Eeeeek!

Two creature issues - one cute....

Becket wandered by my sewing area and saw the pile of trimmings on the floor.  He yelled "ah - green!" (his favorite color) and scooped up a pile of the scraps to hoard in his room.  On the way to his room, he also found Caleb's ipod touch, left on the steps when he was picked up for lacrosse practice.  Becket scooped that up too.

Not so cute.  SOMETHING chewed into or out of my front door jamb around noon today.  I heard it.  

I do not like having a hole from  the inside to the outside of my house!  It's stuffed with steel wool for the day, until our door guy can come out tomorrow morning. 

A Green Start

I love sketching out a plan, doing some quilty math, and pulling a stack of fabrics.

Inspired by the cover photo of Modern Log Cabin Quilting - I'm eager to look through the whole book.

Super Cool

Thank you Heather! 

Pink Lemonade is over at Modern Day Quilts today!

Blog Helper Outtakes

It had been horribly gloomy, wet and cold here - it's finally sunny (huzzah!) but at 35deg and flurries, not exactly prime spring break weather.

The last couple weeks trying to get good pictures of my finished Hobson quilts was tricky so I hoped to catch as much light as I could inside our sunroom.

Unfortunately I had to deal with both a zombie and giant invasion (the lego dudes without heads are zombies, playmobile dudes without hair are giants).  The strange result of a 5yr old hanging out with the teen brothers.  

You can see I was permitted only that little back corner.

I left the quilt and camera for a bit to find another good spot and quilt holder.  Becket decided to take things into his own hands and take the pictures himself.  Probably to get my stuff out of his area.

But first a few guys moved in to hide.  And he seems to be working on his toes-in-the-picture blog photos.

 

Pink Lemonade Finish

Thank you for all the great thimble tips!  

I ended up getting one at my LQS, but haven't had the chance to try it out.  I'll take its picture and give a little report once I use it.

Our Hobson preschool auction has been keeping me busy, but it was a big success last weekend and I had fun giving away the two quilts I made for them.

This bowtie pattern is such a fun and satisfying block to piece.  

Today's Hobson feature is "Pink Lemonade" a 64inch square picnic quilt.  

I named it Pink Lemonade because there's nothing more fun when you're  kid than a picnic with pink lemonade.  And the most fun for a kid at preschool can be found at Hobson!  It really is the best preschool ever - it's a play based curriculum, parent run co-op.

Did the home dec weight back again, as I really expect it to be used on the ground all summer.  It helps just a bit more with the damp or rough ground.

Awesome colors and pattern on the back - perfect for the cathedral windows kick I had been on.  

And see my 'label' on the bottom right?  I wrote directly on one of the white circles and I loved the look.  Can't be any easier, either!!  I used a sewline pencil first, then fine tip sharpie over the top.

This quilt was in the silent auction part, all on it's own.  I was kind of nervous/excited to find out where it would end up.  Just as the auction started, a couple I didn't know came up and said they had bid on it right away and how pretty it was...a nice thing to hear.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to see what would happen from there.  The auction people decided to try something new this year and made some of the packages with a 'buy it now' option in addition to the silent bidding option.  A set price was at the bottom, and if you filled in your bid number before the bidding reached that price, then you immediately won the package.  Two problems with how they did it I think (since a lot of people felt a need to complain to me about it during the actual auction) they set the buy it now price at 80% of retail, and you were able to choose to buy it now after others had already bid.  For example, on ebay you must choose to 'buy it now' before any other bids are entered.  So what happened on some of the popular packages, the bidding went along until it got near the set price, and then stopped as it was then scooped up.  There was confusion and a few grumpy people with those packages.

If I set it up, I would have removed the buy it now option as soon as one bid was entered.  And/or made the set price double retail or so.

Now I must admit I took advantage of this once I realized it was going on, and scooped up a fun package that I would have paid more for, had the bidding continued - without the bidding stress.  Also, the evening was FABULOUS from start to finish in every other way.  

But of course I'm mentioning it because my quilt happened to be one of the items that had the option of a set price.  I was kind of bummed missing out on seeing where the price would go, but am super happy about who did get it.  One of the moms in Becket's class lost out on my quilt last year.  This year her husband noticed the set price option and bought the quilt for her, she was so happy and I gave her a big hug!  

I've been wishing she would come out the winner - I knew my quilt would be well loved with her.  So, it was a good end to the story.   

Binding

Stitching 250" along a home dec weight back.  

I poked a hole into my finger with the back of my needle.  

Ugh.

I don't have a thimble so I improvised.  To avoid the bulk, I cut just the fabric, sticky part of a bandage off and stuck it over the poking part of my finger. 

So do you have a thimble-type thing you like?

Ice cream Treat

I found this little guy hiding with his ice cream when I was pinning blocks.

Keeping Track

How do you keep track of where your blocks go in the quilt?  

I tried numbers and stacks, but the quick digital camera print is my best bet for stitching things up exactly as planned.

Chem 101

"One of the first rules of chemistry - always make sure liquid is in the vessel before turning on the heat source." ~ My Dad

Here is the practical lab showing why you don't want to test that lesson.  

Kids, do not try this at home.

I was making noodles to go with dinner, wondering why my water was taking so long to boil.  Lift the lid and find that I had forgotten to fill the pot with said water.  So it has been on the hot burner, dry, for about 10 minutes.

I take the pot off the stove and in about a half second think:  Is this a good idea?  Pot's metal, not glass.... all the rest of dinner is ready and I don't even have the water in the pot yet....at least turn the water on Hot instead of Cold.....

I hold the very hot pot under the running water and EXPLODE instantly boiling water out the top.  Then there's a strange hissing noise in the sink, and find I have blown the layered bottom completely OFF the pan!  By some miracle, and with the help of our large, deep sink, I wasn't splashed a bit.  My dad said that was a good example of a very violent expansion and contraction.

Enough chemistry for the day I think!

Start of the Second

I love the start of a quilt.

Isn't that a pretty stack, Ann?

Pulling the fabrics, cutting them up.

And sometimes doing a chain or two.

 Happy Birthday to me -  yesterday I spent the day sewing!  

It was great and I made this fun, sunny block. 

I love it so much I formatted it as x-large!

It's about 22" square, and is based on Aneela's quilt in the first Fresh Start issue.  

I'm making two auction quilts for the preschool Gala next month.  This one will be a 40" child sized quilt to go with the auction of a personal night story time visit from our awesome director - that's always a very popular live auction item.  Thought the fairytale themed center would be the perfect match!

 

And this little guy may have won some brownie points as favorite child.  He ASKED for a sweater last week, looked for one I had hand knit, then WORE IT the WHOLE DAY.  Then asked to have it washed to wear again the next.  Finally, a child that will wear my knit sweaters without screaming, "The Fiber! The Fiber!" and tossing it down after 5 minutes.  I may have to pull out my knitting needles again!

Florida Cathedral Window Gift

Another Catherdal Window pillow as a gift for my friend's birthday.  I'm definitely on a roll with these.

She was in nice, warm Florida during her birthday, so I was thinking of that as I chose the colors for her pillow.  I liked how happy the blue and yellow ended up.

I love it when my corners come together so nice and symmetrical.  It's so satisfying - like checking stuff off a list.

I added a fun little VW guy I thought she would like.  

And you can see in the center bottom, I folded under the raw edges on every inset piece.  That was a bit of a project, but didn't know if she would like raw edges.  It did make for a very neat finish.

Becket was funny and started directing the photo shoot.  He dragged over another quilt and arranged it on the couch, then posed himself next to the pillow.

Oh, and I have to link up for the fun pillow party!

So - I was working on my tutorial for you.  But then it got changed just a bit.

I started baking it......you won't have to wait too long!

The Snow ate my Days

Snowpocalypsepaloozageddonicane pounded Chicagoland and dumped 20" last week.  Lines of cars were abandoned mid commute on Lake Shore Drive.

The hurricane part of the blizzard left 4' drifts against the house.  We had to dig out before using the snow blower.  And the boys had two snow days last week.

We were cheering for the Steelers last night. 

Appropriate for all the Cathedral Windows I'm working on!

I finished up a large pillow for my Mom's birthday - but I only took this one picture!  Pillows are so hard to wrap.  So I left the insert out of the package. I'll have to get some good photos next time I visit them.

Confined to the house, I also finished up my February blocks quickly.  This one I paper pieced for a Project Linus scrap quilt put together by Sew Fresh Fabric.

And one last block for the Vintage Sheet Bee.  

These are going to make a fun vintage rose garden!

snow

Doom. 

We have been warned by the weather service.

... DANGEROUS MULTIFACETED AND POTENTIALLY LIFE THREATENING WINTER STORM TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY...
... FINAL PREPARATIONS PRIOR TO THE STORM SHOULD BE COMPLETED THIS MORNING...

Good thing my preparations are complete for staying inside!

A Snow Gnome Pillow Gift

One week and my eyes feel great!  Just a little dry in the evening, but that seems to improve each day.  I'm glad I did the Lasik!

And the doctor gave my healing the thumbs up today, so now I can actually get back to my semi-dusty sewing and quilting.

But first I need to share this pillow from early December - made for a friend's birthday gift.

 

I saw the fabulous pillow by FlossyBlossy last year and pretty much went beyond inspiration to copied.  Both her design and colors were perfect, and my favorite color combo no less. 

You can see that I added a little paper pieced gnome on the bottom left.

Both of us love little gnomes, so he was a perfect fit.  I've used this paper pieced pattern a few times, he's so cute.  I always like to use some linen for his face.

I decided he was a snow gnome, and felt he needed a nice, snowy home.  A little pebble quilting was just right!

I wasn't so sure how well it was going to work, in and out of all those points.  I did a little mocked up test run and found I could control the circle size well enough to manuver around those stars.  It turned out great!

One last blogging picture.  

Mark caught me trying to get a good close up.

I can See!

I did it without freaking out - no fainting, no hypovetilating.

It's about 9 hours post-procedure and I can see at least as well as with my glasses.  Appointment tomorrow 9:20am to get checked out officially.

I'm so happy!

{I went to that appointment this morning, and I'm officially 20/20 at this point and eyes looking healthy!  Hopefully my prescription doesn't slip over the new few weeks and I continue to heal well.  

Thank you so much for all your well wishes and encouragement!}  

Here's a cathedral window finished a couple of days ago - testing out methods.  I think it will become a pin cushion once a week has passed and I can be around dusty things again.

Under Construction

Not just cathedral window blocks and tutorials....

but me, actually.

Pretty much a total surprise decision - I'm scheduled for Lasik Thursday morning.  I've said for years that I was too creeped out by it to do it.  I went to a consultation on Thursday, just considering it, and left having picked THE DAY for the 13th.  These cathedral window instructions are going to have to wait a bit.

I can think about it without feeling like I'm going to throw up or faint, so I guess I'll go through with the procedure.  So many people I know have already done it - recently and 10+ years ago, all very happy.  I'm still pretty freaked out, but ready.

To get ready, I've cleaned most of the house.  You're not supposed to be in dusty environments for a week or so for the cut to get a good start on healing.  Thought cleaning would be better than booking a hotel for a week.  Besides, if I go blind or die, and people have to come to my house to help, they can't see it dirty, right?!   I'm thinking quilting is going to be in the category of 'dusty'.  With all the trimming and stitching, there's always fuzz around my machine area, so I'll try to avoid my projects for 7 days, if I can.

I'm also making a spreadsheet to keep track of the million eye drops.  I'll have four different solutions, with something going into my eyes every half hour while awake for a full week, then every hour for a month.  Spreadsheets are a good stress reducer.

The need for order is obviously genetic.  The pin fairy (Becket) visited my area, arranging my owl just-so.  He amazingly found a way to make it all very symmetric!

See you all next week.  Hopefully! (yep,a bit nervous)

Stash 2011 : the damage edition

Thirty-one yards - my birthday and Christmas combined.   And a serious start to the stash year.

In case you don't want to be tempted by all my fabric photos, I'll put the week's stash report here at the top (and I'm including this shopping trip in my first week report)  

Cathedral window blocks EAT fabric, so that's good for the stash report!

Busted: 1.919

Purchased: 31 yards

Net YTD: (28.081)

All I wanted for Christmas was a trip to the Fabric Shack - by myself.  It's only about 25 minutes from my in-laws.  I got my wish, and it was fabulous!

First stop in the store were two carts that they pile high with bolt ends and small strips.  They do a high volume of internet sales, which are cut each evening and morning before the store opens.  Lucky me - they had just added a whole bunch that morning.  A true treasure hunt when all that fabric is only $2.98 a yard!

I found some fun Kona solids.

These two were favorite treasures.  I think it was a little over 9 yards total in 'scraps', between a quarter and full yards, most of the pieces are in my color piles below.  But there were a few true scraps that I snatched up for making QAYG blocks.

 

I think I spent a full hour just going through those piles.  It was heaven.  

Next stop were the FQ bins.  They will cut a FQ for you in the shop if you ask, and the other half goes into their bins.  Instead of the original yardage price, FQs from the bin are only $1.98 each!

That's 28 FQs of treasure I found.

Including this adorable holiday version of 2D zoo.  LOVE the anteater and rhino!

The lady behind the counter was kind enough to pass over the bin of the previous day's cuts that had not yet made it to their color-grouped FQ bins.  Since they were stacked as cut, it was fun to picture the women who had been in that day.  One bought herself a FQ set of MoMo's Hoot, probably spending Christmas money.  And another bought a full set of Soul Blossoms.   These were my favorite from that line.

All the remaining stacks here are grouped by color, as I store them in my cabinets.

Julie and Audrie would be proud of my purple piece!

 

Reds, Yellows, Oranges

Blues

 

Greens - my favorite.

I really liked that mostly white print!

A bit of grey.  

This was the most dissapointing.  I was really loooking for some fun grey prints, but didn't find much.

What was funny, I had pre-ordered that top left spot before leaving Illinois.  It was in their online only clearance section, then I just asked that they hold it until I arrived.  (They'll do that all the time, for those who live close and want to shop at night in their jammies!)  When I arrived, the end of bolt piece was on the pile - so I grabbed the last yard at only 2.98.

Besides the grey, I was also specifically looking for some good neutrals.  I want to use them for QAYG and have also been interested to try them out a bit.  I just kept pulling bolts and had half or quarter yards cut.

My birthday isn't until February, but my mom gave me birthday cash early - knowing I was going to the fabric shack soon.  So there wasn't much restraint shown in my fabric gathering!

A closer look at the creams, with a touch of blue.

And finally, a few fun black and whites.

I ended my outing about 3 1/2 hours later with a quiet lunch out. 

By myself.

With my book.

I loved every second of it.