Sage Blossom and Spoons

Ryan talked to his teacher today and she mentioned that she heard a crazy story about how to make it snow. We have a chance of snow in the morning that has everyone talking. Snow and palm trees just don't go together. So she said that if you put a spoon under your pillow and flush one ice cube down the toilet for each family member it will snow. So before bed tonight everyone grabbed a spoon and an ice cube. We'll see if anything happens in the morning. After they were nestled all snug in their beds I pulled out Sage Blossom and got it all quilted up. I still need to do the border and the binding, but it should be ready to go for the baby shower on Sunday. I should remember to do a label this time. I'm really bad about labels.
I'm so happy for it to be Friday. With a teacher workday to start the week, it was a nice way to ease back into the school year. Next week is a full five days, but then it is Martin Luther King day, so there will be another little break. Speaking of which, I had gotten it into my head that I should work on arranging a virtual quilt marathon on the three day weekend. I had little plans for giveaways and challenges spiraling through my head. Then I logged onto Judy Laguardia's site and saw that she already has one in the works. Who else wants to sew themselves silly starting on January 16? I'm already starting to make a list and check it twice, how about you?

BOM #2

It is SOOO cold here. Not a good day to be outside at all. There was actually frost on the windshield of the car this morning. Frost! I know some of you are used to the bitter cold, but we don't even own ice scrapers down here, we just aren't equipped. It is such a hardship every few years when we have to turn on the heat for a few days. Obviously it was a perfect evening to stay in the cozy warmth of a nicely heated house and quilt a little.
I decided to work on Amy's BOM block number 2, and am quite pleased with the way it turned out. I could easily do a whole quilt with this pattern. Isn't it cool how the little four patch shows up in the middle? I made one small modification to the directions and replaced two adjacent squares in the same color with a rectangle. It eliminated a seam and helped it lay a little nicer I think. The directions were quite clear though, and I managed to do this one without having to unsew a single mistake.

Girl Scout Happy Blocks

Tonight was Girl Scouts. I had them try out the happy block pattern that I am planning to organize as a charity quilting project. It has been on the back burner for a while now, but I'd like to get the kits out there to other troops so that they can work on them in their own time. The girls are doing fairly well with the sewing these days. They remember more each time about how to put the pieces together and then orient them in the machine. It is always interesting to see what the parts are that give them issues. I just kept saying, "jelly side together", "match the edges", and of course, "don't sew your fingers". With three machines and 8 girls we finished 20 blocks in an hour and 15 minutes. That should be about right for a typical troop to do in a single meeting.

Third Time's a Charm

After a mind numbing day of accreditation and vertical teaming meetings I thought I deserved a little time playing with fabric. Lacking the backing fabric for the baby quilt, I thought I would whip up one of Amy's BOM's. Cut, sew, press, picture -- woops, the nine patches were flipped. How many times do you notice a mistake only when looking at the photo? No problem, rip, flip, stitch, press, picture.

Oops again, the bowtie blocks are headed different directions. Check the directions, rip, flip, stitch, grumble a little, look a the block this time.

Finally! Who knew such a simple block could go wrong in so many ways? Lesson learned, next time wake up from zombie like trance before trying something requiring thought.

Better with Borders?

I'm not sure if the borders help or not, but I went ahead and sewed the blocks together and used the rest of the brown around the edges. I'd better head to bed now though, because it is back to work bright and early tomorrow. I'll need to find something to use on the back tomorrow, but I think I still have enough green thread left from Sister's Choice, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Tried Something Different

After a little research into the registry for the baby shower I discovered that the nursery is to be sage and brown, not teal and brown as I had thought. Having already shopped for the fabric, I decided to pull from my stash for sage green to use with the brown. The last pineapple blossom I did had a consistent background, and I'm starting to see the value in that. I tried another version with green and brown on a cream background, but this green on a brown background won the votes around here. I am not fond of the contrast personally, but I'll sleep on it I think before I go back to the drawing board. There is too much variation in both greens and browns to be able to see the pattern clearly. I get so stressed about making gifts for people. Maybe I should have stuck with the nine patches instea? Still, despite the end result, it was lovely to spend a whole day sewing. Most of the morning was spent finishing up Sock Monkeys. It just needs binding to be done completely and then I'll get a picture for posterity.

New Quilt

I have an invitation to a baby shower. I think it is next weekend although the card is at school. I think the colors are brown and teal, it is going to be a boy. The girls and I went out this morning to see The Frog Princess and stopped by the fabric store on the way home. I had been thinking about doing a simple nine patch on point with some prairie points around the edges. After seing Amy's post this morning I might have switched to a pineapple blossom instead. I never get tired of doing that pattern even though I don't usually do the same pattern more than once. The colors are all a little matchy matchy for me, but It is a gift after all, and they might not share my love of all things scrappy.
Between movies and shopping trips I got the last two sections of sock monkeys basted and am just about done with the quilting. I should be able to get that bound tomorrow and then start cutting up the brown and teal.

Odds and Ends

I started the morning piecing a back for Double Delight. I had extra blue from the border, and then started adding in whatever seemed big enough or matched the colors from the front. I cut out the binding as well and then nicely folded it all together for whenever quilting inspiration strikes. After hanging it neatly in the closet, I went to put away some fabric and found a huge piece of pink that I bought to be used for the back -- I hate it when I do that.
Then I spent a good deal of time puttering around the sewing room -- putting things away and organizing a bit. I pulled out Starlight and considered working on the borders, but ended up working on Happy Sock Monkey instead. The four quadrants have been waiting patiently for me to work up the courage to try quilting in sections. I've tried it before with connecting strips on the back, but this time I just trimmed the two back pieces an extra quarter of an inch beyond the edge of the top and turned one side under. I hand stitched that down and then finished the quilting. It seems to have worked out pretty well. It certainly was easier to push the small sections through the machine than an entire top.
I've got two sections done now, so that is half of a twin quilt. I'm not sure if I'm going to layer the next two sections or call it a night. I'm just about out of batting, so anything I do will require some puzzling together of leftovers. I guess I should check the Joann flier on Sunday and see if they are having a big sale right now. Last year they had great prices on batting about this time and I have just come to the end my stash from that.
I hope everyone else had a productive first day of 2010. I'm off now to see what everyone is up to.

Goals for 2010

I've happily signed myself up for Nancy's UFO a month challenge again this year. I've gone ahead and put a list into the margin. I resisted the urge to add in the HSY (haven't started yets) although I am sure they will work their way in as well. So here is a list of the new projects I am pondering doing this year. I'm sure I won't get to them all, but it is fun to think about.

1. Storm at Sea -- A kit that I haven't started yet.
2. Shoot for the Moon -- Anna wants a new quilt for her room
3. Daisy Chain -- This is another kit that was on sale
4. Southern Stars - A Block of the Month from Connecting Threads
5. Wonky Logs - With leftovers from Welcome
6. Shirtails and Strings -- a collection of crumbs and strings that could be a quilt someday

Review of 2009

2009 started out well on the quilting front with a plan to complete a UFO every month. That went well until school started again in August and a new busier schedule sabotaged those plans. Still, progress was good and several longtime loungers were crossed off the list.

A few new projects snuck their way in as well, with a ginourmous Sister's Choice being the most substantial finish for the year. I'm not quite up to Amy standards as far as numbers of finishes, but it seems like enough to me.

In roughly chronological order, for my own enjoyment more than anyone else, here is the list for 2009:
1. Old Hurricane Road -- January UFO based on Bonnie Hunters Old Tobacco Road Mystery Quilt along graces the daybed in the guest bedroom.
2. Yes We Can -- Inauguration quilt, takes turns hanging in the foyer
3. Happy Chains -- February UFO done as leaders and enders using 2 inch blocks, given away to a shelter for women and children through the Girl Scouts.
4. Buttons and Bowties - March UFO also given away to charity through the Girl Scouts
5. Pineapple Brights, AKA The Welcome Quilt -- Not really a UFO, but finished as my April project over spring break, takes turns hanging seasonally in the foyer.
6. Things Quilters Say -- May UFO built around a preprinted panel of quilters sayings, hangs above my sewing table in the guest bedroom.
7. 9 Patch Doll Quilt - made to practice scalloped borders for the welcome quilt, being used for dolls.
8. Doll sleeping bags -- 5 sleeping bags given as party favors for Anna's sleepover party.
9. Teatime Sampler - a self designed project based on a fat quarter bundle from Christmas 2 years ago, given to my niece Paige who let the dog lie on it.
10. BOM Samler -- a star based BOM from several years ago that was beyond my ability level at the time. Linking blocks were added along with borders to turn it into Twilight, my favorite snuggle quilt in a last minute frenzy of quilting before school started again.
11. Organizer boxes for my classroom at school together with a curtain, bulletin board covers and binder covers.
12. An i phone cover that got lost the next day.
13. Two dust ruffles, one for Anna and one for my niece Paige.
14. A Kimono for Anna's Holiday's Around the World celebration at school.
15. Sister's Choice - 110 by 110 bedspread for the guest bedroom in Mom's new house. Given as a Christmas gift.

Now, I'm off to start adding things to the list for 2010