A LONG TRIP

We have been gone about 2 weeks due to going to Florida to help our DS#2/DIL/GD move up here to Oregon!  What a trip!  After helping them clear out their house, we left for the 3,000 mile trip by car and a rental truck towing another car.  It was very hot everywhere we stopped until we got to Oregon!

We visited the Grand Canyon and had a great time there.

The men took turns driving the car and truck.  I only drove a few hours.  Since they are both former truck drivers, the long distance driving didn't bother them.

Mt. Shasta in northern CA

I had some knitting and embroidery projects along to give me something to do on the trip.  The cherry embroidery is on a dish towel.

I'm making a couple Christmas throw pillows.

I also had a regular book to read as well as some books on my tablet.  The weather was sunny and hot the whole way until we hit Oregon and then it was sunny and mild.  Yea!!  Today, DS and family went to see Mt. Hood and Multnoma Falls.  DH and I stayed home - still recuperating from the long trip.  I did a tiny bit of sewing while they were gone today as I was in withdrawal!  I can't wait to get going on some projects that are waiting for me.

I really wanted to go to the Sisters quilt show this year, but just didn't have the energy to drive the 3 hours each way right now.  I'm sure many others will post pictures, so that will have to suffice.

Have a great Independence Day celebration!

DESIGN WALL REVEALED

A couple months ago I found a set of red work vehicles that was started, but not finished.  I think 2 of them were done.  So I bought them and now I'm working on the last one.  I will put them together into a baby quilt when they are all finished.

Here's my second pink and brown HST doll quilt.  Not layered yet, but the top is done.  And I have a bunch of brown and pink ready to make another one.  I will sell these on my Etsy site.  They are so cute that I couldn't stop.  I have a bunch of triangles ready to sew together as leaders/enders.

Next, I have caught up on the Westerning Women blocks from Civil War Quilts.   I made the April and May blocks.

May Block

April Block

Here are the five 12 1/2" blocks up on my design wall.

I was planning to go with red, white and blue colors, but when April's block came up, I decided to go with greens - makes sense, right?  The blocks finish at 12" and she's going to do 12 of them, one for each month this year.  I might make a few more blocks so I can get a queen size quilt out of it.  

Hope you get some quilting in today!

UM YA YA (not) EXPLAINED

 A few of you asked what Um Ya Ya means.  I just asked my DGS and he said it's a cheer that the school uses at games.  It really doesn't mean anything, except to yell in a group!

I thought I would show you how I made it.  I traced the letters on tracing paper and then pinned it to the accordion pad.  Then I used the free motion foot to trace around the letters and removed the paper.

Next I just filled in the letters with the gold thread (gold and black are the school colors.  I used King Tut Quilting Thread from Superior Threads (100% cotton) on top and just a white thread that I used for the bobbin when I appliqué.

I just sewed back and forth or up and down until it was mostly filled in.

I kind of like how it turned out.

It's fun to be able to do little jobs for family members.  Sewing does come in so handy for so many things.

DEAR JANE PROGRESS

I just finished Row M of my Dear Jane quilt.  This means that I have the main portion consisting of 5"  blocks finished!!!  I had set the goal to get this part of the blocks finished by the end of June.  

Row M

 I had to put all the blocks up on my design wall so I could take a picture.

Rows A - M

There are 13 blocks in 13 rows for a total of 169 blocks which will measure 4 1/2" when finished.  Each one is different and has different main fabric (background fabrics have been reused in some blocks).  Some of the blocks have more than 40 tiny pieces to them.

I have purchased fabric for the sashing and backing.  Now, I will be taking a break from DJ due to family matters during the summer.  I have 10 of the triangle blocks made and I may take time to make one of those now and then.

It took me a long time to decide to go ahead and make this quilt because I really couldn't see how I would be able to make all these complicated blocks.  So now I want to encourage you if you are thinking about making one - yes, you can do it.

Maybe you need to be a little nuts (or a lot) to make this quilt, so there must be a lot of nutty women out there.  I admit, I am one of them!

I'm sure I never would have done this if it wasn't for the fact that with blogging you see all kinds of beautiful quilts and get so much encouragement from other quilters.  Thanks, quilters!

UM YA YA!

Before I explain "UM YA YA" I want to share some quilty items.  A blogger I follow had a post where she showed her ironing stick, which is used when you want to iron open a seam allowance and it raises it so you don't have to worry about messing up the rest of the seams when you iron.  I looked it up on some sites where it was sold and didn't want to pay anything for it, so I just got a strip of batting (which had been multiplying in my closet) and folded it over, sewed on 2 sides and slipped a dowel rod inside.  I could make it nicer by covering it with muslin, but I guess I'm too lazy to do that.

Home made ironing stick

I recently made a pink and brown HST doll quilt and decided to make another one to sell in my Etsy shop.  The one I made was a special order.  The HSTs finish at 1 1/4" and there are 12 rows of 10 HSTs per row.  It's just like one that I have hanging in my sewing room (I made it while I was a member of "Jo's Little Women Club" in Arlington, TX.  I love this little quilt made with all CW reproduction fabrics and alternating with pink and brown HSTs.

2 rows that need pressing

Using the ironing stick to press open the seam allowance

Here's what I have done so far on this quilt.  I keep running out of pink or brown HSTs because I don't want to put any fabrics next to each other, so I'm constantly digging out something different.  I have 9 rows almost finished, so I will need 3 more rows

The dark brown in this HST is one of my favorite fabrics of all time and I just happened to find one strip of it in my scraps so I made a few HSTs with it.

 I apologize that my pictures are kind of dark.  It was very early when I took these pictures.  Oh, and please excuse my ugly wrong board.  I need to put a new cover on it.

Now we come to "Um Ya Ya."  If you have ever attended St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, you will know what it is.  My DGS just finished his sophomore year there and he wants me to sew "Um Ya Ya" onto something.  Actually, its the pad for his accordion.  These are the letters I came up with.  Anyway, "Um Ya Ya" is what the students yell at sporting events.  Don't ask me why.  Maybe its a Norwegian phrase - must be.  He is home for the summer, but may take a job at a camp in Washington State and may want to take his accordion along, so I need to get these words sewn onto the pad ASAP.  I think I'll work on it now, just in case he gets that job and needs to leave soon.

Have a wonderful quilty week!  After a very hot weekend, the temperatures will be cooling off by Wednesday.  Woo Hoo!  Um Ya Ya!!

T-SHIRT FINISHED AND GIFTED

My grand-niece has graduated and the T-shirt quilt was given to her at her graduation party - Sunday.  So, It is OK to show the finished product to all of you.  

Here's a closeup of the lower right block with her name quilted into it:

The blue block for the music department has notes quilted into it:

This one shows what I did on the back.  The left-over border strips were sewn together into a large strip down the back of the quilt.

Below is a picture of my sister and the graduate.

Happy quilting!

TRIP TO OK

We took a TRIP to Oklahoma to visit our DS#3 who was there to get some training.  While there our DIL came with their 2 boys, so we had a wonderful visit with all of them.  We helped Jonah celebrate his 8th birthday.

One highlight of our TRIP was when our DS took us on a flight to Ponca city, OK for lunch.  BTW he was piloting the airplane, a Caravan single engine plane.  

This is the Ponca City airport. We ate lunch at a wonderful Mexican restaurant at the airport.

Arkansas River

We'll be back in our own bed tonight! 

I am sending this from my tablet and it's not acting very well so please excuse this post. I'm almost finished with the sock from my last post. 

ONE BLOCK

Not much sewing going on here, but I did finish one Dear Jane block, M-7.  I'm beginning Row M even before June begins. I'm so happy to be almost finished with the middle section of this reproduction!

I also started another pair of socks. This time they will have a cuff. This is my 5th pair of socks. The other pairs were without cuffs. 

Hope you have a wonderful Sunday!

DEAR JANE FOR MAY

I am happy that I finished Row L of the Dear Jane blocks, many of which were quite easy.  Maybe by the time Jane Stickle got to these last two rows, she was about out of ideas and steam to create more blocks.  L-6 was the most difficult paper pieced one and I think is my favorite of this row.  

L-6

L-9 was very easy, but I really like it too.

L-9

 Here is a picture of all the blocks.  The last block, L-13, was one of 3 blocks with appliqué and was very easy.  Blocks L-10 and L-12 both have tiny triangles appliquéd on them and I did that appliqué by machine as I have done on some other blocks that had these same tiny triangles.

Row L

I finished the T-shirt quilt and it is on the way to my niece. I will show a picture of the whole quilt acted it arrives for them to see.  Here it is folded up.

I hope she likes it!  Have a great weekend everyone!

ROUND ROBIN REVEAL

First, the T-shirt quilt is almost finished!  I sewed the binding on this morning and now I'm hand sewing it to the back.  I'll get it in the mail this week!  

Yesterday at my quilt guild meeting, we received our Round Robin quilts back.  Before I show you my RR, here are a few that I added borders to.

These are NOT finished yet because other people added borders after me.  I added the 4-patch border on this one.

Close up of 4-patch border.

On this one, I added the hourglass green and yellow border.

And this one, I added the last border; the one inch squares and green border.

Here is MY Round Robin finished!  I am really happy with it!

Center block is 12"; total size 50" square

Actually, I agonized over some of the borders that I had to make, and had pretty much decided I didn't want to do it again next year, but after seeing how they turned out, I think I might just participate again!  I'll be thinking about it.  Have you ever participated in a Round Robin?  How did it turn out?

Inquiring minds want to know.

DOLL QUILT SWAP = VERY HAPPY RECIPIENT!

Today I received my doll quilt swap from Amy in Lexington, OH.  All I can say is WOW!!!  It is amazing and I absolutely love it!  She also sent me a quiltscapes note pad.  Thank you so much, Amy!  The pattern is "Sugar Shack" and it appeared in the March/April 2011 issue of Quiltmaker Magazine.  My doll quilt measures 17 1/2" x 18 1/4".

I took a bunch of pictures so you can see the fabrics up close.

 Of course, all the fabrics are civil war reproductions.

Amazingly, there are only a few of the fabrics that I have ever had.  I love that about it!

The pink triangle is one of the fabrics that I have (or had - I may have a scrap of it left).

I love all the different shirtings!

Are you jealous yet?

I feel like I hit the jackpot in this doll quilt swap.  Thanks to Lori of Humble Quilts for organizing it.

MARIE BOSTWICK BOOK SIGNING!

Thursday a friend and I went to a book signing by Marie Bostwick of her new book From Here to Home at Powell's Book Store in Beaverton, OR.  We had a wonderful time and visit with Marie!  She is very funny and friendly.  Sorry the picture isn't very good, but it was my cell phone and someone took it for me.  At least the next picture of the book is clear.  

Me, Marie Bostwick and Sue

 If you haven't read any of her books yet, I highly recommend them to you.  I have read all of the Cobbled Court Quilts Series and loved them all.  I also read Between Heaven and Texas and loved it.
Most libraries, that I know of anyway, carry them, so there's no excuse and you will be happy you checked them out - or bought them.  Both Sue and I agreed that the evening was great fun!  Marie is definitely one of my favorite authors!

Here is my design wall with the beginnings of a T-shirt quilt.  It's not in any order now and I need to decide the order before I cut around each block to make it look like the second one (the one in my last post).

I found a tutorial on YouTube on how to make a block tip.  So, I made a template (below) which I can place on the block after I sew on the 3" borders.

In this picture, you can see where I lined up the black lines on the edge of the T-shirt part and then I will cut along the edges of the template which measures 14 1/2".  Most of the blocks are orange and black, but there are the random blocks in blue, pink and red, white & blue I Love NY.  I will sew all the 3" borders on, then figure out the order I will use before I use the template.  I want every other block to tip opposite to the ones next to it.

Wish me luck!