent 3 hours putting ornaments on the tree. I hang all of the plain shiny balls in toward the trunk where they reflect the lights and all the other stuff out where it shows. It may not be the most artistic tree but there are a lot of memories  there. It is kind of like a scrap bag quilt with every thing all mixed up together, expensive, cheap inexpensive, handmade, kids ornaments, really old, new and anything and everything else.
This year it was more of a challenge to get it all  on the tree. Jack left off the bottom row of branches and  two brances at the back on the bottom row so it could fit closer to the wall.

The photo at the right was taken last night with the  lights on but that doesn't really show. Maybe you can see that I do not have a tree skirt. I plan to do something about that but maybe not for this year. A sheet or a table cloth will have to do one more time. The photo on the left is from this morning and you can see the bare maple tree outside behind it. That is the tree was the reason for our move this summer. It was wonderful in the summer and fall and now that it is bare we can see the birds when they come to visit us for peanuts that we leave on the window ledge. They seem to like the Christmas tree, they stop  and look through the window. Probably because they see the tree and not us; although the blue jays are not shy. If there are no peanuts they will knock on the window and yell at us. We also have cardinals  and chickadees and of course squirrels. So far the squirrels have not been up here much although there are a lot of them around gathering acorns from all the oak trees.  

I am planning to stay in again today and sew. It is not snowing at present and our street doesn't look bad but there are school closings all over. The last forecast I saw predicted more lake effect snow. Ya gotta love that lake.