A finish and a start!

I've been trying to complete the baby quilt for my cousin April's first grandbaby, and last night (well....3:30 this morning!) I finally finished it!  YAY!


And we even had a sunny day for photos......woohoo!

I'm just thrilled with how it turned out!  It is so close to the pic that April had said "I want THAT quilt," so I think she'll be really pleased.  The quilting was done in just slightly irregular lines all the way across.....but I'll tell ya......straight lines are the devil!  I can so quickly do a swirl with feathers hanging off of it.....but ask me to quilt a straight line, and OY, things slow down to a crawl!  It's just not my first choice of a quilting pattern.....but I think it really works on this quilt.


And yeah, it's an oversized baby quilt, about 50x65......plenty big to have it for the big-boy bed later!


And now for the start that I mentioned in the post title.


A little while ago, Barb from Fun with Barb blog posted that she (and a few of her friends) were going to make a Jubilee quilt to commemorate them turning 50 this year!  So, along with Lori from Humble quilts, I'm joining in on the fun!  Are you turning 50 this year?  Want to join in!?!  Come on!  It'll be great to have a quilt that you made just for you....just what you really like....so you can look at it and say, "That's all about me....me me me....YAY, me at 50!"  lol


So I was trying to decide what quilt to make for it.....cuz there are hundreds that I want to make, and then it hit me!  You know my favorite color is orange, so it hit me that those orange creamsicle ice cream bars were always called 50/50 bars......so, of course, I need to make a two-color quilt with orange and white!  Gotta do it!  My own 50/50 for my 50th!  Yay!


And I was wanting to make a certain quilt from the Red & White show from the second I saw it, so that's going to be the one I'll do!

I'm so excited!  Can't wait to get started!


And I had no idea that 'Jubilee' had a biblical reference......but Lori found this.....

Leviticus 25:10
Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you.

I like that a lot!

Let's rejoice that we are turning 50 this year!!!!


regan

A sewing day! Yay!

I'm spending this whole day sewing.....ok..... and movie watching!  But only because the Netflix needed to go back!  And by the way, the Adjustment Bureau with Matt Damon is pretty good.  But tough to sew to, because you kindof really need to watch it!  Dang!  I like the movies that you can just listen too mostly, so I can sew at the same time!  Oh well, those will be later!

But sewing did get done......here is the latest on my Florabunda progress!  Woohoo!  I'm really loving these blocks!

I'd like it to be about a queen size, so I have 33 more blocks to make!  I'm over the half-way point!  Yay!  But I've only worked on it as a kindof filler between projects.  I kitted up a bunch of the blocks a while back, and I just finished sewing them yesterday.  I need to kit up a bunch more now, and then they'll be ready when I have a few minutes (or a day!) to sew them up!  I just love the yellow and all the beautiful blossoms that peek out here and there.  I didn't realize I had so many big florals in my stash.....who knew!  And.....why did I even buy them, other than I liked them.  Thank goodness Bonnie Hunter came up with this plan.....or they'd still be sitting in the stack of "Why on earth did I buy this print!?!"

My 'real' project is finishing up the baby quilt for our cousin April's 1st grandson.  I have the top finished, but was stumped on the batt to use.  I really wanted it to have a more sleek, modern look, but my usual 100% cotton batts always give me the crinkled/puckered/antiquey look that I love.  But that just wasn't in my head for this quilt.  And I really didn't want to use a poly batt......just not my thing.  So I figured to make a few samples of different batts and see what happened.

The two larger pieces are from a Fairfield 80/20 batt, one piece I prewashed, and the other I didn't.  Can you see a difference?.......Me neither!  The smaller piece is Warm & Natural.......and is only slightly more puckered than the other two.  I drew registration marks on all of them, so I could measure the shrinkage, and the two 80/20's still shrank the same amount, even though one was prewashed AND shrunk in the dryer!  What the heck!  So, even though my brilliant batt test was a total failure.....it left me with the decision to just use the dang 80/20 and get it done!  If it puckers and crinkles a bit, fine!  It's a quilt, dang it, not a marble statue!  lol

And the stripey quilting on the test samples is the same kind of quilting for the baby quilt......it's what was in the original pic, and April really liked the simplicity of it!  Yay!  Not perfectly straight lines, about 3/4" apart.....easy peasy!  We love that!

Ok......back to the sewing room!  I have to seam the back of the baby quilt (it's 50ish by 65ish......a nice BIG baby quilt) and get to the town office to pin baste it.

Oh yeah......I was just on a blog the other day......so sorry I can't remember where......but she had a YouTube of Sharon Schamber's table top basting method......and it's brilliant!  I just need to get to the hardware store for some molding pieces, and I will never have a basting-backache again!  Yay!  If you haven't seen this method, here are the links to it.  It is a two parter, so make sure you watch both videos.

Sharon Schamber's 'Hand Basting a Quilt' Part 1

Sharon Schamber's 'Hand Basting a Quilt' Part 2

Ok......I can hear Jane Eyre calling from the sewing room......gotta go!  And yeah, that would be the Jane with Ciaran Hinds......he is SO good!  Here's a little glimpse......

Jane Eyre.....the goodbye scene.....with Ciaran Hinds and Samantha Morton

Ok.....NOW I'm really going to sew!  lol

Have a great day!  Don't spend it all on YouTube!  Ha!

regan

2012! Woohoo!

Here it is the middle of January, and this is my first post of the year!  Holy cow....how did that happen!?!

Well......I've been sick again!  And I was thinking this was very familiar, so I looked at my Jan 2011 posts, and yeah.....I was sick then, too!  What the hell!?!  I even called out of work last week......I NEVER do that!  And spent the whole day in bed, not even the couch!  Yep....sick!

I'm feeling better now......but that dragging feeling is still lingering!  Just suck it up, and move on, right!?!  :o)

So, I have been quilting, but not much......nothing to show, cuz I haven't taken any pics.....hopefully in a few days.  I've got the baby quilt top done, but am still figuring on the batting.  I talked with the gals at our quilt group, and I'm going to make a few small quilt sandwiches to see how the different battings behave when washed.  I need for this baby quilt to be fairly flat after washing, not crinkled and puckered like I usually like my quilts to look.  This baby quilt needs to have that 'polished, smooth, modern' look to it, so the puckers might be too much.  Of course, I haven't done this yet, so hopefully this week I can get to it!

What I DID get to today was .......just like this time last year.......I booked another cruise!  Woohoo!  Could it be because it was only 2 degrees out this morning when I woke up????  Hmmmmm!

Hubby and I are going on Royal Caribbean in March/April to the Western Caribbean, porting in Cozumel and Puerta Costa Maya, Mexico.  5 fun filled days out of Tampa, where we'll get to stay and visit with our cousins, April and Drew (yep, same April that the quilt is for!).  By then, the baby will be born, so we'll get to see the little peanut, too!  Yay!

I'm so excited I could just bust!  :o)

And I still need to book the excursions, but the plan is to take the Xrail dune buggy drive through the jungle, to the Jade Caverns, take a little swim, and drive back out!  A totally mud-splattered fun kind of day!  Yay!  If you're wondering what it really is.....here's a link to a blog from a gal that was just there!  Fun!

http://www.andherlittledogtoo.com/2010/12/our-xrail-tour-in-cozumel-mexico.html

Of course, one of the excursions was to do a zip line, and we were totally jazzed about doing it, but then we saw a video about the exact one we would be on.....and it's nothing like what we want!  We want to be that Geico Pig on the zip line!  Have you seen that little guy!  Too damned cute!  Wee wee weeeeeee!  HA!  Check out the link below........love the little pig feet dancing in the air, and the little snort......pinwheels!  HA!

GEICO Pig on a Zip line video! Too funny!

Ok.......I'm laughing too damned hard now to be able to type!

Hope you all have a great week!

Wee wee weeeeeeeee!

regan

Need just one more post!

So, if you know me at all.....you know I love prime numbers!  Why.....I don't know!  I just do!  So as I looked on my postings list, I realized I was at 46 for the year!  Eeegads!  I can't have that!  So.....here's just one more to put me at 47......yep, a prime!  Life is good!  :o)

My cousin April is going to be a 1st time grandma (but she'll NEVER let anyone call her that!  HA!).....and she asked me if I would make the little peanut a baby quilt.  She had looked at the few I still had left from my stash, and they were just too girly......the little peanut is a boy.  Turns out, her DIL has 'designed' the baby's room to be teal, grey and white.  It is very sophisicated, modern and stylish......NO BUNNIES OR FLOWERS!  lol

I emailed April dozens of pics of quilts to help her decide on a pattern or style.....she's not a quilter, so I figured this would be something for her to look at and feel she was making some of the decision.  And she fell in love with a particular quilt......she wanted THAT quilt!  I told her it would probably be impossible to get the same fabrics, but I would duplicate the general mood of it.

So, I started with my stash.....and of course, I have 1 teal fabric!  It's just not my color of choice!  So I headed to a few fabric shops, and picked up a few more teals.  I was loving the fabrics together, but they just weren't matching the mood of the picture quilt.  So yesterday......I drove the hour and 45 minutes to Keepsake Quilting in NH.  Woohoo......I hit the mother lode!  I picked up 6 new pieces, and together with 3 of the others that I had......it's perfect!  I think it captures the mood perfectly.

Here is a pic of the fabrics.....of course, this was taken at night with the fluorescent lighting, so where it is brown is actually a nice grey.....do you think the combo has style, sophistication, and a modern look?

The pattern of the quilt is a simple chunky coins in strips......so the biggest piece will be about 6" square, and down to 2x6"......with pure white separating the strips.  Bound in black.

I will be cutting and piecing over the weekend.  I'm hoping to get this quilted and in the mail before the middle of January.  The baby is due in early March, so I don't want April in a panic.  It's an easy pattern, so I should be able to whip it up fairly fast.

I guess the hardest part......and always for me......is picking the fabrics!  Why is that?

I guess that's why I love scrappy quilts......toss everything together, and it looks great!  But tell me to pic 6 prints that go together......OY!  I'm stumped!

As I've been reading blogs today.....so many have mentioned what their goals for 2012 will be.....like resolutions, but I like the word 'goal' better.  So my goal for 2012 is to get this place organized.....my sewing room is.....why isn't the rest of the house!?!  And it's been making me a little crazy lately, too, so I guess it's time!  We'll be having another yard sale this summer (had one 2 summers ago, and it was GREAT!), so I think I will be putting stuff aside for that again!  I'm pretty excited about this, cuz there is nothing I like about clutter, and yet, I seem to be surrounded by it!  Yuk!

It always worries my husband when I get in this kind of mood......he's so afraid he won't have anything left when I'm done!  HA!

Hope you all have a safe and Happy New Year!

regan

I have a new camera!

So I got the Olympus SZ-10.....it's very compact, and has a LOT of features....most I will probably never use.  But I'm looking forward to the next quilt show that I can get tons of pics of beautiful quilts, and they will be the colors they are supposed to be!  :o)

Of course, it's night right now, as I'm trying to 'try it out'.....so I'm still not getting great stuff!  But I managed to take a couple of pics.......

Here's the tree on the screened porch.....I just love coming home at night, and seeing it from the bottom of the hill.  Makes me happy!

We aren't putting a tree inside this year (3rd year in a row!), because we aren't having any company, and we are working most of the time.  Several years ago, all the kids would fly in for the holidays, and we would all ski like crazy, and it was totally fun and chaos, and their flights would get all messed up with the weather, and we would make umpteen trips to the airport (over an hour away!), and it was fun, with tons of food, and running around, and people in every room of the house, but it was crazy!  They've all decided that it is better to try and visit when the weather is more predictable, and we can do more visiting, instead of crazy, frantic, pack-it-all-into-a-week kind of visit.  I agree!

So we don't put up a tree now.   I think John may even be working on Christmas day......so we aren't home enough to enjoy it.  Plus, it's about 3 days to put one up, and 4 days to take it all down.....so there's a week's worth of sewing I can do instead!  Yay!  And I'm gonna!

A few years ago, our grandson was staying with us over Christmas, and he was helping me to put up the tree.  I handed him the first box of ornaments, and he put those on, and figured he was done!  HA!  He had no idea.....we counted that year, and came up with over 800 ornaments!  More than half are special ones, that are tissue wrapped in the boxes.....so you can understand why it takes a while!  My motto is.....if you can still see green, there aren't enough ornaments on the tree!  lol

So this white tree (my first ever artificial tree!) was just the ticket since I've been missing having a tree each year.  It's simple, but so sweet to see from the road!  Love it!

And I have been doing a little sewing......managed to get the sashing, cornerstones, and the pieced backing done on our group's charity quilt.  It's all in homespuns that several of us had lying around.....the gals in the group all took a stack of the 5 inch squares and made big 4 patches with them......I squared them all up, and added the sashings and cornerstones.  Before the 5 inch squares were cut from the pieces, I cut out the 10.5 inch squares for the backing.  Still have almost enough to make a second quilt.....I'll just need to add a few pieces for the front and back to make it.

Of course these pics were taken at night, so the colors are off......the 1st pic shows the true colors for the fabrics we used on the front and back......it's really a nice deep-toned quilt.....perfect for a man, if the need arises.  And it will finish at about 75 x 55, nice for a single sized bed or to cozy up on the couch.

Front.....

Back......

Please ignore the mess in the room......I don't even see it anymore, until I take a pic!  Sheesh!

I'm hoping to sandwich and quilt it sometime this week.  But my T-W-TH days off this week will be spent baking cookies!  I usually make about 12 different kinds, but this year I've acquired 3 new recipes for something totally different to add......so I'll definitely be busy all three days!  Perfect timing to deliver my cookie trays on Friday!  Yay!

Hoping you all have a very merry Christmas!  Give big hugs to all the people you hold dear, and spend every minute you can with them!  Oh.....and eat lots of cookies, too!  :o)

regan

That Cruise Quilt.....Finally!

I've been working on the borders for the cruise quilt since the minute I finished the wedding quilt.....October 4!  Sheesh!  I guess it's kindof been kicking my butt.....but I'd never done a border like this before.

When we were on the cruise, I managed to finish the inside portion of the quilt.....I was totally jazzed by the colors.....they are so NOT me!  But I just fell in love with all the tropical in-your-face splash of colors!  We were in the Caribbean, so why not?  Right?

Here's what I did on the cruise.....

Bonnie's pattern was really fun to work with......I never do partial seams, and I was surprised at how fast they went together!  I've even dismissed patterns with them, thinking I was 'not gonna go there'.....but they really are easier than I thought.

So, the cruise was really inspiring......the colors of the ocean, gorgeous scenery on the islands.....bright colors everywhere.  It was really a paradise, so what else could I do but.......

And, of course, because Bonnie had given us a lesson on wonky stars during the cruise....it was only fitting to add a few to the quilt!

And I think it's totally funny that I have this quilt on the porch with a bit of snow in the scene!  The best of both worlds to me!

I didn't have a clue how to do the lettering, but after looking at a few blogs showing Tonya Ricucci's Word Play Quilts, I was willing to try it!  I really need to get her book, cuz I'm sure I took the long way to get there!  Just looking at my piecing on the back, makes me think there might be an easier way!  lol

Of course, I was going for the wonkiness factor on the lettering, and I had a very limited amount of the blue ocean with fish fabric (can you see the fish!?!).....so I guess it's not so bad.

I don't even know where that blue fabric came from, but when I was looking for a patterned blue piece to use, I saw this in my stash, and couldn't believe my luck!  And there was about 4 yards of it, too, so I thought 'no problem....this is plenty!'

Wrong!

I have a pile of sliver scraps, and 1 piece that is about 12" square left of it!  Yikes!  I'm hoping I can cut enough hst's to make the outside border with the diamond chain of colors......but if not, then it will just get bound in black.  We'll see what happens!  Cuz this is definitely unplanned all the way!

But I love quilting like that!  Make-do quilting......yep, that's me!  lol

And now I can finally start on Bonnie's mystery......it's been killing me not to get going on it!

Have a great day!

regan

Where did November go?

I can't believe my last post was way back at the beginning of this month.....but I've been crazy busy trying to get that Cruise Quilt border done......I'm almost ready to post it.....just a few more hours of piecing!

So until then.....I have this......

I had emailed my cousin this beautiful video that I saw on someone's blog (sorry, can't remember who, but thank you!).....it's lovely, and I'm still in that Thanksgiving mood.....so it's still timely!  lol

After seeing the video, we were talking and she said......"and be thankful for what we don't have that we don't want!"......which totally set me thinking on it!  Then I thought......

Oh Boy!  Let's make a list!!!! 

The things I DON'T want that I DON'T have......

1.    Grown children that still live at home.

2.    The desire to eat oysters.

3.    A criminal record.

4.    A boob job.

5.    A pet that pees and poops on the carpet.

6.    Acne.

7.    The gout.

8.    Daily traffic jams.

9.    A worse married name than my maiden name.

10.    To own anything with a clown on it.

I'm so thankful I don't have these!  lol

Ok.....so that's my list.....what are yours?

I'll be back to quilty things on my next post!

regan  :o)